Posts by Che Tibby
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no worries. it could also be jeebuz "messing the climate cchange boffins".
jeebuz likes to keep it nice and light-hearted.
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andrew, if i remember the lovelock thesis correctly;
the ice caps melt into the oceans, cooling the earth slightly.
but, heating continues and the oceans gradually evaporate up into the atmosphere to form clouds. this increases the reflectiveness of the atmosphere, again the earth trying to cool things slightly.
but, the heating continues, and the water starts to boil off into space.
eventually we're sitting on a new version of mars.bit of a drama queen that prof. lovelock.
but i may be wrong. it might just be mother nature ensuring we've got enough ice for all the caipirinha we're knocking back while the earth burns.
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hadyn, sanctimonious hippies. legions of them.
but on the subject of lovelock, i read the first gaia book back in 1990 and it fundamentally changed my perspective on consumption and its impact on humanity. i kind of get that he's moved from trying to make people aware of climate change to providing solutions, and to be honest agree that nuclear power isn't the bugbear people make it out to be. after all, and if someone with actual hard science experience could back me up on this one (or slap me down), isn't radiation only profoundly dangerous to species like large multicellular animals? i.e. mammals?
lets not forget the apocryphal story of roaches living through a nuclear winter. isn't lovelock saying that if we don't halt carbon emissions we'll be doing far, far more damage to earth than a little radioactive waste? like boiling off the atmosphere a la Mars?
and isn't the green movement already quasi-religious? i know neo-conservatism appears to be.
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aren't SST editorials outsourced to India or somewhere? it might explain the complete dislocation from NZL realities.
hmmmm.. might be age and years blurring my memory? but i distinctly remember being taught about women's suffrage, early welfare (i have this crystal-clear image of two elderly maori men holding cheques circa the turn of the century?), Joseph Savage.
maybe this is all 5th form history talking?
and i agree about the nationalism question. but if my time studying taught me anything, everything mandated by the state is nationalism, from standardised coins to the official language. the real question is the degree to which you and i are compelled to partake and agree with the p.o.v of contemporary leaders (of whatever ilk).
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don - yeah, naturally. i think the bun fight over what to include is likely to 'go nuclear'. but then, as i remember social studies at college it kind of was citizenship stuff? they taught us all the key things we 'needed to know' about NZL, but without any concomitent emphasis on 'ethics' or 'morality'.
tricky one. i mean, how and what do we serve up to our youngsters? i'm sure it's been debated ad nauseum, but, what?
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interesting. sounds like there's an affinity to the citizenship ceremony i underwent in Australia. howard et al rewrote the immigration obligations and responsibilities around 'core values' a few years back. it would be interesting to know how long they've been using that format in NZL.
maybe there's an assumption that if you're 'born and bred' you automatically adopt an allegiance to the values they're promulgating?
and in the bigger picture, why is there the implicit assumption by the SST that targetted minorities like muslims are less likely to conform? yay xenophobia
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doh. do me a favour and replace that instance of "policy" in my last comment with "theory".
what the hell do i know about NZL multicultural policy? answer. nothing.
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in reply to don, there's also the irony that 'multiculturalism' is policy shorthand for 'assimilation'. the main tenet of multicultural theory for nation-states is "diversity!! (while it lasts...)"
usually the diversity content is rolled over intergenerationally to accomodate new types of visible minority, most of which blend into the mainstream. the good news? they usually postively flavour the cherry-picking majority, ie we take on new foods, music etc.
welcome to liberal democracy. what we geeks also call, "the Borg".
and PS. it's perplexing that staunch moral conservatives find radical Islam so galling. maybe it's just patch protection.
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hmmmmm.. yes, i had lunch with this "llewellyn/redbaiter" character several weeks back, and he strikes me as the blog denizen type.
RB, keep an eye on that one i reckon.
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NZ Idol - more excting than licking the inside of a toilet bowl?
you might actually find something of substance in the bowl.