Posts by Bob Munro
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News out of Iraq seems to be slowly drying up as represented by Zeyad's blog.
The mainstream U.S. media continues its effective news blackout on Iraq security developments, with the remaining scant coverage devoted to partisan "Iraq policy" debate on the domestic front. And in this case, no news means good news for the average American, which explains why I often receive emails from ideologues asking me why I am not acknowledging that the "tide has turned" or that "we are winning" in Iraq.
So, while I've not had much time lately to update the blog, and since virtually all Iraqi bloggers have left Iraq anyway, I'll point out a local Iraqi wire agency that is increasingly posting dispatches in English. Of course most of the content is still in Arabic, but at least you'll get a much better picture of the security situation in Iraq from what is available than what you get from American news outlets:
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There is a difference between action and grandstanding. I have never yet heard of Greenpeace putting their enormous resources to the task of doing something useful like developing renewable energy sources for the third world
Perhaps 'advocating' describes them better than 'grandstanding'.
Here's an example of the practical application of their philosophy.
Sometimes you just have to show the world how it's done. Greenfreeze is Greenpeace's market proven, environmentally friendly, refrigeration technology. The SolarChill project aims to create a stand-alone solar powered refrigerator that not only preserves food, but also meets the World Health Organization's standards for vaccine storage.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/solutions/solar_chill
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I recall Greenpeace blocking the entrance to some port or other to prevent a shipment of coal - which must have been lovely for the folks desirous of electricity and the other ships.
Maybe they had just read this:
The future of humanity has been put at risk by a failure to address environmental problems including climate change, species extinction and a growing human population, according to a new UN report.
and decided desperate times needed desperate measures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/oct/26/climatechange
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Six men accused of a vicious attack on an 18-year-old Auckland man have appeared this afternoon in a courtroom packed with more than 60 of the victim's family and friends.
Isaiah Wall, 18, of Hamilton, is in a coma and on life support after being attacked at a gathering in Auckland's Te Atatu North on Saturday night.
All six were remanded on bail to reappear in Waitakare District Court on November 12.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4254593a10.html
Like Stephen above I'd love to hear something on how these people get immediate bail but the so-called 'Terror' suspects don't.
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On a different note, and with Movember coming up, I thought I'd pass on Mrs_Red's reaction to Sainsbury's moustachioed visage every time it appears on our TV: "aaahhh, the walrus! turn it off! turn it off!" Thankfully we don't watch TV One much.
I find just about everything about Winston Peters highly offensive and always turn him off.
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Michael - my understanding of the Christchurch raid was that police were looking for a person, rather than searching for evidence. You don't need a warrant to knock on someone's door and ask if Tame is there.
Yes - and Frances Mountier reported that the police were from Wellington and unknown to them and that may have accounted for the lack of politeness and level of aggression shown.
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Even a bungled assassination attempt would change a lot of things in this country.
And it's not like this is completley unheard of here. There were suggestions Christopher Lewis attempted to shoot the Queen in the Octagon in Dunedin in the 1980's.
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If you were like me it was because he was wearing his shirt unbuttoned quite a way with an over-sized bone carving while making excuses for why his team lost.
Ah yes, that was why! Also his hakas were always OTT.
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But then, we sent a bunch of rugby players and they lost. I guess it's different when you send
gods and they still lose.Yes we have quite a bit of humble pie to get through yet. I suppose England advanced much further than even their most optimistic supporters could have wished while we failed sooner than even our most pessimistic supporters feared.
This editorial in the Press before the quarter final reminds us of how confident we were.
I can't quite work out why I was so annoyed at Byron Kelleher on TV3's World Cup wrap up. Maybe he seemed to epitimise the show pony style over substance issue?
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I reckon ‘50 Ways of Saying Fabulous’ (Friday TV 3 11.15pm) is worth a watch. It’s faults are pretty obvious, including the strange faun hue that is cast over the colour to disguise the fact that the dry Central Otago landscape was flushed with green after recent rains. Good performances from 13 year old leads Andrew Patterson and Harriet Beattie, and a really intense one from supporting actor Jay Collins. One of those under funded Kiwi films that made it to the screen against the odds.