Posts by BenWilson
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Also I have mentioned this to others at the pub and I know several were going down to get a plant.
They're very easy to grow in NZ, the conditions are well suited and they require nearly no maintenance, because they're naturally toxic to pests. Preparation pretty much hanging the leaves up to dry out, then cutting them up for use. Hard to imagine a legal crop that could save a smoker as much money, for so little effort, so it's curious that it's never caught on. Another win for big tobacco there. Illegal to sell to people, yet another win for big foreign tobacco - we can only smoke it if it is made in a disgusting sweatshop somewhere in the third world, by law.
Not that I would suggest anyone who isn't already an addict have anything to do with the nasty stuff, nor that we would want a burgeoning local tobacco industry. Just that it's amazing how alienated tobacco consumers are from something they could make for themselves with far more ease than homemade alcohol, and most kinds of edible crops.
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Happy New Year, everyone.
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A very Merry Christmas to all readers and writers on PAS alike.
I will spend a week on Waiheke after Christmas, doing my best to think of nothing whatsoever beyond my whanau and relaxation.
The giant pohutukawa that now obscures much of their sea view also attracts tuis and wood pigeons, and there is always an appreciative cluster of people in it's shade at the hottest point in the day, so feelings are mixed toward it, but it will certainly not care about any of that, and celebrate the hottest part of the year as it's kind most likely have been doing since before Christmas was invented, most likely before humans had the ability to mess with trees, and the tuis would have been singing the same songs, and the sea also. The beach was probably the same shape, and many of the same pebbles would have been there, although they're probably smaller and rounder now. In another ten thousand years, I expect all of this will still be true, perhaps the beach will be slightly sandier.
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Russell Brown,
Back off topic:
I've lain awake questioning my own judgement, and feeling pissed off.
There's a lot of that going around (even in the readership. I'm avoiding using the word "lurkers", as it connotes malice) and it's a credit to you that you feel that way. Most blog owners would take the line that if people don't like their rules they can fuck off.
It still remains your site. It's up to you to what extent you feel it should be a public square or a cafe, or a mixture. Considering that it's part of your livelihood, you have much more to gain or lose than most.
Feel free to let me know what to do about that.
There's the rub. I don't know. I can't be sure if my self censorship is good or bad, on the whole. That's why I've asked for people to consider the times they dissented from the core values, and how it worked out for them. There have been precious few responses to that, and that's telling in itself. Either people didn't dissent, or they're still afraid to say, or they're gone and we're not going to hear from them. Are any of those really good outcomes?
On how self-censorship feels, one of the things about a vague rule of conduct, is that it can actually end up stricter than a strict rule. If the boundaries are not enforced by knowledge of where the fences are, but just by some known points within the boundaries (ie exemplars of what kind of conduct is OK), then people are going to be found far closer to those points, or they'll wander off altogether. There won't be an even distribution within a wide range, but rather a tight cluster around the exemplars. People will feel less and less comfortable, the further from the exemplars they are. Contrast to how it feels with strict rules - anywhere within the boundaries is fine, do as you please. Step over them and suffer the consequences. You could choose to permanently live right on the fenceline, and still feel an integral and accepted part of the community.
So, "don't be a dick" sets up a dynamic wherein if I feel a need to say something that is some distance from the exemplars, I have to weigh up how much of a dick am I being, by the exemplary standards. In a boundary system, I have less concerns about the distance from the exemplars. What I'm worried about are the boundaries. Within them, I should feel reasonably free to say anything without being considered a dick at all.
Just some food for thought. I can't solve the problem of cultivating safe discussion whilst allowing dissent. It seems like a group problem, with a group solution.
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
A BA running the country? Come on?
Indeed. Why go by halves? We've got M&A guys instead.
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David, are you intending to stay there, or hoping to ride out bad financial times, and then eventually sell and relocate?
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Isaac Freeman,
You're confusing me with my brother.
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Steve Parks,
You happened to pick that moment when the subject was also a very topical matter.
Yes, that's usually the time I try to pick.
I find you to be one of the bravest posters here - do you still self-censor?
Yes, a lot. I'm curious what you think is brave about my writing? Is it brave because I take personal risks that are just foolish on the internet, or because I fight quite hard against peer pressure and write about controversial things, risking to seem a fool in this forum? Or something else?
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to rjal,
The reason why I don't comment is that heated argurments really wind me up! I've lost sleep just reading this one. I can't imagine the affect it would have on me if I was an actual particpant!
Only one way to find out. Thanks for your comment too, it's heartening to see this particular discussion irks a reader.
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Legal Beagle: Paula's Peril; or The…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
No, I did not think that. I felt certain that a judicial recount would happen, because that is what everyone does in a close vote. But, as I said, they may come to rue that they didn't stand by, since it would have meant nothing but a symbolic loss to them. The Edgeler scenario is not a symbolic loss, it's a real one.
Of course, it might not happen. To be honest, I don't think it would really be good if it did, that all things that destroy proportionality in our parliament seem bad to me, even when they work in favor of my preferred position.
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