Posts by Rich Lock
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Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Clarkson is a waste of carbon isn't he?
He's a great example of a one-trick pony whose one trick was mildly amusing for a very short while, but went stale a decade or two ago. Now he's desperately trying to keep it relevant by making it more and more extreme, flipping mild amusement over into mild irritation and slight surprise that people still pay attention to the silly child.
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Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to merc,
An estimated 2 million people are on strike in the UK. That's roughly one in thirty of the population.
C'mon Jezza, you're aiming far too low! Decimation, old chap, that's the only language they understand! Include their families!
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Up Front: What if We Held an Election…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
without going all Buffalo Bill on their arse.
I think most of the problems Emma relates came from being on or close to a boundary - voting papers for one district getting stuffed in the wrong district box.
Although I do wonder how many orange papers ended up in the purple box, and vice-versa. A lot of colourblind voters out there...
My tendancy towards a default Buffalo Bill setting is why I’d never do well in politics. Although, thank you yes, the meds do help considerably and the headaches and blackouts are much less frequent these days.
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Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
if we're going to keep giving New Zealand media a "at least they're not as bad as the worse of the Oz/UK/US tabs" pass
I'm not giving any of them a pass. Merely noting degrees of fail.
The reason being that I don't think it would take all that much (well, relatively speaking) to turn the major elements of the NZ press around. Whereas certain elements of the UK press simply need to be euthanised.
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Despite the side-discussion between myself and Graeme, I'm pretty happy with Taxes pay for Civilisation.
Possibly with some minor or multiple tweaking on the theme
Taxes pay for your [insert desirable thing here]
Taxes pay for this (picture of hospital)
Taxes pay for her (picture of doctor)
Taxes pay for your clean beaches
Although care would have to be taken. Roads and prisons are possibly not what I'd want at the forefront of voters minds. And it's an easily hijacked meme, too: taxes pay for welfare-bludging single mothers.
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Hard News: How long the leash on the…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Papers which, on many other fronts, richly deserve damn-near every comparison to Britain’s scum tabloids that come their way. Sorry, needs to be said.
Craig, they're really not in the same league. The NZH and SST may be laughably breathless, inaccurate and obsessed with all things shallow and sleb-oriented, but they really don't stand direct comparison with The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, and the thankfully defunct NotW. The core of unpleasantness running through all those papers is way beyond anything I've expereinced here.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Pity the journalist (snort) didn’t point out that Germany is one of the richest countries in the world and there might be some connection.
Also that we just had a free and fair democratic referendum on this particular matter, and it looks like The People (remember them, John?) like it enough to keep it around for a while so STFU John.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Sacha,
Wet behind ears Nat MP and gardener Maggie Barry declares that Auckland's mayor should respect her authoritah
While it's not for me to criticise the internal selection criteria of a party I'll never vote for, much less be a member of, there is something about the way that bloody gardening woman was parachuted into my electorate that really gets under my skin.
Fortunately I turned up later in the day and missed that particular speech at the Wilson home. There were many children present who would have learned some new words that wouldn't have endeared me to their parents.
For those that didn't read to the end:
On a more national level, she has taken a keen interest in the Pike River Mine tragedy.
Michael Monk, 21, the son of her cousin Bernie Monk, was one of the 29 victims.
"The tragedy was a cathartic moment for me. I didn't want to be sitting on the sidelines reporting, but making a difference," Barry said. She said she wanted to see the bodies brought out to give families closure.
And she wants to see mining resume at Pike River.
"There is $30 billion of coal there.
"If it doesn't reopen, the 29 won't be the only casualties – the West Coast economy will be one, too."
The blood price must be paid to keep the engines of industry running, right Mags?
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
I mostly meant the US. But there are many other instances of governments around the world using taxes to the detriment of civilisation.
I'm inclined to counter-argue, but I realise in forming it that my argument, like civilisations and empires, sows the seeds of it's own destruction in it's creation.
I was going to argue that quite a few major civilisations emerged from periods of sustained/semi-permanent warfare - Greece, Rome, China, Germany, Britain, the current US empire. Monetary or manpower taxes sustained their externally-focussed military forces, allowing internal stability and the development of peaceful arts.
But then on the other hand, in most of those examples, the military became the end itself, rather than the means to the end, and also fetishised internally. Eventually, as the military-industrial complex grew, all internal industry became geared to sustaining it, and the civilisation collapsed under the unsupportable weight.
But then again, mankind is generally in a state of perpetual warfare. As one empire collapses, another rises, takes the ideas and tech of the old one, and carries on. We're like a perpetual Ouroboros.
And, cutting through all that waffle, it probably boils down to your particular definiton of 'civilisation'.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
They also pay for the destruction of civilisation.
You might have to expand on that one a bit, Graeme. In this case I'm not willing to assume I know what you're driving at.