Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Popular Paranoiac Politics, in reply to nzlemming,
They're all conspiracists, lemming. All those clandestine meetings gave them their characteristic dark rings around the eyes.
Edit: Ooops I guess I meant conspirators.
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True importance...true importance.... Na cant get there.
Well, I'm hinting at "something that should be undertaken only under dire threat, as a last resort" as opposed "something we always are doing, usually against people who have no capacity to harm us, and we always claim it's in their interests".
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This has never failed.
It's failed me. But I have had some success with telling it to them repeatedly whilst slowly but firmly closing the door. I've never been thanked.
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I think half the problem with my conflicted feelings about secrecy are that I can see a case for it during war. But that becomes a problem if your government is never not at war. The USA's "Gates of Janus" haven't shut in my entire lifetime. In fact, they've even broadened the definition of war so that they can make war on concepts rather than nations, such as Drugs, and Terror.
It's not healthy for society to be constantly at war. It degrades the meaning and true importance of war, which is still something I believe nations must be prepared for.
The refreshing thing about the Wikileaks is the simple banality of what has become secret. Most of the cables are "Ah, I thought so, good to hear it confirmed" moments, although there are still some eye openers.
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Mind you, my accostings were largely on campus at Canty, and eighteen-year-olds eager to Save The World are a little easier to intimidate than the older, more experienced ones.
For sure, particularly when it's on your doorstep, so they know where you live, and you can't just run away, you have to stand and fight.
On campus it's puppy-stomping. An ex-gf of mine, exhausted during enrollment, upon receiving her 20th-odd solicitation in quarter of an hour "Do you want to know about Jesus?" cut them down real fast with "No, I'd rather fuck a fishfork".
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I've long been a critic of political correctness myself. But these days I feel uncomfortable criticising it. Not because being PC is a wonderful thing but because the antiPC advocates are using their campaign to cloak some very hateful views.
That's bang on. Too often I've been mildly critical of some attempt to hide that nothing has changed behind language changes, and then found myself in the uncomfortable company of bigots, and wished I'd said nothing, after a long argument with them about the merits of social progress in the last 250 years.
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My first girlfriend was Jewish. She didn't receive any repeat calls from those selling the Watchtower once she informed them of this....
It's what I usually claim to be. It's been successful so far. One fool tried to follow it up a bit: "Oh? Well we're in the same book then, if not on the same page?". Answer: "Yes! Oh, except for everything to do with Jesus". He left. Another asked me which Church I went to. Answer: "Synagogue. None". He left. One old lady asked "Have you ever heard of Jesus?". Answer: "Yes, a very famous Jew". She looked outraged, but left.
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Jason Gunn and Paul Henry will be your hosts as the nation looks for the next Kiwi to be granted extraordinary powers.
If other reality TV is anything to go on, the contestants should all be wash-ups who absolutely hate each other, and all they will actually win is a "six figure contract" with a major party. The runner ups get a leadership role in a minor party.
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It's possible that the loss of radical aspects from each side would moderate the discussion enough to give peace a chance, but I just don't see it.
I never thought I'd see Labour in bed with NZ First, or post-Orewa National with the Maori Party. Funny old game.
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James, rather than banging on and on and on about what you'd like everyone not to be talking about, how about talking about what is of press-stopping importance that you have on your mind?
to see if anyone had expended any effort considering the implication of NZ's military being portrayed by a US pro-consul as dutiful soldiers of empire, unlike 'old europe' who seemed more reluctant to have their citizens killed for the sake of a free trade agreement or whatever.
This has been discussed so many times the regulars are bored of it. How about running the baton for a while?
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