Posts by George Darroch
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OnPoint: Yeah nah, but what *do* we…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
That flag is the flag of the independent Kingdom of Hawaii.
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Polity: Leaving only footprints, in reply to st ephen,
tramping was never popular in NZ beyond a tiny white, middle-class minority
It was popular, with people of all classes, and to the extent that it was white and Maori, it was because NZ was overwhelmingly white and Maori. It's now more middle class than it used to be, certainly.
It's also less popular than it used to be, except among high school teachers (my science-teaching brother and mum are walking around Karamea as I type).
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Access: Zika and microcephaly: things to…, in reply to Angela Hart,
Fortunately, that’s absolutely not true. Aedes is the sole transmission vector for zika (and dengue, and a range of other diseases). It has not established in NZ, and is unlikely to, even if it was imported. And even a single sighting would mean a massive biosecurity response.
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Great article Hillary. There's some evidence of sexual transmission, so NZ is not completely safe from local transmission, though imported cases are likely to be a much bigger problem. Aedes mosquitos are not found in NZ.
Incidentally the link between zika and microcephaly has not been definitively proven, but the circumstantial evidence is extremely strong. As a result the WHO's emergency has been for microcephaly rather than the disease itself. I suspect this distinction will fade shortly.
Elsewhere, Laurie Garrett is outstanding in writing about infectious outbreaks and the WHO. She would be my go-to on this subject.
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Polity: Protesting too much: responses…, in reply to Russell Brown,
I also get the impression that you'd welcome content from others, if their writing was constructive, insightful, and not nakedly partisan.
I really enjoy hearing Rob's thoughts, even though he's on a different 'team' and has different objectives.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Jean's Laneway, in reply to Russell Brown,
To be fair, Triple J's top 100, like all their music, is pretty bad.
Because it tries to appeal to an entire nation's youth, and in many of the country's smaller towns and cities is the only alternative to blatantly commercial radio, it tends towards mediocrity in the form of bland indie pop. Good luck being an Australian band who doesn't get the liking of their ageing selector.
Speaking of the only radio station between cities, I did a few thousand km of driving this summer, and heard a lot of Hauraki. It sounds more like mid-2000s b than ever, with less GnR and Zeppelin and more Fat Freddies and Tame Impala...
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Polity: On tour with The Boss, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
And you can write about the PR business.
I'd be rather interested to hear from either of those two about their experience on the inside.
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I've come around to Little somewhat. I have to confess that his background as a union leader gave me pause; my experience is that those from the union movement are usually good people but often see the world as an series of labour relations, rather than a collection of people with diverse needs and interests.
He's gone beyond that. Putting in serious work to demonstrate readiness to lead, and strong ownership of economic issues are crucial. The Greens are on the sidelines in all of these areas.
I still think that Labour (ie, Rob and the team) need to work on his 'approachability' and 'likeability', and put their best media performers out there to reinforce this work. But that's separate, and certainly not sufficient.
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Hard News: Bowie, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Whereas, RadioActive put on a very good show.
Radio Active 88.6FM
Tuesday Drive.
4 to 5pm.
David Bowie - Suffragette City.
David Bowie - Oh, You Pretty Things.
David Bowie - Drive In Saturday.
David Bowie - Running Gun Blues.
David Bowie - Love Is Lost.
David Bowie - Young Americans.
David Bowie - Breaking Glass.
David Bowie - Heroes (live acoustic)
David Bowie - Always Crashing The Same Car.
David Bowie - Lazarus.
David Bowie - Soul Love.
David Bowie - Life On Mars.
David Bowie - Valentine's Day.
David Bowie - China Girl.
David Bowie - Let's Spend The Night Together.
5 to 6pm.
David Bowie - Width of a Circle.
David Bowie - Sorrow.
David Bowie - Space Oddity.
David Bowie - Five Years.
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust.
David Bowie - It Ain't Easy.
David Bowie - Girl Loves Me.
David Bowie - Warszawa (activity guide bed)
David Bowie - Let's Dance.
David Bowie - Kooks.
David Bowie - Putting Out Fire.
David Bowie - Andy Warhol.
David Bowie - Wild Is The Wind (live)
David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing.
6 to 7pm.
David Bowie - This Is Not America.
David Bowie - You Set The World On Fire.
David Bowie - Ashes to Ashes. (live)
David Bowie - Time.
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World.
David Bowie - The Laughing Gnome.
David Bowie - Jean Genie.
David Bowie - Seven.
David Bowie - Hang On To Yourself.
David Bowie - Fame.
David Bowie - The Bewlay Brothers.
David Bowie - Rebel Rebel.
David Bowie - Be My Wife.
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane.
David Bowie - The Prettiest Star.A mixture, but a terrific mixture.
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And this one too. It was a farewell, and we didn’t know it.
Say goodbye to the thrills of life
When love was good, when love was bad
Wave goodbye to the life without pain
Say hello, your beautiful girlSay hello to the lunatic men
Tell them your secrets they’re like the grave
Oh what have you done, oh what have you done
Love is lost, lost is loveIt seems so obvious now, the cancer affected face, the Ashes references. Oh man.