Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Cabinet and the Reeferendum

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  • Joe Boden, in reply to andin,

    Haha Im sure. I just hope he learned something from the conversation. Though that does take a willingness to admit when you are mistaken in a belief and Im not sure he has that ability, but I dont know the man personally.

    Based on the brief conversation I had with him, you may have better luck hoping for a unicorn. ;)

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 97 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Armstrong, in reply to Craig Young,

    In the interest of debate perhaps referring to your opponents as bigots is not helpful - about as unhelpful as Chlöe Swarbrick MP calling a twitter user a coward for voicing their point of view.

    New Zealand • Since Jan 2015 • 81 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Simon Armstrong,

    Chlöe Swarbrick MP calling a twitter user a coward for voicing their point of view

    Do you have a link for that?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Armstrong, in reply to Sacha,

    much later, I can only find the term cowardice which is I suppose attacking their argument rather than their manhood.


    It is pretty abrasive stuff https://twitter.com/_chloeswarbrick/status/1113967582736838658

    New Zealand • Since Jan 2015 • 81 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    She was responding to the New Conservatives' deputy leader. Her description is hardly inaccurate.

    Take some time to read their online output, which at the time of that tweet included people like David Moffett (he has since moved on). Bigotry is exactly what they embody, or worse, pander to.

    Swarbrick is out of line? Well, the leader of the National Party calls the Greens communist. And he wants to be Prime Minister.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to ,

    alcohol prohibition wasn’t all just bad

    Those were all unintended consequences, that some worked out well was plain dumb luck. And Jazz was around before prohibition, it just gave musicians venues to play in, and paying jobs rather than street corners and a hat for 'donations'. There was little to no forethought in prohibition.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Mikaere Curtis, in reply to ,

    Anyone who has experienced a magic mushroom trip. How would it feel to have food poisoning on top of that?

    Happened one time to a friend who got food poisoning from a cafe before. Obviously not a good time for anyone involved.

    I've never heard of anyone getting food poisoning from magic mushrooms themselves, either fresh or prepared. And I have friends who, back in the day, would collect hundreds of shrooms at a time and sell them. Never heard any complaints.

    They used to be legal in the UK, is there any research that suggests there were problems with that arrangement ?

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to ,

    Remind me, why was alcohol prohibition introduced?

    Puritanical zealotry, although to be fair to the dear christian ladies of the temperance leagues they had had a gutsful of the drunken males around that time getting a skinful and acting like entitled fuckheads, and beating up on women and children, one of many things.

    Tho' they had little patience for native Americans, slaves and their descendants numbing the reality of miserable lives with alcohol, so gave no thought to denying the one pleasure available to them.
    The USA has been a fucked up place for a while now, and shows no sign of getting away from being a revenue whore for the entitled mainly white male oligarchs who love a respectable front for their devious activities. I just hope Trump or similar doesnt get any more years than the two left to them until the next election.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • linger, in reply to ,

    Apart from Twitter basically being a synonym for “please cite source”, dosage matters. One molecule of anything isn’t going to spoil your day.

    Tangentially related: one of my Muslim students was worried about sourcing alcohol-free vinegar. By which she meant, guaranteed 0.00000% alcohol. Problem being that almost all commercially available vinegar has ethanol as an impurity (typically around 0.1%). The fact that this isn't enough to cause any physiological effect, and that some fruit on your grocer's shelf will have higher levels of alcohol, did not reassure her in the slightest. Religion trumps chemistry.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to linger,

    Religion trumps chemistry

    Some people's religious views trump reality in general, to them that is the essence of faith.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Driving down Ferry Rd was surprised by a giant family fist “saynopetodope” billboard ad: Cannabis has a Children’s Menu replete with pics of candy esp gummy bears. It seemed fundamentally dishonest – noone on the pro side supports selling dope to kids, or anything like that. Even where gummy bears have been sold (colerado?) they have not been sold to kids. Don’t suppose there’s anything one can do about it. I guess to avoid graffitti, it was really high … :)

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • linger, in reply to Moz,

    I wouldn’t want to deny anyone their faith, nor to disrespect anyone’s reasons for avoiding alcohol. But it was unsettling to realise that the label showing the impurity level was not helping. My student would have been more comfortable with a product label that didn’t mention the possibility of any ethanol being included, because that would have allowed room for a more pragmatic approach, rather than a strict reading. Given a choice between a low-end vinegar with 0.1% ethanol, a high-end vinegar with 0.005% ethanol,, and a cheap product with nobody-knows-and-nobody’s-saying-how-much ethanol … as she saw it, she’d have to choose the *last* of those.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young,

    Two new television opinion polls seem to show opposition to decriminalisation of cannabis for personal use (unsurprisingly, particularly amongst National voters and 55+ voters): https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/113377450/new-polls-show-more-kiwis-against-legalising-recreational-cannabis

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to ,

    Whats dangerous about heroin is the risk of addiction, which won’t do any physical damage. The damage from addiction would be more psychic.

    Dont kid yourself any drug from herbal tea to H has physical effects on neural tissues(the brain) and addiction is physical damage/changes to the neural transmitters and receptors in the brain. It is all physical damage in some form. There is no physical/mental duality its all physical. It just gives the appearance of being separate realities, its an appearance that many have exploited over the ages including religions.
    Thats how they fill followers heads with all kinds of stupidity, the illusion of freewill. Or this or that is bad for you and may affect your chance of getting into that illusionary place where your dead relatives live with their figures of worship. And if they get them young enough it may take a lifetime to rid oneself of these fictions, if ever.
    YES the brain is where ones consciousness resides but it is not a separate entity and it will die when you die and very much subject to what you put into your body. All manner of external factors affect it, they are all physical and have physical outcomes. Reading a book is a physical act and has physical outcomes, even if its just making you sleepy.

    If the doctor doesn’t prescribe it I don’t use it.

    You do know that very fallible people who were doctors started the opiod crisis. And used to prescribe opium.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Neil, in reply to ,

    Unlike say meth addiction, which is likely to cause brain damage, make you socially isolated and you could wind up in jail.

    One of the many tragedies of meth will be the legacy of a cohort young people with meth related brain damage moving through the education and health services. For many it will be on top of other social and psychological vulnerabilities.

    Since Nov 2016 • 382 posts Report Reply

  • Neil, in reply to ,

    Yes, plus a smaller number exposed to meth while in the womb. There’s still not much support for fetal alcohol alcohol syndrome let alone meth.

    Although often lots of compounding factors and I generally get to see those with lots of severe compounding factors but there is a degree of permanent brain damage.

    Not so much depressive as anti-social, poor impulse control. But there’s often a learnt component as well if they’re from a violent family background and been to prison.

    Since Nov 2016 • 382 posts Report Reply

  • linger, in reply to Neil,

    And also (almost inseparably tangled up with "learnt", but persisting into the next generation regardless of environment), an epigenetic contribution further limiting impulse control and increasing base anxiety levels.

    Tokyo • Since Apr 2007 • 1944 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to ,

    if they try prescribing heroin

    Its usually in the form of morphine and the best way to alleviate suffering at end of life situations. Say no to that if you want, I wont be.

    Heroin addiction is unlikely to cause brain damage. But heroin addiction could leave you socially isolated

    Addiction is a form of brain damage, but yeah heroin users can be very adept at hiding it, until they run out of money and resort to all manner of cajoling to get money for the next fix. That can bring on social isolation, then its stealing to get the money. The downward spiral can go pretty deep.

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody,

    Great response, Russell, to Mike Hosking's deceitful behaviour in the form of his "reporting" on this issue;

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12239675

    He really is an idiot.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to ,

    the Public Address System party is over

    Yep. I believe all the cool kids have taken to twitter or other antisocial media and I just can't be bothered. There's just no place for reflection let alone research, and even the better twits either vomit hundreds of tweets a month or retweet all sorts of stuff that I don't care about. Instagram is worse, believe it or not.

    Sadly I have to use twitter for work, because some of the tools I use are only supported via twitter. Which is a whole different problem.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • andin, in reply to Moz,

    twits either vomit hundreds of tweets a month or retweet all sorts of stuff

    Its certainly quantity over quality, offensiveness generating outrage is a seller too.The downward spiral goes on

    raglan • Since Mar 2007 • 1891 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to andin,

    It's as much that there's no useful tagging or threading, so I can't just follow, say, "Russell Brown's considered public posts", or "discussion of {post on Public Address}", I have to accept "everything Russell posts" or "anything tagged public address" and good luck with that.

    It doesn't scale. I could in theory follow one or two people who tweet multiple times a day, but I have roughly 500 RSS feeds... multiplying that by even 10 twitter posts each turns it to garbage. Setting twitter to "only show posts, no replies or mentions" barely helps.

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Boden,

    We're currently preparing a letter to counter Family First's misrepresentation of the evidence around cannabis and psychosis (which they want to link to violent behaviour). I'll keep you all posted.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 97 posts Report Reply

  • Moz, in reply to Joe Boden,

    Family Fist is concerned about violent behaviour? Talk about the worm turning, whatever happened to "god given right to punch children in the face"?

    Sydney, West Island • Since Nov 2006 • 1233 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Boden, in reply to Moz,

    Family Fist is concerned about violent behaviour? Talk about the worm turning, whatever happened to “god given right to punch children in the face”?

    See, that's ok, so long as you are not high. :D

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 97 posts Report Reply

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