Posts by rodgerd
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It is curious that every time I have heard/read Nandor Tanzcos ideas/perspectives he has sounded so reasoned and reasonable. Imagine what the level of debate would be like if the shouters and pointscorers in Parliament had to lift their game to his level!!
Unfortunately that seems unlikely so long as anything relating to the Greens gets reported in the papers as, "those whacky nutjobs are at it again", which seems to be pretty much the case no matter what they do.
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Ooh, I can play that game! It's not as though the New Zealand Police Force has ever made a mistake, planted evidence, exceeded its powers, or failed to convict either.
And you'd be making a reasonable point. Which is why we have all these processes to try and dig such stuff out. Nation of laws and all that. The rush to lend limitless credulity to the pronouncements of innocence irks me, is all. Not everyone is even in the same ballpark as the very reasonable:
Personally, I incline to a view, based in the information I have, and I find it a reasonable view. If I hear new information I will change it accordingly.
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I'm not trying to fall out with anyone
Then perhaps you need to stop chanelling George Dubya's "You're with us or against us".
I would argue that public pressure will be the key factor on these people getting to rejoin their friends and families.
Not unless you want politicians overriding the judicial process arbitarily. In which case, frankly, it is you who is leading New Zealand down the path to facism, not the cops.
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On the other side anyone who finds out the names of some of the people arrested says "no way in a million years is x a terrorist"
Well, that's proof then. I mean, it's not as though people who are well-thought of by friends and colleagues have ever turned out to be pedophiles, or wife-beaters, or serial killers, or rapists.
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The attraction for the telcos is in only having to deliver to a single point of entry for the network. In Europe, they compete quite strongly to deliver service.
Given the two major local telcos and their ISPs have been working to knobble peering exchanges, I really can't see them emulating their European peers.
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The parallels with late 20th century technology are easy to observe. Internal combustion of gasoline is not the most technologically advanced use of energy, particularly in the form of the car (especially the SUV:)).
Actually, for certain tasks - fast, ad-hoc travel over a distance - the car is a fantastic tool. The fact we use it as a form of mass-transit in rush hour is where it's a dreadful misapplication.
It makes one wonder if there wasn't the equivalent of "big oil" and "the car industry" in Roman society. Were there powerful lobby groups heavily invested in slavery that opposed alternative technology?
Well, if you were at the top of the Roman tree you were a landholder with a history of millitary service. You wealth and power didn't come from innovations in industry, trade, and transport.
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I remember my classics teacher at varsity showing us an early steam engine they'd found in excavations from the Hellenic Egyptian period - it was used to make a circle of toy dolphins spin round. I think they used steam in temples to make doors mysteriously open and close, too, but I'm trying to remember back an embarrassing number of years now. But there was obviously a mental block with using other technologies rather than a technological one.
There's an interesting parallel to China, as well. When discussing the history of technology you'll always run into some Sinophile who'll pop in with, "Haha! The Chinese invented while you Caucasians were living in mud huts!" Which may be true[1], but inventing something and then not using it to any great degree (gunpowder) rather negates the value of the invention.
[1] Allowing for the degree to which I trust nationalistic historians proving that they invented everything first. Talk to an American and you'll find them asserting they invented TV and digital computers, not some shabby Brits.
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I personally find the decline of the Roman Empire is kind of a Rorsharch test for people. It tells you more about what they think than the actual causes.
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Now I have to go construct an elegantly paranoid three minute rave about how the Booker Prize judges are incompetent to judge graffiti on a toilet wall.
What do you expect from English referees?
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Try being involved in 'mainstream' politics. I don't think 'arrogance' even covers it, it's like you've wandered into some cult where the only thing worse than an infidel is a backsliding heretic.
Hence Mark Blumsky deciding that he doesn't want to be in Parliament after getting shit for the unforgivable crime of thinking working with marian Hobbs on issues relevant to Wellington might be a good idea.