Posts by Greg Dawson

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Hard News: Five further thoughts, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    and among some older names is 阳桃/yángtáo – “sun peach”. Thanks, Ian!

    Please tell me that is because a regular peach looks like a 'moon'.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Sunlight Resistance, in reply to Trevor Nicholls,

    What evidence is there of any resistance to the TPPA on Key’s part at all?

    None whatsoever. Our best bet on dodging this particular bullet remains Japanese resistance. Long may it continue.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Speaker: Compulsory voting and election turnout, in reply to tussock,

    Their rates are too low. I may not have shouted that enough, but it’s difficult to even find a place to talk about local elections on the internet or anywhere else.

    Believe Craig was talking about rates as in taxes :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: "Project SPEARGUN underway",

    Time for a new GCSB bill? The spooks down on the quay have got to be jealous of what their aussie brethren have just been given.

    The new bill also allows ASIO to seek just one warrant to access a limitless number of computers on a computer network when attempting to monitor a target, which lawyers, rights groups, academics and Australian media organisations have condemned.

    They said this would effectively allow the entire internet to be monitored, as it is a "network of networks" and the bill does not specifically define what a computer network is.

    ASIO will also be able to copy, delete, or modify the data held on any of the computers it has a warrant to monitor.

    And Mr Key would sure love to jail anyone that talked about the GCSB -

    Anyone - including journalists, whistleblowers and bloggers - who "recklessly" discloses "information ... [that] relates to a special intelligence operation" faces up to 10 years' jail.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Sunlight Resistance, in reply to andin,

    Maybe we can learn from baboons. Yes I’ve posted it before, but …..

    Curse you for posting that before btw – I’m now halfway through a marathon watch of Sapolsky’s entire Human Bio 150 lecture series at Stanford. The guy is a great speaker, and the material is utterly fascinating.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: The humanity, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I don’t have anything to add, but I just wanted to say – despite the fact that we often vehemently disagree, as a life-long townie I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge of how NZ’s primary industry works.

    ETA: and doesn't work :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Sunlight Resistance, in reply to Andrew Geddis,

    So, yeah – winning 48% of the vote means that half of the only people in New Zealand who count supported you.

    Also, the calls for a recount are hilarious and ill informed. On the other hand, we can have a productive argument about what that mandate allows them to get away with.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Sunlight Resistance, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Greg: You know what’s getting my panties in a bunch? People who think that just didn’t happen (and it did a lot), who don’t distinguish between reporting allegations and facts, and when it’s politically useful elevate the media to a judicial body.

    Sorry, I'm not seeing the connection (not accusing you of arguing in bad faith, just having a brain fail). Can you tell me what "that just didn't happen (and it did a lot)" refers to?

    I agree completely that the media in general need to be far more careful than they have been in separating allegations from facts, but I'm not sure that I consider reporting the existence of allegations or uncomfortable facts to be crossing the line into the judiciary.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Sunlight Resistance, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    but I’m still struggling to see what the media could have possibly done to satisfy you without (as Andrew put it) becoming nakedly partisan in a seriously troubling manner.

    This is the line that is getting my knickers in a twist - that it's partisan to point out when someone is breaking the law or being blatantly immoral in a public office. It's not partisan, except in as much as it's taking the party of the f*cking public.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: The humanity, in reply to llew40,

    Sorry – dont buy that. Seen the circulation figures for the Herald in South Auckland? Seen the declining figures on TV News?.

    I didn’t say that everyone was reading/watching the main news outlets, just that the way they frame the story still drives the national conversation.

    And I’d still happily posit that it does in the face of the consumption decline – I reliably hear the talking points put out there by news stories from people who never watch the news or read the paper. It doesn’t have to be first hand to be influence.

    ETA: and of course the "new" media spend an inordinate proportion of their time discussing what the "old" media are saying

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 30 Older→ First