Posts by Kevin McCready

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  • Speaker: One year on from the umbrella protests,

    Thanks Nickkita
    I tell people that the Chinese empire is more diverse than eastern and western Europe put together, linguistically, culturally, historically. The attempt to unite the empire is via imposing a written script on Thai speaking areas in the south (much of Guangxi Province for example), Yue speaking areas (Guangzhou), Islamic areas (Xinjiang), Vietnamese areas, Korean, Russian etc etc. There are at least 55 non-Han nationalities in China). I've even seen Tibetan written in Chinese characters designed to be pronounced in the northern language (Madarin).

    BTW for those who don't know, parallel goods smuggling or parallel trading happens on any porous border where there's a price differential (eg Singaporeans going on shopping trips to Malaysia). In HK, mainlanders make multiple trips to HK and buy up household goods such as milk, creating shortages in HK and crowding out the locals in the markets. Localist groups in HK have taken direct action, including burning down warehouses involved in the trade.

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Creating a "New Scoop": Our…,

    "The tendency has always been strong to believe that whatever received a name must be an entity or thing" John Stuart Mill 1829

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Creating a "New Scoop": Our…,

    Thanks AT.

    So I go to Gordon Campbell's latest article (re Donald Trump).
    http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/08/19/gordon-campbell-on-donald-trump-and-dr-dre/

    1. The webpage doesn't remember who I am.
    2. There is no button to logon.
    3. I laboriously enter my details, again.
    4. The little boxes for details are too small to see the details I enter.
    5. I type in my comment and bingo
    6. Webpage hangs up, again and as it's done before when I've bovvered the last few months.
    http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/wp-comments-post.php

    This is very basic stuff. But it's reassuring to note that "Gordon Campbell is a SCOOP MEDIA project, powered by WordPress."

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Creating a "New Scoop": Our…,

    AT, I want to say this kindly and to thank you for your efforts in NZ Media, but think you need to step away. Whoever takes over from you would do well to have a very close look at crikey.com.au including their twitter account @crikey_news . All I can say is that scoop is all over the place and needs sharper focus.

    Some of the things which spring to mind are my reasons for unfollowing your twitter account which included too much publishing of other people's press releases and, if I recall correctly, I had no idea who they were from unless I clicked on the tweet. You also tended to tweet random stuff not tightly linked to your website. And speaking of websites - compare yours (2nd or third rate) compared to crikey.com.au

    Gordon Campbell is very good value but you need to use him the way crikey uses Guy Rundle. Also Gordon rarely or never responds on his article page to comments - or maybe he doesn't see them.

    These days news goes with comment and you need to spend the effort moderating the comments, keeping them open for a set and brief period of time, insisting as far as possible on use of real names and having a strict bunch of rules (a la The Standard) might help.

    And if RB still has shares in your company perhaps that should have been declared here.

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Saying what we actually mean on…,

    There is no such thing as "the economy". It's a mistake to even use the word. Here's why:
    https://kmccready.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/open-letter-to-colin-james-cc-rod-oram/

    And for an accessible pdf of Lakoff:
    http://www.cognitivepolicyworks.com/resource-center/thinking-points/

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Protesting private prisons,

    Prisons are the crime. I spent 8 years of my professional life in prisons in various roles. We DO NOT NEED prisons. The argument for deterrence is bullshit and proven so. For the tiny tiny number of dangerous humans we need secure mental health facilities and even they need very tight and ongoing reviews. Prof John Pratt points to the answer.

    This sad period of NZ history deserves a proper discussion, not just replacing #serco with government employees and their union's punitive attitude to prisoners. http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/professor-calls-for-better-nz-prison-conditions-2013012719#axzz3glrCwlJL

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Polity: The overconfidence man, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    'slick PR machine' ? And that doesn't describe Winston??? Peters is the flipflop champion of NZ history. It's just that he's probably the smartest at in in NZ history.

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Envirologue: Swamp Monsters – the…,

    I'm also worried about the levels of pig-ignorance of these people. eg Judith Collins when she said "I don’t like wetlands, they’re swamps… Go and find someone who actually cares because I don’t."

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: A conversation from belief,

    For Russel:
    My 4 step Guide for journos interviewing religionists
    http://kmccready.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/journalists-interviewing-religionists/

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

  • Speaker: Public art is no place for committees, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Seems the Tax Avoiders Union are wankers too, in addition to their other crimes

    Auckland • Since Jun 2013 • 119 posts Report

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