Posts by Kim Griggs
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You can vote at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports after you've cleared customs. Can't remember this being an option last election. The Commission really is making it easy for people to vote.
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Russell, my topic would be copyright - and how to resolve disputes. There is no simple way to do this in New Zealand. The Copyright Tribunal looks at only copyright collecting schemes, and whether they are good or badand the Dispute Tribunal has a specific exclusion for intellectual property disputes. But the whole tribunal system is now up for review - and it's proposed the Copyright Tribunal will be disestablished and its functions picked up to the District Court - but why not have the Copyright Tribunal rejigged so that it could look at copyright disputes?
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John Key has laid out his proposals for roading here
http://www.johnkey.co.nz/index.php?/archives/237-SPEECH-Road-Transport-Forum.htmlHis fomula is: tolls, government debt in the form of infrastructure bonds and taxes. "Road taxes will continue to be by far the most common source of financing for New Zealand's roads."
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Just FYI....Spike Milligan wrote the joke, Richard Wiseman did set up the voting
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5064020.stm -
I knew anarchists was the wrong choice for the analogy as soon as I posted it. How about the Spartacus League then? I think they are obscure enough to make my point.
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It's probably not quite the right analogy but isn't the insistence on including sceptics 'for balance' in the climate debate akin to telling Guyon Espiner or Duncan Garner to include anarchists in every report about New Zealand's politics?
And furthermore, harking back to the endorsing science comment, we don't ask our press gallery reporters to debate whether or not we should actually have a parliamentary democracy - we discuss the issues going on within that system.
Do they 'endorse' parliamentary democracy by reporting on what's going on within it?
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when we were told our stories had an endorsing (of science) tone.
I think part of the problem with this whole debate is that there is not one person - to my knowledge - employed as a science reporter by the daily mainstream media in New Zealand. Not one.
I imagine we're the only 'developed' country in that position.
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I was part of a group of four writers who wrote a science column for the Listener for a couple of years. Our idea, promoted to Pamela in the first instance by Marilyn Head, was to provide stories about the abundance of interesting science that is being done in New Zealand. Our hope was that the stories would show the array of different aspects of New Zealand's science community - there are some great stories out there - but also build up an appreciation of science so that there is an understanding, and critical thought about what science can and can't do. So that when we debate climate change or nanotechnology or GE or xenotransplantation or the Large Hadron Collider, there can be more light and less heat in our discussions. We eventually quit - spat the dummy truth to be told - when we were told our stories had an endorsing (of science) tone. This, from a magazine that had run a story about laughter yoga (well written though it was) under the science and health banner.
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Just a quick spruik for the national freelancers' conference
www.freelance2008.co.nz
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I've been inspired by the book the Big Year. So much so I'm thinking of buying this - although I'd welcome suggestions if there are other useful tomes that you'd like to recommend?
And out of curiousity does Graeme or anyone else know if New Zealand has a Big Year equivalent?