everyone dash to the toilet to lighten the load before checking themselves in

Not such a bad idea – seriously.

IMHO, you shouldn't even be allowed on the plane with a BMI of 35 unless you buy two or three seats.

There's a bandwagon I'm staying away from.

However, I do wonder if any airlines do, or ever will, change their baggage allowance to be 'total weight you bring onto…

Danielle: are we conducting this discussion in relay form, from blog to blog?

Heh. I imagine, somehow, that people here will be much more horrible to The Squat than folks over at The Hand Mirror. I kind of wish I hadn't taken the baton, and had just run out of…

Oh wow. Um. Dude, you clearly don't know anything about BMI. At all. Also: really an assholish thing to say.

Danielle: are we conducting this discussion in relay form, from blog to blog?

You take this one. Wait, you already have.

IMHO, you shouldn't even be allowed on the plane with a BMI of 35 unless you buy two or three seats.

Oh wow. Um. Dude, you clearly don't know anything about BMI. At all. Also: really an assholish thing to say. Or: what Mark E just said.

dc-red, type II…

He's got to run out of bullshit and retire sooner or later.

I used to think that about Leighton Smith and Larry Williams. Still waiting...

At 175 cm I'd have to weigh just over 100 kg to be a BMI of 35. I'm pretty sure I could in fact sit in a single plane seat without inconveniencing anyone else.

The dig about Rush being obese was indeed at sly reference to the news article about…

Spotted the cover of the current issue of Newsweek today: We Are All Socialists Now

Here's the story

And a blog post with the same title by Sullivan. From October .,,

...and apologies for not being blacked out--but I am, in spirit.

Me too. In fact, that's black coffee in that there image.

Spotted the cover of the current issue of Newsweek today: We Are All Socialists Now

So, it now looks like Comrade Greenspan was a double agent appointed head of the Fed so that he could destroy the free market system and advance the cause of socialism in the United States.

Also, on Rush, isn't it funny how Right-wing Americans always want to escape to New Zealand, as if it's some kind of libertarian paradise.

Spotted the cover of the current issue of Newsweek today: We Are All Socialists Now

Yeah, but who can blame them?

I wouldn't really blame anyone for having an opinion. And I guess you have a point that Obama really does have to listen to the overall opinion, regardless of whether it is totally wrong. The more account he takes of it, the more involved…

The dig about Rush being obese was indeed at sly reference to the news article about…

So it bloody well should be. IMHO, you shouldn't even be allowed on the plane with a BMI of 35 unless you buy two or three seats.

Bad experience talking here? And you're generalising somewhat; it would be entirely possible for someone with a BMI of 35 to be portly,…

I can't really see him jumping all over our airwaves. He's got to run out of bullshit and retire sooner or later.

Unlikely – somehow NZ media keeps on wringing stale strangled brainfarts out of far less energetic windbags than Rush. If he moves here he'll probably still be on…

Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce acknowledged concerns about the law's implementation, but stopped short of saying it would be reviewed.

"We will keep a close eye on how the new law works in practice. We are prepared to look at further changes if they prove necessary."

That's practically…

I think it's more that *all* Americans (who have heard of New Zealand) seem to think of it as this distant, mostly-white paradise with exquisite scenery, friendly natives

Well, almost without exception in NY over the past few weeks, Americans I met (and there were a few) or simply encountered,…

I pretty much agree with all of that. But I think it's easy to forget that it's not the plan that's going to actually save or damn the economy, all on it's own. Or Obama and his team. It's the public, and the way big…

The story suggests the NZIS cut off is a BMI of 35.

So it bloody well should be. IMHO, you shouldn't even be allowed on the plane with a BMI of 35 unless you buy two or three seats.

None of them have twigged to the dim view the New…

Good point. I'd argue, in this case, that it is important to know what the American public thinks about how to get out of it in a political sense.

Economists can make informed statements the effectiveness of any plan to resolve the American financial position supported by their…

The point is that the PQs were asked. That is a large step up in raising the profile of the issue.…

These people don’t feel as if they did anything different or wrong, so why would they think it is it their fault?

For much the same reason that any massive collective delusion is the fault of everyone who was deluded. It's really not that hard…

Well, whatever happened to the jumbo jets full of refugees fleeting to Hobbiton from the Reich of Chimpy McBushitler four years back?

Not Hobbiton. Canada.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/24/75-threatening-to-move-to-canada/

In my dealings with Mr Power (some time ago admittedly) I would have to think that he doesn't have much more to say.

Compared to Judith Tizard's rather dismal performance on this issue last year, which just proved the wisdom in the saying that it's better to keep quiet and…

isn't it funny how Right-wing Americans always want to escape to New Zealand, as if it's some kind of libertarian paradise

I think it's more 'some weird place down where penguins and hobbits live but-the-scenery-is-quite-nice' than anything else.

Overall, nearly two thirds of Americans still reject the theory of evolution.

Say what you will about Americans and their attitudes towards evolution, at least you don't have to worry about listening to nonsense theories about 'evolutionary psychology' when teaching them history.

Also, on Rush, isn't it funny how Right-wing…

For those in Wellington who want to go along, Back Benchers starts again tonight (Wed 18).

Yes, thanks Hilary, I probably should have mentioned that myself. Just sitting here cutting the newswrap now before rushing for my flight. Come say hi if you make it along.

Does Simon Power have to say much more than "better than my predecessor, who said [insert quote here}"? Of course, he does

In my dealings with Mr Power (some time ago admittedly) I would have to think that he doesn't have much more to say.

I've put in another bunch of OIA requests, more in hope than expectation.

Except you'd be pissed before you got below the front page fold.

Too true. Replace the word "fun" with "deadly."

Overall, nearly two thirds of Americans still reject the theory of evolution

In the wonderful American Natural History Museum they have a very comprehensive, extraordinarily concise and understandable walkthrough of evolution which includes input from a selection of scientists who believe in a divine creator but argue evolution. Having spent…

They also fuck up section 92A to Section 92a (as you might expect, given I doubt they've had any training in legal notation.) And that's on a quick skim. There may be…

Overall, nearly two thirds of Americans still reject the theory of evolution.

Probably more accurate to say they reject whatever the hell they think the theory of evolution is.

but whatshername Glaucoma's column's particularly full of typos.

How did you pick out the typos when the damn woman is functionally illiterate?

In today's Questions for Oral Answer:

12. CLARE CURRAN to the Minister of Commerce: Does he intend to respond to public concerns expressed about the implementation of section 92A of the Copyright Act, which comes into force next week; if so, what will be his response?

Does Simon Power have…

If it's journalism, you have a sub-editor!

I agree about the Herald – was reading the paper version of the HOS and found a tonne of glitches – and not that it's journalism, but whatshername Glaucoma's column's particularly full of typos.

You could make a fun drinking game out of spotting errors non-stupid subs could have fixed

Except you'd be pissed before you got below the front page fold.

Actually Ben, my theory is that people tend to think well of the period of their lives when they were young, fit, and relatively good looking, whenever it happened.

Definitely occurred to me, so I usually follow up with "what was better about it than the time just before?", to…

The story suggests the NZIS cut off is a BMI of 35.

It used to be possible to buy your way into the country regarding of any of that, though. That's how retirees managed to come to these shroes. Is that no longer the case? I doubt that he would…

Would Rush Limbaugh qualify for immigration? He is an obese drug addict after all.

Indeed. Just a couple of days ago a 135kg American was denied permanent residency due to obesity.

The story suggests the NZIS cut off is a BMI of 35.

12. CLARE CURRAN to the Minister of Commerce: Does he intend to respond to public concerns expressed about the implementation of section 92A of the Copyright Act, which comes into force next week; if so, what will be his response?

Actually Ben, my theory is that people tend to think well of the period of their lives when they were young, fit, and relatively good looking, whenever it happened.

For evidence, listen to people, now in their forties, enthuse over getting to a performance of a reformed band that was…

Has anyone here played with Microsoft Songsmith? That is a whole new world of copyright nothingness. Music that makes it self. It is a truly awful program that my band is hoping to use to make an EP, if the mint chicks don't beat…

Thanks to news media's Twitterphilia, however, the blackout is getting the kind of international attention that a protest marking a procedural stage in the passage of domestic laws would otherwise not have attracted, or merited.

All very meta.

Wasn't insufficient thought what landed us all in this illimitable ocean of wee in the first place?

I really don't know. My actual feeling is that it's "thinking you're better than everyone else, when you actually aren't". This applies in particular to goods produced in the first world vs goods…

Rush Limbaugh

The annoying thing is that the stimulus package is far from perfect — my belief is that "stimulus" is like fucking. It don't matter how big it is, if it's being shoved in all the wrong places.

No you're doing it wrong. Stimulus isn't _like_ fucking. It's the thing you're…

p.s. Here's my entry for the "How do you tell if it's blogging or journalism?" debate:
If it's journalism, you have a sub-editor!

I like this. By this measure, nearly everything on the Herald website isn't journalism. Stuff is... sometimes.

Honestly, the Herald site is abominable for errors. You could…

That's a debate only one side can really win rationally but will never the less be a painful drawn out affair from those who literally feel invested in the status quo.

I'm not sure if either side can win rationally. Both will surely claim to have won, no matter which…

I feel for Obama. A president is meant to do what the people want, but fixing a recession/depression is a highly technical job.

I actually feel sorry for anyone who is trying to make some sense of what the hell is going on while people are at both ears screaming…

That's it mate, this is period of revaluation. That's a debate only one side can really win rationally but will never the less be a painful drawn out affair…

p.s. Here's my entry for the "How do you tell if it's blogging or journalism?" debate:

If it's journalism, you have a sub-editor!

*cough* Are you sure that sub-editor hasn't been laid off had his job out-sourced to three monkeys and a bucket of poo in another time zone?

Jon Stewart is not alone in wondering where the Republicans' newfound passion for fiscal rectitude came from. His Daily Show interview with John Sununu was a cracker.

I can't have been the only person watching that interview and screaming at the set, "where the fuck were you in the eight…

Er, the demo is Thursday, not today, right?

Er, yes. Left out the key word "tomorrow". Fixed now, thanks.

It's section 92A . Or s 92A .

[and not section 92(A), nor S92(a)]

p.s. Here's my entry for the "How do you tell if it's blogging or journalism?" debate:…