That division – call it Highway Patrol perhaps – should be plainly seen to be separate – separately commanded and with different-coloured vehicles and uniforms, preferably black and white.

I shall only support this measure if Erik Estrada is involved in some way.

It is believed that the group of four were taking full bottles of wine from the bar then smuggling them individually out the gate and up to the car.

See, Tom – real chardonnay socialists in action. :)

DPF’s Kiwiblog – Fomenting Happy Mischief since 2003

I always read the Kiwblog tagline wrong – seeing it as fermenting rather than fomenting so don't read any further.

Foment – foster, stimulate or instigate (sentiment, conduct, sedition etc)

Ferment – suffer, subject to, excite, stir up, foment

Concise Oxford (1964)…

Craig, I know just what you mean. But I still hold hope, as Gareth says it's annoying not to be…

but nowadays it's getting to the point where you wade your way through all that crap and find absolutely nothing from any non-trolls.

Why should they? My last gasp in trying to contribute to a grown-up discussion was a thread on Sarah Palin. Apparently, total strangers decided anyone who had…

It used to be that amongst all the trolls you'd find serious commentary and analysis, but nowadays it's getting to the point where you wade your way through all that crap and find absolutely nothing from any non-trolls.

And isn't that a shame – I've probably said it a few…

Even getting flamed by RB has the tedious predictability of reading a hundred thousand haiku in a row.

An experience that onetime poetry editor Richard Allen described as "like being nibbled to death by goldfish".
Apparently the original Sid Vicious was an albino hamster given to mistaking fingers for food.…

Aidan Smith was arrested after allegedly being caught taking the wine to a car outside Wednesday night's party, which was attended by Prime Minister John Key and a collection of other ministers and senior MPs.

A group of up to four…

Driver could barely get through it

The quality of the video makes Gibson look like he's got a Hitler mustache.
Lucky he's so incoherent.

One thing, though- has anyone here met the poster who calls himself "Redbaiter"?

No, and considering some of the really nasty shit he's thrown in my direction why would I? To be honest, I don't want to turn this into another lazy bag Kiwiblog session (because there are some lefties…

Garth is a bit of a must read around here

Just checking Al – does "around here" mean your office?

One thing, though- has anyone here met the poster who calls himself "Redbaiter"?

Think I knew him when he was a kid. You couldn't wish to meet a sweeter guy. Utterly convinced that he was the antichrist, promisied no more school and unlimited boiled lollies for all once he got…

It seriously boggles the mind and it's one reason why I don't think I could post on that board- he's just so unpleasant to read.

Luckily his behaviour on here caused Russell to ban him pretty quick.

I found that kiwiblog thread to just be painful. I felt like I…

And the latest Herald commentary (not editorial) from Audrey Young, where she highlights that Bill English has mildly praised Cullen for leaving them in a "reasonable position, having saved for the rainy day" is causing the most extraordinary cognitive dissonance over at Kiwiblog.
It's hilarious to read down to the…

Pete took over from Trevor and Trevor handed him 3 envelopes, saying they contained advice and were to be opened at times of crisis.
When Pete…

I'm utterly beguiled by How To Look Good Naked, so like I'm going to sneer at your low-brow tastes. :)

For some reason, my eye delivered that to me as How to Cook Naked. No less credible than half of what people will watch on TV.

Can I just say that Motorway Patrol is one of my favourite programmes?

I'm utterly beguiled by How To Look Good Naked, so like I'm going to sneer at your low-brow tastes. :)

a high-end Commodore SV6/8, which can pounce on speedsters very effectively,

Unless those speedsters happen to have a lighter, more powerful car, with 4 wheel drive, something that any kid can get for less then 10 grand.

Like a little yellow mini 1275 GTwith the number plate "BLNDNI"

Glad to hear that someone got the Air NZ tickets because I don't recall any mention of prize awarding and was wondering. Great to do it nice and discretely though.

I think Damian felt a bit put off the whole thing after being accused of being an evil monster for…

That's Intent to Supply in Texas and Oklahoma. Sex toys, not drugs.

Funny thing is, in Texas it's perfectly legal to sleep with 20 guns under your pillow. Even funnier still, when I pointed out the inconsistency to a colleague on a web forum (a local BTW, not a Yank),…

a high-end Commodore SV6/8, which can pounce on speedsters very effectively,

Unless those speedsters happen to have a lighter, more powerful car, with 4 wheel drive, something that any kid can get for less then 10 grand.

The connection between the evidence (police spying on protest groups) and the conclusion (traffic needs to be separated from police more), I must have missed.

Well, he had one reasonable conclusion (spying on protest groups is bad, mmkay?), before his column spun out of control with a rant about traffic…

which proved to contain several dildos and some stuff that looked like it might be of use in drug manufacture

That's Intent to Supply in Texas and Oklahoma. Sex toys, not drugs.

It was top viewing at a fraction of what the same thing would cost on Outrageous Fortune.

But the dialogue is so much better on Outrageous Fortune — though you're stuck with the old conundrum that real life is so bizarre that any scriptwriter who came up with it would…

I think my favourite ever was the one where the woman drove into the car that had stopped on the harbour bridge and blathered on so much that the police pretty much had to check her boot,…

Is he being wry and ironic, or having a flashback?

Darth don't do irony, so I think 'flashback' is the only option. Bad acid really does frak you up, doesn't it?

That division – call it Highway Patrol perhaps – should be plainly seen to be separate – separately commanded and with different-coloured vehicles and uniforms, preferably black and white.

Is he being wry and ironic, or having a flashback?

Highway Patrol

Holy smokes, where does he get these ideas? And I would prefer say yellow and blue as opposed to orange and blue for regular patrol cars, but I'd so hate to pre-empt the police in adaption of Garth's revolutionary suggestion...

Define paraleipsis, with reference to the following passage:

And while we're busy reorganising the NZ Police, let's set about separating traffic control from the rest of the force's activities.

I'm not suggesting that traffic policing be returned to a separate entity (or entities) as it…

Here's a mantra: "A broken clock tells the right time twice every day."

That pretty much sums up what it took me two paragraphs to say. No point in navigating back a page to decode my asterisked comment now. Curse you, Ranapia! :)

Can anyone recommend something I can take that will make me feel clean again?

Here's a mantra: "A broken clock tells the right time twice every day." Shame to see he's swallowed the "everything went to heck in a kete when traffic work was allowed to dilute real policing" Hoodoo.…

Can anyone recommend something I can take that will make me feel clean again?

Ooh, that's a tough one.

Occasionally George has burst of lucidity, in which one might suspect that someone saner is ghostwriting his column, but basically the only thing that separates this piece from the standard George…

Can anyone recommend something I can take that will make me feel clean again?

...readers who told the best customer service story (I gather the winner was bloody stoked about it).

Did someone win?...look's a bit like a loose end on that thread.

...that the producers of heavily promoted prime-time shows on well-established channels like Sensing Murder and Shortland Street probably aren't lying awake…

Oops I just realized I'm telling that to the wrong guy :-)

I don't know but Simon Pound said on Nat Radio your show doesn't rate.

If we were both listening to the same appearance on The Panel, I think Simon was making the rather limited (and perfectly accurate) point that the producers of heavily promoted prime-time shows on well-established channels like…

Well the simple answer to being insulted would be your ratings.

I don't know but Simon Pound said on Nat Radio your show doesn't rate.

It's not even in the ratings as far as I know. But it does really well on ondemand, which is pleasing.

Again, when does the…

I don't know but Simon Pound said on Nat Radio your show doesn't rate. Again, when does the inbedded reporter know when they're being bribed?

Once the right conditions are set, conspiracy is not required. (Fave movie Seven Crosses…

As for Gilchrist & Rees, I think it's worth remembering he is 40yrs and she is 22yrs.

And your point is?

There's a big power dynamic in greater age. I know they're both over the legal age of consent, but even so, a 22 year old usually has far less social…

I wish Stuff would get another photo of Ralston. It is not pleasant seeing a man putting on his eyebrows.

Still, a good post.

It is. It makes a strong, clear point.

A few of the usual wingnuts have pitched in on comments with the view that it's a jolly…

I wish Stuff would get another photo of Ralston. It is not pleasant seeing a man putting on his eyebrows.

Lol, now there's a man who really didn't have a face for TV. Just as well people don't care about that kind of crap.

And when does your "hyperbole" progress beyond mere idleness and become really, really offensive?

I know this one: 10:39AM on 17 Dec 08.

Still, a good post.

Bill Ralston – Wimpy response to out-of-line cops

elevated the Philippines to its deserved status as a leading and quality, global human resource provider,"

I find something very sad about that statement.

The advantages to Indonesia of easier migration to NZ would be:
– remittance income from migrants (very popular with other nations like the Phillipines)…

- visas for halal butchers to come *to* NZ. Which seems to be just a migration concession and separate from the training aspect.

You may be right about that, but that's even more odd. Offering visas for twenty halal butchers to come to NZ is even less of an enticement…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVu2cX0jEYk

(Heather – fixed this. You were too capable! All the system needs is the YouTube URL — just paste that in — RB)

Maybe The Feds are going in for massive value-added product development and turning all that good green grass into Tranquil Baked Goods for stressed out Money Mongrels?

It's the green grass pudding that has me concerned or slightly lol-ing.

I'm sure you'll appreciate this if you haven't seen it already.

When does complanency become a complicit act?

And when does your "hyperbole" progress beyond mere idleness and become really, really offensive?

Russell, you have mused here in the past that you don't have the face for TV (few of us do) and yet you have gained a show on…

I'm unconvinced of the benefits of any and all free trade deals, just because most of the things (computer software, movies, jetpacks) that NZ's economic growth is in aren't really affected by them.

I hereby sentence you to a week with Federated Farmers. They'll soon correct your thinking, boy.

[{http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/n1116.html}]…

financial assistance for three years to improve the skills of Indonesians working in the dairy and beef industries and visas for 100 Indonesian chefs, ... and 20 halal butchers.

That looks to me that there are two different things:
– training for people in the meat…

Offering to train Halal butchers? There are 210m Moslems here? You don't think they have some experience in this. Or 100 Chefs? I'm thinking there is little NZ could teach Indonesia about cuisine at any level, or the preparation of it.

And since Indonesia, with a middle class who love…

Meh... so tapping someone's phone and diverting their e-mail isn't pretty scumbag as well?

Given what he was doing, I don't have a problem with it. I don't think many other people will either. I also wouldn't have minded if she eavesdropped on him, or followed him around and got…

And considering what a shitpile the last round of spying allegations that appeared under the by-line of Messers Hubbard and Hager, I certainly hope the SST's new editor is a little less credulous than his predecessor. This is one story that better be absolutely water-tight.

Well Gilchrist is a real…

There's a big power dynamic in greater age. I know they're both over the legal age of consent, but even so, a 22 year old usually has far less social and economic power than a 40 year old.

Deborah: Acknowledging the response, but that's a subject I'm going to break…

Another way to frame your question might be.

Identify:

1. Which of these articles is the most evidence based

2. Which of these articles sets out with an audience and purpose

3. Which of these articles took on a life of its own…

As for Gilchrist & Rees, I think it's worth remembering he is 40yrs and she is 22yrs.

And your point is?

There's a big power dynamic in greater age. I know they're both over the legal age of consent, but even so, a 22 year old usually has far less social…

As for Gilchrist & Rees, I think it's worth remembering he is 40yrs and she is 22yrs.

And you point is?

When does complanency become a complicit act?

Russell, you have mused here in the past that you don't have the…

It would be messy, though, and I can't see the Police pursuing it with any real vigour unless he complains loudly, and then goes public when they do a half-arse job and don't really push the matter.

I suspect the biggest brake will be the emails themselves. If he was…

I suppose democracy has always been a little tedious for, you know, dictators.

What a dolt.

Interesting read about Indonesia – i confess I know SFA about it – and, yeah, it looks a mingey (mingy?) offer from us.

It's wose than that, it's absolutely insulting and quite condescending. And being seen that way here, hence the front page of the biggest English language paper and…

Simon: that link from Felix in yr blog of john Key as Tourism Minister talking up NZ as a wonderful holiday destination – come on down, folks! – is pretty bloody stunning

I couldn't agree more. It is almost as priceless as this.

Either pretending to be, or actually being, someone's partner for the purposes of passing information about what groups they're involved with are doing to the police for money. That's pretty scumbag.

Meh... so tapping someone's phone and diverting their e-mail isn't pretty scumbag as well? I don't know about anyone…

Suspect it's a case that everyone naturally has a bit of…

They both sound like the kind of idiots who pretty much put me off politics as anything other than a spectator sport.

I know nothing about her at all.

Him? Either pretending to be, or actually being, someone's partner for the purposes of passing information about what groups they're involved…

I've blogged about it here if anyone cares.

Simon: that link from Felix in yr blog of john Key as Tourism Minister talking up NZ as a wonderful holiday destination – come on down, folks! – is pretty bloody stunning:-b I wonder where it's running? Indonesian tv?

Interesting read about…

"Urewea 17"

Taking the piss.

fabulous drama queen .. blow by blow commentary, live from said island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQEwaRVhWcc

Rob Gilchrist and Rochelle Hume deserve each other, because nobody else should care.

Sorry, I should partially retract that and say we should care enough to point and laugh at the pair of them. A lot.

Still, it going to be good black fun watching Gilchrist being used as a…

And I'm picturing you as the fabulous drama queen wearing oh, something stylee (Dior! Donna Karen! Ralph Lauren! Yves St Laurent!) providing a blow by blow commentary, live from said island.

Well, Christopher, good on Simon Cowell becoming a rather wealthy chap playing ringmaster to a three ring freak show.…

It's more that the Herald was thundering away editorially about the proper practice of Parliament a week ago, but seems fidgety and diffident about criticising National's extraordinary use of urgency.

"National's extraordinary use of urgency" makes sense, but what the Herald was actually talking about today today was how:

John…

Still: better than Jim Hopkins.

The least ambiguous insult I've heard in a while.

It would be messy, though, and I can't see the Police pursuing it with any real vigour unless he complains loudly, and then goes public when they do a half-arse job and don't really push the matter.

And given his recent mea culpa, I doubt Gilchrist would want to go…

Rochelle Hume, deceived partner of police informer Rob Gilchrist, totally pwned him after she realised what was going on — gathered evidence by tapping his phone and installing a script on his computer that forwarded his emails to her.

The righties in The Standard's comment are making much of the…

Mr Brown please don't assume that I would do a "once more over the top boys" for that Grand old Tory lady that is the Herald or her editorial writers. She is like a slightly batty maiden aunt, mostly sensible but not always.

It's a bit like your aunt discovered…

Speaker stumbles, anoints Goff as PM

Oh... and a modest suggestion for whoever is pretending to sub the DomPost nowadays if you're going to be a smart arse, at least try not to be a pretentious one. Anoints? Darling, he's the Speaker not the frigging Archbishop of Canterbury.

Speaker stumbles, anoints Goff as PM

Oh... could everyone just fuck off on holiday and stop pretending they're even marginally relevant?

The righties in The Standard's comment are making much of the fact that she may have breached the law. I would submit that that would be a spectacularly messy…

Armstrong is compulsory reading as is O'Sullivan.…

Alliteration is either. Consonance is specific to consonants (compare and contrast). When it's vowels it's called assonance.

just had to amend the self deprication. but this is the important stuff surely...

Rochelle Hume, deceived partner of police informer Rob Gilchrist, totally pwned him after she realised what was going on — gathered evidence by tapping his phone and installing a script on his computer that forwarded his emails to her.

The righties…

Assonance is "getting the rhyme wrong", actually.

Thank you, Rita.

Gives a nice bit of alliteration (though that's vowels only, damn, what)

Alliteration is either. Consonance is specific to consonants (compare and contrast). When it's vowels it's called assonance.

Oh well. It's nearly Christmas ...

I see Jon Johansson is of [[http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-beltway-blues-random-thoughts-from-inside-the-bubble|much the same mind…

It has a bit of similarity, as both words are two syllables and start with 'c'. Gives a nice bit of alliteration (though that's vowels only, damn, what) and also a very…

Janet Wilson, not MacIntyre. One's married to Bill, the other to Keith Slater. Work for different channels as well.

And bloody good luck telling either woman they should stay home and do something uncontentious like non-partisan baking. I understand anyone foolish enough to try would be served their arse on…

There are no shortage of tinfoil hat wearers on the Internet who will tell you that it was never disbanded.

Why is that so unlikely?

I've blogged about it here if anyone cares.

Reminiscent of J Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO unit from the Cold War.

There are no shortage of tinfoil hat wearers on the Internet who will tell you that it was never disbanded.

I'm told by an activist acquaintance that the infiltrators are easy to spot, as they're the ones who suddenly show up and push hardest for the most direct, extremist action. It's not just fishing... it can annd does go further into planting or entrapment.

Reminiscent of J Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO…

Why do his articles never carry a byline concerning his connections with the National Party in general and its parliamentary leader in particular?

He discussed that issue in a recent post…

Or at least offered something a little stronger than the hilariously half-hearted phrase "not on".

From too much hyperbole to not enough? And, yes, I feel rather dirty engaging in devil's advocacy on behalf of that giant sheltered workshop for the aliterate and terminally dumb. Yes, my default position on…

I think the general tactic is to have a group of columnists who have such outlandish views that hopefully the audience will be drawn back in outraged fascination

A standard tactic of talkback, for sure – and certain subeditors handling letters to the editor. Capital Times' indulgence of the frothing…

And by that rationale the Herald should have run a front page editorial under the byline Democracy Under Attack, and promised to publish monthly the photos of those who voted for the urgency motion.

Or at least offered something a little stronger than the hilariously half-hearted phrase "not on".

But…

Is your personal TV Station payment for your support of Operation 8 & the extended police powers?

That's an absurd suggestion of the kind generally associated with lower-quartile Kiwiblog commenters.

I do not have "a private TV station", although that would be cool.…

And yes, I know it is written by different people on different days, but it is presented as the voice of the paper and should demonstrate a reason degree of consistency.

And by that rationale the Herald should have run a front page editorial under the byline Democracy Under Attack,…

Well, they wouldn't want to upset the advertisers, would they?

That's just a little too tidy, Idiot/Savant. More like "horribly complicated story without a convenient 'it bleeds, it leads' hook"; though to be fair, aviation reporter Grant Bradley did have a reasonably useful story buried back on page B1 .

Meanwhile, the Commerce Commission filing proceeding against thirteen airlines — including Air New Zealand — for allegedly engaging in price fixing worth hundreds of millions of dollars wasn't worth front page, above the fold coverage in the Herald this morning.

Well, they wouldn't want to upset the advertisers, would they?

An (admittedly adorable) moppet shopping for a Christmas tree was.…

And the Ralston column is hackneyed, inconsistent, wrong on facts and one of the worst things he's ever written.

Why do his articles never carry a byline concerning his connections with the National Party in general and its parliamentary leader in particular?

I have no problem with his articles,especially when…

What next? "Ansel Adams' greatest place-kicking tips"? "You too can tackle like Marti Friedlander!"

Heh.

emphasizes the similarities between or among things, though not losing sight of the differences

It's about looking for patterns among diversity, and seeing when things do the same thing but in different ways. Such as noting that despite their different size, weight and design, all these cars are essentially sports…

emphasizes the similarities between or among things, though not losing…

And the Ralston column is hackneyed, inconsistent, wrong on facts and one of the worst things he's ever written.

Quite an achievement! He'll be taking on Jane Black next.

Discuss in 500 words or less the poster's rationale for putting forward this question without mentioning his own pro-Labour bias. You have 30 minutes starting now. Eyes down please.

Huh?

It's this new rule that was passed in urgency at 11.58 last night. Whenever you post on a political topic…

the Ralston column is hackneyed, inconsistent, wrong on facts

No change there, then.

Before I start reading can you clarify which National Standard my answer is going to be marked against?

Numeracy, Level 2. The Minister's Office stuffed up and Gazetted the wrong standards.

The Herald's editorial voice is often like this — it gets trappped in its own arguments.

I'm told most of the editorials are written by Roughan.

Is your personal TV Station payment for your support of Operation 8 & the extended police powers?

Huh?

Discuss in 500 words or less the poster's rationale for putting forward this question without mentioning his own pro-Labour bias. You have 30 minutes starting now. Eyes down please.

Huh?

A Newspaper has…

Interesting discussion on compare and contrast. As someone who is occasionally guilty of using this phrase while setting questions, yes the definitions are similar. I think that while compare can involve pointing out differences, contrast is really about going to where the nub of the…

Oh and speaking of The Listener, was anyone else dumfounded by this week's cover

Not just the cover, but the full page Nikon advert on the inside cover featuring Dan Carter (also seen displaying his Nikon shoulder-strap on the cover — apparently he's a brand "ambassador").

Can't imagine Nikon were…

How to take great holiday snaps
(Plus! Dan Carter's favourite photos!)

What next? "Ansel Adams' greatest place-kicking tips"? "You too can tackle like Marti Friedlander!"

and doesn't contrast mean: to compare in order to show unlikeness or differences; note the opposite natures, purposes, etc

isn't a contrast just half a…

Quality journalistic insight (via a roman sandal wearing lecturer’s stage 1 pols essay question)

A Newspaper has multiple positions on issues of public policy and political tactics.

Stone the crows.

To echo Tom... Compare and contrast the following: A paper with pretensions of journalistic quality and neutrality, and a collection of personal blogs. False equivalence much?

New CEOs always do this, it's part of their established playbook that there must be a sacrificial sacking early on, typically on a flimsy excuse. That shows the troops the new boss is not a soft touch.

Pour encourager les autres.

without mentioning his own pro-Labour bias.

I hardly think…

To many people it will look firm and decisive, despite actually being meager and petty. So long as what is meager and petty is done decisively, it sends the important signals.

So too were Thatcher's Poll Tax and the Rodney King beatings.

Anyone hazard a guess as to the Granny…

I'd say it's a bit like asking the Pope to declare his religious bias before making any statements concerning religion.

In other words don't be so fucking stupid.

Right, back to facebook texas hold'em where the…