By definition, evolution and gravity theories cannot be wrong, ...

In order to be science they must be able to be wrong. If it is not falsifiable then it is not science. Hence, Ben's comment is true :

'established maths' is even less disagreeable than both gravity…

By definition, evolution and gravity theories cannot be wrong

I'm fairly confident that they're correct. But if they cannot be wrong by definition, then I suspect 'theory' is no longer an appropriate word.

Ignoring the whole, I've written a definition which fulfills my requirement for something to be correct by…

Second: please don't do that with the equivocation, it's rude. A scientific theory is an explanation correctly tying together all known facts about a part of reality, normally (though not always)…

You're just looking at it the wrong way. This isn't some sort of distribution curve, it's just a couple of limits. It doesn't override the other limits, like the natural minimum…

There's nothing wrong with the maths

Can I agree to disagree? Any maths that generates a negative possibility is just...broken.

Rich: You're extracting the urine, aren't you?

Not entirely. The Herald (and Dom Post, Press, etc) are monopolies. They don't have a "dominant market position" or a "complex monopoly" – they are the only choice if you want a paper that covers the city you live in.

I think there's…

I think thats the whole point of providing the funky numbers..... to show how poor the original data is...

mmmm....I'd still be surprised how you could conclude that support is negative, no matter how poor your data. But I know it's just a joke anyway, and merely saying that the…

Clearly this proves that not only can statistics say anything, they can also say nothing at all.

Precisely.

Must be some pretty funky maths that gives statistics under 0% or over 100%. I think we can be 100% certain that the real values will not be outside that range.

I think thats the whole point of providing the funky numbers..... to show how poor the original data is...

Could you f'ristance sign off with "By the way, you might of noticed a Murray McCully press release regarding this show – I blogged about it on Public Address – a…

Awesome stuff!

So awesome in fact that after I downloaded them I wrote a busy little blog post all about my Velvets love, and then…

There's a high level of irony in a post critiquing someone else's statistics, while making the claim that 115%, 156%, and -2.6% (!) of a group of people want something.

That the error bars cross the limits of reason just shows the sample size wasn't big enough to be useful.…

I wonder if the Herald will be concerned about Key trying to get journalists fired?

Well, Snowy, I suspect if The Herald did want to follow up Cullen's allegation (faithfully repeated by The Standard) they'd have a hard time finding a source willing to go on the record. Funny how…

Yes I'm talking Tony Ryall. One of those family values types...

When he's not in Wellington

BALDOCK, Larry Future New Zealand 1456 4.31%
BERRY-EVANS, Vivienne NMP 24 0.07%
GROVER, Frank Christian Heritage Party 738 2.18%
HEPBURN, John Independent 73 0.22%
O'REGAN, Katherine National Party 10162 30.08%
PETERS, Winston New Zealand First Party 10225 30.27%
SUMMERHAYS, Karen Green…

Russel Watkins was the Libz candidate for Tauranga last election. What's he done...

heh.

The Herald's business pages don't necessarily bother with facts when it comes to climate science.

Well,…

The one think I'll never forgive Margaret Wilson for is splitting the anti-Winston vote just enough in '99, that He Who Must Not Be Named beat Katherine O'Regan by sixty three votes.

I'm not so sure if Wilson is as much to blame as any one of about 50 retirement…

I guess dropping a small thermonuclear bomb on Tauranga would be beyond the pale?

I could really get on board with this, except for that whole 'people who live in WTF electorates shouldn't throw nukes' thing.

So you now admit you're a long-time supporter of Labour ... the plot thickens etc.

To be fair to McCully – you supporting Labour via…

I guess dropping a small thermonuclear bomb on Tauranga would be beyond the pale?

That would probably increase the nutbar vote, since only the city folk would get wasted. Napalm would probably be more 'targetted'.

]]> Tue, 04 Mar 2008 19:53:56 +1300 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-laying-down-the-law/?p=43769#post43769 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-laying-down-the-law/?p=43769#post43769

I guess dropping a small thermonuclear bomb on Tauranga would be beyond the pale?/

It would probably raise some eyebrows, yes.

It would be a shame for him to retire after losing to Clarkson. Like Muldoon, I expect him to die in office (which is probably an idle fancy for many people). Not that you'd catch me voting for the bastard.

Meh... The one think I'll never forgive Margaret Wilson for…

I have never thought so hard about the national anthem as when three Chinese guys stood behind me at the All Blacks vs Manu Samoa test in 1993 and bawled the bloody thing with all their hearts.

Des anyone else remember Chen & Bhaji from Skitz? An Indian and a Chinese…

he's not an estate agent too is he?

To paraphrase the late Douglas Adams:
Did you know they've reintroduced the death penalty for estate agents?
No, for what offence?
What do you mean, offence?

My kids go to school with kids who were on the Tampa. I can't see the back of that horrible excuse for a human being soon enough, sorry.

Don't apologise Emma, I'm coming from a low base.

One was from an Auckland agent. Methinks that downturn in the property market Treasury has been predicting since 2003 will happen…

Lets not forget who the member for Bay of Plenty is….

How tightly do the Tauranga citizenry hold their noses when approaching the ballot box?

You should've seen the Libz candidate for Tauranga. Very tightly.

How tightly do the Tauranga citizenry hold their noses when approaching the ballot box?

I've got more respect for the old slut now than I ever did before. It would be a shame for him to retire after losing to Clarkson.

My kids go to school with kids who were on the Tampa. I can't see the back of that horrible excuse for a…

Something like a media monopoly law like this:
– no newspaper may have more than 40% of circulation…

Unfortunately, they are beyond the reach of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act, which only applies to commercial messages.

Damn – I was wondering why I was the only person who had suggested the act – I guess thats why. Having said that all that there needs to be in one…

There is, after all, a line between being pragmatically slutty and the cheapest of cheap whores.

Craig, I'm going to try and find occasion to use that phrase in a conversation. it is that good.

I guess the line depends on where you're standing. And maybe age. I've got more…

Yeah I've started getting email from Nicky Wagner at work. Unsure how this happened – or why she wants me to attend a seminar to determine whether I'm a liberal.

Having read her blog, I can see how that would get annoying.

We've had three different political parties mentioned here…

Remember Deborah Morris taping her conversation with Gilbert Myles ... ahh, those were the days.

Yeah, it is getting a bit hard to find a new angle on that at the moment ...

Oh, I don't know – it was kinda fun watching Goff doing his best Francis Urqhart impersonation.

And, Paul, as far as I'm concerned any side Winston's on is the wrong one…

If anyone can give advice on how to get off their list for good – it'd be much appreciated!

http://complaints.antispam.govt.nz/
http://complaints.antispam.govt.nz/EmailComplaint.aspx

Don't beat around the bush – just register it as spam with DIA and let them sort it out for you.

I assume if I start melting when a bucket of water is thrown over me she will assume I am...

The guy can't be relied upon to choose the right side (whoever that may be) this time.

Yeah, but can he be relied upon to beat that embarrassing, mustachioed bauble-rubber who currently occupies the Tauranga seat? ;-)

Then you have Garth George (and on one occasion, Fran O) given a platform to bang away about what nonsense global warming is, without really having any idea what he's talking about.

If the paper's business section was as loose with the facts as that, there'd be hell to pay.

…

Oh, how about we try gaming coalitions after we've had this queer thing called a general election?

Cos we did that in 1996 and Winston chose the wrong side. Then, when we thought we'd backed him into a corner in 2005, Winston floated like a butterfly (Mexican standoff, "my job…

To be quite cynical, can we just write this off as a rather lame attempt to sex up another 'Labour has another humiliatingly bad polling cycle'.

Yeah, it is getting a bit hard to find a new angle on that at the moment ...

News organisations have an incentive to…

@Craig
Yeah I know, it was just what came to mind, when I thought about the "corporate emails" I get.

@the world at large
The ELVs (or "elves") don't seem to have made much of a difference in terms of game speed to me. Does…

Deborah: you may be assuming they read past the executive summary there.

I was. How silly of me!

duh! It's only spam if it comes from the party you don't care about, otherwise it's a useful informative email.

Not quite, Hadyn, I'm a financial member of the National Party so (yes) I expect and welcome a certain amount of correspondence. Anything that drops in my letterbox with a…

Eventually, the Herald will outsource it's content to a team in Bangalore, who, having had a crash course in NZ politics from Murray McCully (as well as a bit of schooling in…

can we really blame the journalists for reporting what they're fed?

Well, yes! It doesn't take much thought to realise that just 3 people opining on something does not make a trend. We do expect journalists to apply a bit of judgement.

There is still inconsistency amongst referees in how…

It's one thing having this unecessary match, it's all the spin around it.

My doctor told me he never got spam before he gave his email address to the National Party....
Funny, the only unsolicited mail I get from any political party is Labour

duh! It's only spam if it comes from the party you don't care about, otherwise it's a useful informative…

Also, these preferences don't have much meaning until everyone has announced some actual policy,…

My doctor told me he never got spam before he gave his email address to the National Party.

Funny, the only unsolicited mail I get from any political party is Labour, and I can't for the life of me imagine how I ended up on their mailing databases.

On one…

Also, that particular editorial and the Armstrong column confirm (at least to my mind) that…

If we are to move away from Monarchies? Why is it we must move towards a Repulic? Why not a install a Democray where all votes are truely…

And a 19-min 'Sister Ray' ...

Sure, it's rather short, but it's better than nothng.

Unsubscribing was tremendously hard. The unsubscribe page said it worked, but the emails kept on coming. Eventually it took rude emails to some administrator to get me…

It's nice that Mr McCully has noticed that I join the fun at the Hero Debate. I've only been doing it for three years.

So you now admit you're a long-time supporter of Labour ... the plot thickens etc.

To be fair to McCully – you supporting Labour via the…