Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Media 2011

Kumara Republic

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 18:08:47 +1300

Dr Haywood didn’t get to that part of his terrific series on ‘energy and civilisation’ but I got the impression he was hinting at an analogy between Rome:slaves/Us:petrochemicals. :-(

A startling analogy, but a potentially accurate one.

It's been posted before, but Clive Mathew-Wilson has previously written on [[
http://www.dogandlemon.com/articles/emperors-new-world|the…

Rob Stowell

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:04:44 +1300

With petrol hitting the $2 mark, we’ll hear plenty more this year. And some linking of high petrol prices with extended recession.
How much of our daily economics/lives are based on cheap energy? Dr Haywood didn’t get to that part of his terrific series on ‘energy and civilisation’ but I…

Steve Withers

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:57:33 +1300

The other story that hasn't had much coverage from NZ's mainstream media is peak oil. I had to find out about the August 2010 IEA report via email lists and twitter. That report confirmed peak oil has already happened and it was 2005....even while Don Brash's National Party and their…

Kumara Republic

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:48:44 +1300

In a couple of spats I had with him, he personalised everything mightily–so I was surprised by Vicky Hyde’s claim (in The Press) that he didn't.

I particularly remember one article he wrote, about the hostage drama in the Moscow theatre maybe 10 years ago – by & large he resorted to…

Geoff Lealand

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:38:55 +1300

I suppose someone shouldn’t speak ill of the dead but whilst everyone is speaking so highly of Dutton, I was never greatly impressed nor aware of much generosity of spirit. In a couple of spats I had with him, he personalised everything mightily–so I was surprised by Vicky Hyde’s claim…

Neil Morrison

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:35:56 +1300

Dutton challenged the received wisdom within acadmia at a time when he didn't have a lot of support. On the whole I tend to side with Brian Boyd on the (realtively small but significant) differences they had over the relationship between evolution and art.

But in a world where Lacan…

Craig Young

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 11:55:38 +1300

Oh, and in case anyone's forgotten, there's the third electoral reform referendum next year. I've just posted an article on MMP and LGBT rights, including some discussion of how MMP operates in Germany, past and present:

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/31/printer_9741.php

Craig Y

Lucy Stewart

Thu, 30 Dec 2010 05:02:14 +1300

Dutton could be infuriating, and I’m not convinced by his scholarship in Phil of Art. But the skeptics society got a lot from him, and that’s another grand legacy.

It's really quite interesting hearing about everyone's impressions of Dutton – I only knew of him as a lecturer, and the…

Craig Young

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:32:08 +1300

And meanwhile, yours truly has just blogged on the Pirate Party phenomenon in Western Europe:

http://gaynz.com/blog/redqueen/archives/967

Enjoy...

Craig Y

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:25:12 +1300

Have been thinking about Arts and Letters Daily, of which to be fair I wasn't an assiduous reader,

To be honest, A&L Daily isn't as essential as it used to be (partly because I'm more web-literate and confident, and also because other aggregators followed its lead) but it is still my…

Rob Stowell

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 12:13:53 +1300

Yeah. Web 1.6 or whatever, I like ALD a lot, as an every few days skim through. And sometimes I’ll get a host of interesting stuff, and it’ll take out the morning :)
Dutton could be infuriating, and I’m not convinced by his scholarship in Phil of Art. But the…

giovanni tiso

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:45:11 +1300

I see your shit, raise the fuck I exclaimed earlier this morning when his obit came up on Summer Report. A grievous loss. (And it has everything to do with media obviously. Have been thinking about Arts and Letters Daily, of which to be fair I wasn't an assiduous reader,…

Craig Ranapia

Wed, 29 Dec 2010 08:14:51 +1300

Couldn't think of a more appropriate thread to put this in, but shit. The media (and on-line culture) in 2011, got a little less interesting and essential.

Kumara Republic

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 09:49:44 +1300

Ultimately, what would be the actual point of rendering/kidnapping/dissapearing/assasinating Assange?

With apologies to Medgar Evers, the point would be that men can be killed but not ideas.

Matthew Poole

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:44:47 +1300

they’d have to find a whole series of judges up the chain who would ignore about 15 fundamental flaws

Flaws in what? The charges? Nobody said that the prosecution would be a slam-dunk.
If you mean flaws in the process of getting Assange before a court, forget it. They just…

Simon Grigg

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:28:01 +1300

given that the people mad enough to do it (the US legislature) have no power to make it happen.

I think it's unlikely but I also think the US legislature really have little to do with whether such a thing would happen, and would very likely rubber stamp it if…

Kyle Matthews

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:58:52 +1300

If legal extradition is unlikely to work (I don’t know the ins and outs of the US-Sweden extradition treaty), the only way the US can prosecute Assange is either for him to slip up and travel through the US (not going to happen), or get him to US soil by…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:54:31 +1300

Scarily, that's entirely possible. Ordinarily, extradition requires that the act have been a crime at both ends, and if Assange were in NZ he'd be safe because there's no analog to the crimes the US allege he committed.
However, the UK-US extradition treaty allows for extradition when a crime in…

Simon Grigg

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:37:15 +1300

the only way the US can prosecute Assange is either for him to slip up and travel through the US (not going to happen), or get him to US soil by extra-legal means.

Or, the most likely scenario in my opinion, for the US to charge him and request extradition…

Craig Young

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:50:26 +1300

Does the Pirate Party phenomenon have any future in NZ, given that it is certainly relevant to the Wikileaks debacle in Sweden itself, where the anti-copyright movement in question was founded? It does seem to be increasingly popular in the Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland and its country of origin, where…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:53:50 +1300

The point would be getting him before a US judge so that he can face trial. Hopefully, in the process, stopping future leaks by making an example. Especially if the example includes "We'll get you, no matter where you are."

If legal extradition is unlikely to work (I don't know…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:45:36 +1300

Your faith in the sanctity of the British establishment is touching. When I said I really can’t see the Brits making more than a perfunctory fuss I was meaning the official reaction from Whitehall in terms of diplomatic protest.
Mister President, I must complain most vociferously about your kidnapping of…

Russell Brown

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:58:38 +1300

All our discussion threads are belong to Wikileaks ...

FletcherB

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:23:50 +1300

Ultimately, what would be the actual point of rendering/kidnapping/dissapearing/assasinating Assange?

The leaks are out, and at least the current batch, are continuing to come out, without him actually able to do anything personally.

As far as I can tell, the justification for earlier renditions, illegal as they were, was to…

Simon Grigg

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:39:19 +1300

One of the problems with going after Assange is that he is merely the publisher – he didn't actually steal or leak the material. That's not the case with Manning. And Manning is US citizen.

Neither is close to insurmountable. The first is covered by a charge of conspiracy to…

SteveH

Tue, 21 Dec 2010 02:03:03 +1300

I also think that it's a lot easier to paint Assange than Manning as a villain, yet they're managing to detain and torture Manning for exposing war crimes without fear of tarnishing their reputation at home or abroad.
Is it easier to paint Assange than Manning as a villain? It…

Keir Leslie

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:41:36 +1300

At present, however, he’s bailed to a big house in the country, and I really can’t see the Brits making more than a perfunctory fuss.

Er, really? The English justice system is in point of fact not run out of the White House.

It would be, firstly, the Norfolk Constabulary…

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:55:50 +1300

That article on Manning's situation just shows the vindictive mindset that American "Justice" labours under.

imagine a world where countries had polticians and state entities people could be proud of...

Roger Lacey

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:36:35 +1300

2.5 billion is a pretty big number to get wrong, maybe to save money, treasury should be replaced by Paul the octopus's younger brother. That should save a big chunk and probably give just as reliable estimates..

Kumara Republic

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:21:31 +1300

I’m not OK that the government is losing $2.5b more than expected. I’m really pretty angry about it. But they aren’t doing so because of poor spending, they’re doing so because of lower revenue, and they have lower revenue because of regressive tax changes and not spending to jumpstart the…

Matthew Poole

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 21:14:54 +1300

It’s not like the US is lacking in people with the requisite skills and capabilities to have Assange miraculously appear on the doorstep of the office of a US Marshall with no evidence as to how he arrived.

I really strongly doubt that this is true, at least as long…

Christopher Nimmo

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 20:39:55 +1300

It’s a serious lot of money.

But does it make a difference over whether a a service is essential or not? If cost-cutting is the solution to all the government’s financial woes, then it should have been prepared for that when it was projected to lose $12.5b, which is desperate…

Roger Lacey

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:05:38 +1300

I don't really see what difference it makes in this situation whether the government is losing $12.5b or $15b.
It's the problem with mindnumbingly large numbers. Ask someone if it's ok that their pay packet is $1,200 this week instead of $1,500 then they get upset. Multiply that by a…

Keir Leslie

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:56:57 +1300

I really strongly doubt that this is true, at least as long…

giovanni tiso

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:31:34 +1300

Gio- Do you think the US could get away with most people not caring, or do you think my whole take on western world opinion is wrong-headed, and they are already in this position? (or other?)

You're right when you say that more people are aware of Assange than of…

FletcherB

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:13:43 +1300

I only read him as implying it would be more likely to look bad to more people. Arguable, but very different to actually being worse.

Thankyou James. yes, that is my meaning.

Way more people are aware of Assange than Manning.

And I also think a wider section of the…

andin

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:05:37 +1300

awright porn i'tis then.

Matthew Poole

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:04:50 +1300

Once he’s in front of said judge, how he got there is immaterial.

I’m not so sure. 18 months ago, yes, but given the fact that an election season is on its way in early 2012 and the level of intellectual and legal (rather than political or popular) support that…

Simon Grigg

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:47:11 +1300

I only read him as implying it would be more likely to look bad to more people.

Manning, from being almost forgotten in this, has been elevated in the past 72 hours to a global cause celebre. I still don't think it will get the poor bastard a pillow.

They…

Matthew Poole

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:31:01 +1300

You mean other that scaring the crap outta people with disaster pawn.

Leave chess out of this!

andin

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:24:26 +1300

And, of course, there are the critical stories that literally won’t go away: how will the news media handle climate change?

You mean other that scaring the crap outta people with disaster pawn. I'd like to know that too.

Matthew Poole

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:20:16 +1300

I'd imagine Assange is reasonably safe from rendition or anything of that sort until Jan 20, 2013 at least.

I wouldn't count on that. With or without presidential sanction there are ways to get Assange before a US federal judge that don't incriminate any identifiable individual. Once he's in front…

James Butler

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:16:34 +1300

To you renditioning and torturing Assange would be WAY worse than arresting and torturing Manning? How so?

I only read him as implying it would be more likely to look bad to more people. Arguable, but very different to actually being worse.

Christopher Nimmo

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:04:33 +1300

There is a big difference between $12.5 and $15 Billion deficient

Yeah, it's essentially the same as the difference between $10b and $12.5b. If TVNZ 6 and 7 are non-essentials to be cut to reduce the deficit to $12.5b, surely they should also have been non-essentials to cut to reduce…

giovanni tiso

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:04:20 +1300

Is this 15 billion just government debt and/or private debt?

It's the government's cash deficit.

Yes... WAY more than that.

To you renditioning and torturing Assange would be WAY worse than arresting and torturing Manning? How so?

FletcherB

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 16:02:15 +1300

You mean more than doing this?

Yes... WAY more than that.

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:58:47 +1300

Is this 15 billion just government debt and/or private debt?

Greg Dawson

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:42:44 +1300

Ah, the old misleading analogy between the state's budget and a household budget...

Maybe we can look into getting a cut-price home brand version of government instead of the .... oh wait.

giovanni tiso

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:27:33 +1300

The US is already held in low enough regard by many, but the US must surely know trying that would align a whole world of animosity against them?

You mean more than doing this?

giovanni tiso

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:20:29 +1300

It is no fun but it has to be done

Ah, the old misleading analogy between the state's budget and a household budget...

Raymond A Francis

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:12:03 +1300

Sounds to me as if you have never done a real budget Christopher
There is a big difference between $12.5 and $15 Billion deficient
And one of the ways to deal to the difference is by trimming non-essentials
It is no fun but it has to be done

Simon Grigg

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:03:45 +1300

they would not actually try to get away with it on someone so obviously in the public eye?

I think global public eye matters little to many in the US ruling elite, who I'd argue are almost oblivious to it (and are now on record saying that European Human Rights…

Christopher Nimmo

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:56:31 +1300

The minister, Jonathan Coleman, had apparently hoped to make an announcement about the channels and funding before Christmas, but it’s likely that the government’s alarming fiscal projections are occasioning a rethink.

That makes sense... and doesn't make sense. I don't really see what difference it makes in this situation whether…

FletcherB

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:50:09 +1300

I would hope, (but cannot be sure) that even despite the US's history of illegal rendition, they would not actually try to get away with it on someone so obviously in the public eye?

For better or worse, we are watching him, and the US would lose any and all…

Geoff Lealand

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:41:49 +1300

Good but not good enough. We really to know that there will be a full year of Media 7 next year.

Idiot Savant

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:10:17 +1300

I should note that there has, in my view, been some crazy stuff said about the likelihood of Assange's extradition from Sweden. Both the Swedish-US extradition treaty specifically and extradition law in general excludes the very kind of "crimes" the US is thinking of pinning on Assange. If the Americans…

Public Address

Mon, 20 Dec 2010 14:10:17 +1300

Discussion from blog post.