Hard News: Still crazy after all these years
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Those interested in the weirdness of Act candidates might also want to consider Peter Tashkoff, number 7 on Act’s list in 2008, who considered a candidate survey genuinely seeking feedback from candidates such as himself “spam”
(Nevermind that all the Parliamentary parties sent responses, it was too much for Mr Tashkoff to reply to properly)
Or Ted Howard, who seems like a lovely chap, but also thinks we should pool all the world’s resources into inventing a machine that can make anything. Number 36 on their list in 2008.
And as for the craziness being about individual members/candidates rather than the party, how about a good look at their social welfare policy for the 2008 election. It’s all about the DPB and it is a total and utter compassion FAIL. It included requiring the Government to drain the father’s future superannuation before paying out a cent from the tax payers coffers to a solo mum. Sadly it's not available online anymore so you'll have to take my word for it.
Also, while I feel more than the average amount of sympathy for Bailey Kuariki no woman (or man) is ever asking for what happened to those journalists, which seems to be the subtext of many of the comments here.
If the Tea Party ever get swept to power I expect they'll name a library after him.
But assumedly not a public library HORansome?
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I'm not certain if flawed historical conjecture equates to racism
So what do you think prompted that conjecture in the first place? Some noble desire for truthiness?
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folic acid
talk to a Reiki (!) convention on CAM
getting rid of fluoridation
blanket GMO ban, banning food irradiation (what about microwaves?)Three line items and a speech.
I'd add that they suggest *alternatives* to community "medication". This is (although not scientifically justified) consistent with respect for individual choice.
I'd also add that the policy bans the sale of GMO foods, not controlled and contained experiments. One day, we will know how to safely manage and use genetic modification techniques on food crops. That day hasn't come yet.
Also, microwaves are not irradiation. Food irradiation involves the industrial use of *ionising* ration (gamma and X-rays) to kill microorganisms. This has numerous problems (chemical change caused by ionisation, failure to adequately destroy nasties). For those reasons it's banned here and in several other countries.
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Carol - I think there's an anti-science vein to the anti-vaxers, especially the greenish ones, but it's not the whole picture. In the case of the NZCPR and TR, it's more to do with distrust of the people wielding a particular technology than a mystical rejection of the theoretical basis for the technology. Although I think there's a populist "what good are all these experts, I know what I know" element to it all.
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but in general it's a heartless spew-fest, almost as depressing as the story the original post addresses.
Perhaps to my advantage, I've never seen such a horrifying feeding frenzy so I respond in a manner that is a little stronger than 'depressing'. What a bunch of sick fucks. I must not continue for I fear I will not be able to control my rage.
Any lawyers out there want to get onto that Farrar guy about the libel/slander on that thread? (statements along the line of "he's a murderer" when he was found guilty of manslaughter only.) Imagine if you could use it as leverage to shut that shameful cess-pit down.
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I wouldn't count on all opponents to irradiation knowing the difference between ionising and non-ionising. There's a definite community of distrusters of microwave ovens - I know people still waiting for the long term safety evidence to be produced. The guy I bought my latest microwave off told me it was better than the old ones which irradiated food, that was what the standing time was for, to allow the radiation to disperse. I was tempted to cancel the sale on principle at that point, but it's not like the guy made the appliance.
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* Ensure New Zealand retains regulatory control of the dietary supplements industry.
Read: let's not have any of that nasty science-y evidence stuff around here.
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The guy I bought my latest microwave off told me it was better than the old ones which irradiated food, that was what the standing time was for, to allow the radiation to disperse.
What is the half-life of a rice pudding?
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Desserts definitely have half-lives - nobody wants to have the last bit, so it gets cut into smaller and smaller pieces but never quite disappears.
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The guy I bought my latest microwave off told me it was better than the old ones which irradiated food, that was what the standing time was for, to allow the radiation to disperse
I once had a lab tech tell me not to open the microwave before it had finished beeping because it would give me cancer. Because her husband was an electrician, and he knew these things.
I expressed appropriate skepticism, but she was so earnestly worried (and, not incidentally, going out of her way to help me out with something that wasn't really her job) that I didn't have the heart to protest too much. And hence do such stories propagate.
In the case of the NZCPR and TR, it's more to do with distrust of the people wielding a particular technology than a mystical rejection of the theoretical basis for the technology.
Funny how the level of distrust of the wielders always equates to their level of agreement with the wacky fringe, though, isn't it?
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Desserts definitely have half-lives - nobody wants to have the last bit, so it gets cut into smaller and smaller pieces but never quite disappears.
Gold
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Also, while I feel more than the average amount of sympathy for Bailey Kuariki no woman (or man) is ever asking for what happened to those journalists, which seems to be the subtext of many of the comments here.
Quite. Sounding remarkably like blaming the victims to me.
Whatever the deficiencies in his upbringing, he's 20. He's an adult, and nobody's suggested that he's not at least averagely intelligent. That means he's got no entitlement to any kind of free pass for sexually assaulting women, no matter how they happened to end up alone with him.Also, having read the Herald's article, I think the reporter was quite entitled to want to know Bailey's thoughts on his latest conviction and spell of sub-standard Crown accommodation. Or does being the youngest killer in NZ history get you off the hook on PAS for being a violent recidivist offender?
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I'm not certain if flawed historical conjecture equates to racism.
It would be racist at heart if even it wasn't used to argue down the property rights of Maori, but they do that too. Here's Loudon applauding a Newman article he says "flays the racist Maori Party". She says:
The Maori Party wants Maori to win back control of New Zealand. In a world where the abolition of privilege is a central tenet of modern democratic reform, the Maori Party wants to create a world where the colour of one’s skin determines social and economic advantage. On its own, the creation of racial privilege for anyone calling themselves Maori is a preposterous notion. But with the acquiescence of John Key’s National Party, it is exceedingly dangerous.
Then the fans chip in in comments:
Since the Celts were hear first there should be a celtic party.
And:
The celts were here first. Those who came to be known as Maori were abandoned on the shore in 1422 by their Chinese slave master, Zheng He. Check out http://www.kilts.co.nz/mhorruairidh.htm if you want to know more.
And:
Hmm, good link to Celt history - fascinating Celts may have been in NZ first!
This could really change NZ history ... so I could understand why Maori's would want to block it. Definitely would put the old kibosh on their reparation claims, eh.
It's not some idle crackpot belief. It's political, and racist, and Newman is one of its champions.
Also I'm not convinced you do the term 'crazy' justice, equating it with ACT like that.
With a strain of the Act Party membership, which extends up to some surprisingly senior officials. Not Douglas, or Hide, who have relatively conventional beliefs -- but Newman, Loudon and a few others are definitely out there on the perimeter. They're there because Act presents the only viable political home for John Birch-style political paranoia.
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Thank you Russell, I was intending to post.
Granted, however in this case, there is significantly more evidence against her dubious historical leanings than there is evidence of her racism.
You've sewn that up nicely.
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Also, having read the Herald's article, I think the reporter was quite entitled to want to know Bailey's thoughts on his latest conviction and spell of sub-standard Crown accommodation. Or does being the youngest killer in NZ history get you off the hook on PAS for being a violent recidivist offender?
You write that like you think the reporter in question was intending to research an intelligent story casting light on conditions under incarceration in the youth justice system -- rather than a fishing expedition for whatever celebrity scuttlebutt they could get.
Because that is actually what the Sunday papers have made of Kurariki -- some sad form of celebrity. It's also the reason the string 'em up brigade obsesses about Kurariki and not the other, older, far more culpable people involved in Michael Choy's death, who are still in jail.
FWIW, the descriptions of Kurariki's behaviour (and his comment about needing to stay away from his "friends") read to me like methamphetamine abuse. That always hits hardest on the least grounded. And this guy doesn't seem to have had much but his now seriously ill mother.
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Also, while I feel more than the average amount of sympathy for Bailey Kuariki no woman (or man) is ever asking for what happened to those journalists, which seems to be the subtext of many of the comments here.
Julie: Please refrain from putting an astoundingly offensive "subtext" like that in my mouth. Pardon me for being all judgy-pants here, but the Herald on Sunday does have a certain duty of care towards its employees - regardless of gender. And exposing them to someone with, dare I say it, a history of seriously inappropriate acting out for the sake of a gutter-quality story is rather unwise.
Also, having read the Herald's article, I think the reporter was quite entitled to want to know Bailey's thoughts on his latest conviction and spell of sub-standard Crown accommodation
Yeah, the Herald has such a great track record of giving a flying fuck at a doughnut about his well-being, or thoughtful coverage of crime-related public policy... Gee, stick to outing newsreaders guys -- at least Alison Mau is in a position to defend herself.
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You write that like you think the reporter in question was intending to research an intelligent story casting light on conditions under incarceration in the youth justice system
Well, for one thing, he hasn't been a ward of "the youth justice system" for at least three years. And his latest conviction was definitely adult time in an adult facility. I certainly wouldn't expect anything less than Granny's ordinary "journalistic standards" on the matter, but that doesn't make it any more justified to blame their sexual assaults on the reporters doing their job. I don't care how tawdry the story would've been, there's a strong stench of victim blaming being directed at the reporters.
It's also the reason the string 'em up brigade obsesses about Kurariki and not the other, older, far more culpable people involved in Michael Choy's death, who are still in jail.
Being in jail makes them pretty much invisible, though I do think you're right that they won't get the same attention on release as Kurariki has. Well, not unless Choy's mother continues to allow herself to be used for Insensible Sentencing's twisted ends when they come up for parole/release.
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Pop quiz: WITHOUT using Google or other tool, can you name any other person convicted for the killing of Michael Choy? If not, why not?
(Kim Workman first posed this question).
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Yeah, the Herald has such a great track record of giving a flying fuck at a doughnut about his well-being, or thoughtful coverage of crime-related public policy
Where did I say, suggest, or even imply in a veiled manner that they were wanting a good, balanced story? I'm sure the reporter was after some salacious comments that would make good headlines and provide fodder for the rent-a-quotes, but that's what the gutter press do, innit?
Also, sending two people, even if they're both women, isn't exactly ignoring employees' safety. He doesn't have a history of sexual violence, for one, or of serious gang connections. Sending one would've been silly, sure, but sending two would meet most people's definition of reasonable care in the circumstances.
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but that doesn't make it any more justified to blame their sexual assaults on the reporters doing their job.
I didn't do that, at all. It sounds like a bad, scary situation.
But I'm not going to make fond assumptions about the journalistic good faith of those involved either.
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Where did I say, suggest, or even imply in a veiled manner that they were wanting a good, balanced story?
I did detect such an implication. But if it wasn't there, I withdraw and apologise.
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Russell you didn't, but it's hard to interpret this as anything but:
Or did some shitbag editor somewhere just go: 'hmmm, slow news week. Need a headline. You and you, you've got tits, get round the Kurariki house and poke him with a stick'.
Seriously, I reckon the HoS missed a trick or two. Next time they should just hire a couple of strippers and send them round with a photographer.
That reads like nothing more than "They sent women there so they could get a story about this sex-crazed young man". The stripper comment just finishes it off nicely.
Apology accepted. I could've been a little more careful about my wording, but didn't think people would assume I thought the reporters wanted to write a fluffy bunny story. Their interest in him is one-sided, and we all know it, but that doesn't mean they have no right to be interested. It sells papers, and Granny is frequently barely worthy of the label "tabloid".
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Pop quiz: WITHOUT using Google or other tool, can you name any other person convicted for the killing of Michael Choy? If not, why not?
Well of course not, they were just normal murderers. Although I remember one or two were women.
This story has now run for two days and it will continue to run and run and run, just as Millie Elder is hounded every session in court.Each appearance for her may be related to the same incident but each time, it gets reported, and we are being led to believe the girl is always taking the drugs.
I do suspect one day Bailey will learn that his behaviour is inappropriate. I do suspect that noone has bothered to educate him since he was twelve or before for that matter. -
I do suspect one day Bailey will learn that his behaviour is inappropriate. I do suspect that noone has bothered to educate him since he was twelve or before for that matter.
Whereas I have little doubt that he never would've dared pull that nonsense while he was incarcerated, and that the various officials involved in his care while within the youth justice system tried very hard to educate him about the basics of civilised behaviour on the outside.
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Although I remember one or two were women.
One was 16, I believe. Kurariki's step-sister? There were definitely members of his family involved. And that's without asking Google.
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