Could have been the wildlife

As I recall the national press had stories about bikie wars in Pons, around that time. I expected a bunch of Nortons or BSAs to push us off the road into some dark car park and, uh, maraud us or something.

Of course later I…

be wary of something called Ponsonby

Could have been the wildlife. More likely to be forced to drink a trim decaffe latte these days.

No doubt that has flavoured my paranoia. In the end it comes down to what feels instinctively ok, and what doesn't.

I grew up all over the country / world and at 11 was cycling through Upper Hutt, 5 km each way, along the Hutt Rd to school without a…

Dig up our national parks for minerals to sell to Asia, he enthuses. That'll fix things. Good description of his lifestyle at the end too.

I take it you've all seen this –

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3215463/Brothel-keepers-jailed-for-rape

Karlas parents doing time for the rape and recriutment of her friend.

And Karla's stepfather was in the news for the wrong reasons to boot. For something worse than threats of vigilantism.

Driving to Piha is probably riskier

Those Auckland tourists. Why don't they stick to Orewa?

Driving to Piha is probably riskier

The dangers of phone posts. Nothing to see here. Move along.

The result has been when one of the boys breaks a bone, as they do, we can pick them up and take them to…

Swimming at Piha with my kids is probably riskier than anything mentioned here

Driving to Piha is probably riskier

Even living in South Auckland it was entirely normal for kids to disappear all day, with no fixed destination, right through the end of the 80s.

As kids in the early '90s we used to regularly go roaming off unsupervised around the parks and beaches in Point Chev, although it…

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3215463/Brothel-keepers-jailed-for-rape

Karlas parents doing time for the rape and recriutment of her friend.

Even living in South Auckland it was entirely normal for kids to disappear all day, with no fixed destination, right through the end of the 80s.

When Google Earth came out I looked at my grandmother's village and surrounding areas and at the route I used to travel on my…

Your daughters are statistically safer playing in the park than they are playing in their own home

Seriously? I hope not. I'm sure statistically speaking, but while they rule much of my work life, at home we also apply a consequences framework to our risk assessment matrix. Well at work…

In fact, wasn't 1990ish the peak of the satanic abuse panic?

Ellis was convicted in '93, so about then. And look at how wonderful that beat-up was. We got a conviction that looks decidedly shaky, especially when the interviews of "victims" are viewed through the lens of current best-practice in…

I've never seen a shred of evidence that the world is actually a more dangerous place for children now than it was 20 years ago,

Twenty years ago was 1990, and the memories of Teresa Cormack and Karla Cardno were pretty fresh back then. 20 years is a frighteningly short…

12 months home detention

This for multiple convictions of crimes carrying maximum penalties of $300,000 and five years in jail.

'Yes, you can go play in the park unsupervised. That paedophile hasn't been seen in this area for a while...'.

Oh yeah, the world has changed.

No, it hasn't. The perception has changed. The hysteria over paedophiles lurking behind every bush, waiting to entice a child away to their lair,…

Some things that Myers did would have been illegal had we had a takeovers code at the time.

He would likely have been told he'd been a very naughty boy, maybe given two slaps with a wet bus ticket, and sent back to play in the corporate sandpit. This isn't…

"go off your meds – they don't work"

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/3209302/Drugs-don-t-help-depression-study

Now on top of the booze and bill some stressed out dudes and dudeses…

reincarnation can be nice
8 – )

Σ:-3

sadly, I am indeed lumbered with
an initially taxing acronym...

Lovely to have you back.

Is R your middle initial then?

sadly, I am indeed lumbered with
an initially taxing acronym...
but wish to remain anonymous
and refuse to die...
so my nom de plumey-nous
is more Second Life than the Sims.
Be nice re: incarnation
reincarnation can be nice
8 – )

I'm not sure why we don't have a health system like that.

Because it's anathema to the ideology of both major parties, and has been successfully sold to us that the status quo is the only option there is. *And* they still have to gall to claim that certain services…

The obvious solution is to make our health scheme just as good.

It might just be my 'not living in the real world' thing, but I think we have a pretty good health scheme, it's just funded the wrong way.

Welfare, ACC etc, they don't stop paying out and put…

Is R your middle initial then?

Ha! We can but hope.

Alien Lizard (anag)

Is R your middle initial then?

Russell as Scout Master. Can I get a tie with a toggle?

that'd be a scarf with a woggle *

dyb dyb dyb
from the Bill Shankley Eagle Scout Troop

*ps check out the…

In related news, the saga of my son Joseph and his orthopaedics appointments at Wellington Hospital continues. We are at the fifth reschedule, now due some time in Feb but we're not holding our breath. It used to…

However the rugby player is covered by ACC and funded far more generously than the cancer patient.

I wish someone would fix this, it affects heaps of people in NZ and is just unfair. It's to your advantage to try and get your symptoms classified as an accident than relating…

I'm not quite sure what you mean by George Best Wannabes – but liver transplants are given to anyone who needs them – including alcoholics and addicts.

George Best was a high profile alcoholic football player who had a liver transplant and was snapped drinking again afterward by the tabloids.…

I don't believe making craploads of money is worthy of having a sword waved near your heard and getting to put 'Sir' on your business cards, it seems to me that having craploads of money is reward enough.

This. Loudly.

To give another example, someone who knowingly accepts risk by choosing to play rugby can end up…

I made the comparison because I know you're a deeply compassionate person, and have worked with HIV+ and AIDS people. You wouldn't go all fiscal on them, and I'm not sure it's the right thing to do to other young people who make shitty choices.

But however compassionate I may…

By analogy, you see…

over the well who make themselves unwell.

For the categories we were discussing before (AIDS, sporting injuries, diet-related illnesses, smoking) ALL those people were well before they made themselves unwell.

To sell the pastime of binge drinking to young people in general, and women in particular and try to make the very excesses and the expensive problems that ensue part of the identity of young people themselves is nothing short of insane.

I'm all for banning advertising of alcohol, but…

Which is setting up something of a straw organ argument, because I'm not aware of any place where George Best wannabes are going to find themselves at the top of a transplant waiting list in this or any other life time.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by George…

But in the case of alcoholics who are given transplants, but are unable to stop drinking and progress on to further alcohol related disease and organ failure – yes, I think it would be squandering precious resources to give them a 2nd healthy donor liver.

Which is setting up something…

Well, I'm sure the Fat Police don't think anyone in the dairy sector is honour-worthy due to their trafficing in obesity and death.

Well I don't know that raising cows and milking them quite rates an honour, but from a nutritional point of view most dairy products are just fine.…

It's really far too early in the year to get my grumpy on, so I'd like to thank all you taxpayers out there for "squandering precious resources" on keeping this alkie nutter alive, and a productive and (more or less)functional contributor to the tax base.

Craig, I'm also very grateful…

Apropos of businessman and knighthoods, here's ARD Fairburn:

This would be the same ARD Fairburn who greeted the creation of the State Literary Fund with this:

When I was but a young boy,
I learnt at my father's knee:
The mushroom grows in the open,
The toadstool under the tree.

…

Dyan, I'm still waiting for a response to my crticism that you confounded binge drinking and alcoholism.

Sorry Emma, I did conflate binge drinkers with alcoholics in the quote of mine you selected, which you are right to correct.

Not all binge drinkers become alcoholics – but they are 500%…

Once a jolly fishmonger, sitting on a heap of guts,
Said to his wife, 'Oh my dear wife,' said he,
'We've made lots of money, now it's time to make the Honours List —
Who'll come a-hunting a knighthood with me?'

This is a pretty big leap, don't you think? How do we get from me saying individuals have a moral responsibility not to squander precious health resources on binge drinking to me sermonising to either HIV+ or AIDS patients who need medical assistance?

OK, if he can be bothered Russell…

I was referring specifically to the cohort of alcoholics

A cohort which is still three-quarters men.

And it boggles me why you can't see what Russell is…

"cotton-wool kids"

Being a father of three of these young women who will, it seems, inevitably chose binge drinking as a chosen rights of passage, this makes me want to throw things at mirrors.

Yes at times our protectionist approach borders on obsession, and perhaps if this really is the…

Danielle, if by moral you mean a responsibility to other people in society not to squander precious resources on binge drinking, then yes, moral.

Woah, Dyan. Would you deliver the same sermon to, say, HIV victims? They cost heaps. Fact is, people don't always make good choices.

Russell, I'm still…

Many of these young women come from middle-class homes where they were brought up on a diet of safety.
...

For…

When you factor in the way the Middle-Earth thing delivered for NZ tourism, Jackson has delivered richly to his country of birth. Much more than Myers, Owen Glenn or the others.

Is it safe to have liked the LTOR franchise round here? I mean there were periods, long periods, where…

I'd give it to him for establishing the best post-production and effects facilities in the southern hemisphere, and being clever enough to keep them busy and profitable — but not too busy to find time for little independent producers, and public-good work.

And so would I, also I'm not merely…

I wouldn't give Peter Jackson a silver tea spoon on the basis of the miserably over-rated (but massively successful) LoTR trilogy, but obviously someone begs to differ.

I'd give it to him for establishing the best post-production and effects facilities in the southern hemisphere, and being clever enough to keep…

It's all in how you…

But you could say the same thing about any person who is listed as having made 'services to business'.

Oh, I don't know. In our economic system we need enterprise to foster employment and not everything that is sold harms or kills you. This coming from an old and rather…

I fail to see why Doug Myers is any less worthy because he made money selling booze, rather than cows or widgets or bytes or movies. The country has said all these things are OK

Some things that Myers did would have been illegal had we had a takeovers code…

Well, I'm sure the Fat Police don't think anyone in the dairy sector is honour-worthy due to their trafficing in obesity and death.

It's not what we're eating, it's how we're eating ;-)

OK, sure... but honour-worthy?

But you could say the same thing about any person who is listed as having made 'services to business'. I don't believe making craploads of money is worthy of having a sword waved near your heard and getting to put 'Sir' on your business cards, it…

Not surprising, no... but honour-worthy?

Well, I'm sure the Fat Police don't think anyone in the dairy sector is honour-worthy due to their trafficing in obesity and death. I wouldn't give Peter Jackson a silver tea spoon on the basis of the miserably over-rated (but massively successful) LoTR trilogy, but…

The country has said all these things are OK.

OK, sure... but honour-worthy?

Not surprising, no... but honour-worthy?

Well that's true, at least for me and you.

But if we're going to hand out honours for people who make craploads of money selling stuff (and we clearly do, and for some people, such as Faye/Richwhite, there are honours for making craploads of money…

If we're going to legalise something, and let someone sell it in the capitalist marketplace in a relatively liberal way, then getting upset when someone turns out to be good at selling it and it causes heaps of harm... not surprising.

Not surprising, no... but honour-worthy?

I really don't think that's an equivalent position. It's possible to drink heavily without actually hurting other people. It's not really possible to smack your wife round without hurting her.

I feel bound to point out that last night's news reported on research suggesting that smacking led to better outcomes…

He also confirms bravery awards are likely for others – but can't say anything yet because they are still being worked on 20 months after the incident.

Again, pretty standard.

See for example, the NZDF http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/category/d/d8.htmllist of (military) recipients of The New Zealand Bravery Medal:

__Able Hydrographic Systems Operator Keran…

"In this case the nominations for Queen's Service awards came from Dame Margaret (Bazley, New Zealand Fire Service Commission chairperson) and myself and were designed to recognise the efforts of our senior staff for their leadership and support during…

Fetal alcohol syndrome, is an unfortunate reality...

Yes, well, I would categorise FAS as damaging to society as a whole rather than to women.

When I said "alcohol is more damaging to women" I meant if a woman drinks the same amount of alcohol as a man – even if…

And we don't seem to be unique in this.

Both the trends – increased binge drinking in young people in general and a very sharp increase in young women in particular – these are global, market driven, deliberately crafted and highly profitable trends.

We need to be aware how aggressively…

Doug Myers getting an award not so good but not a surprise. Luckily there were some people who got well deserved awards and that helps.

I don't believe any of the NZ public are really fooled or even…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlKNVkU3DTA

And…

Magnitude of and trends in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity among U.S. college students ages 18-24, 1998-2005.

"More than 80 percent of both men and women reported drinking alcohol in the seven days preceding the survey," said Kypri, "and 37 percent reported binge drinking in the seven days preceding the survey. There was also a high prevalence of alcohol-related problems, for example, 33 percent…

It's not the reporting. It's how we're reporting.

Quite. There’s clearly something going on. No argument.

However, observing that young women are problem drinkers doesn’t mean we are forced to trot out the old stereotypes when it comes to explaining their behaviour.

How many news stories say that street violence…

I know I really want to say something regarding gender biassed moral panic, but ...

The rawness of the experiences that you've shared in the past have brought tears to my eyes.

...oh you have to regale us with a bedtime story now fella:)

what do you think the likelihood is that the gender balance has altered in the space of a year to make 90:10 representative

No idea.

Gender balances can change dramatically for all sorts of reasons... but I grant that a change in gender balance would have to have been truly…

Oh well, you can all flog me if it hasn't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsl0hzNBWY&feature=related

Also, looking at photos online, it looks pretty even.

screaming for a Power Point treatment

Like this perhaps?

(and point out phenomenal things)

Hah! I think you should get some sort of retainer for that.

Let me re-explain. For the nine hundredth time.

This is screaming for a Power Point treatment. Honestly, think how many times you could recycle it. Also

It's not the reporting. It's how we're…

Is it such a terrible thing to report on data that suggests that the problem is far from limited to males? Because you're very definitely coming across that way.

It's not the reporting. It's how we're reporting. (Hrm, why does that sound so familiar?)

Also: you're very definitely not reading…

heh...been drunking have we ?

Dude, I *wish* I could blame my general incoherence on being intoxicated. I haven't had the merest whiff of alcohol since a pina colada last July in Rarotonga (after which I suddenly thought 'hey, hang on: there might be a particular reason I've been feeling…

I am obviously not explaining my point very well, or something.

heh...been drunking have we ?

dismissed as moral panic

ARGH: we are not 'dismissing' binge drinking among young people, in general, as 'moral panic'. We were just noting moral-panic-ism in media *reporting* of young *women* drinking. Which is why I said that this putative moral panic was possibly going to be 'gendered'.

I am obviously…

Is it actually that impossible for anything that makes women look bad to be an objective statement?

Oh lord. Is that a serious question?

The tone I've taken from posts in here is "How dare they report that young women are displaying drinking behaviour that's worse than that of young…

Danielle, if by moral you mean a responsibility to other people in society not to squander precious resources on binge drinking, then yes, moral.

Woah, Dyan. Would you deliver the same sermon to, say, HIV victims? They cost heaps. Fact is, people don't always make good choices.

How do we…

I believe the concern here is about the meta-messages being conveyed based on the experience at a single annual event (where we can't really know why the numbers are different because they're not gathered properly for that purpose).…

It's the "women are drinking like men = OMG PANIC!" I have a problem with.

I think you actually mean "Women are drinking worse than men", based on the R&V evidence. And why not panic? It means that the messages about drinking responsibly are clearly not getting through, because a group…

The doctor that accessed me for my ACC claim, deducted %10 of that claim, because my dad was an alcoholic.

Oh Steven, that's horrible. I can sympathise – I was sent to an immunologist at one point who, while ignoring the results of my blood tests, diagnosed my chronic fatigue…

That comment from "JD" makes me so furious.

Sorry, but since it was my link, which comment and who is JD?

To speed things up you're really wanting a "Purple Heart" for being wounded in battling the fire, which is fair enough, but that would be a new award.

Not even that. The guys who were injured in the explosion and incapacitated, well, really, that's unfortunate but also a hazard of…

To speed things up you're really wanting a "Purple Heart" for being wounded in battling the fire, which is fair…

This sucks, by the way. Row over cool store medals and compensation.

That comment from "JD" makes me so furious.

The reports of one firefighter reflects the bitterness and pain he is feeling. I think the jounalist has some fault here too, as it clearly isn't an award for bravery as the firefighter was reported as saying.

It's been 20 months, and there's been no formal recognition of the actions…

http://medals.nzdf.mil.nz/category/b/b8.html

The reports of one firefighter reflects the bitterness and pain he is feeling. I think the jounalist has some fault here too, as it clearly isn't an award for bravery as the firefighter was reported as saying.

I will dispute the genetic component, then add cultural.

Pretty much everything is a combination of genes and environment.

Psychiatric geneticists John I. Nurnberger, Jr., and Laura Jean Bierut suggest that alcoholism does not have a single cause—including genetic—but that genes do play an important role "by affecting processes in…

...and then there was the time i woke up next to some guy who had pissed himself and soaked me with it :(

on thinking back, maybe he was a she ?... dunno, i really was that pissed, besides does it really matter ?

Dyan then moves from criticising female binge drinkers to talking about alcoholics. Alcoholism is a physical addiction with a genetic component – I think calling it a 'bad choice' is a bit... I was going to say 'simplistic', but I think the word I want is 'unfair'.

This is so…

so we can each lie in our own pool of vomit.

i hate being that guy:)

...and then there was the time i woke up next to some guy who had pissed himself and soaked me with it :(

It's not really possible to smack your wife round without hurting her.

Or yourself, where it counts.

Yes, because nice women were at home, taking care of the drunk men's children.

Nailed it. Six o clock swill, anyone?

are heavily intoxicated women more likely to be taken to the detox tents (as opposed to laughed at by their friends and left in a paddock) than men are?

…

Sometimes people do actually have to be told, quiet loudly, not to make bad choices.

...and when that fails, give em the smack ?

No they don't. But lets think about the 'It's not Ok!' campaign and the anti-smacking legislation. Do we agree that they had a positive impact? Sometimes people do actually have to be told, quiet loudly, not to make bad choices.

I really don't think that's an equivalent position. It's possible…

Does that mean I have Girl's Ears?

It's all that Avril Lavigne :)

but at least for women, a quick trip to the bathroom and a subtle application of 'thin lizzy' means they can once again get amongst it with little or no sideways glances...

Like that charming young man who did the 'thin lizzy' for the cameras at Camp Matai on the…

because nice women were at home, taking care of the drunk men's children.

which begs the question ? who's looking after the drunk peoples kids now ?

...reminds me of the joke about the social worker who comes across little jimmy sitting in the gutter quaffing a bottle of jim…

Danielle, if by moral you mean a responsibility to other people in society not to squander precious resources on binge drinking, then yes, moral.

Woah, Dyan. Would you deliver the same sermon to, say, HIV victims? They cost heaps. Fact is, people don't always make good choices.

Like I said, we're only at the beginning of the discussion and it might all peter out, but I have this condition called Extra-Sensitive Ear...

I heard that too. Does that mean I have Girl's Ears?

And the scary stat that the majority of heavily intoxicated youth at R&V were young women.

Actually, while that was clearly the inference being drawn, it wasn't actually the stat. The stat was that women heavily outnumbered men in the detox tents.

The missing piece of information in between those two…

You think thats scary, you want to see what a bunch of heavily drunken men looks like:)

but at least for women, a quick trip to the bathroom and a subtle application of 'thin lizzy' means they can once again get amongst it with little or no sideways glances...

...i…

if by moral you mean a responsibility to other people in society not to squander precious resources on binge drinking, then yes, moral

Yeah, I'm sure you're right about all that, but I'm not talking about the actual costs of female drinking to the health system. I'm using the term…

You think that's scary, you want to see what a bunch of heavily drunken men looks like:)

Seen it. Suppose that might be part of Danielle's point. The fact that this is 'old news' makes as less shocked by it, but in fact it is no less shocking.

but I have a sensitive wee ear out for the beginnings of a gendered moral panic...

Quite right, too. That can lead to comments like 'they should have known better', and other such helpful genderalisations.

Some moral responsibility has to be put somewhere, though there are whole branches of ethics…

Are we in a society where the victim is held solely responsible for their actions?

In the case of the Lisa ad, the victim was held responsible for *someone else's* actions. (No, I'm totally not still incredibly bitter and ranty about that ad, why do you ask?)

ETA: Also, I'm…

Our modern history of alcohol use and abuse has all been state sanctioned and relatively transparent.

It's certainly transparent in the sense that our hopefully 'brightest young stars' can be seen stumbling down drunk into St John's ambulances all over the country during New Year's Eve celebrations. And the scary…

Nah, but I can hear crickets and bees

I guess those Fern Flat workers in clay must be having a holiday break then.

while the other ran a successful billion dollar corporation that profited from people's propensity to drink large quantities of alcohol.

While like Russell, I'm pretty dubious about Myer's knighthood, I can't buy it as some sort of 'like tobacco', sold alcohol, poisoned our future type angle.

Tobacco companies knew they…

a musical automaton

Hence Jackson's interest? :)

Yes, awards went to senior desk-jockeys rather than those who actually got injured fighting the coolstore fire.

This has been a bit of a contentious issue on a volunteer fire fighter mailing list I'm on. The matter of the Queen's Service Medal being for, well, service has been pointed out.…

http://www.ragtimewest.com/PeterJackson.JPG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ5PZLk4x8U

and here he is in a more comedic setting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APO4N-PA50Y

Hmm, still not quite getting that.

It's all about the release for the last two choruses. Total pop, of course, but it works. What's the name of the Jenny Lewis track?

Out in the blogosphere it is a different matter. Right-wing blogs are apoplectic over Clark's honour. Some lefties are out-raged that Myers has been elevated.

As I said, I'm fine with sirs and dames — these are, after all, people we are according high public honour — but there are…

Thanks very much for last night, R&F. It was a pretty excellent night for me, all up; three parties back-to-back over the course of 10 hours, and home by 6 full of beer, lamb, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, chocolate cake and whiskeys.

You're very welcome. I am amused that the people who…

What is it in the national psyche that some Kiwis cannot celebrate, if only for a couple of days each year, the achievements of outstanding New Zealanders?

Well I can't speak for New Zealanders as I am Canadian but from what I see the objection NZers have to Doug Meyers…

Think of the children.

http://www.sail-world.com/photos/Med_Image3-20.jpg

I wonder what Emirates are getting out of their deal…

If they had made the media, maybe…

there are plenty of firefighters, police officers, medical professionals etc. who get injured in the course of their duties who don't get QSMs.

And plenty of managers…

As for Helen Clark's services to the National Party – she and her government were responsible for creating New Zealand's high international standing which is something that John Key in particular has…

Someone tell Fran that even the MSM are discussing who gets honoured. Yes, awards went to senior desk-jockeys rather than those who actually got injured fighting the coolstore fire.

So, did The Waikato Times bother finding out whether any of "those who actually got injured fighting the coolstore fire" were…

Pretty much, yes.

Apart from what Craig said above, actually I don't care, particularly in this discussion. Political leanings shouldn't have anything to do with receiving national honours, or participating in blogs for that matter. They shouldn't, but perhaps they do?

So this is a lefty blog? I'm outta here.

Pretty much, yes.

And Helen Clark lead a government that was quite happy to profiteer off addicts to the tune of billions of dollars in excise tax on tobacco and alcohol

Was that really profiteering, or were the users contributing to their downstream costs?

I thought that was politer

Yeah, sorry, I just spent a good couple of minutes trying to find the comment of Craig's Hilary was objecting to.

I see that being a more polite commentator is not one of Craig's New Year resolutions

Hillary: Much more polite that the initial draft, and if you want to get Miss Manners with me perhaps you'd care to withdraw and apologise for the insinuation that Margaret Wilson was snubbed for…

We live in a pretty benign democracy and most politicians are reasonable people. That doesn't stop me noting inequity, hypocrisy, oppression and abuses of power in our political systems.

By the way Craig, did…

I'm not providing a link, because some of the chatter is seriously vile, and I'm not going to dignify it with linky love.

Thanks for the heads up. Plenty going on here to keep my attention away from it.

Instead, we dwell on the high spots.

It would be pretty rad if they could also dwell on the low spots. You know, showing all sides of the issue and whatnot.

You are hereby banned from further use of fallacious argument. ;)

3410: Fair enough. But if you're seriously going to argue that the honours process is fatally tainted by partisanship, I'd love to see some evidence. I know John Key is Satan incarnate to plenty (and not all on the…

Out in the blogosphere it is a different matter. Right-wing blogs are apoplectic over Clark's honour. Some lefties are out-raged that Myers has been elevated.

So this is a lefty blog? I'm outta here. It's only 'polarising' because it makes people question what we hold as 'honourable' in this here…

What is it in the national psyche that some Kiwis cannot celebrate, if only for a couple of days each year, the achievements of outstanding…

Perhaps you'd also like to share with us what "services to the National Party" were rendered by Helen Clark?

You are hereby banned from further use of fallacious argument. ;)

The honours list is always political as the office is part of the PM's department and the list has to be approved by Cabinet. This might indicate why Margaret Wilson and Michael Cullen weren't on it, even though retired speakers and senior cabinet ministers traditionally get something.

Margaret Wilson did…

I thought it was great when Sir Tristram got one

rofflenui

The honours list is always political as the office is part of the PM's department and the list has to be approved by Cabinet. This might indicate why Margaret Wilson and Michael Cullen weren't on it, even though retired speakers and senior cabinet ministers traditionally get something.

Speakers do traditionally…

I love living in the middle ages.I think everyone should be knighted next year.

But if everyone is knighted, where will they get their men-at-arms to fulfill their feudal obligations?

.I think everyone should be knighted next year.

be knighted or beknighted?

just a big ego wank for the cracka ass knobs

quite

Thanks very much for last night

Ae, it were lovely. Good people all round. I love how the sky-lanterns we saw from the first party were released aloft from the second. And the moon.

The original has been a massive hit

Soaring, beautiful. Which local anthems do you reckon do…

a very good deal are driven by the private passion of a CEO, or key players on the board, or an influential sponsorship manager who weighs approaches and decides which are worthwhile, will assist local/national interest perspectives and have am upbeat rub-off factor for the company and its people.

If…

This takes me back exactly ten years. If it wasn't for the discussion back then about whether the year 2000 was the actual beginning of the new millennium* I think the Internet might have just fizzed out.

*It wasn't.

That's so last century ;-)

*It wasn't.

So last decade.

Except it's not really until 1/1/2011 is it..

Here's that tune, of which we spoke. The original has…

So last decade.

Damn you're quick.

The attributes of those on the list that made me think, 'yeah, that's cool' had very little to do with the official criteria for national honours;

"for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rendered meritorious service to the…

One of the few investments that has withstood all this is precious metals, and while I can't quite get my head around the god-like inherent value in a shiny piece of metal, that may only be because I don't have any.

No need to have the actual shiny metal if…