Posts by Russell Brown
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I've contacted Peter Dunne's office for detail on what he said this morning about acute presentations falling since the Act came into force. They seem happy to help, so hopefully I'll have that information before too long. I'll also contact CARM, who do the official adverse response reporting.
It'll be nice to bring some data to the party.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to tatjna,
Hahaha snap. I’ve been watching this moral panic develop since 2010. It follows the same pattern that LSD and ecstasy, and before that cannabis, did. Post I made this morning about it:
tatjna.livejournal.com/966042.html
Yikes. Some of the quotes in those stories are pretty bizarre. “Synthetic heroin”? What shops exactly are selling that?
And this:
Labour Party Invercargill candidate Lesley Soper spoke at the protest. People had a right to be angry with the Government after it rushed through a piece of legislation allowing legal highs to be sold in the communities, she said.
Does Soper really not know that these things have been “sold in communities” for the past decade and this this legislation sharply curtails the ability for that to happen? And does she not realise her own party voted for the bill?
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to anth,
Did you mean “without”?
Yes.
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Hard News: The perilous birth of the…, in reply to Pete George,
Thanks for that Pete. Given the momentum in other parts of the world, I do think cannabis regulation might be closer than the minister indicates. I've spoken to an advocate who's had private conversations with a number of MPs who seem to see the contradictions in in the Misuse of Drugs Act being off-limits.
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Hard News: The Language of Climate, in reply to Bart Janssen,
In short, technology will dramatically change worldwide as a result of climate change, that creates huge opportunities for new ways of doing things and selling those methods around the world. By denying climate change we stifle that opportunity. We are so focused on minimising loss that we are ignoring the opportunity to shift from a primary produce economy to a technologically advanced economy.
I agree.
Also, I actively welcome GM grass that reduces ruminant methane emissions becoming enough of a real prospect to have a debate about. Because that will be an interesting debate. How real is that right now, Bart?
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From Glenn Williams, Jen's partner:
I think Jen summed it up well in that people aren't really talking about this stuff. There's no climate of concern.
I was fairly wound up about the smog last week but if my co-workers are anything to go by, I don't think too many people were actually bothered by it. It definitely was a big media event and the Saharan Dust was the big star player. The dust was the emerging story early in the week but by the time the air quality was really bad on Thursday with lung-clogging micro pollutants from diesel cars and heavy industries, the public's understanding of the situation was that it was a novelty weather scenario whipped up in Africa. I hated it. It had an evil chemical smell and caused a slight burning to the back of the throat. For most though, I think life went gone on in an unconcerned fashion.
I think the reaction to the smog event last week reflects the reaction to extreme weather events in general - it's a great media story but if the waves aren't lapping at your door on a regular basis or the roof hasn't blown off year after year people just put these things down to one-offs. The breeze arrived on Thursday afternoon and blew it all away. It seems that interest in these events is only for as long as the news cycle allows and until the sun shines again.
I get the impression that there's awareness the climate is changing and that it will get more extreme in our lifetimes, but until it has a sustained impact on our quality of life it is not something that most people will be actively concerned about.
Hope that helps. I guess I could summarise it by saying that people aren't really feeling much about it all. My impression anyway. If they're not continuously living with the result of a bad event (flood/Beijing smog/Christchurch quake) then it's not something to be concerned about.
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Hard News: Friday Music: The Godfather…, in reply to Robert Harvey,
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life is highly recommended, and Unity Book’s sale got me their followup,
Given that I follow Bill on Twitter and Soundcloud I should probably actually read both of those.
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David Morales has uploaded his own Frankie tribute mix.
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And this: Classic New Zealand songs rendered as Shakespearean sonnets
Very, very good.
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WOAH. HOLD THE DAMN PHONE.
I've just been pointed to this holyshitamazing short doco by Phil Ranstrom on the launch of the third of the triumvirate of Chicago house clubs, The Power Plant, in 1986. House, it is clear, was becoming the next big thing by that point. It includes a Frankie interview and a live performance by Steve Silk Hurley's JM Silk. Uploaded only this week (the day after Frankie died) and the nearest you'll get to actually being there ...