Posts by Biobbs
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Hard News: Bad Judgement, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
One of the funny ones that once happened in the EC was when an opposing counsel tried to attack my independence because I was a trustee for a grass-roots environmental restoration group in the area of science I worked in.
Something the lawyer only knew because you’d fully and properly disclosed that fact in accordance with your legal, contractual and ethical obligations?
Well, I'd just routinely put it in my bio details/ qualifications at the start of my evidence brief like I always did, as a positive thing (demonstrating 'expertise' in applying science to the real world and community involvement), never dreaming that this time it would be used against me! There's no requirement to reveal your every activity related to your area of expertise in your evidence - you just have to make sure you don't leave out anything that could raise genuine doubt about your neutrality and independence. My experience was that EC judges were pretty smart - they understood the difference between actual conflicts of interest and stuff that all professional people in resource management do.
Nowadays, it's compulsory for all EC expert witnesses to state in their evidence that they have read and agreed to abide by the Court's Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses (especially the bit that says you understand that your duty is to the Court, not your client), but back then it was optional. It was pretty obvious that some ew's had never even heard of the thing, let alone read it :-)
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Hard News: Bad Judgement, in reply to Carol Stewart,
Well, thanks again for your sage advice. Guess we'll leave those hoardings down for the time being, or just flash them at sympathetic passers-by.
Hi Carol - I worked for a CRI for 12 years, including at middle management level, and we had very few restrictions to what you were allowed to do on your own property (like letting a political party put up hoardings), or being politically active in your own time. We were just told to use our common sense and that we had a responsibility to be always seen to be providing neutral scientific advice to whichever client was employing us (important here to stress that CRI staff do not work for the government, they work for clients, who may be either govt or private concerns) - this was also stated in our CEC.
So hosting a meeting of a political party on-site would have been an absolute no-no, but using your work email to organise a political meeting at your own home out of work hours would have been fine, for example.
As mentioned earlier, how senior/high public profile you were played into this. A clerical or IT employee, or low-level technician, had more leeway than a senior scientist. In my case, I appeared occasionally at hearings and in the Environment Court as an expert witness, so I was personally very conscious of not giving opposing counsel any chinks in my armour to attack my independence (and they really *do* dig around in your past for any dirt - one of my colleagues had been a member of Greenpeace 10 years before he even joined the CRI, and this was used to attack his credibility in the EC). So I chose to avoid any political involvement in those years, without ever really discussing it with my bosses.
One of the funny ones that once happened in the EC was when an opposing counsel tried to attack my independence because I was a trustee for a grass-roots environmental restoration group in the area of science I worked in. Taking on roles like that was actually a requirement of the FRST funding of our research (in the community engagement/research outcomes bit of the bid and contract), but I had to go through about 15 minutes of cross-examination about whether this proved I was some kind of biased greenie sleeper before the judge finally instructed connsel that it was an irrelevant line of questioning and to please move on :-).
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Hard News: Friday Music: Festival Furores, in reply to Alan Perrott,
also: RIP Lewis Collins.
he inspired a great many forward rolls and a longterm yearning for a white Capri 2800.
I think you might enjoy this:
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First free school concert: Craig Scott and Angela Ayers. Hmm. I can vaguely recall my 11-year-old self liking Angela a lot but thinking Craig was boring.
First paid gig: Robert Plant, Mt Smart, on The Principle of Moments tour, with the Pink Flamingoes as support. During the PF slot, people set fire to the fence to get in without paying.
Best ever gig: Like Matthew H, I have to go for Violent Femmes 1990, except I saw them at the ANU student union in Canberra. Packed out venue, all totally into the band (the Femmes were big JJJ faves and very popular in Oz). I drove 6 h from the little town in country NSW where I was living at the time just to see them, and they didn't disappoint. My A0-size '1990 Debacle Tour' poster still hangs on the wall of my study to this day. Not quite sure how they managed to go so fast downhill after that.
The support was also excellent - Sydney's The Clouds, including NZ's Trish Young on bass.
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Hard News: Friday: A happier place, in reply to Samuel Scott,
Unhappy band? Yeh nah, I never thought so. They had lots of happy songs. Caterpillar? The whole Kiss Me Kiss Me album? Even 'Boys Don't Cry' had an upbeat, poppy feel to it. And wasn't this the best little pop song of the 80s:
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Hard News: Friday Music: Partners in Vacancy, in reply to Russell Brown,
But more importantly: Lorde's 'Royals' has now moved into the US Top 10.
Flicked on my radio while making breakfast this morning, and was delighted to hear 'Royals' has been chosen as this week's featured "Inevitable" track on Danish National Radio. She's jolly well gone global!
DR has a nice positive write-up about her on their website - it's in Danish but Google Translate makes a reasonable hash of translating it:
http://www.dr.dk/p3/musik/p3suu/2013/09/02/new-zealansk-sangfugl-er-denne-uges-uundgaelige-pa-p3
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Hard News: Food Show 2013: There is a…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
We also had a chat to the man about quite how much rice Sunrice grows in Australia, which seems to run to several million metric Australian fucktonnes. Roughly.
Where on Earth do they find the water for that?!
Heavily subsidised irrigation, is the short answer. About 11% of Australia's irrigation is for rice. I lived in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area for 6 years and my abiding memory will be driving past glistening rice fields on 45-degree days when it hadn't rained for months.
It's all very controversial - see this recent opinion from LaTrobe's Professor Lin Chase:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2012/opinion/lies,-dam-lies-and-water-plans
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Up Front: Somebody Think of the Young Adults!, in reply to Bevan Shortridge,
They were giving the Herald on Sunday away at the Warriors game. Didn't actually read it.
"Ah, yes, without question my favourite magazine; soft, strong and thoroughly absorbent". Since we're doing Stephen Fry.
Ted Dawe was my 4th Form Social Studies teacher in 1976. He was a *seriously* good teacher. He used to do things like taking us to the art gallery or for a tour round the Shortland St studios instead of class on some days. I imagine most people couldn't think of a bigger nightmare than dragging 38 14-year-old boys round an art gallery, but he seemed to enjoy it.
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Capture: Got the blues, in reply to ChrisW,
Good to know the site too. Do you know Kendrick Smithyman's poem 'Tomarata'? I've been to similar places perhaps in the North, but feel I know much about (Lake) Tomarata the place as itself as well as more broadly from this great poem. Actually going there is on the list too.
Thanks for the link to the poem Chris - had not heard of that at all. Always learning something new when reading PAS!!
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Capture: Got the blues, in reply to ChrisW,
But then, aha! - I see evidence of a (SI) West Coast context for such a photo from a previous post of yours.
Oops, I'd forgotten that I'd posted that other photo. Not meaning to be repetitious. But I do love my harakeke. And my raupo. And all my other water plants. That particular harakeke is at Lake Tomarata, north of Auckland, and is some of the tallest I've ever seen, with those very soft and upright leaves.