Posts by George Darroch

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  • Up Front: The Naked and the Dude,

    I'm pretty sure there hasn't been a law change.

    The state of New South Wales is on track to remove the defence of artistic merit from the law, despite the fact that it has only been used twice in NSW history, both unsuccessfully. Artistic groups are concerned about the chilling effect it is likely to have on all representations of children.

    What is needed isn't a change to the law, but stronger enforcement

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Naked and the Dude,

    According to Google he was a lieutenant, but that does look more like a hockey stick. Is this the origin of the naked sports-calendar?

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Naked and the Dude,

    Appreciation of the male nude in earlier New Zealand photography is not unknown: for example, this 1916 portrait of the muscular Mr Garland

    He is a muscular one... I wonder what exactly they were thinking when they got him to hold his stick (a gun?) like that.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Speaker: Towards a realistic drug policy,

    And their coalition partners Act and the Maori Party are lots more inclined to support legalisation than NZ First or the Progressives ever were.

    Really? I disagree on that matter. I think that New Zealand is still at least a decade a way from any significant change towards evidence based drug laws.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Naked and the Dude,

    So, were there any female genitals? No sausage, no bacon?

    It is my impression that society is rather uncomfortable with the genitals of either sex being portrayed in non-pornographic ways, and with female genitals being easier to hide, it is almost as if they do not exist.

    No wonder there is still so much female genital dismorphia (among the many other dismorphias that predominate).

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Speaker: Towards a realistic drug policy,

    I'd be keen to see the harm caused by smoking the drug reduced. To that end the criminalisation of vaporisers was a disappointing move.

    Still, cookies aren't yet illegal.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Cracker: The Best Blogs of 2009 I Never…,

    Wow, that's quite lovely.

    I haven't been for years, I might find someone small to drag along next time I'm in Auckland...

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Up Front: Something for Your Hangover,

    Yeah, I mean, okay, Jacquie Grant will be using him as a footstool inside of a week, but I can't see any scenario that justifies this appointment that isn't an attempt to nobble the Tribunal from the inside.

    I honestly have to say that I know too little about the HRRT to comment on its workings. But I do know enough to state that this is designed to undermine it, and to undermine human rights.

    Why? I'll speculate on a couple of motives. The first is plain stupidity, but I have been given no reason to believe this.

    The second is that this is a chance to 'attack' the "PC brigade". There have been enough references, both quite open and clear and veiled and indecipherable, about shifting things back (presumably to some golden age in the past - 1972?). That makes more sense to me. Except that they're human rights. They can't just be waved away. To throw them away is to actively choose to violate the human rights of real New Zealanders. That obviously isn't a concern of the current Government.

    There is another element, and that is that human rights impose restrictions on businesses and how they can be run.

    National MPs I've had the experience of dealing with (mainly in select committees) seem to think that for the most part business in NZ is overregulated and that laws that protect workers and customers are an impediment. "Common sense" will rule the day, they tell me. Watering down the committee weakens its ability to impose on businesses.

    A conspiracy theory? Craig will probably correct me. But unless someone else can offer me a coherent reason why National and ACT are foisting someone who hates human rights on the population, it's the one I'm going to go with.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Speaker: There's a word for that ...,

    Interesting fact of the day: a hairdryer powered by coal electricity delivers the same heat punch from incurred CO2 as the heat output of two fully loaded 747s at takeoff.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Speaker: There's a word for that ...,

    Thanks George- wasn't meaning to be snarky.

    No problems, it wasn't taken that way!

    Micro-wind can be very worthwhile, when used appropriately. But giving every suburban home owner large amounts of money in the form of subsidies, rebates, or other instruments would be a waste of time.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

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