Posts by Tom Semmens

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  • Island Life: Good on ya, Paula,

    She is our very own Sarah Palin.

    I was wondering if in fact Paula Bennett and Christine Rankin were one and the same alien shapeshifter, but this is better.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Nick Smith. Spanking. Now.,

    I have to say that a lot of the blame also sits squarely on the shoulders of Helen Clark.

    Do you not remember the level of the opposition to the attempt at a ETS? "FART TAX"!!!! Tractors up the steps of parliament! What do you suggest Labour should have done? Used urgency to ram through legislation in the teeth of hysterical opposition? We are not talking about the current National government, who seem to think that is business as usual. we are talking about Helen Clark's government.

    Business in New Zealand fought a bitter campaign against any attempt by the previous government to create a meaningful ETS, because they clearly thought that if they could hang on until 2008 they would get a government they could lobby successfully to do nothing. And they were right.

    So far, the business lobby have won every round. But they don't care. They've won the right to another decade or two of windfall profits, and when the chickens come home to roost, they'll just get the taxpayer to bail them out.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Island Life: Burn fat, not oil,

    Elsewhere there's celebration as the first $9m in funding is confirmed, a mildly optimistic editorial on the subject, and John Armstrong declaring that the project's a total fizzer as far as its initial ambitious goals were concerned.

    Thoughts anyone?

    For some reason, the Heralds coverage reminded me a bit of this

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Nick Smith. Spanking. Now.,

    We probably do need a bit of a Plain England version if it's to make any kind of MSM impact.

    Plain English? You would have to use crayons and stick people for most of them.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Nick Smith. Spanking. Now.,

    Keith Ng wants to be careful, I imagine Paula Bennett is about to release his student loan record as we speak.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Nick Smith. Spanking. Now.,

    I've pretty much concluded that National is so captured by special interests (Steven Joyce is the Minister for Tony Friedlander and Nick Smith appears to have strings on him that lead back to Federated Farmers HQ) that it has merely moved from denying the climate is doing any changing to denying they can do anything about the climate changing.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Nick Smith. Spanking. Now.,

    But Guyon said on his live cross it was cold! And besides, he was happy to leave all that complicated science to the minister.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Professionalism is killing…,

    So if the ABs lose, there must have been skullduggery afoot.

    And in every rcorded instance, this skullduggery was the work of FOREIGNERS!

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Short and Long of It,

    it seems to me his criticism of publicaddress is based on a fundamental flaw, namely that the exercise of functionality of weblogs, messageboards etc must be as passive as possible. To me, this a basic misunderstanding of human social psychology on the internet. I've always thought the way you attract people to a website is by encouraging the "slot machine" variant of addiction behaviour, where you encourage people to refresh, move back, try again, seeking - and getting - frequent instant rewards.

    Treat your audience like you would lab rats pressing a lever and you can't go wrong IMHO.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Professionalism is killing…,

    the Highlabders have something others can't quite equally offer: a captive Otago University student crowd to buy product by the gallon.

    Except that with an early February start, half the Super 15 will be over before they've even slept off the orientation hangover.

    And cricket... I've always considered it to be the thinking man's Sumo.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

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