Posts by BenWilson
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Polity: New Zealand and the TPP: “Or…, in reply to Tinakori,
A more important question, why can't Labour attract quality advisors?
Yes, questions about Labour, when discussing the National Party negotiator on behalf of the long standing National Government, are always more important. We should certainly be holding the Opposition accountable for the government's mistakes in a functional democracy...oh, hang on...
most people now accept that successful negation for sustainable outcomes is a collaborative effort from all sides.
That's true, but I don't think that being willing to engage in a collaborative effort is in itself sufficient to get anyone else to want to. You really do have to have something to bargain with. There are countless instances of situations were negotiation breaks down in the world, too, and they're usually due to a massive power imbalance - one side simply can't exert any leverage over the other.
Good faith is necessary but not sufficient in trade negotiations. First and foremost you have to have something to trade.
I find it pretty scary to think about what it is that we have to trade, given that we're already about as open to trade as it is possible to get. All we have left is the reverse - we can offer greater restrictions on our trade to give one or other partner advantage. It's all rather Orwellian, to be talking about freeing up trade by restricting it.
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Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…, in reply to Alfie,
It's a pretty weak call she's making. It amounts to "he shouldn't stand down...yet".
But her reasons why beyond the obvious thing about presumption of innocence are very poor. Does it tarnish reputation to actually have dirty dealers held accountable? I don't think so - I think it does the opposite.
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Thank the stars you're talking about music. I thought this was going to be the most insensitive headline ever on PA.
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Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…, in reply to Rob Stowell,
I fear to a lot of people he sounded like someone patient but wearied at the tedious journalist who wouldn’t let him explain things fully and frankly :(
Sure. It takes time to change that perception. They have to see this kind of thing over and over and over. Of course some people will never change their minds, too. But they're not even really worth worrying about. To them, it really wouldn't matter if he said he committed cold-blooded murder, so long as it was delivered in tones that implied they were still safe in his hands.
I’m not so convinced that 40% are that gullible
Ditto. I know a few in the 40% who are swing voters, and when their gut lurches enough, or the stink gets too bad, they do change their minds. I think it even seems to be how they change their minds on politics, for the most part - voting out rather than voting in.
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Hard News: Judicial caprice is no way to…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Yeah, it's pretty fucked up, since possession of a utensil is really an indication of personal use. Maybe if you had 2 pipes....
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Polity: Saudi sheep: Misappropriating…, in reply to Rob Stowell,
The PM is extraordinarily good at sticking to his talking points, and evading and misdirecting without quite lying. We know that: there are journalists who try to call him on it now, which is great.
Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
But the opposition largely remain captive to the narrative the govt choses.
But we don't have to be so captive. Bringing the Opposition into the discussion at all, when they've been out of power for 7 years, and had nothing to do with McCully's dirty little deal, is so desperate that Key sounded like a broken record player trying it on over, and over, and over.
Susie did a good job there.
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Speaker: Why we need to stop talking…, in reply to SHG,
That’s not a trait unique to what you call “the intellectual left”. It’s characteristic of nerds in general
Absolutely. It's the bit that's "on the other hand" that I think the left suffers from more than the right, at the moment. It could be that the whole narrative surrounding the left is half the problem for them, though.
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Speaker: Why we need to stop talking…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
I'd say that his comment was tongue in cheek - it's pretty unlikely a person of such accomplishments would not have received some pretty mighty compliments in his life. But that one made him feel a whole lot better than he expected. Perhaps in that they both had unrealistic expectations about the other kind of person, and were pleasantly surprised to find a real person in place of a stereotype.
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Speaker: Why we need to stop talking…, in reply to Some Stats,
Most interesting. I do wonder if there might be an effect of "a pre-exposure measure of political preference" causing the subjects to lock in on their choice prior to reading the texts and thus changing the results. The findings are quite different. I need to read it closer though. Thanks for that.
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Polity: A week on from the housing controversy, in reply to Alfie,
Well, and of course he won't be hearing that from most people who are not homeowners.
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