Posts by Paul Williams
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I see "this" as centre, so sometimes it veers either way, that's why its a decent read. facts are fun.
I mostly agree and find the posts and commentary here unbelievably informed and insightful. I don't mean it as a criticism, more a comment on the lack of calm, reasoned and informed writers on the right of the spectrum. I need to give big-ups to Craig though - I appreciate that Craig's perspective is to the right of mine on some, but not all issues, and enjoy both the substance and delivery of his posts. It'd be interesting though, if someone like Dick Griffin started a blog or Gareth Morgan? I read Matt Nolan's stuff from time to time too - he's pretty orthodox.
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Reading the latest comments, it appears that I, too, am now an enemy of the left.
Sigh ...
Come home RB, you're understood and loved... seriously, Rob Salmond's done a good job trying to navigate a middle line but too many folk see life in binary terms.
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I have to say, that Trotter's blog musings, pretty much justifiy everything the wingnuts have ever said about him.
He's been much quieter since his initial flurry of hyper-activity whereas Hooton's very active. I know I shouldn't bother, but I can't help but comment on some issues...
At the risk of offending our host, I'd really like it if a centre-right version of PAS were to start up but I can't see it happening.
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Are there no decent right wing commentators who could replace him?
I've wondered this myself. There used to be. Perhaps it's a case of the smarter commentators having too much at stake?
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Thanks Rich - that's a very handy little table. Not one I'd seen before either.
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Are we all familiar with the number of people currently in prison for murders committed after they served time for an earlier murder?
I believe it's three.
I remember that some modelling was done in the mid-'90s by the Ministry of Justice in contemplation of Neeson's Degrees of Murder bill - and early version of this shit-storm. The model was, from memory, on a single sheet of paper as the numbers were low... but I didn't think it was that low.
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Logically you'd think that Treasury should produce something, but it's considered to be too political. The difficulty is how you categorise public and private expenditure for comparative purposes: the classification can be argued to be Politically driven.
It's hellishly difficult, even within countries. There's a range of publications in Australia that compare states' expenditure on various budget items and I understand it's a real struggle to get comparable data. It's much easier though when you look at specific lines of expenditure compared across nations. Here's an dataset on expenditure on education - at this level of aggregation however, I'm not sure it tells you much other than the changes by country overtime...
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Having now had a chance to see some of the debate, rather than just listen, this is a significant moment where it becomes incredibly obvious how disconnected from the event Palin really is. Biden's personal history is significant and his commentary appears genuine, I'm sure you could take a cynical view but I choose not too, and her reaction is just to segue to another talking point. Had she really been the maverick, the unscripted innocent she claims, she'd have recognised the need to acknowledge his point in some way.
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I thought Biden was by some stretch the best of the four candidates in the debate format. He said stuff in a way that let you know he really knew it.
I completely agree. He's a substantive character worthy of his position on the ticket and reassuring to anyone who's got misgivings about Obama (but wants to vote Democrat). I suspect that when I read Palin's debate, it'll be that much less impressive, whereas his commentary will stand-up. I'll confess I wanted to see her overwhelmed; her candidacy is a fraud and I'd hoped it would be revealed.
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No, Paul, I'm with you too. She debated well. Mainly because she has done little but prepare for it for the last 3 weeks.
Oh Jolisa, I was so hoping you'd tell me I was totally wrong.
I did notice the decline in confidence and fluidity on questions but she still performed at an acceptable level; I wonder if they'll get any bounce and how long it'll endure - some wiser head here noted that whatever bounce she might create, will have diminished by the time people vote.