Posts by Andrew E
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John - lol.
But although we may not have known about the strength of his pseudo-christianity, many of us did have quite a healthy degree of scepticism about Bliar, even before he was elected and rapidly proceed to implement policies that even Thatcher had shied away from.
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Obama's been doing that himself. His 27.32 minutes ended on the "imperfect man, imperfect president" theme, which if it hadn't been followed by the live Florida fiesta would have almost been un-American...
I'm glad that's the case Don. I take Danielle's point too, but having lived through all the hype for Blair in '97, and normally rational people saying "I don't care what his policies are, getting into power is what's important", I've learned how much damage can be done by a politician who is cut too much slack by too large a proportion of the population for too long.
If Obama is lowering expectations himself, that's a good thing. It's also good that he's signalling that government can only achieve so much without the American public themselves lifting their game. But some of the improvements needed in the US on a number of issues require changes that will only occur in a generational timeframe, so we shouldn't indulge in 'irrational exuberance' about what an Obama administration may achieve. Significant improvements outside the US could be achieved more rapidly, but I'm not optimistic that they'll happen based on Obama's comments regarding Israel and Afghanistan/Pakistan, and the likely protectionist reaction in the US to the global recession.
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For a campaign based around hope, there sure is a lot of despair in the air.
Yeah, I'm not convinced it is a done deal either. But I'm a born pessimist.
I also think there should be a good deal of lowering expectations as to what an Obama presidency would actually do as opposed to what the rest of the world and maybe even the American public would like him to do. I'm not a great fan of Simon Jenkins, but this piece isn't bad.
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On the subject of unintended consequences, John McCain's campaign videos on YouTube have been being pulled as a result of DMCA takedown notices served (presumably) by his opponents.
Yeah, Rich, that's what I posted last night.
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Would anyone like a large helping of alleged copyright infringement take-down notice irony?
You would?
OK, here you go, in all it's deliciousness.
Enjoy. -
So, just to broaden this out a little, does the Act also enable to people to allege copyright infringement for things such as databases?
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On that billboard issue...
National are promising 'ultra-fast' broadband, and apparently fibre to the home for lots of us.
But what is their definition of 'ultra-fast'?
100 Mbs?
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Funnily enough, it's gone quiet in here.
Could it possibly be that all PA-ers are watching the Biden/Palin debate?
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Those in Wellington who are interested in this subject might want to get to the following lunchtime lecture by Kim Workman, Senior Associate at the Institute of Policy Studies (@VUW):
Politics and Punitiveness: Overcoming the Criminal Justice Dilemma
It's on Monday 20 October in LT2 of Old Government Buildings.
More on the IPS Lunchtime Lecture Series (pdf).
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MED noted 91 documents relevant to my OIA request but released only 13 and most of them were redacted in some way
And did you lodge a complaint with the Ombudsmen about the documents and parts of documents that were withheld?
One of the stated purposes of the OIA is to enable people to effectively participate "in the making and administration of laws and policies". The Ombudsmen might have a different different view on the level of disclosure required by MED to fulfil that purpose of the law than MED does.