Posts by George Darroch
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How is this... branding GM as evil?
Or is it something else, like nerve-gassing babies and little puppy dogs??
There are certainly plenty in the Greens who act that way - they talk as if GE technologies threaten the existence of the planet. They're reactionaries, and are prone to making claims which are just not supported by any science. And then there are others like Jeanette Fitzsimons who make more limited and supportable claims.
It's strange, considering their experiences on the other side of the equation relating to climate change, where they argue that a great majority of scientists can't be wrong, and that their opponents cherry pick data and studies which do not mean what they think they mean.
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A Kedgley is defined as the number of stale McDonalds hamburgers needed to fill a 4 km long three lane road tunnel
I thought it was the weight of genetically modified McDonald's hamburgers required to make a 10 year old obese. Are you sure you're talking about metric Kedgleys?
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The somewhat dull paperwork I'm doing right now must be for fun then. Odd, i thought it was work. Think I'll go and spend the afternoon in Midnight's instead then..
The point was that Te Aro-ans are hardly seen by the politicians as a battle-ground for votes, and easily pigeonholed. Mt Albert on the other hand...
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" no RMA leverage "
They're cutting the legs off the RMA as we speak.
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"Hilary ...__ don't__."
The Greens define a coup d'état:
A Bill being passed under urgency today establishes an Auckland Transition Agency with draconian powers over the people of Auckland, accountable only to Rodney Hide.
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A coup d'état consists of the infiltration of a small, but critical, segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder.
*Luttwak, Edward (1979) [1968]. Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Throwing this into urgency is highly undemocratic. The governing arrangements for 1/3 of NZ's population should have the full review of Parliament, our representatives.
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In case we forget, air pollution from motor vehicles kills over 250 every year in Auckland, and seriously harms the 25% of children with asthma.
Yeah, I know, we'll all have electric cars in 2030, and the singularity won't be long after that.
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Sydney's tunnels definitely weren't cheaper either, and surprise surprise the road tunnels haven't hugely improved traffic
They also have very nasty effects in concentrating pollution, and on those who live near to their exhaust towers. They're carcinogen concentrators.
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So the lesson is start early, dig in hard?
I'll take a leaf from Kevin Rudd here, and say that Australia has taught me one thing: "working families".
Mt Albert is the home of "working families". The people of Te Aro neither work, nor have families.
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I don't really know how relevant this sort of thing is within a NZ context.
Wellingtonians will remember the Bypass, how it was fought for decades - with a fair amount of direct action in the final years. I helped a few people lock themselves to things. That was a bitter one. Roads activism does occur in NZ, but there's been a broad consensus to build lots of new roads in the last 10 years, and the opposition hasn't been taken up by "middle NZ" (wherever that is).
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I have a close friend who was a cop for twenty years, he left the job because of the same reasons I have mentioned above, that the general police attitude to the public left a lot to be desired.
And a family friend of ours, who left after a number of incidents - he was talking to a boy sitting by the road, and his senior officer kicked him in the face. He spoke out, the officer was sanctioned (although not prosecuted like you or I would be for kicking someone in the face), and after that his workplace was unbearable. There are recriminations for breaking the code.
All of which is terrible, because it helps no-one.
Also, I would suspect that many current cannabis users who are currently wary of the police (because they fear prosecution), would be more inclined to assist police intelligence efforts if they in no danger of persecution for responsible cannabis use.
I agree completely.