Posts by Matthew Reid
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how does making racist comments, or even being a racist, make someone less of a New Zealander?
Graeme, you're quite correct that logically speaking, Henry's racist comments don't make him any less of a New Zealander - I wasn't making a comment about his citizenship. You're also quite right to remind me to reflect on the nature of contemporary New Zealanders.
I said "I know who I think is more of a New Zealander", by which I meant more of the kind of New Zealander that I like to think we are - calm, tolerant, comfortable with diversity. Given that the ratings seem to suggest Paul Henry is popular despite the provocative offensiveness, perhaps I am somewhat deluded in my thinking about what New Zealanders are like.
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I'm outraged by Paul Henry. He can't open his mouth without being offensive. I'm offended by his comments about Sir Anand - not that I was watching. This morning he has "apologised", but he offends Gypsies in the process. He uses a pejorative term, Gypo, and describes his Gypsy heritage as being much, much worse than people thinking he is British.
Key is a woofter for not denouncing him and for not refusing to appear beside a racist. Goff is extremely lame to say he is just being Paul Henry, but it's true in that Henry is constantly, provacatively offensive.
It is a national shame that people continue to watch him for his provocation. Henry says he will never apologise for causing outrage - in which case I don't think we should tolerate him on our screens any further.
I know who I think is more of a New Zealander.
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... found that Bryson was in fact an employee of the Hobbit's production company Three Foot Six, and not merely a contractor.
You may be selling the Hobbit's production company a bit short if it is actually Three Foot Seven. I think Three Foot Six was the LOTR's production company.
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Sorry to hear about the level of destruction/disruption to your house. Over in the south of Chch we're feeling fortunate that we only had the chimney land on the roof, brief loss of power, phone and interent and no problems with running water and sewerage.
My first thought, curiously, was to hope that we were near the epicentre of the earthquake. If it had been centred any distance away -- Wellington sprang to mind, of course -- then I knew that anything at the epicentre must have been utterly destroyed.
This was also my second or third thought while the quake was still rolling on Saturday, after "Right, we've got the kids and they're okay" and "I should've put some shoes on in case of broken galss". I was actually happy to hear that Canterbury was affected, that Wellington was not flattened and we weren't getting the relatively minor rumblings of an enormous quake elsewhere.
In the aftermath I have been very grateful that, relatively speaking, things have not been disastrous in Chch. Of course, I feel for poeple who have lost their homes or their work.
Personally speaking I'm still disturbed by the aftershocks, but I'm glad that a few broken glasses, a dent in the roof and half a day without power have been the worst of our problems. That this isn't Santiago, Port-au-Prince, Kashmir, Shichuan, Sumatra, or Bam, or some other place were people are cast out of their homes and normal lives by natual or human made disasters. Having met some of those unfortunate people, I have a renewed sympathy for them.
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Do those machines use permanent magnets or do they just leave them powered up for some reason?
Indeed some magnets in MRIs are always on, and they don't necessarily require electricity - the heavy permanaent magnets / superconducting supercooled magnets. Hence the problem when a cleaner wanders in after hours with their floor buffing machine, assuming that the warnings don't apply because the lights are off and the machine's not working. Also the strength of the magnet's field increases exponentially as you get closer to the MRI, so you might not realise there is a problem until you get closer...
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MRIs have a big magnet that makes the hydrogen atoms in your body change their axis of spin. The clunky noises are apparently smaller magnets moving around to check out different tissues in your body.
The corollary of having a huge magnet is that some nasty accidents can happen with floor cleaners, oxygen bottles and other metallic objects accidently brought into the magnetic field.
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The development of crop varieties that fix their own nitrogen from the air and effectively provide their own fertiliser is being pursued in various places. That would be an amazing innovation.
You mean like clover?
Edit: whoops, thanks Ross
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The gospel which your Grandfather refers to is probably either the Infancy gospel of Thomas, or the Syriac Infancy gospel.
A day on which I learn something is a good day. Even better when it's as wiggy as that.
Following the link to the Syriac Infancy Gospel: It contains a number of embellishments on the earlier text, including a diaper (of Jesus) that heals.
That's certainly pretty wiggy. From my three children's nappies it's miraculous when one doesn't almost knock you out.
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"I also told them that with some luck my brother and Rodney Hide would do something about it."
This is outrageous. I suppose nepotism may occur more frequently in NZ than I realise, but this is so blatant.
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Does anyone recall the name of Parker's opponent last time around? I can't, even though I voted for her. Through gritted teeth, but.
It was Megan Woods. She is still the chair of 2021. We may hear who will run for 2021 by ... the end of May. Jo Kane? Sir Kerry Burke?