Posts by Kyle Matthews
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I used to have a pair of Siamese cats, but given that I moved away to university, they really became my parents. And when Dad moved down to Wellington to pursue career options while Mum stayed in Auckland to do her Masters, the cats went down south and moved into one half of a split unit that my parents hired from Dad's work, while they figured out where they wanted to buy in Wellington.
That was fine until summer. The other half of the unit was hired by a cop who'd made the career move from Christchurch, and whose family followed him come summer, including one cat.
I came home from university, and met a fellow Otago student who lived next door, newly home from the holidays. We used to go to SJS at Victoria together to get our Emergency Unemployment Benefit, she's now gainfully employed as a TV reporter.
Anyway, it would be fair to say that my male cat, Yoni, did not get on with the neighbour's cat. There was a lot of fighting, but worse, there was that growling at five paces from under the house when you couldn't get at either one and all they did was keep everyone awake. Siamese yowl like almost nothing you've ever heard.
One night my cat was on one side of the neighbour's cat door, their cat was on the other, and my fellow student was sleeping on the lounge floor. She got so sick of the hissing and noise that they were making at each other that she picked up one of her shoes and threw it at the cats, catching the ranchslider window and shattering the pane, which promptly fell to pieces everywhere. Neither cat was very popular at the neighbour's house for a while after that.
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A sympathetic customs officer (some of them are very nice, fortunately) informed me the 'little note' on my file that causes the alert is about my 'suspicious travel pattern.' It may have been the trip to Bosnia, or the one to North Korea...whichever, Ive been doomed for a while now to have those little heartwarming chats about my 'activities' and to unpack my laundry for someone to rifle through.
I worked with a guy who had exactly the same problem. Travel patterns were suspicious, and he always did the same trip two or three times a year for academic reasons. Every time, he got pulled out and bag searched.
Eventually the customs guys agreed to flag his record as not needing such close attention as his business was valid, and nothing was ever found.
Not that this would help Damian, Mr Class C Drug. You might as well go shopping for a nice pair of rubber gloves now, at least then you can find a pair that... er, feels comfortable for next time.
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If Neil's prediction is correct then that country will have been ruled by two families for 32 years.
28 - Bush senior only had 4 + Mr Clinton's 8, Bush junior's 8, plus a possible Mrs Clinton 8 = 28.
But yes to your overall point. Particularly given that if you look at the four of them, you couldn't exactly say all four of them were stunning leaders. Bush Junior seems to be well down in the depths of the gene pool in particular.
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The guy was describing a form of energy as “intrinsically evil”. I very much doubt he was meaning to say: “nuclear fission power is intrinsically evil. Though let me be clear, that fusion power... much respect. I’ve gots me a lot of time for that fusion.”
He was displaying an irrational fear of the power of the atom - that’s the salient point here.I don't know where the original quote came from, or indeed if it was an actual quote, or just something someone made up to poke fun at greenies. I don't particularly care either way about the statement and whether it makes the quot-ee, or quot-or look silly.
But it's certainly possible to say "nuclear power is evil" while knowing that the sun is a form of nuclear power, and actually just mean the nuclear power stations. Personally, if someone was to say "nuclear power" to me I'd assume they meant power sources that plugged into electrical wires, not also those that sent life-giving light.
In much the same way I'd like to be able to say "guns are dangerous" and have that lead to a sensible debate on whether people should be allowed to carry guns that kill, rather than some brainy sort diverting the conversation into "but BB guns are guns too!" for half an hour.
As to whether a source of power can be evil... surely there's better things to debate, like whether it's a good or bad thing?
“Usually”, but not always? That’s good enough for me. The statement “The Greenies are luddites” is too generic to be of use, but I do think Greenies can demonstrate an over-attachment to an idea they’ve embraced, at the expense of science.
I remember - I think it was an early speaker post by Dave Hayward - where he analysed the energy policies of all the major parties in the leadup to an election, and found, to his surprise, that the Greens had the most sensible, most scientifically based policy which matched what he believed as someone who had worked in the industry. Two quotes: "it takes all sorts", and "it's not easy being green".
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I should also point out that a Prime Minister isn't a President, and especially not a US-style executive President. Constitutionally, they're princeps, not dominus - first among equals, not an elected king.
But the Iowa caucus, or indeed any of the primaries, don't elect a President. It's a political party choosing a candidate for President. It's a lot more democratic than how most political parties choose candidates, for President, Prime Minister, or any other position.
Not that I think the US President elections are actually very democratic, just ask Al Gore. But the presidential elections don't start until a Tuesday in November. You're complaining that the Iowa caucus aren't very democratic for an election, when it's not actually an election, hence the way it can be caucus-ed.
Our Westminster Caucus isn't very democratic either, and it actually chooses the Prime Minister. Iowa is actually just choosing delegates to go to the convention. It's choosing the people that will choose the person who will run in the election.
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indie record selling 1000 copies brings in nz$17000 (wholesale to shops retails for $32 - 75% mark up to the store inc gst)
(david kilgour's albums sell in
CD pressing for 1000 copies $2-3000
Mastering costs - $400- $1000
Artwork $600 - $1000
Recording $5000- 15000 (low end budget)
posters, promo ???
cut for band ???
doesn't really leave much does it.Man, what century is this business model from? We're only a few years away from seeing major bands release all new music over the internet. Ten years from now putting new albums on CDs is going to be unusual, twenty years you'll struggle to find anything to play a CD on, in much the same way that most households can't play vinyl these days.
I still buy CDs, I like the physical object. But the idea that bands still need to produce them to 'make it'? That's rapidly disappearing behind us.
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I'm not completely clear on his policies, but my god he has charisma ....
I'm not sure when he picked up the style, but his way of speaking is quite like a non-religious version of MLK. Not just his references to the man and his message, but his way of speaking, and what he says.
I half expected him to say "I have been the mountaintop..."
Not a bad tactic at all. You can see why young people are flocking to him.
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Given the timing and limited duration of the caucus - a two-hour window on a weeknight - I don't think it is entirely a matter of "choice".
Seriously, if a country held an "election" where the poll was inconveniently timed and open for a very short window of time, they'd be laughed out of town. It's a basic tenet of democracy that the polsl should be accessible. Iowa's aren't.
This would all be a good point if what happened today (yesterday) was an election, not a primary. I don't necessarily think that we should have primaries or caucuses or anything similar, but the US system of choosing presidential candidates is an attempt to be a lot more democratic than the NZ method, where the Prime Minister is in effect chosen by the caucus.
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Man. I knew a fair bit about the American political system and the primaries, but you've brought up a few quirks there which I hadn't even heard of.
The other thing to remember is that 90% of the time the delegates at the convention have only one job - waving banners and making lots of noise. The other 10% of the time when there's actually real choosing work to be done at the convention, they're often spectacularly unqualified, since they basically signed up for a four day holiday with a bunch of other political nuts.
If either party comes down to that - and it's looking possible for either at this stage, it'll be a mess that'll make good TV but not necessarily good politics :)
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... actually, looking at the staff qualifications of Pew is like looking at the qualifications of the editorial board of a journal such as Nature - it would be to completely miss the point. Papers submitted for publication are always sent out for review externally. Referees remain strictly anonymous.
Actually, almost all the editorial board of Nature have PhDs and are active scientists/academics. Most quality journals have international-quality researchers on their editorial board - adds to the standing of the journal.