Posts by Kyle Matthews
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Just not swallowing Helen Kelly’s retcon either – but if it does repair her own dented credibility
She seems to have come out of this pretty well. She came in late, caught some flak at the time for fronting a crappy battle, and her statements at the time now largely seem to have been proven to be true. Everyone else has screwed up or lied or given away the ranch.
I'm v. disappointed in Jackson. What the hell.
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Not trying to get into an argument about this, but Auckland has the biggest gap between taxes paid and taxes returned and that’s down to the density benefits that make it more cost-effective to build roads, hospitals, schools and all those other things that are provided by the state in this country.
Like I said, I don't object to Auckland getting it's fair share. Indeed, that's all the argument it should need, the "important for the economy" one annoys me because it implies that other parts of the country aren't.
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Specific examples would be US policy regarding Iran, where the fever swamps of the left have for many years been positing that the US, and particularly the evilchimpybushhitler was and is just looking for an excuse to go bomb/invade Iran, when the leaked cables showed many Middle Eastern countries are pressuring the US to go bomb Iran's nuke program while the US is the reluctant party.
I'm partway through a book which quotes a senior adviser saying that Cheney was desperately looking through intelligence for an excuse to get into Iraq.
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I understand people from other regions resenting money being spent on Auckland, though there are plenty out there who can get beyond their bigotry and recognise that it’s good for the country as a whole if Auckland’s economy performs to best possible effect.
I don't resent national money being spent on Auckland. I just wish it wasn't framed as "what's good for Auckland is what's good for NZ because it's the biggest city/economy".
What's good for any part of the NZ economy is by nature good for NZ. The "auckland reasoning" seems to imply that the rest of the country is lucky to get government welfare for its projects, whereas in Auckland it's deserved. The language needs to change.
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While we're talking television -- and this might be a question for Fiona -- any news on when Mad Men season 4 plays here?
On my laptop, starting two nights ago. (2011: the year I finally gave up on actual TV).
Local musical acts that I’d recommend to anyone are Beyondsemble and Hot Club Sandwich. Delicous treats, both. Don McGlashan’s solo concert was splendid, too.
Marcus is too something-or-other to blow his own trumpet. His band "The Chaps" played an absolutely fantastic gig at the Dunedin Folk Club this year. If you ever get the chance to see them don't miss it. Tremendously mature, talented, funny musicians. Marcus is one of those disgustingly people who could pick up any of about 20 instruments and play it tremendously well.
My musical finds of the year Sufjan Stevens (coming here in February, fascinated to see what of his diverse range he plays) and Mirah who Ian Henderson brought here a few weeks ago. Ranging from rhythmic ballards who tease by never quite breaking out to quasi-rap songs, she was fantastic at Chicks and has been what my partner calls my current "music crush" since.
And I got to see the Pixies, 18 years after finding them. Tight gig.
RIP Tom Newnham also
Bugger. I read his book on the tour for a 5th form history project :(
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Does anyone have an explanation of how Waihopai could read Fijian cellphone traffic?
I can't remember the technical details, but my memory is that the purpose of waihopai is to pick up phone, fax, email traffic that goes via satelite from south pacific nations and NZ. I don't know how fiji's communications work, but I presume some goes via satelite.
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Oh, and while I’m not defending our rate, possibly better per capita spent in recipient countries, as I believe a fair amount of US aid money is given to US corn farmers and the like?
I don't think that's it works - by definition foreign aid has to go overseas surely.
I think what the US does is tag a large proportion of the aid and say "this must be spent on US suppliers/contractors etc". That way the money comes back, but there can normally still be competition between different American companies.
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but I do have a problem thinking of one positive that’s come from US Foreign Policy in the last 15 or so years (and much of what came before
Which is something that I have sympathy for, though I think actually going and looking I'm sure we could find a bunch of good things that we didn't know about.
The idea that anyone who has a connection with the states which is funded by a independent government programme is in some way supporting their crappy foreign policy is laughable however. Lots of the academics and journalists who accessed these funds will have used their time to push anti-US angles to their work with no repercussion. The vast majority will have just been left alone to do their work which has nothing to do with foreign affairs.
It's a big country and the claim that Fulbright or some other scholarship paying for you to be there means that you've become complicit to torture is a headline looking for some reality.
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“Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas”
The venn diagram which puts everything "US" completely inside "Evil" annoys the hell out of me. For someone who does good work I/S, you've got blinkers on about some things that really do you no good.
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I've started a new job a couple of weeks ago, so haven't followed the 'cablegate' story as I would have a month ago.
I've found all the posts I've read on here this evening bizarre. Nutty claims about journalist sponsorship, bizarre speculation on Assange and two women, arguing about how a possible rape relates to Wikipedia (I don't see that it relates at all). For a bunch of people who seem to think Wikileaks is significant, there's been a lot of playing the man not the ball on both sides.