Daily Review 25/05/2015

23 comments on “Daily Review 25/05/2015 ”

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1. Clemgeopin 1

   25 May 2015 at 7:01 pm

   I read an interesting article on the daily blog, titled

   ‘This is what the Greens are against’
   by David Farrar.

   It is about a Ted talk by a scientist about the good things that gene
   tic engineering does to food.

   Here is the link:
   I don’t have a definite view on this as I am not knowledgeable on the issue. I am keen to hear your views on this.

   http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2015/05/this_is_what_the_greens_are_against.html#comments
   • b waghorn 1.1

     25 May 2015 at 7:26 pm

     There is an article in nz farmer (seem to be unable to link) on page 8 by William Rolleston that covers this topic and he points out that its the far right that denies the science of GCC and its the far left that denies the science of GE food.
     I think as long as there is solid science then anything that can produce more food with less sprays /fertilizer and water is a good thing,
     • Draco T Bastard 1.1.1

       26 May 2015 at 6:38 am

       I think as long as there is solid science then anything that can produce more food with less sprays /fertilizer and water is a good thing,

       That’s pretty much a physical impossibility. The plants need minerals/water to grow. To produce 1 kilo of food is going to take at least 1 kilo of minerals/water. You’re not going to decrease that any and I saw an article a few years back that reported on research that showed GM crops actually used more minerals/water to grow.

       5 GMO Myths Busted

       Anyway, the actual concern that I have with GE is that we’re in a similar position as we were when using DDT indiscriminately – we can do it but don’t really know what the consequences will be.
   • Clemgeopin 1.2

     25 May 2015 at 7:38 pm

     Oops, not the daily blog. In the The kiwi blog.
   • Maui 1.3

     25 May 2015 at 8:01 pm

     What’s Farrar on about, he’s saying the Greens don’t listen to science when the Nats are completely ignoring science on fresh water and climate change.

     As a Green myself I don’t understand the views of those saying no to GM food and 1080. Humans have been playing with the genes of food crops for thousands of years. For instance, in the Americas the native peoples continually experimented in achieving a bigger corn plant. They went from a 1 inch long corn cob to what we have to day, I presume through lots and lots of cross-breeding. On 1080, it’s probably one of the best studied chemicals that is used in NZ with 50+ years of field trials. I’m fairly sure it’s safe then!

     As long as there are checks and balances and the science is accepted then I don’t have a problem with it.
     • Stephanie Rodgers 1.3.1

       25 May 2015 at 8:04 pm

       As long as there are checks and balances

       I’m pretty sure that’s the problem right there.
     • Molly 1.3.2

       26 May 2015 at 9:36 am

       Gene replacement as opposed to traditional selection breeding, punches out genes and often has a knock on effect with other genes and attributes.

       The comparison is not valid.

       You have to look further and understand that gene sequences can involve more than one attribute and so have unintended consequences.
       • Clemgeopin 1.3.2.1

         26 May 2015 at 5:36 pm

         “You have to look further and understand that gene sequences can involve more than one attribute and so have unintended consequences”

         Do you or anyone know what those ‘unintended consequences’ are or may be?
         • Molly 1.3.2.1.1

           27 May 2015 at 10:16 am

           Hi Clemgeopin,

           As mentioned I looked into this MANY years ago and I tend to immerse myself in topics and then just keep a weather eye out for new information, but a quick Google search brings up two different conclusions:

           Read and investigate at your leisure – both for and against GMO:

           Unintended Compositional Changes in Genetically Modi
           fied (GM) Crops: 20 Years of Research by Rod Herman – Disclaimer: The authors declare the following competing financial interest(s): RH is employed by Dow AgroSciences which develops and sells GM crop seed. WP is retired from the US FDA and thus his views do not necessarily represent those of the agency.

           Spilling the Beans: Unintended GMO Health Risks – by Jeffrey Smith – the author mentioned below.

           If you have some knowledge of biological and botany it will be of value if you want to look further. It may be of interest to just try and find Jeffrey Smith’s initial book – “Hard to Swallow” using Google. You will find that it is almost overwhelmed by hits for articles of the same name promoting GMO.

           That is not coincidental.
   • Molly 1.4

     26 May 2015 at 8:22 am

     I read a good introduction to the topic of GMO’s many years ago, when the discussion was being had in NZ.

     The name of the book is Hard to Swallow by Jeffrey M Smith. In it he details the background to the push for GMO acceptance in Britain, and the vilification of one British scientist who was used as a scapegoat – Árpád Pusztai

     The Pusztai affair related on Wikipedia tells of his fall from grace, but does not outline the background where one of the Ministers from the government asked for a preliminary report on progress, which was refused then reluctantly given. Pusztai told him that it could not be used because it had not yet been published and peer reviewed. The politician then released the report and then denigrated it’s findings as it had not been peer reviewed. The negative finding of GMO were then dismissed, and as no other studies were underway the decision was made to go ahead.

     GMO seems to be a political and marketing strategy rather than an answer to food security. And as Draco mentions below: “we can do it but don’t really know what the consequences will be.”
2. ropata 2

   25 May 2015 at 8:02 pm

   Some of my favourite tweets of the last few days:

   …It takes some calamity to make us live in the present. Then suddenly we wake up & see all the mistakes we have made. pic.twitter.com/xuKe56VwfI— Calvin and Hobbes (@Calvinn_Hobbes) May 18, 2015

   WATCH: John Campbell's best moments http://t.co/BCQItlOPam via @RadioLIVENZ— Duncan Garner (@Garner_Live) May 21, 2015

   "THE PM TACKLES THE HOUSING PROBLEM." #FoxyCartoons #nzpol #Housing #JohnKey pic.twitter.com/lg9UHcuIli— Foxy Zorro (@FoxyLustyGrover) May 14, 2015
3. ropata 3

   25 May 2015 at 8:04 pm

   Some of Slane’s best cartoons this year (for the Canon Media Awards)

   Slane entries for the pt 1/2 #canonmediaawards @domesticanimal @beckeleven @SeanDG pic.twitter.com/S9gsTtN2XJ— Slane Cartoons Ltd (@Slanecartoons) May 23, 2015

   Slane entries for the pt 2/2 #canonmediaawards @domesticanimal @beckeleven @SeanDG pic.twitter.com/nP2nIqrI4P— Slane Cartoons Ltd (@Slanecartoons) May 23, 2015
4. ropata 4

   25 May 2015 at 8:07 pm

   A poignant cartoon by Toby Morris on The Wireless blog.
   Would never be published by the MSM of course.

   Some call it privilege. I'm old fashioned so I still call it class. Wonderful work by @XTOTL http://t.co/Xr1bK4xDjp— Giovanni Tiso (@gtiso) May 24, 2015
   • vto 4.1

     25 May 2015 at 9:46 pm

     That is very good.

     It should be published in the MSM, maybe endorsed by Mike Hosking ha ha ha
5. Matthew Hooton 5

   25 May 2015 at 8:42 pm

   Interesting poll result just released.
   http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6248-roy-morgan-new-zealand-voting-intention-may-2015-201505250727
   Labour needs a new leader.
   Time to finally give Grant Robertson the chance he deserves.

   [lprent: Don’t get your panties in a twist. It isn’t that interesting, Just looks like the usual outliers that RM’s small sample size throws out. This poll is unlikely… It is too big a jump and the explanations for it are pure trash.

   

   That was a 8.5% shift to National pulling support from every other party. It doesn’t seem likely.

   The usual shit analysis at Roy Morgan as well. Talking about the budget last week when their polling period was May 4-17, 2015 and the budget wasn’t released until the 21st. Even the damn spin wouldn’t have been there for most of the polling period.

   If it carries on through the next couple of polls I will get interested. But I’d expect a big adjustment down in the next poll. It is a pity that Roy Morgan are only releasing polls every month rather than every two weeks now. It means that their small sample size has 4 weeks until it corrects.

   Still good for a spinner to get excited about. I’d expect to hear you sprout your usual shallow analysis over the next weeks eh?]
   • felix 5.1

     25 May 2015 at 8:56 pm

     Fuck off Hooton you most unwelcome of advisers.

     Take your poisonous counsel to National . Oh that’s right, they don’t want you either.
   • vto 5.2

     25 May 2015 at 9:09 pm

     Sort of exactly like a property bubble is this current love-fest eh mr hooton…. everyone jacking off over each other…
   • Matthew Hooton 5.3

     25 May 2015 at 9:14 pm

     Agree with you on the “analysis” – it gets more bizarre each poll. More likely this was a sympathy hug after ponytailgate
     • McFlock 5.3.1

       25 May 2015 at 9:45 pm

       Maybe RM’s sampling over-represented hair fetishists this time?

       RM’s main value for me was it’s frequency: if they’re permanently going monthly, then they’re basically as useless as every other small-sample poll looking for patterns in clouds.
   • Colonial Rawshark 5.4

     25 May 2015 at 9:16 pm

     This does seem like a bit of an outlier. Will see what the next two RMs look like.
   • Herodotus 5.5

     25 May 2015 at 9:23 pm

     re the budget when is a levy not a tax ?
     http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-the-terms-levy-tax-duty-and-cess-Is-this-distinction-used-only-to-India-Kindly-explain-what-is-excise-duty-too
     Cess: This is a tax on tax, levied by the govt for a specific purpose
     e.g ACC levy goes to the specific ACC account. This new tax as per Bill English on TV3 Sunday morning is going to the consolidated fund and not being applied to any defined purpose.
     Perhaps when the public become aware of how loose some are with the truth ….. ? But then how does the truth get out . No Holmes etc to “test” our politicians.
6. Jimmy 6

   25 May 2015 at 9:24 pm

   Why are Labour supporters just so rabid, feral and nasty like felix above

   [Let this through for the LOL’s. TRP]
7. ropata 7

   27 May 2015 at 11:16 am

   People like Jimmy here vote for FJK because of the feel good media puffery and Labour still has an image problem. Most voters apparently don’t understand policy but they connect with personality (or at least the FJK facsimile)

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