Daily review 07/04/2015

37 comments on “Daily review 07/04/2015 ”

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1. felix 1

   7 April 2015 at 7:53 pm

   Oh dear. The Standard is still obsessed with Pete G, apparently: http://yournz.org/2015/04/07/ultimate-ironies/

   I had the same problem with a neighbour a while back. It started when they got obsessed with getting me out of their kitchen.

   Didn’t bother me, I have binoculars. But then they kept trying to kick me out of their garden. They were just obsessed.

   Hard living next door to weirdos.
   • b waghorn 1.1

     7 April 2015 at 7:59 pm

     I wish I’d had a go at him, the euphoric feeling I would of got had a managed to get a mention on the hallowed pages of your nz I can only imagine.
     • weka 1.1.1

       7 April 2015 at 8:02 pm

       The yawnz hall of fame.
     • te reo putake 1.1.2

       7 April 2015 at 10:18 pm

       BW, speaking as a regular subject* of the beige fury’s postings on Yawnz, I can tell you the word you’re looking for isn’t euphoric, its soporific. Or possibly somnolent, whichever is the duller.

       *About twenty posts, I reckon. Lprent must have hundreds of the buggers directed at him. But Pete’s not obsessed, noooo way.
       • b waghorn 1.1.2.1

         8 April 2015 at 7:18 am

         The funny thing is I was going to a lot of blogs when I first got blog aware ,but I gave up on yawns because it was mostly cut and pasted standard stuff.
   • weka 1.2

     7 April 2015 at 8:01 pm

     If that’s true (that you’ve been arguing with Lynn), I think you are really letting the side down and underming our spendid aren’t we awesome/your thoughts are mine-entirely environment 🙁
     • felix 1.2.1

       7 April 2015 at 8:08 pm

       oh the ultimate irony 😀
   • Anne 1.3

     7 April 2015 at 8:02 pm

     projection
   • lprent 1.4

     8 April 2015 at 2:24 am

     Hard living next door to weirdos.

     Indeed. I have no idea how many posts PG has down about this site or authors and commenters on the site, but it is a *lot*. At one stage I looked at it and it averaged about 20% of his output. Many of those posts have PG projecting his favourite obsessions on to others without bothering with backing it with anything except out of context quoting, which is hardly useful. All the actions of a lonely weirdo.

     I am testing out some exclusion code for the occasional obsessive weirdities like dad4justice or PG. I don’t think that it does them any good having us flaunting our fun next to them.

     So I’m putting up a higher fence. In PG’s case I have a convenient experimental subject. I have quite a lot of logged information on him and more arriving daily. I see there was another “unwelcome” test visit from him logged this evening.

     I have a year to experiment with him. So when he provides me with the motivation, I’ll spend some weekend time mortaring in the bricks.

     This is no different than the time that I spent demonstrating to dad4justice that it didn’t matter how many dialup accounts or handles that he used, that he wasn’t going to write on this site when he was banned.
2. b waghorn 2

   7 April 2015 at 7:54 pm

   http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/67632949/When-is-it-OK-to-address-Prime-Minister-by-his-first-name
   I would imagine there pretty matey because they spent 1/2 hour last night planning how the interview would go IMO
   • mickysavage 2.1

     7 April 2015 at 8:20 pm

     That is such a bad page. Two videos played simultaneously without my permission.

     I adress Key by his first name all the time. It is dickhead isn’t it?
     • ropata 2.1.1

       9 April 2015 at 2:15 am

       …I thought FJK’s first name was something else

       NZ is not a dictatorship yet, call him what you like.

       Key clearly likes wearing the PM hat, but his dirty politics, blokey teflon dissembling and shonky deals have dishonored the office he holds. Not worthy of respect at all.
3. weka 3

   7 April 2015 at 7:55 pm

   Reviewing the events of the day. Can we talk about how much time and energy has gone into an endless argument that goes nowhere (911), and how little has gone into the radical steps and strategies that could/might save the world from disaster (climate change).

   Just curious about the juxtaposition between the 911 conversation and this one,

   http://thestandard.org.nz/greenpeace-activists-on-oil-rig/#comment-996670

   Or, going back to my earlier point, do you want to, and in any way you can imagine, absolutely insist that radical steps are taken as of now in the hope – and it can only be a hope – that we duck 4 degrees and don’t see feed-back loops and runaway temperature increases in the interim?
   • joe90 3.1

     7 April 2015 at 8:25 pm

     Aaaa, science.

     In 2014, the Harvard University physicists Lisa Randall and Matthew Reece published a study showing how the gravitational pull from a thin disk of dark matter in the galactic plane could perturb the orbits of comets as our solar system passed through, periodically peppering Earth with giant impacts. To reliably knock the far-out comets down into Earth-crossing orbits, the dark-matter disk would need to be thin, about one-tenth the thickness of the Milky Way’s visible disk of stars, and with a density of at least one solar mass per square light-year.

     Randall and Reece’s theory is broadly consistent with dark matter’s plausible properties, but the researchers only used it to explain the periodicity of impacts. In his new study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Rampino suggests dark matter can explain the presumed periodicity of volcanism, too. The idea dates back to at least the 1990s in peer-reviewed literature.

     If dark matter forms dense clumps rather than being uniformly spread throughout the disk, Rampino says, then Earth could sweep up and capture large numbers of dark-matter particles in its gravitational field as it passes through the disk. The particles would fall to Earth’s core, where they could reach sufficient densities to annihilate each other, heating the core by hundreds of degrees during the solar system’s crossing of the galactic plane. For millions of years, the overheated core would belch gigantic plumes of magma up toward the surface, birthing gigantic volcanic eruptions that rip apart continents, alter sea levels and change the climate. All the while, comets perturbed by the solar system’s passage through the dark-matter disk would still be pounding the planet. Death would come from above and below in a potent one-two punch that would set off waves of mass extinction.

     http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-dark-matter-killed-the-dinosaurs/
     • weka 3.1.1

       7 April 2015 at 8:46 pm

       I’ve missed your point sorry.
       • joe90 3.1.1.1

         7 April 2015 at 9:28 pm

         Apologies Weka, no point, was going to respond but didn’t.

         And then I posted in the wrong place.
         • weka 3.1.1.1.1

           7 April 2015 at 9:47 pm

           No worries 🙂
         • miravox 3.1.1.1.2

           7 April 2015 at 11:22 pm

           However, it’s a mighty fine example of a response tactic to 911 arguments that will always go nowhere… Aptly placed too – with weka, using this tactic, one of the most entertaining responders to the beige one.
           • weka 3.1.1.1.2.1

             8 April 2015 at 9:38 am

             😀
4. b waghorn 4

   7 April 2015 at 8:18 pm

   The problem with talking about 9/11 in any way is you risk sparking another endless circle argument.
   As for gw I get the feeling people either don’t want to know , don’t want to risk looking stupid or and most worryingly are that uninterested in what’s going on around them they have no real idea of what it may lead to.
   • weka 4.1

     7 April 2015 at 8:48 pm

     The numbers of people on ts that accept the general realities of CC (that it’s really fucking serious) is pretty high.
     • McFlock 4.1.1

       7 April 2015 at 10:16 pm

       yeah, but the divide between “nothing can be done” and “an individual can do something” seems a bit deep.
       • weka 4.1.1.1

         7 April 2015 at 10:22 pm

         Not following you there McFlock. Do you mean that people know how bad things are but think nothing can be done, and it’s too hard to for them to get to what they can do? That’s precisely what I was meaning above. We can spend our time distracting ourselves (look! conspiracy!). Or we can act, and in this case working through what needs to be done might be a better use of our time.
         • marty mars 4.1.1.1.1

           7 April 2015 at 11:10 pm

           “working through what needs to be done might be a better use of our time.”

           I think the things that need to be done fall into the – what can I do, what will others do. We really only have control over ourselves so what can we, as individuals do? Charlotte at happyzine.co.nz has designed and set up and started a Eat Local Challenge that has around 20 entries from around Aotearoa – learning how to eat local is a practical step to take to future proof people.

           http://happyzine.co.nz/

           too often on this blog it is just a talkfest an ‘intellectual’ exercise an ‘other’ problem
           • weka 4.1.1.1.1.1

             8 April 2015 at 9:49 am

             “too often on this blog it is just a talkfest an ‘intellectual’ exercise an ‘other’ problem”

             I feel frustrated about that, then I remind myself that the value of the blog is in the discussion that arises from posts and people reading and taking those discussions out into the world. So while I would like to see us do something more productive I think it’s unlikely, but it’s probably enough (quite a lot) if we improve the quality of the debate. Choosing to talk about real world issues on how to do something about CC is a better choice than endless arguments on topics that are cul de sacs.
         • McFlock 4.1.1.1.2

           7 April 2015 at 11:18 pm

           No, I mean that there are folks who will loudly and repeatedly claim that we are all doomed. And other folks who think we as individuals can do nothing, it takes drastic multilateral action to fix. And then others who think that every little bit helps, and there is hope.

           Lots of ground for endless circle arguments there.
           • weka 4.1.1.1.2.1

             8 April 2015 at 9:21 am

             Yes, but like I said, there is a reasonably high proportion of people here who are relatively on the same page. The differences in approach (individual/collective) don’t strike me as the divide you suggest. In the past I would have characterised debates on CC in ts as being primarily focussed on combating deniers (so here I agree with the idea that the argument is more appealing than doing something). I’m suggesting that we could get past that and I do think the conversations have shifted a bit in the past 6 months or so.

             That so many people prefer to go where the deep divide argument is (911/Vax/homeopathy) instead of where the actual left wing politics matters areas (CC) is on us. It’s not like we don’t have a choice in the matter.
             • McFlock …

               8 April 2015 at 3:19 pm

               I agree that more people realise CC is occurring and is a serious problem. But just as the occasional tory still pretends it isn’t happening, Atack and co will argue forever that nothing can be done, we are at the end of the human species, yadda yadda.

               I also think that the deep divide arguments are still important, and that left wing politics do matter in those arguments. I have a suspicion that some of the causes of the deep divisions revolve around the attitudes of different flavours of the left to things like government and organisational expertise.

               But the other thing is that the nature of discussion is that , unless someone can bring something new (in which case everyone can riff more new content from that) the main driver of comments is disagreement. So for something like climate change, even if everyone agrees it is happening and something must be done, unless someone has constructive ideas on what actual substantial things can be done to address it I would expect crickets chirping and tumbleweed. Not because nobody cares, but because if people are like me then we draw a complete blank when it comes to things that we can do that would affect things worth a damn.

               The doesn’t mean I’m not looking. It just means that most days I have no real idea what I can do that would change anything. When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled, and all that.
               • Tracey …

                 8 April 2015 at 3:25 pm

                 Simon Bridges epitomised some of the CC “believers” by acknowledging it last week insofar as he said we need alternative fuels BUT not “overnight” which translates under this Government as “not while we think there is oil to be had”, and the oil folks put on such nice spreads. So the folks of NZ, momentarily worried that maybe CC isnt taken seriously feel comforted cos Bidges seemed to be saying that he knows we need to be doing stuff.
     • marty mars 4.1.2

       7 April 2015 at 10:19 pm

       yeah but CC isn’t falling and breaking all the known laws of physics on TV – hmmm or is it?
       • One Anonymous Bloke 4.1.2.1

         8 April 2015 at 8:46 am

         Physics plays a large part in both examples. You got that bit right.
         • marty mars 4.1.2.1.1

           8 April 2015 at 10:52 am

           should i have used a sarc tag?
     • b waghorn 4.1.3

       8 April 2015 at 7:27 am

       My personal view is that until enough people want something real done politician s will continue to fiddle around the edges, I can’t see that happening until we begin to suffer the consequence s.
       It’s the one big flaw I see in democracy that government can only achieve what voters let it achieve.
5. Philip Ferguson 5

   7 April 2015 at 8:27 pm

   The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its allies play the key role in saving the lives of tens of thousands of Yazidis who faced being butchered at the hands of IS. The PKK’s forces have also played a major role in halting IS advances and, in some notable instances, hurling the reactionaries back.

   Yet the secular-progressive PKK is designated a ‘terrorist’ organisation in many western countries, including NZ. So much for John Key’s claim to be supporting progressive, secular values in the region. (And in stark contrast for his friendly attitude to the ‘royal’ religious dictatorship in Saudi Arabia.)

   It’s important that progressives in NZ not only oppose further NZ military involvement but that we demand the PKK be taken off the ‘terrorist’ list and that people here be allowed to support the PKK, including raising funds for it.

   If the western powers were interested in any progressive outcome in the region, they’d just hand over their weaponry to the PKK and their allies and leave.

   We’ve stuck up an important article on the PKK and the Kurdish cause. See: http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3695

   This article, which also looks at how progressives in Germany are defying the ban on the PKK by fund-raising for it, needs as wide circulation as possible.

   Phil
6. Philip Ferguson 6

   7 April 2015 at 9:05 pm

   Too high”, “too low” – isn’t it funny how the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-wise market can just never get exchange rates right.

   The piece below is a bit dated, but still useful; it’s on capitalism’s currency craziness: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/420/
7. RedLogix 7

   7 April 2015 at 10:32 pm

   A good watch:

   http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/first-footprints/DO1107H004S00

   An excellent overview of the oldest sustainable civilisation of all. How the Aboriginal people turned the Australian continent into a managed estate.
8. Philip Ferguson 8

   7 April 2015 at 10:39 pm

   It looks as if, on May 22, the south of Ireland will be the first country on the world in which has voted for gay marriage.

   On that a referendum is to be held on same-sex marriages and all the polls indicate a big victory for gay marriage. In what was once Holy, Catholic Ireland polls indicate 70-80 percent support for gay marriage.

   While I doubt the vote will be as high as 80%, because the Catholic Church will turn out its lay organisations and have its priests sermonising in the pulpits up until May 22, I think a big win is on the agenda.

   All the parliamentary parties, including the most viciously anti-working class ones, favour gay marriage. And southern Irish society has changed dramatically in the past 20-25 years.

   For a look at the referendum and societal changes see, Irish society and politics and the referendum on gay marriage: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/irish-society-and-politics-and-the-referendum-on-gay-marriage/

   Phil

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