Open mike 19/07/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 19th, 2011 - 89 comments
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step right up to the mike…

89 comments on “Open mike 19/07/2011 ”

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  1. Deadly_NZ 1
    18 July 2011 at 7:01 am

    After all that was done on the CGT Bloody Mallard can’t keep his E-Mails away from whaleslime! What else is he leaking ? is the computer he uses secure??

    “In the email posted on Cam Slater’s Whaleoil blog, Mr Mallard said the key thing was not to get “dragged down into the detail on the [capital gains tax]. The public don’t care and we get boring.”

    It was used as ammunition by National yesterday, with associate finance minister Steven Joyce issuing a statement claiming Labour’s new policy would add $18.5 billion to debt.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10739184
    Just what we need More ammo for Joyce to spin into a veritable diatribe against the CGT. And we know the scare mongers are working hard to scare the general population. And the last thing we need is Bloody Mallard giving them the Ammo that they need. Someone teach him about computers and security!

    [lprent: off topic moved to OpenMike. ]

    • Colonial Viper 1.1
      18 July 2011 at 8:55 am

      Emails go out to thousands of Labour supporters and members. Par for the course I’m afraid, this is an information war this year and we already know that the NATs will stoop and keep stooping.

      • joe bloggs 1.1.1
        18 July 2011 at 9:30 am

        Deadly_NZ is not just refering to the Nat’s stooping lower and lower…

        Mallards poor message-framing has given the Nats plenty to work with.

      • Lulu 1.1.2
        18 July 2011 at 11:16 pm

        Er.. this isn’t stooping. Information that has hurt Labour has either been made publicly available by virtue of Labour’s slack security or is provided voluntarily to the bloggers by traitorous Labour insiders. This isn’t hacking or Nicky Hager style spying.

        • lprent 1.1.2.1
          19 July 2011 at 1:44 am

          Nicky Hager didn’t bother to spy – that would have likely to have been illegal (and he doesn’t do illegal from anything I have seen). He just got given material by National party insiders. By the look at the breadth, probably quite a few insiders, since there doesn’t appear to have been a credible single source point. I have frequently disagreed with his interpretations over several books and articles. But seldom with his facts or chain of logic given what he knows. Generally I disagree about what the story means.

          Unlike Wishart or blubber or yourself, he doesn’t make crap up to join minimal facts to nutty conspiracy theories or strange opinions that seem to be born from a rich fantasy life. Which has been your forte here over the years. Good at making crap up – useless at saying anything worthwhile following up. The comment above being a good example.

          • Lulu 1.1.2.1.1
            19 July 2011 at 8:13 am

            If my comment wasn’t worth following up why did you follow up?
            I apologise and withdraw reference to Hager spying. You are right. He didn’t have to.
            I was simply commenting in response to Colonial Viper’s comment that using information from “the other side”, however it is gathered, is not exclusive to the NATs. If it is stooping as CV says then everyone is stooping. If my comment was enough to get you excited you must be easily excited.

            • lprent 1.1.2.1.1.1
              19 July 2011 at 8:59 am

              I didn’t read CV’s comment (which looks innocuous BTW). Look at the time stamp of my comment. I wasn’t getting to sleep, so I picked up the iPad and read a few comments off the comments tab and responded as a comment to whatever took my interest (I don’t mod at nearly 2am). You were a rreipientof my boredom.

              You got a comment because you conflated Labour with Nicky Hager when he so clearly is not. Then you said that Hager was doing something illegal – when he so clearly does not. It might be illegal for people to take the information and give it to Hager – but it is not for Hager to have and publish it.

              I didn’t even mention whatever Labour does or does not do, because that wasn’t what I was interested in. Your style of comment was just stupid. Just like whale trying to inflate this e-mail t smethingof significance. It is one of the dozens of e-mails that get sent to NZLP activists and members every few days.

              • burt …
                19 July 2011 at 11:41 pm

                Speaking of iPad’s lprent, I’d be interested in your take on the pros/cons of compulsory iPad/Laptop in state secondary schools?

                • lprent …
                  20 July 2011 at 12:01 am

                  Bad idea.

                  Up front costs are too high for most families in Orewa, and you still have to buy the copyright licenses.

                  Besides which it violates several MoE proscriptions and every school I have ever looked at has crap wifi – and I include the unis in that as well. Booster city until we get some better frequencies

    • weka 1.2
      19 July 2011 at 9:54 am

      It’s pretty simple. If you’re not happy with something being in the public domain, don’t put it in an email.
       
      Mallard could easily have phrased what he wanted to say differently.

      • Secret Squirrel 1.2.1
        19 July 2011 at 10:03 am

        He said he sent the email to the wrong list. An easy thing to do.

        http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2011/07/18/mea-culpa-2/

        It’s embarassing rather than damaging, it was obvious there was an organised campaign of talking points, and it’s widely known that politicians don’t want to share detail with people, and that people aren’t interesetd in detail unless politicians say they shouldn’t see it.

        Re the flood of talking points, when it’s blindingly obvious it’s a canned campaign does that help your case or just raise the groan quotient?

      • burt 1.2.2
        19 July 2011 at 11:45 pm

        weka

        But Mallard’s party even put their donors and members payment information in the public domain. An email… who would have thought an email could get you in trouble when a whole datatbase was just quietly hushed up.

        • weka 1.2.2.1
          22 July 2011 at 11:17 am

          That’s just stupid Burt. Can you really not tell the difference between a bulk email that can easily be forwarded by anyone from a computer (no technical expertise required), and a website where a skilled technician made a major mistake and allowed hackers, not the public, to access the site more easily?

  2. mickysavage 2
    19 July 2011 at 8:07 am

    Why would McCully approve Richard Worth’s appointment as honorary counsul for Monaco without telling Key?  This beggars belief.  Isn’t Key meant to be the Prime Minister or something?

    And why was Worth sacked?

    I could never imagine McCully surviving as a minister if he did this to Helen. 

    • Lanthanide 2.1
      19 July 2011 at 9:49 am

      “I could never imagine McCully surviving as a minister if he did this to Helen. ”

      Why would John Key blow this up and sack a minister over it? That would just be re-opening a wound that never properly healed. Any punishment would be behind closed doors. I think given a similar situation (which Helen would never have created in the first place), Helen also wouldn’t publicly punish someone over it.

      • mickysavage 2.1.1
        19 July 2011 at 11:15 am

        Sorry Lanth I was talking about the failure to advise, not the decision itself. From various reports McCully may not have any option in the matter. But he should have told Key …

        • Lanthanide 2.1.1.1
          19 July 2011 at 11:59 am

          Yeah, but that’s my point.

          If McCully had failed to advise Key about some other important issue, Key might have publicly punished him. But when the issue is surrounding Worth, it’s not worth Key’s while to bring it up publicly.

    • Ianupnorth 2.2
      19 July 2011 at 4:39 pm

      On the subject of McCully; anybody notice that Jonah Lumu and him are flying around the islands in the RNZAF 757 teaching kids how to play rugby (well at least Jonah has a bit of a clue)
       
      Anyone like to hazard a guess who is paying for that – sure as hell won’t be the RFU, possibly out of Pacific development monies?

  3. mickysavage 3
    19 July 2011 at 8:12 am

    One other political story that struck me right between the eyes, National have effectively gifted Epsom to Act by selecting Paul Goldsmith as their candidate.  There is no one more odious and more lacking in compassion or humanity than good old Paul.  He was the Councillor who was obsessed on people living on the streets and wanted a by law so that they could be fined.  As if they did not have enough to worry about.

    It will be interesting to see also what the National list looks like and where Paul is placed.  The list is very late.  I wonder when it is due?

  4. seanmaitland 4
    19 July 2011 at 8:36 am

    ok, so just got my tax return back from the accountants to sign, and on income of 125k, my tax bill was 25k plus ACC fees of about 2.5k.

    Too much tax or too little?

    • Zorr 4.1
      19 July 2011 at 9:04 am

      So seanmaitland… that is 25/125 = total of 20% of your income paid as tax (just to make it simple). My view? Too little tax paid.

      However, to balance this, I would also state that the public sector isn’t providing comprehensive enough services to necessarily justify higher taxes. I would raise tax and strengthen the social contract.

  7. Lanthanide 7
    19 July 2011 at 9:52 am

    So John Key may not get to meet Obama after all. The day the meeting is scheduled is also the day that Obama has set as the deadline for sorting out the debt limit.

    If the republicans force it to the deadline, or as I think they will after the deadline (just to show Obama is powerless), then Key won’t get his meet and greet.

  8. joe90 8
    19 July 2011 at 10:40 am

    Andrew Sullivan reflects on his own life, love, and pursuit of happiness.

  9. joe90 9
    19 July 2011 at 11:32 am

    Religion Dispatches: ‘Republicanity’—The GOP Transformation is Nearly Complete.

    Taken all together, Republicanity is a culture that merges politics and religion (maybe better identified as a form of “poligion,” as one of my teachers used to say) and unashamedly and unreservedly blows apart the longed-for “wall of separation” keeping the two spheres separate. Now more than ever the case can be made that our politics are a form of religion and that religion is the new politics.

  10. Adrian 10
    19 July 2011 at 12:00 pm

    Key in Washington on one of the most pivotal days in US economic history! They’re fucked! Earthquakes, mine disasters, tornadoes, record inflation etc, this guy is just too dangerous to be around and seriously bad luck for this country. He brings to mind some sort of character from an apocalyptic movie where as he passes by everything behind him drains of colour, withers and dies.

    • MrSmith 10.1
      19 July 2011 at 6:14 pm

      Jinksey!

      Obama will probably be assassinated while shaking his hand. but then key will only be shaking Obama’s doubles hand anyway, why would he bother turning out in person for a two bit snake oil merchant. and key wouldn’t know the difference, he will be wetting himself.

  11. Morrissey 11
    19 July 2011 at 1:11 pm

    STUPIDITY WATCH No. 1: Senator Lindsey Graham

    Even if one allows for the generally low intellectual quality of American politics, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) has, over several decades, managed to distinguish himself as a foolish and callow individual, often hovering right on the brink of outright stupidity.

    Look at Graham asking a question during Lt. Gen. John Allen’s nomination hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services committee.

    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    ALLEN: It is a more aggressive option than that which was presented.
    GRAHAM: My question is, was that a option?
    ALLEN: It was not.
    * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

    Yes, that’s right, folks! He said “a option“.

    With people of the calibre of Senator Graham in office, is it any wonder the United States is in deep, deep trouble?

    http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/06/28/obama-troop-cuts-went-beyond-largest-withdrawal-offered-top-general

    • Colonial Viper 11.1
      19 July 2011 at 1:21 pm

      could be a transcribing error, Im presuming you think it should be “an option”?

      • Lanthanide 11.1.1
        19 July 2011 at 2:15 pm

        I think we should assume it is a transcribing error, because it doesn’t say “[sic]” next to it.

      • Morrissey 11.1.2
        19 July 2011 at 9:17 pm

        could be a transcribing error,

        No it’s not. I hunted up the transcription after hearing Senator Graham say “a option” on the news.

        Im presuming you think it should be “an option”?

        Yes, of course it should.

    • freedom 11.2
      19 July 2011 at 2:23 pm

      the senator and the army guys can relax, many of the troops aren’t going anywhere. The major withdrawl is a redepolyment to other bases in the middle East (so they are close by) and the remainder are being called diplomats
      http://www.infowars.com/15000-us-troops-to-remain-in-iraq-renamed-diplomats/

    • Vicky32 11.3
      19 July 2011 at 6:21 pm

      Horrifyingly, I have recently heard New Zealand men* on TV and on Radio NZ, say ‘a orange’, etc, that is, using ‘a’ when they should say ‘an’, because the noun they then went on to say, started with a vowel. It’s not easy, so why do they do it?
      I don’t want to teach the world to sing, I want to teach New Zealanders (those on TV and radio at least) to “speak proper”. 
      (* I haven’t heard a woman say this – which doesn’t mean they don’t, just that I have yet to hear it. Sociolinguistics tells us that women are usually more careful to be ‘correct’, or at least, that was so when I was studying in 2003..)

      http://englishusagewoman@blogspot.com

      • Chess Player 11.3.1
        19 July 2011 at 8:22 pm

        STUPIDITY WATCH No. 2: Morrisey and Vicky32

        Horrifyingly, I have recently heard New Zealand women* teachers in schools across the land, sweat on people who say ‘a orange’, etc, that is, using ‘a’ when they should say ‘an’, because the noun they then went on to say, started with a vowel. It’s not important, so why do they worry about it?
        I don’t want to teach the world to speak or spell proper, I want to teach New Zealanders (all of them not just Maori and those mysterious mythological folks called Pakeha that no-one can identify but also all the other NZers as well) and the rest of the world to “stop killing each other”.
        (* I haven’t heard a man say this – which doesn’t mean they don’t, just that I have yet to hear it. Common sense tells us that women are usually more pedantic and worried about small issues of little ‘importance’, or at least, that was so when I was etc etc..)

        • Morrissey 11.3.1.1
          19 July 2011 at 9:24 pm

          It’s not important, so why do they worry about it?

          It is important. People make instantaneous assessments of others when they speak. So when some people say “arks” instead of “ask”, or “1800s” instead of “nineteenth century”, or “a option” instead of “an option”, we automatically see such bumbling errors as a sign that they are less than competent. Linguistic competence is a useful gauge of someone’s basic intelligence.

          • Lanthanide 11.3.1.1.1
            19 July 2011 at 9:40 pm

            One of my favourites is saying “brought” instead of “bought”. Bonus points if the speaker apparently doesn’t know the difference when you point it out.

        • Vicky32 11.3.1.2
          19 July 2011 at 11:49 pm

          It’s not important, so why do they worry about it?
          I don’t want to teach the world to speak or spell proper, I want to teach New Zealanders (all of them not just Maori and those mysterious mythological folks called Pakeha that no-one can identify but also all the other NZers as well) and the rest of the world to “stop killing each other”.
          (* I haven’t heard a man say this – which doesn’t mean they don’t, just that I have yet to hear it. Common sense tells us that women are usually more pedantic and worried about small issues of little ‘importance’, or at least, that was so when I was etc etc..)

          What is your issue, man? (And I know for a certainty that you are a man, or you wouldn’t have got so bitter and twisted about my saying I’d heard men make this mistake, even though I went out of my way to say that I was not picking on men!) You’re being particularly nasty when after whining that I am pedantic, you contrast that with your wonderful deep concern with war etc – I was involved in pacifism when you were still in nappies! 🙂
          Of course misuse of articles is important! Speaking “proper” (you didn’t notice my quote marks, did you?) is important for clear communication and also for, for instance, future employability! Two kids are up for a job. Candidate A says “And then I done a office skills course” and wonders why Candidate B who is careful not to make careless and egregious errors, gets the job!
          Why you had to bring race into it, is beyond me, unless you believe that I somehow denigrate or disadvantage Maori by calling for correct language use! If you’d had a look at the link, you’d see that most of my students are from Asia!

  12. logie97 12
    19 July 2011 at 1:17 pm

    The Russians have just launched into space a super powerful telescope that will look light years into the universe (10 times more powerful that Hubble), and plan to launch several more in the next 6 years or so.

    Meanwhile we have groups like Destiny who still struggle to see beyond a flat earth.

    • the pink postman 12.1
      19 July 2011 at 4:14 pm

      And what about Wishart who still believes in the Ark .Plus that the world is only 6000 years old.What is worse that he is in position to influence the vunerable young people.

      • Vicky32 12.1.1
        19 July 2011 at 6:27 pm

        What is worse that he is in position to influence the vunerable young people

        Fortunately, the readership of his ‘magazine’ seems to be old. They could pass it on to their children and grandchildren, who I assume, would ignore it!

        • Rodel 12.1.1.1
          19 July 2011 at 9:56 pm

          C’mon does anyone read Wishart’s nonsense?

          • Morrissey 12.1.1.1.1
            19 July 2011 at 11:10 pm

            C’mon does anyone read Wishart’s nonsense?

            NewstalkZB’s Leighton Smith uses it as his primary source of research for his radio show.

        • Morrissey 12.1.1.2
          19 July 2011 at 10:21 pm

          Fortunately, the readership of his ‘magazine’ seems to be old.

          Come on Vicky! You know better than that. There are lots of intelligent, lucid and thoughtful old people who would be utterly horrified to think you or anyone thought they took Wishart or his ridiculous magazine seriously.

          If you want a descriptor for the typical readership of Wishart’s magazine or his books, any of the following would be more appropriate: angry, bewildered, confused, credulous, dim, dunder-headed, fanatical, fearful, irrational…

          • Vicky32 12.1.1.2.1
            19 July 2011 at 11:55 pm

            If you want a descriptor for the typical readership of Wishart’s magazine or his books, any of the following would be more appropriate: angry, bewildered, confused, credulous, dim, dunder-headed, fanatical, fearful, irrational…

            That’s true. I read an issue a few months back, and was amused and horrified to read a hagiographical letter from a rural guy praising Wishart for one of his recent books (the Crewe one I think). This guy said his wife has bought him the book for Christmas, and that it was the first book he (the fan) had ever read! How do you get to that age, without ever having read a book?

            • Morrissey 12.1.1.2.1.1
              20 July 2011 at 12:15 pm

              How do you get to that age, without ever having read a book?

              Ask John Key. Or Leighton Smith. Or Danny Watson.

    • mik e 12.2
      19 July 2011 at 6:18 pm

      National Destinies child program where they give $880,000 to a church that is run by a self absorbed narcissist called by most people a cult but the only party their going to vote for is the one that gives them money.

  13. jackal 13
    19 July 2011 at 2:46 pm

    National’s Campaign of Disinformation

    David Cunnliffe blogged today about Labour’s Capital Gains Tax and the disinformation National and its media outlets are promoting to try and turn public opinion. They have decided to undertake a campaign of disinformation, because an argument based on the facts and the truth would be problematic for the right wing.

  14. the pink postman 14
    19 July 2011 at 4:09 pm

    the Murdoch saga is becoming more revealing each day. The sad part is that the late Dennis Potter is not here to see it.

    • Jim Nald 15.1
      19 July 2011 at 7:44 pm

      Nice to have: $1000 per day job

      They think we are stupid. And you too, newly made redundant Hillside workers.

  16. Ianupnorth 16
    19 July 2011 at 5:00 pm

    Are we heading for a two tier education system?
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/5304084/Schools-iPad-requirement-divisive
    Orewa demanding parents provide an Ipad2 for their kids!

    • Vicky32 16.1
      19 July 2011 at 6:39 pm

      Are we heading for a two tier education system?
      http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/5304084/Schools-iPad-requirement-divisive
      Orewa demanding parents provide an Ipad2 for their kids!

      What a ghastly idea! At Western Springs College in 2000-2, my son was ridiculed because all his friends had PCs, and we didn’t until my brother gave us his, when he upgraded. He was very upset about it, and I would have done something if I could have but I was on a DPB then…

    • Jasper 16.2
      19 July 2011 at 7:34 pm

      What a shame the textbooks will still be just as heavy and not available as convenient PDFs which will save the teens bad backs in the future from having to lug around 8 – 12kgs of books every day.
      My back is stuffed from doing just that.

      I don’t necessarily see why netbooks can’t do. Ipads are incredibly limiting for doing word processing on a heavy scale which is what it sounds like Orewa want kids to do.

      • Draco T Bastard 16.2.1
        19 July 2011 at 8:07 pm

        PDFs are not convenient – in fact, they’re a PITA compared to proper e-books.

        All text books should appropriately maintained and updated by government funding and be freely available in e-book format. This would allow and encourage ex-learning institution education.

        As far as iPads go – all proprietary standards need to be replaced by Open Standards. Gets rid of the unnecessary and costly competition while encouraging competition in R&D.

        • lprent 16.2.1.1
          20 July 2011 at 12:18 am

          e-pubs are a great format – not even that bad to code for. PDF is something for the print industry. Calibre gets rid of that problem along with others.

      • Colonial Viper 16.2.2
        19 July 2011 at 10:05 pm

        a lot of humanity’s knowledge is going the way of the dodo if we are going to be relying primarily on this tech shit.

        A textbook well looked after will last 50 years easy. A pdf on an ipad – well the battery is pretty much screwed inside of 5 years for starters. And if I recall its not user replaceable.

        Technology has its place as an element of education, but frankly speaking, kids who went to primary school in the 1960’s are working with iPads just fine today. Similarly, no tech exposure today is going to anticipate what technology is going to be like in 2060

        (actually I have an idea and paper text books will rule)

        • Draco T Bastard 16.2.2.1
          19 July 2011 at 10:58 pm

          A textbook well looked after will last 50 years easy.

          And they’ll be out of date in 15 at most. E-Books maintained on a central server will be much much cheaper to maintain and distribute than paper based text books.

          • Colonial Viper 16.2.2.1.1
            19 July 2011 at 11:17 pm

            Sorry mate don’t see a 1st year chem, physics or mech engineering text book being put out of date in 15 years.

            Put it this way, who is going to be doing the high energy research required to put out of date F = MA or E = MC2?

            In fact you can look up engineering and chemistry textbooks from 50 years ago and it will tell you 100% of what you need to know to forge steel or make glass.

            Thats gonna be pretty handy stuff.

            The economics text books published in the last 5 years…well they didnt even make it that long haha

            • McFlock 16.2.2.1.1.1
              19 July 2011 at 11:36 pm

              ^ 🙂

            • Draco T Bastard 16.2.2.1.1.2
              20 July 2011 at 12:03 am

              In fact you can look up engineering and chemistry textbooks from 50 years ago and it will tell you 100% of what you need to know to forge steel or make glass.

              It’ll tell you what you needed to know 50 years ago. It won’t tell you what you need to know today. Knowledge has advanced and so has teaching methods and text books reflect teaching methods.

              • Colonial Viper …
                20 July 2011 at 12:24 am

                I’ll rephrase. Certain trends mean that it will likely be extremely difficult to refine and use the advanced materials in the advanced applications that we take from granted today. (I’m picking in less than 10 years).

                Consider the range of material inputs and energies required to make say semi conductive nanoparticle coatings today, for electronic use. Without high energy availability and a complete but extremely fragile supply network, it would be impossible to make such materials. And without the rest of the specific components and materials which are needed for the rest of the electronic assembly, why would you even bother trying?

                However, the ability to make even modest quantities of pig iron or mild steel is going to be extremely useful – and practical – for centuries to come.

                Knowledge has advanced and so has teaching methods and text books reflect teaching methods.

                Ask any teacher with more than 20 years experience and they will be able to give you a list of things which are done better using today’s methods…and a list of things which are done worse.

                The illusion of continuous forward progress is a sales pitch for the unwary.

      • logie97 16.2.3
        19 July 2011 at 10:07 pm

        Typing? – So last century – get dictation software and bypass the keyboard. Works brilliantly.

    • millsy 16.3
      20 July 2011 at 9:36 am

      Im glad I finished high school in 1998 before all this nonsense set in.

      A bit quaint looking back. All we had by way of computers were old 386’s with Windows 3.11 and momochrome displays!

      The school libary was a bit more top of the line, having Win95, where you could use the latest interactive CD ROM’s and the lucky kids could use dial-up internet – 14.4k modem.

      (At least when I hit 7th form, I only needed a ring binder and refill….)

      It seems that schools now seem to think that parents would shit out money for their children (It’s bad enough that children think that already :))

      Higher fees, material cost, school trips to France (would it not be easier to have an afternoon with the local French community organisation?), uniforms, books, etc and so on. In Hawera recently, the school’s soccer team was charged $400 to use the school van, and $1000 to pay for a reliver, when they went to a tournament, I tought that was very tight fisted.

      I think its time we threw out Tomorrow’s Schools and gave back fuctions to the MoE. So schools can focus on giving children an education, and not using them as revenue and then dumping them onto a carpentry course when their test scores look like they are dragging the school down.

  17. Adrian 17
    19 July 2011 at 7:58 pm

    How many kids at Orewa? If there is a thousand, that’s over a MILLION bucks parents have to find or not spend in the area. Some people in authority are just bloody clueless.

    • Ianupnorth 17.1
      19 July 2011 at 9:24 pm

      Good point Adrian; Apple used to do ‘academic’ rates for their gear. The cynic in me saws which of the BOT open an Apple Store on the shore.

      On a side note I read somewhere that Amazon are now offering academic text books for ‘rent’ on Kindles. That’ll be the next thing, you supply the electronics then they hire you the books.

      • Colonial Viper 17.1.1
        20 July 2011 at 12:27 am

        Steve Jobs holds AAPL shares long and he loves this idea. We should definitely support him and his enterprise.

        As well as giving job security to the overworked and underpaid workers in Shenzhen 🙂

  18. Draco T Bastard 18
    19 July 2011 at 8:00 pm

    Act members bill to repeal laws inconsistent with NZs energy planning.

  19. freedom 19
    19 July 2011 at 8:04 pm

    If tablet/laptop technology is now essential to the education requirements of our kids today and into the future, i do not understand why an ongoing supply to rent deal cannot be made with the manufacturers. Each year there will be clients. Budgeting for the technology is managed more easily. Updating technology is assured. On-selling of used equipment has a ready market. Looks like winning to me.

    • Draco T Bastard 19.1
      19 July 2011 at 8:09 pm

      If tablet/laptop technology is now essential to the education requirements of our kids today and into the future…

      If that’s actually true, and I think it is, then the government needs to make the devices available to the students free of charge.

      • Bored 19.1.1
        19 July 2011 at 8:19 pm

        Couple of barrels of oil energy embedded in most PCs….

        • Draco T Bastard 19.1.1.1
          19 July 2011 at 9:16 pm

          5 or 6 but I’m also aware that most of that energy is used as electricity which we have quite a lot of. The plastics can be refined from coal or we could use ceramics instead (I’d prefer the ceramics actually) and we have huge base reserves of steel and titanium.

          There’s nothing to stop us making those pads/PCs here except that a lot of people keep backing low value farming.

          • Ianupnorth 19.1.1.1.1
            19 July 2011 at 9:31 pm

            Also the Foxconn factory that makes them is a little bit notorious for human rights http://micgadget.com/3793/the-real-truth-behind-foxconns-suicide-cluster/

            and http://www.macworld.com/article/154864/2010/10/foxconn.html – I don’t think we could compete Draco, if we made them here they would be 10 times the price.

            Anyway, my kids have Ipod touches – they use them as games machines; I can just see the Orewa kids having all the latest games and doing no school work.

            • Colonial Viper 19.1.1.1.1.1
              19 July 2011 at 10:16 pm

              and http://www.macworld.com/article/154864/2010/10/foxconn.html – I don’t think we could compete Draco, if we made them here they would be 10 times the price.

              There are a few assumptions here which I dont think are going to hold.

              1) We wouldn’t design and make a tablet type device the way Apple would. It would be a niche product fitting into a small market that Apple would never consider or identfy.

              2) Expertise in minimising high tech manufacturing costs in an oil depleted world does not exist. We can still be leaders in that.

              3) Global production chains are going to shrink. Transport costs are not going to be negligible even for high value products – quite the reverse. Localised production is going to be in. It may be for example that a global design gets pumped out and manufactured at many localities.

            • Draco T Bastard 19.1.1.1.1.2
              19 July 2011 at 10:56 pm

              I don’t think we could compete…

              We make them here for here. Export won’t be an option in a few years.

              Anyway, my kids have Ipod touches – they use them as games machines; I can just see the Orewa kids having all the latest games and doing no school work.

              That would be a failure brought about by not teaching kids to enjoy learning, to phrase it as a chore instead. And games have their place – even in learning.

  20. rosy 20
    19 July 2011 at 8:49 pm

    I’m so looking forward to spending the afternoon watching Rupert and James Murdoch, Rebekah Brooks and the ex-police chiefs (as of yesterday) being grilled at the Parliamentary Committee. This whole hacking scandal is getting curiouser and curiouser with breaking news every couple of hours.

    It’s compelling theatre and there should be far-reaching consequences for the way news organisations operate. It’s taken 8 years for this scandal to break wide open, hopefully NZers will wake-up to the possibility of cosy cabals of news, business, law enforcement and politics and guard against it.
    Edit: and more to come…
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/19/phone-hacking-rupert-murdoch-rebekah-brooks-mps

    Chris Bryant, the Labour MP who has been campaigning on phone hacking for ages, has just dropped an intriguing hint about “more to come” in an interview on BBC News.

    The theatre of [today’s appearance] is irrelevant. In the end we’ve got to get to the bottom of what is a very murky pool. And I tell you Rebekah Brooks was right. We’re only half way into that pool at the moment. There’s stuff about Surrey police as well and other things that are still to come out.

    • prism 20.1
      19 July 2011 at 9:24 pm

      The police rats are deserting the sinking ship baring their teeth and protesting their innocence or at least their spotless escutcheons (funny one of the dictionary meanings of escutcheon, after the first being a heraldic shield, is ‘a plate or shield around a keyhole, door handle etc’. How appropriate it is to talk about escutcheons in this context).

      The trouble is that as parliamentary actors like politicians, and government officials like police, get to have power then they mingle with others in the business realm who are making more money than they. The people they mix with are believers in trickle down theory when it is dripping honey onto useful people, not the hoi polloi below.

    • Ianupnorth 20.2
      19 July 2011 at 9:24 pm

      Hopefully it’ll be live on BBC news!

  21. Draco T Bastard 21
    20 July 2011 at 12:09 am

    Arctic ice cover disappearing faster this year than in 2007 – the last record ice minimum for summer.