… actually, don’t - I’ve no need to hear about it.
Davey’s new polling feature has followed a predictably sad trajectory with the latest on his readership’s sexual orientation (oddly “frustrated” isn’t an option). Sure he’s had them on global warming, national policy (both of them), the best and worst third- or minor-party but why is he interested in his readership’s sexual orientation or whether they fancy Scarlett Johanson?
I suspect it’s simply a device to amuse his readership, kinda like how Zoos provide noisy toys for the chimps, and Davey frequently proclaims his own open-mindedness, but I can’t help but think it’s gone beyond quirky and is heading dangerously close to bizarre. What’s next I wonder?
Anyone filling in online survey’s should realise that their IP address can be tracked - most don’t care - but they would be quite wrong to expect that Davey’s tolerant attitude is shared by D4J, Redbaiter or any one of the numerous trolls who hang-out at the ‘bog
The Internet Archive has collected a compendium of live television feeds from prior, during and after the 9/11 attacks. Putting aside the disastrous foreign and domestic policy that these awful events unleashed within the USA and upon the World, it is numbing to watch the live coverage unfold as the realisation grows that the initial crash was the harbinger of a much bigger set of coordinated events.
I’ve just seen a great video of a bloke forced to kit-up like Bok and wear a sign saying Richie McCaw cheats at a All Blacks v RSA game. Hilarious (except for the drunke git who takes the matter way too seriously). It’s not entirely safe for work but is damned amusing.
I just got an email about the launch of Drinking Liberally New Zealand.
The idea behind Drinking Liberally is to provide a relaxed, non-partisan forum for people from through the left to get together, get to know each other, trade ideas, and come up with withs of working together. They have a speech from a guest speaker at the start - it’s the Greens’ Nandor Tanczos for the launch, and things pretty much go from there.
The first Drinking Liberally is next Wednesday starting at 6 at the Southern Cross in Wellington. Should be good. they have more info over at The Standard.
BigBruv is a regular here and elsewhere. He’s a bit huff’n puff but occassionally you get an insight into his inner-thoughts. BB’s acussed Kiwiblogblog of being in the employ of the Labour party - something we’ve been clear we’re not several times before. However, I’ve asked this same question of BB’s; is he a member of, or employed by, a political party? If so, in what capacity?
Interesting interview on the Daily Show with David Perlmutter whose book, Blog Wars, looks at the rise of bloggers in the American political environment. Interesting - especially to those of us involved in political blogging in New Zealand.
Since he was unaccountably elected London Mayor last week, we’ve all been waiting with baited breath to see what ‘Nice but dim’ Boris Johnson’s first piece of legislation would be…
Surely it would be something emblematic of his own personal philosophy of life, and indeed, of the wider Conservative Party’s political ethos - a ringing endorsement of individual rights, personal freedom, and therefore a sound rejection of this ‘Nanny State’ mentality that has reputedly been besetting us all since Labour took power.
I don’t get Stephen Franks. His candidacy started in a somewhat odd fashion and has continued to bemuse. I don’t agree with Franks but I understand he’s a smart lawyer, that he’s a rationalist (of the economic variety) and that he’s reputed to be logical and thorough.
I’ve blogged about Franks attempt to rebrand himself as something other than the ultra-dry conservative and a few weeks ago he was clearly trying to present himself as a real kiwi-joker with his stupidly sexist humour. Initially, it appeared Franks realised his error and offered his apologies to anyone offended - a sensible approach I thought - however he’s now petulently declaiming the so-called wowsers and Labour stooges who dare to criticise him.
My post last weekend of the Danish Road Safety Council’s traffic safety spoof ran into the same culture, abetted by abysmal journalistic standards. With pursed lips the Herald reported ” a storm” erupting over the posting. The storm was one email from a Labour stooge purporting to be from a National voter but not verified when the journalist concerned called me. In all my subsequent email traffic I had only encouragement.
A Labour stooge - how’d we arrive at that conclusion? What evidence does Franks adduce to support his claim? Let’s see if we can follow this compelling logic.
(A) a named individual, Adam Prouse (Whitepages reveals several records of people who could be Adam Prouse), claiming to be a National Party member, criticises Franks sexist humour
(B) some people are critical of Franks at kiwiblog
(C) people critical of Franks and other Nats who post on kiwiblog are often Labour stooges
A perfect example of Logic 101 and Lewis Carroll’s soriteses:
Some A are B
Some B are C
Therefore A is C
Of course this does not cohere with Carroll’s laws, nor is it remotely logical or credible. It is an attempt by Franks to avoid responsibility for his school-boy humour. As the smart lawyer we understand Franks to be, he could verify his claim by simply asking Party HQ if they have a record of an Adam Prouse.
Davey’s weird yank to the Right this Election year continues unabated. This time it’s dog whistling to the Religious Right with a seemingly innocuous post about the Morning After Pill. Of course, as DPF planned, the thread recklessly plunged off-track as a group of males (well mostly) waded onto a discussion about Abortion. Let’s just clear this up: The Morning After Pill is a high-dose contraceptive pill. That’s it. A Contraception Pill. It has exactly the same impact on a woman’s body as regular contraception only, because of the level of the dosage, it’s more likely to prevent a pregnancy from happening. To the religious right, the Morning After Pill is equivalent to abortion because “life commences at conception”. But to the rest of us, especially those who appreciate the biology of pregnancy and how frequently a normal women loses fertilised eggs (zygotes) before they implant successfully - if you were going to talk about the start of a pregnancy, you’d talk about pregnancy being from time the zygote successfully implants itself into the uterine wall. The Morning After Pill is not abortion. It’s just a medical means of upping the chances of either preventing ovulation or having a period even if your partner managed to fertilize an unattached egg.
Agenda on Sunday was awful. The panellists didn’t want to listen to the people they were interviewing (both Russell Norman and David Parker did very well) and had their own agendas to pursue. Jenni McManus was a disgrace. Argumentative and rude, she talked over answers and other questions, and spent half the time making her own speeches as self-appointed representative of the oppressed upper-middle class.
Agenda is meant to be the foremost political interview show in New Zealand; is that really as good as it gets?
