Posts by Mikaere Curtis
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We don't pay the true price of production or recycling. That is all extenalised onto the poor and the environment.
And the opacity of production processes doesn't help you identify which products have lowest social or environmental costs, either.
One option is to only upgrade when your hardware fails. You need good backups, though.
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No flash support is surprising. What good's a device that can't display the Onion News Network ?
Not that I'm bothered. As a .Net developer, I'm happy to stick with Microsoft, and I kind of need a real keyboard with which to code. And Windows 7 really is an improvement, and very nice to use.
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Emma, I agree with your position about the right to determine whether you consent or not.
On the flipside, I think we have a real issue relevant to men actively ascertaining whether a woman has (and continues) to consent.
I think the media, in continuing to support the notion that most rapes are carried out violent sexual predators who have never met the victim, have created an environment where some men can compare their behaviour to an extreme (and non-typical) type of rapist and conclude that since they didn't act like a stalker, how can it have been rape ?
We (being society) need to move the underlying meme from "no consent = rape" to "sex = respect". Rape will always be abhorrent, and I'm not trying to undermine the affect it has on survivors, but I can't help but conclude that, while empowering victims is extremely important, the factor that needs to be addressed is men's attitudes. And I believe the most effective way to do this is to move the discussion away from legalistic critical events (consent), and towards why it is important to treat their sexual partners with respect.
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__I/S was talking about the concept of flying a flag which symbolises Maori identity. Anyone who clings to the notion that we only need one flag is at odds with our bi-cultural future.__
Yeah, see, that goes down like a cup of cold sick with a lot of people. In particular, what does it mean to have more than one flag?
Well, if our current flag was congnisant of Maori existence, then perhaps you would have a point. But it's not, it is an artefact of colonialism. So, consonant with bi-culturalism, it is easier to introduce another flag than to attempt to replace the existing one. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to get rid of the Union Jack and replace it with one that is not beholden to our colonial dominionship. But adding a Maori-symbolic flag is additive - it does not diminish the current flag.
How much right do non-Maori have in determining this other flag? How much right do Maori have to determine the non-Maori flag? etc. etc.
In a bi-cultural approach, perhaps those that consider themselves Maori could choose the Maori flag and those that consider themselves non-Maori could choose the non-Maori flag ? I'm with Mike Smith on this: anyone can consider themselves Maori if that is how they feel; being able to whakapapa to any specific hapu is geneological, so you can be Maori without possession any specific whakapapa. In terms of choosing a flag, I'm OK with people deciding which flag they best represents them and then committing to choosing that one flag (i.e. can't vote for both).
I'd like to hear speeches made in the House, and see a vote on something written-down -- rather than having it decided (by Key's own telling) in "five minutes" at a Cabinet meeting.
Quite. I think Key gauged the issue on the number of media releases that came out over the last Waitangi Day timeframe. Not many. But he's upped the ante with his endorsement of a specific flag, and was always going to cop significant criticism over this. Really, the argument should be about how we can determine a flag that complements the existing Crown-oriented flag.
Still, I am hopeful that this debate serves to move things forward, at least, if nothing else, in terms of identifying that the Tino Rangatiratanga flag is not tino pai rawa atu ki nga iwa katoa.
[Translation: not all iwi think it's awesome] -
And No Right Turn is all, like, anyone who's not down with this is probably a racist. Sigh ..
I disagree. The fundamental argument being played out is around whether this is the right flag to choose. They seems broad agreement that a flag is a good idea, but which one ?
I/S was talking about the concept of flying a flag which symbolises Maori identity. Anyone who clings to the notion that we only need one flag is at odds with our bi-cultural future.
Paul Moon is correct, the Tino Rangatiratanga flag is pretty vague. I'm sure there are plenty of different understandings of what Tino Rangatiratanga means in the current context.
The problem that the 1835 United Tribes flag has is that it is not representative of all tribes.
Maybe we need a proper approach to deciding on what a Maori flag needs to be, and perhaps at the end it will be Tino Rangatiratanga, or maybe another design will emerge.
In any case, it's a Good Thing to fly an alternative to the NZ flag, because, as I/S says, it makes a very positive statement about where we are headed.
Oh yes you can; more specifically, I can; and I will: it is ghastly. It is the sort of pattern one might find on the curtains of a provincial community hall. It is a difficult design to repeat, and so has spawned many clumsy imitations, particularly in Grey Lynn. Its colours are unfortunate, given their use in 20th Century Europe.
In the age of digital image reproduction, I don't think a complicated design is much of an issue. As for unfortunate colours, since when were Maori responsible for European warfare ? Europeans don't have a mortgage on colour, and if they have a problem with their violence in the 20th century, they need to address that themselves.
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But, again: the thing that will wreck national standards as a research tool is some idiots in the news media doing an OIA and making league tables. The only real benefits of a national standarised testing scheme will be lost as the data are compromised.
Um, I may be missing it...but:
How does importing the data into a spreadsheet and then coming up with a (likely dubious) set of league tables going to compromise the base data ?
Is it because schools will start "adjusting" their data so they can improve their position in the tables ?
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I know it was just a typo
Is there such a thing as Freudian typos ?
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I know we're getting into what's colloquially known in media circles as the silly season, but really...
Tolley's got a major issue in terms of buy-in from the people who are charged with delivering this policy, and I think a major factor was the abuse of urgency. Nobody was able to comment on the legislation, let alone moderate it, because this process was explicitly denied.
On the mandate thing, I'm down with governments implementing their publicised policies, but National's 2008 Education Policy isn't exactly brimming with detail. Interestingly, it supports the policy with a footnote to John Hattie - who is currently calling for the implementation to be put on hold in favour of a trial, as the Herald notes.
This is yet another example of a feral and arrogant National minister who wants to rule by decree, and to hell with consultation. As a parent with school-aged kids, I am well aware of the issues faced by schools*. And none of them are going to be addressed by diverting scare resources into an unnecessary discredited experiment that wasn't even implemented with due democratic process.
* BTW, I'm happy with the level of assessment and reporting of my kids, and if I have any questions then I front up to the teacher interview and ask for a clarification. Here we have an example of the bully state circumventing individual initiative. But hey, made for some pithy campaigning soundbites, didn't it ?
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School board nominations open 15 March and voting has to be done by 7 May. I think there is some school flexibility in there.Unlike for standards.
Aha, that's what I must have thinking of.
Craig, let's assume you are right, and everyone who ticked National for their party vote was totally down with Tolley's policy. How many of them were voting for this legislation to go through under urgency ?
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Any suggestions for action gratefully received. I can't believe I'm the only parent who's unhappy about this, but noone seems to be talking about it?
There are Board of Trustee elections in March next year, so one option is to stand for election so you can influence the Board's position relevant to the assessment regime. My pick is that if enough Boards fight the Minister, she'll lose, big time.