Posts by Luke Williamson
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Maybe John Key's office leaked some info to John Campbell to take the heat off Judith Collins. That's just the sort of top bloke he is and shows what a real leader does for his embattled troops.
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The easiest question for Bob is, "Are you prepared to include our most addictive, destructive and commonly used drug– alcohol – in your prohibition ?" My guess would be, no.
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Micro-discussion . . . As the father of daughter with coeliac disease (NO gluten allowed - not just because you feel like trying out a low-gluten diet), I can tell you that gluten is the popular bete-noir for every dietician, naturopath and homeopath at the moment. It seems to be the go-to diagnosis for all that ails you, however, there are very few people who really follow through on being properly gluten-free when they find out how incredibly difficult and annoying it is to implement. So, invariably, they become low-gluten diets (or give up all together) and move on to the next fad cure. Having been involved in a lot of study of gluten-free diet, it strikes me as unlikely that it would somehow be associated with autism – correlation maybe but anything beyond that would surprise me. Pseudo-science should named and shamed whenever it is encountered, especially if it is in the media. I'm disappointed with Marcus Lush but expect nothing better of Mike Hosking.
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Thanks for the Thomston links last week Russell. Interestingly, and relevant to your musings about Soundcloud, my daughter (16) loved the Thomston and has been sharing it with her friends. This is either theft or marketing - who decides?
I would have been hard pressed to come across Estere on my own but will now look out for her material and quite probably pay for it if she releases an album. -
Winning the election is about beating John Key and he only stumbles when he gets cornered - the nasty JK appears and gives everyone a fright. What will make him feel cornered and act a little desperately is the prospect of an opposition coalition polling at 48%. A coalition that is united enough to be believable. That becomes a real battle and JK's ugly side might just shine through.
Just as a short aside, is there any chance that the investigation into manipulation of foreign exchange rates will dig deep enough or back far enough to implacate JK? -
And while I am being a comment hog, I don't understand why the commentators are so convinced that Winston would go with a Labour coalition when he already has form for campaigning on a "get rid of National" platform in 1996 and then promptly joining them in coalition. Winston will do whatever is best for him personally, even at the expense of his party.
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This bit out of Gordon Campbell was bang on for me.
"Would a united Greens/Labour front have polarised the electorate? You bet. On that score, the electorate is way ahead of Labour. Much of it is already polarised, and in opposition to the policies and personalities of the Key government. What it lacks is a leader of that opposition – but yesterday, Cunliffe decided not to turn up to work." -
Hard News: To be expected, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Absolutely, and they should be talking to each other to work out a consistent message that points out the evils of National. They also need to motivate the non-voters and disillusioned Labour voters.
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The danger for Labour, I feel, is that this is just another move in the direction of not defining themselves. They don't have to enter into any formal agreements pre-election but they have to start to stand for somethign. As we get closer to the election, they just look more and more like National-lite. They appear to be terrified of losing the middle ground when, in fact, they have already lost that vital swinging 5% to National anyway - for now. As the saying goes, if you stand for nothing, you fall for anything.
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I too have been mulling over how to approach this discussion Russell but I haven't figured out an answer. Because the process is still relatively slow, on a day by day basis, large storms or floods or earthquakes are the only things that get people thinking about it again. The problem is that the answer lies in demanding less of our planet and no-one is ready for that. The entire world dialogue is about getting back to "growth" so that we can earn more and consume more. Witness Simon Bridges (I think?) discussing the auction of oil/gas exploration licences in NZ – the entire discussion is about drilling, selling and increasing wealth. No-one wants to give up anything. The message comes from the top where our PM has accumulated $50m and wants everyone else to strive for that glorious goal as well. Human's have a defective gene and it's called "greed" and we simply can't help ourselves. I believe more and more that only environmental disaster of one form or another will slow us down.