Posts by Luke Williamson
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I have almost given up on TV completely. I find it virtually impossible to find anything I want to watch on the standard channels and am now a dedicated Fatso user along with getting my son to download whatever series I feel like watching , e.g. Archer, Game of Thrones, Dr Who, Downton, etc. If you don't like Generic Crimeshow, or cooking, or home renovating (with the exception of Grand Designs), the choices start to get pretty limited. We have to have satellite to get any TV where we are in Warkworth so have been using Sky for the standard free channels but have just cancelled that and going completely to computer based.
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We have a Circulon set of pots from same era as your pan Russell and they are still going strong, although, I'm sure I see bits of the lining in my roux when I do it. And, by another coincedence, we also have exactly the same small cast iron pan in which we also toast pinenuts and fry single eggs. No photo sorry, but my boiled egg slicer is another thing I just love in my kitchen. It gives me pleasure every time I neatly slice those eggs.
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JohnKey sees himself as CEO of NZ Corp and, as head of the company, he can do whatever he likes until the end of his "contract". His sole job is to maximise profits for the shareholders, i.e. the 32% of voters who gain advantage from the way he runs the country. If you were John, why wouldn't you carry on as you are when every poll tells you 60+% of the country loves you and your nearest competitor is languishing on 15%. I still believe in democracy and the ability to vote these bastards out but it is going to take a lot of effort when the corporate media are happy with the status quo. Russell Norman has so far been the only one with balls enough to actually directly take on John and I think a lot more of that is needed.
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Yes, transcript please. The sound was crap unless you like the sound of repetitive coughing. John Key is very interesting in these instances where he feels vaguely threatened - you quite quickly see his nasty side coming through. If you question his authorité, you are immediately responsible for bombs blowing up children. Huh?
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My daughter has just turned 15 and is in a group of friends who are all just turning 16 – young for her school year, etc. They are no more sexualised than the 15- to 16-year-old girls were when I was that age. As a group, they are high achievers at school and mainly come from two-parent, middle class homes so that makes them a certain niche. However, they fawn over movie star and rock star boys, are experimenting with first boyfriends, and hear/watch some explicit songs/videos mainly because of the quantity of that material now available, and the quantity of channels to deliver it, i.e. phone, net, TV, print, etc.
I would say that the theme for these children is good parenting (excuse me including myself here) and, as Craig said above, reasonable boundaries. They know some material is “don’t watch for your own good” and they turn it off. Ever since the internet became a normal thing in the household, there has always been the danger of the children seeing objectionable material. We sat both of them down (son who is now 18), early on, and explained that we simply couldn’t stop them going to unpleasant sites or receiving some horrible material, if that’s what they decided to do, but they would regret venturing to those dark places for reasons A, B, C. We continued to repeat the message every now and then, and set limits on what DVDs we watched as a family at different age levels.
Limits can be set, children can understand why and they can self-monitor if there is a sound culture around them of looking after yourself and each other. Again, my daughter and her friends are very strong advocates for their own physical and mental health. They understand what surrounds them and how to get the best out of what is available rather than the worst. Of course there are hiccups along the way and short, sharp pulls on the reins by the parents every now and then, but that is normal.
Most of the above applies to the boys of the group my daughter socialises with and those of my son. If the rules are there along with an explanation of why, they understand and respect the reasons.
And, as pointed out by Ben and others, let’s not forget that it was not so long ago that girls of 13 and above were married off, pregnant and dead from complications at birth.
Sorry for the rave. -
I am always really sceptical of NZ comedy shows, for good reason, but really enjoyed Flat3! Very nicely executed by young, talented crew. Interesting being an old git too and finding that I could watch it on my nice big telly using my adorable new Apple TV - it is a very cool device.
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His ratings would go through the roof if he actually acknowledged and apologised but I don’t think it is in his makeup to do so.
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“It is becoming hard not to see John Key as a man who not only regularly fails to meet the standards expected of a Prime Minister, but who does not even understand what those standards are.”
I think this is exactly John Key’s problem. He sees himself as CEO of NZ Corp and behaves like a man who has been hired to do a job, and to do it his way. So far, this has been very successful for him, as demonstrated by polling. He’s perceived as a guy who will make the tough decisions and just get on with it, and not get bogged down in red tape. But it is clear that his values are warped or he wouldn’t be the man he is today having made his fortune as a trader and banker in the days that led to the 2008 downfall of the world economy.
The real problem, as I see it, is that he is the leader of the country and he should be offering an example of leadership that is not slightly dishonest and forgetful and deceitful. I think it does set a tone for the country if he behaves that way.
This is really a repeat of the values he demonstrated with the Skycity dilemma. -
This government, and any government that follows, will have a real problem with anything 'evidence-based' because that will entail including alcohol in the equation. We all saw recently how government deals with any regulation of the alcohol industry, i.e. cave in. It is very difficult to be teaching the kids all about harm reduction and science-based studies, and regulating access to currently illegal drugs, while at the same time pumping out ads for alcohol on TV, cinema, newspaper, etc.
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Hard News: What did you do yesterday?, in reply to BenWilson,
Me too for Firefox.