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198 Responses to “General Debate 19 November 2009”
I almost lost my coffee when I read Pete George’s painfully earnest comment from yesterday’s GD thread.
It reminded me of a great skit that is even more appropriate today than it was originally, when you think about what it lampoons. Take it away Marty Feldman
I see Lucy Lawless was under the impression that the Prime minister should be on call for her when ever she rocks up to parliament with her latest green party stunt.
Remind me how many votes Lucy got to represent us someone.
Why is it Dairies in Auckland dont display prices on their goods?
***
Because it is a greater commitment towards buying the item to ask the price, instead of just seeing a hugely inflated price and going Oh bloody hell and walking out
“With nearly 97 percent of all companies now reporting earnings for the second quarter, the S&P 500 PE ratio sits at 129. This is by far the most over hyped rally in the world.”
Nick Smith is running a secret government and the opposition are useless. David Lange would be chewing Smith apart. Labor 2009 an empty husk wanked out by nine years of Clark anti-democratic corruption.
If the left are so deranged about the anti-smacking law then there really is no point in saying what I am going to, but here goes:
1. Rudman acknowledges the child abuse problem. Yet he wishes to solve it by criminalising the 99% of good parents who rarely touch their kids, at worst give them a light smack. Presumably he believes the Kahui’s and Jonny Joachim’s of this world are going to get out their Crimes Act before deciding to put their kids in dryers, punch them in the face etc etc
2. Rudman claims the march is a sad day for democracy. Let’s get this striaght. One, sole MP in Parliament is ideological enough and with a big enough ego, that she decides she is going to tell Kiwi’s how to raise their children Against massive backlash, she puts through a private member’s bill, which ends up being passed by a majority of our gutless wonders in Parliament, including the two main parties. A referendum is completed, showing that nearly 90% of Kiwi’s oppose the law. Then our strong statesman John Key announces he will ignore it. Then, on the other hand, some kiwis decide to use their democratic right to protest against such appaling totalitarian social engineering.
The former is democratic by Rudman’s own thinking, the latter is “mob rule”, and not.
3. Yet again, the left class those against the bill (including 90% of NZ parents) as “pro-beaters” and “those demanding the right to bash their children”.
Truly sickening. When will anyone say enough is enough to this kind of shit? John Key? Haha, what a fucking laugh. I agree with you now Redbaiter, throw the lot out and start again.
“NBC, which is last place in network ratings, has decided to double down on their green propaganda push this week by putting environmentalist messages in five of its shows: 30 Rock, Heroes, Community, The Office and The Biggest Loser. NBC is owned by GE. GE has positioned itself to make loads of money if “green technology” becomes dominant, so they’ve not only invested a lot of capital in the Obama administration, they’re trying to get everyone on their bandwagon.”
” I agree with you now Redbaiter, throw the lot out and start again.”
They no longer represent the people but are there to pander to special interest groups- Progressive lobbyists, racists, limp dicked academics, TOW thugs and environmental con artists and while they should be cutting government spending they’re increasing it and raising taxes, while they should be reducing regulation, they’re expanding it and except for better management of public relations, they’re virtually the same as the last lot.
We have to remove all of the encumbents and start again.
Manolo
I’d guess that the majority of NZers dont believe that these schemes can do much about AGW or indeed that AGW is a major problem. Just like the majority is also against pollution and wants a clean country.
However the problem is what the consumers of our goods believe. And its pretty clear that Europe is full of those who want these schemes. The danger we have , is that if we dont go along, no matter how stupid it is, then we will get taxed anyway or worse boycotted.
Thats the reality we have to deal with. I reckon Key thinks its a crock but he also knows without trade we are truly fucked, because I’d wager that if the europeans do it then they will punish those who dont.
I’d also wager that theres a bit of a delaying game going on amongst some nations as they wait for the world wide public to wake up to what a farce this is. Just look at Copenhagen. Another conference for the troughers and will anything be achieved?
GE has positioned itself to make loads of money if “green technology” becomes dominant, so they’ve not only invested a lot of capital in the Obama administration, they’re trying to get everyone on their bandwagon.”
Which GE is that? The world leader in steam and gas turbines for power generation, high-voltage power transmission and generation equipment, LV distribution equipment, aircraft jet engines, compressors and turbines for the oil and gas industry, etc? They’re going to make it all back on wind-turbines and energy-efficient light bulbs?
RedBaiter, you’re cutting and pasting the sort of misrepresentations and deceit you’re always warning us about.
In an odd exposé that has left the worlds of politics and academia abuzz, a local homeless person revealed yesterday that he only blamed himself for his failures. The incident occurred near the dumpster behind the Shop Rite store in Brooklyn, when Willard Kookish, formerly of 435 Subprime Lane in Nutly, NJ, casually told a reporter that “my problems are my own fault.”
The veteran New York Times reporter Ken McLiar, who has been searching area dumpsters for a 3,785-part series on people who are homeless due to the evils of American capitalism, admits he was astonished by Mr. Kookish’s bizarre confession.
When asked to elaborate, Mr. Kookish went on to say, “I went through college drinking and smoking dope and never learned anything. I’ve had many job opportunities but didn’t bother to show up. My family left me a nice house to live in but I took out home equity loans on it and spent the money on hookers and gambling. When the housing boom collapsed I lost everything. I made bad decisions and here I am bearing the consequences.”
The startling revelation has left many in the community troubled by what it may portend for society at large. “It should be illegal to talk like that”, said Marge Stumpko, an angered low-wage waitress from Lower Skunkworks, NY. “Aren’t we all our brother’s keepers? Is that all you’re leaving for my tip, turdface?”
Floyd Grabbuck, a community organizer from Chicago, furiously described Mr. Kookish’s statement as “un-American and downright traitorous,” suggesting that “If that ungrateful rat-bastard doesn’t like how we do things in this country, maybe he should move to a place like Russia where the government doesn’t care for its subjects and see how he likes it there.”
Eddie Fuppish, a mismarked ballot corrector from Franken, Minnesota, sounded more conciliatory: “The poor man needs help. Anybody that takes responsibility for his own actions is certifiably insane. Just look at all the big businesses selling you stuff for money. Don’t tell me you are in control of your own spending or anything else for that matter. You’re not. That’s why I vote Democratic and make sure other people do the same, even if they didn’t mark their ballots that way. It’s the right thing to do. People need to be protected.”
Experts, on whom the incompetent depend to explain the complicated world they fail to understand, are unanimous. “It’s Reagan’s fault,” says Professor Wilton Chumpley, a consulting sociologist from the University of Twerp in Belgium. “Remember how in the 1980s that actor-president mislead people into thinking they could spend their own money and run their own lives without expert help? And then you had that crackpot economist Milton Friedman falsely claiming that the government shouldn’t be responsible for directing people’s existence. It made less sense than the UFO stories, at least for smart people like myself. But, tragically, some fools took it seriously; it ruined their lives.”
President Obama has not commented publicly on the controversy but has privately told aides that “former President Bush is not getting off the hook for the economy, the War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or Willard Kookish’s failures on my watch.” Sources speculate that Kookish’s mortgage default will be added to the list of indictable offenses against former Bush Administration officials.
Reverend Al Sharpton excoriated Kookish’s “arrogant fantasy,” calling it “blame the victim” rhetoric from the right and predicting that the incident would set race relations in the US back fifty years, even though Kookish is white. “It don’t matter who the victim is, it’s who’s doing the blaming that makes it wrong,” Sharpton said.
Regardless of the troubling short-term fallout from the incident, the long term trends are clear. “We need to make people understand they don’t matter,” stated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Having become cogs in the huge state machine, they can’t be allowed to think independently and control their lives; that’s what we’re here for.” Pelosi stressed the inevitability of new taxes and government programs in order to liberate people from such delusions. “People like Willard Kookish better get this through their thick skulls: it’s not their fault, it’s society’s. And that’s why they need President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress to subdue this country in order to fix it.”
RedBaiter, you should try writing your own parodies. They’d be great. There’s no need to cut-n-paste this witless and infantile crap off popup infested sites.
Today is day three of my head cold. I tried “Sudafed PE” (which is actually phenylephrine), and it did bugger all for my sinus pain. So I went back to the chemist, and they insisted that “Codral new formula” (also with phenylephrine) is what would fix me right-up. Still no luck, with sinus pain giving me headaches, watery eyes etc. I looked through our cupboard, and found a couple of old codral pills wtih pseudoephidrine. Took these, and within about 30 minutes, my sinus pain had disappeared. Of course, I can’t go and buy anymore. So here I am at home, cogested to hell, trying to do work to complete a submission. Thanks, Nats for denying me something that will actually give me some relief from my symptoms.
The $90,000 three-year scholarship for Maori PhD business students was announced at the Aotearoa New Zealand Maori Business Leaders Awards at the University of Auckland Business School last night.
It will be funded via a $1 million endowment fund with seed money from Mr Glenn, one of Sir Howard’s closest mates and the business school’s biggest benefactor.
It’s not you per se Red, it’s your comments. They always make me think, and sometimes they make me think “that’s a load of misrepresentation and deceit” or “that would be funny if I didn’t think RedBaiter was actually serious.” So I comment. We’re all here for a bit of fun, enlightenment and debate.
I’m serious about the parodies. You could do much better than that one you dragged off the web.
I hear on NatRad this morning that Witi Ihimaera, the Professor of Plagiarism at Auckland University, is now trying to buy up all the copies (sold and unsold) of his latest “novel” – to try and bury the recent unfortunate expose of his un-original/borrowed writing (which he had been happily passing off as his own work).
This must be why Witi “tea-leaf” Ihimaera will shamelessly pocket (and not hand back) the $50,000 grant from the Arts Foundation, but will it be enough to cover this unexpected extra cost he has to bear?
Damn those septic conservatives are a giggle, to get purity in the GOP party they stand an idiot who forgets that all politics are local in a seat.
Then they suggest they only want those who are pure to vote for the conservative idiot.
Those who were not pure took their advice and sent a Democrat to Washington.
Now I see moderate Republican types stating it is better to throw the election to a Democrat rather than have complete Palin picked idiots in Congress
Well righties are not afraid to say that they get a woody watching an attractive woman. Lefties get the guilts. Careful – a feminist might be watching.
..found a couple of old codral pills wtih pseudoephidrine. Took these, and within about 30 minutes, my sinus pain had disappeared. Of course, I can’t go and buy anymore.
Go and buy a chunk of ice from your neighbourhood P dealer. It’s never been cheaper and availability is great this season. Open 24/7 as well.
Here’s Philu with his daily regurgitation of vomitous diatribe that was cut and pasted from another website (can’t recall now what the name is now) because that website has no following and no one will discuss his “posts” so he has to have the discussion on a blog that does show some signs of cerebral activity.
here’s redbaiter with his one dimensional slack jawed regurgitation of far-right-blog talking points..(yawn..!..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Speaking of slack-jawed, one dimensional yawn-inducing posters…
Look, everybody here has worked out by now that you’re a pretentious little fuckwit with all the relevance to political debate as last weeks roadkill. Except roadkill has more respect and relevancy.
Nobody, not here, or in the Greens, or anywhere else, gives a shit what Philip Ure writes or thinks.
You’re quite correct. His swamping of David Farrar’s website with stuff from whoar is a clear acknowledgement of what a dropkick failure he knows his own website is.
One of the things that disappoints me in our country is the complete lack of common sense shown by people in positions of responsibility. Giving Ihimaera the $50,000 dollars just after he has been found plagiarizing is symptomatic of a country where people don’t even think about what they are doing, but rather tend to just robotically do what they are supposed to do, and generally along groupthink lines. “We decided to give him this award a while ago, and that’s what we are going to do.”
Also, I would just like to say that I have never replied to philu and never will, and after this post will never mention him again, and I would suggest that those of you who are likewise annoyed by his poorly formatted, repetitive, difficult to understand posts do the same, instead of whining that he should be banned. Isn’t it obvious he wants the attention and you are all pretty much moths to a flame?
Tut, tut Phool, projecting your feelings on to me won’t work.
Let’s face it, you resent me, you admire me, and you want what I have.
Your rep as an environmentalist took a fatal hit when I turned up. You sit on a couch and watch the grass grow. I go to different countries, stop wildlife smugglers, influence conservation policy and put my arse on the line for endangered species.
You sit on a couch and hide behind a keyboard. Except of course, I’m not a ‘leftie’. I’m the ‘real’ environmentalist and you’ve been shown up as the spiteful, delusional, tiny shit-maker that you are.
You only started posting photo links when I started. Imitation my dear boy, is the sincerest form of flattery. Except you’re a talentless cut-and-paste merchant, with no skill or motivation of your own. And you still don’t get any recognition from that. Weird huh.
See, I have friends, talent, motivation and influence. All of these are beyond you grasp. So you resent me, and you secretly want what I’ve got.
I don’t care Phool, what you write or think because you have achieved a complete irrelevancy. I hold you in contempt as a fake environmentalist.
Now, if anybody would like to make an actual and valuable contribution to the GD, I would like to see something else.
“Now, if anybody would like to make an actual and valuable contribution to the GD, I would like to see something else.”
If anyone mentions climate change in here today, I’ll scream. Since I’ve been coming to Kiwiblog there has been a steady decrease in the diversity of issues under discussion, until these days there seems to be just two: the subject of your post above and climate change.
There is literally nothing more boring than reading a link war between laymen involving the science of the weather.
Fair enough. Given my background in IT and interest in SF stories, I’ve been following the whole Singularity deal for a decade or two so here’s an article listing some of the things pushing us closer to it – maybe:
Phil, if we wanted our dark crevasse-like minds filled with your “illuminating” (?) intellectual radiance, we would go to your website.
As it is, we don’t.
And bugger all other people do either.
There is a reason for this. People don’t believe what you say. No one denies (and I’ll probably get crushed for this) that you are a moderately intelligent, sometimes witty blogger who points out some interesting pieces from time to time.
Great! Go for it – ON YOUR OWN BLOG! We congregate here at DPF’s for a reason. That same reason precludes us, in a general sense, from going to your blog. We don’t think that you have much to add to debate. Nothing personal.
I’m all for free speech, Phil and (paraphrasing Voltaire’s quote) will defend your right to say what you want – on your own blog. Thats the beauty of blogging.
Here you speak to your own agenda by seemingly re-posting your stuff from Whoar. If we were truly interested, we would go there and sign up. But we don’t. And probably won’t.
Stop trying to hi-jack this Blog with your own blather. It’s rude and why DPF has put up with you for so slong escapes me. You have your own place. Please withdraw back to it.
Tom, that link doesn’t work but I searched a bit on Singularity – potentially feasible SciFi for a change. Larger robots don’t scare me so much, a sledge hammer seems like it could still work (but yeah, drone aircraft are already a bit hard to wallop).
But nanobots are a different dimension, they could be ingested via food without you knowing, hmmm.
And, since I’ve obviously given you to much credit on the intellectual standpoint, I’ll go over it again.
This is not your blog, Phil. You re-post everything from your blog over here. It wouldn’t be so bad if you just provided a link, but that would mean no one would ever read it. So you just sit and cut-and-paste all day.
If we wanted to read it, we would go to Whoar (I can’t believe you didn’t understand this the first time).
“fact check:
yes..i ‘point out ‘interesting pieces’..”
You think. We don’t.
“interesting pieces”, huh?. Have you ever noticed just how much debate your articles generate on GD? Slim to nil would be fairly accurate. Whats the point of having your own blog when you merely recreate it all here? This beggars belief!
“the rest is the usual knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers..(hi manolo..!)..
..with their !oh so unoriginal) ad hominems..”
Does anyone else see the irony in the above statement?
Thanks, that’s the article I had found. Need time to check this out some more.
What about airborne nanobots that fly flat to reflect the sun, and change to side on to let it in, that could be a solution to the climate problems! Just joking, sort of.
I wonder how many light years Al Baby thinks the sun is from earth.
Al Gore: Earth’s Interior ‘Extremely Hot, Several Million Degrees’
By Noel Sheppard
November 18, 2009 – 10:27 ET
For several years as uneducated sycophants in the media gushed and fawned over every utterance from former Vice President Al Gore, NewsBusters has informed readers of just how absurd the junk science he’s peddling really is.
Last Thursday, NBC “Tonight Show” viewers got a perfect example of how the Nobel Laureate basically makes things up, and that his poor grades in college were quite an indicator of just how little he understands about science.
So egregious was his departure from reality that the following clip should be mandatory viewing for all his fans in the media who seem to be just as scientifically-challenged (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Hot Air):
In Copenhagen, all the world leaders will meet for a secret meeting in a hidden sub-basement. By the light of candles set in pentagrams, each will submit their darkest secret: Obama will offer his Kenyan birth certificate. John Key will supply his baptism records from the Exclusive Bretheren.
Once each is done, they will together pledge allegiance to the New World Government. A shadowy figure stands at the head of the room to receive their pledge. This is the puppetmaster; the spider at the heart of the web. With one arm, she controls the scientists of the IPCC. With the other, she manipulates the cultures of the world, twisting their children to her dark purposes.
“I accept your allegiance. Our first task,” says Sue Bradford as she steps into the flickering light, “Is to ban smacking world-wide.”
Yep…… so apart from commenting, what’s everybody doing at this moment?
I’m proof-reading a 500 page history of the farming district where I grew up. I’m doing it for free of course!!
Later on I have to set up a new cable system for the hallway wall, where numerous pieces of our kids art will be hung (temporarily of course). Then finish off the last bits of a new fence and two gates.
Finally, if I have the time, I have to continue to edit our home videos, a process that has already taken me two years just to cover seven years of history – but the grandparents love it.
I’m sitting with my head in my hands wondering how Thierry Henry can bear to look at himself in the mirror after blatantly cheating to put Ireland out of the World Cup. Scabby cheating French prick.
I have just sat through three periods of students sitting an assessment (stunningly boring) and now have the rest of the day marking (ditto). This just after having written 80 reports.
Ted has a sense of humour, sometimes – after being asked by the media about Tialata and Jane revealing in Twitter that they wouldn’t be in the team he said:
“I had to find out what bloody Twitter was, I thought he was the new five-eighth playing for England,” he said.
Yep…… so apart from commenting, what’s everybody doing at this moment?
Been merging code for a big production release this weekend. Also been arranging power, Sky and Satelitte broadband for the farmlette in readiness for the big move.
Merging code eh. Without breaking confidentiality, what does it involve? I confess I have not done industrial strength coding for years. Database design, OO design and project management are where I’m at.
And where is my response to Ryan? Two bloody embedded links and it’s held up in moderation? And it does not seem to happen in the morning!.
tom – work for a big private company with big public clients. Over the years I have been computer operator, shift leader, data centre manager, mainframe dba and now a version controller.
Philu – just so you don’t need to google it, it is called WORK.
Basically Upton was arguing for a change in the super rules to be linked to inflation rather than wages. I liked the argument that initially, this is little effect on payments. Overtime the gap widens but as this is signalled in advance, current taxpayers can (potentially) offset this by increasing their savings.
I wonder why some are so keen to stick their heads in the sand over a crisis which is becoming more dire by the day as we continue pumping those emissions. Now I full accept that in the great scheme of things, little ol’ Kiwiland can’t cause any kind of dramatic decrease in emissions, but at least we could put our collective brainpower to work to help rather than continue to take the side of the deniers.
This is not junk science. This is the best up to date scientific information from specialists.
An extract:
“Meanwhile, the scientists have for the first time detected a failure of the Earth’s natural ability to absorb man-made carbon dioxide released into the air.”
And from the same scientists, from their website, we have this:
“Despite the assumptions that by the end of the 21st century at least half of the power energy will be generated from renewable sources, the interplay of these forces is such that it will take decades to achieve decreases in the effects of the present anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Even when these emissions do begin to decrease, atmospheric CO2 will continue to rise for up to as much as a century, and global temperatures will increase for two or more centuries, locking the world into continued (anthropogenic) climate change for this period.”
And this was accompanied by another important contribution to the ETS debate:
Here the author argues that the ETS is more likely to be honoured in the breach rather than lead to any genuine reductions in emissions. The only problem I had with the article is the complete absence of an alternative. But this just really highlights what a fine fix we have gotten ourselves into!
I pointed out the other day, with able assistance from Pete George, that Owen McShane did himself a disservice by attempting to mislead the bloggers here about the sheer extent of the efforts of the scientific community in gathering and interpreting increasing quantities of data gained by observation – the necessary bedrock of any scientific theory work.
Even worse was the example in the NZ Herald by Chris de Freitas last Monday. In the worst example, he quoted 1996 and 2001 reports by the IPCC to the effect that there was at that stage no connection proved between climate change and extreme weather events, yet ignored the following in the 2007 report:
“Climate is generally defined as average weather, and as such, climate change and weather are intertwined. Observations can show that there have been changes in weather, and it is the statistics of changes in weather over time that identify climate change. While weather and climate are closely related, there are important differences.
“A common confusion between weather and climate arises when scientists are asked how they can predict climate 50 years from now when they cannot predict the weather a few weeks from now. The chaotic nature of weather makes it unpredictable beyond a few days. Projecting changes in climate (i.e., long-term average weather) due to changes in atmospheric composition or other factors is a very different and much more manageable issue.”
“As an analogy, while it is impossible to predict the age at which any particular man will die, we can say with high confidence that
the average age of death for men in industrialised countries is about 75. Another common confusion of these issues is thinking
that a cold winter or a cooling spot on the globe is evidence against global warming. There are always extremes of hot and cold, al-
though their frequency and intensity change as climate changes. But when weather is averaged over space and time, the fact that the globe is warming emerges clearly from the data.”
The University of Auckland dose appear to have some serious governance issues. From the Paul Buchanan injustice, to the weak reponse to the Witi Ihaemara plagiarism, and now an associate professor in the school of Environment willfully using the cachet deservedly attached to his position to mislead the public on the most important public interest issue the world has faced the university administration seems to have lost its way.
A question for the administrators, if an academic at the university used his position to promote Holocaust denial, would he/she retain his/her position?
Should AGW deniers be accorded the same opprobrium as the aforesaid Holocaust deniers?
Rudman obviously dosn’t realise that mob rule would be the protesters rocking up to the herald and lynching the lot of them on the spot. Thankfully? we are a civilized people making our voices heard.
Thanks for noticing Philu – that was the effect I was trying to get. Tell me, how do you type so fast when you spend so much time with your thumb up your arse?
I’m trying to obtain permission from my wife to attend the March for Democracy. I’m going outside now to make up my placard. It will say, at this stage, something like:
HEY, DADDIES, LEAVE YOUR KIDS ALONE!
She worries for my safety, silly thing. Surely, surrounded by loving, kind and caring Daddies, one could not be in a safer place
Oh, and sorry for the odd typo mistakes and wonky layout in the above post. Baby woke from her nap as I was finishing it off and the usual proofreading just didn’t happen!
Luc, I have collected a lot of signatures often at tables on footpaths. All the violence, threatened violence and law breaking (theft of signed petition foms)came from those who claim to be concerned about the welfare of children. One guy repeatedly challenged one of the collector to hit him. I doubt if you be subject to violence if you hold up such a sign as you suggest.
A man got up this morning, ate breakfast, took a shit, kissed his wife and kids goodbye and went off to work. While there, something went wrong and he won’t be going home tonight. this is a tragedy for all those involved, and I sympathise with their plight.
But why does the media need to wheel out John Key to tell us “it’s a tragic case”? And why does Key resppnd to their dog whistle. On average, there will be one other worker who meets the same fate this week, 2 workers every week of the year, kiss their loved ones goodbye and never see them again.
Maybe if we had John Key tell us each time a death in an industrial accident occurs “it’s a tragic case” we may see workplace safety taken more seriously. Or would we just get bored?
I am just so proud of the leadership of this country.
“Hell I’ve broken laws heaps of times … I do it every day…”
What is wrong with some of these frickin’ politicians? Don’t they get it that their office comes with, oh I don’t know, a bit of responsibility? I think it is connected to that aspect of their work called…wait for it…leadership. In my book a pretty big part of leadership is setting an example.
RightNow, don’t you worry about responding to me, or not. Quite clearly, you deniers are a blight on mankind and will happily doom future generations to short and miserable lives. The less we hear your noise and filth the better.
2011 and 2012 will be very unpleasant years, as the Obama administration struggles to get closer to budget balance without pushing up taxes so far as to cause yet a third recession. Stock prices will be at or below their March 2009 lows, and will stay there even as earnings of export-oriented companies will be robust. (Conversely, retailers dealing in cheap imported goods, such as Wal-Mart, will be devastated.) Wages will be generally declining relative to prices, although may show some growth in nominal terms as inflation will be considerable. Foreign goods and services will be inordinately expensive in dollar terms…
As I said, a train wreck. Probability of arrival: close to 100%. Time of arrival: around the end of 2010, or possibly a bit earlier. And at this stage, there’s very little anyone can do about it; the definitive rise of gold above $1,000 marked the point of no return.
MILAN – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t say what his plans are when his term expires next year, but it won’t be running for another office.
“I have never labeled myself as a politician, so I am not going to run for anything else,” Schwarzenegger told reporters on Tuesday.
Schwarzenegger said he will spend the next year trying to solve problems including a projected multibillion dollar shortfall in next year’s budget.
Schwarzenegger stopped by Milan en route from visiting troops in Iraq. He also visited his native Austria, where he saw the grave of his parents and ate a typical Austrian dinner that included Wienerschnitzel.
Luc Hansen’s comments about taking a placard to the weekend march reminded me of the bloke that had his child carry a placard at a teachers’ march that said, and I am not joking;
“Our countries teachers are the best”
The child was allowed to carry the placard as none of the teachers of English grammar could see anything wrong with it.
And here I was thinking the left eschewed genetically engineered meat. Must be all natural!
Also we can’t forget all the vegetables and greenery the surviving animals will eat. What happened to that stuff about enforced vegetarianism to save the planet?
Quite clearly, you deniers are a blight on mankind and will happily doom future generations to short and miserable lives. The less we hear your noise and filth the better.
Mainly because of people like that. What we see there is quick snapshot through the trapdoor into the raging inferno where children (or people down in pubs I recall) are belted across the chops when things don’t go his way.
Luc thinks he’s fixed that now and turned over a new leaf, but really the only self-control is that the door swings shut more quickly nowadays, allowing not only for the safety of those closest to him, but for him to stand the on moral high-ground and project his inner Jekyll onto the rest of us.
However, all that the wrath is still pent up and still seeking a target. It’s not just that guys like him put bullets into the back of Kulaks’ heads in the USSR – but that they felt so good about doing it.
With people like him around the phrase “climate criminals” won’t be joke, and it’s the other marchers who should worry.
A judge for an Islamic militant group in Somalia says a woman has been stoned to death and her boyfriend given 100 lashes for having an affair.
Sheikh Ibrahim Abdirahman, the judge for the group al-Shabab, says the woman was killed on Tuesday in front of a crowd of some 200 people near the town of Wajid.
Abdirahman says the 20-year-old woman had an affair with a 29-year-old unmarried man and gave birth to a stillborn child.
The reason Smith and Key are in such a hurry to pass the legislation is in fact because Act have a Bill in the House somewhere that comes into Law later this year that makes it mandatory for all Govt. legislation to have a cost benefit analysis that has been properly scrutinized and published.
These two charlatans can’t do that with the ETS and so they propose to use urgency to ram this through with the consent of the Maori Party.(yep Harawira and all), which is why the Maori Party gave Hone two weeks to ponder leaving.) Of course he won’t because Maori stand to get so much handed to them at the expense of everybody else. Its time that people woke up to Key and English and Smith.
Actually the same behavoir that Helen Clark and Winston Peters used to get up to and you all thought that we had a new beginning. Obviously not.
Did you see my link to a bunch of quotes from Schneider? I put them at the end of yesterday’s GD, plus a link. You’d get a laugh (a sad one admittedly).
Why is a bloody useless trade unionist going in to bat for crims or is she merely representing her true beliefs (useless lefty crap) at her employers (the union members) expense?
Don’t understand why philu (m.a hons) keeps leaving these long comments here. All he really need write is
i have written /commented at length on this subject in whoar.co.nz..
thank you..
phillip ure
If its good enough for him addressing parliament, surely its good enough for kiwi blog. Instead we get entire copys of his whore posts dumped into threads.
I see my name has been taken in vain again while I have been busy
Tom, first, you must learn to understand when I am just having a little innocent fun, like with the joke about my earlier children or my fondness for that wonderful phrase: noise and filth. You must admit it’s a class above the foul fingers around here tapping out sexually related obscenities.
Second, it’s a bit sad and desperate that you pick on the supposed utterances or failings of one or two scientists to discredit a worldwide consensus. And trawl the net “cherry picking” contrary date. And you need to understand that the term only applies to those who deny overwhelming evidence. I think you will find Australians getting pretty exercised about it all right now! But having said that, it is also true that no single weather event can be attributed to GW, but the fire threat fits the global climate trend.
The simple fact is you and getstaffed and the others are actively facilitating an ecological and humanitarian disaster that is fostered by short term greed and self interest devoid of human empathy and any ethical framework.
As regards the JPost item, there is this rebuttal:
The Iranian embassy in Australia rejected the claims, saying the source of the news – The Jerusalem Post – was “a Zionist publication, the bitter enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
“According to the Islamic Law, female virgin marriage is only possible with the consent of parents or guardians as well as the virgin females,” the embassy said.
“It is obvious that releasing such blatant lies is only with the aim of hostility and animosity with Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran.” (end quote)
Who is telling the truth? Well, it’s funny how it comes up now when Israel is doing its best to demonise Iran for mastering the nuclear cycle within the constraints of the NPT, while possessing itself an extra-legal arsenal of nukes – just which is the rogue state, pray tell?
One thing that escapes me is how noone (namely, the media) seems to be paying much attention, or displaying any interest whatsoever in the evolution of mankind that is coming with the widespread use of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology has the potential to solve the overwhelming majority of the main problems we are facing today, however just like any solution it creates other problems, the technology is currently infantile but as it grows it has endless potential.
If these socialists really cared for the environment, they would be all over this technology, as it clearly has the ability to remove all pollution from our oceans, soil and air.
Nanotechnology will evolve medical care, providing the cure for the vast majority of diseases currently considered uncurable, cancer and aids included.
Something else that is facsinating is the idea of “singularity” in artificial intelligence engineering. It describes the phenomenon where AI reaches a point where it is capable of redesigning more advanced versions of itself. This has the potential to take intelligence and understanding to levels beyond comprehension, in a relatively short period of time, possibly even in our lifetime.
Mike the main reason people stay off nano is because it has become a buzzword. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have slipped the word nano into scientific papers to get a higher impact. Most of it is rather unsexy nano as well – just making particles/molecules of 1-100 nanometer dimensions as opposed to nano-machines that actually are capable of actively doing things.
In general its best for the media to latch onto actual scientific breakthroughs, not scientific buzzwords. Although there has been a growing trend for the media not to latch onto anything other than human interest stories, reports of crime and Paris Hilton.
Extract: “The story is false. Chris Emery did some more digging and found that it had been posted at Balatarin (a portal like Digg and Newsvine for Internet articles) three weeks ago in the “Fun/Entertainment” section. The original story has now been pulled, because so many people mistook it for reality, but a quick read of the Balatarin version (even with the shaky English offered by Google Translate) makes clear that this was a bit of very black comedy gone very badly wrong.”
Mike Tan said… Something else that is facsinating is the idea of “singularity” in artificial intelligence engineering. It describes the phenomenon where AI reaches a point where it is capable of redesigning more advanced versions of itself.
Looks like he means it. It’s good to see a public figure adding Shakespeare quotes. Regardless of whether he wrote it himself, or used a speech writer, it’s a good speech.
Technological singularity is a term used with varying meanings related to self-improving artificial intelligence, superintelligence,[1] breakdowns in the predictability of the future and accelerating change.
In 1965, I. J. Good first wrote of an “intelligence explosion”, suggesting that if machines could even slightly surpass human intellect, they could improve their own designs in ways unforeseen by their designers, and thus recursively augment themselves into far greater intelligences. The first such improvements might be small, but as the machine became more intelligent it would become better at becoming more intelligent, which could lead to a cascade of self-improvements and a sudden surge to superintelligence (or a singularity).
Luc Hansen said… Second, it’s a bit sad and desperate that you pick on the supposed utterances or failings of one or two scientists to discredit a worldwide consensus.
Luc, I see that you’re new here at DPF. Science is not about consensus. We (humans) don’t dictate to the laws of nature. We simply observe how nature works and see if it is consistent with itself (ie, knowledge integration). So, far the evidence of AGW hasn’t reached that level yet. Einstein once quoted, “It only takes one person to prove me wrong.“. He meant that science is not about consensus but about repetitive facts which are independent from our prejudices or what we think that nature should be. The debate is not whether we’re warming or not. The disputes is whether humans is responsible or not and the number of scientists who agree (consensus view) is irrelevant. Facts speak for themselves and not the consensus views of a thousands scientists that speak for the facts. Do you get that?
When Einstein completed his paper on Special Relativity, he tried to submit it to various publications at the time but was rejected. The reviewers for those publications that he submitted his paper to, were seeking others opinions in the field which all of them reached a conclusion (consensus) that the theory proposed by the young unknown scientist was so absurd, that it shouldn’t deserve a space in any of those journals. Einstein managed to get in touch with Max Planck at the time and the great physicist (Planck) managed to support Einstein’s new breakthru theory and convinced editors of Annalen Der Physik journal in Germany to publish Einstein’s paper on relativity. Years later, the facts, predicted by relativity proved Einstein was right and all of those who thought his theory was absurd were wrong (ie, the consensus group).
I write & implement various AI (machine learning & computational intelligence) algorithms for software applications. AI is still domain specific, ie, it works well on one domain and those programs haven’t achieved knowledge integration, yet, which is the level where humans are. A human will understand how to drive, so one can hop into his car and drive (task 1) to the supermarket. He gets off and goes in to do his grocery shoppings (task 2). On his way home he stops by the next petrol station to fill-in his car (task 3), and so forth,… till he gets home, to continue on with more things to do, etc… Multi-tasking is knowledge integration, which computers with AI software of today can’t do. A car that can drive on its own for hundreds of miles on a public highway in the presence of other vehicles has been manufactured and successfully tested about a decade ago. But that car couldn’t stop by a supermarket to do grocery shoppings or any other tasks apart from just being good at one task and that is to drive on a public highway on its own in the presence of other vehicles, unguided. Knowledge integration for AI computers is still long way, perhaps in the next 100 years or so , roughly.
Ummm – Mike, Falafulu. It’s funny that a conversation on the Singularity should start now. I got virtually zero response on it when I posted about it earlier today in this thread.
The link is a little laymanish but still good reading.
Oh, Ray Kurzweil’s name pops up again. I say that Ray is wrong on his prediction that we will achieve that technology within the next 30 years or so. WHY I say this? Well, I do follow closely the journals that publish AI related articles from NIPS to JMLR and others. What I see in terms of researches is no way near what Ray Kurzweil is predicting. But I doubt that Ray reads any research journals to understand the limitations of what he is dreaming about. There are huge hurdles to overcome and I am not sure whether those hurdles will be solved in the next 50 years or so. I will give it 100+ years (in my rough estimation, based on what I read & extrapolate from researches that I see being published).
Yeah – the trick seems to be a belief that such nanobots and the like will become self-organising as a result of being networked. Perhaps “belief” is too strong a word, after all, there is a solid basis of theory in mathematics for self-organising and emergent systems. And of course there are real examples in physics, chemistry and biology.
But there’s still too much of a deus ex machina feel about for me to get caught up in the predictions of 2050 and the like. Interesting stuff all the same. Sometimes regret I never pushed forward on the whole AI thing.
Falu, with respect and understanding of your sentiments, i disagree on some points
The real lack of intelligience is in the computers inability to independently rationilise and make decisions based on the circumstance
For example our computer would need to know that there is no groceries at home, and there is ample time to go to the supermarket, and it would consider the decision amongst variables much like a human would, eg . is the supermarket going to be busy at time, will it be hard to find a carpark, does our finance allow us to purchase groceries, would x family member already have purchased groceries by now etc
As for your hypothetical analogy, we can already make the car stop at the supermarket or the gas station through integeration of technologies, eg. gps + fuel capacity sensors
What we cannot do is make the intelligence think with a free mind and decide for itself that it needs to do something, rather than responding to a set of codes input by humans
Personally, i believe the problem is not as complex as you describe it, as it already can be achieved with mass integeration(albeit to a simplistic standard)
And once again I’ve wasted my time looking at a Luc link.
The enduringamerica link is about exposing the story of a rape-before-execution sanction, supposedly issued by some key religious adviser in Iran – as having started as a piece of black comedy satire on an Iranian website.
The JPost story is a reporter talking by telephone to a member of the Iranian Basiji militia, who had just been released from jail for having set free two kids – a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl – who had been arrested during those protests against the rigged elections in June. He talks about the rapes he has performed.
Even though Ryan provided the link to the latter story I figure I have to tell you the gist because if you had actually read the article you would have realised that they’re about two completely different stories. I’ve bolded that last as an additional attention getter for you.
Please allow me to clarify, if we are talking about the computer having a free mind then i do agree with you that the problem is very complex and there are a lot of poorly understood areas, and it is still likely very far away.
However, i believe that it is atleast possible that it could be here in the next 25 – 50 years assuming that progress isn’t slowed down by politics
When the technology does arrive, it will propel our intelligence to levels beyond comprehension, in a very short period of time, can we agree on this?
When the technology does arrive, it will propel our intelligence to levels beyond comprehension, in a very short period of time, can we agree on this?
If we are not so dumb as to have destroyed ourselves in the meantime this may be what leads to our downfall? The growth of the human race is unsustainable and I doubt we are capable of rectifying the problems we are causing. We may or may not make it to the age when the nanobots run riot.
Mike tan said… The real lack of intelligience is in the computers inability to independently rationilise and make decisions based on the circumstance
Yep, that’s what I was saying before, Epistemological Knowledge Integration (from philosophy) and this is the capability that rationalization arises from, because you can’t be knowledgeable about the external world unless you have prior or pre-existing knowledge (acquired via learning) which you tie them together (in order to operate efficiently), which are non-contradictive. See, what Tom Hunter stated above. When rationalization is dynamic and adaptive via self-organising and emergent systems, then you have an independent entity that is autonomous (be it machine or biological). This is what makes us humans special.
We already had computer softwares that has outperformed human doctors in clinical diagnosis in existence today. One of the earliest clinical decision support system was MYCIN, which was developed at Stanford in the 1970s.
Autonomous experimental car such as ALVIN was successful when it was test-driven, which the car learnt from a human driver of how to drive in about 5 minutes before the human driver handed over the control to ALVIN, where ALVIN drove from one state to the next on its own on a highway in the presence of other vehicles. The test was smooth.
In a specific domain, such as medicine or driving a car, etc, … (one specific task only) and our current technology can do better than humans. What is lacking is knowledge integration and rationalization as you pointed out. We’re a far away from those capabilities. I have seen on the net a demonstration of a small robot where its designers, thought that the robot exhibited conscious behavior (ie, knowledge integration & rationalization), because the way it was moved around the room, where they were experimenting with it.
So, I say that we’re far away from having autonomous machines that can match that of a rational humans, BUT science writers and technology attention seekers, like to preempt their exaggerated visions way ahead of time.
The question to ask about this is, if machines computability can step up to it? To have a machine that is autonomous, rational, conscious, etc,… requires a huge amount of memory and fast execution. I am not sure when that is going to arrive, but it isn’t anytime sooner.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Why is it Dairies in Auckland dont display prices on their goods?
November 19th, 2009 at 8:06 am
I almost lost my coffee when I read Pete George’s painfully earnest comment from yesterday’s GD thread.
It reminded me of a great skit that is even more appropriate today than it was originally, when you think about what it lampoons. Take it away Marty Feldman
November 19th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Is it wrong that I’m in lust with Nadine the part time business girl on TV1 breakfast?
November 19th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Razork
Is that because she is only four foot ten?
November 19th, 2009 at 8:18 am
No its not wrong, shes hot.
And they’re all the same height laying down.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I must have used the wrong font, it was meant as painfully obvious with a dose of sarcasm.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:21 am
I see Lucy Lawless was under the impression that the Prime minister should be on call for her when ever she rocks up to parliament with her latest green party stunt.
Remind me how many votes Lucy got to represent us someone.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:22 am
Why is it Dairies in Auckland dont display prices on their goods?
***
Because it is a greater commitment towards buying the item to ask the price, instead of just seeing a hugely inflated price and going Oh bloody hell and walking out
November 19th, 2009 at 8:24 am
“With nearly 97 percent of all companies now reporting earnings for the second quarter, the S&P 500 PE ratio sits at 129. This is by far the most over hyped rally in the world.”
http://www.mybudget360.com/sp-500-over-priced-with-97-of-companies-reporting-q2-earnings-the-pe-ratio-is-now-at-129-the-most-over-hyped-market-rally-ever/
This is history. America to crash and too take everyone else out as well. It is game over it is just a matter of time.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Nick Smith is running a secret government and the opposition are useless. David Lange would be chewing Smith apart. Labor 2009 an empty husk wanked out by nine years of Clark anti-democratic corruption.
This is Helen Clark legacy to NZ.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:26 am
that weather girl alison pugh is a piece of ass as well
November 19th, 2009 at 8:29 am
Morning glorys on display, I see.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Federated Farmers President, Don Nicolson has thrown a hand grenade into the ETS mix
Read his speech here:
http://www.fedfarm.org.nz/n1761.html
Johnny Key- ignore at your peril.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:43 am
The Progressives have so destroyed the economy of Kalifornia, there’s not even enough power to run larger than normal TV sets there any more.
Check it out and remember that if we keep listening to the Progressives, they’ll do to NZ what they have done to Kalifornia.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091118/D9C1S1080.html
(Not that they haven’t damaged us enough already)
November 19th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Easily the most disgusting article I have seen for a while:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10609888
If the left are so deranged about the anti-smacking law then there really is no point in saying what I am going to, but here goes:
1. Rudman acknowledges the child abuse problem. Yet he wishes to solve it by criminalising the 99% of good parents who rarely touch their kids, at worst give them a light smack. Presumably he believes the Kahui’s and Jonny Joachim’s of this world are going to get out their Crimes Act before deciding to put their kids in dryers, punch them in the face etc etc
2. Rudman claims the march is a sad day for democracy. Let’s get this striaght. One, sole MP in Parliament is ideological enough and with a big enough ego, that she decides she is going to tell Kiwi’s how to raise their children Against massive backlash, she puts through a private member’s bill, which ends up being passed by a majority of our gutless wonders in Parliament, including the two main parties. A referendum is completed, showing that nearly 90% of Kiwi’s oppose the law. Then our strong statesman John Key announces he will ignore it. Then, on the other hand, some kiwis decide to use their democratic right to protest against such appaling totalitarian social engineering.
The former is democratic by Rudman’s own thinking, the latter is “mob rule”, and not.
3. Yet again, the left class those against the bill (including 90% of NZ parents) as “pro-beaters” and “those demanding the right to bash their children”.
Truly sickening. When will anyone say enough is enough to this kind of shit? John Key? Haha, what a fucking laugh. I agree with you now Redbaiter, throw the lot out and start again.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:57 am
“NBC, which is last place in network ratings, has decided to double down on their green propaganda push this week by putting environmentalist messages in five of its shows: 30 Rock, Heroes, Community, The Office and The Biggest Loser. NBC is owned by GE. GE has positioned itself to make loads of money if “green technology” becomes dominant, so they’ve not only invested a lot of capital in the Obama administration, they’re trying to get everyone on their bandwagon.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389197/posts
November 19th, 2009 at 9:03 am
“Federated Farmers President, Don Nicolson has thrown a hand grenade into the ETS mix. Key- ignore at your peril.”
It seems Key doesn’t care. He appears aloof and detached, since is the incompetent Nick Smith who is in charge of the absurd ETS.
Political and economic reality is about to hit the spineless grinning man in the face. It’s about time.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:03 am
” I agree with you now Redbaiter, throw the lot out and start again.”
They no longer represent the people but are there to pander to special interest groups- Progressive lobbyists, racists, limp dicked academics, TOW thugs and environmental con artists and while they should be cutting government spending they’re increasing it and raising taxes, while they should be reducing regulation, they’re expanding it and except for better management of public relations, they’re virtually the same as the last lot.
We have to remove all of the encumbents and start again.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Indeed, enough is enough we must stop greedy-ego fuckwits running our country into the dirt.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:11 am
And my views on Rudman.
http://monkeyswithtypewriter.blogspot.com/2009/11/praise-junkies.html
With thanks Lee – MWT
November 19th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Manolo
I’d guess that the majority of NZers dont believe that these schemes can do much about AGW or indeed that AGW is a major problem. Just like the majority is also against pollution and wants a clean country.
However the problem is what the consumers of our goods believe. And its pretty clear that Europe is full of those who want these schemes. The danger we have , is that if we dont go along, no matter how stupid it is, then we will get taxed anyway or worse boycotted.
Thats the reality we have to deal with. I reckon Key thinks its a crock but he also knows without trade we are truly fucked, because I’d wager that if the europeans do it then they will punish those who dont.
I’d also wager that theres a bit of a delaying game going on amongst some nations as they wait for the world wide public to wake up to what a farce this is. Just look at Copenhagen. Another conference for the troughers and will anything be achieved?
November 19th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Which GE is that? The world leader in steam and gas turbines for power generation, high-voltage power transmission and generation equipment, LV distribution equipment, aircraft jet engines, compressors and turbines for the oil and gas industry, etc? They’re going to make it all back on wind-turbines and energy-efficient light bulbs?
RedBaiter, you’re cutting and pasting the sort of misrepresentations and deceit you’re always warning us about.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:17 am
In an odd exposé that has left the worlds of politics and academia abuzz, a local homeless person revealed yesterday that he only blamed himself for his failures. The incident occurred near the dumpster behind the Shop Rite store in Brooklyn, when Willard Kookish, formerly of 435 Subprime Lane in Nutly, NJ, casually told a reporter that “my problems are my own fault.”
The veteran New York Times reporter Ken McLiar, who has been searching area dumpsters for a 3,785-part series on people who are homeless due to the evils of American capitalism, admits he was astonished by Mr. Kookish’s bizarre confession.
When asked to elaborate, Mr. Kookish went on to say, “I went through college drinking and smoking dope and never learned anything. I’ve had many job opportunities but didn’t bother to show up. My family left me a nice house to live in but I took out home equity loans on it and spent the money on hookers and gambling. When the housing boom collapsed I lost everything. I made bad decisions and here I am bearing the consequences.”
The startling revelation has left many in the community troubled by what it may portend for society at large. “It should be illegal to talk like that”, said Marge Stumpko, an angered low-wage waitress from Lower Skunkworks, NY. “Aren’t we all our brother’s keepers? Is that all you’re leaving for my tip, turdface?”
Floyd Grabbuck, a community organizer from Chicago, furiously described Mr. Kookish’s statement as “un-American and downright traitorous,” suggesting that “If that ungrateful rat-bastard doesn’t like how we do things in this country, maybe he should move to a place like Russia where the government doesn’t care for its subjects and see how he likes it there.”
Eddie Fuppish, a mismarked ballot corrector from Franken, Minnesota, sounded more conciliatory: “The poor man needs help. Anybody that takes responsibility for his own actions is certifiably insane. Just look at all the big businesses selling you stuff for money. Don’t tell me you are in control of your own spending or anything else for that matter. You’re not. That’s why I vote Democratic and make sure other people do the same, even if they didn’t mark their ballots that way. It’s the right thing to do. People need to be protected.”
Experts, on whom the incompetent depend to explain the complicated world they fail to understand, are unanimous. “It’s Reagan’s fault,” says Professor Wilton Chumpley, a consulting sociologist from the University of Twerp in Belgium. “Remember how in the 1980s that actor-president mislead people into thinking they could spend their own money and run their own lives without expert help? And then you had that crackpot economist Milton Friedman falsely claiming that the government shouldn’t be responsible for directing people’s existence. It made less sense than the UFO stories, at least for smart people like myself. But, tragically, some fools took it seriously; it ruined their lives.”
President Obama has not commented publicly on the controversy but has privately told aides that “former President Bush is not getting off the hook for the economy, the War in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or Willard Kookish’s failures on my watch.” Sources speculate that Kookish’s mortgage default will be added to the list of indictable offenses against former Bush Administration officials.
Reverend Al Sharpton excoriated Kookish’s “arrogant fantasy,” calling it “blame the victim” rhetoric from the right and predicting that the incident would set race relations in the US back fifty years, even though Kookish is white. “It don’t matter who the victim is, it’s who’s doing the blaming that makes it wrong,” Sharpton said.
Regardless of the troubling short-term fallout from the incident, the long term trends are clear. “We need to make people understand they don’t matter,” stated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “Having become cogs in the huge state machine, they can’t be allowed to think independently and control their lives; that’s what we’re here for.” Pelosi stressed the inevitability of new taxes and government programs in order to liberate people from such delusions. “People like Willard Kookish better get this through their thick skulls: it’s not their fault, it’s society’s. And that’s why they need President Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress to subdue this country in order to fix it.”
http://thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=4309
November 19th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I posted the whole thing because the web page is full of popups and other bullshit.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:29 am
It looks like you didn’t manage to remove the bullshit.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:35 am
RedBaiter, you should try writing your own parodies. They’d be great. There’s no need to cut-n-paste this witless and infantile crap off popup infested sites.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Obviously Mal, you should try another shrink. Your present one isn’t doing anything for your RDS.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
RB
I say replace the original 112 who voted against Kiwi parents and any new ones who have not spoken up for us.
They broke the spcial contract and have now ignored us twice. The are not fit for purpose.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Today is day three of my head cold. I tried “Sudafed PE” (which is actually phenylephrine), and it did bugger all for my sinus pain. So I went back to the chemist, and they insisted that “Codral new formula” (also with phenylephrine) is what would fix me right-up. Still no luck, with sinus pain giving me headaches, watery eyes etc. I looked through our cupboard, and found a couple of old codral pills wtih pseudoephidrine. Took these, and within about 30 minutes, my sinus pain had disappeared. Of course, I can’t go and buy anymore. So here I am at home, cogested to hell, trying to do work to complete a submission. Thanks, Nats for denying me something that will actually give me some relief from my symptoms.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:45 am
How do you propose to do that Mike? And how will you ensure replacements are only those who agree with you on a single minor issue?
The NZ Tea Party will compete well with Bill and Ben.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
OG’s back:
The $90,000 three-year scholarship for Maori PhD business students was announced at the Aotearoa New Zealand Maori Business Leaders Awards at the University of Auckland Business School last night.
It will be funded via a $1 million endowment fund with seed money from Mr Glenn, one of Sir Howard’s closest mates and the business school’s biggest benefactor.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610215&pnum=0
November 19th, 2009 at 9:46 am
“The NZ Tea Party will compete well with Bill and Ben.”
Bill and Ben never managed to get 400,000 signatures on a petition.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:48 am
It’s not you per se Red, it’s your comments. They always make me think, and sometimes they make me think “that’s a load of misrepresentation and deceit” or “that would be funny if I didn’t think RedBaiter was actually serious.” So I comment. We’re all here for a bit of fun, enlightenment and debate.
I’m serious about the parodies. You could do much better than that one you dragged off the web.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I hear on NatRad this morning that Witi Ihimaera, the Professor of Plagiarism at Auckland University, is now trying to buy up all the copies (sold and unsold) of his latest “novel” – to try and bury the recent unfortunate expose of his un-original/borrowed writing (which he had been happily passing off as his own work).
This must be why Witi “tea-leaf” Ihimaera will shamelessly pocket (and not hand back) the $50,000 grant from the Arts Foundation, but will it be enough to cover this unexpected extra cost he has to bear?
November 19th, 2009 at 9:49 am
Yes, Malcolm. Alcoholics can never admit why they need that next drink either.
(have you told this to your shrink?)
November 19th, 2009 at 9:50 am
No, they realised that you have to go in an election to get into parliament.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Damn those septic conservatives are a giggle, to get purity in the GOP party they stand an idiot who forgets that all politics are local in a seat.
Then they suggest they only want those who are pure to vote for the conservative idiot.
Those who were not pure took their advice and sent a Democrat to Washington.
Now I see moderate Republican types stating it is better to throw the election to a Democrat rather than have complete Palin picked idiots in Congress
November 19th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Well righties are not afraid to say that they get a woody watching an attractive woman. Lefties get the guilts. Careful – a feminist might be watching.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Here’s Grumpyoldracist with his one dimensional slack jawed regurgitation of Democrat talking points as usual. Yawn…
November 19th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Go and buy a chunk of ice from your neighbourhood P dealer. It’s never been cheaper and availability is great this season. Open 24/7 as well.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:00 am
fox news ‘does good work’..
(go figure..!..)
http://whoar.co.nz/2009/fox-news-if-youre-still-eating-meat-this-is-what-youre-contributing-to/
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:02 am
here’s redbaiter with his one dimensional slack jawed regurgitation of far-right-blog talking points..(yawn..!..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:07 am
One mention of P and philu shows up. Go figure.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:08 am
And the third member of the tag team of stupid is with us.
Time to leave to pool now its being piddled in by the children.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Phool
Just had a mixed grill breakfast. Bloody marvelous.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:12 am
Here’s Philu with his daily regurgitation of vomitous diatribe that was cut and pasted from another website (can’t recall now what the name is now) because that website has no following and no one will discuss his “posts” so he has to have the discussion on a blog that does show some signs of cerebral activity.
Jeez, Phil mate, give it a rest will ya?
November 19th, 2009 at 10:24 am
(sigh..!..)..angus…i have never used ‘p’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:28 am
http://whoar.co.nz/2009/melting-arctic-forget-polar-bears-worry-about-humans/
November 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am
And right on queue, he does it again.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:42 am
the word is ‘cue’..oh illiterate one..!
(it’s not a line of tea-baggers..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:49 am
It’s great that we now have satellites and the web so can keep a closer watch on things ourselves.
Here’s the Arctic Sea Ice growth and shrinkage since 2002, courtesy of the AMSR-E satellite.
There’s also a CSV file download. Just a note to the warmists – remember your remedial stats courses.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:57 am
“…i have never used ‘p’.”
A truism that ranks high along the line “We all love Helen Clark”
November 19th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Speaking of slack-jawed, one dimensional yawn-inducing posters…
Look, everybody here has worked out by now that you’re a pretentious little fuckwit with all the relevance to political debate as last weeks roadkill. Except roadkill has more respect and relevancy.
Nobody, not here, or in the Greens, or anywhere else, gives a shit what Philip Ure writes or thinks.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:57 am
ya days are numbered whore.. heh
November 19th, 2009 at 10:59 am
tom..don’t you think the denialist-squeaks are being drowned out by the growing roar of ‘warmist’ consensus all around you..?
the rest of us have actually moved on/turned to..
w.t.f. are/can we do about this..?
your irrelevance is just compounded by each passing day..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 10:59 am
“Jeez, Phil mate, give it a rest will ya?”
You’re quite correct. His swamping of David Farrar’s website with stuff from whoar is a clear acknowledgement of what a dropkick failure he knows his own website is.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:01 am
One of the things that disappoints me in our country is the complete lack of common sense shown by people in positions of responsibility. Giving Ihimaera the $50,000 dollars just after he has been found plagiarizing is symptomatic of a country where people don’t even think about what they are doing, but rather tend to just robotically do what they are supposed to do, and generally along groupthink lines. “We decided to give him this award a while ago, and that’s what we are going to do.”
Whatever happened to common sense?
November 19th, 2009 at 11:02 am
clintoiid..i feel your anger/i feel your pain..
should i stop posting those aspirational (for you) nature-pics..?
would that help still your anger..ease your pain..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:03 am
yes star-bored..all our days ‘are numbered’..
(are you having an existential kinda morning..?..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Here’s Arctic Sea Ice Extent over the last 50 years which shows a longer more meaningful trend:
http://nsidc.org/sotc/images/mean_anomaly_1953-2009.png
From: http://nsidc.org/sotc/sea_ice.html
November 19th, 2009 at 11:06 am
“..is a clear acknowledgement of what a dropkick failure he knows his own website is..”
nah red..!
just trying to bring a little bit of illumination to that dark crevasse that is the mind of you..
..and those like you..
(those in the ‘right queue’..as it were..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Also, I would just like to say that I have never replied to philu and never will, and after this post will never mention him again, and I would suggest that those of you who are likewise annoyed by his poorly formatted, repetitive, difficult to understand posts do the same, instead of whining that he should be banned. Isn’t it obvious he wants the attention and you are all pretty much moths to a flame?
November 19th, 2009 at 11:12 am
Nobody, not here, or in the Greens, or anywhere else, gives a shit what Philip Ure writes or thinks.
Yet you keep talking about him.
*strokes chin*
November 19th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I see the topic of discussion in GD is once again Philu. You’d think people would get sick of it.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Here’s Arctic Sea Ice Extent over the last 50 years which shows a longer more meaningful trend:
http://nsidc.org/sotc/images/mean_anomaly_1953-2009.png
The thickness of the ice is also quite important Pete.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
manolo..if i have admitted to having used/been addicted to ..heroin/cocaine/w.h.y..
why the fuck wd i try to deny using ‘p’..?
i know it’s asking a lot of you to use basic logic..
but do try..!
eh..?
try to get some of the synapses in yr alcohol-sodden excuse for a brain..
to actually operate..
eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Tut, tut Phool, projecting your feelings on to me won’t work.
Let’s face it, you resent me, you admire me, and you want what I have.
Your rep as an environmentalist took a fatal hit when I turned up. You sit on a couch and watch the grass grow. I go to different countries, stop wildlife smugglers, influence conservation policy and put my arse on the line for endangered species.
You sit on a couch and hide behind a keyboard. Except of course, I’m not a ‘leftie’. I’m the ‘real’ environmentalist and you’ve been shown up as the spiteful, delusional, tiny shit-maker that you are.
You only started posting photo links when I started. Imitation my dear boy, is the sincerest form of flattery. Except you’re a talentless cut-and-paste merchant, with no skill or motivation of your own. And you still don’t get any recognition from that. Weird huh.
See, I have friends, talent, motivation and influence. All of these are beyond you grasp. So you resent me, and you secretly want what I’ve got.
I don’t care Phool, what you write or think because you have achieved a complete irrelevancy. I hold you in contempt as a fake environmentalist.
Now, if anybody would like to make an actual and valuable contribution to the GD, I would like to see something else.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:23 am
His analogy of the Dutch Tulip Bubble is so apt when discussing the inanity of trading carbon, one of the building block elements of life itself.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Crikey dick, Chthoniid.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Re: Chthoniid
“Now, if anybody would like to make an actual and valuable contribution to the GD, I would like to see something else.”
If anyone mentions climate change in here today, I’ll scream. Since I’ve been coming to Kiwiblog there has been a steady decrease in the diversity of issues under discussion, until these days there seems to be just two: the subject of your post above and climate change.
There is literally nothing more boring than reading a link war between laymen involving the science of the weather.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:28 am
“..You’d think people would get sick of it..”
aye..!
in my defence..i can’t help myself..
these knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers hove into view..
with great big fucken targets on their chests…
what’s a ’shooter’ expected to do..?
but really..i would rather they discussed the serious shit that is going down..
but you can lead monkeys to knowledge..
difficult to stop them gibbering tho’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:31 am
“in my defence..i can’t help myself..
these knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers hove into view..
with great big fucken targets on their chests…
what’s a ’shooter’ expected to do..?”
Don’t stand in front of the mirror so much.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Trans.
Fair enough. Given my background in IT and interest in SF stories, I’ve been following the whole Singularity deal for a decade or two so here’s an article listing some of the things pushing us closer to it – maybe:
The Singularity is Coming-Now What
I admit I’m rather fearful of this, but then I never liked the finish of Childhood’s End either.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
So PhilU is getting to be ever more popular. “Napoleon’ of the Trolls.
Coming back soon PhilU. Remember my promise?
And you caused me to get 10 de-merit points. Only because you are a very bad egg, that has become more bitter and twisted than
is healthy. Healthy for us that is. So DF won’t ban you. But over time, even you must be getting the general message that you are
totally out of place here. Why not retreat to your invaluable news aggregation that no-body needs, reads or cares a toss about.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:34 am
“..You only started posting photo links when I started..”
um..!..darling..i have been posing links here for five and a half years..so ‘imitation’..?
and as for you..i couldn’t give a flying fuck about you..or what you may ‘have’..(?)
(psstt..!..hey..!..you are starting to get ‘really weird’ here..eh..?..)
for a while i ignored the attacks launched by you..(was it something i said..?..)
then i tired of ignoring..
so..if you don’t wanna ‘play’..don’t ‘play’..
..eh..?
(you strange little man..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:36 am
Phil, if we wanted our dark crevasse-like minds filled with your “illuminating” (?) intellectual radiance, we would go to your website.
As it is, we don’t.
And bugger all other people do either.
There is a reason for this. People don’t believe what you say. No one denies (and I’ll probably get crushed for this) that you are a moderately intelligent, sometimes witty blogger who points out some interesting pieces from time to time.
Great! Go for it – ON YOUR OWN BLOG! We congregate here at DPF’s for a reason. That same reason precludes us, in a general sense, from going to your blog. We don’t think that you have much to add to debate. Nothing personal.
I’m all for free speech, Phil and (paraphrasing Voltaire’s quote) will defend your right to say what you want – on your own blog. Thats the beauty of blogging.
Here you speak to your own agenda by seemingly re-posting your stuff from Whoar. If we were truly interested, we would go there and sign up. But we don’t. And probably won’t.
Stop trying to hi-jack this Blog with your own blather. It’s rude and why DPF has put up with you for so slong escapes me. You have your own place. Please withdraw back to it.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:39 am
look everyone..!..gluteys back…!
(with even more threats of g.b.h..eh..?)
why don’t you pull your foreskin over your head..
and try and whistle ‘dixie’..eh..?
you’d make more sense..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:46 am
x-check..
fact check:
yes..i ‘point out ‘interesting pieces’..
(two today…)
on what is ..as i understand it..an open forum..
(so..if you don’t want to read them..don’t..)
the rest is the usual knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers..(hi manolo..!)..
..with their !oh so unoriginal) ad hominems..
which i bat away..
and of course i am ’speaking to my own agenda’..
who here isn’t..?
it’s a political blog..darling..
and..
‘it’s rude’..(?)
and hey..!..i just ignore your intermittant blatherings..
feel free to do the same..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Tom, that link doesn’t work but I searched a bit on Singularity – potentially feasible SciFi for a change. Larger robots don’t scare me so much, a sledge hammer seems like it could still work (but yeah, drone aircraft are already a bit hard to wallop).
But nanobots are a different dimension, they could be ingested via food without you knowing, hmmm.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Tom, that link doesn’t work ….
Grrrrr. Serves me right for not checking before the 2 minute warning was done. Let’s try this again: The Singularity is Coming-Now What
November 19th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Whats with the “Darling” stuff, Phil?
And, since I’ve obviously given you to much credit on the intellectual standpoint, I’ll go over it again.
This is not your blog, Phil. You re-post everything from your blog over here. It wouldn’t be so bad if you just provided a link, but that would mean no one would ever read it. So you just sit and cut-and-paste all day.
If we wanted to read it, we would go to Whoar (I can’t believe you didn’t understand this the first time).
“fact check:
yes..i ‘point out ‘interesting pieces’..”
You think. We don’t.
“interesting pieces”, huh?. Have you ever noticed just how much debate your articles generate on GD? Slim to nil would be fairly accurate. Whats the point of having your own blog when you merely recreate it all here? This beggars belief!
“the rest is the usual knuckle-dragging mouth-breathers..(hi manolo..!)..
..with their !oh so unoriginal) ad hominems..”
Does anyone else see the irony in the above statement?
November 19th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Thanks, that’s the article I had found. Need time to check this out some more.
What about airborne nanobots that fly flat to reflect the sun, and change to side on to let it in, that could be a solution to the climate problems! Just joking, sort of.
Unintended consequences seems to raise it’s head.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:58 am
“..See, I have friends, talent, motivation and influence..”
and modesty..?
(but really..this is all about self-promotion..
you want to be the only self-promoter in the room..
eh..?)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 11:59 am
@transmogrifier – you forgot the tedious religious threads too
EDIT to add: And Obama’s birth certificate!
November 19th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
“..You re-post everything from your blog over here..”
every day i do/find twenty plus stories/links..
..(19..so far..today..)
one or two come here..
so..no..
factually incorrect again/still..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
To add: And taking over the government
To add: And world government taking over us
November 19th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Careful Pete – you’re getting close to mentioning the phrase that will make Transmogrifier scream.
I don’t like to imagine what will happen if he says it three times in front of a mirror.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
And yet he still doesn’t see the point.
Whatever, Phil.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
“..yes..i ‘point out ‘interesting pieces’..”
You think. We don’t..”
(sigh..!i was quoting you..darling..
(in this case..it’s not a term of affection..more impatience..)
are you really this thick..?
or is it an affectation you are developing..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
you forgot the tedious endlessly-repeated ‘reds under the bed’ tape-loops from redbaiter..
(’some call him redbaiter..we call him groundhog day..’..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Ad hominem attack there, perhaps, Phil?
Impatience, huh? I’m thick? I’m the one with the “affectation, Darling?”
I see I was being far to complementary in the original post.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
it’s ‘too’..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
“..Impatience, huh? I’m thick? ..”
great/biting rejoinder there..!
x-check..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
“..Let’s face it, you resent me, you admire me, and you want what I have..”
really clintoiid…you should put that on a t-shirt…eh..?
it’s brilliant..!
and..
..(have you thought of applying for a job as a soap-writer..?
going on the evidence to hand..you seem to have a certain flair for it..
eh..?
and this..
“..So you resent me, and you secretly want what I’ve got..”
whoar..!..eh..?
a regular bodice-ripper..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I wonder how many light years Al Baby thinks the sun is from earth.
Al Gore: Earth’s Interior ‘Extremely Hot, Several Million Degrees’
By Noel Sheppard
November 18, 2009 – 10:27 ET
For several years as uneducated sycophants in the media gushed and fawned over every utterance from former Vice President Al Gore, NewsBusters has informed readers of just how absurd the junk science he’s peddling really is.
Last Thursday, NBC “Tonight Show” viewers got a perfect example of how the Nobel Laureate basically makes things up, and that his poor grades in college were quite an indicator of just how little he understands about science.
So egregious was his departure from reality that the following clip should be mandatory viewing for all his fans in the media who seem to be just as scientifically-challenged (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript, h/t Hot Air):
Story Continues Below Ad ↓
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/11/18/al-gore-earths-interior-extremely-hot-several-million-degrees
November 19th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I want an ignore function.
EDIT: An adequate use of my 3000th comment.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
In Copenhagen, all the world leaders will meet for a secret meeting in a hidden sub-basement. By the light of candles set in pentagrams, each will submit their darkest secret: Obama will offer his Kenyan birth certificate. John Key will supply his baptism records from the Exclusive Bretheren.
Once each is done, they will together pledge allegiance to the New World Government. A shadowy figure stands at the head of the room to receive their pledge. This is the puppetmaster; the spider at the heart of the web. With one arm, she controls the scientists of the IPCC. With the other, she manipulates the cultures of the world, twisting their children to her dark purposes.
“I accept your allegiance. Our first task,” says Sue Bradford as she steps into the flickering light, “Is to ban smacking world-wide.”
November 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
When he says that he has never used ‘p’ in his life, he is refering to ‘Personal’ responsibility.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
The more you talk to him the longer he’ll stay here.
November 19th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Yep…… so apart from commenting, what’s everybody doing at this moment?
I’m proof-reading a 500 page history of the farming district where I grew up. I’m doing it for free of course!!
Later on I have to set up a new cable system for the hallway wall, where numerous pieces of our kids art will be hung (temporarily of course). Then finish off the last bits of a new fence and two gates.
Finally, if I have the time, I have to continue to edit our home videos, a process that has already taken me two years just to cover seven years of history – but the grandparents love it.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I’m sitting with my head in my hands wondering how Thierry Henry can bear to look at himself in the mirror after blatantly cheating to put Ireland out of the World Cup. Scabby cheating French prick.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I have just sat through three periods of students sitting an assessment (stunningly boring) and now have the rest of the day marking (ditto). This just after having written 80 reports.
Give me real teaching any day.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3078948/Kiwi-hostage-heads-back-to-Iraq
Well, here’s hopin’ !
November 19th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Ted has a sense of humour, sometimes – after being asked by the media about Tialata and Jane revealing in Twitter that they wouldn’t be in the team he said:
“I had to find out what bloody Twitter was, I thought he was the new five-eighth playing for England,” he said.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Just finishing off some responses to mails.
Watching Generation Kill on FreeSat. Pissed off with the dreadful weather in Northern England.
Not looking forward to watching England getting battered by the AB’s. Hopefully Dan will have an off day.
Furious about the French cheating the Irish in the Soccer, but hey whats new with the Gallics being a tad ungallant.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Working very hard and diligently of course.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
….and now have the rest of the day marking (ditto).
In that case I’m sure you can appreciate me wading through the, let us say, idiosyncratically written memories of settler farmers!
Fortunately I have Bob The Angry Flower for guidance.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
And remember, Pray For Obama.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Come on Ryan. You can do better than that. Here is site showing one that Cafepress were selling to all the left wing fan-boys. Same colour too.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43779
November 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
And remember, Pray For Obama.
When’s it going to be turned into a stamp.
Prayers are a waste of time – none of these worked on Bush. Perhaps they were atheists.
November 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Been merging code for a big production release this weekend. Also been arranging power, Sky and Satelitte broadband for the farmlette in readiness for the big move.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Merging code eh. Without breaking confidentiality, what does it involve? I confess I have not done industrial strength coding for years. Database design, OO design and project management are where I’m at.
And where is my response to Ryan? Two bloody embedded links and it’s held up in moderation? And it does not seem to happen in the morning!.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
tom – work for a big private company with big public clients. Over the years I have been computer operator, shift leader, data centre manager, mainframe dba and now a version controller.
Philu – just so you don’t need to google it, it is called WORK.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Brian,
I just thought the pray for Obama one was funny.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Tom, I’ve told you about posting me pornography.
“Not in General Debate!” I said.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I missed this opinion piece by Simon Upton a couple of days ago- http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/3069869/The-perpetual-problem-of-superannuation-sustainability
Basically Upton was arguing for a change in the super rules to be linked to inflation rather than wages. I liked the argument that initially, this is little effect on payments. Overtime the gap widens but as this is signalled in advance, current taxpayers can (potentially) offset this by increasing their savings.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I wonder why some are so keen to stick their heads in the sand over a crisis which is becoming more dire by the day as we continue pumping those emissions. Now I full accept that in the great scheme of things, little ol’ Kiwiland can’t cause any kind of dramatic decrease in emissions, but at least we could put our collective brainpower to work to help rather than continue to take the side of the deniers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10610140
This is not junk science. This is the best up to date scientific information from specialists.
An extract:
“Meanwhile, the scientists have for the first time detected a failure of the Earth’s natural ability to absorb man-made carbon dioxide released into the air.”
And from the same scientists, from their website, we have this:
“Despite the assumptions that by the end of the 21st century at least half of the power energy will be generated from renewable sources, the interplay of these forces is such that it will take decades to achieve decreases in the effects of the present anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Even when these emissions do begin to decrease, atmospheric CO2 will continue to rise for up to as much as a century, and global temperatures will increase for two or more centuries, locking the world into continued (anthropogenic) climate change for this period.”
And this was accompanied by another important contribution to the ETS debate:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10610142
Here the author argues that the ETS is more likely to be honoured in the breach rather than lead to any genuine reductions in emissions. The only problem I had with the article is the complete absence of an alternative. But this just really highlights what a fine fix we have gotten ourselves into!
I pointed out the other day, with able assistance from Pete George, that Owen McShane did himself a disservice by attempting to mislead the bloggers here about the sheer extent of the efforts of the scientific community in gathering and interpreting increasing quantities of data gained by observation – the necessary bedrock of any scientific theory work.
Even worse was the example in the NZ Herald by Chris de Freitas last Monday. In the worst example, he quoted 1996 and 2001 reports by the IPCC to the effect that there was at that stage no connection proved between climate change and extreme weather events, yet ignored the following in the 2007 report:
“Climate is generally defined as average weather, and as such, climate change and weather are intertwined. Observations can show that there have been changes in weather, and it is the statistics of changes in weather over time that identify climate change. While weather and climate are closely related, there are important differences.
“A common confusion between weather and climate arises when scientists are asked how they can predict climate 50 years from now when they cannot predict the weather a few weeks from now. The chaotic nature of weather makes it unpredictable beyond a few days. Projecting changes in climate (i.e., long-term average weather) due to changes in atmospheric composition or other factors is a very different and much more manageable issue.”
“As an analogy, while it is impossible to predict the age at which any particular man will die, we can say with high confidence that
the average age of death for men in industrialised countries is about 75. Another common confusion of these issues is thinking
that a cold winter or a cooling spot on the globe is evidence against global warming. There are always extremes of hot and cold, al-
though their frequency and intensity change as climate changes. But when weather is averaged over space and time, the fact that the globe is warming emerges clearly from the data.”
The University of Auckland dose appear to have some serious governance issues. From the Paul Buchanan injustice, to the weak reponse to the Witi Ihaemara plagiarism, and now an associate professor in the school of Environment willfully using the cachet deservedly attached to his position to mislead the public on the most important public interest issue the world has faced the university administration seems to have lost its way.
A question for the administrators, if an academic at the university used his position to promote Holocaust denial, would he/she retain his/her position?
Should AGW deniers be accorded the same opprobrium as the aforesaid Holocaust deniers?
November 19th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Yes, becasue in the 21st Century that is how scientific method seems to work nowadays.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
smaller..you write like fingernails scraping down a blackboard..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Anybody know the location of Transmorgrifiers’ school? If so you need to call 111 for an ambulance at minimum. Probably police and fire as well.
Make it fast – I’ve a feeling he’s sitting in his chair, exam papers cast aside, mouth locked open in a silent……
November 19th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Rudman obviously dosn’t realise that mob rule would be the protesters rocking up to the herald and lynching the lot of them on the spot. Thankfully? we are a civilized people making our voices heard.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Thanks for noticing Philu – that was the effect I was trying to get. Tell me, how do you type so fast when you spend so much time with your thumb up your arse?
November 19th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Banana, are you related to Dalai?
November 19th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
I did too.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Just as Luc’s comment came up my iTunes started playing Prophecies, from the Koyaanisqatsi soundtrack.
Coincidence? I think not!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Drama.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I’m trying to obtain permission from my wife to attend the March for Democracy. I’m going outside now to make up my placard. It will say, at this stage, something like:
HEY, DADDIES, LEAVE YOUR KIDS ALONE!
She worries for my safety, silly thing. Surely, surrounded by loving, kind and caring Daddies, one could not be in a safer place
Oh, and sorry for the odd typo mistakes and wonky layout in the above post. Baby woke from her nap as I was finishing it off and the usual proofreading just didn’t happen!
November 19th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
“..Thanks for noticing Philu – that was the effect I was trying to get…”
no..i think it is involuntary..
i’ve never seen you do other..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Luc, I have to confess I’m struggling to bother responding to you. Do you have any new material?
November 19th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Free WiFi hotspots in New Zealand. If you know of any, add them. Nice idea.
http://jahoog.org/wifi/
November 19th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Luc, I have collected a lot of signatures often at tables on footpaths. All the violence, threatened violence and law breaking (theft of signed petition foms)came from those who claim to be concerned about the welfare of children. One guy repeatedly challenged one of the collector to hit him. I doubt if you be subject to violence if you hold up such a sign as you suggest.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
It would be rather ridiculous if any violence resulted during the march, regardless of who initiates it.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Violence is nothing just ask Trevor Mallard!!!
November 19th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
A man got up this morning, ate breakfast, took a shit, kissed his wife and kids goodbye and went off to work. While there, something went wrong and he won’t be going home tonight. this is a tragedy for all those involved, and I sympathise with their plight.
But why does the media need to wheel out John Key to tell us “it’s a tragic case”? And why does Key resppnd to their dog whistle. On average, there will be one other worker who meets the same fate this week, 2 workers every week of the year, kiss their loved ones goodbye and never see them again.
Maybe if we had John Key tell us each time a death in an industrial accident occurs “it’s a tragic case” we may see workplace safety taken more seriously. Or would we just get bored?
November 19th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I am just so proud of the leadership of this country.
“Hell I’ve broken laws heaps of times … I do it every day…”
What is wrong with some of these frickin’ politicians? Don’t they get it that their office comes with, oh I don’t know, a bit of responsibility? I think it is connected to that aspect of their work called…wait for it…leadership. In my book a pretty big part of leadership is setting an example.
Henare…FAIL!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610337
What a dick.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
RightNow, don’t you worry about responding to me, or not. Quite clearly, you deniers are a blight on mankind and will happily doom future generations to short and miserable lives. The less we hear your noise and filth the better.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Nice to see Puke, Phool and Delirium in full-on authoritarian mode today.
New subject? Here’s some Thursday evening pessimism.
And the Terminator announces he will not return for another term. In b4 sillyoldtwat whines about Palin’s influence or something:
November 19th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Hurf, how could you pass up the opportunity to use the phrase “won’t be back”?
November 19th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Because then he’d drive a car through my living room like he did in to the cop shop in the first film.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Haha, yeah, and then he’d be all like, “No room to live here.”
No, wait, it’d be, “Mind if I crash the party?”
Hang on, I can do better.
Nope.
Nope. Sadly, that’s the best I can do.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Phool,
Here is something similar to you … and it aint Terry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq8jOBe5E5A
I mean it is just soooo you, generated bullshit
November 19th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Luc Hansen’s comments about taking a placard to the weekend march reminded me of the bloke that had his child carry a placard at a teachers’ march that said, and I am not joking;
“Our countries teachers are the best”
The child was allowed to carry the placard as none of the teachers of English grammar could see anything wrong with it.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
The full stops in Max’s messages fit perfectly huh Phool?
November 19th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
get very nervous..bloody hands bob..
and all you other merchants of death/suffering..
for as surely as slavery ended…so will your evils..
http://whoar.co.nz/2009/eight-ways-in-vitro-meat-will-change-our-lives/
November 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
And here I was thinking the left eschewed genetically engineered meat. Must be all natural!
Also we can’t forget all the vegetables and greenery the surviving animals will eat. What happened to that stuff about enforced vegetarianism to save the planet?
November 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Honestly phool please get some professional help asap.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Pete George/Cerium on yesterday’s GD:
Luc today
Mainly because of people like that. What we see there is quick snapshot through the trapdoor into the raging inferno where children (or people down in pubs I recall) are belted across the chops when things don’t go his way.
Luc thinks he’s fixed that now and turned over a new leaf, but really the only self-control is that the door swings shut more quickly nowadays, allowing not only for the safety of those closest to him, but for him to stand the on moral high-ground and project his inner Jekyll onto the rest of us.
However, all that the wrath is still pent up and still seeking a target. It’s not just that guys like him put bullets into the back of Kulaks’ heads in the USSR – but that they felt so good about doing it.
With people like him around the phrase “climate criminals” won’t be joke, and it’s the other marchers who should worry.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
i have long held that not everyone will stop eating ‘meat’..
and to end the suffering of the animals..
i see ‘clean/green’ factory ‘meat’ as part of the solution..
and of course..this will ..over time.. lessen the need/desire for ‘cruel-meat’..
bloody hands bob has dreams of handing his animal-concentration camp onto his offspring..
that’s where that will stay…’dreams’..
soon..nobody will want ‘cruel-meat’..
from the end of the earth..
(this is your future..bloody-hands-bob..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
You need shock treatment in a locked ward phool.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Wow Phool, three responses to my 11.21am, that’s my best Phool-bait yet.
Not getting to you am I … eh?
I’m right – you do resent me. It just burns you up that I do more for the environment than you do, and everybody can see it.
November 19th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Islamic Justice
November 19th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Chthoniid – Keep it up mate. You are the honest face of environmental concern. Long may you show up the vacuous frauds.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
stoned to death ..
..phil whores ultimate fantasy…
November 19th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
getstaffed, I can beat that:
In Iran, you don’t die a virgin.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
clintoiid..the only thing i find vaguely/remotely interesting about you..
is that your name rhymes with those grape-shaped things that stick out of some arses..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
November 19th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Ryan, truly awful. Now, just waiting in Luc to dismiss your story based on the source.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
And the best way to push them back in is to philu——-?
phuuuuuuuuck—–(gimmee a joint!)
November 19th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Well, I hope it’s not true. I would very much like the report to be proven wrong.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
The reason Smith and Key are in such a hurry to pass the legislation is in fact because Act have a Bill in the House somewhere that comes into Law later this year that makes it mandatory for all Govt. legislation to have a cost benefit analysis that has been properly scrutinized and published.
These two charlatans can’t do that with the ETS and so they propose to use urgency to ram this through with the consent of the Maori Party.(yep Harawira and all), which is why the Maori Party gave Hone two weeks to ponder leaving.) Of course he won’t because Maori stand to get so much handed to them at the expense of everybody else. Its time that people woke up to Key and English and Smith.
Actually the same behavoir that Helen Clark and Winston Peters used to get up to and you all thought that we had a new beginning. Obviously not.
November 19th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Viking2 – interesting angle. I can see it being as you say. So why are they ramming it through? What’s in it for them?
November 19th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Getstaffed
Did you see my link to a bunch of quotes from Schneider? I put them at the end of yesterday’s GD, plus a link. You’d get a laugh (a sad one admittedly).
November 19th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
tom – sorry, been maxed. thanks for posting. will have a look now.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
m m m m ax phool fool pool
November 19th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
no full stops, the fucking idiot has most of them
November 19th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
just forget GD and hammer the fuck out of the blog thief
DPF has the option of banning the deranged one, or keep the parasite here
November 19th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Vicking2,
What was that? sorry got off on a tangent
November 19th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Fucking blipvert m m m a x phil room
November 19th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Why is a bloody useless trade unionist going in to bat for crims or is she merely representing her true beliefs (useless lefty crap) at her employers (the union members) expense?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10610337
November 19th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Yes. There are consequences if you screw up. No amount of socialist ideologybalm can change that.
November 19th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Don’t understand why philu (m.a hons) keeps leaving these long comments here. All he really need write is
If its good enough for him addressing parliament, surely its good enough for kiwi blog. Instead we get entire copys of his whore posts dumped into threads.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
But then he would insist to coming to all our houses to make verbal contributions.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I see my name has been taken in vain again while I have been busy
Tom, first, you must learn to understand when I am just having a little innocent fun, like with the joke about my earlier children or my fondness for that wonderful phrase: noise and filth. You must admit it’s a class above the foul fingers around here tapping out sexually related obscenities.
Second, it’s a bit sad and desperate that you pick on the supposed utterances or failings of one or two scientists to discredit a worldwide consensus. And trawl the net “cherry picking” contrary date. And you need to understand that the term only applies to those who deny overwhelming evidence. I think you will find Australians getting pretty exercised about it all right now! But having said that, it is also true that no single weather event can be attributed to GW, but the fire threat fits the global climate trend.
The simple fact is you and getstaffed and the others are actively facilitating an ecological and humanitarian disaster that is fostered by short term greed and self interest devoid of human empathy and any ethical framework.
As regards the JPost item, there is this rebuttal:
The Iranian embassy in Australia rejected the claims, saying the source of the news – The Jerusalem Post – was “a Zionist publication, the bitter enemy of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
“According to the Islamic Law, female virgin marriage is only possible with the consent of parents or guardians as well as the virgin females,” the embassy said.
“It is obvious that releasing such blatant lies is only with the aim of hostility and animosity with Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran.” (end quote)
Who is telling the truth? Well, it’s funny how it comes up now when Israel is doing its best to demonise Iran for mastering the nuclear cycle within the constraints of the NPT, while possessing itself an extra-legal arsenal of nukes – just which is the rogue state, pray tell?
November 19th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
One thing that escapes me is how noone (namely, the media) seems to be paying much attention, or displaying any interest whatsoever in the evolution of mankind that is coming with the widespread use of nanotechnology.
Nanotechnology has the potential to solve the overwhelming majority of the main problems we are facing today, however just like any solution it creates other problems, the technology is currently infantile but as it grows it has endless potential.
If these socialists really cared for the environment, they would be all over this technology, as it clearly has the ability to remove all pollution from our oceans, soil and air.
Nanotechnology will evolve medical care, providing the cure for the vast majority of diseases currently considered uncurable, cancer and aids included.
Something else that is facsinating is the idea of “singularity” in artificial intelligence engineering. It describes the phenomenon where AI reaches a point where it is capable of redesigning more advanced versions of itself. This has the potential to take intelligence and understanding to levels beyond comprehension, in a relatively short period of time, possibly even in our lifetime.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Instead of all this song and dance over nothing (ETS, UN, Kyoto etc), we should be pouring our funds into the research of nanotechnology
November 19th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Hey, Puke, here’s an idea: global warming is all the fault of the Amerikkkans and the pupper master Joooooooooooz in Zionist Israel.
Ticks all the right boxes for a progressive such as yourself.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Mike the main reason people stay off nano is because it has become a buzzword. I’ve lost count of the number of times people have slipped the word nano into scientific papers to get a higher impact. Most of it is rather unsexy nano as well – just making particles/molecules of 1-100 nanometer dimensions as opposed to nano-machines that actually are capable of actively doing things.
In general its best for the media to latch onto actual scientific breakthroughs, not scientific buzzwords. Although there has been a growing trend for the media not to latch onto anything other than human interest stories, reports of crime and Paris Hilton.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Hurf, you need therapy for all these conspiracy theories you keep dreaming up.
Anyway, here’s link on the Iran story:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/04/iran-satire-becomes-news-ahmadinejads-ayatollah-and-prisoner-rape/
Extract: “The story is false. Chris Emery did some more digging and found that it had been posted at Balatarin (a portal like Digg and Newsvine for Internet articles) three weeks ago in the “Fun/Entertainment” section. The original story has now been pulled, because so many people mistook it for reality, but a quick read of the Balatarin version (even with the shaky English offered by Google Translate) makes clear that this was a bit of very black comedy gone very badly wrong.”
November 19th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
“Ha ha! Yes! Vas all big joke! No prisoner rape go on! We in Islamic very good! You Westerners all evil!”
There’s a technical term for people like you. I think it’s something along the lines of useful idiot.
EDIT: Comment from the link:
You, Puke?
And lol at the blogroll.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Its unfortunate that the average human finds a stupid socialite more interesting than technology capable of transforming every aspect of our life
Im pretty sure we are lightyears behind some other civilisations that exist outside of our planet
November 19th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Mike Tan said…
Something else that is facsinating is the idea of “singularity” in artificial intelligence engineering. It describes the phenomenon where AI reaches a point where it is capable of redesigning more advanced versions of itself.
You mean the John Von Neumann Universal Constructor?
November 19th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Richard Hurst [393]
Looks like he means it. It’s good to see a public figure adding Shakespeare quotes. Regardless of whether he wrote it himself, or used a speech writer, it’s a good speech.
cheers
David Prosser
November 19th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Falafululu, the UC has self-replicating capability, but not self-improving capability, which is what singularity describes.
Please correct me if i am mistaken, because i conceed that my knowledge of the UC is pretty limited.
Singularity refers to a point where computer intelligence is either equal to or far ahead of humans
November 19th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
From wikipedia:
Technological singularity is a term used with varying meanings related to self-improving artificial intelligence, superintelligence,[1] breakdowns in the predictability of the future and accelerating change.
In 1965, I. J. Good first wrote of an “intelligence explosion”, suggesting that if machines could even slightly surpass human intellect, they could improve their own designs in ways unforeseen by their designers, and thus recursively augment themselves into far greater intelligences. The first such improvements might be small, but as the machine became more intelligent it would become better at becoming more intelligent, which could lead to a cascade of self-improvements and a sudden surge to superintelligence (or a singularity).
November 19th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
ABC News acting as fifth columnists by supporting Islamist terrorists over Western interests such as expanding NATO. Sad, but true.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
And you Hurf are one sick puppy.
I always say we need the mad bastards to reassure ourselves as to our own sanity, so keep up the good work.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
correction:
Singularity refers to a point where computer intelligence is either equal to or ahead of humans
November 19th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Luc Hansen said…
Second, it’s a bit sad and desperate that you pick on the supposed utterances or failings of one or two scientists to discredit a worldwide consensus.
Luc, I see that you’re new here at DPF. Science is not about consensus. We (humans) don’t dictate to the laws of nature. We simply observe how nature works and see if it is consistent with itself (ie, knowledge integration). So, far the evidence of AGW hasn’t reached that level yet. Einstein once quoted, “It only takes one person to prove me wrong.“. He meant that science is not about consensus but about repetitive facts which are independent from our prejudices or what we think that nature should be. The debate is not whether we’re warming or not. The disputes is whether humans is responsible or not and the number of scientists who agree (consensus view) is irrelevant. Facts speak for themselves and not the consensus views of a thousands scientists that speak for the facts. Do you get that?
When Einstein completed his paper on Special Relativity, he tried to submit it to various publications at the time but was rejected. The reviewers for those publications that he submitted his paper to, were seeking others opinions in the field which all of them reached a conclusion (consensus) that the theory proposed by the young unknown scientist was so absurd, that it shouldn’t deserve a space in any of those journals. Einstein managed to get in touch with Max Planck at the time and the great physicist (Planck) managed to support Einstein’s new breakthru theory and convinced editors of Annalen Der Physik journal in Germany to publish Einstein’s paper on relativity. Years later, the facts, predicted by relativity proved Einstein was right and all of those who thought his theory was absurd were wrong (ie, the consensus group).
November 19th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Mike Tan,
I write & implement various AI (machine learning & computational intelligence) algorithms for software applications. AI is still domain specific, ie, it works well on one domain and those programs haven’t achieved knowledge integration, yet, which is the level where humans are. A human will understand how to drive, so one can hop into his car and drive (task 1) to the supermarket. He gets off and goes in to do his grocery shoppings (task 2). On his way home he stops by the next petrol station to fill-in his car (task 3), and so forth,… till he gets home, to continue on with more things to do, etc… Multi-tasking is knowledge integration, which computers with AI software of today can’t do. A car that can drive on its own for hundreds of miles on a public highway in the presence of other vehicles has been manufactured and successfully tested about a decade ago. But that car couldn’t stop by a supermarket to do grocery shoppings or any other tasks apart from just being good at one task and that is to drive on a public highway on its own in the presence of other vehicles, unguided. Knowledge integration for AI computers is still long way, perhaps in the next 100 years or so , roughly.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Ummm – Mike, Falafulu. It’s funny that a conversation on the Singularity should start now. I got virtually zero response on it when I posted about it earlier today in this thread.
The link is a little laymanish but still good reading.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Oh, Ray Kurzweil’s name pops up again. I say that Ray is wrong on his prediction that we will achieve that technology within the next 30 years or so. WHY I say this? Well, I do follow closely the journals that publish AI related articles from NIPS to JMLR and others. What I see in terms of researches is no way near what Ray Kurzweil is predicting. But I doubt that Ray reads any research journals to understand the limitations of what he is dreaming about. There are huge hurdles to overcome and I am not sure whether those hurdles will be solved in the next 50 years or so. I will give it 100+ years (in my rough estimation, based on what I read & extrapolate from researches that I see being published).
November 19th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I think Katrina Shanks is sexiest National MP (Oh, my secret shame).
November 19th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Fala
Yeah – the trick seems to be a belief that such nanobots and the like will become self-organising as a result of being networked. Perhaps “belief” is too strong a word, after all, there is a solid basis of theory in mathematics for self-organising and emergent systems. And of course there are real examples in physics, chemistry and biology.
But there’s still too much of a deus ex machina feel about for me to get caught up in the predictions of 2050 and the like. Interesting stuff all the same. Sometimes regret I never pushed forward on the whole AI thing.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:57 pm
Falu, with respect and understanding of your sentiments, i disagree on some points
The real lack of intelligience is in the computers inability to independently rationilise and make decisions based on the circumstance
For example our computer would need to know that there is no groceries at home, and there is ample time to go to the supermarket, and it would consider the decision amongst variables much like a human would, eg . is the supermarket going to be busy at time, will it be hard to find a carpark, does our finance allow us to purchase groceries, would x family member already have purchased groceries by now etc
As for your hypothetical analogy, we can already make the car stop at the supermarket or the gas station through integeration of technologies, eg. gps + fuel capacity sensors
What we cannot do is make the intelligence think with a free mind and decide for itself that it needs to do something, rather than responding to a set of codes input by humans
Personally, i believe the problem is not as complex as you describe it, as it already can be achieved with mass integeration(albeit to a simplistic standard)
November 20th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Sigh
And once again I’ve wasted my time looking at a Luc link.
The enduringamerica link is about exposing the story of a rape-before-execution sanction, supposedly issued by some key religious adviser in Iran – as having started as a piece of black comedy satire on an Iranian website.
The JPost story is a reporter talking by telephone to a member of the Iranian Basiji militia, who had just been released from jail for having set free two kids – a 13-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl – who had been arrested during those protests against the rigged elections in June. He talks about the rapes he has performed.
Even though Ryan provided the link to the latter story I figure I have to tell you the gist because if you had actually read the article you would have realised that they’re about two completely different stories. I’ve bolded that last as an additional attention getter for you.
November 20th, 2009 at 12:06 am
Please allow me to clarify, if we are talking about the computer having a free mind then i do agree with you that the problem is very complex and there are a lot of poorly understood areas, and it is still likely very far away.
However, i believe that it is atleast possible that it could be here in the next 25 – 50 years assuming that progress isn’t slowed down by politics
When the technology does arrive, it will propel our intelligence to levels beyond comprehension, in a very short period of time, can we agree on this?
November 20th, 2009 at 6:38 am
If we are not so dumb as to have destroyed ourselves in the meantime this may be what leads to our downfall? The growth of the human race is unsustainable and I doubt we are capable of rectifying the problems we are causing. We may or may not make it to the age when the nanobots run riot.
November 20th, 2009 at 6:49 am
Who is Katrina Shanks?
November 20th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Mike tan said…
The real lack of intelligience is in the computers inability to independently rationilise and make decisions based on the circumstance
Yep, that’s what I was saying before, Epistemological Knowledge Integration (from philosophy) and this is the capability that rationalization arises from, because you can’t be knowledgeable about the external world unless you have prior or pre-existing knowledge (acquired via learning) which you tie them together (in order to operate efficiently), which are non-contradictive. See, what Tom Hunter stated above. When rationalization is dynamic and adaptive via self-organising and emergent systems, then you have an independent entity that is autonomous (be it machine or biological). This is what makes us humans special.
We already had computer softwares that has outperformed human doctors in clinical diagnosis in existence today. One of the earliest clinical decision support system was MYCIN, which was developed at Stanford in the 1970s.
Autonomous experimental car such as ALVIN was successful when it was test-driven, which the car learnt from a human driver of how to drive in about 5 minutes before the human driver handed over the control to ALVIN, where ALVIN drove from one state to the next on its own on a highway in the presence of other vehicles. The test was smooth.
In a specific domain, such as medicine or driving a car, etc, … (one specific task only) and our current technology can do better than humans. What is lacking is knowledge integration and rationalization as you pointed out. We’re a far away from those capabilities. I have seen on the net a demonstration of a small robot where its designers, thought that the robot exhibited conscious behavior (ie, knowledge integration & rationalization), because the way it was moved around the room, where they were experimenting with it.
So, I say that we’re far away from having autonomous machines that can match that of a rational humans, BUT science writers and technology attention seekers, like to preempt their exaggerated visions way ahead of time.
The question to ask about this is, if machines computability can step up to it? To have a machine that is autonomous, rational, conscious, etc,… requires a huge amount of memory and fast execution. I am not sure when that is going to arrive, but it isn’t anytime sooner.