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Bush"},{"term":"Glenn Youngkin"},{"term":"Golriz Gahraman"},{"term":"Gorbachev"},{"term":"Haiti"},{"term":"Herbert Draper"},{"term":"Hiroshima"},{"term":"Hobson"},{"term":"Iain Murray"},{"term":"Indices"},{"term":"Israel Kirzner"},{"term":"JD Vance"},{"term":"Jim Bolger"},{"term":"John McCaskey"},{"term":"John Taylor Gatto"},{"term":"Josephine Tey"},{"term":"Keir Starmer"},{"term":"Kemi Badenoch"},{"term":"Kim"},{"term":"Lawrence White"},{"term":"Macaulay"},{"term":"Mahi Tahi"},{"term":"Man Ban"},{"term":"Manners"},{"term":"Marc Faber"},{"term":"Marginal Utility"},{"term":"Mark Skousen"},{"term":"Mark Twain"},{"term":"Maslow"},{"term":"Matiu Rata"},{"term":"Mental Health"},{"term":"Milton"},{"term":"Mixed Economy"},{"term":"Moral Equivalence"},{"term":"Mysticism"},{"term":"Neel Kolhatkar"},{"term":"Niall Ferguson"},{"term":"Not A Party (NAP)"},{"term":"Oligopoly"},{"term":"Palmerston North"},{"term":"Paul Johnson"},{"term":"Podcast"},{"term":"Politics - 1 Law 4 All"},{"term":"Politics-Density"},{"term":"QE"},{"term":"Rertrand Russell"},{"term":"Risk"},{"term":"Robert Higgs"},{"term":"Roger Pielke Jr."},{"term":"Roger Pilon"},{"term":"Rose Wilder Lane"},{"term":"Ruth Ross"},{"term":"SIS"},{"term":"STV"},{"term":"Scampi"},{"term":"Sedition"},{"term":"Self-Interest"},{"term":"Separatism"},{"term":"Shane Reti"},{"term":"Simon Upton"},{"term":"Sludgegate"},{"term":"Space"},{"term":"Stephen Dry"},{"term":"Steve Baker"},{"term":"Tauranga"},{"term":"Taxpayers' Union"},{"term":"Television"},{"term":"Thug's Veto"},{"term":"Tim Minchin"},{"term":"Time Preference"},{"term":"Tom Bethell"},{"term":"Tomiwa Owolade"},{"term":"Twitter"},{"term":"Upper-Income Trap"},{"term":"Viv Beck"},{"term":"Water"},{"term":"Willy S."},{"term":"Yankee in Middle Earth"},{"term":"Yasi"},{"term":"acti"},{"term":"ar"},{"term":"bren"},{"term":"cycle"},{"term":"dow"},{"term":"fore"},{"term":"gove"},{"term":"hist"},{"term":"quote"},{"term":"stat"},{"term":"v"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Not PC"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003E. . . promoting capitalist acts between consenting adults. \u003C\/i\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default?alt=json-in-script\u0026orderby=published"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=26\u0026max-results=25\u0026orderby=published"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"15093"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"25"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-1920132676508774191"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-15T08:52:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-15T08:52:00.124+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Aristocracy of Pull"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Books"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Cronyism"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ludwig Von Mises"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-US"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Statism"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Bad economic ideas don't just create poverty—they destroy the institutional foundations of free society.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"W\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Ehen the line between public and private is erased,\" \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/08\/apple-ceo-tim-cook-has-learned-the-rules-for-getting-ahead-in-trumps-america\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMKENlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHig2edgTojvu5je4UvJ4Kk8nmmXqJIvzGcQwI1k3w7Xfc9ZCUm24idJDUd4Z_aem_-L6jaGS00jubBMfeFe5r7g\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eexplains \u003Ci\u003EReason\u003C\/i\u003E magazine's Eric Roehm\u003C\/a\u003E, \"then politics is all about special favours.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/08\/08\/apple-ceo-tim-cook-has-learned-the-rules-for-getting-ahead-in-trumps-america\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMKENlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHig2edgTojvu5je4UvJ4Kk8nmmXqJIvzGcQwI1k3w7Xfc9ZCUm24idJDUd4Z_aem_-L6jaGS00jubBMfeFe5r7g\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"450\" data-original-width=\"765\" height=\"376\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEj4mYHxnL0IQwi8S-pJpc8XAJ5UO0jCdorss6zoJ82ie4wFGQ6WKwZcQyKIcv4W-0s4tsN3k01T3WVb67grGjsDwdjwz8RwY-4lP2F-olpFSKRXqWURQ6upVJOw57gSs9-2rsLn_9AuxCnxh1STDVvROHxauBN87j4JxidCQoWIi1r27x0gD2AH\/w640-h376\/Screenshot%202025-08-14%20at%2012.50.11%E2%80%AFpm.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you want to understand the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Acyn\/status\/1953204242459881927\"\u003Esilly little scene\u003C\/a\u003E that played out between Apple CEO Tim Cook and President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday,\" he says, \"you might start by remembering something that Vice President J.D. Vance said two years ago.\"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EWhile attending a conference for nationalist conservatives, Vance offered an astonishing view of politics. The 'idea that there is this extremely strong division between the public sector and the private sector' was flawed, Vance argued. In reality, he went on to say, 'there is no meaningful distinction between the public and the private sector in the American regime. It is all fused together.'\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; That's a useful framework for understanding much of what has happened since Trump (with Vance at his side) returned to the White House in January. That includes various trade policies and tariffs, of course, but also \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/06\/26\/trumps-controlling-stake-in-u-s-steel-is-indefensible-socialist-nonsense\/\"\u003Ethe \"golden share\" in U.S. Steel\u003C\/a\u003E that Trump secured for himself, and how the administration \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/05\/30\/trump-wants-25-million-to-settle-his-meritless-60-minutes-lawsuit\/\"\u003Eleveraged its regulatory authority\u003C\/a\u003E to force Paramount to pay a huge settlement. In each case, the Trump administration has tried to erase (or has ignored) the distinction between the public and the private sectors ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETrump takes a further step. To him, not only is the private public, but the public is also very \u003Cb\u003Epersonal\u003C\/b\u003E. ... \u003Cb\u003EHe \u003C\/b\u003Ewill\u0026nbsp;decide what deals are in everyone's best interest, no matter what consenting individuals engaged in peaceful, private commerce might want to do. If he's unhappy about something \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/i-wont-humiliate-myself-brazils-president-sees-no-point-tariff-talks-with-trump-2025-08-06\/\"\u003Ein Brazil\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/intelligence.coffee\/2025\/07\/how-50-us-tariffs-on-brazil-could-reshape-coffee\/\"\u003Eit will be your problem\u003C\/a\u003E. And if he's pleased with gifts and tributes, then all is well.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Do you run a foreign company trying to make a huge investment in American steel manufacturing? You'd better be prepared to cut Trump a piece of the action. Are you unhappy about Medicaid cuts that reduce the reimbursements your company receives from the government? That's nothing \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/08\/07\/us\/politics\/trump-medicare-bandages-donors.html\"\u003Ea $5 million donation and dinner at Mar-a-Lago\u003C\/a\u003Ecan't fix. There's a good reason why lobbying firms with direct access to the White House \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TPCarney\/status\/1953829563852632314\"\u003Eare reportedly keeping very, very busy these days\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; And that's why Cook found himself in the Oval Office this week, presenting Trump with a special gift from Apple: A gold and glass token of the company's appreciation for Trump's \u003Cb\u003Especial\u003C\/b\u003E attention.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; Shortly afterwards, Trump responded in kind. Apple is \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/appleinsider.com\/articles\/25\/08\/06\/apple-exempt-from-100-semiconductor-tariffs-thanks-to-its-100b-us-investment\"\u003Enow exempt\u003C\/a\u003E from \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/china\/trump-says-us-levy-100-tariff-imported-chips-some-firms-exempt-2025-08-07\/\"\u003Ethe 100 percent tariff\u003C\/a\u003E that Trump is imposing on high-end computer chips made in other countries. Officially, that exemption is because Apple is investing $100 billion in U.S. manufacturing. Unofficially, it sure looks like Cook's gift paid off.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThis is how business is now being done in the United Police States. Make sure you give a cut of your business to the boss.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvgvvnx8y19o\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"739\" data-original-width=\"931\" height=\"508\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiDerPt5DKbjCDRhbuWSNY0MsiwrxgrMnv7ZrQcUvnd32YfV8M6y07TFN5fDGqU6khNI8McnW3l0KhvtBFHsIXMJ7ESfqn6OjdpXB-7eUTy7zWohhPLgEAshafvehsYnCWCfLCDVD2eAFayK2vm6yiqr1nJmZ-Ns6AqGX8CHTjktGPyaFQpqWk8\/w640-h508\/Screenshot%202025-08-14%20at%201.01.38%E2%80%AFpm.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EYou want to secure an \"export license\" for chips to China,\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvgvvnx8y19o\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E as Nvidia and AMD needed\u003C\/a\u003E, then as they discovered too, you'd better pay your 15% bribe. That will apparently fix all security \"issues. It's not about security, of course. It's just tribute to the government.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThe Students of Liberty twitter feed explains the game.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003ELudwig von Mises warned us 80 years ago: when governments start making individual 'deals' with private companies, we're witnessing the transformation from capitalism to something far more dangerous. The news about Nvidia and AMD giving the U.S. government 15% of chip sales to China? Mises saw this exact pattern coming.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/library\/book\/omnipotent-government-rise-total-state-and-total-war\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"975\" data-original-width=\"650\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgUo3tdWvgk25k3HV7uXhD5N6JGqwT3FArDCroQoClDIqmu0EpiugZowp_-4PI512lGem1XakrOG7_rBYP-Ty2K6BH6CBB0ADZgKT4lLtoLP79AozZ46r7P0SXhLwf1r58tsa1JbtwcIh-yh1shTST2-FM-SWfx0CVtTG5AFEBXfS47koaTJO3z\/s320\/Omnipotent%20Government%20The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Total%20State%20and%20Total%20War.jpg.webp\" width=\"213\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn his 1944 book\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/library\/book\/omnipotent-government-rise-total-state-and-total-war\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EOmnipotent Government\u003C\/a\u003E, Mises identified a dangerous transformation he called \"etatism.\" Think of it this way: You still \"own\" your business on paper, but the government tells you what to make, who to hire, what prices to charge, and who you can sell to. You're a manager, not an owner.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EMises wrote: \"The entrepreneur in a capitalist society depends upon the market and upon the consumers. Every entrepreneur must daily justify his social function through subservience to the wants of the consumers.\" But when business success requires political deals, everything changes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EThe pattern is accelerating across recent months: — Apple announced $600B U.S. investment after iPhone tariff threats — Intel's CEO visiting the White House after public criticism — Nvidia\/AMD now paying 15% revenue cuts for China market access This isn't capitalism. It's what Mises called \"etatism.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EMises warned that under etatism, \"the government, not the consumers, directs production.\" When companies must seek political permission rather than consumer approval, we've crossed a dangerous line. Success becomes about relationships with power, not service to people.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo what's the big deal about these corporate negotiations? Mises saw where this leads. When Nvidia pays 15% to access China markets, they're not responding to consumer demand. They're buying political permission. This fundamentally changes how businesses operate.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstead of competing on price, quality, and innovation, companies now compete on political connections. Resources shift from R\u0026amp;D and customer service to lobbying and government relations. The best politically connected firms win, not the most efficient ones.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere's the terrifying part: even if current leaders have good intentions, they're building the infrastructure of control. Once government has the power to grant or deny market access through individual deals, that power doesn't disappear when leadership changes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFuture authoritarians won't need to seize control—they'll inherit a system where economic power already flows through political channels. Small businesses can't negotiate these deals. They face full regulations while big corporations get special arrangements. Perfect tools for political control.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMises understood this doesn't happen in one election cycle. It's a slow infection of ideas that spreads across decades until everyone accepts that companies should negotiate with whoever holds power. Eventually, people forget that businesses once served consumers, not politicians.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EMises understood that ideas have consequences. Bad economic ideas don't just create poverty—they destroy the institutional foundations of free society.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/1920132676508774191\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/1920132676508774191","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/1920132676508774191"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/1920132676508774191"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/bad-economic-ideas-dont-just-create.html","title":"\"Bad economic ideas don't just create poverty—they destroy the institutional foundations of free society.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEj4mYHxnL0IQwi8S-pJpc8XAJ5UO0jCdorss6zoJ82ie4wFGQ6WKwZcQyKIcv4W-0s4tsN3k01T3WVb67grGjsDwdjwz8RwY-4lP2F-olpFSKRXqWURQ6upVJOw57gSs9-2rsLn_9AuxCnxh1STDVvROHxauBN87j4JxidCQoWIi1r27x0gD2AH\/s72-w640-h376-c\/Screenshot%202025-08-14%20at%2012.50.11%E2%80%AFpm.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-5312426246519424596"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-14T08:48:00.017+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-14T08:48:00.114+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Budget and Taxation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Local Government"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"If there’s one thing in scandalously short supply in local government—shorter even than pothole repair crews—it’s thinking.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"L\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eet’s imagine, for a moment, that the Selwyn District Council—or any local council, really—sits down for its annual budget meeting. Around the table: spreadsheets, solemn faces, and that quietly menacing phrase, “We have no money.” Ordinarily, this is the cue for the whole exercise to shift gears into a grim little theatre where the actors, trained over decades in the art of bureaucratic despair, start explaining why the only answer is to raise rates yet again. But Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand’s own Nobel Prize–winning atom-splitter, had a rather different view. 'We have no money,' he once said, 'therefore we have to think.' ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\"Rutherford’s logic flips the frame. No money? Good. Now you’re forced to think. And if there’s one thing in scandalously short supply in local government—shorter even than pothole repair crews—it’s thinking.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Zoran Rakovic from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/zoranrakovic.substack.com\/p\/councils-addiction-to-addition\"\u003ECouncils' addiction to addition. Or \"we have no money, therefore we will have to think\"\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/5312426246519424596\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/5312426246519424596","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5312426246519424596"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5312426246519424596"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/if-theres-one-thing-in-scandalously.html","title":"\"If there’s one thing in scandalously short supply in local government—shorter even than pothole repair crews—it’s thinking.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-8934733553728456669"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-13T12:44:00.006+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-13T12:44:38.468+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-US"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Trump Derangement Syndrome"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"'A Note on \"Trump Derangement Syndrome\"'"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"'H\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eysterical.' 'Alarmist.' 'Trump Derangement Syndrome.' 'He’ll be constrained by institutions.' 'There are adults in the room.' 'You’re overreacting.' 'The generals won’t let him.' 'Stop being so dramatic.'\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\"Every single person who said we were being hysterical about Trump being an existential threat should be forced to explain how the President \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/08\/11\/trump-washington-crime-fed-national-guard-homeless.html\"\u003Eseizing control\u003C\/a\u003E of the capital’s police force and deploying military units to forcibly relocate citizens represents normal democratic governance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \"They called us hysterical when we said he’d use the military against civilians. He’s literally doing it right now.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Mike Brock from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.notesfromthecircus.com\/p\/a-note-on-trump-derangement-syndrome\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EA Note on \"Trump Derangement Syndrome\"\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8934733553728456669\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/8934733553728456669","title":"5 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8934733553728456669"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8934733553728456669"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/a-note-on-trump-derangement-syndrome.html","title":"'A Note on \"Trump Derangement Syndrome\"'"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"5"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-8134855537306562384"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-13T08:54:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-13T08:54:00.121+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Censorship"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-Australia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-NZ"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Privacy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"There has been Twitter speculation that all of this is about age-gating social media.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"O\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003En my drive in to work [earlier this week], RNZ's Corin Dann challenged the Prime Minister about one part of his meeting with Australian PM Albanese. They had apparently promised to work toward some kind of joint ID and driver license system. [\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/national\/programmes\/morningreport\/audio\/2018999372\/pm-luxon-on-latest-poll-showing-labour-ahead-of-national\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAUDIO, 04:15\u003C\/a\u003E]...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"The PM's talk had this as all being about mutual recognition of driver licences. Which is obviously a weird justification. We already recognise each other's licences. And if Oz and NZ makes it tough for bars to recognise each other's licenses as ID, that's far more easily solved by just letting bars use the other country's driver's licence. The rest of it isn't needed for that problem. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"There has been Twitter speculation that all of this is about age-gating social media. It looks like this push started well before anyone was talking about that. ... \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/ageassurance.com.au\/\"\u003EAustralia is running trials on ID\/age verification setups for social media age gating\u003C\/a\u003E; it looks like a report is soon due. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"[So]  - both countries are working toward digital IDs, both countries five years ago agreed that they'd recognise each other's digital IDs, and this seems just to be reaffirming that prior agreement. I'd love there to be more assurance around privacy being important in the design of any of these in NZ. Because there are very bad versions that should not be supported. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"When the first a lot of us would have heard about a government digital ID is in context of a trans-Tasman agreement for mutual recognition, in context of Australia wanting to age-gate social media, and nobody particularly trusting that the age-gate system isn't intended to result in the kind of censorship being seen in Australia - not so hot.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Eric Crampton from his post '\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/to-what-policy-problem-is-this-solution.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ETo what policy problem is this the solution?\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8134855537306562384\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/8134855537306562384","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8134855537306562384"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8134855537306562384"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/there-has-been-twitter-speculation-that.html","title":"\"There has been Twitter speculation that all of this is about age-gating social media.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-1544759164290881800"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-12T08:51:00.002+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-12T09:34:05.039+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"AI"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Copyright"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"This case is of exceptional importance, addressing the legality of using copyrighted works for generative AI\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\"A\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;single lawsuit raised by three authors over Anthropic's AI 'training' now threatens to 'financially ruin' the entire AI industry if up to 7 million claimants end up joining the litigation and forcing a settlement. ... [That's] 'up to seven million potential claimants, whose works span a century of publishing history,' each possibly triggering a $150,000 fine.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Confronted with such extreme potential damages, Anthropic may lose its rights to raise valid defenses of its AI training, deciding it would be more prudent to settle, the company argued. And that could set an alarming precedent, considering all the other lawsuits generative AI (GenAI) companies face over training on copyrighted materials ...\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~\u0026nbsp;Ashley Belanger from her article '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/arstechnica.com\/tech-policy\/2025\/08\/ai-industry-horrified-to-face-largest-copyright-class-action-ever-certified\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMGJP1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFqZzBVSTlTRDlMS1NoZ0xNAR6Ump8XqTuEwoWPBZ6ialQix234N8wP7y5Vp5t0cO9cSWQzt3TId3NBgiVx0g_aem_uLAEfprXQD2gDNFU852j5g\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified\u003C\/a\u003E' [hat tip \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1404116417142065\/?multi_permalinks=1804977040389332\u0026amp;hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen\u0026amp;__cft__[0]=AZUO8u_yc2AzebSzAZHh3Hut35TA0lvUnd3CAYEPy2fkPsjZpw-TDiFTdh7ekdFcutWrEhpotZoKieKuDKEi7EuTi_4U0IcbHdB1cAjbl56jzxj4VPD2AWuftqiv424kwVJ0iSJDg9vJA08K7t1o0yhi7B3akkYuc6mdtdJHOgBYjYhP60Ho_Bq1kgMHtorlIf3d_ZDFjPZr2N0crAeG8fPt\u0026amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EArtists Against Generative AI\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/1544759164290881800\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/1544759164290881800","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/1544759164290881800"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/1544759164290881800"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/this-case-is-of-exceptional-importance.html","title":"\"This case is of exceptional importance, addressing the legality of using copyrighted works for generative AI\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-5158770364966312198"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-11T11:24:00.008+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-11T14:08:41.740+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"15 Years Ago"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Cultural Change"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Helen Clark"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"John Key"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"One Law For All"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-ACT"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-Maori_Party"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-National"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Rights"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Rodney Hide"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"15 YEARS AGO: Here's how Key helped fuel the gravy-train"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EOne advantage of having blogged so long is having written about so many things.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EOne disadvantage of having blogged so long is watching things you've warned about being ignored. \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2010\/04\/right-to-subsidised-separatism.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EHere's from 2010\u003C\/a\u003E, with Eric Crampton's warning in particular\u0026nbsp;now looking especially prescient....\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2010\/04\/right-to-subsidised-separatism.html\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"431\" data-original-width=\"802\" height=\"276\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjGCVSJq-zcp4ClOLdQNfArP3qfbtn3_5aeWm_YkVgt7i4crqL-lSgwZ9y5B8hXvShZdCQPdp8cfAFG8mp9LDXeHUqvkWETxnfGcJ96Lvz-dMhqsRqPDw0gIsta0bBnqfVJSp8ChRv5r87H-FOsIY-L1uU34ZrTv3eg6E2DE5xc444SX6OdQMMo\/w510-h276\/Screenshot%202025-08-11%20at%2010.26.41%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"510\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EA\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ES YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, the Government you voted for has signed you up to the\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/national\/politics\/3599153\/NZ-does-U-turn-on-rights-charter\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EUN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E—something Helen Clark herself was opposed to, citing fears it would create “two classes of citizenship and … give indigenous people veto rights over laws made by Parliament.”\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EBut we already\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Ehave\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;two legal classes of\u0026nbsp; citizen, don’t we—something confirmed by Doug Graham when, as Minister in Charge of Treaty Capitulations, he told taxpayers, “The sooner we realise there are laws for one and laws for another, the better.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ESo one law for all is officially dead. Pita Sharples grand-standing announcement merely throws another shovelful of dirt on that particular colour-blind aspiration.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EInstead, we now have another aspiration. One endorsed by your government\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Ewithout any conditions whatsoever,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Edespite John Key’s insistence that the Declaration itself is “aspirational and non-binding.”\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ENow naturally, Hone Harawira and co have a different view.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.radionz.co.nz\/news\/stories\/2010\/04\/21\/1247fe75061c\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"UN declaration 'will be used for sovereignty claims' - RADIO NZ\"\u003EHone has already been on radio\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;insisting the Declaration will be used to support a gravy train of claims for other people’s property, and for truckloads of taxpayers’ money—and one suspects he speaks for many others when he says that, including those who will sit in judgement on such claims.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAnd Mai Chen, eager to get in on the gravy,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.guide2.co.nz\/politics\/news\/lawyer-warns-declaration-may-have-impact\/11\/15761\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Lawyer warns declaration may have impact - GUIDE.2.CO.NZ\"\u003Einsists the declaration will “have an impact.”\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \"‘Declarations … are international obligations and they do form part of the backdrop, the context within which courts do interpret, but it's not just courts its the Waitangi Tribunal and its also direct negotiations… [T]he entire country would appear to fall within the scope of the article, and [the text of the Declaration] generally takes no account of the fact that the land might be occupied or owned legitimately by others.’\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “Ms Chen said the Declaration would 'shape Maori expectations in negotiations.”\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAnd the Declaration itself begins by affirming its “good faith in the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by States in accordance with the Charter.”\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ESo one suspects that this government signing up to the Declaration is going to involve more than just a little “aspirational” window-dressing.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 10.833333px;\"\u003ESO WHAT DOES IT CONTAIN,THIS DECLARATION?\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;It should be no surprise to find that\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/esa\/socdev\/unpfii\/en\/drip.html\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples\"\u003Ea UN Declaration with “rights” in the title contains a welter of manufactured “rights”\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;that\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/esa\/socdev\/unpfii\/en\/drip.html\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples\"\u003Etrample over genuine rights\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2005\/04\/what-does-herald-know-about-rights.html\"\u003E \u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAnd if it were simply an enumeration of genuine rights—rights to life, liberty, free speech, the pursuit of property and happiness—it would hardly need the modifier “rights of indigenous people” added to it, as if by virtue of their indigeneity some individuals are more endowed with rights than others.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAs if to confirm that, The Declaration’s preamble talks about being\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E“the basis for a strengthened partnership between indigenous peoples and States”—\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Eaffirming as clearly as one could that “there are laws for one \u0026amp; laws for another.”\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EIt speaks of\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Eaffirming to “peoples their right to self-determination”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E—ignoring that\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/site\/PageServer?pagename=arc_ayn_rand_man_rights\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Man's Rights - AYN RAND CENTER FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS\"\u003Esuch a right pertains only to individuals\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/aynrandlexicon.com\/lexicon\/collective_rights.html\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"“Collective Rights” - AYN RAND LEXICON\"\u003Enot to a collective\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAnd the Declaration itself outlines specific “rights” which it says shall be upheld by “the States” which have affirmed it:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right [of indigenous people] to freely determine their political status”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EWhich “right” is a recipe for separatism.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to autonomy or self-government in matters relating to their internal and local affairs”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EWhich “right” is a guarantee that separatism will be upheld by “the State.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture… States shall provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for [this]”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EWhich “right” requires the State to subsidise for ever whatever parts of indigenous culture claimants will assert are being destroyed.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to belong to an indigenous community or nation, in accordance with the traditions and customs of the community or nation concerned”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe “right” to subsidised separatism, in whatever form of tribalism that will manifest itself.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures, and to designate and retain their own names for communities, places and persons.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EA “right” to the subsidised education of tribalism and mysticism, and to the re-naming of New Zealand.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“States shall … take effective measures, in order for indigenous individuals, particularly children… to an education in their own culture and provided in their own language.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe “right” to kohanga reo for ever.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to establish their own media in their own languages”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe “right” to Maori TV for ever.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before adopting and implementing legislative or administrative measures that may affect them.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe explicit creation of two classes of citizenship, and the “right” to veto that Helen Clark was so concerned about.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right … to the improvement of their economic and social conditions, including, inter alia, in the areas of education, employment, vocational training and retraining, housing, sanitation, health and social security.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cbr \/\u003EStates shall take effective measures and, where appropriate, special measures to ensure continuing improvement of their economic and social conditions…”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe “right” to special racist welfare.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe “right” to dream up a new basis of land claim for any part of New Zealand whatsoever.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003Ethe right \"to own use, develop or control lands and territories they have traditionally owned, occupied or used\"\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAs\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/politics\/news\/article.cfm?c_id=280\u0026amp;objectid=10639516\u0026amp;pnum=0\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Nats give in to Maori over rights declaration - NZ HERALD\"\u003ENew Zealand's former permanent representative to the UN, diplomat Rosemary Banks, says\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;“the entire country was potentially caught within the scope of that article. ‘The article appears to require recognition of rights to lands now lawfully owned by other citizens, both indigenous and non-indigenous ... Furthermore, this article implies indigenous peoples have rights that others do not.’\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4; list-style: outside; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEikRexas1gx9U4t-qrILfyti4TOzbSaM_calAx4ExEc0NBfpigktnjsTDCoFsRCPz9T07a8F2GIcq0Re9oaDjcfPgDCEYdMcaI_8KQgnVqFHHoHIRR31hoKWSjhya4XUO10Xtsz\/s1600-h\/My%20what%20a%20brown%20nose%20you%20have%5B6%5D.jpg\" style=\"clear: right; color: #4d469c; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cli style=\"border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“the right to redress, by means that can include restitution or, when this is not possible, just, fair and equitable compensation, for the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned or otherwise occupied or used, and which have been confiscated, taken, occupied, used or damaged without their free, prior and informed consent.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EProviding the basis for a whole new cycle of claimants to ride a new gravy train.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EI COULD GO ON, BUT I suspect you already get the point.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThis is simply a whole litany of bogus “rights” with which the Hone Harawiras and Tame Itis of this country will have a field day.\u0026nbsp; For them and their lawyers, this is like Christmas in April.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe affirmation of these bogus rights is John Key writing a blank cheque on taxpayers to buy the Maori Party for a generation. And just in case you think this isn’t the sound of someone putting their hand in your pocket,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com\/2010\/04\/un-declaration-verbosity-super-sized.html\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"The UN Declaration - Verbosity super-sized - LINDSAY MITCHELL\"\u003Etake a look at Article 39\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E…\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “Indigenous peoples have the right to have access to financial and technical assistance from States and through international cooperation, for the enjoyment of the rights contained in this Declaration.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe Declaration is nothing less than a manifesto for subsidised separatism.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.aynrand.org\/site\/PageServer?pagename=arc_ayn_rand_man_rights\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Man's Rights - AYN RAND CENTER FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS\"\u003EAs Ayn Rand said of a similar list\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;of\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cstrike style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Eentitlements\u003C\/strike\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;“rights”:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “A single question added to each of the above eight clauses would make the issue clear:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EAt whose expense?\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “[These so-called rights] do not grow in nature. These are man-made values—goods and services produced by men. Who is to provide them? \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “If some men are entitled by right to the products of the work of others, it means that those others are deprived of rights and condemned to slave labor. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “Any alleged \"right\" of one man, which necessitates the violation of the rights of another, is not and cannot be a right.”\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ETake note here that “The State” itself has no money of its own—every dollar must first be taken from others. The bogus “rights” affirmed here, to which New Zealand is now a signatory, require of taxpayers that they provide a cradle-to-grave ATM machine for whatever tribalists want, including the property of taxpayers, creating “two classes of citizenship and … giving indigenous people veto rights over laws made by Parliament,” just as Helen Clark feared it would.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EOne law for all is officially dead.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EAnd parliament’s One-Law-For-All party?\u0026nbsp; The party propping up a government giving tribalists more even than Helen Clark was prepared to? What about them? Fear not, punters, for fearless leader Rodney Hide says the Declaration and the secrecy with which it was announced “is not a deal-breaker.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EGiven what ACT supporters have already swallowed, one wonders if anything ever would be.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\" \/\u003E\u003Cb style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ENB\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com\/\" style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #4d469c; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none;\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Erics' blog: OFFSETTING BEHAVIOUR\"\u003EEric Crampton\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;sees informative parallels “between New Zealand signing on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and Canada's constitutional wranglings over Quebec as a'\"Distinct Society'.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “In the Canadian case, folks inside Quebec had the impression that being granted ‘distinct society’ would give them everything they ever hoped for (at least during the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Meech_Lake_Accord\" style=\"color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EMeech\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;negotiations) while folks outside Quebec were told it ‘\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Distinct_society\" style=\"color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Emeans dick\u003C\/a\u003E.’\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kiwiblog.co.nz\/2010\/04\/arguments_over_the_un_declaration.html\" style=\"color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EHere, Key says signing the Declaration is meaningless; Hone says it's powerful\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; “If this starts working its way into judicial and regulatory decisions, Parliament would have to come in and explicitly state that it was the intention of Parliament that the Declaration is a legal nullity; Parliament would be unlikely to do that as it would be a pretty big slap to Maori…”\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/5158770364966312198\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/5158770364966312198","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5158770364966312198"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5158770364966312198"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/15-years-ago-heres-how-gravy-train-was.html","title":"15 YEARS AGO: Here's how Key helped fuel the gravy-train"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEjGCVSJq-zcp4ClOLdQNfArP3qfbtn3_5aeWm_YkVgt7i4crqL-lSgwZ9y5B8hXvShZdCQPdp8cfAFG8mp9LDXeHUqvkWETxnfGcJ96Lvz-dMhqsRqPDw0gIsta0bBnqfVJSp8ChRv5r87H-FOsIY-L1uU34ZrTv3eg6E2DE5xc444SX6OdQMMo\/s72-w510-h276-c\/Screenshot%202025-08-11%20at%2010.26.41%E2%80%AFam.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6232392619208944703"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-11T09:48:00.002+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-11T09:48:15.836+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Art"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Films"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Art should ask questions"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"BLOG_video_class\" height=\"302\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y1HHPahr9xM\" width=\"363\" youtube-src-id=\"Y1HHPahr9xM\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EF\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Eilm-maker (and Monthy Python alumni) Terry Gilliam makes an important point about art in drawing an important distinction between Kubrick and Spielberg — \"and it’s rooted in filmmaking philosophy as much as style.\"\u0026nbsp;Gilliam described Spielberg as “excellent as a fairy‑tale storyteller.\" Kubrick's movies however provoke endless questions rather than tidy answers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003ESpielberg and the success of most films in Hollywood these days, I think, is down to the fact they're comforting — even if the answers are stupid, they're answers. So you can go home and you don't have to worry about it. The Kubricks of this world, and the great filmmakers, make you go home and think about it. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EThere's a wonderful quote in in the book that Frederic Raphael wrote about the making of 'Eyes Wide Shut' (called 'Eyes Wide Open') and he's talking to Kubrick about 'Schindler's List,' and the Holocaust. And he says, the thing is that 'Schindler's List' is about success; the Holocaust was about failure. And that's Kubrick, and that's just spot on. It was about the complete \u003Cb\u003Efailure\u003C\/b\u003E of civilisation, to allow six million people to die.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EAnd so I know which side I'd rather be on.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\"Spielberg offers cinematic comfort, Kubrick offers cinematic conversation.\"\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6232392619208944703\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6232392619208944703","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6232392619208944703"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6232392619208944703"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/art-should-ask-questions.html","title":"Art should ask questions"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/Y1HHPahr9xM\/default.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-8535637553753753899"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-08T08:56:00.041+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-08T10:00:45.624+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Language"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Whatever happened to the adverb?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EW\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Ee're busy losing the adverb. I blame sporting commentators.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"Get it in quick,\" they say.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EQuick is an \u003Ci\u003Eadjective\u003C\/i\u003E, for goodness sake. It doesn't describe \"get.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe word you're looking for is QUICKLY! An \u003Ci\u003Eadverb\u003C\/i\u003E. That is: a word used to describe the verb. Often ending in -ly.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"How should we \u003Ci\u003Eget\u003C\/i\u003E the ball in?\" \"We should get it in QUICKLY.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhen should I correct my speech impediments? Immediately!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd while we're bitching about parts of speech, about nouns becoming verbs, and vice versa....\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn invitation is not an \"invite\" — if I intend to \u003Ci\u003Einvite\u003C\/i\u003E you [verb] then I will send you an \u003Ci\u003Einvitation\u003C\/i\u003E [noun].\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd if you want to invite \u003Ci\u003Eme\u003C\/i\u003E, then send me a noun too. A thing. Not a bloody verb. Sending a verb makes no bloody sense.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI don't care what your bullshit bit of software wants to call it: it's an invi-bloody-tation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECan we get that sorted, please?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETa.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd by the way, \"disconnect\" is a verb.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe noun you're looking for is DISCONNECTION!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"We have a \u003Ci\u003Edisconnection\u003C\/i\u003E between forwards and backs.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"We have a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Edisconnection\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;between politicians and citizens.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"We have a\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Edisconnection\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;between parts of speech and people who know how to bloody use them.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESort yourself out.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd what about \"kids.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA child is a child. The plural is \u003Ci\u003Echildren\u003C\/i\u003E. Kids? Kids are baby goats.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESure, you\u0026nbsp;can use the English verb “kid”with the meaning “to treat as a child.”\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the noun, \u003Ci\u003Ekid\u003C\/i\u003E, is a baby goat.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShow some respect. These little people are children, for Galt's sake!\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd here's another one:\u0026nbsp;\"momentarily.\"\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\"Momentarily\" doesn't mean \u003Ci\u003Ein\u003C\/i\u003E a moment. It means \u003Ci\u003Efor\u003C\/i\u003E a moment. There's a difference. \"He paused by\u0026nbsp;her\u0026nbsp;door \u003Ci\u003Efor\u003C\/i\u003E a moment\" —which means he paused momentarily, and then \"\u003Ci\u003Ein\u003C\/i\u003E a moment he would knock\" – which means he would knock very soon. See the difference? He wouldn't knock momentarily, 'cos that would mean he'd only knock\u003Ci\u003E for a moment\u003C\/i\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYou know, it's really not difficult.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe could also talk about misnomers, like so-called\" reality TV,\" which is nothing like real life; or so-called artificial intelligence, which is clearly not intelligent (a triumph or marketing that); or a Bitcoin not being an actual coin (another triumph of marketing over reality). But it's not the time, is it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo: Any other language crimes you abhor?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8535637553753753899\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/8535637553753753899","title":"6 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8535637553753753899"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8535637553753753899"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/whatever-happened-to-adverb.html","title":"Whatever happened to the adverb?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"6"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-4356317579601980810"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-07T11:04:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-07T11:04:00.117+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"AI"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Art"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Is art produced by non-humans actually art?\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003EQ\u003C\/span\u003Euestion for the Day, from \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/markitct\/posts\/pfbid02Gu1ni5ubJR7P7S5YwcEMyAwowejJC9mVbQbNPFeZnNtKYZp5v1mcBWBFtGeWCaakl?__cft__[0]=AZV80mav_JkWI_kMWxtrkk8O6_XAxF2kcAL6Ynakn-j2yc3U7-1D3SUt2tHfSjsuprndbVOQ1viHnLKRNVOIfMApmWs8d4R9kCC6fD56TMBBO0M_XvKldbWsCN7fUfHNe1Kjybz7kcjI2BwCNmP4mCbl\u0026amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EMark Silva\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"Is art produced by non-humans actually art? \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"I think not.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"I know it's often said that AI is just another tool, but it's more than that, it makes decisions...\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4356317579601980810\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/4356317579601980810","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4356317579601980810"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4356317579601980810"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/is-art-produced-by-non-humans-actually.html","title":"\"Is art produced by non-humans actually art?\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-7319827126460076735"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-07T08:55:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-07T08:55:00.117+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Energy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Renewable Energy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Yet Another Misleading Report on 'Low-Cost' Wind and Solar\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"I\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003En a just-released \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.irena.org\/Publications\/2025\/Jun\/Renewable-Power-Generation-Costs-in-2024\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Ereport\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) claims that renewable energy is the most cost-competitive source of new electricity generation worldwide, The report further claims that '91% of new renewable power projects commissioned last year were more cost-effective than any new fossil fuel alternative” ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"If those claims sound too good to be true, it’s because they are. IRENA’s boasts ignore a fundamental reality: the intermittent electricity generated from wind and solar is fundamentally different than electricity generated by traditional generating resources that are not subject to the whims of the weather. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"The inherent intermittency of wind and solar reduces the physical and economic value of their capacity relative to traditional generating resources, since sufficient reserves or storage must be maintained to meet demand when they are unavailable. Merely reporting total wind and solar capacity misleads because it does not account for the adequacy of the electrical energy generated to meet demand, and the actual costs to do so. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Promoting misleading claims about wind and solar power distorts policymaking and will only exacerbate the growing inadequacy of electric supplies to meet increased demand .... It will lead to more frequent electricity rationing ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"That may appeal to hairshirt environmentalists, but it won’t appeal to the broader populace ...\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Jonathan Lesser from his report '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/energyanalytics.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025-07-NCEA-EIA-Renewable-Power-Capacity-Reporting-Brief-Lesser.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EThe U.S. Energy Information Administration Needs to Fix How It Reports Renewable Power Capacity\u003C\/a\u003E' (hat tip \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/wattsupwiththat.com\/2025\/08\/05\/yet-another-misleading-report-on-low-cost-wind-and-solar\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWatts Up With That?\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7319827126460076735\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/7319827126460076735","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/7319827126460076735"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/7319827126460076735"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/yet-another-misleading-report-on-low.html","title":"\"Yet Another Misleading Report on 'Low-Cost' Wind and Solar\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-177461975624804566"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-06T12:23:00.010+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-06T15:26:02.706+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Capital"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Counterfeit Capital"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hayek"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Housing"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"John Key"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redistribution"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"John Key is still a fucking moron"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/notpchistory.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/john-key-he-served-himself-and-not.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"626\" data-original-width=\"522\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhIWP2SJzXubwaZ-0Zs-jPqIQpSIlsrOlYZ7KXBNlUJdQm8UevLeUYbA0mOmQKOPBkAsRP16jcRGAY4B-JdDR2VgiBhTwVJ72-tBl9BoAxiy8WNjkYbx3kWWeZm6YDPa9PUc4zw45l4vt0gXDpO0HRfdCNMOu3nYrHGaxHphYaWAQzcF0g7YD-I\/w534-h640\/John_Key_Cartoon-McGrail_thumb%5B3%5D-2.jpg\" width=\"534\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003ECartoon by\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"color: #4d469c; font-size: x-small;\"\u003ERichard McGrail\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-size: 13px;\"\u003Efrom\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci style=\"caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;\"\u003EThe Free Radical\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003EI\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E've been reminded \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/simon-wilson-the-mess-the-national-partys-in-now-four-theories-and-a-prediction\/OFKNN7EV4VEKXHTCM3PCN4L3F4\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawL_e0tleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF3TW10eGRmOVlyS2FicjR2AR7tq5v-hu2ne2Z8ZOHdwXycYM6aI2VvkmSSLduGRpGO_j7ULBIpo-u6MbOnhg_aem_a3Eoo_S75_JWfKJPDn0y0g\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ethis morning\u003C\/a\u003E about what a clueless fucking moron we had as a Prime Minister for two-and-a-half terms. Back a few years ago when we were \"rock stars.\" \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.co.nz\/2014\/01\/were-rock-stars.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ERemember that\u003C\/a\u003E?\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnyway, here's John Fucking Key last month giving his considered analysis of what's wrong with New Zealand's economy now:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEg5LxB1uar8iv8UMLwqi64QaMYbeP3qqNBAQbFiwgniGkSuW8Q0XWziE_j5TarEdVoUBW51JxfyQCZmCJ6J9Yv9aC3jEr5D6yt8ae0GVMFsQCD2lNOMb2IQDRrJRsZfITiMu6BZ6rbkGIEGP8IMOGc_CKgw18ngFCqG0pcZ9gU1a1f5sP1zi-gO\/s403\/232-2328526_terry-gilliams-cartoon-representation-of-a-gumby-monty.png\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"403\" data-original-width=\"300\" height=\"87\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEg5LxB1uar8iv8UMLwqi64QaMYbeP3qqNBAQbFiwgniGkSuW8Q0XWziE_j5TarEdVoUBW51JxfyQCZmCJ6J9Yv9aC3jEr5D6yt8ae0GVMFsQCD2lNOMb2IQDRrJRsZfITiMu6BZ6rbkGIEGP8IMOGc_CKgw18ngFCqG0pcZ9gU1a1f5sP1zi-gO\/w65-h87\/232-2328526_terry-gilliams-cartoon-representation-of-a-gumby-monty.png\" width=\"65\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\"The guts of what’s wrong is that the housing market is going down, not up,' he said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; “When house prices go up, everybody tells the pollsters, ‘Oh that’s terrible, my son or daughter can’t buy a house. I feel really bad.’ The technical term for that is ‘bullshit’.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; “What they really do, is they say to their wife – or the wife says to her husband – ‘God, we paid $1 million for this house and it’s worth $1.7 million now.’ Quietly they go, ‘Oh, we feel rich’.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; “And then they go and borrow a bit from the ANZ and they go on holiday and they upgrade their kitchen, they feel good about life. So when you have a negative wealth effect, they feel bad.”\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003EAnd I bet the roomful of\u0026nbsp;home owners and property \"investors\" and National Party political advisors — no to mention all his former colleagues on the ANZ board —had a smug little chuckle into their at their man's shrewd witticisms.\u0026nbsp;It's hard to know where to begin at his economic acumen however, 'cos apparently it's never begun.\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELet's make it simple, since that's the best description of Key's grasp of things. Trump's been called a fucking moron for not understanding the economic destruction of tariffs. And rightly so. But Trump doesn't pretend to be in any way clued up about economics. Key does. And yet the fucking moron apparently knows nothing about a simple enough concept:\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/snbchf.com\/gold-standard\/capital-destruction\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E \u003Cb\u003Ecapital consumption\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;It's a process of \u003Ci\u003Econverting someone \u003Cu\u003Eelse’s\u003C\/u\u003E wealth into your income.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnd this is his \u003Ci\u003Eone simple trick\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;to fix the fucking economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EYou wouldn't believe it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere's what the fucking moron either doesn't know, or doesn't care to know.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat fucking \"wealth effect\" the moron talks about is paid for by one thing: it's paid for by eating the fucking seed corn. The seed corn is the part of your harvest you put aside to plant again next year. Without that seed corn, you have nothing to plant, and nothing further to harvest. What Key wants to \"fix\" the economy, the simple guts of it, is for\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;is to eat the fucking seed corn.\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;That's his recipe for success.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lifeasahuman.com\/2018\/current-affairs\/social-issues\/eating-seed-corn\/\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"431\" data-original-width=\"696\" height=\"249\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhYjxPIW8cXayNzfMGjWTwCmxL0hMsSoGFEQK2jz1nvzDRxZ3Np1uDF-ReNfMVB568n-l3wB1sDu51dOKx8KvyJg2ELE0MsNd56BK_8_X_YbjVGqvRB4neyc5rvCN4CAbdSXqS_OkWFTyAV-qVuk6RLmmwBZhr6_NJkpesSAQ_LyiTtd-ViK3Oq\/w400-h249\/Screenshot%202025-08-06%20at%2011.05.30%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAny fucking moron could get a \"wealth effect\" (and a poll bump) by consuming the seed corn. \u0026nbsp;But ultimately the farmer will pay a price; he'll no longer have anything to farm.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lifeasahuman.com\/2018\/current-affairs\/social-issues\/eating-seed-corn\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"469\" data-original-width=\"594\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhxMrL6N8B7m0LsaiVsAtC5gtKocgK16im5_8sRxuqOkKhUnJXBrydXSQZTqCchcTKnV4hf_BMWGT_WxjFagj7QU9Pay4I8nl5CJIDE4Z3ARiUXJ_icPrQPfSxmo1d7A-mS9UigFxr6lBTT_TF7rzm0I4BP7h1_pgGc28mnDQIJRMYFdU1I5ViK\/w640-h506\/Screenshot%202025-08-06%20at%2012.45.25%E2%80%AFpm.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #666666;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/lifeasahuman.com\/2018\/current-affairs\/social-issues\/eating-seed-corn\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EFellow on the right enjoys Key's \"wealth effect.\" Not so much farmers on the left.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut the difference in what Key proposes is even worse: \u003Ci\u003Ehe wants home owners to consumer \u003Cu\u003Eother people's\u003C\/u\u003E seed corn. \u003C\/i\u003EHayek used to call this \"\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/mises-wire\/artificial-booms-and-theory-forced-saving\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003Eforced saving\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\" Savers have to save more, or else, because the \"seed corn\" being consumed is theirs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003EHere's the thing: When mum and dad borrow a bit from the ANZ and go on holiday and upgrade their kitchen and put in \u003Ci\u003Eanother\u003C\/i\u003E fucking ensuite, \u003Ci\u003Ethat's paid for by what \u003Cu\u003Ewas,\u003C\/u\u003E or would have been, accumulated capital. \u003C\/i\u003EThe accumulated capital\u003Ci\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003Eof those other savers. It's called \"forced saving\" because\u0026nbsp;what pays for John Key's fucking borrowing is new \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.co.nz\/2008\/01\/counterfeit-capital.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ecounterfeit capita\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/b\u003El: i.e., new money that's been borrowed into existence to pay for the holiday, the new kitchen, the fucking ensuite. That \u003Ci\u003Ecounterfeit\u003C\/i\u003E capital means savers are forced to save more just to keep up.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThat's because this new borrowing is new money \"injected into the economic system at a specific point\" that advantages those \u003Ci\u003Econsuming\u003C\/i\u003E the counterfeit capital while disadvantaging those trying to save.\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EIf the money or credit were evenly distributed among all economic agents, no “expansionary” effect would appear, except the decrease in the purchasing power of the monetary unit in proportion to the rise in the quantity of money.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EHowever if the new money enters the market at certain specific points, as always occurs, then in reality a relatively small number of economic agents initially receive the new loans. Thus these economic agents temporarily enjoy greater purchasing power, given that they possess a larger number of monetary units with which to buy goods and services at market prices that still have not felt the full impact of the inflation and therefore have not yet risen. \u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe purchasing power of these home-owners is paid for by the losses of savers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EHence the process gives rise to a redistribution of income in favour of those who first receive the new injections or doses of monetary units, to the detriment of the rest of society, who find that with the same monetary income, the prices of goods and services begin to go up. “Forced saving” affects this second group of economic agents (the majority), since their monetary income grows at a slower rate than prices, and they are therefore obliged to reduce their consumption, other things being equal.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/mises.org\/mises-wire\/artificial-booms-and-theory-forced-saving#footnote1_lzlfE2zvkbTHjA6Y7m7kpshGRMnnjeurvoaMSrV9ZJo_vMBbWD22ly7i\" style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EIn a nutshell Key's quick-fix for poll-driven success, and economic growth, is to grant home-owners purchasing power by quietly, secretly and unobserved, stealing from savers. (\"By a continuing process of inflation, governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens.\" ~ John Maynard Keynes)\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003ERecall that he said something similar when the problem erupted of paying to repair leaky homes. He said quite bluntly, not to worry, \u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2009\/11\/mr-keys-dirty-little-secret.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003Einflation would fix that\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Remember that when housing unaffordability was bad before he took office, and he\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2007\/08\/key-on-housing-affordability-and.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Epromised to fix it\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E. He didn't, of course. Instead, he did everything he could to put rocket fucking fuel under house prices. It would, he claimed, 'fix\" the problem of paying for the problem.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EThis prick has form.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EHe's either a calculating Machiavellian.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EOr he's pig ignorant.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EMy money's on the latter.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERELATED:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2007\/08\/key-on-housing-affordability-and.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EKey on housing affordability and elsewhere\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2007\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.co.nz\/2008\/01\/counterfeit-capital.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ECounterfeit capital\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2008\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2009\/11\/mr-keys-dirty-little-secret.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EMr Key’s dirty little secret\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2009\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.co.nz\/2014\/01\/were-rock-stars.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWe’re rock stars!\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2014\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/snbchf.com\/gold-standard\/capital-destruction\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EHow Do People Destroy Capital?\u003C\/a\u003E - Keith Weiner, SNBCHF, 2015\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2015\/11\/housing-bubble-is-consuming-our-capital.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EHousing bubble is consuming our capital\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2015\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2016\/03\/the-reserve-banks-war-on-capital.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EThe Reserve Bank’s war on capital\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2016\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2016\/07\/key-admits-to-crisis-theatre-and-talks.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EKey admits to ‘crisis theatre’ and talks up house-price inflation\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2016\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2017\/01\/topten-2-john-key-had-unbelievable.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EJohn Key \u003Cstrike\u003Ehas\u003C\/strike\u003E had an unbelievable solution for affordable housing\u003C\/a\u003E - NOT PC, 2017\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/177461975624804566\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/177461975624804566","title":"4 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/177461975624804566"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/177461975624804566"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/john-key-is-still-fucking-moron.html","title":"John Key is still a fucking moron"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhIWP2SJzXubwaZ-0Zs-jPqIQpSIlsrOlYZ7KXBNlUJdQm8UevLeUYbA0mOmQKOPBkAsRP16jcRGAY4B-JdDR2VgiBhTwVJ72-tBl9BoAxiy8WNjkYbx3kWWeZm6YDPa9PUc4zw45l4vt0gXDpO0HRfdCNMOu3nYrHGaxHphYaWAQzcF0g7YD-I\/s72-w534-h640-c\/John_Key_Cartoon-McGrail_thumb%5B3%5D-2.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"4"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-705593585090054050"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-06T09:05:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-06T09:05:00.113+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Cartoons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Humour"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Psychology"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Laughter"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhQrPzoL1HK9se6XS5rAXDNUgxOtGZ9RwzilpNADK4no-l23ld-YRmbwhR_TPBSDA9oRfTyu6f1Qwhz0TnPhMFYsfsSi4QhiEMddqJNtBQV8_nUzt8gEMD4ErhaAlazK0ynfcEToRaBnugrttfhmDQThaEzO_nU7vmziOwV1a2tOGSev3fIkaB7\/s608\/thurber_03161935.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"384\" data-original-width=\"608\" height=\"404\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhQrPzoL1HK9se6XS5rAXDNUgxOtGZ9RwzilpNADK4no-l23ld-YRmbwhR_TPBSDA9oRfTyu6f1Qwhz0TnPhMFYsfsSi4QhiEMddqJNtBQV8_nUzt8gEMD4ErhaAlazK0ynfcEToRaBnugrttfhmDQThaEzO_nU7vmziOwV1a2tOGSev3fIkaB7\/w640-h404\/thurber_03161935.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"L\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eaughter is a reflex, but unique in that it serves no apparent biological purpose; one might call it a luxury reflex. Its only function seems to be to provide relief from tension. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\"The[re] ...  is a striking discrepancy between the nature of the stimulus and that of the response in humorous transactions. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\"When a blow beneath the kneecap causes an automatic upward kick, both 'stimulus' and 'response' function on the same primitive physiological level, without requiring the intervention of the higher mental functions. But that such a complex mental activity as reading a page of Thurber should cause a specific reflex contraction of the facial muscles is a lopsided phenomenon that has puzzled philosophers since Plato. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\"Humour is the only form of communication in which a stimulus on a high level of complexity produces a stereotyped, predictable response on the physiological reflex level. Thus the response can be used as an indicator for the presence of the elusive quality that is called humour—as the click of the Geiger counter is used to indicate the presence of radioactivity. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\"Such a procedure is not possible in any other form of art; and, since the step from the sublime to the ridiculous is reversible, the study of humour provides clues for the study of creativity in general.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Arthur Koestler, composite quote from his book \u003Ci\u003EAct of Creation \u003C\/i\u003Eand his entry on 'Humour' in \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/humor\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EEncyclopaedia Britannica\u003C\/a\u003E —\u003C\/i\u003Eusing \"\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/waynocartoons.blogspot.com\/2023\/04\/ham-existentialism.html\"\u003Edense academia-speak\u003C\/a\u003E\" to say that humour has psychological benefits [Cartoons by Thurber. Hat tip Gordon McLauchlan's \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.fishpond.co.nz\/Books\/Acid-Test-Gordon-McLauchlan\/9780456029404?srsltid=AfmBOopVlU4eLVHTxBTQK39tYub9UsZfuP0qHP7vwUfDt2plL7PGpjpr\"\u003EAcid Test\u003C\/a\u003E]\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEj1oXNHVZtFuwNReUCVYcalITS_5qrn2on9so6ph9dS2hRY0KOct_v7JJED-68UT3hNOp9cbXmryWDqrT2aX9lG623ORLfIgZREi5S0z4wWUtzLJ4BhezzxZR908qiyZX-Df6sRZNIKgTn_9s8pUwlIvldHWGOGppBCy_PE8GaxG7jZejZpsC2E\/s600\/thurber-court.jpg.webp\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"447\" data-original-width=\"600\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEj1oXNHVZtFuwNReUCVYcalITS_5qrn2on9so6ph9dS2hRY0KOct_v7JJED-68UT3hNOp9cbXmryWDqrT2aX9lG623ORLfIgZREi5S0z4wWUtzLJ4BhezzxZR908qiyZX-Df6sRZNIKgTn_9s8pUwlIvldHWGOGppBCy_PE8GaxG7jZejZpsC2E\/w640-h478\/thurber-court.jpg.webp\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/705593585090054050\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/705593585090054050","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/705593585090054050"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/705593585090054050"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/laughter.html","title":"Laughter"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhQrPzoL1HK9se6XS5rAXDNUgxOtGZ9RwzilpNADK4no-l23ld-YRmbwhR_TPBSDA9oRfTyu6f1Qwhz0TnPhMFYsfsSi4QhiEMddqJNtBQV8_nUzt8gEMD4ErhaAlazK0ynfcEToRaBnugrttfhmDQThaEzO_nU7vmziOwV1a2tOGSev3fIkaB7\/s72-w640-h404-c\/thurber_03161935.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6704020666807826590"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-05T14:05:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-05T14:05:26.546+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Humour"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Psychology"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Neurotic v psychotic"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"A\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E psychotic is an out-and-out loon. He may think his father is poisoning his yoghurt, that his wife is planning to strangle him with noodles, or that the US Government should flood Las Vegas with soda water.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \"A neurotic on the other hand is a determined sufferer, afflicted by things like depressed cuticles, a fear of pistachio nuts or underarm humidity.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \"To put it most simply, a psychotic thinks two plus two equals seven ... A neurotic knows that two plus two equals four — but he just can't stand it.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Leo Rosten from his novel \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/1136698.Dear_Herm_with_a_cast_of_dozens_\" style=\"font-style: italic;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EDear Herm\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;[hat tip Gordon McLauchlan's \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.fishpond.co.nz\/Books\/Acid-Test-Gordon-McLauchlan\/9780456029404?srsltid=AfmBOopVlU4eLVHTxBTQK39tYub9UsZfuP0qHP7vwUfDt2plL7PGpjpr\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAcid Test\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E]\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/1136698.Dear_Herm_with_a_cast_of_dozens_\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/book\/show\/1136698.Dear_Herm_with_a_cast_of_dozens_\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6704020666807826590\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6704020666807826590","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6704020666807826590"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6704020666807826590"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/neurotic-v-psychotic.html","title":"Neurotic v psychotic"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6312035187927615891"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-05T08:51:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-05T08:51:00.118+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Cartoons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Donald Trump"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-US"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tariffs"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Trump's tariff belief \"the equivalent of a belief in witches or a belief that the earth is a flat disc balanced atop a tower of turtles.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhj-FqWbF8Ix0WjpSkCRNUM_Mu8I9p_In5qvez7LI3VbA2CPyvJR0UyhcbdxlUbWLus6aM2lNwKj0A6OErY77LcviftXVuPdhuF9i4lp6nFZTplgnN9EWvAeLbK8Qc2bdbPrCdUdHEClouutLUFV10CtqR6A9r3zaUihI-OPPTp0oGrN1unXWWm\/s1030\/526439395_10161329501036759_8302798410022568635_n.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1030\" data-original-width=\"760\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhj-FqWbF8Ix0WjpSkCRNUM_Mu8I9p_In5qvez7LI3VbA2CPyvJR0UyhcbdxlUbWLus6aM2lNwKj0A6OErY77LcviftXVuPdhuF9i4lp6nFZTplgnN9EWvAeLbK8Qc2bdbPrCdUdHEClouutLUFV10CtqR6A9r3zaUihI-OPPTp0oGrN1unXWWm\/w472-h640\/526439395_10161329501036759_8302798410022568635_n.jpg\" width=\"472\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"I\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E realise that Trump true believers are unpersuadable; this outcome is assured by their blind faith in Trump. But for those of you who still listen to reason and facts, all you need do is to reflect on the fact that Trump believes that U.S. trade deficits in goods with individual countries - such as the U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland - is an economically meaningful concept that reveals that we Americans are 'losing' in our trade with Switzerland. This belief is the equivalent of a belief in witches or a belief that the earth is a flat disc balanced atop a tower of turtles.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ economist \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/donald.j.boudreaux.1\/posts\/pfbid0rN7aQauaDZt3E2dMwxWDL27BrmPYJdhqnmvGNN432EiRsvJeGpQDCrma48UoL6tql?__cft__[0]=AZUQtMGcf_i24th0rPXbvVYxrM7a7DzNq75C1xCwRwUPXS6xRcUM6uIYTjZt9iJCzMV8dreBT9P-zK98KNHEAOwYZy9LBEh4caUVQESJtO8m603bv6msB3nBdEzdP-EPKcyXt3IcQOpMRQ5Lgg4hnV424UoomZTNsLAdOcflhsphjA\u0026amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EDon Boudreaux\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6312035187927615891\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6312035187927615891","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6312035187927615891"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6312035187927615891"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/trumps-tariff-belief-equivalent-of.html","title":"Trump's tariff belief \"the equivalent of a belief in witches or a belief that the earth is a flat disc balanced atop a tower of turtles.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhj-FqWbF8Ix0WjpSkCRNUM_Mu8I9p_In5qvez7LI3VbA2CPyvJR0UyhcbdxlUbWLus6aM2lNwKj0A6OErY77LcviftXVuPdhuF9i4lp6nFZTplgnN9EWvAeLbK8Qc2bdbPrCdUdHEClouutLUFV10CtqR6A9r3zaUihI-OPPTp0oGrN1unXWWm\/s72-w472-h640-c\/526439395_10161329501036759_8302798410022568635_n.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6836832090065492554"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-04T10:22:00.006+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-04T10:22:57.431+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Catastrophising"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Environment"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Global Warming"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mental Health"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Psychology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Technology"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"The doomsday mindset is causing widespread anxiety in young people"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhMZFQgRULepLg_G_7Zxh8cPuliMJ_OB9nAaw7iAhqAYjrUYgKoq3couplkjJbf2-2d_IudFOfOM5gOIR3LXhrMkn3doycr9z8dCei_XW7ASdSCMeTfz2GQQT-E-ffQeC9BDE-PfrNySf3b-5vquF5jY2HFmfMQVKRF6c3iGptN8XzDiyH0wdb6\/s1360\/Child-and-Sunrise-Image.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"752\" data-original-width=\"1360\" height=\"223\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhMZFQgRULepLg_G_7Zxh8cPuliMJ_OB9nAaw7iAhqAYjrUYgKoq3couplkjJbf2-2d_IudFOfOM5gOIR3LXhrMkn3doycr9z8dCei_XW7ASdSCMeTfz2GQQT-E-ffQeC9BDE-PfrNySf3b-5vquF5jY2HFmfMQVKRF6c3iGptN8XzDiyH0wdb6\/w400-h223\/Child-and-Sunrise-Image.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\"H\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003Euman beings have the unique ability to innovate their way out of problems, creating technological solutions that benefit both people and the planet. Unfortunately, children today are often bombarded with messages of an impending apocalypse that can only be warded off by lowering living standards and embracing 'degrowth.' ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Even popular culture sometimes promotes this apocalyptic degrowth mindset to children. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Not only is the embrace of degrowth misguided, but research suggests that this doomsday mindset is causing widespread anxiety in young people. ... [T]hat anxiety is international: A study from 2021, surveying 10,000 children and young people aged 16–25 in 10 countries, found that 59 percent of respondents were very or extremely worried about climate change, and more than 45 percent of respondents said those feelings negatively affected daily life and basic functioning.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EHuman beings have the unique ability to innovate their way out of problems, creating technological solutions that benefit both people and the planet. Unfortunately, children today are often bombarded with messages of an impending apocalypse that can only be warded off by lowering living standards and embracing 'degrowth'...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Instead of rushing to solutions that require lowering living standards via coercive government mandates or expensive taxpayer-funded subsidies, we should focus on the freedom to make technological advances that raise our standard of living while also mitigating environmental harm. An advantage of that approach is that it may also improve the mental health of young people...\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Chelsea Follett from her post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/humanprogress.org\/the-kids-need-optimism-not-doom-and-degrowth\/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLk-TtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHknwGfFu3oNlXlIhmWvLZ-e7kshKeXS1aGnZ0HTT68JdpsPPDqEz8N4NXCUT_aem_64DDgGD8kJe5lzg6gpfeJA\"\u003EThe Kids Need Optimism, Not Doom and Degrowth\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6836832090065492554\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6836832090065492554","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6836832090065492554"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6836832090065492554"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/the-doomsday-mindset-is-causing.html","title":"\"The doomsday mindset is causing widespread anxiety in young people"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhMZFQgRULepLg_G_7Zxh8cPuliMJ_OB9nAaw7iAhqAYjrUYgKoq3couplkjJbf2-2d_IudFOfOM5gOIR3LXhrMkn3doycr9z8dCei_XW7ASdSCMeTfz2GQQT-E-ffQeC9BDE-PfrNySf3b-5vquF5jY2HFmfMQVKRF6c3iGptN8XzDiyH0wdb6\/s72-w400-h223-c\/Child-and-Sunrise-Image.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-5428701252773003219"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-02T09:07:00.019+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-02T09:07:00.119+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Education"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Entrepreneurs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Montessori"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Montessori for entrepreneurs"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/montessori-ami.org\/news\/business-montessori\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"377\" data-original-width=\"1161\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgnorI7mZc_3f_Or1tN9BBkc3KeSLeY8RBzK_i3lSnH73FciIh-bZFESULT5lZltTXgBZuu7rzxPvd_SmQVPwY_rFUqpoqiSbuK7QX7LHT2yFf0Rn5tAHufd3G-lG-U4qsBC6cOkGclwAHuJ5beuZuw_0o6sO6egNaN2dLO9z5hS-153QVciXYU\/w640-h210\/Screenshot%202025-07-30%20at%203.36.30%E2%80%AFpm.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EH\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003Emmm. Interesting. The international head of Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) is\u0026nbsp;considering  developing \"a fully-fledged Montessori course for business Montessori.\" I'd rephrase that to simply:\u0026nbsp;Montessori for entrepreneurs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELynn Lawrence, based in Amsterdam, thinks they may have too much on the boil already, but discussions around the idea have already led \"to some interesting background reading and some insights into the way Montessori principles have already found their way into the business world.\" \u003Ca href=\" https:\/\/montessori-ami.org\/news\/business-montessori\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EFor example\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003EAmbiga Dhiraj, the head of talent management at Mu Sigma, a decision science and analytics service firm, wrote\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2012\/01\/develop-leaders-the-montessori\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;for the Harvard Business Review\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;on their business modelling its employee development on Montessori schools. \u0026nbsp;...\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003EHe suggested that “an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development” were basic tenets from the Montessori classroom equally applicable to the workforce. ...\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003EThe ultimate payoff for the business was that it translated into better service for clients and “keeping the right people for the right reasons”. The latter is a particular advantage in a world where the best talent can be hard to find and even harder to keep.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003EJustin Wasserman, a Managing Director with Kotter International, (the strategy execution firm founded by world renowned Harvard Business School professor, Dr. John Kotter) considered the “corporate kindergarten” and “how a Montessori mindset can transform your business”. \u0026nbsp;He \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/johnkotter\/2015\/12\/16\/corporate-kindergarten-how-a-montessori-mindset-can-transform-your-business\/?sh=2a1b72be6c19\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ereflected\u003C\/a\u003E on the uniqueness of Montessori classrooms, the benefits of mixed-ages, self-directed learning, children gravitating to what interests them and teachers as “coaches and facilitators rather than puppet-masters or dictators.” ...\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003EWasserman noted that most in corporate America grew up “confined by the rigid structures of our conventional education system” and tend to wait for directives on high to determine their actions. \u0026nbsp;He contrasts that with Montessori children full of new ideas, confident that failure is acceptable and that mistakes are best seen as learning opportunities. \u0026nbsp;He argues that businesses need to create a “corporate kindergarten culture where Montessori mindsets are cultivated and rewarded.”\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003EIn his comments about the “conventional education system,” Lawrence notes that this makes \"very much the same case as Angeline Lillard in her marvellous and fiercely argued piece “\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fdpys.2023.1177576\/full\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EWhy the time is right for an education revolution\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E” \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/montessori-ami.org\/news\/business-montessori\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EShe concludes\u003C\/a\u003E:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003EBringing the principles of Montessori education into the workplace is one way of building a new and more productive approach to business but it seems to me that it would be so much better for society if the work began in school. \u0026nbsp;The thought of a continuum where Montessori is embedded in every part of an individual’s education from pre-school, throughout their career and into the support they receive as elders is an attractive proposition. ...\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003ECommentators as diverse as\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/joe-rogan-clashes-jose-andres-school-podcast-2069652\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EJoe Rogan\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/podscripts.co\/podcasts\/the-ezra-klein-show\/we-have-to-really-rethink-the-purpose-of-education?show_ads=true\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EEzra Klein\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;question the ability of existing mainstream education to satisfy the needs of a modern, knowledge economy. \u0026nbsp;The gap is seen in\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/workplaceinsight.net\/graduates-dont-offer-employers-enough-creativity-in-the-workplace\/\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Eresearch from the UK\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;suggesting that hiring managers rank problem-solving (63%), communications (63%) and creativity (53%) as three highly sought after skills. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/nairametrics.com\/2025\/02\/04\/survey-75-of-employers-say-college-graduates-are-unprepared-for-workforce-forbes\/\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EIn the US\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;similar research suggests employers are looking for practical problem solving, team working, and global mindset but that new graduates do not feel they have received these skills in their education. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan face=\"HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif\" style=\"background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003EMontessori education can undoubtedly provide the grounding that will help people excel in their careers and make significant contributions to business success. \u0026nbsp;This was an underlying theme of the BBC article, “\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20230131-does-the-montessori-method-actually-work\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EMontessori. The world’s most influential school\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E?” and has been\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/fastercapital.com\/content\/Montessori-model--Montessori-Model--Nurturing-Business-Leaders-of-Tomorrow.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Eamplified by FasterCapital\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E, a global venture builder and online incubator for innovative start-ups. \u0026nbsp;It is also central to Andrew McAfee’s book\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Geek-Way-Radical-Transforming-Business\/dp\/0316436704\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003EThe Geek Way: The Radical Mindset that Drives Extraordinary Results\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003Ewhich he\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2023\/09\/how-the-geeks-rewrote-the-rules-of-management\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Ediscusses in the Harvard Business Review\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: 16px;\"\u003E. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cp style=\"box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 11px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EThere are powerful lessons for leaders in the way that Montessori principles can develop teams that are both happy and high performing. \u0026nbsp;Generational changes have increasingly meant that command and control structures considered the height of good management in past decades are being\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.abodehr.com\/blog\/adapting-to-gen-zs-impact-on-work-culture-and-leadership\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: #3cbcad; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Esoundly rejected by younger people\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026nbsp;Self-managing and self-motivated groups that embrace diversity, aspiration and novelty are part of a Montessori culture.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\"box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 11px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003EOur advocacy is always for education and leadership that enables every human to create themselves and become fulfilled, which does not necessarily mean they will choose to work in an organisation or pursue a career. \u0026nbsp;However, we also believe that workplaces which introduce Montessori ideals that nurture and cherish the potential of each and every individual will excel. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp style=\"box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(74, 74, 74); color: #4a4a4a; font-family: HelveticaNeueLTStd-Lt, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 11px;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"background-color: white; font-size: 16px;\"\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/5428701252773003219\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/5428701252773003219","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5428701252773003219"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5428701252773003219"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/montessori-for-entrepreneurs.html","title":"Montessori for entrepreneurs"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgnorI7mZc_3f_Or1tN9BBkc3KeSLeY8RBzK_i3lSnH73FciIh-bZFESULT5lZltTXgBZuu7rzxPvd_SmQVPwY_rFUqpoqiSbuK7QX7LHT2yFf0Rn5tAHufd3G-lG-U4qsBC6cOkGclwAHuJ5beuZuw_0o6sO6egNaN2dLO9z5hS-153QVciXYU\/s72-w640-h210-c\/Screenshot%202025-07-30%20at%203.36.30%E2%80%AFpm.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-2149396300063209424"},"published":{"$t":"2025-08-01T09:05:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-08-03T12:39:03.729+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"John Robertson"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Te Reo"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Te reo: 'it's not revival — it’s resuscitation.'"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E \"T\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Ee reo isn’t 'thriving.' It’s being artificially kept alive with millions of taxpayer dollars. That’s not revival — that’s resuscitation.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ John Robertson from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/john-robertson-new-zealand-is-being.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ENew Zealand is being culturally hijacked...\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2149396300063209424\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/2149396300063209424","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/2149396300063209424"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/2149396300063209424"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/08\/te-reo-not-revival-its-resuscitation.html","title":"Te reo: 'it's not revival — it’s resuscitation.'"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6863170439819539074"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-31T08:42:00.000+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-31T08:42:00.109+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Economics"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Free Trade"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\" The real delusion is the belief that advanced societies can live off spreadsheets while their physical base erodes.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E \"Y\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eou see the retreat of industry in rich economies as a benign, inevitable drift toward services. On the ground it looks rather less idyllic. The real delusion is the belief that advanced societies can live off spreadsheets while their physical base erodes. Service innovation is welcome, but someone still has to pour the concrete and draw the wire. Better to recognise that reality now than relearn it in a hot war or a cold winter. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"De-industrial economies are not more efficient. They are merely importing other people's efficiency and exporting their own purchasing power.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"The lesson is not to seal borders behind tariff walls—Donald Trump's metals duties in 2018 proved how self-harming that can be—but to run an active, open industrial strategy. Permit planning that allows large plants to be built in years, not decades; use public co-investment where spill-overs are obvious ...; use trade among allies so that capacity is pooled rather than duplicated.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Wladimir Kraus from his \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/letters\/2025\/07\/03\/manufacturing-remains-a-core-driver-of-economic-growth\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eletter to \u003Ci\u003EThe Economist\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/letters\/2025\/07\/03\/manufacturing-remains-a-core-driver-of-economic-growth\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/letters\/2025\/07\/03\/manufacturing-remains-a-core-driver-of-economic-growth\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6863170439819539074\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6863170439819539074","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6863170439819539074"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6863170439819539074"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/real-delusion-is-belief-that-advanced.html","title":"\" The real delusion is the belief that advanced societies can live off spreadsheets while their physical base erodes.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6318153426329879137"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-30T08:53:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-30T08:53:00.117+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bill English"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Damien Grant"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Jacinda Ardern"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Our politics does not produce deep ideological thinkers\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"O\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eur politics does not produce deep ideological thinkers, here in New Zealand. We produce people who do things and then write about them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"'\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/world-news\/360709855\/jacinda-ardern-back-international-spotlight-heres-why\"\u003EA Different Kind of Power\u003C\/a\u003E' is in this tradition ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Ardern’s book is a series of events told in an accessible style; she takes us through what occurred, and what she did in reaction.  ...But there are no ideas. And when she writes about political decisions of seismic impact there is a bland telling of what occurred. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Things happened. She reacted. She resigned.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"What, I would ask those who are passionate either way when it comes to her Prime Ministership, did she achieve that was different if Winston Peters had elected to reinstall Bill English in office? ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"The angst and adoration that she inspires is unwarranted in either direction; and all we have left is Kindness. But kindness is not an ideology, a school of thought or framework for governance.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It is branding.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Damien Grant from his column '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.stuff.co.nz\/nz-news\/360770057\/damien-grant-july-has-become-ardern-reflection-month\"\u003EJuly has become Ardern Reflection Month\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6318153426329879137\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6318153426329879137","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6318153426329879137"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6318153426329879137"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/our-politics-does-not-produce-deep.html","title":"\"Our politics does not produce deep ideological thinkers\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-2867347678696346528"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-29T11:15:00.002+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-31T09:36:50.672+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Cultural Change"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Culture"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Professional-Managerial Class"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Religion"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Te Reo"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"It’s not really about te reo, tikanga, or even Māori. It’s about power.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/aniobrien.substack.com\/p\/its-just-a-passport-cover-except\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"613\" data-original-width=\"931\" height=\"266\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEg6qwTYJYLbee1JBk18IQy6alFEUrzDI3KKGuWLfwq5a9n5l8xHh3-7yhTekUjhOPdqPtrriOLSeb657iUtkKu8au3AOCCXB6HjOhUav5k3I0Wcyr17mB8pqYPOsn62y-wV_f7UE7qrYINGshp30pYXzvmKX0yitWuDGHo5rsrfwJOewkeuZUyB\/w400-h266\/f756622b-7473-4641-bc5a-a126a5e08c2e_931x613.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"I\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Et’s not \u003Cu\u003Ereally\u003C\/u\u003E about the words. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"That so many Kiwis care about [the wording on a passport] shows this is a symptom of a much bigger problem. ... a microcosm of the slow-burning cultural tension that has been building in New Zealand for years. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"What began as a well-meaning effort to honour Māori language and culture has, in the hands of our cultural elites, become a tool for ideological conformity and social stratification.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It’s not really about te reo, tikanga, or even Māori. It’s about power. ... They get to be the priest class. They can sneer at the plumber in Palmerston North who doesn’t want his kids doing karakia at school, and tell themselves they’re not just smarter, but better. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E\"Today, we’re swimming in a sea of te ao Māori frameworks, mandatory karakia in secular spaces, and public servants scrambling to prove their cultural credentials rather than deliver basic services. The line between recognising Māori as tangata whenua and enforcing a cultural ideology across every aspect of national life has become increasingly blurry and people have noticed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I am wound up that we’ve arrived at a place where people can’t distinguish between cultural recognition and cultural imposition. Where using Māori names is no longer about embracing heritage, it’s about enforcing allegiance.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Ani O'Brien from her post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/aniobrien.substack.com\/p\/its-just-a-passport-cover-except\"\u003EIt's just a passport cover... except it's not\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/2867347678696346528\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/2867347678696346528","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/2867347678696346528"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/2867347678696346528"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/its-not-really-about-te-reo-tikanga-or.html","title":"\"It’s not really about te reo, tikanga, or even Māori. It’s about power.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEg6qwTYJYLbee1JBk18IQy6alFEUrzDI3KKGuWLfwq5a9n5l8xHh3-7yhTekUjhOPdqPtrriOLSeb657iUtkKu8au3AOCCXB6HjOhUav5k3I0Wcyr17mB8pqYPOsn62y-wV_f7UE7qrYINGshp30pYXzvmKX0yitWuDGHo5rsrfwJOewkeuZUyB\/s72-w400-h266-c\/f756622b-7473-4641-bc5a-a126a5e08c2e_931x613.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-8904632472310753730"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-29T08:38:00.003+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-29T09:54:37.087+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Famine"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Hamas"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Israel"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Palestine"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"\"Starvation and death serve the Hamas plan. That means that Israel must decide how far it wants to push—and when to stop.\""},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/matti-friedman-is-gaza-starving-searching-for-truth-in-information-war\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/matti-friedman-is-gaza-starving-searching-for-truth-in-information-war\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"599\" data-original-width=\"939\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgS9gmj-LhWKa2u8lddd9qg2AFCnZQFGLBYeQB0tM6kGWPFpM7usLiz0NMUk0oYQT_ldT5Y_KLUH7Id_OircEQi6r9lpDk2Tz7swWYpOCRCqT7KmYdudRSSplg-DJ7BMUl7s9ErxnKAuXvOsHH-yHmuTlFIOugBNc6X246BmfjH3OHoS5ng6evf\/w640-h410\/Screenshot%202025-07-29%20at%209.53.15%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\"N\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003Eews consumers worldwide were galvanised over the weekend by disturbing photos like those of the Gazan child Muhammad al-Matouq, who appeared on the front page of Britain’s 'Daily Express' and then on that of 'The New York Times' and elsewhere as the symbol of Israel’s cruel starvation of innocents. After the photographs were seen around the world it \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mishtal\/status\/1949363283774873710\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Ebecame clear\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E that the child in fact suffers from cerebral palsy and other conditions unrelated to starvation. The suffering child ended up being less the intended symbol of Israeli evil than of how genuine misery can be put to use by practitioners of narrative war. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"[This is not new.] A few weeks into the Gaza war that began on October 7, 2023, we Israelis learned from every major press outlet in the West that we’d just bombed a hospital and killed hundreds of people. The devastated Al-Ahli hospital was on front pages around the world, with a \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2023\/10\/the-new-york-times-offers-a-limited-mea-culpa-for-how-it-initially-presented-news-of-the-gaza-hospital-blast\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2023\/10\/the-new-york-times-offers-a-limited-mea-culpa-for-how-it-initially-presented-news-of-the-gaza-hospital-blast\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003E headline\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E reporting 'at least 500 dead.' Furious protests erupted, and a mob \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/historic-synagogue-in-tunisia-heavily-damaged-in-rioting-tied-to-israel-hamas-war\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eburned a synagogue\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E in Tunisia. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"The story was fake. A misfired Palestinian rocket had landed near the hospital, which was intact. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003EAround the same time, we started reading that Israel’s response to the October 7 terror attack—a war that Palestinians started, and which had barely begun at the time—was actually a 'genocide,' an \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/quillette.com\/2024\/01\/11\/the-language-of-soviet-propaganda\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eideological slur\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E thrown at Israel by Soviet propagandists, Arab dictators, and the Western left beginning in the 1970s. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Reports of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-gaza-famine-myth\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eimpending hunger\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E engineered by Israel in Gaza have been commonplace not just since the beginning of this war but for at least a decade and a half, since Hamas seized the territory and Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade that supposedly turned Gaza into an 'open-air prison.' The famine never materialised. Now we hear claims that this same period of supposedly extreme deprivation was actually a Gazan idyll that Israel has cruelly destroyed in this war. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Very little of what is reported here, in other words, is what it seems. This is nothing new. Over the years, Israelis have been accused of \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/opinions\/2002\/05\/03\/jenin-the-truth\/5c71e68f-fa63-43d2-b0a2-2b39c3774f05\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Efake massacres\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E and \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/al-jazeera-report-alleging-idf-rapes-in-shifa-hospital-retracted\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Erapes\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E. The country’s actions are lied about almost daily by people describing themselves as journalists, analysts, and representatives of the United Nations, often \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2025\/04\/26\/hamas-70pc-women-children-dead-claim-false\/\" style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Eusing statistics\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E that are themselves untrue. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cp style=\"font-family: var(--fp-serif); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"But one of the most awful prices [ of being unmoored from objective reality] was made clear this past week, with \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-price-of-flour-shows-the-hunger-crisis-in-gaza-israel-war-hamas\"\u003Ereports of acute hunger\u003C\/a\u003E in Gaza.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"In a blizzard of ideological fiction, how are sane citizens in Israel, or anywhere else, supposed to know what’s true and to do the right thing? It’s not an exaggeration to say, as we’re seeing right now, that the answer to this question can be a matter of life and death. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"[O]ur plight as journalists is only marginally better than that of the average citizen. ... [T]here [are] nearly no trustworthy sources regarding reality in Gaza—certainly not the “Gaza Health Ministry,” which answers to Hamas; or Palestinian reporters intimidated by Hamas; or the international organisations, like the UN refugee agency UNRWA, embroiled in \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/unwatch.org\/the-unholy-alliance-unrwa-hamas-and-islamic-jihad\/\"\u003Evarious forms of collaboration with Hamas\u003C\/a\u003E. All of the above are engaged in a successful information campaign that uses Palestinian suffering, real and imagined, to catalyse international anger and tie Israel’s hands. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"The international press isn’t the answer. During my years as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press, I saw coverage altered by Hamas threats to our staff, while this fact was concealed from readers. I know firsthand that nearly no information coming from Gaza can be taken at face value.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"But neither can ... Israelis trust [their] own government, which has regularly misled the public ....\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"And we can’t trust much of the information from the army, which regularly spins information overtly or by omission. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"When I asked ... a senior government official, with connections at the highest levels here and abroad—if people are starving in Gaza, he answered honestly, 'I don’t know.' ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Ohad Hemo, the Palestinian affairs reporter for [Israel's] Channel 12 News, the country’s most widely watched news programme ... \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mako.co.il\/news-world\/2025_q3\/Article-88db0b567083891027.htm\"\u003Ereport[ed] last Wednesday\u003C\/a\u003E [that f]ood warehouses serving Hamas fighters are still full, ... and the crisis wasn’t only Israel’s fault. However ...\"there is hunger in Gaza, and we need to state this loud and clear.” ... [A] senior figure in the Israeli military told one of my colleagues at the end of last week that while there isn’t mass starvation as claimed by pro-Hamas propaganda, Gaza really is on the brink this time. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"This explains why Israel, in panic mode, began air-dropping aid this weekend, along with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, and has declared 'humanitarian pauses' to let food reach civilians—essentially unilateral ceasefires without any reciprocation from Hamas. There are now indications that \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-price-of-flour-shows-the-hunger-crisis-in-gaza-israel-war-hamas\"\u003Efood prices are dropping\u003C\/a\u003E and that some of the scarcity is being addressed, but the situation for many civilians remains dire.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-price-of-flour-shows-the-hunger-crisis-in-gaza-israel-war-hamas\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"583\" data-original-width=\"829\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEh0EovpEBiwBuspTb1nSbPhswVCn3z71zXbA-QTzQLfiQpghnmpmuHyCbqrEu_qH73IwhnS3c5hJ_25-NBXAKraEsHQ1TfaUNr3-X4Hctn56M-MfkW82cAQOmvi4W5hTuZonIgAFv8QT1iju6jtzAnhGE7UHUTtC50iH5dc_65z1RqTIAPyx54j\/w640-h452\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%202.49.12%E2%80%AFpm.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"Israel says Hamas bears the responsibility, as the group has diverted aid both to hoard for its fighters and to sell to finance the war—and then cynically \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/the-gaza-famine-myth\"\u003Euses Palestinian suffering\u003C\/a\u003E as a propaganda tool. ... [Earlier this year] Israel began trying to conclusively break Hamas’s control of food by providing it through a new organisation, American-run and Israeli-affiliated, called the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/new-aid-group-in-gaza-makes-an-end\"\u003EGaza Humanitarian Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Because the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is an acute threat to its power, Hamas has been doing what it can to foment unrest around its distribution sites, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4gr1rk5nvxo\"\u003Ekill its workers\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/afalkhatib\/status\/1947489540144341081\"\u003Eintimidate people\u003C\/a\u003E accepting its food. ... —[which] has often meant \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/2025\/07\/26\/gaza-airdrops-resume-starvation-israel\/\"\u003Echaotic scenes\u003C\/a\u003E of thousands of men descending on the distribution sites and picking them clean, coming into dangerous and sometimes fatal contact with Israeli soldiers who are understandably scared of disguised Hamas fighters and unprepared for the kind of mass chaos they’re expected to control. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It’s impossible to know how many Palestinians have been killed in these incidents, because Hamas numbers are part of the group’s information war. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"An experienced Israeli civilian involved in the aid efforts, from an organization that works both with international aid groups and the Israeli military, said on Friday that mass starvation is not yet the reality but could be in the near future. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"You might have thought that hunger in Gaza would work against Hamas, forcing the group to have mercy on its own civilians and accept the ceasefire desired by Israel and the U.S. and currently under discussion in Qatar. But Hamas knows that the opposite is true: The disaster they’ve engineered in Gaza fuels the global campaign against Israel. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"One of the terrible facts of this war is that the Palestinians who started the war, and who constructed the twisted battlefield on which it has been fought, won’t act to save their own people. Starvation and death serve the Hamas plan. That means that Israel must decide how far it wants to push—and when to stop.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Jerusalem-based columnist Matti Friedman from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.thefp.com\/p\/matti-friedman-is-gaza-starving-searching-for-truth-in-information-war\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EIs Gaza Starving? Searching for the Truth in an Information War.\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"captioned-image-container\" style=\"caret-color: rgb(54, 55, 55); color: #363737; font-family: Spectral, serif, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, \u0026quot;Segoe UI\u0026quot;, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, \u0026quot;Apple Color Emoji\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;Segoe UI Emoji\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;Segoe UI Symbol\u0026quot;; font-size: 18.999998px; margin-bottom: 0px;\"\u003E\u003Cfigure style=\"--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 \/ 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px auto; width: 660px;\"\u003E\u003C\/figure\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/8904632472310753730\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/8904632472310753730","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8904632472310753730"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/8904632472310753730"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/starvation-and-death-serve-hamas-plan.html","title":"\"Starvation and death serve the Hamas plan. That means that Israel must decide how far it wants to push—and when to stop.\""}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgS9gmj-LhWKa2u8lddd9qg2AFCnZQFGLBYeQB0tM6kGWPFpM7usLiz0NMUk0oYQT_ldT5Y_KLUH7Id_OircEQi6r9lpDk2Tz7swWYpOCRCqT7KmYdudRSSplg-DJ7BMUl7s9ErxnKAuXvOsHH-yHmuTlFIOugBNc6X246BmfjH3OHoS5ng6evf\/s72-w640-h410-c\/Screenshot%202025-07-29%20at%209.53.15%E2%80%AFam.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-4009424956928250124"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-28T11:06:00.007+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-28T14:36:53.118+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Building"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bureaucracy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Housing"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Removing barriers to overseas building products, one subclause at a time [updated]"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiH5J9UrNiu_jw4sxu23SkUKzfkVT5JDt9e0O8Lmn0paW4FyGjqnvJCSZGo9TrVRhM_NaurAs56xDiEd_f5C1qoHoPnoU1TPdHKYLh7XohNOImAnHg6LhC1blir9egLDxVUVt1eV_Zvsnlzg40xD_PUBg9u0_-dDwLo0pDOVWm2II5ev7-U8aas\/s2836\/Screenshot%202025-06-09%20at%2011.05.18%E2%80%AFam.jpg\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1718\" data-original-width=\"2836\" height=\"243\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiH5J9UrNiu_jw4sxu23SkUKzfkVT5JDt9e0O8Lmn0paW4FyGjqnvJCSZGo9TrVRhM_NaurAs56xDiEd_f5C1qoHoPnoU1TPdHKYLh7XohNOImAnHg6LhC1blir9egLDxVUVt1eV_Zvsnlzg40xD_PUBg9u0_-dDwLo0pDOVWm2II5ev7-U8aas\/w400-h243\/Screenshot%202025-06-09%20at%2011.05.18%E2%80%AFam.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EB\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003EUILDING MINISTER CHRIS PENK IS surely mistaken (or misled) if he thinks he is going to see a quick remedy to high \u003Cbr \/\u003Ebuilding costs from his \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2025\/07\/27\/govt-making-thousands-more-building-products-available-for-nz-use\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eannouncement\u003C\/a\u003E, already signalled, that\u0026nbsp;building products from overseas may now be used in New Zealand.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe problem, you see, is that regulations here around our approvals process make it prohibitively expensive to obtain official approval for \u003Ci\u003Eany\u003C\/i\u003E materials, local or imported, so that most would-be inexpensive imports just don't happen. (\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.eboss.co.nz\/assets\/marketing\/supply-chain-survey\/EBOSS-Construction-Supply-Chain-Report-2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAround 90% of product\u003C\/a\u003Es used in building or building components here already are imported, but they're generally not the primary ones requiring approval by the grey ones.Why pay upwards of $250,000 to have your primary Euro-component approved here, when it's already selling like hotcakes in your Euro markets.)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo Penk's idea is that materials or systems already approved by the grey ones in similar jurisdictions and standards environments to ours (such as Australia, Canada, UK, US and Western Europe) can be cited in documentation to the grey ones here— and then, with some fingers crossed, be approved for use in buildings here\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ewithout\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;the otherwise burdensome cost of obtaining formal approval upfront.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECheaper materials: cheaper houses.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENice idea. Shame if a bureaucracy somewhere were to ruin it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe programme will be run by MoBIE.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI attended a webinar run by MoBIE dicks recently outlining how they intend to run it. They called it 'Removing Barriers to Overseas Building Products.' Try not to laugh as I relate their intentions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst of all, they've started a committee. And several working groups. Large ones. Large enough, I imagine, to fill at least one floor. It will be these newly-appointed bureaucrats that will decide which standards\/regulation of which similar jurisdictions will be considered for approval by these bureaucrats. And this will of course take some time.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst of all, of course, they have to meet to define regulatory criteria. And to issue new acronyms (things like BPS, BPIR, etc.)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis is how bureaucracies work.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe committee\/working groups will then make recommendations to the CEO of MoBie which standards\/regulations he \u003Ci\u003Emay\u003C\/i\u003E recognise. May. Those deemed unobjectionable are then added to something called\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.mbie.govt.nz\/about\/news\/government-makes-it-easier-to-use-overseas-building-products-and-pauses-major-changes-to-the-building-code-system\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EBuilding Product Specification\u003C\/a\u003Es — a \"new regulatory instrument.\" [UPDATE: The inaugural Building Product Specifications document has just dropped today, but dn't get excited, it's simply a compilation of standards\/regulations already cited in the NZ Building Code.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.building.govt.nz\/assets\/Uploads\/building-code-compliance\/building-product-specifications\/building-product-specifications.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EEnjoy\u003C\/a\u003E.]\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFollowing which, MoBIE's dicks will then publish a \"Recognition Notice\" detailing which new standard\/regulations have been recognised. Once a standard\/regulation has been so recognised, it will then be added to the\u0026nbsp;Building Product Specifications document.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgMbo5PYlKbdBav5KNyV0bvbnJIz4IQAk6ecJQwXoEeCkeYq-koPyEYpGaSDbF3fAkzbJxNTrqjM0Abh4jdSWjS0Had_sVaaNSIgklk2XhKOTJvNKf5SZIFBC4v6oWwsNuefBwIoC_C3fLP-nG3uxGy9fCJIXLvf0GSXJWL9xGxQeq2gEuwqsEp\/s1081\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.20.58%E2%80%AFam.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"290\" data-original-width=\"1081\" height=\"237\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgMbo5PYlKbdBav5KNyV0bvbnJIz4IQAk6ecJQwXoEeCkeYq-koPyEYpGaSDbF3fAkzbJxNTrqjM0Abh4jdSWjS0Had_sVaaNSIgklk2XhKOTJvNKf5SZIFBC4v6oWwsNuefBwIoC_C3fLP-nG3uxGy9fCJIXLvf0GSXJWL9xGxQeq2gEuwqsEp\/w882-h237\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.20.58%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"882\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThey \u003Ci\u003Ehope\u003C\/i\u003E (\"always hoping, hope is vain\") to issue their first \"Recognition Notice\" by year's end. That will be for \u003Ci\u003Eone\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;regulation\/standard from \u003Ci\u003Eone\u003C\/i\u003E jurisdiction for \u003Ci\u003Eone\u003C\/i\u003E building material or system. For which the Notice will be once piece of \"evidence of compliance with the New Zealand Building Code.\"\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStill, once that Notice is published, building importers may then decide to bring in a building material or system; builders and building designers may offer the imported product in plans and specifications based on it being \"Recognised\" as evidence it complies\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDid you follow all that?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEigScCCDcaBjjf8YE1HYpa4mBguOoQvNjG3HtvnTKlf5NTsQbDWVFc5Srbp996gWGUhRh2_EjB_vNcVDYxE3EJ6_kdJvRA_nMQAHYfqboqkm1rmwV2lqQmse4HUlIKwC0jL7glIHNnC8WoBWUFX5WDgDZFwXdjN2BrL9SfY6TUt61qQ5VlI8lB8\/s1517\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.30.07%E2%80%AFam.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"844\" data-original-width=\"1517\" height=\"224\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEigScCCDcaBjjf8YE1HYpa4mBguOoQvNjG3HtvnTKlf5NTsQbDWVFc5Srbp996gWGUhRh2_EjB_vNcVDYxE3EJ6_kdJvRA_nMQAHYfqboqkm1rmwV2lqQmse4HUlIKwC0jL7glIHNnC8WoBWUFX5WDgDZFwXdjN2BrL9SfY6TUt61qQ5VlI8lB8\/w400-h224\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.30.07%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENote the process here: it's MoBIE who decides to decide. Not builders, not building designers, not building materials scientists or building materials importers — all of whom have a large interest in the process — and nor is it the building minister. No. It's MoBIE's dicks\u0026nbsp;who decide to initiate the process, \u0026nbsp;and it's they who will grind slowly through all the world's standards, regulations, codes, guidelines, approval systems, benchmarks and norms, deciding which of them they might like to spend time taking through their process and (eventually) recognise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhxwT4jy42FQpa2DU6ZAU0CePI9_YWs9klYgp-qcWRVI8Lt5-42nlYqVLbZYftF8hvKcw49O4o-f1umCkKoWNWr0CQvUZuiuwTMvP9TgqKmtG3Ee9R8h32FS2vM1KZ-qAlz07IGsjdUvBUOnE62nLB09v8xRGWHQG8wrr_YfegpP9Rp-ULWIvHv\/s1263\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.50.13%E2%80%AFam.png\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"844\" data-original-width=\"1263\" height=\"268\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhxwT4jy42FQpa2DU6ZAU0CePI9_YWs9klYgp-qcWRVI8Lt5-42nlYqVLbZYftF8hvKcw49O4o-f1umCkKoWNWr0CQvUZuiuwTMvP9TgqKmtG3Ee9R8h32FS2vM1KZ-qAlz07IGsjdUvBUOnE62nLB09v8xRGWHQG8wrr_YfegpP9Rp-ULWIvHv\/w400-h268\/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%2010.50.13%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ESo we can see how this is good for bureaucrats employed within MoBIE.\u0026nbsp;\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EBut how does all this help builders, building materials importers, would-be building owners, and me as a building designer?\u0026nbsp;\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EWell, nothing at all will help until at least the start of next year, when the first \"Recognition Notice\" might (\u003Ci\u003Emight\u003C\/i\u003E) have been issued for the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/watermark.abcb.gov.au\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EAustralian Watermark Scheme\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;— so importers et al can start taking advantage of Australian plumbing and drainage products.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EAnd after that, the committee\/working group\/bunch of overpaid bureaucrats will then begin to meet and consider whether or not \u0026nbsp;the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) and the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) may be considered for recognition.\u003Cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003EDon't wait up.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003EThey may be some time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUPDATE:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/p\u003EEmail from MoBIE this afternoon:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"The newly released Building Product Specifications document lists 130 [already-recognised] product standards, including US, European and other international standards alongside New Zealand equivalents for products\u0026nbsp;like plasterboard, cladding and insulation. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \"Soon [sic] other pathways will be in place for the Minister of Building and Construction to endorse overseas standards, and for MBIE to formally recognise certain products certified overseas as complying with the Building Code. Updates about these pathways will be made soon [sic].\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4009424956928250124\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/4009424956928250124","title":"4 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4009424956928250124"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4009424956928250124"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/removing-barriers-to-overseas-building.html","title":"Removing barriers to overseas building products, one subclause at a time [updated]"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEiH5J9UrNiu_jw4sxu23SkUKzfkVT5JDt9e0O8Lmn0paW4FyGjqnvJCSZGo9TrVRhM_NaurAs56xDiEd_f5C1qoHoPnoU1TPdHKYLh7XohNOImAnHg6LhC1blir9egLDxVUVt1eV_Zvsnlzg40xD_PUBg9u0_-dDwLo0pDOVWm2II5ev7-U8aas\/s72-w400-h243-c\/Screenshot%202025-06-09%20at%2011.05.18%E2%80%AFam.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"4"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6607211938864056603"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-27T11:27:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-27T13:42:40.713+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Books"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Covid-19"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Culture"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"What happened to Quiet?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.honest-broker.com\/p\/why-are-quiet-spaces-disappearing\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"206\" data-original-width=\"550\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgpDy3rdfFRIC8njl_IDwdO6nRK9jjxXTkL97pc40XKsvferC2LyQzVXsym6cjth192j2CIee8K4sqfWDHT9JeshCBkV5jR1VKMavcv0USvPguclVl-3BXa4Hjf80pEq1M8zLpnV5LCgne0_IdUOi4wjAVX5G1_Z8HdxiFTh7oB_29SdjvWeh4H\/w400-h150\/6c81c464-78a5-4c4b-aaea-5a1f5e950d4f_550x206.webp\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"A\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003Ell our quiet spaces are getting noisier. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E“When did museums stop being quiet spaces?” \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/NoStupidQuestions\/comments\/166bgd1\/when_did_museums_stop_being_quiet_spaces\/\"\u003Ecomplains a Reddito\u003C\/a\u003E .... \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Some museums even encourage the din. They tell families to bring their children—\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/newsround\/articles\/cw4y47qg7lzo\"\u003Eand get as noisy as possible\u003C\/a\u003E. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I now miss ... shushing librarians. Libraries are no longer quiet places. They’re as noisy as the pub after a football match [at which the crowd are noisily exhorted to \u003Cb\u003Emake noise\u003C\/b\u003E whenever a game's pause might otherwise allow them to think]....\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"People go to libraries to study and read—so it really ought to be a quiet place. ... Once inside, you had access to a sacred inner sanctum of knowledge and learning. Something like this is even better than the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/batman.fandom.com\/wiki\/Batcave\"\u003EBatcave\u003C\/a\u003E. ...\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.honest-broker.com\/p\/why-are-quiet-spaces-disappearing\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1063\" data-original-width=\"1272\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEj1fp4pFm7iD045NsCb9YjA468WeYApRBD9m-P0mLaxYaMuFmx8fgShgqCe9ZmGStFBCL7qxojsM6aRUev1eOx2aWX5Y2Je-PFAXDOT0db9rN-PlsJhLnofkLUFuxQ-2ISG8gsHe9pShgYp9EAgoT1k0r8BSyu1rt6h3G-MRDtAiDtY8hKb8hbc\/w400-h334\/11b30032-1a8f-4f35-ad3f-32b20fb8e988_1433x1198.webp\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E[Now however] books are removed, and replaced with coffee bars and spaces for socializing. In case people don’t get the message, librarians now put up signs \u003Cb\u003Ediscouraging\u003C\/b\u003E quiet study. ...\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ci style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.honest-broker.com\/p\/why-are-quiet-spaces-disappearing\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1368\" data-original-width=\"1272\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEifyoHMF_OiATIYPvTYgfmjQgwFqijUmDhDar1n2kDqXt4D9b_MCCbZiBrMj__sRRvAKO9nJxK7m5aIXCBFig2MgTBv_Vp-FWPhwtxTwD8y_KL13IbN-GJRgi5GgV6mIu5yQzX_xXDl7D_YPchVaoWUTEBGPJHQJiNP3QLlqyz2jBjCm-PxUHpq\/w374-h400\/ecd70a46-2dc6-48f9-b2b3-1f7c5954015d_1408x1514.webp\" width=\"374\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"But... if we lose libraries as the last public space for quiet reading and reflection, what can replace it? ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Why is this happening. ...  a theory: 'This all got worse after the pandemic. People spent months in isolation, and when they returned to public spaces, they had forgotten the basic rules of polite behaviour in these communal settings.'\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\"This rudeness feeds on itself. ... So violations of quiet spaces after the pandemic quickly escalate. And once we enter on this vicious cycle, the silence never returns.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u0026nbsp;~ Ted Goia from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.honest-broker.com\/p\/why-are-quiet-spaces-disappearing\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWhy Are Quiet Spaces Disappearing\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6607211938864056603\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/6607211938864056603","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6607211938864056603"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/6607211938864056603"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/what-happened-to-quiet.html","title":"What happened to Quiet?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEgpDy3rdfFRIC8njl_IDwdO6nRK9jjxXTkL97pc40XKsvferC2LyQzVXsym6cjth192j2CIee8K4sqfWDHT9JeshCBkV5jR1VKMavcv0USvPguclVl-3BXa4Hjf80pEq1M8zLpnV5LCgne0_IdUOi4wjAVX5G1_Z8HdxiFTh7oB_29SdjvWeh4H\/s72-w400-h150-c\/6c81c464-78a5-4c4b-aaea-5a1f5e950d4f_550x206.webp","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-5292897423158273386"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-25T08:52:00.007+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-25T08:52:00.134+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Budget and Taxation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Capital"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Consumptionism"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Division of Labour"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Envy"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wealth"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":" The crucial - and unappreciated - function of wealth in an industrial economy"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.edarcipelago.com\/classici\/ayn%20rand\/the_voice_of_reason_-_ayn_rand.pdf\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"1271\" data-original-width=\"1391\" height=\"586\" src=\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhGpxqJP4Vl2jELau2UcSlnI3v4Q1JqowpKnJgo6Cd10I59xqgLny2CPUBR4OxABcIK0FD-cr2JVX2EHaWB6rDBj04fN5Yc2VYOlZpRInUGkSBlDwDb659mkvhxQY52302R4sGGksPVehXwEETh_5epicVDxcGN9QKOO1iPOsY330hoqEaSmETZ\/w640-h586\/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2010.57.16%E2%80%AFam.png\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E“A\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E widespread ignorance of a crucial economic issue is apparent in most\u0026nbsp;discussions of today’s problems: it is ignorance on the part of the public, evasion\u0026nbsp;on the part of most economists, and crude demagoguery on the part of certain\u0026nbsp;politicians. The issue is \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cb style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Ethe function of wealth in an industrial economy\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\"Most people seem to believe that wealth is primarily an object of consumption—that the rich spend all or most of their money on personal luxury. Even if this were true, it would be their inalienable right—but it does not happen to be true.\u0026nbsp;The percentage of income which men spend on consumption stands in inverse\u0026nbsp;ratio to the amount of their wealth. The percentage which the rich spend on\u0026nbsp;personal consumption is so small that it is of no significance to a country’s\u0026nbsp;economy. The money of the rich is invested in production; it is an indispensable part of the stock seed that makes production possible. ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\"In view of what they hear from the experts, the people cannot be blamed for their ignorance and their helpless confusion. If an average housewife struggles with her incomprehensibly shrinking budget and sees a tycoon in a resplendent limousine, she might well think that just one of his diamond cuff links would solve all her problems. She has no way of knowing that if all the personal luxuries of all the tycoons were expropriated, it would not feed her family — and millions of other, similar families — for one week; and that the entire country would starve on the first morning of the week to follow . . . . How would she know it, if all the voices she hears are telling her that we must soak the rich?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E    \u003Cspan style=\"font-size: medium;\"\u003E\u003Ci\u003E“No one tells her that higher taxes imposed on the rich (and the semi-rich) will not come out of their consumption expenditures, but out of their investment capital (i.e., their savings); that such taxes will mean less investment, i.e., less production, fewer jobs, higher prices for scarcer goods; and that by the time the rich have to lower their standard of living, hers will be gone, along with \u003Cb\u003Eher\u003C\/b\u003E savings and her husband’s job — and no power in the world (no \u003Cb\u003Eeconomic\u003C\/b\u003E power) will be able to revive the dead industries (there will be no such power left).” \u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ Ayn Rand, from her 1974 article 'The Inverted Moral Priorities,' collected in \u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.edarcipelago.com\/classici\/ayn%20rand\/the_voice_of_reason_-_ayn_rand.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EThe Voice of Reason\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/5292897423158273386\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/5292897423158273386","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5292897423158273386"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/5292897423158273386"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/the-crucial-and-unappreciated-function.html","title":" The crucial - and unappreciated - function of wealth in an industrial economy"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/img\/b\/R29vZ2xl\/AVvXsEhGpxqJP4Vl2jELau2UcSlnI3v4Q1JqowpKnJgo6Cd10I59xqgLny2CPUBR4OxABcIK0FD-cr2JVX2EHaWB6rDBj04fN5Yc2VYOlZpRInUGkSBlDwDb659mkvhxQY52302R4sGGksPVehXwEETh_5epicVDxcGN9QKOO1iPOsY330hoqEaSmETZ\/s72-w640-h586-c\/Screenshot%202025-07-24%20at%2010.57.16%E2%80%AFam.png","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-4636460795687284650"},"published":{"$t":"2025-07-24T11:51:00.001+12:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2025-07-24T11:51:00.114+12:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Budget and Taxation"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Politics-Labour"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Poor logic. 'Poor' MPs."},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\"I\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-size: large;\"\u003Et’s weird that Labour MPs [paid $230,000 p.a., putting them in the top 1% salary band] complain that high-earning NZers don’t pay enough tax, yet also complain that they can’t afford health insurance because they don’t have enough after tax income.\"\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E~ David Farrar from his post '\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.kiwiblog.co.nz\/2025\/07\/poor_labour_mps.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EPoor Labour MPs\u003C\/a\u003E'\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EContent is copyright \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\"\u003EPC.BlogSpot.Com\u003C\/a\u003E ©  \nPermission to republish is granted, with link and attribution.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4636460795687284650\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment\/fullpage\/post\/11906042\/4636460795687284650","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4636460795687284650"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/11906042\/posts\/default\/4636460795687284650"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"https:\/\/pc.blogspot.com\/2025\/07\/poor-logic-poor-mps.html","title":"Poor logic. 'Poor' MPs."}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Peter Cresswell"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/10699845031503699181"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});