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Friday Night Free for All

I've come up with a new definition of blogging:

Blogging - the process of dumping all your really crazy and stupid ideas so that your brain contains only good stuff.

So don't hold back tonight. Your brain will be sparkly and new by tomorrow morning. Just like mine :-)

Comments

  1. I am not sure that blogging empties my mind of all crazy and stupid ideas, if anything it helps my mind come up with more...

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  2. I don't inflict all my thoughts and ideas upon the readers - if anything, I keep them to myself. I just blog about what I think is important at the time, and what also what I have the time and energy to put the effort into.

    Heck, if I emptied my mind onto this blog everyday, we most likely wouldn't have any readers left - they'd run screaming for the hills.

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  3. Actually that is very true of me too. I typically have a million things going on in my head and only a small fraction make them onto MandM.

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  4. I have to go to McDonalds. Noah finally ate fruit today and that was the bribe. (He turns 8 next week and today was the first time he knowingly ate fruit in 6 years)

    I'll pop back in if I get a chance when we get back.

    Did anyone happen to see the latest Investigate Magazine... page 28 perhaps....?

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  5. Happy 21st of August all - The saints and feasts for today are

    Thaddeus the Apostle of the 70
    Bassa the Martyr of Edessa & her sons Theogonius, Agapius & Pistus
    Afterfeast of the Dormition of our Most Holy Lady the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary

    As for thoughts making it into posts I recall being taught that when you write anything your background knowledge far exceeds that which appears on paper - most gets left out in fact.

    And those random thoughts are just peculating around and may mature into a most splendid post someday or may be they wont stand the test of time and will be mercifully consigned to oblivion

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  6. Hi Andrei,

    I'm still also plagued with programmer writing block. My subconscious urge is to reduce the words down to the barest essentials to make each sentence and paragraph functional, and easy to debug.

    Creative writing either comes out in a flood, and then I can't type fast enough or it's a long, painful process strung out over days. My half finished blog posts in our draft graveyard (that no one will ever see) attest to that.

    Madeleine,

    I know what it's like to have a child that won't eat fruit or vegetables. My 12 year old is still very particular (and food allergies don't help). I was able to get him to eat apples early on by realising he didn't seem to mind eating them when we went on walks .. so made sure I always brought cut up apples with me. He will only eat apples and grapes, and the grapes now only occasionally because he still remembers the really good ones we could buy in Australia. * Sigh * At least apples are in plentiful supply in NZ.

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  7. Evening all.

    Good counterpoints on blogging in there. Part of the problem is those absolutely brilliant ideas in my brain transform themselves on the way out :-)

    Definitely agree that it can be far too much effort to add all the background information that better explains my posts, but then I'd never write anything.

    Anyway, I like the idea of getting something out, even if it's not quite right, because the commenters usually fill in the blanks or provide a good rebuttal.

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  8. Actually, "usually" isn't right, as many of my posts barely get a comment. Maybe those are the ones that just cannot be argued against :-)

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  9. Eveing all

    My brain is so full of rubbish my blog only just skims the surface!!!

    What an interesting week.
    Now we know why everyone hates Auckland Grammar. Their boys get a little slap and Kelston Boys get dealt a harsh blow.

    Smacking referedum ends with 87% voting NO Good result if you ask me. That will put a little pressure on John Key.

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  10. 87/11 vote for the NO's in the smacking referendum.

    Life just got a little interesting.

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  11. It is an excellent result but the turnout was extremely disapointing.

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  12. I mean it was good for a vote that was not a nationwide election but 54% turnout will be easy to spin I fear.

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  13. Well almost everyone who didn't vote would have had to have voted YES to turn that around (if the vote was 100%). That's pretty conclusive.

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  14. For a campaign that said they were saving children from violence, with massive clout of plunket et al, 6% of the voting public believed them.

    That's got to smart.

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  15. We got over 54% response? Great news. I was worried all of the undermining by Key, the Greens and the media were going to make it a 30% turnout. Getting over the 50% mark is great. Getting over 80% NO is also great.

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  16. Wonder how the media are going to spin this one?

    Wonder how belligerent Key will be?

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  17. I agree it is a good turnout for a referendum - it was more than the recent Mt Albert by election, it is about the same as the turnout for MMP and plenty of mayors and councils get elected on less, nevertheless it could get spun the other way.

    I agree that Key's reaction will be interesting.

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  18. Chris Trotter was resigned to this result this AM

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/columnists/2774394/A-deafening-echo-of-defeat

    But, the "anti-smacking" legislation was a different kettle of fish altogether. It implicitly criticised both the conduct and the ethics of the overwhelming majority's immediate and extended families. The law repealing section 59 hit people directly where they lived. And they were not having a bar of it.

    Certainly, the Christian Right placed itself in the forefront of the backlash against Sue Bradford's bill: and that was only to be expected. As the polar opposite of the ideology informing the last Labour-led government's social legislation, they were better placed than any other group in society to discern its logical political terminus: a society in which the broader community, rather than the child-citizens' natural parents, would become the agency primarily responsible for their upbringing.

    And you don't have to be a fundamentalist Christian to recoil in horror from that "Brave New World".

    Poor old Labour. Having stripped away all of its traditional economic and political radicalism in the name of the "free market", the only truly revolutionary programme its post-millennial caucus had left was the one that effectively spat upon the values and traditions of 75 percent of its core constituency.

    The 2009 triumph of the "Noes" is, therefore, no more than the deafening echo of Labour's 2008 defeat.


    I think he gets it - sort of anyway

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  19. "It implicitly criticised both the conduct and the ethics of the overwhelming majority's immediate and extended families. "

    And I think that's what the "yes vote" never *got* - that every time they criticised smacking and smackers, they were attacking the very people they wanted to win over, and often their parents too.

    Anyone notice that the Sunday program only devoted about 1/3 of their item on it to Simon Barnett, the rest on Morris-Travis? Frankly, she came across very badly in my mind.

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  20. I think it's a great turnout - more than half of the voters on a postal ballot that isn't supposed to matter.

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  21. Hm, here's a thought.

    Speed cameras.

    Good example of how something change after it's implemented. There might not be smacking prosecutions (although parents are being prosecuted for other minor acts) but who's to say after all the fuss has died down.

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  22. "Wonder how belligerent Key will be?"

    Not half as belligerent as the post this blogger just put up...

    Evening all. Now it's off to work for us.

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  23. a society in which the broader community, rather than the child-citizens' natural parents, would become the agency primarily responsible for their upbringing.

    That certainly seemed to be the expectation, and the arrogance, of those such as Bradford in constructing this legislation.

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  24. Interesting how the top 4 National politicians have left the country ... coincidence or planning?

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  25. In other news, Little Ted's head has been found.
    http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/70742/little-ted039s-head-found

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  26. planning? These *are* politicans we're talking about?

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  27. Anyone visited Vote No since the results? http://voteno.org.nz/

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  28. Scrubone,

    LOL! Though if it's one thing they can plan for, is lying low when things are looking to get hairy. Animal cunning will do it.

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  29. Madeleine,

    Just gave them a visit.

    Oh and yes, I read Matt's article in the Investigate Magazine after it arrived in my letterbox yesterday. It took me all of 10 seconds to click who the writer was - momentary delayed reaction when faced with the unexpected but definitely deserved.

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  30. Visited all 3 - yes, yes fail, no.

    yes vote still silent :)

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  31. Check the latest stunt! (from the Herald)

    "There has been criticism of the referendum over concerns some people may have voted no thinking they were supporting the status quo."

    Oh please! Is that the best they can come up with?

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  32. Hm, there are also concerns that a lot of people voted "yes" for that very reason.

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  33. There are concerns over the referendum that the people too stupid to understand the question were thus denied the opportunity to vote, severely harming the YES count.

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  34. That can't be right Scrubone because the number of people voting yes could not possibly be accurately described as "a lot."

    ;-)

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  35. Yes, but outside the 10 or so bloggers who posted their yes vote, did anyone else vote yes ;)

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  36. Yeah, just because politicians suffer from comprehension problems doesn't mean those that voted do.

    My 69 year old mother, to whom English is a second language, had no problems understanding the question, nor did she have any misunderstanding about why she was voting NO.

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  37. As I said on the blog, I ran into a guy who wasn't political at all, and he made sure to tell everyone he ran into what side was wat.

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  38. FYI

    Hon Heather Roy, ACT Deputy Leader
    Thursday, August 21 2009


    ACT New Zealand Deputy Leader Heather Roy today welcomed news that 87.6 percent of the 1,622,150 New Zealanders who voted in the Anti-Smacking Referendum have exercised their right to democracy and voted ‘NO’.



    “New Zealand has spoken, and now it is time for the politicians to listen,” Mrs Roy said.



    “Kiwis throughout the country have spent the past two years telling politicians that they don’t want good parents criminalised for using a light smack as part of good parental correction.



    “Tonight they have made their views clear once again and it is time for politicians to listen, acknowledge the message that an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders are sending and, act on it.



    “Prime Minister John Key and the National Party can't ignore over 1,4 million people. He must now send an equally clear signal that Government has no right to tell parents how to raise their children and introduce my colleague John Boscawen's Crimes (Reasonable Parental Control and Correction) Amendment Bill as soon as possible.



    “To date ACT is the only Party that opposed the original legislation, and the only Party prepared to listen to Kiwis. ACT urges the National Party to do the right thing,” Mrs Roy said.





    ENDS

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  39. On Stuff:
    "Prime Minister John Key said he had listened to the result of the referendum and plans to take some proposals to Cabinet on Monday.

    Mr Key refused to tell reporters in Australia what those initiatives were but said they fell short of a law change.

    “I think they will give New Zealand parents added comfort that the law is working and that the law will be administered in a way they have resoundingly demonstrated through the referendum that it should be administered.”"

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  40. Stuff:
    "Yes Vote coalition spokeswoman Deborah Morris-Travers said the low voter turn out suggested it was not an issue that New Zealanders felt that strongly about. “I think that it’s very telling that the turn out is reasonably low,” she said."

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  41. Not an issue New Zealanders felt that strongly about???!?

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  42. FYI no 2

    John Boscawen MP, ACT New Zealand

    Thursday, August 20 2009


    ACT New Zealand MP John Boscawen was tonight pleased – but unsurprised – that 87.6 percent the 1,622,150 Kiwis who participated in the Anti-Smacking Referendum citizens voted ‘NO’.



    “New Zealanders have tonight made it clear that the Anti-Smacking law passed by National, the Greens and Labour is not working,” Mr Boscawen said.



    "ACT has spent two years as the only Party in Parliament listening to the views of the public on this issue – which is why I have introduced the Crimes (Reasonable Parental Control and Correction) Amendment Private Member's Bill on behalf of ACT.



    “This Bill is ready to go and Prime Minister John Key could introduce it quickly to Parliament as a Government Bill so that good prents are no longer criminalized.



    “This Bill will specifically set out the conditions that a light smack for the purpose of correction can be used, stating that the use of force is defined as unreasonable:



    ‘if it should cause the child to suffer injury that is no more than transitional or trifling; or it is inflicted with any weapon, tool or other implement; or it is inflicted in any means that is cruel or degrading.’



    “My Bill will stop the criminalising of good parents and give them certainty under the law. New Zealand has spoken loud and clear and the Government must heed the call of an overwhelming majority of New Zealanders,” Mr Boscawen said.






    ENDS

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  43. The turnout was great. It's telling the impact people like John Key had saying that he wouldn't do anything. Those words were a great blow to democracy.

    Now I see him suggesting that he is going to do something, but doesn't include a law change. That's like saying "I'm going to do something that amounts to nothing, and say that everyone is happy.

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  44. Congratulations everyone.
    I did not vote as I'm not registered to up here.
    But it was wrong for government to nanny like it did.
    I was hoping John Boy might act and such a show of conservatism might prompt him to shift rightwards win other areas.
    Well if he doesn't act, I am sure ACT will and pick up support.

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  45. Blogging is a way to share your point of views.

    Without this is impossible to blogging. Because blogging means that is open to other people read our opinions.

    Without this box of comments, the blogs will not make any difference in our Society

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