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Book club
What I have been reading in 2009 >>>
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Science and Capitalism
Terence Kealey falls out of love with market myths at New Scientist and is descended upon by hordes of screaming libertarians (AKA self justifying plutocrats)
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Age of Dog “Gillespie”
1992, Crown Hotel, Dunedin.
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Never mind the butter, here’s the ex-Pistols
I am an agriculturalist, I am an anarchist . . . dairy me.
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Religion is nonsense
As a non-expert citizen, my basic claim is this: Religion is nonsense. Often it is dangerous nonsense. The late American writer Kurt Vonnegut observed “say what you will about the sweet miracle of unquestioning faith. I consider the capacity for it terrifying.” I agree. The common religious belief in a “supreme being” is a psychological…
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Freeloading tourists not wanted here
Letter of the week, Otago Daily Times, 11 April 2009, on cost saving measures by Dunedin tourism authorities.
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Ghost in the machine
Parts from the past, valve city, what happens when the cutting edge becomes memory lane? There is something definitely eerie about this electronics warehouse for discontinued lines of vintage components, redundant surveillance machines and obsolete technology. It reminds me in an oblique way of a vendor I visited in London’s Brick Lane markets in the…
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There’s no business like show business
From the Guardian: “Chinese producers are attempting to transform Das Kapital from a hefty treatise on political economy into a popular stage show, complete with catchy tunes and nifty footwork. Whether Karl Marx would approve of his masterwork being served up as entertainment for China’s new bourgeoisie is a matter of speculation. But the director…
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Presenting the Bad Clowns?
As a general principle the idea of Mick Harvey leaving the Bad Seeds would be a negative, but when his replacement is Ed Kuepper the situation becomes more complex, especially when the Laughing Clowns are back in town.
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Digital metaphors
Has anyone noticed that spam is sounding more like strange alien prose poetry these days? Here’s a cut up from some of the rubbish filtered out of my inbox. Gorgon touched reasonable distance, these his monster seemed far formidable talons serious side effects generic zoloft royal way have died lost his vision soul began tapping…
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How sci-fi moves with the times
How sci-fi moves with the times – BBC interviews some very good writers
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That’s very generous of you . . . sir
A small mention here at Tumeke for my comments today about our Prime Minister who craves to see the warm and friendly hand of charity extended to the dispossessed. John Key is a confused man. He wants a British “honours” system, an American “generosity” system and presumably a Burmese employment system to pay for it…