Government’s science adviser not so smart about politics National Radio, Sunday 27 March 2011, 11.10 a.m.
For someone who prides himself on his scientific thinking and his education, Chris Laidlaw’s guest Peter Gluckman showed himself to be alarmingly woolly-minded about politics. After Gluckman mentioned something about the “heroic” image of Israel before 1967 “when things started to go wrong”, Laidlaw asked him about his thoughts on the Israeli regime of the present day…
GLUCKMAN: Ahhhh, I am disappointed that it has not been able to, ahhhhh, find a way to some sort of reconciliation with those around them.
LAIDLAW: Hrrrumph. What are your instincts about Israel finding a, hrrrumph, way out of the situation?
GLUCKMAN: Ahhhhh, there needs to be, ahhhhh, rationality on both sides that can lead to the kinds of accommodations on BOTH sides that have to be met.
LAIDLAW: Hrrrrumph. I hope you are right.
Not once did Gluckman mention the need for Israel to start observing international law, not once did he mention the word “occupation”. He also said that “all Jews” accept the “need” for an Israeli state “for protection.” That’s false, in fact grievously false.
It is disappointing that Laidlaw did not dare to contradict these wandery and cliché-ridden statements. Gluckman is a learned scientist who deserves respect when he speaks about scientific matters; sadly, however, he does not seem to have read a lot about politics and history, and his seem to no more informed than, say, the views of Leighton Smith, or Kerre Woodham, or John Key.
The stark contrast was Kim (the llightweight) Hills interview with Tariq Ali last Saturday. Tariq was gentle as he took the ground out from Hills cliche ridden establishmentarianism. Laidlaw is much the same, part of the status quo.
To be fair, though, Kim Hill did subject that criminal and pathological liar John Howardto a rigorous grilling late last year. At least it riled that poor old oenophile Karl Du Fresne to roar to the defence of the great man with an hilariously inept ad hominemattack on Hill in the Australian version of the Spectator.
I’ve heard it many times from many sources that Gluckman thinks he is a learned scientist. Will be good to hear more of Gluckman so that we can make up our minds.
Gluckmans reticence is understandable knowing that the IDF has set up an intelligence group to monitor any foreigner who criticises Israel and her actions.
OK! So we’ve had an allegation concerning Darren Hughes, one of the Labour ministers. The police have been informed and will appropriately look into the matter. Do we have to have a trial by media who has run the story at the beginning of every news hour for the last four nights? Do we have to have a media beat up when there are far more important things happening in the World?
Well that poison Dwarf Paul Homes is positive he is guilty.. I watched the I suppose you could call it an interview, but in my humble opinion it was someone blowing a gasket because his target did not rise to all the innuendo.
Analysis Recent combat operations by British and allied forces in Libya are beginning to tell us a lot: not so much about the future of Libya, which remains up for grabs, but about the tools one actually needs for fighting real-world wars against real-world enemy armed forces.
Précis of the conclusions: 1.) Aircraft are useless without aircraft carriers 2.) Tanks and artillery are useless 3.) If you want to fight a war then you need cheap and effective missiles 4.) Profit making defense industry is a rip-off of the taxpayer.
Read the Jackel comment and yes P.H.s was OTT – BUT sorry if this ‘scandal’ was handled from the start this ‘trial by media’ would not be occurring. This is what journalist live for its their bread and butter and this one is served up with jam . This ‘scandal’ will continue to be media fodder for weeks / months and it will distract us from the real issues as it has it all – politics, sex, human nature, intrigue, and coverups. A good old political sex scandal makes good copy and sells newspapers. It comes back to Goffs original mismanagement of this. The media and public just love a good political sex scandal – so don’t give them one.
“BUT sorry if this ‘scandal’ was handled from the start this ‘trial by media’ would not be occurring.”
Rubbish. Utter rubbish. The political management angle is just another sideline. The reason that there is a trial by media is because our media is obsessed by sex and scandal. No matter what Goff did, as soon as this was leaked, it was going to be treated in this way.
At last, jail time for a player in the sub-prime mortgage disaster.
Was Mr. Engle convicted of running a crooked subprime company? Was he a mortgage broker who trafficked in predatory loans? A Wall Street huckster who sold toxic assets?
No. Charlie Engle wasn’t a seller of bad mortgages. He was a borrower. And the “mortgage fraud” for which he was prosecuted was something that literally millions of Americans did during the subprime bubble. Supposedly, he lied on two liar loans.
In any collapsing society you will always find the administrators protecting themselves and their clique at everyone else’s expense rather than facing reality.
National Radio, Sunday 27 March 2011, 11.10 a.m.
Will be good to hear more of Gluckman so that we can make up our minds.
Deb
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1103/S00374/hone-harawira-open-letter-on-coastal-and-marine-area-bill.htm
Chris “Sphincter Clench” Finlayson has not solved good-god-damn thing!
1.) Aircraft are useless without aircraft carriers
2.) Tanks and artillery are useless
3.) If you want to fight a war then you need cheap and effective missiles
4.) Profit making defense industry is a rip-off of the taxpayer.