I received a generic response to my formal complaint about Paul Holmes’ racist article this morning. Predictably it in no way properly addresses the issues I’ve raised…
I see The Speaker isn’t prepared to pay for someone to take electronic notes for Mojo Mathers, saying his hands are tied. ACT predictably says the Green Party should pay. Winston surprisingly offered to help pay! Key is leaving it up to The Speaker.
How do the equality in employment rules apply here? Is Mojo “employed” by parliament? Is her “employer” required to take reasonable measures to allow here to perform her “job” despite her disability?
On a different tack, parliament is recorded, by Hansard and I assumed also for teletext subtitling. Presumably what is recorded by Hansard is either insufficient for Mojo’s needs, or not available in time. Could this be improved so a separate note-taker wasn’t needed? Is parliament’s ramblings available on teletext? If not, could two issues be solved at the same time?
However I look at it, Mojo should have access to a live transcript and neither Mojo or the Green Party should have to pay for it.
I suspect the biggest reason the NACTs don’t want to pay for a person to transcribe their utterances is that they don’t want too many people to be able to access those utterances later – and reveal their true selves.
I suspect the biggest reason the NACTs don’t want to pay for a person to transcribe their utterances is that they don’t want too many people to be able to access those utterances later – and reveal their true selves.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there Trevor. As well as the political association Lockwood Smith has and his obvious misrepresentation of the Public Finance Act 1989 and Appropriations Act 2010, I suspect Lockwwods fear that a relatively instantaneous recording and publishing system would increase public scrutiny is the main reason he is trying to halt its implementation.
“…The word anarchism has been so stripped of substance that it has come to be equated with chaos and nihilism.
That’s not what it means…”
phil@whoar.
Like or Dislike: 1 4 (-3)
Gerrit
Posted February 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM
Is there such a recording device that can convert spoken text to writen instantly?
Especially one where up to 120 different voices (at varying levels of spoken English and Maori – not to mention local twangs) are speaking one after another (and at the same time).
How does it differentiate different speakers (interjections, etc.)
If such a device is available can anyone show a link?
At worst Hansard transcripts should be made available electronically as typed, not just for deaf MP’s but possibly all.
Can a deaf person take a personal assistant into the house and how quick can he/she type so as to follow the discussions in the debating chamber. Any quicker then the Hansard recorders?
I suspect the biggest reason the NACTs don’t want to pay for a person to transcribe their utterances is that they don’t want too many people to be able to access those utterances later – and reveal their true selves.
ALL drivel and banalities from either side of the house are fully recorded in Hansard and in digital media.
I’d like to congratulate Te Greenz, and in particular Russel Norman, for their logical, principaled demolition of the proposed asset sales. You guys are putting forward arguments that are so well thought out. Heaven forbid..you are actually sounding Statesmen-like! Labour are following meekly in your tracks.
Is there such a recording device that can convert spoken text to writen instantly?
Yes! There are many intuitive english speech to text programs. Most computers these days have them built into their operating systems. You would run such a system through parliaments PA, which should be able to cut out much of the background noise. The intuition of a person is still going to be more accurate because of the often slurred speech and surrounding circumstances that a program cannot decipher.
How can one party control what is said?
What is said (broadcast) is often controlled by various methods like turning mics off and on.
Heavily redacted documents (PDF) attained by Labour under the Official Information Act show that the PM’s office had an active role in organizing the controversial RadioLive appearance on 30 September 2011 that the Electoral Commission has ruled an electoral programme…
However the legal ofice where my wife works uses it but it is not instant voice to text. Secretary needs to correct spelling, sentence structure, speech nuances and formatting before it can be used as a text document.
Also cant handle both Maori and English or a combination of the two languages
It needs programming from the indivdual speakers to get accurate text, meaning each and every members needs to spend time “talking to the machine”.
Microphones will pick up ALL sound and the software will convert this to text. Often producing gibberish, especially when used in echo chamber settings such as the house of representatives.
Certainly not suitable for “instant” conversion to meaningful text.
Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know the mine had exploded as he applied for another job, the overall mismanagement of Pike River mine is highly despicable!
Although the worst performance today had to be from Tolley (yet again). Doesn’t seem her move from Education to Corrections has made her any more competent.
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: I do not have details of that. If the member would like to put it in writing to me, I will get him the answers.
Rt Hon Winston Peters: If the Minister has not got details of that, why was she writing a letter complaining of this very matter on 26 January 2012—a two-page letter signed by her as Minister of Corrections and excusing her predecessor’s waywardness when it came to expenditure?
Hon ANNE TOLLEY: What I said in answer to the second supplementary question was that I did not have details of that case here in front of me. How could I possibly, given the primary question? But if the member likes to put something down in writing to me, I will get him an answer
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Gerrit
Posted February 15, 2012 at 6:05 PM
Toad,
Have a read of the Tolley letter (published elsewhere you will find it easy).
Nowhere in that letter is she complaining, she was showing concern and directing that corrections “be sensible with tax payers money”
Please read the letter and think again about the assertion Winston Peters makes.
Your parroting of Winstom Peters is below your normal status.
I have very little time for Peters. I consider him to be a political opportunist without principles and a bigot to boot.
But I have to admit he is effective in question time, and Tolley’s response today was about as inept as it gets. She frequently did the same in Education over the last three years, demonstrating an almost total lack of knowledge of her portfolio.
If you can readily access her letter, Gerrit, why can’t she recall its content when questioned in the House?
Rather than have someone type the text or use voice recognition software (VRS) under unfavourable circumstances (noisy room with echoes, multiple speakers, etc), the suggested approach is to have 1 aid (person) repeat what is being said into a voice recognition system that can therefore be tuned to their particular voice. I don’t know if there is a way of switching the VRS between English and Maori though.
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Trevor29
Posted February 15, 2012 at 8:19 PM
Actually I don’t know if Mojo can understand Maori, but there is a simple way of solving the Maori language issue – use an aid who can translate Maori to English so the VRS only has to deal with English.
Trevor.
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Gerrit
Posted February 15, 2012 at 9:42 PM
Toad,
Winston Peters asked a very specific question on the $50K spend on new signage.
This amount was not covered in the letter specifically
Except in general terms in a reference to Adelaide Road Office signage.
No cost was given in the letter.
Problem is that Winston was specific but the Tolley letter was general.
How can a minister answer specifically when the letter did not contain any?
Tolley was quite right to ask for written confirmation of the specifics as the letter Peters refered to and tabled, did not contain a mention of $50K expenditure.
Go and have a listen to the recording (if you can hear above the Peters mumbling). He specically asked about the $50K signage spend (which seems like it was budgetted for) and tabled the letter as proof that Tolley was castigating corrections staff for the spending.
The letter contains no reference about the $50K spend specifically, just a reminder for corrections staff to “be prudent with tax payers money”.
Peters is making an idiot of himself asking if the minister had “faith” in the ability of her staff based on inuendo and conjecture.
There is currently no speech to text (STT) application that can translate the Maori language. Your solution would be simple but effective.
The main problem is that of collating the text, as each source (small cardioid mic) would need its own STT application. I am not aware of any application that can handle multiple inputs. You can run multiple versions of the same application, so depending on the amount of inputs and system requirements, you could potentially run the entire system from one powerful computer.
Newer STT apps aren’t just for dictation or structured speech these days, and are very intuitive. It’s theoretically workable to automatically collate the text and I would be surprised if it hasn’t already been developed. Such a system would still require somebody to oversee and correct word errors as they occur.
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Gerrit
Posted February 15, 2012 at 10:00 PM
And Toad,
It is not just Winston Peters that does not know how to answer question of government ministers, Russel Norman had a session with the speaker having the concept of asking leading question to pry the correct answers.
Maurice Williamson answered each question Russel Norman put to him but poor Russel just could not get it right.
National have taken a leaf out of the last Labour governments precidents on how to answer questions.
Poor form from both the low standard of questioning and the ease that answers can be a simple yes or no.
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Trevor29
Posted February 15, 2012 at 10:02 PM
Jackal – you’re probably right about no STT for Maori, but I don’t think it would be that difficult. Maori is phonetically a lot simpler than most other languages handled by STT programs, so it is largely a matter of setting up the library of words, etc for Maori. However it would not be a small project. If New Zealand is serious about Maori being one of our official languages, and about preserving the Maori language, then this is one step that should be taken.
The other option for providing at least some of the text to Mojo with little cost is simple – cheat I expect most MPs read from prepared speeches, so it could be as simple as providing Mojo with the text of that speech as it is given. This doesn’t solve the problem of debates but it would be a start.
National have taken a leaf out of the last Labour governments precidents on how to answer questions.
Poor form from both the low standard of questioning and the ease that answers can be a simple yes or no.
The fact of the matter old fruit is that National are increasingly relying on Lockwood Smith to buffer them from answering the questions they are legally bound to provide. Such obfuscation turns question time into a farce and lowers the opinion of our politicians in the eyes of the public. National are not basing their tactic on what Labour has previously done… they are undertaking their subversion because they have things to hide. Take your rose tinted glasses off Gerrit, and your commentary might become less fictional.
Trevor29
Maori is phonetically a lot simpler than most other languages handled by STT programs, so it is largely a matter of setting up the library of words, etc for Maori.
I expect most MPs read from prepared speeches, so it could be as simple as providing Mojo with the text of that speech as it is given.
Yep! The Maori language is phonetically simpler, however I don’t think most STT applications work just on a phonetics and inputting words. They are based on digitized waveforms with similarities between the words waveform being the main issue. It could be that the Maori language is more complicated in that respect. However I totally agree it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
I think most questions are also submitted ahead of time. However I suspect that no party would want to provide information to an opposing party so that they might better formulate interjections and points of order. Kind of takes the spontaneity out of it.
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bjchip
Posted February 16, 2012 at 7:32 AM
Among their goals “We are pursuing a proposal from Dr. David Wojick to produce a global warming curriculum for K-12 schools. … His effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain – two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science.”
Margaret Wilson, whilst appointed speaker of the house of representatives, was the very paragon of virtue in ensuring Labour ministers answered question directly.
yeah right.
Just because the questioner cannot phase the question in such a manner as to be able to solicit an answers means the it is the speakers fault.
yeah right
The speaker, yesterday, quite rightly guided Russel Norman in how to ask questions. Took a while but eventually Russel sort of got the drift.
Maybe next time some effort will go into making sure the question is succinct.
As long as questions are about political point scoring and not soliciting information, they will always (does not matter which side of the house is sitting on the treasury benches) be batted away with a flourish.
The Greens certainly dont want to end up like the mumbling, stumbling Winston Peters who is batting average in this parliament is two golden ducks. Having his tail docked by the Maori and National party.
“…Being a vegan can come with considerable criticism and questions.
Some are well-founded, but others … not so much.
Let’s debunk some of the more prevalent myths about being a vegan…”
phil@whoar.
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Trevor29
Posted February 16, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Jackal – your point about providing information to the opposition ahead of time is well made, but I was actually suggesting that the text be provided at the time the speech was being given, i.e. close enough to real time. It might be as simple as giving the text to the Hansard staff to insert into the system at the appropriate time sentence by sentence.
Trevor.
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Gerrit
Posted February 16, 2012 at 8:33 AM
Trevor29
Yesterday Russel Norman was rebucked by the speaker for not asking the question put to the minister (Maurice Williamson) as written.
How can a Mojo, reading transcripts of written question, be up to speed when the very leader of her party cannot even read the question as written?
It might be as simple as giving the text to the Hansard staff to insert into the system at the appropriate time sentence by sentence.
Truly there are many solutions available… the fact that Lockwood has not bothered to implement any is shameful!
Gerrit
The Greens certainly dont want to end up like the mumbling, stumbling Winston Peters who is batting average in this parliament is two golden ducks. Having his tail docked by the Maori and National party.
There you go again with that fictional commentary. All opposition parties have been making the natz squirm like the worms they are. After Winston dropped the widely covered bomb shell on the Maori party a few days ago, their only reply was late and insignificant. Was it even reported on by the MSM at all?
How can a Mojo, reading transcripts of written question, be up to speed when the very leader of her party cannot even read the question as written?
Come on Gerrit, the difference was very slight. One could even say Lockwood was being pedantic in requiring the question to be reread. How that relates to Mojo being able to participate is beyond me?
The problem with the natz is they get nasty and illogical when on the back foot.
Regarding Mojo Mathers, what I want to know is whther The Greens will now be agitating to ensure all MPs receive the advantage that Mojo has when speaking: silence.
Mathers has the davantage of not being able to be interupted, barracked, interjected, insulted or abused while speaking. On equity grounds, all MPs should receive this advantage.
I look forward to hearing Green agaitation for all MPs to be able to speak without hearing interuptions.
Letter in today’s Southland Times from Keith Cook of Invercargill (It’s a wee beaut!)
“So Mr Key has decided that the courts just don’t understand and that “clarification” is needed.
I suggest to Mr Key that any “clarification” (law change) be written in plain English (no pun intended) somewhat along the lines of: “If the National Party decide to sell off New Zealand through the Overseas Divestment Commission, it shall be allowed to do so without let or hindrance.”
Ever since what seems like the beginning of time, or at least the beginning of widespread digital piracy, groups like the RIAA and MPAA have been projecting their losses by assuming that every illegal download was actually a legitimate purchase lost. While the problems behind that logic may be clear to you or me, the fallacy persists in a lot of anti-piracy arguments. A new study, Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales, has shown that BitTorrent has not had any actual effect on U.S. box office earnings and that a large percentage of losses due to piracy abroad may, in fact, be the movie industry’s own fault.
According to the study, the factor with the largest impact on piracy is the delay between U.S. and international releases of films. Because of the delay in international releases, often the only way to get a film may be to pirate or wait. Given that choice, anyone who doesn’t want to wait has to turn to piracy whereas if a legitimate venue of purchase was available, at least some of that revenue could be retained. The study estimates that if this pre-release piracy binge were eliminated — by releasing earlier, or simultaneously with the U.S. — overall losses could be reduced by 7%.
Furthermore, the study finds that the rise of BitTorrent has had no material impact on the U.S. box office revenue; U.S. box office revenue has not noticeably decreased. Considering the fact that international piracy seems to be caused primarily by unavailability, this would make sense; in the U.S., there is always a legal option at the get go. So how can all this piracy be happening, but not affecting revenue? Consider one of the oft neglected laws of piracy: Lots of people will only be interested in your stuff if it’s free.
Here’s a little cobbled-together, circumstantial evidence to back this up. Are you surprised to hear that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is the 10th top torrented movie of all time? Or that Green Lantern and Fast and Furious 5 took home numbers 15 and 25 (respectively) on the top searches of 2011 at a top-five torrent site? Why are these mediocre films hitting so high? Because they’re the kind of movies a lot people will watch only if they’re free.
Now none of this is to say that piracy still isn’t an issue of some sort, but rather it’s to say that it may not be as big a deal as the MPAA and RIAA would have you believe. Beyond that, the study’s real contribution is that it supports the idea that piracy is less a legal problem and more of a distribution problem. Maybe instead of making piracy harder (difficult, probably impossible) the movie industry should be focusing on making legitimate copies of films easier to buy and maybe better than the pirated versions somehow (less difficult).
Then I read Frogblog, as I am prone to do when in a happy mood so it moderates my estrogen sufficiently so I create enough testosterone to function efficiently again so I can make balanced financial decisions of my own.
Catcus goes on to confuse a number of issues that confirm her financial illiteracy. She’s becoming more certifiable every day.
Why is Lockwood Smith claiming in the media that changes will ensure more integrity and increased public scrutiny, when the truth of the matter is anything but?
Mature consideration will show that foreign buyers such as China, USA and Germany will always be able to pay above New Zealanders, eventually leading to all land in NZ being in overseas hands.
Their cost of capital is effectively negative, getting rid of soon to be worthless US dollars, while New Zealanders have to cover interest, and repayments.
The interests of NZ would have been best served by the Government buying the land, splitting it up and lending the money for NZ sharemilkers to get their own farms.
The returns to those selling farmland for capital gains should not be a consideration. Farmland is already overpriced compared to incomes, which, like overpriced residential land, only benefits banks, capital gains farmers and those who are flush with cash..
I hope this brings a rethink of the desirability of allowing overseas interests to buy any land.
You only have to look at the Bay of Islands to see we are fast becoming like Spain. The locals are restricted to the cheap unproductive land inland while wealthy foreigners own hotels and villa’s on the coast.
i am sure polling would reveal a massive majority in favour of new zealand land only to be able to be purchased by citizens/permanent residents..
..but keeping an open mind to leasing land to foreigners…
..(simple slogan:..’lease not sell’…?..)
..and i submit that the progressive parties should seriously consider getting behind such policies…
..and that they would receive wide support..
..a campaign such as this would be unique..
..as from the get-go..in principle..
..it would have the support of most of the country..
..worth considering..i reckon..
phil@whoar.
Like or Dislike: 2 4 (-2)
Suz
Posted February 18, 2012 at 11:05 AM
Dunnehill/Possum-head and heroic in the same sentence, hmmm?
Interesting that in your scenario baubles of guaranteed office, and stroking of ego are part and parcel of the deal. How ’bout they do the right thing just ‘cos it is. Or is that just setting the bar too high?
Those looking at the issue of those on the DPB trying to study as Paula Bennett did, should look beyond the TIA and also factor in the impact of those with children over 6 being required to be available for part-time work.
Can people study full-time on the DPB and meet the availability for part-time work work test?
Perhaps those on the DPB with children over 6 should be required to be available for part-time work OR be in study – part-time or full-time.
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Please use on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Greece…
this is what it looks like when it is done with a fork… sideways
http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/11/53222
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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I see The Speaker isn’t prepared to pay for someone to take electronic notes for Mojo Mathers, saying his hands are tied. ACT predictably says the Green Party should pay. Winston surprisingly offered to help pay! Key is leaving it up to The Speaker.
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12901191/greens-to-pay-for-aid-for-deaf-mp-mojo-mathers/
How do the equality in employment rules apply here? Is Mojo “employed” by parliament? Is her “employer” required to take reasonable measures to allow here to perform her “job” despite her disability?
On a different tack, parliament is recorded, by Hansard and I assumed also for teletext subtitling. Presumably what is recorded by Hansard is either insufficient for Mojo’s needs, or not available in time. Could this be improved so a separate note-taker wasn’t needed? Is parliament’s ramblings available on teletext? If not, could two issues be solved at the same time?
However I look at it, Mojo should have access to a live transcript and neither Mojo or the Green Party should have to pay for it.
I suspect the biggest reason the NACTs don’t want to pay for a person to transcribe their utterances is that they don’t want too many people to be able to access those utterances later – and reveal their true selves.
Trevor.
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Labour is siding with Mojo:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12900018/technology-essential-for-democratic-debate/
Trevor.
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Trevor29
You’ve hit the nail on the head there Trevor. As well as the political association Lockwood Smith has and his obvious misrepresentation of the Public Finance Act 1989 and Appropriations Act 2010, I suspect Lockwwods fear that a relatively instantaneous recording and publishing system would increase public scrutiny is the main reason he is trying to halt its implementation.
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/anarchism-is-not-what-you-think-it-is-and-theres-a-whole-lot-we-can-learn-from-it/
“…The word anarchism has been so stripped of substance that it has come to be equated with chaos and nihilism.
That’s not what it means…”
phil@whoar.
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Is there such a recording device that can convert spoken text to writen instantly?
Especially one where up to 120 different voices (at varying levels of spoken English and Maori – not to mention local twangs) are speaking one after another (and at the same time).
How does it differentiate different speakers (interjections, etc.)
If such a device is available can anyone show a link?
At worst Hansard transcripts should be made available electronically as typed, not just for deaf MP’s but possibly all.
Can a deaf person take a personal assistant into the house and how quick can he/she type so as to follow the discussions in the debating chamber. Any quicker then the Hansard recorders?
ALL drivel and banalities from either side of the house are fully recorded in Hansard and in digital media.
How can one party control what is said?
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4
2 (+2)
“…The history of heterosexuality is actually a motherlode of remarkable and sometimes deeply strange stuff -
- from the broad-brush conceptual to the kinds of tidbits you add to your cocktail-party repertoire.
Not only does the history of heterosexuality offer up surprises that make you rethink what “heterosexual” is and means -
- it also makes you realize how little we really know about this thing about which most of us assume we already know everything we need to.
The following are 10 of my personal favorites…”
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/10-surprising-facts-about-heterosexuality/
phil@whoar.
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I’d like to congratulate Te Greenz, and in particular Russel Norman, for their logical, principaled demolition of the proposed asset sales. You guys are putting forward arguments that are so well thought out. Heaven forbid..you are actually sounding Statesmen-like! Labour are following meekly in your tracks.
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Gerrit
Yes! There are many intuitive english speech to text programs. Most computers these days have them built into their operating systems. You would run such a system through parliaments PA, which should be able to cut out much of the background noise. The intuition of a person is still going to be more accurate because of the often slurred speech and surrounding circumstances that a program cannot decipher.
What is said (broadcast) is often controlled by various methods like turning mics off and on.
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National’s RadioLive jack-up
Heavily redacted documents (PDF) attained by Labour under the Official Information Act show that the PM’s office had an active role in organizing the controversial RadioLive appearance on 30 September 2011 that the Electoral Commission has ruled an electoral programme…
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Am familier with Dragon VRS
http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm
However the legal ofice where my wife works uses it but it is not instant voice to text. Secretary needs to correct spelling, sentence structure, speech nuances and formatting before it can be used as a text document.
Also cant handle both Maori and English or a combination of the two languages
It needs programming from the indivdual speakers to get accurate text, meaning each and every members needs to spend time “talking to the machine”.
Microphones will pick up ALL sound and the software will convert this to text. Often producing gibberish, especially when used in echo chamber settings such as the house of representatives.
Certainly not suitable for “instant” conversion to meaningful text.
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Gerrit
That all depends on what type of microphones are used.
National’s slack internet security
There are many holes in the government’s Internet security, mainly because there are so many operators that don’t know what they’re doing…
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Doug White – Asshole of the Week
Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn’t know the mine had exploded as he applied for another job, the overall mismanagement of Pike River mine is highly despicable!
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minister craig foss has the dubious honour of getting the first permanent nickname of the parliamentary-term..
..foss-the-hapless..
http://whoar.co.nz/2012/new-zealand-parliament-list-of-questions-for-oral-answer-wednesday-15-february-2012/
phil@whoar.
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Good article from an American perspective about education in Finland and what makes it more successful.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/mar/08/schools-we-can-envy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nybooks+%28The+New+York+Review+of+Books%29
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@phil u 3:21 PM
Although the worst performance today had to be from Tolley (yet again). Doesn’t seem her move from Education to Corrections has made her any more competent.
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Toad,
Have a read of the Tolley letter (published elsewhere you will find it easy).
Nowhere in that letter is she complaining, she was showing concern and directing that corrections “be sensible with tax payers money”
Please read the letter and think again about the assertion Winston Peters makes.
Your parroting of Winstom Peters is below your normal status.
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@Gerrit 6:05 PM
I have very little time for Peters. I consider him to be a political opportunist without principles and a bigot to boot.
But I have to admit he is effective in question time, and Tolley’s response today was about as inept as it gets. She frequently did the same in Education over the last three years, demonstrating an almost total lack of knowledge of her portfolio.
If you can readily access her letter, Gerrit, why can’t she recall its content when questioned in the House?
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tolley was last terms’ joke…
foss-the-hapless is this terms’ one/clown..
the queen is dead..
long live the king..
phil@whoar.
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Some news coverage of Mojo’s speech:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12908534/deaf-mp-uses-maiden-to-make-her-point/
Rather than have someone type the text or use voice recognition software (VRS) under unfavourable circumstances (noisy room with echoes, multiple speakers, etc), the suggested approach is to have 1 aid (person) repeat what is being said into a voice recognition system that can therefore be tuned to their particular voice. I don’t know if there is a way of switching the VRS between English and Maori though.
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Actually I don’t know if Mojo can understand Maori, but there is a simple way of solving the Maori language issue – use an aid who can translate Maori to English so the VRS only has to deal with English.
Trevor.
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Toad,
Winston Peters asked a very specific question on the $50K spend on new signage.
This amount was not covered in the letter specifically
Except in general terms in a reference to Adelaide Road Office signage.
No cost was given in the letter.
Problem is that Winston was specific but the Tolley letter was general.
How can a minister answer specifically when the letter did not contain any?
Tolley was quite right to ask for written confirmation of the specifics as the letter Peters refered to and tabled, did not contain a mention of $50K expenditure.
Go and have a listen to the recording (if you can hear above the Peters mumbling). He specically asked about the $50K signage spend (which seems like it was budgetted for) and tabled the letter as proof that Tolley was castigating corrections staff for the spending.
The letter contains no reference about the $50K spend specifically, just a reminder for corrections staff to “be prudent with tax payers money”.
Peters is making an idiot of himself asking if the minister had “faith” in the ability of her staff based on inuendo and conjecture.
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@ Trevor29
There is currently no speech to text (STT) application that can translate the Maori language. Your solution would be simple but effective.
The main problem is that of collating the text, as each source (small cardioid mic) would need its own STT application. I am not aware of any application that can handle multiple inputs. You can run multiple versions of the same application, so depending on the amount of inputs and system requirements, you could potentially run the entire system from one powerful computer.
Newer STT apps aren’t just for dictation or structured speech these days, and are very intuitive. It’s theoretically workable to automatically collate the text and I would be surprised if it hasn’t already been developed. Such a system would still require somebody to oversee and correct word errors as they occur.
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And Toad,
It is not just Winston Peters that does not know how to answer question of government ministers, Russel Norman had a session with the speaker having the concept of asking leading question to pry the correct answers.
Maurice Williamson answered each question Russel Norman put to him but poor Russel just could not get it right.
National have taken a leaf out of the last Labour governments precidents on how to answer questions.
Poor form from both the low standard of questioning and the ease that answers can be a simple yes or no.
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Jackal – you’re probably right about no STT for Maori, but I don’t think it would be that difficult. Maori is phonetically a lot simpler than most other languages handled by STT programs, so it is largely a matter of setting up the library of words, etc for Maori. However it would not be a small project. If New Zealand is serious about Maori being one of our official languages, and about preserving the Maori language, then this is one step that should be taken.
The other option for providing at least some of the text to Mojo with little cost is simple – cheat
I expect most MPs read from prepared speeches, so it could be as simple as providing Mojo with the text of that speech as it is given. This doesn’t solve the problem of debates but it would be a start.
Trevor.
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Gerrit
The fact of the matter old fruit is that National are increasingly relying on Lockwood Smith to buffer them from answering the questions they are legally bound to provide. Such obfuscation turns question time into a farce and lowers the opinion of our politicians in the eyes of the public. National are not basing their tactic on what Labour has previously done… they are undertaking their subversion because they have things to hide. Take your rose tinted glasses off Gerrit, and your commentary might become less fictional.
Trevor29
Yep! The Maori language is phonetically simpler, however I don’t think most STT applications work just on a phonetics and inputting words. They are based on digitized waveforms with similarities between the words waveform being the main issue. It could be that the Maori language is more complicated in that respect. However I totally agree it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
I think most questions are also submitted ahead of time. However I suspect that no party would want to provide information to an opposing party so that they might better formulate interjections and points of order. Kind of takes the spontaneity out of it.
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Among their goals “We are pursuing a proposal from Dr. David Wojick to produce a global warming curriculum for K-12 schools. … His effort will focus on providing curriculum that shows that the topic of climate change is controversial and uncertain – two key points that are effective at dissuading teachers from teaching science.”
http://deepclimate.org/2012/02/14/heartland-insider-releases-budget-and-strategy-documents/
Yeah… those are the “Heartland” values I remember.
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So what’s a Teacher to do?
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/02/so-whats-a-teacher-to-do/
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Margaret Wilson, whilst appointed speaker of the house of representatives, was the very paragon of virtue in ensuring Labour ministers answered question directly.
yeah right.
Just because the questioner cannot phase the question in such a manner as to be able to solicit an answers means the it is the speakers fault.
yeah right
The speaker, yesterday, quite rightly guided Russel Norman in how to ask questions. Took a while but eventually Russel sort of got the drift.
Maybe next time some effort will go into making sure the question is succinct.
As long as questions are about political point scoring and not soliciting information, they will always (does not matter which side of the house is sitting on the treasury benches) be batted away with a flourish.
The Greens certainly dont want to end up like the mumbling, stumbling Winston Peters who is batting average in this parliament is two golden ducks. Having his tail docked by the Maori and National party.
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/infographic-veganism-myths-debunked/
“…Being a vegan can come with considerable criticism and questions.
Some are well-founded, but others … not so much.
Let’s debunk some of the more prevalent myths about being a vegan…”
phil@whoar.
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Jackal – your point about providing information to the opposition ahead of time is well made, but I was actually suggesting that the text be provided at the time the speech was being given, i.e. close enough to real time. It might be as simple as giving the text to the Hansard staff to insert into the system at the appropriate time sentence by sentence.
Trevor.
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Trevor29
Yesterday Russel Norman was rebucked by the speaker for not asking the question put to the minister (Maurice Williamson) as written.
How can a Mojo, reading transcripts of written question, be up to speed when the very leader of her party cannot even read the question as written?
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Trevor29
Truly there are many solutions available… the fact that Lockwood has not bothered to implement any is shameful!
Gerrit
There you go again with that fictional commentary. All opposition parties have been making the natz squirm like the worms they are. After Winston dropped the widely covered bomb shell on the Maori party a few days ago, their only reply was late and insignificant. Was it even reported on by the MSM at all?
Come on Gerrit, the difference was very slight. One could even say Lockwood was being pedantic in requiring the question to be reread. How that relates to Mojo being able to participate is beyond me?
The problem with the natz is they get nasty and illogical when on the back foot.
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“..Yesterday Russel Norman was rebucked (sic) by the speaker..”
that’s funny..all sorts of visual images pop up..
..phil@whoar.
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John Key’s internet fantasy
This looks set to be yet another National failure…
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More evidence of rushed decision making and shoddy governance from the National Government.
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/crafar-farm-sale-exposes-shoddy.html
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Mathers has the davantage of not being able to be interupted, barracked, interjected, insulted or abused while speaking. On equity grounds, all MPs should receive this advantage.
I look forward to hearing Green agaitation for all MPs to be able to speak without hearing interuptions.
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Letter in today’s Southland Times from Keith Cook of Invercargill (It’s a wee beaut!)
“So Mr Key has decided that the courts just don’t understand and that “clarification” is needed.
I suggest to Mr Key that any “clarification” (law change) be written in plain English (no pun intended) somewhat along the lines of: “If the National Party decide to sell off New Zealand through the Overseas Divestment Commission, it shall be allowed to do so without let or hindrance.”
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Perhaps this will amuse?
http://robertguyton.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/its-bird-its-plane-its-guessman.html
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/john-stewart-along-with-other-animal-eaters-scoffs-at-the-very-idea-that-parrallels-can-be-drawn-between-how-we-currently-mis-treat-animals-and-the-attitudes-towardstreatment-of-human-slaves-a/
ed:..i am a big stewart/daily-show fan-boy…
..but like most..on this he is so wrong..
..he has what i call the carnivore-blinkers…where their own addictions to flesh/fat/blood..
..enable otherwise intelligent/progressives not to see the wholesale suffering that feeds their appetites…
..and of course..our glaring local examples of this denial..
..are what i call the walking-oxymorons…
..the carnivorous-green party members/mp’s/leaders…..
..their blinkers enable them to not only not see the suffering they support/engender…
..but also apparantly leaves them blind to the environmental-footprint of their addictions to flesh/fat/blood..
..are they duplicitous..or in denial..
..it must be one of the two..
..how can it not be..?
phil@whoar.
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Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales
From GeekOsystem.
by Eric Limer | 11:53 am, February 10th, 2012
Ever since what seems like the beginning of time, or at least the beginning of widespread digital piracy, groups like the RIAA and MPAA have been projecting their losses by assuming that every illegal download was actually a legitimate purchase lost. While the problems behind that logic may be clear to you or me, the fallacy persists in a lot of anti-piracy arguments. A new study, Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales, has shown that BitTorrent has not had any actual effect on U.S. box office earnings and that a large percentage of losses due to piracy abroad may, in fact, be the movie industry’s own fault.
According to the study, the factor with the largest impact on piracy is the delay between U.S. and international releases of films. Because of the delay in international releases, often the only way to get a film may be to pirate or wait. Given that choice, anyone who doesn’t want to wait has to turn to piracy whereas if a legitimate venue of purchase was available, at least some of that revenue could be retained. The study estimates that if this pre-release piracy binge were eliminated — by releasing earlier, or simultaneously with the U.S. — overall losses could be reduced by 7%.
Furthermore, the study finds that the rise of BitTorrent has had no material impact on the U.S. box office revenue; U.S. box office revenue has not noticeably decreased. Considering the fact that international piracy seems to be caused primarily by unavailability, this would make sense; in the U.S., there is always a legal option at the get go. So how can all this piracy be happening, but not affecting revenue? Consider one of the oft neglected laws of piracy: Lots of people will only be interested in your stuff if it’s free.
Here’s a little cobbled-together, circumstantial evidence to back this up. Are you surprised to hear that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is the 10th top torrented movie of all time? Or that Green Lantern and Fast and Furious 5 took home numbers 15 and 25 (respectively) on the top searches of 2011 at a top-five torrent site? Why are these mediocre films hitting so high? Because they’re the kind of movies a lot people will watch only if they’re free.
Now none of this is to say that piracy still isn’t an issue of some sort, but rather it’s to say that it may not be as big a deal as the MPAA and RIAA would have you believe. Beyond that, the study’s real contribution is that it supports the idea that piracy is less a legal problem and more of a distribution problem. Maybe instead of making piracy harder (difficult, probably impossible) the movie industry should be focusing on making legitimate copies of films easier to buy and maybe better than the pirated versions somehow (less difficult).
Paper downloadable from here.
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David Carter – extreme biosecurity risk
Why would we reduce security measures further when the consequences of doing so are financially disastrous?
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Catcus has become madder than a feral cat:
Catcus goes on to confuse a number of issues that confirm her financial illiteracy. She’s becoming more certifiable every day.
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Adele sings a song for Newt Gingrich.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/02/adele-takes-on-newt-gingrich/253140/
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Lockjaw Smith guard dog
Why is Lockwood Smith claiming in the media that changes will ensure more integrity and increased public scrutiny, when the truth of the matter is anything but?
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/there-will-be-an-anti-asset-sales-march-in-auckland-on-saturday-28th-of-april/
the march will be at 3 pm..
..and is running under the banner ‘aotearoa is not for sale’..
..this tactic has been proven to work in the past..
..remember how we stopped the clark govt dead in its’ tracks with the anti-ge march..?
..we can do that again..
..most new zealanders oppose these asset sales..
..we all must get out on the streets..
..and roar loud enough that they hear us…
..and do our will..
..don’t forget..
..we are the 99%…
phil@whoar.
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/hey-youve-got-to-hide-your-drug-away/
“…Paul McCartney has given up smoking dope.
Simon Usborne charts a career of highs and lows…”
phil@whoar.
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Trust in “private enterprise” and bankers?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/libor-probe-idUSL4E8DH0X120120217
There aren’t enough forks in the drawer.
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suggestions to bring down this govt:..an ongoing series…
(this is a follow-up to the previous suggestion of trying to persuade tau henare to become a hero to maoridom/many..forever..
..if he were to cross the floor on the principle of asset-sales…
..and force an early election..)
this suggestion is that labour/whoever approach dunne..and promise him that if he walks away from national and forces an early election..
..that no matter what the numbers post that election..
..that a progressive grouping/coalition would include him in that govt..
..plus..like henare..
..he could/would become a hero to many..
..and of course the other big allure..
..for both henare and dunne..
..is that they would be written up large in the history books…
..as the one who ‘saved’ our energy assets…
..that is some powerful mojo…
..do the right thing..and become a hero..
..what’s not to love about that..?
phil@whoar.
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Fran O,Sullivan asks for mature consideration on the Crafer deal. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10786311
Mature consideration will show that foreign buyers such as China, USA and Germany will always be able to pay above New Zealanders, eventually leading to all land in NZ being in overseas hands.
Their cost of capital is effectively negative, getting rid of soon to be worthless US dollars, while New Zealanders have to cover interest, and repayments.
The interests of NZ would have been best served by the Government buying the land, splitting it up and lending the money for NZ sharemilkers to get their own farms.
The returns to those selling farmland for capital gains should not be a consideration. Farmland is already overpriced compared to incomes, which, like overpriced residential land, only benefits banks, capital gains farmers and those who are flush with cash..
I hope this brings a rethink of the desirability of allowing overseas interests to buy any land.
You only have to look at the Bay of Islands to see we are fast becoming like Spain. The locals are restricted to the cheap unproductive land inland while wealthy foreigners own hotels and villa’s on the coast.
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as some 85% of people oppose these sales..
i am sure polling would reveal a massive majority in favour of new zealand land only to be able to be purchased by citizens/permanent residents..
..but keeping an open mind to leasing land to foreigners…
..(simple slogan:..’lease not sell’…?..)
..and i submit that the progressive parties should seriously consider getting behind such policies…
..and that they would receive wide support..
..a campaign such as this would be unique..
..as from the get-go..in principle..
..it would have the support of most of the country..
..worth considering..i reckon..
phil@whoar.
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Dunnehill/Possum-head and heroic in the same sentence, hmmm?
Interesting that in your scenario baubles of guaranteed office, and stroking of ego are part and parcel of the deal. How ’bout they do the right thing just ‘cos it is. Or is that just setting the bar too high?
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heroichysteric.Like or Dislike:
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far ‘too high’..i think…
..they will need incentives to ‘do the right thing’…
.this nact-govt is sitting on a razor-thin majority…
..enacting policies opposed by most..
..it is ripe to be rolled..
phil@whoar.
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99.5% of teachers (who are not guilty of any misconduct) find themselves in a politically charged environment fueled by dodgy journalism. The Government is again involved in creating a nonexistent crisis to introduce unnecessary change. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/02/media-fuels-anti-teacher-hysteria.html
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Those looking at the issue of those on the DPB trying to study as Paula Bennett did, should look beyond the TIA and also factor in the impact of those with children over 6 being required to be available for part-time work.
Can people study full-time on the DPB and meet the availability for part-time work work test?
Perhaps those on the DPB with children over 6 should be required to be available for part-time work OR be in study – part-time or full-time.
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