People here have seen most of what I have to say, but not the people in Orange, where there seem to be quite a few misconceptions, I think.

All support gratefully received.

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

It was fun, but with the route packed with applauding onlookers I was forced to question what there is left to prove. In fact, my Mum asked that very question this mroning.

All I can say is that being gay may well be pretty much accepted in London, even being trans isn't that much of a deal, but that isn't true for the rest of the country. Some regions of Britain, particularly the more rural places, more or less might as well be nigeria when it comes to absence of tolerance.

So, having  large (and accepted) march/party is more about broadcasting a message of tolerance to the rest of the country than it is to satisfy any need for the (rather smug and self-satisfied) gay community within London. Maybe that's me being patronising towards the rest of the country, but it can be difficult.

keep to the Fen Causeway

The lobbying industry has experienced exponential growth within the past decade. The general public, the media, and special interest groups perceive lobbying to be a powerful mechanism affecting public policy. However, academic research finds inconclusive results when quantifying the rate of return on political lobbying expenditures. In this paper we use audited corporate tax disclosures relating to a tax holiday on repatriated earnings created by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 to examine the return on lobbying. We find firms lobbying for this provision have a return in excess of $220 for every $1 spent on lobbying, or 22,000%.

God killed Michael Jackson to save your ass and you gave another interview ?

People, what is going on with governors in this country? Are we doomed to see them go bonkers one by one, state by state?

Celebrate the independence of your country by blowing up a small part of it.

keep to the Fen Causeway

I found a DVD of Peter Jackson's 'Forgotten Silver' in my local Filmtown rental emporium. This was released (on sponsors NZ TV) in 1995 as a TV documentary. It's a mock documentary about a Colin McKenzie, who advanced the art of film (first color film in 1908), first talking film (with unintelligible Chinese actors) and was present at some important moments of 20th C history, such as the Spanish Civil War. Various well known film people such as Harvey Weinstein of Miramax (RIP) contribute to the fiction.

The TV showing scandalized the Kiwi nation when it was revealed as a hoax.  

The archive film and stills  were lovingly reconstructed by Jackson, and the interviews and other action were directed by Costa Botes.

Worth watching.

You can't be me, I'm taken

Still applies.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind