Libz Repel Luddite attack

Libertarianz contender for Hamilton Mayor Tim Wikiriwhi is stunned at the ignorance of Green MP Mike Ward for his "whining attack on big stores moving into and 'destroying the character' of small town New Zealand." 'They 'lose their individuality,' Ward moans - "what a luddite," shoots back Wikiriwhi.

Mr Wikiriwhi identifiesWard's "fetish for stagnation" as unnecessarily expensive and therefore unviable, and declares the developments Ward so despises to be vital for the survival of small towns. "Ward fails to understand that large investments are designed to attract custom to these areas - people patronise them because they offer them a good service, and this patronage gives impetus and viability for more investment, thereby increasing the town's economy and its job prospects for locals."

"Only a green luddite can look you in the eye and say such investment is bad for local economies, "says Wikiriwhi, who offers a prediction: " If any two small towns within fifty kilometres of one another develop differently, I guarantee the town that harbours the Pak'n'Save and the Warehouse will prosper, while it's tree- hugging neighbor will become a haven of unemployment and crime, a place in which the only thing of beauty is the road out."

"Any town that embraces Ward's green philosophy is doomed!" Wikiriwhi concludes.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>