Public Address - Hard News (Home)

Crash | Mar 23, 2006 10:41

The arrogance of the Labour government was laid bare last night after it was revealed that the Prime Minister shamelessly allowed her official car to be hit from behind and shunted into another car on Auckland's Ponsonby Road.

Act leader Rodney Hide dismissed claims that the laws of physics precluded Helen Clark from preventing the accident.

"The Prime Minister follows such laws only when it suits her," said Hide. "I am sure that had a member of her Cabinet been travelling in the front car, she would have had one of her cronies waive the so-called Newton's Law. This is typical of the double standard applied by this corrupt government.

"And I think the public has a right to know why the Prime Minister was not in the car following her car, making sure the driver applied the brake in a timely fashion."

The real story is almost as silly in parts. Last December, Clark's official car was the middle party in a nose-to-tail on Ponsonby Road, after a following car carrying diplomatic protection squad officers rear-ended it and shunted it into the car in front. That's pretty crap work for an official driver.

But Hide is making more of it. He told the Herald that a woman in the front car said that the PM's car didn't stop:

"They explained [to the women] that they were part of the VIP motorcade and they had to deposit and take care of their VIP," Mr Hide said the woman told him.

Uh, so the PM's minders somehow had this conversation from the window of a moving car? Or did they stop, get out and speak to the occupants? In which case, how exactly is this not stopping?

At any rate, the DPS car, with its crew of burly, well-trained men, stayed at the scene to offer assistance while the other Crown car took the PM around the corner to her engagement and then came back a few minutes later. Isn't this pretty much what you would expect to happen? Was the Prime Minister supposed to jump out and perform CPR or something?

The police spokesman said: "The information I have was that all vehicles stopped and the motorists involved were asked if there were any injuries. There were none and the Crown car continued on from the scene. The VIP protection car remained."

Hide says he has spoken to the passenger in the front car who said the driver suffered whiplash and "significant damage to the rear of her car". Well, you get that in traffic accidents. If the civilian driver or her passenger have been in any way poorly served since, let's be hearing about it. The at-fault driver may yet cop a careless driving charge, but it's hard to see how that's Clark's fault.

Otherwise, I guess it's a story, perhaps even a below-the-fold front page story on a Thursday. But what exactly is Rodney Hide alleging here?

Meanwhile, on 95bFM this morning, I'm pretty sure I heard Don Brash describe Nick Smith's actions in contempt of court as "trivial". Someone really should quote him on that.

I thought Smith acted dreadfully in that case, but I never thought he should lose his job (although his electorate secretary thought he deserved a by-election anyway, to restore his "mana"). And it seems evident that if David Parker is prosecuted under the Companies Act for an offence for which very few members of the public are ever prosecuted and which the Acting Registrar of Companies has compared to a traffic infringement - even if he is convicted and discharged - he will suffer a grossly inordinate punishment in being ejected from Parliament altogether.

Of course, if the registrar decides not to prosecute, or if Parker is prosecuted under a lesser section of the act, we all know what that means: creeping Stalinist police corruption.

David Slack would know more about this sort of thing than me, but various people have picked up what appears to be the new favourite device of Bush's speechwriters: kicking the bejesus out of straw men. It's quite an interesting - and, thus, far, highly effective - rhetorical technique.

Uroskin notes the issue that promises to tear Serbia and Monenegro apart: who gets to represent their state at the Eurovision Song Contest this year.

New blog! Mark "Monsta" O'Brien has launched dailycartoon.co.nz. Go look.

And today's video treat, thanks to Public Address reader Christian. How do we stop kids sharing software? We'll talk to them in a language they understand: rap! See Don't Copy That Floppy, by the illin' Software Publishers Association, circa early 90s.

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Gone by lunchtime | Mar 21, 2006 11:28

David Parker's resignation as Attorney General was appropriate - but his subsequent departure from all Cabinet posts would seem to relate more to a desire for comprehensive damage control than a response to the actual offence in question.

The government's chief law officer must be seen to be beyond reproach, and Parker clearly is not. Anyone who owns a small company will know that the answer to the question "Did the shareholders pass unanimous resolution not to appoint an auditor for the current year?" is a box we tick every year in our return to the Companies Office.

The answer is virtually always "yes"; although the idea that every small business owner in the country convenes his or her shareholders and formally resolves not to employ an auditor is a bit fanciful. And, where there is no separation of ownership and management, as is the case in most small companies, it's not that big a deal.

You tick the box, which is what Parker and his father did. But Parker and his father were, not, of course, the only shareholders in Queens Park Mews. Their estranged business partner Russell Hyslop held a third of the shares and ought to have been formally consulted before the ticking of the box.

Hyslop, who came across on the TV news as quite excitable, says that had he been convened and asked for his approval, he would not have given it. Of course, if he had genuine concerns as to the management of the company, he could have exercised various rights under the Companies Act, including the right to inspect records, but he didn't. That doesn't make the Parkers' declarations any more correct.

What the Parkers should have done is exercised their right to compulsorily acquire Hyslop's shareholding when he was declared bankrupt in the mid-1990s, and removed him from the shareholders' register altogether.

As Stephen Franks points out in the Herald this morning, thousands of business owners "probably make false annual returns like [Parker] is alleged to have done," but " we lawyers know that we can not do that. A lawyer who signs false statements or even blank documents knows that no excuse is acceptable."

Politicians can't do it either. They, too (although they quite often aren't) should be beyond reproach. Franks reaches this conclusion:

There is an interesting potential consequence.

I think most lawyers will be unequivocal about Parker having to stand down as Attorney-General, no matter how much he was admired. They might have less concern about him retaining his other portfolios.

But eventually, if he is tried and convicted for making a false statement under section 377 of the Companies Act, he must not thereafter "directly or indirectly be concerned in or take part in the management of a company" unless the court says otherwise.

That might cramp his style as Minister of Energy and shareholder of the state generators.

Ouch. Good point.

But I hope that all National and Act members, especially those who aspire to be Cabinet ministers one day, have their own papers in perfect order. And as they bay for blood they might do well to remember National's term in government, when John Banks managed to operate as a walking, talking conflict of interest and was declared "an excellent minister" by his Prime Minister. There was not a lot of accountability going on then.

And as he proclaims from the moral high ground, Rodney Hide might do well to remember his own links, and those of his Act colleague Owen Jennings with dubious financial schemes - which did members of the public a lot more injury than Parker ever did.

Meanwhile a couple of readers have directed my attention to the transcript of the other "apology" that wasn't actually delivered by Prime Minister John Howard, which remains a magnificent piece of writing.

And Andrew Gladstone of Turners Auctions had a response to last week's comment about the company's failure to purchase Trade Me for a mere $1 million:

I have spoken to one of the staff who was involved in the negotiations and he informs me that this all took place in early 2000, so 6 years ago. As I understand, Trade me were concerned about Ebay's launch into NZ and wanted to offload. Turners was not the only company approached with the $1m price tag.

I suppose what I'm saying is that although in hindsight it looks like Turners were foolish not to buy Trade me for $1m when you look at what Fairfax are paying six years down the track, but it needs to be balanced up with Sam Morgan's willingness to sell at $1m (and I think even he would admit that he was asking a cheeky price at the time) and the fact that it had only been up and running for about a year, not to mention that Ebay could've bought them but instead decided to try and compete. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

For the record, Turners launched an online auction website for the trade in 2000 called Autoturn. It still runs successfully to this day (I run it) so it's not like the company completely under-estimated the growth in online sales. The million dollar story is always a good one when told in its simplest form but I just thought I needed to put some perspective on it.

And now for something completely different: puppets perform Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades'. Yowsa! Although I don't think Lemmy would be at all impressed with his likeness …

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Mixed feelings | Mar 20, 2006 12:03

Let me define mixed feelings for you. It's sitting on the bank at the Basin Reserve hoping to see Brian Lara regain his magic - but also hoping that he's not so magical as to snatch away a test match that New Zealand will, weather permitting, win to wrap up the series.

In the end, we needn't have worried. Lara played a hopeless shot to Nathan Astle - a bowler he used to hit all around the ground - and was caught at backward point for one run in what is presumably his last dig at the Basin.

I was able to get to the ground for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday, and it was most congenial. A good crowd (and apparently a knowledgeable one) both days, and some good cricket. Fleming batted beautifully all the way to 97 runs on the Saturday, before playing a glory shot and being caught on the third man boundary. The absence of a replay screen rather added to the old-school atmosphere.

I was in Welly - yet again - to chair a Readers and Writers event with Joe Sacco, who has almost created his own medium: serious journalism via comics. I'm a complete convert: in his book-length works Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde (which has an introduction written by Christopher Hitchens, possibly after a few drinks), Sacco achieves things that simply aren't possible in either prose writing or photojournalism. Plus, he's a fan of The Saints. How could you not like the guy?

In the event, the Sunday session with him was highly enjoyable - I let it roll on until the festival staff started making throat-cutting gestures - but you'll have to have been there to hear it. The Lumiere guys have an interview with Sacco and there are the notes of a presentation similar to the Wellington one that goes into more detail on how he carries out his work.

I took me a while to find a copy of the John Howard "apology" last week, mostly because all the links I found were dead - the domain name of the site it was on, johnhowardpm.org, wouldn't resolve, which was weird. Now it's apparent why. On the orders of the Australian government, the domain was shut down, without reference to its owner, Richard Neville. Lame excuse: it might have been a "phishing" scam. What a lot of bullshit. I think this is appalling.

On Kete Were, Paul looks at New Zealand First MP Barbara Stewart's Electoral (Reduction in Number of Members of Parliament) Amendment Bill and concludes - in part on the basis of this hilarious Scoop interview - that she simply has no idea.

And Adolf salutes Maori Television's Judy Bailey deal for Anzac Day as a bravura bit of guerilla warfare.

Meanwhile, Donald Rumsfeld is "not competent" to lead the US armed forces. But don't take that from me; refer instead to Paul Eaton, a retired US general who was in charge of training the Iraqi army in 2003 and 2004. Eaton lacerates his former boss in a column for the New York Times.

First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.
In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.

Meanwhile, this just in from liberated, democratic Iraq: Ayatollah Sistani, the most powerful religious and political figure in the country, declares that homosexuals should be "Punished, in fact, killed. The people involved should be killed in the worst, most severe way of killing."

Gee. Not just killed, but killed really horribly. It would be ironic if Salam Pax, who defied Saddam's security apparatus to write his blog, should be forced out of the new Iraq on account of his sexuality, but it doesn't seem unlikely given his promience.

New sport: digging up instances of jeering, insulting - and somewhat premature - declarations of victory in Iraq by bloggers and media pundits. There seems to be plenty of material.

And, finally Riverbend writes of life on the third anniversary:

The real fear is the mentality of so many people lately- the rift that seems to have worked its way through the very heart of the country, dividing people. It's disheartening to talk to acquaintances- sophisticated, civilized people- and hear how Sunnis are like this, and Shia are like that… To watch people pick up their things to move to "Sunni neighborhoods" or "Shia neighborhoods". How did this happen?

I read constantly analyses mostly written by foreigners or Iraqis who've been abroad for decades talking about how there was always a divide between Sunnis and Shia in Iraq (which, ironically, only becomes apparent when you're not actually living amongst Iraqis they claim)… but how under a dictator, nobody saw it or nobody wanted to see it. That is simply not true- if there was a divide, it was between the fanatics on both ends. The extreme Shia and extreme Sunnis. Most people simply didn't go around making friends or socializing with neighbors based on their sect. People didn't care- you could ask that question, but everyone would look at you like you were silly and rude.

The fact that she can write this is a victory in itself; there is no doubt that speech is freer in Iraq now than it was three years ago. But what creeps me out is the way Riverbend's experience echoes the de-socialisation process Joe Sacco describes in the Bosnian conflict, in Safe Area Gorazde. Your neighbour isn't your neighbour any more: he's the other; and then maybe he's your enemy.

On more trivial matters, the Blues won, but I continue to sink like a stone in Virtual Super 14. Nic Jones and Ross Hawkins keep the top slots on the Public Address leader board, but Satboy, Paul Kennedy and the Hood are charging. And RDU's Wammo and TV3's John Campbell continue to let the media down …

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Poison Pill Theory | Mar 17, 2006 10:11

My buddy reckons he knows why Fairfax paid so much for Trade Me: when Australian media ownership laws are relaxed, Fairfax, with its strong cashflow and regional monopolies, becomes a prime takeover target. What better way of scaring off the takeover merchants than popping a $700 million poison pill? Just a thought.

Meanwhile, a little bird has told me that Turners Auctions had the opportunity to buy Trade Me four years ago for, um, $1 million. Apparently the belief was that this online stuff would really never catch on ...

TVNZ's streaming simulcast of its Commonwealth Games coverage seems to be working quite well. The engineers and the CityLink crew apparently spent a bit of time yesterday helping ISPs belatedly sort out their routing issues. Special arrangements have been made for delivery to customers on Telecom's network - presumably because Telecom didn't fancy explaining to JetStream customers that they couldn't get the video because of its decision to cease open peering at the CityLink exchanges. Indeed.

On the other hand, I've been forwarded an email casting doubt on whether the non-peering telcos have in fact done enough to help their customers. It says the video is "streaming via the exchanges and most TelstraClear/ Telecom customers will not be able to view it due to bandwidth restrictions imposed by Telecom." Reports, please ...

If you're using a Mac, be aware that the .asx stream doesn't work with the Flip4Mac components (despite them now being Microsoft's recommended solution); if you have those installed you'll need to manually paste a URL into Windows Media Player. The video help has been updated with the details.

We are already knee-deep in reckonings as the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq approaches, but I wonder if anything will be as damning as the interview given to the Sunday Telegraph by British SAS trooper Ben Griffin. Griffin told his commanding officers last year that he was not going back to Iraq, on moral grounds. He expected to be court-martialled, but was instead let go with a glowing testimonial from his commanding officer. Here's an excerpt from the story:

"The Americans had this catch-all approach to lifting suspects. The tactics were draconian and completely ineffective. The Americans were doing things like chucking farmers into Abu Ghraib or handing them over to the Iraqi authorities, knowing full well they were going to be tortured.

"The Americans had a well-deserved reputation for being trigger happy. In the three months that I was in Iraq, the soldiers I served with never shot anybody. When you asked the Americans why they killed people, they would say 'we were up against the tough foreign fighters'. I didn't see any foreign fighters in the time I was over there.

"I can remember coming in off one operation which took place outside Baghdad, where we had detained some civilians who were clearly not insurgents, they were innocent people. I couldn't understand why we had done this, so I said to my troop commander 'would we have behaved in the same way in the Balkans or Northern Ireland?' He shrugged his shoulders and said 'this is Iraq', and I thought 'and that makes it all right?'

"As far as I was concerned that meant that because these people were a different colour or a different religion, they didn't count as much. You can not invade a country pretending to promote democracy and behave like that."

Former Telegraph editor Max Hastings had comment in the same vein in a piece on a new book by another British SAS soldier who served in Iraq.

What's remarkable is the near-total absence of the Griffin story from the American mainstream media - and, for that matter, coverage of the court-martial of New Zealander and RAF doctor Malcolm Kendall-Smith, who has also refused to return to Iraq.

22 Iraqi cities have been bombed in the last five months. And that was before the air assault was stepped up.

Intriguing Daily Show interview with the author of the new book Misquoting Jesus.

Stephen Colbert interviews Keith Olberman about Bill O'Reilly and stuff.

A storming interview with secular Syrian-American psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan on Al-Jazeera, tearing into Islamic leaders, has, unsurprisingly earned her death threats from the usual suspects. I just wish our team's moral high ground was, well, a little higher. Salon has compiled information and images from official investigations into The Abu Ghraib Files. It's a long and depressing read. Hug your children afterwards.

Theocracy watch: a new bill tries to have Christianity decreed the official religion of the state of Missouri.

On a related theme, Auckland's Academy Cinemas is putting on a screening of Chasing God, a 55-minute documentary by New Zealand Dylan Burton, at 8.30pm on Tuesday. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring the director, representatives of the Christian, Buddhist and Hindu faiths and rationalist Paul Litterick. You can book on (09) 373 2761. And guess what? The Academy has kindly given me two single passes for Public Address readers. Just hit reply below and tell me your name, first-in-first-served, and if I don't get back to you, you haven't won. Come along anyway.

Also, I'm in Wellington on Sunday, chairing Comics, Seriously, a session with comic journalist Joe Sacco. Sacco's work is wonderful, and I hope the session will be too. No freebies to that, sorry.

And, finally, a simple, but spookily brilliant, idea. What happens if you take Garfield's thought bubbles out of the Garfield strip cartoons? Answer: some gently funny strips abruptly become, as one of the commenters puts it, "bleak and existential". Have a look at these examples. And there's some more here.

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