Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: That page doesn't exist ...

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  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Sacha,

    Non-voters, and floating voters who initially supported Key but are waking up to his agenda, are the obvious targets. With the Crafarms legal tussle and asset sales, maybe it’s time for Shearer to slip off the kid gloves and do an Orewa Rotary.

    What would be the Left’s equivalent of ‘a dangerous path to separatism’? Maybe inspiration could be taken from a speech Bob Harvey gave to the 1999 Labour conference: “For believe me, if we are not successful this time, then the future of NZ won’t belong to us. It’ll belong to boardrooms foreign to these shores.” It would likely invoke the spectre of Wall St and TranzRail – and perhaps also the word “bankster”.

    Another area to target would be tax evasion, if Mitt Romney’s financial peccadilloes are anything to go by. And if there’s only one way to excite the non-voters, maybe Shearer could do worse than be a ‘friend of the Internet’ and unconditionally oppose SOPA/PIPA/TPPA, if he can shake off the baggage of S92a.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    Non-voters

    yes

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hebe,

    My question about changes such as those at HNZ and sending solo parents with young children out to work (and five years old is young) is whether John Key would have been able to get where he is today without the help the state gave him and his family, likewise Paula Bennett.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Hebe,

    whether John Key would have been able to get where he is today without the help the state gave him and his family, likewise Paula Bennett.

    Sorry Hebe ,that page doesn't exist. For this lack of empathy is so cold They must have always had help. How both of them can stand up there together as one .... just horrible.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    Sorry Hebe ,that page doesn’t exist. For this lack of empathy is so cold They must have always had help. How both of them can stand up there together as one …. just horrible.

    If there's only one term to describe them right now... it'd have to be 'goalpost shifters'.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    there are more Anglo-Saxon words than that

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    just horrible

    Yes. I believe the Tories' agenda is, and has been since Key came to power, the systematic dismantling of the welfare state and sale of New Zealanders' family silver to the highest bidder. They spent the first term scoping and setting up the frameworks; this term was always going to be about doing the things that cnnot be undone. And the Maori Party will in the history books be seen as the biggest traitors to Maori ever; they have the means to stop this appallingness (a real word? ), and they do nothing. Shame on them all.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd, in reply to Morgan Nichol,

    I feel so powerless. Voting isn't enough.

    Right, I was thinking about this comment last night. This is a feeling that I have had myself. I wanted to come up with something more in response.

    Morgan, we've never met, but I've followed you online for a while and you're clever, capable communicator. That is a great start.

    It is easy to despair at the overwhelming scale of advantage that the incumbents have in media and resources, but focussed efforts on single issues that speak to people's emotions can still cut through, arouse opposition and achieve success.

    I think that when we want to leap into a field we don't know a lot about, even if it's something like politics, we can do better by learning about the fundamentals and forming a plan based on what we've learned.

    Read about marketing, PR, social psychology. Start with Cialdini's Persuasion and branch out.

    Learn about the structures, roles, processes and cycles of government. Read Mai Chen's new book about how to use public law in NZ. Figure which people in which roles can be influenced, how they can be influenced, when they should be influenced. Learn about submissions, hearings, appeals, challenges, all that stuff.

    Pick one issue. Find another person who cares for moral support and to collaborate with and systematically plan. Listen sympathetically to other people who are already trying -- sometimes the reason they haven't been effective is that they're just worn out, other times it's because they haven't been doing the right things but they don't know what else to do. But they often know things you don't know (and sometimes they "know" things that aren't true, of course).

    Perhaps you can invigorate an existing group, perhaps you can start one. Perhaps you can use skills you already have to achieve your aims.

    Expect to do a lot of work.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Housing stock sold to Destiny Church!
    Maybe that’s the next move…
    I see Dr Lesley McTurk’s, soulless hand at work here as well, helping to remove the personal interface, dehumanising all processes – she did much the same thing when she was CEO (Town Clerk) in Chchch before she went to HNZ and we got Tony Marryatt…
    Entropy writ large, with another round of drinks for those in the corporate boxes – they’re more like Goalpost shitters!

    <afterthought> Maybe HNZ is trying to claw back the $1 million odd they lost trying to evict the Pomare women...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I see Dr Lesley McTurk’s, soulless hand at work here

    Ian, did you see this? What do you make of it?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    For me, uniting desktop publishing and satire has been therapeutic. With the right channels, it could even be influential – it seems to work for Adbusters.

    - Mum & dad investors
    - Child poverty – so far it’s caused a few ripples on DimPost
    - Holiday Highways
    - Post-quake Christchurch

    And I’ve got one coming up about the broadcasting sector.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    The City & the city...

    ...did you see this? What do you make of it?

    it's a pretty good summation of how we got to here, from there...
    That's Chchch(inatown, Jake...)

    Welcome aboard, do advise when you are shifted down and settled in, and perhaps we can extend some local hospitality (PAS style) ...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Stephen Judd,

    Ian, did you see this? What do you make of it?

    The story started on a flawed premise; the John Gray years were what established modern Christchurch.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Hebe,

    Grace allergy...

    ...what established modern Christchurch.

    I forgot about John Gray...
    For newcomers to our green, gray and gritty provincial hub, the library has this extensive chronology of the making of Chchch...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    I forgot about John Gray...

    Most have. Unfortunate that The Press did not get someone with a longer memory than 20 years to write the piece and analyse why the city is what it is. Factually, the piece has some major flaws, attributable to using not enough sources (David Close is a fine man who I have great respect for personally and professionally, but opinions are not fact).

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • 3410,

    this extensive chronology of the making of Chchch

    Heh. Latest entries are:

    November 27 [1989:] TV3 transmission starts.
    December 10 [1989:] Sunday trading begins in Christchurch.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Hebe, in reply to 3410,

    Some minor details were overlooked in this piece too ... ;-)

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Welcome aboard, do advise when you are shifted down and settled in, and perhaps we can extend some local hospitality (PAS style) …

    That will be something to look forward to -- the knowledge that there is a crew of congenial people in Chch was a considerable influence on my decision to capitulate to the beloved. ETA late April. House search starting shortly.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • BenWilson, in reply to Morgan Nichol,

    Thanks for speaking out about your feelings on this Morgan. I think this feeling of depressed powerless gloom has been settling over the country for quite a while. I think it's also settling over the whole western world, but one of the feelings that goes with it is a contraction of your world, so that local affairs really do take higher importance, and one loses touch with global trends. I've felt it most keenly myself. It's like the whole country needs counseling. A depressed person becomes self-obsessed, and I think the same goes for a depressed country.

    On the subject of getting rid of these fucksticks, I think you're right about preaching to the choir - that doesn't change anything. Which is not to say that the choir is useless - it's most definitely not. It's a place to go to recharge yourself, to get useful advice to swap ideas in good faith, etc. But if we are to really make ourselves useful in the fuckstick eradication campaign, we have to get our noses bloodied. I mean this metaphorically, mostly. We need to stop avoiding people who we strongly disagree with and take them on head-to-head. On their own ground, or a neutral ground. Only retreat to safe ground when you need to "heal up". Do not underestimate your power to persuade people, if you go at it, you're an eloquent guy. You won't convince the trolls, definitely won't make any progress against shills, but always remember that the real audience of a debate that aims to change people are those who are silently listening. On the internet, there could be thousands of these people reading things you say, and that can cascade outwards into the debates that form parts of their lives, so you can end up convincing even people who haven't read you.

    I'm mentioning the rhetorical side of the campaign, but the same goes for all activity, really, that standing by while good things are taken away is all too easy. All of the small acts don't count for nothing, everyone has a chance to be Claude Rains if they feel strongly enough. And our power to organize into group action is the most important resistance of all.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Tamara,

    I don't get it about this being an aspect of operating as "just a landlord". Property management companies (covering a large part of the rental market) at least have offices you can go to!

    New Zealand • Since Oct 2010 • 115 posts Report

  • BenWilson, in reply to Tamara,

    Yes, indeed. They're aiming to be the worst landlord in town.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Attachment

    So I sent an angry email to Heatley yesterday, and blow me down with a feather I got a response! So I put up the response which basically says nothing but I am impressed my anger was at least noted. That anger went like this…..
    Mr Heatley,
    May I just say, I am appalled at you and your government’s behaviour (yet again) with your blatant disregard of fellow human beings. Just because some NZ citizens do not make the same level of income that we pay you, does not mean you are better. I would even proffer does not make you smarter. Your shift to call centres for cost cutting and your preference to enact redundancies is sheer stupidity in such times when the Economy is begging for a boost , which, if any of your Party actually checked facts is proven time and time again a need to retain jobs. Pray tell me, where are the 170,000 jobs Key so happily mouthed off? I can only see thousands on the dole queue. Perhaps if you stopped doing up the Winz offices ,we could put that money towards the offices for HNZ that you find worth abolishing. The Internet and Phone lines are not a necessary priority for those feeding ,clothing and housing families in need. And now you insist on that for the vulnerable. That is cruelty. Lord help you should your situation ever change. Oh that’s right you expect churches to takeover.
    I pay rates .I vote. I own my own house.I am appalled at your arrogance. Actually this disgusts me.
    Sincerely
    Sofie Bribiesca

    And he replied (See above)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • nzlemming, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Grace allergy.

    I'd describe the churchyard but fear I might misspell the descriptor...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • nzlemming, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    So I sent an angry email to Heatley yesterday, and blow me down with a feather I got a response!

    I don't want to pop your bubble, but Ministers have to respond, even if it's just a form letter as your note shows. I fired off emails to McCully and Groser on Saturday morning about Mike Moore and the TPP party, and got email responses (which may have been a robot). At least yours is signed by a person.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to nzlemming,

    At least yours is signed by a person.

    But although I know all that, I don't get any response by Collins, Tolley and I had JK say we are passing your mail on to someone else who I said I had also sent one to and explained why I included him. Nada.Heatley is a first from National. Labour ,no probs, Greens ,no probs, Act, no probs. Maori Party ,no response.Point is in all this .
    HE IS TAKING EMAILS OF COMPLAINT!! Somebody may be interested.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

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