Hard News: The odds, and the simply odd
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From the Herald:
Mr Key said the announcement was "an interesting idea" and his party would announce its student loan policy in the coming weeks.
"We will indicate a more generous scheme but it won't be universal at this time," he told reporters.
And Bill English on Checkpoint was equally un-scathing.
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nice to see that all our economic problems are the fault of rich pricks like John Key and not over-extended debt junkies whose votes are being pandered for without shame
The way I see it is that the bigger the tax cut, the greater the leverage available to keep on spending in excess of one's means. Labour's being irresponsible, in encouraging yet more near-worthless consumer spending, but National's just taking it further. Plus National's signalling to business that we don't need your R&D, thanks very much, we can do the impossible and get long-term economic recovery done through low-quality worship at the altar of consumption.
I came across a great quote from US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes yesterday: "I like paying taxes. It is how I buy civilisation."
Shame we don't hear that line a little more often. Especially in response to Act and their "Taxes are evil" mantra. -
Grant McDougall was inside when I walked past earlier, hopefully he'll report.
Oooh, if I must...it's interesting that the commentators are saying that Labour's more energetic as the campaign begins. I saw Clark speak at Otago Uni in 2005 as well and she seemed very robotic and blandly efficient in giving her stump speech. It was lacklustre.
But today, in front of about 1000 people (more than last time), including a few boisterous hecklers from the Alliance, she seemed somewhat more full of beans.
Admittedly speaking to a bunch of (mainly) students in one of Labour's safest electorates is pretty much preaching to the converted.The annoucement on student loans, etc, had the predicted positive response (which, no doubt, was made to ensure it looked good on TV). Then she rattled through various comments on the economy, the Treaty, employment, Iraq, trust, yadda, yadda, yadda; basically all the buzz-words we'll be heartily sick of come Nov 8.
While the student loans announcement is nice, I was more pleased - or more accurately - relieved by the TV ad for Labour I've just seen.
It's like the opening broadcast on Friday: Clark, sitting down, discussing an issue, as the camera pans gently from left to right.
It's nothing amazing, but it's a hell of a lot easier to understand than those appalling, inept, baffling 2005 TV ads of the baby suspended in mid-air and the old biddy booting the rugby ball.Apparently John Key was in my hometown, Gisborne, today and will be in Dunedin on Thursday. I wonder if I'll be able to see him talk here ?
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What I want to know is whether John Key will actually address the students in Dunedin in an address-type situation- usually he just does the "speak to the marketing students/first year pol sci students" thing.
No matter- he'll doubtless give the same damn stump he does in every single venue.I mean, I've seen in a few very different environments this year, and he doesn't strike me as someone who "works" the crowd- rather, one who has a "one-size-fits-all" stump. It's that same strange disconnect that was apparent in those bloody awful party political broadcasts on Friday.
Actually, both were pretty dire, but Labour's at least seemed more focussed as a piece of propaganda, National's came accross as a CEO's address to his shareholders. And not in a good way.
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Rolling Stone on "mad dog Palin".
Rolling Stone sticks it to McCain as well.
Make-Believe Maverick
Apologies. Mark Graham had already linked this on page 1.
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What I want to know is whether John Key will actually address the students in Dunedin in an address-type situation- usually he just does the "speak to the marketing students/first year pol sci students" thing.
According to Critic he's not appearing on campus. I briefly spoke to the ODT's political writer, Dene McKenzie, before Clark's appearance and he said that while Key's in Dunedin on Thursday, the media won't know his actual schedule until that morning.
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Quick note on the Key ad: a poll of my flat showed that the general first thought was "but if he's in the passenger seat, who's driving?". Subtext Fail.
I think the message is that under National we'll ALL have chauffeurs....
Or maybe not....
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It must be interesting to know what effect high polls have on the voters. Would constantly hearing that National has 50% of the vote, cause people to "join the winners"? There are by the July NZIER poll as many as 27% undecided, and the recent polls suggest about 20% undecided. Is there any research on this?
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While the student loans announcement is nice, I was more pleased - or more accurately - relieved by the TV ad for Labour I've just seen.
It's like the opening broadcast on Friday: Clark, sitting down, discussing an issue, as the camera pans gently from left to right.
It's nothing amazing, but it's a hell of a lot easier to understand than those appalling, inept, baffling 2005 TV ads of the baby suspended in mid-air and the old biddy booting the rugby ball.
It wasn't a "gentle pan", it was an edit every 30 seconds that forced me to re-engage with what she was saying every 30 seconds. But it was effective, and it seems very clear that there's been an uptick in competence. As I noted, you can also tick the ads on the newspaper websites this morning. That 300 × 250 position they bought this morning was good.
It's interesting that other people seem to be spotting Helen Clark in fine fettle. They live by their research, those people, and I wonder if she's seen something that makes her think it's all on again.
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According to Critic he's not appearing on campus. I briefly spoke to the ODT's political writer, Dene McKenzie, before Clark's appearance and he said that while Key's in Dunedin on Thursday, the media won't know his actual schedule until that morning.
Kinda as I expected then. I remember talking to the guys from Critic when I was catching up with a couple of the old crowd on Thursday evening and they suggested that was the case.
Which begs the question, what on earth has he got to lose from at least trying to reach out to them? I mean, if he's on campus, then he might as well give it a go.Geez, even Helen Clark braved the Christchurch campus last election and got booed by the usual Young Nats crowd. I know North Dunedin is as sure a definition of "Labour stranglehold" as any, but it does strike as feeble. Especially after he's been giving the "I've been talking to people Helen Clark doesn't talk to" rap for the last 8 months.
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I think Key has to come to Dunedin during the election at some point during the campaign - probably he wants to get in and get out with the minimum of fuss and get it over early so he can spend time in places he has a hope of getting some votes
It's not like the good old days when Muldoon would come to Dunedin, hold a meething in the town hall, and it would be filled up to the gods with people screaming at him
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As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in reptilian villainy
Oh how I would have enjoyed Hunter S's take on it all....
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Re. above...
Palin etc...
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"but if he's in the passenger seat, who's driving?"
I think the message is that under National we'll ALL have chauffeurs....Drat, beaten to it - I was going to say "the help, dear".
And did that choir seem a little short on non-Asian, non-Pakeha faces to you? I guess in Parnell that's diversity.
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Hmm - "Clark, by contrast, was standing, smiling and enunciating every word like she meant it." Yeah Right.
Note to self - "Through Helen all things are possible, well at least good diction.”
Her appearance at the NZ Music Awards made me hurl - Rock Me Baby - she appeared to me like the proverbial grasping Scout Master plying select members of the troop with cheap alcohol.
Helen is an opportunist whose time is up.
This election is the lolly scramble for the damned.
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And Bill English on Checkpoint was equally un-scathing.
Sadly, Simon, you're too fucking right. Why wasn't Bill saying, "And could Labour tell us what's 'fair' about my children -- and John's and Michael Cullen's stepchildren -- getting student allowances?"
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And here's another question nobody seems to be asking: Wouldn't there be more "social good" (as Russell puts it) if $250 million a year was being put into tertiary institutions to provide high quality courses, and recruit and retain quality staff? I don't see the point of universities bursting at the seams -- and the Keys and Englishes with student allowances in hands -- if the qualification they come out with are only fit for arse-wipe in the nearest long-drop.
But I guess that's really far too much work for the media.
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And just for a bit of a random mental health break, here's a poem by David Allen Sullivan
**Warnings**
A can of self-defense pepper spray says it may
irritate the eyes, while a bathroom heater says it's
not to be used in bathrooms. I collect warnings
the way I used to collect philosophy quotes.Wittgenstein's There's no such thing
as clear milk rubs shoulders with a box
of rat poison which has been found
to cause cancer in laboratory mice.Levinas' Language is a battering ram—
a sign that says the very fact of saying,
is as inscrutable as the laser pointer's advice:
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.Last week I boxed up the solemn row
of philosophy tomes and carted them down
to the used bookstore. The dolly read:
Not to be used to transport humans.Did lawyers insist that the 13-inch wheel
on the wheelbarrow proclaim it's
not intended for highway use? Or that the
Curling iron is for external use only?Abram says that realists render material
to give the reader the illusion of the ordinary.
What would he make of Shin pads cannot protect
any part of the body they do not cover?I load boxes of books onto the counter. Flip
to a yellow-highlighted passage in Aristotle:
Whiteness which lasts for a long time is no whiter
than whiteness which lasts only a day.A.A.'ers talk about the blinding glare
of the obvious: Objects in the mirror
are actually behind you, Electric cattle prod
only to be used on animals, Warning: Knives are sharp.What would I have done without: Remove infant
before folding for storage, Do not use hair dryer
while sleeping, Eating pet rocks may lead to broken
teeth, Do not use deodorant intimately?Goodbye to all those sentences that sought
to puncture the illusory world-like the warning
on the polyester Halloween outfit for my son:
Batman costume will not enable you to fly. -
Hmm - "Clark, by contrast, was standing, smiling and enunciating every word like she meant it." Yeah Right.
Note to self - "Through Helen all things are possible, well at least good diction.”
Yes, actually. We judge the quality of people's thinking, and to some extent their character, by the way they speak. Key's speech under even modest pressure can be quite poor, and it makes him seem unconvincing.
Seriously: I'd have found someone to fix that. It would hardly be unprecedented: Margaret Thatcher famously deepened her speaking voice to add authority, and Clark had to make hers friendlier.
Her appearance at the NZ Music Awards made me hurl - Rock Me Baby - she appeared to me like the proverbial grasping Scout Master plying select members of the troop with cheap alcohol.
Really? I just heard the usual speech -- a bit of cheerleading, a killer sales fact, a who's-your-daddy reminder about how Labour believes. It's never very lyrical. But it came off well.
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Goodness, a lot of right wingers resent the way the cool musical types like Helen Clark.
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Yes, actually. We judge the quality of people's thinking, and to some extent their character, by the way they speak.
Does that include the slick but utterly meaningless, if not outright deceptive? I'd hire Tony Blair to MC a wedding reception in a New York nano-second, but any elected office? Not so much.
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But he's got nice hair.
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And if we're mentioning the utterly meaningless, the Opposition front bench has got to be under the microscope
Shame they haven't managed the "slick" bit yet.
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And if we're mentioning the utterly meaningless, the Opposition front bench has got to be under the microscope
Oh, come on Mark... If National was promising John and Bronwyn Key's kids student allowances there would be a most healthy scepticism. But, hell, it doesn't matter how fiscally irresponsible and flat out unfair it is, we're all pissing our pants with glee as just how clever Labour is.
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Wouldn't there be more "social good" (as Russell puts it) if $250 million a year was being put into tertiary institutions to provide high quality courses, and recruit and retain quality staff?
It's a fair point. Good knows the AUS would appreciate your support (though they might be surprised). Staff salaries in NZ universities are comparatively low, importantly compared with Australia, however if you're looking for alternative investments, I'd suggest first looking outside the tertiary sector.
All that said, I still think Labour's got the far better overall education policy and track-record compared with National. National's policy has been a catch-up, me-too tapestry and has lacked any meaningful or consistent narrative since English was moved on - pity as I understand he was developing genuine policy alternatives.
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