Posts by Sacha

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  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    Regional councillor Joel Cayford also talks about impending transport changes and possible "wholesale gutting of Auckland governance".

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    If Len Brown & Mike Lee take the Greater AKL mayoralty & deputy mayoralty respectively, I hope the two of them will show who's in charge. It could lead to some interesting political dynamics, à la Livingstone-vs-Thatcher in the 1980s.

    It'll be tense all right, but the real power struggle is happening right now. And few are watching.

    As Mr Dempsey mentioned here recently, by the time the Mayor is elected all the structural decisions will have been made - by unelected officials acting on instruction from radical nutjobs in Wellington who have learned the lessons of the Greater London Council.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Speaker: How to Look Good as a Nazi,

    win the war of industrial dominance that followed

    Te reconstruction.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    I felt compelled to comment on Joshua's excellent transport blog after reading the latest mindfart from the Transport Minister.

    A lengthy Herald piece last weekend describes the situation. Rudman follows up today:

    “Mr Joyce now seems to be deliberately taunting Aucklanders, promising all will be well, while slowly and publicly plucking the wheels off the trains, one by one.

    He seemed to be deliberately mischievous last weekend when, while enthusing about roads, he told the Weekend Herald that “rail projects are [important] as well, but with the urban ones we need to know the impact on land-use planning in Auckland.”

    He complained “there’s no business case or plans which says, ‘here’s where we’re going to put the two million people we’re told are going to live in Auckland in 22 years’.”

    Whatever else Auckland local government can be criticised for, a failure to prepare reports is not one of them.

    Mr Joyce is one of the National Government’s smarter minds and a quick learner, so it’s hard to believe he was ignorant of the shelves of reports prepared over the years which could be wheeled out to contradict this claim.”

    I concluded that Joyce must be only listening to advice from his trucking and construction buddies, and viewing Auckland as a place that people and freight drive through on their way to the surrounding regions.

    I note again for the record that I am not speaking on behalf of any of the local bodies with which I am associated.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    higher density

    Take it we're leaving Lincoln out this time then.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    Apples with apples: 2006 census says 449,000 for Welli region and 522,000 for Canterbury.

    I suspect the choice in this case may have more to do with where book industry people are based..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Hard News: Postcard from Christchurch,

    two Christchurch writers and no Chch launch?

    Hard to argue with that really, especially when Welli has only half as many people.

    Snap.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Speaker: How to Look Good as a Nazi,

    Exceptionalism - how dare they attack god's favoured folk.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Speaker: How to Look Good as a Nazi,

    it's also worth looking at why we have the cultural baggage we do have

    Totally agree. And in this case, the global cultural influence of the USA is declining with time, amongst other factors.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Speaker: How to Look Good as a Nazi,

    "Cultural baggage" is the point - the impact comes from tapping into that. There's a reason Godwin is about that topic not the pillaging of native North Americans, Ugandans or local iwi.

    I'd question how conscious the choice was - and how responsible, even if deliberate. Bullies tend to play the "I was only joking" card, whether alone or in groups.

    This and similar incidents are signals that something needs to be fixed. Something more than representations.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

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