Posts by Sacha
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The playing-field has changed and the goalposts are on a different paddock. You want to continue playing rugby, but this field has been set up for bull-rush.
Nicely simplified.
Some actual evidence about downloading/purchasing behaviour from that land of ill repute, Norway (ta to Sidney Markowitz from KiwiFoo):
Ratio between unpaid and paid downloading, age 15-20 group
Those who have used unpaid downloading have paid to download music an average of 75 times, compared with 7 times for those who have NOT used unpaid downloads. "In other words, the people who use unpaid downloading have ten times the consumption of paid downloads than those who do not use unpaid downloading. This confirms that, even with declining CD sales, people do understand that copyrighted music recordings costs money," concludes Assistant Professor Audun Molde.
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Aha, not G-rated then..
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Completely off topic, but unintentional hilarity from Hamilton V8 promoter (and nice man) Dean Calvert in response to allegations that a corporate model surrendered her knickers during his event:
We had a big debrief at a very high level and nothing was ever raised
Heh. Story also says attention-starved Lisa Lewis was turfed out for breaching the ambush marketing parts of the event's sponsorship deals. Expecting some very clever attempts from others at the Rugby World Cup.
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Wishing you success with that venture, Steven. I guess you'll be competing slightly with Weta Workshops, then?
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Though I reckon that overstates the influence of the "M".
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I recommend reading the views of long-serving councillor and ex-Mayor of the Glen Eden borough council, Janet Clews, informed by the lessons of that previous round of amalgamations in the late 1980s. (Note that a slightly edited version of this appeared last week in the Herald):
It is critical that the second-tier councils have sufficient scale to be able to achieve things for their communities with the help of the unitary authority. The decision to have 20-30 community boards flies in the face of the royal commission report, and is a case of back to the future.
It is a perfect demonstration of divide and rule. At least the 27 cities and boroughs which existed at the time of the 1989 amalgamation had real autonomy. What is proposed now is nothing but a sop. It also confuses representation with empowerment.
...Community engagement does not just happen. It must be encouraged, worked at and respected. This applies to all levels of government. There has actually been no real community engagement by the Government on this suggested return to the past.
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In a recent column, local government law specialist Associate Professor Kenneth Palmer likes the Government's proposed changes:
Finally we have a workable prescription for Auckland to speak with one voice and act boldly in the regional and national interest.
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The voice of the communities will still be heard through the local board structures and ward members, striking an appropriate balance between unified representation and local democracy.
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Calls have been made for a citizens' referendum or for time for further submissions. As was evident in 1988, this cannot happen if principled reform is to be achieved. -
The stakeholders in justice are not only the offender and the perpetrator, and not just their families. Crimes are prosecuted on behalf of all of society (with the usual accompanying imbalances, imperfections and inequities).
Thanks for the elaboration about utu, Islander. Sounds like strong iwi tikanga kept things in check, which I imagine are not so easy to replicate in our more diverse societies today. I understand restorative justice draws on traditional Maori forms, however, so there must be ways of making things work.
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The upshot: buying is not enough. "Ethical consumerism" is not enough. You need to fucking vote.
Hear, hear. And vote thinking of your grandchildren, your friends, and the parts of this planet you especially enjoy and want to know will still be there for them.
Better still, get more active in the political process than just voting - stand, speak up, gather others around you, join with those you admire and trust.
One of the best things about the current stripping of Auckland's democratic voice has been the gathering resistance to it. Look out for new movements and parties on both local and national stages.
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Stewart, while the current circling of vultures is unattractive and there's definitely a power grab in the offing, they didn't set up the Commission process. Concern by Auckland's business interests and the politicians of the right goes back a decade and more, so it's hardly surprising to see that translated into action now.
The way they are going about this change is consistent with their beliefs about leadership and about what is important. Cheerleader Fran O'Sullivan's latest is illustrative:
... the terrifying prospect that a business person or a celebrity might end up as one of the eight "at large councillors" buying their way on to the council through their own fame and recognition, or, ability to fund an election campaign;
...We get so mired in protecting the ownership of our assets that we miss the chance to realise some cash and reinvest in building some next-generation infrastructure.
What is desperately needed is not more of the same but people with vision and courage who can lead Auckland - not hold it back.
She does have some other stuff to say about governance and makes some good points amidst the dross. I agree that "This is Auckland's chance to get it right".
However as others have already noted, it's not the prospect of "one" champion of Eastie business interests that concerns opponents but of an entire Council stacked with rich white men because of deliberate decisions about the process by pollies who represent their interests - at the cost of excluding the region's rich diversity of perspectives and strengths.
We can do better, and it is alarming to see that fearful poverty of vision dressed up as decisiveness and ambition. Business is a great partner at the table, but if it ever had all the answers, then the current failure of global financial markets should surely cause its apologists to think more broadly.
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