Posts by Andre
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My partner is half-Samoan and has dozens of relatives there, many of whom have been affected by the tsunami. We found it difficult contacting them directly and had to rely on NZ media to find out what had happened. It started with Deborah Hill Cone and others on facebook questioning why TVNZ didn't cancel Good Morning and continue with the news - it was a national emergency. TV3 could have cancelled Rachel Ray as well for example. But no - our public broadcaster let us down. The only news coverage on TV until later in the day was really Skytv news on Channel 90 and that was piecemeal. The fact that the Civil Defence staff member interviewed on TV1 Breakfast seemed to know less than Paul Henry about what was happening was farcical and reinforced the need for them to stay on air.
National Radio was the best source of news (other than the internet) in the morning and Danny Watson on Newstalk ZB did a great job in the afternoon.
It was a difficult day anyway but TVNZ could have responded better. Thank you to publicaddress and other websites that helped communicate information throughout the day to many worried kiwis. -
Maybe Civil Defence weren't accounting for daylight saving? Stranger things have happened...
My partner's sister-in-law just texted from Samoa. They think over 100 have died. It is very tragic.. -
Wow! How interesting!
While the BBC were embracing Dame Edna in 1968 by making a TV show, we were banning Barry Humphries book "Bizarre" How Bizarre indeed.
How about Muldoon going all anti-marijuana on 29-Sep-78. It must have been a big week!
They were really going a bit far with Madonna in 1992: R18. Sales to be made in original heat sealed vacuum-packed aluminium foil bag which carries the caution: Warning this book contains adult material and its exterior packaging reflects the controversial and sensitive nature of what is inside (IPT). Information overload anyone? It sounds like a WMD.
Star Distributors published 24 of them from 1997 - 2002. It sounds like their demise was very much deserved...
I wouldn't celebrate any of these works but respect that the burning of books a la Nazi Germany is wrong. Would American Psycho negatively affect under 18 year-olds in book form? Many have now seen it on DVD - isn't that worse? -
Interesting that the whole Bill English rorts taxpayer issue segues neatly with the painfully slow action being taken against obviously guilty finance company directors. Do we really trust this government to hold the shonky bunch to account or will they be given no punishment having blamed everything possible on the credit crunch? I saw one of the owners of one of the biggest failures in the street 6 months ago and he claimed no knowledge ogf wrong doing. He lied to my face and said he'd left the firm a year before the crash (when I checked later on google, he hadn't). He was off to a meeting with a quasi-qovernment organisation giving advice on an hourly rate. The Bill English issue is all about trust in a financial industry still in shock from major frauds where no-one has yet to see the inside of a prison as a result. He's policing it all and we've got to trust his judgement...
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My dad was a public servant - a primary school teacher. We shifted to different houses & towns almost every year as his career progressed. During that time travelling around the country my parents rented our house in Auckland out.
This is a case of different rules for MP's than the rest of us. Why not just admit that they want a 25% pay rise instead of sneakily dipping their noses in the trough instead? Couldn't Bill rent the house in Dipton out? Or does he think he's too good for that? -
Mrs English is a highly-paid medical professional. You would think that having one highly-paid adult in the average household would ensure a comfortable lifestyle for the family. Bill English goes on about "having breakfast" with his kids. I wonder who looks after said kids? Do they see their parents other than in the morning? Does the taxpayer pay for child care as well because it seems both parents must be really quite busy out there making money? Most senior MP's work 14 hour days. Maybe he'll have to become a full-time house hubby instead?
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That's a great post Graham! Thanks for the insights - I'll avoid Alice Springs like the plague in future. The Aussies have major problems to deal with. Do you agree with Howard's policy of banning alcohol & pornography from Aboriginal settlements? It seems when they do try to help they go too far...
Where are the rumoured BDO acts David Bowie and/or Sir Paul McCartney. I reckon it's a shame at least one of them isn't in the line-up - give us some old buggers I say!
It's worth the ticket price just to see Groove Armada, Muse, Kasabian, Ladyhawke, Lily Allen & Powderfinger I reckon. Many of the punters are likely to be unamused at the rehashed look of it though. Adding a mega-band that hasn't performed the BDO before, like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers would have helped (think Metallica)... -
I once knew a guy whose father used to be a Red Squad member then a Chief Inspector before becoming a liquor licensing inspector. Back in the 90's if I bumped into him he'd tell me which bars he wanted to close down. Most of them were busy. The busier they were the more trouble would be blamed on them. The idea was that if someone got drunk at a bar and went out and caused a crime then it was the bar's fault. The police kept (and probably still do keep) these stats and supplied them to the council. So if your bar was popular and served a broad social group you were much more likely to be shut down. The police viewpoint on bars is very much about "policing" them. The council's viewpoint shouldn't be - it should be about delivering what ratepayers want. By employing cops as liquor licensing inspectors our viewpoint is being lost. If they want to shut a bar they will. The feedback to the council about what is happening in their "entertainment precincts" is skewed as a result.
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I think that Auckland City has two distinct groups that go partying. There are those that just left work and are going straight out with friends. they will mainly be drunk by 8pm and home by midnight. The second group are those who go out later to attend bands, go dancing or to just avoid the members of the first group.
The council basically wanted those from the first group to go home before midnight and wanted to outlaw all of those from the second group in its entirety. Or make them join the first group.
BITD. De Bretts closed at 10pm for drinks and everyone was kicked out by 11pm. The Brat / The Playground / Berlin etc didn't kick off until midnight and there was an hour or two of wiling away time between pubbing and clubbing which was fairly insane at times. As a result half of those who were out went home at 11pm. It was crap but John Banks probably liked it and is probably keen to wind back the clock. He's worked in hospo since he was a teenager picking up the empties from illegal grog houses and he owned the Cavalier on College Hill so he must have known what a fucktard idea this was. Is he giving Bhatnagar enough rope to hang himself or something? -
Great story Hadyn (please note the spelling)! I thought your first blog makes interesting reading still - the All Blacks miss Carl Hayman more than we acknowledge. What happened to Tialata this year? http://publicaddress.net/default,4479.sm