Posts by Joe Wylie
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James, seriously don't be so bloody smug, it does you no favours.
C'mon Simon, there's no way you can pull the Rush Limbaugh clone schtick without coming across as smug.
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Building a library seems to the ex-presidential equivalent of the mid-life crisis Lamborghini -- all good judgment, especially fiscal, goes down the crapper at warp 10.
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Gotta agree, Joe. We've been sharing sharply conflicting opinions in this thread without being abusive, but that was edging towards the line a bit. And I'm sure Finn will be happy to dial it back if you do.
Fine.
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What's pompous about suggesting that screaming directly in somebody's face is actually quite intimidating? Fuck all, that's what, it's just stating the obvious.t
Offering yourself as some kind of don't-frighten-the-chooks events management consultant comes across as playing Colonel Blimp on stilts. Just stating the obvious to all but the terminally self-important.
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The Haka is an admirable institution, but there's no real way to argue that it doesn't involve sending off a lot of signals of aggression. As an analogy, I enjoy hardcore punk at times and in the right context watching somebody scream their head off is a beautiful thing. But if you do that right in somebody's face when they've not come to observe you by choice? That's just being a shit.
Punk 'n pomposity. Have fun, just don't frighten the ladies.
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The New Zealand state is very, very happy to put on a show of haka and Maori martial prowess at any event it can get away with it. The New Zealand public is generally happy with haka being used to start sporting events.
Why is it so disturbing to see the Tuhoe crew using their culture to express their (in my view righteous) feelings of unhappiness, anger and determination.In the early 80s the late great Dalvanius Prime was a government-funded delegate to the MIDEM music fair at Cannes. While he was there he criticised the NZ Government's dismal funding of indigenous culture. Some time after his return to NZ he found himself confronted by an angry Muldoon, who accused him of biting the hand that feeds.
Right, said Dalvanius, next time some visiting dignitary arrives, put the orchestra and the ballet - the ones who soak up most of the cultural funding - out there to provide an official welcome.
According to Dalvanius, Muldoon said "You might have a point there," before amicably dropping the issue.Just lately it's hard to avoud the sense that, under a suppoedly "progressive" government, we're heading rapidly backwards.
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I'd feel a bit more sympathy if Sharples hadn't repeatedly described the police as "stormtroopers", which, assuming he wasn't referring to Star Wars, actually means Nazi shock troops whose role was to fire indiscriminately and kill as many people as possible.
I think there's a genuine sense of having been betrayed here, stemming from the fact that local police who'd supposedly been engaged in building an ongoing liaison with Tuhoe were hung out to dry by the pre-emptive nature of the raids.
With the Government & opposition effectively out to lunch on this issue it's a bit hard to see what's to be gained by this ongoing bagging of Sharples. -
What Shep said - excellent post Stephen.
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I'd trust Hager over Campbell any day.
Having twice taken the opportunity to hear Hager speak, I'm impressed by the way he encourages questions from the audience, unshaped by the "news values" that drive television, where perception always dominates substance.