Posts by Andre Alessi

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  • Hard News: Not in front of the children,

    I was wondering if he had some slightly less catastrophic way of discovering 'marginal personalities', short of unleashing them in a bar or on national TV.

    May I humbly suggest staff Christmas parties? If anything can reveal the "real person", it's half a litre of spiked eggnog and an unattended photocopier.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Not in front of the children,

    I'm interested that there's been so little discussion of what I fancied were the main points of the post.

    Those being, the Herald's writer's ignorance of how statutory Broadcasting Standards work, and related panic attack about "banned" words that aren't actually banned.

    I guess most people see this sort of thing as dogwhistle posturing rather than a change in policy (or failure in comprehension) from the Herald, which leads back eventually to the question of "Why is this guy on my teevee again?"

    Ultimately, the "anti-PC" griping that is so popular amongst rich white guys like myself drills the meme that we're being "prevented" from saying things, and that's why it's such a threat. Of course, people are never prevented from saying/doing/broadcasting things except in certain very limited, clearly defined situations (most having to do with the workings of the legal system rather than simply "good taste and decency".) We're simply required to stand up and take responsibility for what we say. If we say something offensive, we'd best be prepared to be called out on it, and if we're not prepared to explain, we should be prepared to apologise. If we do neither, we should be prepared to have others call us dicks.

    None of that is suppressing free expression, it's promoting it. If you choose to take an unpopular opinion, be prepared to back it up, or step off and let someone else do it for you.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Not in front of the children,

    I imagine that it would be expensive to break Henry's contract, and so TVNZ are stuck with defending him.

    TVNZ put a lot of effort into creating celebrities -- now they have to wear the consequences. Maybe if they invested less in personality cults and more in, you know, journalism and research and writing and shit, we would all be better off.

    It'd be remarkable if TCNZ didn't know what they were getting themselves into, given that everyone else was aware of exactly what Henry was like before he was signed up (the Listener even did a puff piece on him prior to the start of his run, IIRC.)

    They were looking for the new Paul Holmes, and Michael Laws was too busy mayoring and demanding lebensraum for der volk to get up at 5 am every day.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Not in front of the children,

    I'm having a hard time keeping up with when I should be shocked and outraged, and when I should be decrying the PC nanny state. Could someone help me out?

    Also, via Balloon Juice, here's another way people can make idiots of themselves. Mark my words, it's only a matter of time before the Herald editorials start declaring that Christmas should indeed be about Jesus and retailers should emphasise that.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Public Address Word of the Year 2009,

    "Outrage" is probably due for another go.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    What can we beat the world at?

    Being apologetic.

    "New Zealand: We're really sorry about that."

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: From the floor of the Tax…,

    I'm reminded about my favourite joke about Don Brash and a parachute right now.

    What, something along the lines of "Benefits are the parachute at the bottom of the cliff?"

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: From the floor of the Tax…,

    I don't have any philosophical objection to the idea of a flat tax that kicks in after a certain threshold (although for obvious reasons I'd prefer a progressive tax regime that responded to changes in the CPI.) The tax threshold in particular is a really interesting idea, and one I'd like to see more, because my central assumption about income is that everyone needs a certain amount of money to live, but beyond that it's all fair game for taxation.

    Morgan's other suggestions: dropping the Unemployment Benefit, the DPB, the Sickness Benefit (!) and so on are just loopy, but about what I'd expect from someone who thinks people in those situations deserve everything they get (or don't get, rather.)

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Let's lynch the liberals!,

    Speaking of which, WTF is up with Jim Hopkins?
    It's not like climate scientists actually want to be right about climate change.

    I often get the feeling Jim signed on to write that column for the Herald as some sort of "steady job", only to realise he couldn't be consistently funny and insightful every week, so he stopped trying to be either. Contrarian nonsense through and through.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

  • OnPoint: Taskforce 2025: A Space Odyssey,

    It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that this is a big fat patsy, generating outrage so that whatever the Tax Working Group report suggests will look moderate and sensible by comparison.

    Maybe, but I'm starting to think that Key's version of National is sticking to its "Don't rock the boat" strategy. They are of the opinion that Labour lost because they pissed off too many people, so National's going to avoid doing anything too controversial to the wider populace. (In their first term at least.)

    I have no doubt there are genuine, significant policy changes planned, but I haven't seen any indication that they'll try to get away with them this early.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report Reply

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