Posts by Isaac Freeman
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Our branch backed James, with roughly the same proportions as emerged at the AGM. There was plenty of discussion, but very little of it was about left, right or centre. Nobody doubted that all the candidates were committed Greens. We were more interested in the specific requirements of the co-leader role.
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Trying to do "Let's make a story about how the Greens could work with National, people will fall for that" as "Let's nick the neighbour's poppies and make our own opium – how hard can it be?", but it's not gelling.
The fact is, I don't know enough about drugs.
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I'll say this for religious instruction. If I hadn't attended, I'd have missed the visiting evangelist who, through hard work and faith in God, has been granted the ability to sing in the voice of Donald Duck. He really did sound a lot like Donald Duck.
Apart from that, I didn't get a lot out of it. I learned a lot more about Christianity from listening to my Baha'i parents talk about religion with their friends and neighbours than I ever did from religious instruction at school. People who sincerely want a good religious education for their kids are much better served by a proper Sunday School or similar from their own religious community than with the garbled version they'll get during school hours.
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Access: The Problem with the Greens’…, in reply to Jonathan Mosen,
Very good point about using styles. I've passed it on to our policy committee.
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Just passed this on to Mojo. She's out at present, but will respond as soon as she can.
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3. No two democracies have ever warred with each other
This is true, in the same sense that no irresistible force has ever met an immovable object.
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Speaker: The secret Christchurch…, in reply to Angela Hart,
Is there anything the luckier rest of us can do to help?
Vote. And encourage others to vote. Only a change of government can help us.
Even if they like John Key, they have to see that his government has made too many bad decisions in Christchurch, and they can't change course and save face at the same time. It's what happens to most governments after a major disaster. A new government, regardless of political position, has the freedom to change bad decisions without being afraid of looking weak.
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Hard News: Spring Timing, in reply to James Littlewood*,
Fortunately for both parties, there are at least 2 groups the Greens can reach that Labour can’t.
National voters
This definitely happens more often than many outside the Greens realise. There's a significant constituency of small-c conservative voters who are no longer served by the National Party, but couldn't imagine voting Labour. They're especially motivated against asset sales, and at least some of them vote Green.
There may also be Māori voters who've become disillusioned with the Māori Party, but don't trust Labour. Metiria Turei's role as the first female MP to Waitangi was significant, especially following her declining an invitation to speak last year.
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Hard News: A Capital Great Blend (update), in reply to Stephen Judd,
I'm in. Are you organising, Stephen?
Perhaps we could have a chat about putting together our own Great Blend style event instead of sitting on our arses waiting for Russell.
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Thanks very much Emma, I'm so glad you wrote this.
We've been waiting so long for any hopeful news in Christchurch, and a Dalziel run for mayor is something we can finally get behind. I was gutted to have it followed so quickly with what sounded like shitty intra-party manoeuvring over the by-election. I don't care who supports Shearer or Cunliffe. Anyone who thinks that matters in Christchurch East is a sorry excuse for a human being.
I'm pleased to hear from people in the Labour party that Cosgrove isn't a foregone conclusion. I hope that whoever floated this idea to the press is getting told exactly what they did wrong right now by everybody in the Labour Party with an iota of common decency.
What I've learnt from this is that I'm angry as hell. Some last vestige of patience in me has broken today. I'm sick of false hope being dangled in front of me by people who don't give a shit. I expect it from National, but it really hurts from Labour.