Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Claims

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  • Simon Grigg,

    mmmmm... I pop into this site after a day in the sun, and there are multi directional flame wars brewing and wild discussions going on about chicken f**king.

    Makes the travel advisories to Bali seem rather tame and unnecessary....

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    I feel a sense of deja vu ... again.

    But I if I say anything about it, I feel that RB will flame me. Again.

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • Philip Wilkie,

    No serious thread in NZ blogland is complete without Craig throwing a delightfully coloured tanty at some point. I mean the man has such a talent with the artfully posed insult that someone really ought to collect them all up and auction them off for a charity fund raiser or something.

    As the recipient of several of his better efforts (under an alternate guise) I have come to rather treasure the precious little things. Lie back, enjoy them....think of England if you have to. Stiff upper and all that.

    Since Mar 2007 • 23 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    I feel a sense of deja vu ... again.

    But I if I say anything about it, I feel that RB will flame me. Again.

    Hi Malcolm. Got a point to make on the topic? I would appreciate it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    I have come to rather treasure the precious little things. Lie back, enjoy them....think of England if you have to. Stiff upper and all that.

    Spose it's a cut above watching chicken movies.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Tony Kennedy,

    I feel a sense of deja vu

    Try combining it with amnesia

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 225 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    mmmmm... I pop into this site after a day in the sun, and there are multi directional flame wars brewing and wild discussions going on about chicken f**king.

    Makes the travel advisories to Bali seem rather tame and unnecessary....

    I just had a flash memory of that NME interview where Lee Scratch Perry claimed to have seen Chris Blackwell drink the blood of a freshly-killed chicken. I probably need to ease up.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Spose it's a cut above watching chicken movies.

    Steady. My kids loved those Ardman films.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    Yes Russell, my point is that, consciously or subconsciously, you automatically protect Craig, and that other bloggers don't get the same consideration. This occurs to the extent that I think this is a weakness in the Public Address System.

    I wasn't trying to obtuse. My perception has been that you are unwilling to consider this point. By making the point indirectly, I hoped that it might prompt some more thought than if I stated it baldly.

    If you would like to have a conversation about it, I am a willing participant.

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • Finn Higgins,

    how much does it cost to print 8k copies. obviously there isn't anything spent on research, but PIs can't come cheap, even ones like Idour, and he must have other overheads.

    Last time I checked - which was in 2004 - the printing cost for a print run of 15k magazines ranged between around $22k and $35k depending on page count, paper weight and binding options. It's probably a fair bit more now.

    Other overheads:

    * Printing costs for unsold copies. Selling out regularly isn't good for business, as it takes your magazine off the shelves in your retail outlets, so magazines deliberately print more than they expect to sell by a certain margin.

    * Distribution costs. Either direct mailing to subscribers (this would be a mailhouse filmwrap & label job, plus Volumepost costs from NZ post) or paying a distribution company to put the things on trucks to heaps of locations around the country. The former works out cheaper per issue, which is why you get a discount if you subscribe. Even with the discount, a subscription is still worth more than the corresponding number of retail sales because of distribution costs.

    * Database maintenance. Keeping a subscriber database up to date requires admin staff to do so. If this isn't done to a required standard (including postcodes, for a start) then you either have to pay your mailhouse to clean up your data or NZ Post hit you with higher mailing rates.

    * Designers. Even if a design and general flatplan is already established each month it's still a non-trivial amount of work for a designer to do a magazine, and they charge decent money for it.

    All up, a magazine on a circulation of 8k won't make significant money on sales to readers. Wishart's line about it being supported by its 52,000 readers is disingenuous, as few of those readers are actually paying anything for it. The only way you get support from readership numbers if via advertising, which is where you make your real profit from a magazine. But Wishart's whole editorial strategy is rather the opposite of the one you'd take if you were wanting to sell lots of advertising...

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 209 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    I just had a flash memory of that NME interview where Lee Scratch Perry claimed to have seen Chris Blackwell drink the blood of a freshly-killed chicken. I probably need to ease up

    I'd forgotten that wonderful piece. Danny Kelly was often good, and I get whims of NME nostalgia at times. Time to dig out The Dark Stuff Again, and to, once more, try to track down that early eighties Tube goes to JA Jules Holland thing.

    This thread really confuses me.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    Ads in the latest in Investigate

    Lotus - double page spread
    Danske Mobler - full page
    The Rarotongan - full page
    Olympus - double page spread
    Dilmah - full page
    Lifewhy.org - quarter page
    Barbara Doyles - half page
    Danske Mobler - quarter page
    Epson - full page
    Cambridge audio - half page
    Bridgecorp - full page
    BOC - half page
    Antheas (Jewellers) - half page
    Ownaship - full page
    Distinctive holiday homes - full page
    Mistral software - full page
    Olympus - full page
    Mistral Software - full page
    Guthries Jewellers - full page
    Thai Airlines - full back page

    So he does sell lots of high value advertising targeted at wealthy individuals. Mind you, it's quite possible that some of his advertisers support him for non-commercial reasons.

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    Wayne Idour gave an 'exclusive' interview to One News tonight. Video here:

    http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1122028

    Not a very convincing performance.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    So Steven, is that a slur on Joe Karam, for being Lebanese and believing the Dunedin police used to be corrupt? Or is it a slur on Lebanese more generally?

    Or is a slur on anyone who owns a copy of the magazine that has been so vigorously discussed in this forum?

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    So Steven, is that a slur on Joe Karam, for being Lebanese and believing the Dunedin police used to be corrupt? Or is it a slur on Lebanese more generally?

    Or is a slur on anyone who owns a copy of the magazine that has been so vigorously discussed in this forum?

    Are you serious?

    Malcolm, I am having cause to doubt your good faith.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • ron,

    Slightly OT, but anyone belittling the effect of D Bain's sentence needs to look no further than to watch him on the News tonight. A totally different person.

    Yeah, you're right; his clothes weren't covered in blood and those bruises on his forehead had healed.

    auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • ron,

    Why kill the whole family but spare David? What did he do to deserve leniency?

    I think you've nailed it there, NI. It's funny how some people are saying that Robin was deranged. Right, so he was so deranged that he thought that David was the only one who "deserved to stay" (why not deserved to live?) and logged on to a computer when he could've written a note the night before. That's not including washing his clothes while David was on his paper run. As others have said, why did Robin - apparently wanting David to stay/live - leave behind evidence implicating David but not himself? One handwritten note and David would've been in the clear.

    auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • ron,

    I'm glad David got bail. I also think he should be retried so that his guilt or innocence can finally be proved (since all the new evidence the defence couldn't present at earlier trials finally can). I know this is expensive but if David is innocent he should be compensated but I don't think he should be until proven innocent

    You mean like the Shipton, Schollum and Rickards were proved innocent? A not guilty verdict is not innocence, as much as some of us would like it to be. I tend to agree that he should be retried, but I can see some pitfalls. A hung jury is a distinct possibility. Some witnesses may have died or may not want to testify. So the complaint of a fair trial may still hold with a new trial.

    auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 77 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I do get a little protective about an institution I've been involved with in various ways for almost half my life. If anyone wants to bring any actual evidence that the National Party is financing or covertly helping Investigate's brand of gutter filth, put it on the table. I wouldn't want to support an organisation like that in any way - financial, with my time and labour, or (most importantly) at the ballot box. All's fair in love and war - but not politics.

    And for the record, I also get a little impatient with the nutbags of the rabid right who think the entire Press Galley are under the hypnotic powers of the vast 'Liarbore Klark' Lesbian Cabal. ( (c) guess who). If I every fall prey to that psychosis, don't 'call me out' - ring around and stage an intervention. Please.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Why kill the whole family but spare David? What did he do to deserve leniency?

    what about those unsolved crimes / what about those hitchhikers/ I bet he did those too

    (c) Don McGlashan /Richard Von Sturmer ...Thomas is Guilty, 1981.

    Don knew....

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    Russell,

    Yesterday, a man of Lebanese descent was on morning report. He had just had the Privy Council declare a substantial miscarriage of Justice. This man declared that he knew the Dunedin CIB had a culture of extreme sexual depravity in the past, and that he personally knew of a policewoman who was raped and sodomised.

    If I search on "Lebanese" in the yellow pages, I get 4 hits. If I search on "Chinese", I get 423 hits. If I search on "Vietnamese" I get 72 hits. It just happened to be a Lebanese restaurant ....

    Don't get me wrong. I think Wishhart is a distasteful religioius maniac. I also think Labour have nothing to do with the police scandals, and have in the past done nothing wrong and everything right on this issue.

    But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater. All the signs, including statements from the Police Commissioner, indicate there was something sick in the Dunedin CIB. That it why it has been referred to the Police Complaints Authority.

    Stephen - thank you for clarifying your comments. I appreciate that. I'm not trying to get at you with this post. Given the statistics I quote above I hope that you see it was reasonable of me to doubt the conincidence. All I am trying to do is indicate to Russell that my comment was, in fact, made in good faith.

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • Malcolm,

    "steering into lumps of electronics"

    Hmmn, "steering" or "staring"? Actually, both seem equally good descriptions. At least in my case.

    Since Apr 2007 • 69 posts Report Reply

  • Felix Marwick,

    . If anyone wants to bring any actual evidence that the National Party is financing or covertly helping Investigate's brand of gutter filth, put it on the table. I wouldn't want to support an organisation like that in any way - financial, with my time and labour, or (most importantly) at the ballot box. All's fair in love and war - but not politics.

    For what it's worth I may be able to help out here. The silence from National (and every other political party bar Labour) can solely be attributed to the fact they don't want to touch Wishart's story with a bargepole.

    The only comment that's been made was by Simon Power and it was to the effect he hoped the matter didn't furter erode public confidence in the police - and that was restricted solely to Commissioner Broad's position regarding the film (or should that be chick flick?).

    Basically the party line is they don't want to be involved. And fair enough too as politically it'd do them more harm than good.

    National has reason to be wary of Wishart. They've been on the receiving end of his stories before and no doubt expect to be again if, or when, they form a Government. So they've got absolutely no reason or desire to be developing a relationship with him.

    As for the comments/insinuations that senior Labour Party members have been making regarding the Exclusive Brethren well that you can lay at the media's door. Once Idour's involvement was confirmed it was a question that had to be asked. It was kind of like the elephant in the room scenario - everyone knows its there but doesn't want to acknowledge it.

    The Exclusive Brethren, through their spokesman Tony McCorkell, disavow any involvement and say they cut their ties with Idour some time ago.

    Hopefully this story is now over.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    Why kill the whole family but spare David? What did he do to deserve leniency? SNIP As others have said, why did Robin - apparently wanting David to stay/live - leave behind evidence implicating David but not himself?

    Haha. That's easy. What's the only thing better than killing someone? Leaving them behind to face a mulitple murder rap [/conspiracy]

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    If I search on "Lebanese" in the yellow pages, I get 4 hits. If I search on "Chinese", I get 423 hits. If I search on "Vietnamese" I get 72 hits. It just happened to be a Lebanese restaurant ....

    Uh yeah. None of the Lebanese restaurants of my acquaintance have Lebanese in the title. Interestingly, neither do any of my local Italian restaurants. Or in fact the Chinese restaurants.
    Gasp!! Could it be that the reason why Lebanese doesn't get many hits in the yellow pages is not because they don't run restaurants, but because they don't have a healing system called Lebanese Medicine?
    But, hey, just while you're making this into a Lebanese conspiracy, perhaps you could point out that Dunedin has a prominent Lebanese community, and that they are involved in the stadium debate. And wait, Joe Karam played rugby.
    If I ever give up my day job, there might be a career for me in 'investigative' journalism.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

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