Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Speaking freely

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  • Pauline Dawson,

    I was not quite born when the Wahine happened but I clearly remember my Grandfathers 2nd wife who had been on the boat. They lived near the sea and whenever there was a storm she locked herself in the bathroom terrified and crying. It was awful.

    I love the idea of freeview and am happy about TV Ondemand BUT there are those of us out there who can't afford dishes and decoders and don't have sky either. We are relegated to the 3 channels. We don't even get Prime here very well. Thank heavens for the internet and blogs. Seems good reception and a range of channels is another luxury item - like cheese.

    Mosgiel • Since Feb 2008 • 26 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Agreed that Key seemed to handover political points yesterday but at least the guy was being honest about the realities of an MMP political system where currently the 2 major parties seem destined to run close enough to one another that they will pretty evenly split the vote...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • daleaway,

    OK, I'll tell you my Wahine Day memories.

    Getting to work by car because of the bad weather, instead of my usual walking from Berhampore to an ad agency in Upper Willis Street. Fierce wind and some rain, but only small branches down - we'd seen worse. At that stage.

    Everyone made it into work. By mid morning the winds were roaring, radio and power were going off intermittently. Whenever the radio came on we would huddle round listening to reports on the situation of the listing Wahine. Very sombre mood, except amongst the bragging office juniors, who said they could "easy" surf those waves. Young men, eh?

    By mid morning there was whiteout all round and the radio was now telling us all to stay off the streets because of flying roofing iron and downed power lines. The windows along the south side of our tall modern building suddenly blew in and we rushed around amongst the broken glass and flooding, salvaging artwork and files. It kept us busy. There wasn't much creative work going on that day.

    By early afternoon the bosses said we could all go home as soon as the police said it was safe. We got home to find one fence down and the washhouse roof a bit damaged, and its chimney missing. At a relative's house in Seatoun a row of back garden fences all down the street had been felled like skittles. When the Evening Post came out that night, it reported only one death from the Wahine sinking. The full horror story had not emerged by press time.

    Small, idiotic personal footnote. I had just bought my first house and was doing up the kitchen. My new blue vinyl flooring was on its way up from Christchurch on the Wahine. It was probably salvaged later, but I like to think of it still lying somewhere on the seabed out by Wellington Heads, delighting the mermaids.

    Since Jul 2007 • 198 posts Report Reply

  • David Ritchie,

    I would heartily encourage any Aucklanders to go see "The Hollow Men". It might not seem the most obvious story for a stage show but it's fascinating and, at least IMHO, quite sypathetic towards Brash. It's at the Maidment, I think, until next Saturday.

    And also: Media 7 direct FLV download links: part 1, part 2, part 3. Anyboy want to volunteer to write a greasemonkey to automatically extract these?

    Since Nov 2006 • 166 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Agreed that Key seemed to handover political points yesterday but at least the guy was being honest about the realities of an MMP political system where currently the 2 major parties seem destined to run close enough to one another that they will pretty evenly split the vote...

    For sure. I just think it would have been more prudent to concede that National might have to talk with a range of parties, but simply decline to speculate on anything to do with the foreign affairs job. McCully won't have been impressed ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Martin,

    I was at St Bernards primary in Brooklyn. I didn't think it was anything other than a stormy Wellington day,until my father came from work and took me home, where we all stayed with the curtains drawn in case the windows blew in.

    I can remember listening to the radio...probably 2zb, about the events unfolding.

    It seemed to be all over by mid afternoon and we went for a drive to see what had happened to the Wahine. A huge ( to me) lifeboat beached ,will always be in my memory...

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 187 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    For sure. I just think it would have been more prudent to concede that National might have to talk with a range of parties, but simply decline to speculate on anything to do with the foreign affairs job.

    Precisely. Winston's position is awkward but not unmanageable for the government and Phil's probably thinking about his medium-term prospects (even if he's not, it surely suits Helen to have someone in Labour expressed annoyance with him) however Key's approach was typically confused. He should surely have known he'd be asked what he'll do with Winston and prepared a better answer. That said, National haven't ever managed Winston well - first as a Minister and then as a coalition partner.

    What irks me is that too much of the discussion is now about Winston and the secondary politics of the deal and not the deal itself.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Off topic but interesting given recent and not-so-recent debates here on PAS:

    Climate change forecasts 'invalid' - researcher. The article is about two academics, what it doesn't mention is that one is in management, the other in marketing.

    DomPost charged over 'terror' story. Dom post plays the expected price for their story, though it's looking like the price won't be too high.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Oh and thanks for providing links to the show for offshore viewers.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Climate change forecasts 'invalid' - researcher. The article is about two academics, what it doesn't mention is that one is in management, the other in marketing.

    Green especially seems to be good in his field (forecasting theory), but it's hard to take seriously his wholesale denunciation of people working in fields where he clearly isn't expert.

    DomPost charged over 'terror' story. Dom post plays the expected price for their story, though it's looking like the price won't be too high.

    It's going to be really interesting for mediawatchers.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    A good 10 days or so for Peters and his party. In the headlines almost constantly. I can almost picture him dancing a small jig, whilst singing "people are talking about me! people are talking about me!"

    Should be good for 1 vote in 20, and a return to Parliament.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    Oh yes, and who in the Herald decided Mike bloody Moore would be their rent-a-quote? The man's no constitutional expert. He's not even articulate. Does he have the editor on speed dial for a weekly apoplectic outburst or something?

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    For sure. I just think it would have been more prudent to concede that National might have to talk with a range of parties, but simply decline to speculate on anything to do with the foreign affairs job. McCully won't have been impressed ...

    If he's f^%ked off McCully then I'm doubly impressed!
    But yes, could have been handled better in a politico-media sense, but he wasn't wrong. Not much of a kiwiblog regular, but made for funny reading yesterday as comments of "credibility on the line, laughing stock, unworkable government" where made and then suddenly went rather quiet for a bit there after Key said he'd have the same thing...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Jim Cathcart,

    Thanks for the international podcast Russell! I'm happy.

    Since Nov 2006 • 228 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    Oh yes, and who in the Herald decided Mike bloody Moore would be their rent-a-quote?

    I blame Bolger, Shipley and Palmer (for being discreet) and Lange, Muldoon and the rest (for being dead). The role of "ex-Prime Minister" has been filled by the least qualified applicant.

    When does he start this job making tea and ironing the newspaper for the Russian billionaire?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Oh, and Bernard Hickey blogged the media-and-the-economy issue with reference to Media7 and the Reserve Bank governor. Interesting post.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Martin,

    I enjoyed the panel on media7 this week. Ganesh Nana tried valiantly to point out that there is so much more to the economy than the headlines.

    But it is difficult to get past 'if it bleeds...it leads'.

    I thought the point that if we were all more informed about the economy we would be less inclined to lose money in it merits reiteration.

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 187 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    So what do I need to install to make the podcast stuff work from IE7?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    On the Media7 thing, I'm surprised nobody mentioned the "wall of worry" concept.

    Everything keeps going up until it crashes. Particularly when you work for a newspaper that lives on real estate advertising revenue - that must put journos under pressure to keep being positive on house prices?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Something I noticed on Media 7 was that various of you were using a "TV voice". Why is it that on radio people talk in a relatively normal voice, but point a camera at somebody and they have to switch into a Smashy & Nicey accent? Or am I imagining it?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Off topic - but I see the Blog Posts (on the left) is updating at last - yay!

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Deborah,

    Climate change forecasts 'invalid' - researcher. The article is about two academics, what it doesn't mention is that one is in management, the other in marketing.

    Green especially seems to be good in his field (forecasting theory), but it's hard to take seriously his wholesale denunciation of people working in fields where he clearly isn't expert.

    The other researcher, Scott Armstrong, is a world leader in forecasting techniques. So they do have somethng sensible to say about how to go abount doing forecasting. Whether or not we know about all the variables that should be taken into account in forecasting temperature changes / climate change is a different matter.

    New Lynn • Since Nov 2006 • 1447 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Curtis,

    ...working in fields where he clearly isn't expert"

    Like Mann the climate researcher who was caught big time by the Statistical experts at the AAS as working in a field where he wasnt an expert namely statistics.

    Still Mann and his colleagues publish without co authors who are experts in all the fields that his papers cover

    http://holocene.meteo.psu.edu/shared/articles/MRWA-JGR07.pdf
    Note no statisticians around
    Same crew repeating the same errors
    http://www.climateaudit.org/?cat=62

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    however Key's approach was typically confused.

    Paul, I've been on this go round over at Kiwiblog and aren't really interrested in doing it all over again, but could you share with us all WTF Key could have said that would have made you happy?

    To be perfectly honest, I'd love to see Clark and Key hold a press conference and say they're going to f**k in front of a live webcam then sign a Grand Coalition before Peters is allowed anywhere near the Cabinet Room.

    Then, come the final election returns its all a moot question because more than 95% of those who cast a party vote declined to drink the Winston First kool-aide.

    A boy can dream...

    And if push comes to shove, I'd rather swallow hard and see Winnie insulting the intelligence of foreign dignitaries than getting his slimy paws on Immigration, anything remotely to do with Finance... the list goes on and on.

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

  • Paul Williams,

    __however Key's approach was typically confused.__

    Paul, I've been on this go round over at Kiwiblog and aren't really interrested in doing it all over again, but could you share with us all WTF Key could have said that would have made you happy?

    Craig, in all seriousness, why bother with kiwiblog? You're unlikely to get listened too regardless of what you say.

    Key would have made me happy, for what that's worth, if he'd simply said "I support this FTA, it'll be good for NZ business and I think any party opposing it is making a mistake". Had he said this, he'd have still had to answer the inevitable question as to what arrangements he'd tolerate with Peters but then at least he'd not be guilty of hypocrisy.

    I'm not at all enamored with Peters or NZF but none of us can ignore their endurance and although he indulges in the worst form of dog-whistle politics, he's generally a responsible Minister. A unique character.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

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