Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: We need to talk about Len

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  • Sacha, in reply to Paul Campbell,

    he likely didn't report the hotel rooms because he didn't want his wife to find out

    which is hard to reconcile with her supposedly booking them. anyone pushed him on that?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Graham Dunster,

    Talking of the Herald and its attitude, another poisonous editorial today on the film business incentives. They really don’t want any Americans spending their money here!

    And pretty fucking hypocritical weeping and wailing about "lost tax revenue" when their Australian proprietors have happily taken hundreds of millions in tax concessions over the years and still ended up in court this year.

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

  • Rob Stowell, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Remarkable.
    And [#offtopicalert] whooo:

    APN last week posted a full-year net loss of A$455.8 million on increased write-downs on the value of goodwill and its newspaper mastheads.
    The company’s managing director and most of its board resigned this month after major shareholders opposed plans to raise new capital.
    The shares last traded at 27.5 Australian cents on the ASX and have shed two thirds of their value in the past 12 months.

    That’s dramatic. Can they come back? ’Cos it looks like it could be a one-way ride.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    This morning, the Herald decrees that Brown must go because otherwise democray might happen:

    Two months on, that sentiment is no longer sustainable. An issue far more important than the mayor's private life is now at stake. Tomorrow, Auckland councillors will not only formally censure Mr Brown but begin a process designed to clip the wings of the mayoral office. If that happens, the Super City may no longer have a leader with the independent authority to drive things forward. The only means of avoiding that outcome is for Mr Brown to resign. He must go in the interests of Auckland and Aucklanders.

    This is a very weird argument. Almost as weird as the trite, ham-fisted wordplay in the concluding paragraph:

    Some of the prurient details of Mr Brown's affair with Ms Chuang probably ought to have been censored. He is about to be censured by the city's councillors. Now, it is surely time for him to come to his senses - and go.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Almost as weird as the trite, ham-fisted wordplay in the concluding paragraph

    Well, at least the Herald had both its faces on display. These "prurient details" Granny's clutching her collective pearls about are the same ones they've been spraying their pages with, right?

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

  • mark taslov, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Comparing the thread views here with the tens of thousands when this issue first emerged, in answer to the title up top, I’d respectfully counter; no we don’t.;)

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Russell Brown,

    My Editorial:

    Given that Brown doesn't have to go, and won't go, it's time for the councillors to start doing what they were elected to, and get on with their jobs. Their shrill cries for censure of the Mayor's personal life and minor details of his phone use and room upgrades are making people wonder whether they really have what it takes to run a city of 1.4 million people managing billions of dollars. It's not like there is any shortage of real issues for them to work on.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Stephen R, in reply to Rob Stowell,

    APN last week posted a full-year net loss of A$455.8 million on increased write-downs on the value of goodwill and its newspaper mastheads.

    It's nice to know they've noticed how they've been pissing me off.

    Now I wonder what they'll do about it.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2009 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Young, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Uh, I did say I thought that extramarital nookery wasn't a sackable offence, remember? However, he did use council funds to finance his personal dalliance with Ms. Chuang. And as for the irrelevance of his council's more conservative policies to this situation, it's ironic that the moralists calling for his neck are those who praised him precisely for those anti-sexworker and anti-transient civic ordinances.

    Come on, is this bloke really the Auckland Left's great white hope?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 573 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Russell Brown,

    This morning, the Herald decrees

    This is the same trashy mag that published someone bragging about a successful incitement to suicide yesterday.

    It would be nice to have the self proclaimed voice of the people of Auckland under the same level of moral examination that they demand of others.

    I'd be happy to bet money that (extra-marital) office romances occur as frequently in The Herald offices as they do anywhere and that Herald editors have as many failed marriages as the rest of the population. I'd also be willing to bet money that they get "perks" that remain undeclared both to the shareholders and to the taxman.

    The hypocrisy on display from the editors at the Herald is disgusting.

    So actually to answer the post's question
    "No, no we don't need to be talking about Len"

    How about The Herald find something worthwhile to conduct journalism on, assuming anyone there remembers how to do it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Russell Brown,

    This morning, the Herald decrees that Brown must go because otherwise democray might happen:

    I'm guessing yet another Roughan Special.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Sorry to barge in, I'm not a nice person as you all know, but The Herald has been truly evil.

    Here's something Queen of Thorns has posted on her awfully déclassé blog and which you should pay attention to.

    Bob Jones is not simply an amusing curmudgeon, he is evil and The Herald profits from him:

    Here’s what I’ve posted on The Standard and my Facebook page – please feel free to spread it as far as you like. The Herald has really passed a moral line with this – and clearly, they know it.

    This is outrageous. If you have a subscription to The Herald you should cancel it immediately.

    A family member of mine committed suicide and I can tell you that it's no joke as Jones and The Herald think that it is.

    Here is the text of a post I have made to a well-known blog. Please pass it on. This really needs to be spread. The Herald is allowing its columnists to incite suicide and has such lax moral consciousness that it only belatedly realises that it may expose them to prosecution.

    Boycott The Herald!

    Queen of Thorns has helpfully exposed just how vile and mercenary Granny can be – see

    http://ideologicallyimpure.wordpress.com/2013/12/17/now-the-nz-herald-is-paying-bob-jones-to-break-the-law/

    The Herald published a column by “Sir” Bob Jones in which he boasted of driving a man to suicide and only lately admitted that they might have made a boo-boo.

    There is this address:

    http://www.presscouncil.org.nz/complain.php

    Here’s my letter to the editor. Feel free to make use of any elements you like in telling the editors just how you feel. Do not let them get away with their crime!

    I know that this won’t be printed because I use the word \\”fucking\\” in the header, though you’re happy to profit from someone boasting of the crime of successfully exhorting someone to commit suicide.

    You permitted Bob Jones, who’s already excused rape, to confess to – no, boast of – a crime resulting in someone’s death in order to make a profit and then issued the limp apology \\”We apologise that the original column caused offence to some readers.\\” because anything honest would have you facing prosecution.

    Someone with authority saw that column and decided that it was going to be a money-earner. Are they still being rewarded for their judgement, are they still on the payroll?

    You must be so proud of yourselves. Just imagine how many page views you gained – the shareholders will be delighted, I’m sure!

    You have to be the most revolting publication in New Zealand if you want to profit from this.

    Do you know why I don’t pay money to buy the Herald? It doesn’t absorb well, it isn’t neatly perforated in small sections, it has all of this pointless ink on it and it doesn’t come in rolls.

    Are you proud of yourself, are you really?

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Has the mayor authority (under the special autocratic made-for-John-Banks powers that Rodney Hide devised) to direct the council not to advertise in the Herald? If so, he should use it.

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

  • Kracklite,

    If you can tear yourself away from you lattes, here's a description of Jones' revolting, necrophile column, by the way:

    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/12/17/bob-jones-snuff-column-in-todays-herald/

    Remember, someone on The Herald's editorial team thought that this would be a revenue earner. Do you want to keep paying them?

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Suddenly it dawned on me that I never have to read the NZ Herald again.
    Massive.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to Kracklite,

    If you can tear yourself away from your lattes

    PSA: I’ve actually found it’s pretty easy to write a protest letter and drink a latte at the same time.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Golly, Russell. While you're doing Orsman, Rudman and O’Sullivan’s legwork, how about ghosting the outraged columns demanding their resignations as well? (Yeah, right – to coin a phrase.)

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

  • Brodie Davis,

    Can I, as a rate payer initiate a vote of no confidence in the five Councillors who are wasting everyones time. Maybe they should go mow some berms for the less advantaged. (I do find it funny that the berms in Grafton are still being mowed though, and they had someone out there doing it on sunday).

    Since Aug 2008 • 54 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Extra for irony-lovers: Stuff’s January story about Brown delivering on his promise to establish the council’s register of interests.

    Yes, that’s correct. Len Brown pushed through the accountability measure that has undone him. You’d think that might have warranted a line in a report or an editorial. Oddly, no.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Brodie Davis,

    Can I, as a rate payer initiate a vote of no confidence in the five Councillors who are wasting everyones time.

    If any of them happen to represent the ward you live in, you have the ultimate sanction: Don't vote for them. I'll certainly be watching Chris Darby and George Wood closely and, in the spirit of the season, deciding whether they go on the nice list or get an electoral lump of coal.

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

  • Kracklite, in reply to Danielle,

    I lost a family member to suicide. That evil sack of shit Jones thinks that it's funny, and the Herald thinks that it's profitable. If you read that rag, ask what you're paying for.

    PSA: I’ve actually found it’s pretty easy to write a protest letter and drink a latte at the same time.

    Good, I hope that you've done so. After his excuses for rapists and now his gloating over driving someone to suicide (I don't know if he really did, but he likes to think so), I (don't, I really, really don't) look forward to The Herald deciding that his views on the Holocaust are also going to be clickbait and a money-spinner.

    The Herald's "moral crusades" mean a lot less when they try to make money out of this sort of vileness.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    If any of them happen to represent the ward you live in, you have the ultimate sanction: Don’t vote for them.

    Well I didn't, but Krum ran a campaign of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (actually let's just call it what it was: outright lies) over the unitary plan and the airport's flight path trial and the electorate lapped it up.

    Incidentally it's not surprising that she doesn't have any declaration of interests for 2012: she wasn't a councillor then.

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • Jim Cathcart,

    If the ACC is broken, shouldn't someone take responsibility? Who should it be? it seems like this whole episode, whether it fits your political agenda or not, should promote constructive change. And that has to be a good thing.

    Since Nov 2006 • 228 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to SteveH,

    Incidentally it’s not surprising that she doesn’t have any declaration of interests for 2012: she wasn’t a councillor then.

    True -- but that's a genuine public interest the media could perform, if they weren't more interested in racist slut-shaming and trying to nullify a free, fair and credible election.

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

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