Posts by Paul Brislen
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
The flag is supposed to be a symbol of the nation it represents but ours became a logo. We had no discussion about New Zealand, but plenty of chatter about the design of the flag itself.
To echo Keith's point, we are doing this the wrong way round.
I'll be voting for the current flag even though I despise it because conversely, once we've changed our flag we rule out the possibility of a second change for a generation at least.
If we keep the current flag we can revisit this whole issue again and hopefully in the timeframe discussed here.
Sadly I suspect we'll have a debate about becoming a republic when the Queen dies and I fully expect sentiment to rule the day and we'll press on being the last outpost of the empire, but that's another fight for another day.
-
OnPoint: The Whaledump Saga: Scooby-Doo Edition, in reply to Matthew Hooton,
David Fisher has a good piece on the police's response: "Handling of Slater grip stunned cop" however the Herald site is refusing to serve the story up at the moment.
Amusingly it gives me an error message with an APN logo.
-
One of the TV commentators (I forget who) talked a lot about Keven Mealamu as one of the old guard, whose role off the field in creating the culture has been as important if not more so than his role on the field.
He said something about new players having to step up to the Mealamu standard - I thought that spoke volumes.
A tremendous game and a tremendous team. I wonder if we'll see their like again.
-
Well that's depressing.
I find the best approach is to count backwards from 40 (I'm currently 34 again and loving it) and then when you reach zero for the second time start counting up again.
Honestly, when you consider the alternatives, turning 40's not so bad.
-
The entire process has been backwards. Flags represent a nation and (putting aside for a moment the ludicrous notion that we have to have a piece of fabric with a picture on it to represent anything) we haven't had the discussion about who we are as a nation. That needs to come first, followed by the decision on an emblem to represent us.
The whole thing reminds of nothing so much as one of those interminable corporate sessions where a committee of well-meaning amateurs tries desperately to come up with a mission statement and in the end produces a trite piece of pap that nobody can muster up enough energy to object to.
I'm voting against the whole thing on the basis that if we change the flag at this point we're not going to be able to change it again for a generation or two. Rejecting the entire steaming pile is the only way to ensure we have a real crack at sorting it all out before I'm in the ground.
-
So this is the Labour Party of today.
I want no part of it.
-
Afflict the comfortable, comfort the afflicted. That's what I want from my journalism, from my news gatherers.
Challenge those in positions of authority to keep them honest, act as a Fourth Estate and play a part in raising the consciousness of the nation.
I remember not understanding words on TV and going to look them up. TV wasn't dumbed down to my level, I had to upskill.
I learned things (and I don't just mean from documentaries - I learned things from drama and comedy too) and I don't know that I or my kids have done that for many years.
Kia kaha to the team at Campbell Live and to Fairfax and to the journalists in general. Hang in there.
-
I'm unsure how you're supposed to train troops for frontline action without actually going with them to the frontline and assessing them in situ.
Unless we're just training them on marching and how to pack their bags, of course.
If we're going to put our troops in harm's way we should have more of an actual plan than we've seen presented so far. Perhaps there is one, but I have seen no coverage of it.
Haphazard seems a very polite term for it.
-
More power to you, Emma. I couldn't talk about it when I was doing it, let alone write about it for strangers.
Kia kaha.
-
Ah, the power of the internet... look at that.
"We were never here" say his testicles.
And on that note, Happy Friday!