Posts by Rob Stowell
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Hard News: One big day at the drug symposium, in reply to Ross Bell,
"here are the relevant facts, uncomfortable and all as they may be for the purveyors of this ignorance and stupidity." Nice. Mr Dunne gets his mojo back?
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Hard News: Our own fake news, in reply to andin,
Im trying to connect the dots as to how anyone can make that leap. They are polar opposite as far as I’m concerned. So it defeats me.
Israel.
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The most shocking thing is how the editorial wafflers and political heavies (yes, Mr Little, that's you, too, along with Simon English) are so out of step with not just NZ popular opinion but also worldwide trends. They all seem terrified a tiny waft of smoke will drift their way and bing! their eyes will cross and their mojos wilt. It's just too daft: even if they can't lead, they're supposed to be at least moderately up with the crowd, not dragging a chain way down the back.
No, it's not 'the biggest issue facing NZ." But it is possible to show leadership on small things, too. And sometimes that matters way more than it's calculated to. -
Melanie Reid on RNZ – good rundown on the details and more on the state of journalism. Go newsroom!
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Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Dennis Frank,
A centre-left government led by Andrew Little and James Shaw is likely to be a repeat of Helen Clark’s policies of saying the right thing and being a good manager of capitalism. That doesn’t address the fundamental issues of declining living standards and increasingly precarious career prospects.
With respect to something else I was reading, I’m still sort of gob-smacked that the Corbyn and Sanders ‘platforms’ are continually described as ‘hard left’ and ‘radical’; by pundits and analysts and career politicians.
‘Radical’ and ‘hard-left’ are not so much ways of describing the policies; they are meant, I think, to exclude them from the conversation. Yet on key issues like rates of tax, student fees, and public ownership of assets, the policies would have been considered mainstream – indeed, in many cases, to the right of mainstream, in the UK and US (and NZ) as recently as the 1950s, 60s and 70s. People who describe them as radical seem to be relying on a sort of collective amnesia – or maybe they are just ignorant. Because who looks back and says – oooh! the radical hard left 1950s! More than that – and almost more absurd – often such policies are popular with a majority of voters.
I guess we have some sense how the conversation came to be so tilted over the last 40 years – right-wing think-tanks, policy capture, the collapse of the soviet union, the economic stagnation of the 70s among other factors all play into it.
But it’s simply crazy-stupid for avowed parties of the left to accept the way things are and not challenge, at every opportunity, language that insists any hint of socialism is beyond the pale. -
Hard News: Barclay and arrogance, in reply to Sacha,
Yeah – the entire defence is a load of waffling bs.
‘only the electorate selection committee’ – what a thin, pathetic joke. i bet none of them were present when barclay was told he had to go.
‘in the hands of the police’ – indeed, it was. and barclay, probably on legal advice, refused to cooperate. bill, after legal advice, gave a statement when police came to him. and meanwhile, out of sight, dickson was offered big money – and possibly some threats – to take her out of the police equation. in other words, every effort was made by national to ensure the police case was weak.
the govt forked out big money, accompanied by a confidentiality clause that can only have been to cover this up for the benefit of the party; which clause is endlessly trotted out as if it’s somehow a sacred bond they are duty bound to obey.
and again and again it's an 'employment dispute' - not an illegal breach of privacy.
it looks weak AND dishonest. wotever you think of jk, i reckon he’d have wriggled through this with a lot more finesse. -
Hard News: Interesting Britain!, in reply to BenWilson,
There are surely Tory MPs whose electorates who are actually Europhiles?
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Hard News: Interesting Britain!, in reply to BenWilson,
I do not understand what Labour hopes to achieve in Brexit other than point scoring over the Tories.
I'm not well-versed on brexit issues. But my understanding is Labour campaigned on a 'soft brexit' which in practical terms meant trying to negotiate a way to stay inside the common market, and the customs union. To do so, they were willing to also allow 'freedom of movement' - eg staying n the EU common labour (and travel) market. AFAICS in most senses, this is not leaving at all - but maybe getting a corridor pass to slip out for a slash/tizzy/private meltdown.
It runs into two immediate problems: it clearly won't be accepted by many of the 'brexit means brexit' crowd. And it's far from clear the rest - or any - of the EU would go along with it.
But it is a position :) and possibly now the best hope.
[ets - lots here http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/soft-brexit-soft-landing-interpreting-labours-brexit-strategy/ but I haven't time to read it ... ] -
Hard News: Interesting Britain!, in reply to BenWilson,
....
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I count myself a member of the Cult of Bill and I will certainly be there.
a recent rumour of someone uncovering a 40 minute tape studio recording of the vacuum. that would be a great addition to the legend.