Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Oh, and one more thing to think about when complaining about how 'biased' the Herald is:
An interview scheduled by the Herald with new Justice Minister Annette King was cancelled yesterday.
She issued a short statement instead: "I am sure that the bill as it is reported back will reflect many of the views of organisations and political parties who have made submissions. The select committee process has been the proper one to hear such submissions, and I am sure the new bill will reflect the majority wishes of an MMP Parliament."
Which, of course, Miss King is perfectly entitled to do. But, boy, it's a little rich to complain - as The Standard etc. has done - that the Herald is off on some Tory cursade against the government, when the minister responsible for the bill won't front up to a previously scheduled interview.
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Hmmm. ;)
Heh... the VRWC is a dark and terrible thing but I'm neither patient enough to slap a button five thousand times or geek up some bot that would do it for me. I down load my e-mail without incident and I'm chuffed. :)
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...and we even get hacked!!! We are important still, really, we are.
Well, Merc, would it really be too much to ask to give a little credit where credit is due? I don't take these on-line polls seriously to begin with, but obviously the Herald does. Seems to me like a big egg-facial when t over 70% of the votes in your own poll are apparently cast by a single spammer. And do you think, Russell, it might be in order to qualify the citation as it's not really credible at all?
Obviously, someone thought it was important enough to engage the kind of crap that would be pulling down some serious consequences in a real live election.
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I think all that carry-on doesn't really tally with the gravity they're ascribing to their claims
Yes, and I don't see Exclusive Brethren and American bag persons under every bed either - and wish folks who really are smart enough to know better would stop the apocalyptic ding-battery about anyone who opposes the EFB is obviously only interested in making sure rich plutocrats and their corporate whores can buy elections.
Thankfully PAS has (mostly) been a little more thoughtful; not many other places are.
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I was confused because it was actually a tenable position, that all that glorious fund raising isn't particularly relevant to the democratic process.
It's not totally irrelevant - just not my bag. A political party is a wee bit more than an ATM cum think tank, people do benefit from social interaction with like-minded folks. (Yes, Virginia, even before 'networking' and Facebook.)
Don't think I'm speaking entirely out of school in saying Bolger was a wee bit surprised at the reception he got first time round the conference circuit, after the coalition deal with NZ First. So perhaps even the pollies get something out of it - even if they want to give it back ASAP.
I did finally make the connection that a blue rinse was a political statement.
It's cruel - you try explaining to a sweet old lady with a raffle book that winning a case of wine is not going to have a happy ending for anyone involved. You end up wishing they'd just sucker punch you and lift your wallet.
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Grow up, Herald.
Jimmy: As I said above, Colin Espiner's post had some interesting stuff in it. But let's be blunt here, I don't think catty asides like Readers of this Auckland newspaper know not to turn to this organ for balanced, unbiased coverage on this particular topic contributed anything much to debate. And, let's get real here, I think various Fairfax titles both here and across the ditch really need to clean up their own act before getting too sanctimonious about overwrought editorial campaigning by a direct competitor.
And anyone else remember the subject of Audrey Young debut bloggage; or the rather public spanking Fran O'Sullivan handed out to Winston Peters when he (basically) accused her of making shit up? In Colin's position, I'd look both ways when roaming the Press Gallery because it sure seems to me that he took a pretty clear shot at the professional ethics and integrity of the Herald's whole political staff.
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Well Ranapia has had a narrow escape, i had to spend five minutes calming my dear old Mum down, a more formidable women I wouldn't care to come across.
Tom, I thought we were keeping our kinky fantasy scenes on the downlow...
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So you're not a fan of DPF's position that those events are a vitally important part of a healthy and dynamic democracy?
A damn sight more healthy and dynamic than the feral rat-bastardry that seems to be part and parcel of state-funding of political parties and political campaigns. I'm just the kind of person who needs to meditate for a couple of hours before going to a party, and a week to recover. DPF is a wee bit more sociable.
If the National Party can't convince enough people like me to keep paying our subs (and donating millions of dollars in unpaid labour each electoral cycle), then it doesn't deserve to survive.
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FletcherB:
Sorry if you felt toasted there, B. Look, unless I've severely misunderstood the one thing the EFB will not be coming back to the House with is a sunset clause, and any exemption for government departments is a blindingly obvious loophole crying out to be abused by incumbents of whatever stripe in my view. Who exactly sets departmental budgets, and ultimately decides matters of policy? Sorry, but I don't think it's overly cynical to think the line between 'public information' and electioneering is not only vague, but deliberately so. And successive governments have exploited that to the full.
I'm not sock puppeting talking points either. In fact, if you wanted to be Machiavellian about it, what problem would I have with the EFB? After all, despite what some people think Labour is not going to hold the Treasury benches forever. And with some minor tweaks, it could quite easily be turned around to gag - or at least mute - Labour and its allies in the union movement etc.
And bring on state-funding of political parties too -- the more generous the better. You wouldn't believe how many arse-numbingly tedious fundraisers, blue-rinse bats with raffle books and begging letters I've had to put up with over the years. :)
TomS:
Yes, wingnuts of all stripes do get under my skin - like ringworm. Still, nice to see, in common with the Redbaiters and D4J's of this world, you're never really responsible for what you do and say.
To be frank, Tom, I'm not going to chill you out but please excuse me if I've a reason or two or not taking your affected and quite hypocritical moral superiority at all seriously.
As I've said elsewhere, Tom, you don't like being called out as a wingnut, own your own b.s. and don't act like one.
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Blech... fricking flu.
That should read:
If you're going to run that line, then I guess it's fair to note that the sole daily newspaper in New Zealand's largest media would do very well out of the mooted government department exemption. Would you really be in the least surprised if a large print campaign around Kiwisaver, WFF etc. just happened to roll out just before the election? Not what I saw happen in New South Wales when I was there just ahead of the state elections... and I sure didn't see any reports of any media outlet - including Mr. Espiner's colleagues at the Sydney Morning Herald__ - turning down the income.If this campaign is motivated by financial self-interest, APN really sucks at it.
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