Posts by chris
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Polity: So who exactly placed conditions…, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Same guy yeah? Co-submitter John Ansell, the former marketing manager for the ACT party? That’s as clear an flag raiser as any of the slippery slope this country has teetered over. Our good fortune of getting a morsel like that in MSM only contingent on the fact his submission didn’t make the final four.
We can see the self-serving progress from before the final forty were unveiled, then after the final four. We can even turn our eyes to read the response to the follow up of the follow up by Lewis Holden, National Party candidate for Rimutaka and head of the “Change the Flag” campaign, the marsupial extracts rodent from hat;
What I’ve done – which Grant and John Ansell are well aware of – is make sure the campaign is neutral in the flag selection process,
Neutrality.
There’s none, not a dot, as far as the eye can see, no one in the public eye here except Nicky still remembers what the word means.
In this tiny country, any industry, sphere or discipline you could care to name has or is being torn apart by egos the size of speedboats. By cronyism, nepotism, inequality, bias, concurred taste, this monster consumed by consuming itself. Those of us beyond the networks, off the beaten path, below the beltway with no stake, no fucks left to give, no money or interest to quest beyond the paywalls and little to lose.
Both sides of the room were offered the kool aid and so many drank – so many.
For a voyeur there’s a certain entertainment in watching the order in which the corpses hit the floor, some of theirs, some of ours. Optimists perch rooting for their stripe to retain footing.
Everyone will be replaced.
Many viewers have already long since quietly closed the celler door, preparing dinner.
Chinese and US cuisine. Clean of the fetishists’ finger prints it’ll do.
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Hard News: A better thing to believe in, in reply to BenWilson,
I do believe in pushing children to do things they’re reluctant to do, up to a point, if the thing is really worth doing, for them, in my opinion.
Definitely, it takes a hours with most pursuits to reach a point where you’re able to get the most out of it. One thing I was reluctant to do and absolutely suck at is swimming but if I’d not learnt those basic skills I’d likely never have discovered my love for sailing, kayaking and windsurfing.
I think age is a paramount consideration, with preteens I’d cast the net far and wide while also making sure to cover the basics, is there a team activity? Something for upper body/ lower body, any non-sporting activity? Identifying their strengths? Are they having fun? Risks? How much does it cost? Equipment? Though I played it from quite a young age, my parents weren’t great followers of soccer, and it didn’t really become enjoyable for me until a few years into it when they splashed out on some decent shin pads.
Once kids hit puberty, I guess lack of motivation becomes an issue and it’s important that then or thereabouts that they’ve been assisted into activities that are both beneficial and fulfill them on a number of levels.
I guess the best guide of parents is to look at themselves, I knew a couple of kids at school, sporting all-rounders, who continued to excel at their summer sports but had totally dropped out of contention for the top rugby team by the end of high school. Having respectively played flanker and hooker for 9-10 years by that point they couldn’t adjust to any other position at that level. Anyone looking at the parents could have guessed years earlier that there was only a very slim chance that those boys were ever going to grow tall enough or be sufficiently built to play those positions long term. As a strong-left I always found hockey season a bit of joke.
Nowadays my wife and I play quite a bit of badminton, which I enjoy for the fact that it feels a like being a hobbit playing slow-motion tennis.
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Hard News: A better thing to believe in, in reply to BenWilson,
It’s something I put a lot of thought into, what direction to push my own children. I’m encouraging them to watch rugby, just because it is a nationally important sport, like cricket (which I actually mostly dislike). It’s news, something to talk about, social grease.
But what I will encourage them to actually participate in themselves is a whole different matter. You want to find a balance of challenge, development, socialization, and success.
I believe essentially the best approach is to expose them to as wide a range of activities as possible and be prepared within reason to follow their lead, without necessarily even limiting the options to sport.
While it’s currently rugby at Tawera High School, the possibilities for engagment, challenge, development, socialization, and success are wide open.
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*correction - Labour's referendum allows for voters to number their preferences regardless of whether they vote yes or no.
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Observation 1: For anyone with an interest in retaining the current flag only John Key’s submission guarantees fuel for roasting marshmallows.
Observation 2: John Key’s is the least environmentally friendly option.
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Hard News: A better thing to believe in, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Hastings
Which is where my uncles were born and where my grandparent had both been living when they met. Technically it was my grandmother and my step-grandfather at the game for the sake of accuracy, both very cool people, more interested in motor sport than rugby as far as I can recall, she played golf, I can’t quite see her in uggs and I never heard anything like that from either of them, so I if I’d been armed I would have been inclined to shoot the messenger on that occasion, conformity’s a dangerous thing.
My grandfather had bailed around the time I was born and that match took place a few months before he was beaten to death in a Sydney bar, probably with good reason. She is a tough cookie, president of the local Plunket, hardened up herself by being chased around the house by my grandfather and his shotgun, he drank a lot and used to beat my mum with a jug cord.
But anyway here we find ourselves again, the Green’s “bad political management” lost in the sands, the small spike in assault and disorder during the 2011 Rugby World Cup forgotten, the increase in domestic violence during the opening week repressed, 5500 members of the Medical Association being “seriously concerned at the rationale being used to justify” the law changes ignored, a statement decrying the new law which “runs counter to established international policy and principles for alcohol harm reduction” issued by the College of Public Health Medicine – with a membership of more than 200 doctors – disregarded, the apprehension voiced by the Hawke’s Bay Community Action Youth and Drugs Team towards the proposed legislation potentially encouraging Kiwi binge drinking culture sidelined, The Health Promotion Agency’s stance that the new legislation would undermine the recent reforms – which tightened up rules around the sale and supply of booze – and “reinforces the current culture of drinking in New Zealand” swept aside, Women’s Refuge chief executive Ang Jury’s position “The committee needs to accept that there is no short term fix it can implement to address the inevitable harm associated with extended access to alcohol over the course of the Rugby World Cup” brushed off.
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Bringing this over from another thread:
He said the secrecy around negotiations was not something to be worried about, given that was how all Free Trade Agreements came about
Key used an example of selling a house worth $600,000 for $500,000 and telling the media.
“Are you really telling me you would go to the paper and say ‘for sale, one house – $600,000, wink-wink, nudge-nudge if you offer me $500,000 I’ll take it’?
“No one does that.”
Perhaps someone can help me understand what the Prime Minister is getting at with this. Why is he selling the house for less than it’s worth? Why is he concerned about advertising that sale on the media if he’s already decided to take less than it’s worth? Couldn’t advertising a property at a reduced price generate interest and possibly ignite a bidding war? I can understand that outside Auckland, Christchurch, South Otago, properties are still selling at around GV, so I guess we’re talking about houses elsewhere, but why sell a house below GV? Why not hold out for a better deal? Why the urgency? Is selling the house a metaphor for selling the country? How is signing a deal for ongoing trade in any way comparable to selling a house? Is it that he has no clue how what the TPPA is or is this a plain sight admission that he’s selling us out? Who is the preferred buyer? Why is he choosing to sell to that buyer at a loss rather than open the sale up to the wider market? What are his accommodation plans once the house has sold below GV? Is he relocating somewhere with cheaper real estate? Is he suggesting others might prefer to sell the house to the paper? Is he against papers’ buying the house? Was he sober when he spoke at the luncheon? Were the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce receptive to this metaphor?
“If you believe the protesters of TPPA you’d think this was a great revolutionary you’ve never heard of before – [that’s] nonsense.
Does the TPPA metaphorically contain a persona, kind of like Che Guevara? Is there a perception in the community that elements in the TPPA are similar to someone like Che Guevara? Did the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce raise concerns that the TPPA or elements therein may be compared with someone unknown but bearing similarities with the likes of Guevara, Trotsky or Lenin? Which revolutionary does the TPPA threshold most resemble? Have protesters been making noises comparing the TPPA to a revolutionary? When comparing the TPPA to a revolutionary was it a revolutionary that John Key had never heard of or a revolutionary that the Nelson Chamber of Commerce have never heard of? Were either the GCSB or SIS used to garner intelligence as to exactly which revolutionaries the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce has collectively never heard of? Is it nonsense that this feature of the TPPA is a revolutionary that we’ve never heard of before? Is it nonsense that we think elements in the TPPA may be a revolutionary we’ve never heard of before when we actually have? Is it nonsense that we believe the protesters think the right of companies to sue the Government as advanced within TPPA was a great revolutionary? Is it all nonsense? Is any of it not nonsense? Is it that John Key wants to sell a house for less than it’s worth because it contains a revolutionary we’ve never heard of, or is it that John Key wants to sell a house below market value because protesters say it’s accommodating a revolutionary we’ve never heard of? Is the revolutionary renting or squatting? If the great revolutionary we’ve never heard of is renting then how long will it be until the lease expires? Would any of the above details be flexible were the revolutionary less great? If he could somehow evict the revolutionary would he be able to ask for market value for his property? In this metaphor what exactly does the revolutionary stand for? Have any other features of the agreement been personified? How did the Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce respond to all this? Is this a failure of journalism or public speaking?
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um, so yeah, I did eventually make it through that baffling section on MMP to:
The offer was clearly mischievous; the Government does not need Labour's votes to add Red Peak to the referendum. But it tested Mr Little's agility.
Incensed I then lodged a complaint relating to the misrepresentation in paragraphs three and four with the Press Council though I've no idea if any guidelines apply to editorials.
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Hard News: The Silver Scrolls: watch and…, in reply to Kumara Republic,
They were world-famous in Auckland – or to be more specific, Ponsonby
He obviously slept through that period when Blue Lady was part of a nationwide ad campaign in the 90s - introducing the band to a new generation.
I enjoyed that Don McGlashan video above, simple yet effective, a tidy tutorial.
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Thanks for this Russell and co, I enjoyed that video thoroughly, there are some magic moments. My only issue is that it still doesn’t explain that pic you posted live from the event in which the entire audience seem to be making the Black Panther salute.
