Posts by Gary Young
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Hard News: Event Season, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Granted, yes and in full agreement, especially with respect to sail assisted merchant ships... But....
I'm watching it as best I can on my work computer with an intermittent and fitful broadband stream with the other guys from the workshop clustered round. I am a long time sailor so my enthusiasm is a given but the others would normally have no interest in water-based sports. These are guys who spend every lunchtime, every day, in the smoko room talking about cars and motorbikes, nevertheless they are still drawn in by the drama and the prospect of kiwi success.
The Cup should not be dismissed too lightly. It is much more than just rich bods on expensive boats.
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"do you understand what needs to be done and can you get it done?"
Which pretty much covers the interview I did for my job as a tradesman.
Q. Are you qualified?
A. Yes
Q. Will you turn up on site and on time?
A. Yes
OK, start on Monday.I realise that building sites are a long way from office jobs but I am so very thankful, reading the postings here, that my industry has so far avoided the worst excesses of corporate HR.
If I had turned out to be unsuitable it would have become apparent within the first week and I'd have been sent on my way. Really, how complicated does the hiring process have to be?
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Hard News: This time it's Syria, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Because I still can't stomach John Kerry's high-horsed hypocrisy, quibbling over the method of despatch of innocent civilians, his inner ordnance-salesman seemed mostly outraged by their 'untouched bodies' - the US cannot claim any superiority in the 'killing innocent civilians' outrage, and all their posturing just makes them even less believable or trustworthy...
Exactly, And in spades.
Given the US attitude to civilians in Iraq during that sorry conflict you might hope they would show a little more circumspection in their declarations of outrage.
I'm still not at all clear why the dropping of phosphorus bombs on the citizens of Fallujah did not constitute a chemical attack.
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Hard News: So long, and thanks for all…, in reply to Carol Stewart,
Almost certainly, human avarice being what it is.
On the other hand won't it also put a damper on those who buy up two, three, four or more houses that they don't really need and don't intend to live in but regard simply as income generators?
Perhaps more houses will become available for those who actually want to own their own home.
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Hard News: So long, and thanks for all…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Well, Hebe and others have made many of the points I would have done had I not been driving home for the last 40mins.
I even agree to an extent with some of your views but I take issue with "loony" as applied to the third largest party in our parliament. This is a non-trivial position in New Zealand's political hierarchy and I really think we could move beyond the kind of terminology more usually reserved for parties that only garner a few hundred votes.
After all, by implication, it suggests the views and beliefs of those who voted for them can be similarly denigrated. Consider that 247,000 party votes and 155,000 electoral votes are also non-trivial numbers.
However, this is, as you point out, somewhat off topic. I'll be quiet now but look forward to resuming this when the electoral campaigns begin next year.
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Hard News: So long, and thanks for all…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Bart, I have to ask, in a spirit of genuine enquiry, just what Green Party policies do you regard as 'loony'?
It is an accusation levelled at the Greens so frequently in media commentary that I wonder if anyone can actually explain what they mean by it.
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Hard News: The GCSB Bill: eleventh-hour arguments, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,
I worry that when civil liberties are in this much jeopardy, Godwin's tends towards reality.
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Hard News: Fluency, ease of manner - and…, in reply to DexterX,
Democracy is quite ill and will get no better once the GCSB Act is passed
Which, I fear, is quite possibly one of the unspoken objectives of this whole exercise.
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Hard News: Fluency, ease of manner - and…, in reply to Scott Gamble,
Just barely managed to watch it to the end myself, though my TV came perilously close to getting my foot through it.
It's not often we get to witness the smug, aggressive arrogance lying behind the bland, smile and wave persona.
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Hard News: The GCSB Bill: We at least…, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
The scary thing is there will be people out there who will think the prime minister acquitted himself well on Campbell Live tonight...
Audrey Young in this morning's Herald certainly thinks so.