Posts by Craig Ranapia
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to recordari,
My mileage does vary because I’ve heard that one assertion you’ve made is flat out untrue, and FFS perhaps the safety of passengers was a slightly higher priority than getting them to the game. But I guess you can’t ever win when The Herald is on their never-ending anti-public transport jihad.
ETA: And, yeah, I do like AKT Blog a lot but really… But would it save a lot of time and effort if we just assume that there are people for whom Joyce is going to be blamed for everything?
The most fucking idiotic comment I've ever seen outside a Herald Your Views sewer?
Cant they disable the emergency buttons? Obviously they know its not for an emergency.
Oy...
-
Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Ross Mason,
TV news just told me that trains were stopping…..people pushing the emergency stop button.
Yup, and of course the Herald headline is: Trains fail city's day of celebration. I know the Herald has some fixed idea that there's magic unicorns that shit out train sets and busses, but really... (And yes, I do have a bias because my partner works for Veolia but damn it. It would be nice if some facts got in the room when they decide to shit on public transport.)
-
Hard News: Towards the Truth, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I think it is an interesting insight into the military. They follow orders. But they are also real people and may not agree with those orders.
Um, yes - but I also hope they're "real people" who know the difference between a democracy and a military dictatorship.
-
OnPoint: Sock-Puppeting Big Tobacco to…, in reply to Danielle,
Well, yeah - I could be a thoroughly obnoxious sober alcoholic and euthanise what I laughingly call my social life by lecturing everyone with a drink in their hands about the social cost (and drain on the public purse) caused by alcohol abuse.
What that would achieve beyond a matching pair of thick ears currently escapes me, though. :)
-
OnPoint: Sock-Puppeting Big Tobacco to…, in reply to George Darroch,
If you think that controlling an addictive disease that kills ten percent of New Zealanders and twenty five percent of Maori every year is unreasonable, then we have no common ground, and we can’t have a useful conversation.
I don't think there any useful conversation to be had when you're bad touching statistics like that - srsly. Please don't tell ACT that Maori women are breeding like Ellen Ripley's worse nightmare to maintain the race with tobacco-related mortality like that.
ETA: Oh, snaps to Lucy.
-
Hard News: Just don't call it "Party Central", in reply to Sacha,
Who’s being bitchy?
Me, basically - since I'm not exactly Len's biggest fan. Since the whole world doesn't sync up with electoral cycles it's part of the job that you may just find yourself doing all of the following:
1) Cutting the ribbon on shit in government you were lukewarm on (if not downright glacial) about in a previous political life.
2) Getting the photo op for things you had little, if anything, to do with...
3) ...which tends to be karmically balanced out by getting third degree burns from stamping out burning bags of dog shit left behind by your predecessors.
Welcome to grown-up politics. If you get a cup of tea and a sausage roll fit for human consumption, you're ahead of the game.
And I think you’ll find the impetus behind many of the big projects coming to fruition now originated from Hubbard’s term, not Banks and his Cheneyesque boss, David Hay
You know what, I'm still not feeling fucking Grinchy. I'll declare an interest here: As secretary of the Auckland Film Society, we've enjoyed modest (but critical) financial support from the late Auckland City Council for a number of years. That's a simple matter of fact, and I don't think it's unreasonable to give credit where it's due. Yes?
There were multiple opportunities for both the Q Theatre and ACAG renovations to be half-arsed, down-graded, under-funded or simply shuffled into the too hard basket. That didn't happen, and I'm glad to put down my partisan whacking stick and be glad that one or two committments were made beyond the next round of rates setting. (And you know that I don't have a particularly high opinion of either Banks or Hubbard.)
-
Hard News: Just don't call it "Party Central", in reply to Sacha,
It’s that lag in any major infrstructure projects that sees strange things like road-meister Steven Joyce’s name recorded opening Auckland’s rail stations.
Yeah, and if I wanted to be bitchy about it Len Brown's been basking in the opening day glow of Q and ACAG that were well advanced before the amalgamation. While that may grind the gears of Messers Banks and Hubbard, I can't really begrudge Brown his photo ops because he and his council are going to be stuck making some hard (and big ticket) decisions about the Saint James. IMHO, we're very quickly coming to the point where kicking for touch just isn't going to cut it any more.
-
Hard News: Just don't call it "Party Central", in reply to Russell Brown,
Yes, I think I meant that The Cloud looks good inside, rather than out.
I’d say exactly the same thing about the Auckland City Art Gallery 2.0 – much as it makes my inner fiscal dry get all Gollum-y, with minor reservations I’d have to say it’s been a shit load of money well spent. Ditto for the Viaduct Events Centre – from the outside it’s got all the wow of a block of fresh tofu but as a working space I’ve get to come across anyone who’s got a disobliging word to say about it.
(Don't worry, darling, normal Grinch service will be restored soon.)
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Danielle,
When you've washed my brain, will you be a good gel and iron it as well? Perhaps even hang it up. Ta.
-
Hard News: Complaint and culture, in reply to Russell Brown,
It’s probably worth noting that although things have got a bit tetchy here, the North & South people are reeling from the venom expressed in the Facebook discussion of their story. As I said in the original post, it’s a topic that provokes some strong emotions.
Which I'm kind of surprised by, because N&S has done a lot of medical/social issues reportage over its twenty five year history - and has actually done a pretty good job over the years of avoiding medico-disaster porn that's too often the level health journalism exists at.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 256 257 258 259 260 … 1235 Older→ First