Posts by Craig Ranapia
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I think that story illustrates the degree of pressure from that particular group that was on Hastings in his job as Censor.
Quite - but to be fair, Authur Everard got it in the neck from all sides. IMNSHO, it was a disgrace how he was effectively sacked by the Films Amendment Act's bullshit term limit on the office of Chief Censor.
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
We could go with “people suck, especially rioters”, if it makes you feel better?
You know what, I'm not going to feel anything but dread until I hear from half a dozen friends that they (and their families) are safe.
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Russell Brown,
It does seem reasonable to assume that disgraceful behavior at the Met has undermined faith in the police – although I’m not sure #hackgate is uppermost in the minds of the people on the streets,
Quite - and, honestly, perhaps I should take my own advice and STFU but I'm not entirely convinced that this is entirely about "young, angry, totally disenfranchised people" either. And, no, I don't really give a flaming rodent's anus where David Cameron is, or what political damage he might sustain as opposed to people whose livelihoods and safety are directly in harm's way. Right now.
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Scott Gamble,
Having said that, the politest police I’ve ever come across by a long way were consistently the London police
And as I’ve said, the last time I was in Melbourne there were a lot of Police on the streets of the CBD after the AFL Grand Final. But that presence was actually pretty low-key, well-signalled and organised and while there was the usual amount of publicly pissed nonsense nobody seemed to be looking for a fight.
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Tom Semmens,
A Londoner I work with shrugged his shoulders and said “What do they expect? people are pretty pissed off”.
And this is why poor people can’t have nice things, right? Really, Tom, not meant as a poke at you but I’m fucked off at the unpleasant “the natives are revolting! I know they are, but what’s that awful row?” dog-whistle under a lot of the media.
It’s really easy to be an armchair general in the class war when the frontline is twelve thousand miles away and it's not your neighbourhood getting torched.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Shaun Lott,
All those bars and restaurants were VERY exposed to the weather. The Viaduct suffers from this to some extent – lovely on a summer afternoon, totally uninviting on a wet winter’s evening.
To fair, I can't say this is the time of year where al fresco dining is terribly attractive. Anywhere. If you're on the waterfront, I can't really see the point of not being exposed to your major point of interest.
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Sacha,
Auckland’s public planners and urban designers for some reason seem wedded to denial that it rains a lot here. One example is the large and expensive Queen St streetscape upgrade.
I so much don't worry about the shelter, but why do urban planners seem to be in love with paving that looks fabulous but gets dangerously slick when wet unless you're wearing shoes with tractor-tyre tread?
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Hard News: Fixing Auckland, in reply to Russell Brown,
The Herald's story on how Eden park washed up on the night.
And while I'm still rugby-agnostic :), nice to see that it was a relatively painless experience on Saturday night. (I don't think you can blame any human agency for the crap-tacular weather though.) Full disclosure: My partner works for Veolia so I might be slightly biased, but the general good-nature of folks waiting for the trains was appreciated. Some folks do have problems grasping that public transport is not run by magical elves. :)
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Hard News: An open thread while I'm down…, in reply to Russell Brown,
And everyone but John Key can remember the answer.
Hey, is it OK if I didn't have any particular views on the Springbok Tour at the time. I am so ashamed of my nine year-old lack of socio-political consciousness. :)
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Hard News: An open thread while I'm down…, in reply to Hebe,
What about the subversion of New Zealand’s parliamentary system by the both the National and Labour parties refusing to participate in election leaders’ debates with the other parties?
Our democracy is just fine, Hebe, since we're still going to have free, fair and credible elections regardless. And, honestly, I find it hard to make the case that the television debates add any value whatsoever to the campaign.
Which doesn't make Key's dreck-i-tude (and Goff's spineless "I will if Key does" waffle) any less annoying.
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