Posts by Christopher Dempsey
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I participated in the passage of the Civil Union law. I and others raised questions during that process about simply changing the gendered language of the Marriage Act so that gays and lesbians could marry.
The political decision at that time was to go with a Civil Union approach, so my questions were less than welcome. I suspect the CU approach fitted with a Labour Party 'progressive' vision - a kind of shiny new approach that did away with the old trappings of the past. It certainly was described as such. It reflected a revolutionary 60s ethos - down with the system etc, and create something new. The CU approach fitted neatly with the decision to sweep away the old Dames and Knights system.
Despite my unease about the passage of the bill, I still supported it. It was a terrible choice really; support extension of civil rights to GLBTT, or not (and wait til such time as extension of marriage rights was possible)?
The problem for me is that while some might prefer revolution, others might prefer to be like their brothers and sisters - I certainly did - and want to marry - as all my siblings had.
For all the political capital expended on this issue I've wound up with the right to a CU, but my siblings have a right to not only a CU, but marriage. I find myself very equal but separate. A second class position really. I'm still discriminated against - my siblings have the right to marry and I don't and the only difference is our sexuality.
I don't think its a question of whether or not the push for the extension of civil (marriage) rights to GLBTT will happen, but when. I also think that it will be pushed along through the justice system, as it is clear that discrimination is occurring.
The National Party (and for what it is worth, the Act Party), for all its glaring faults, does tend to be very pragmatic about social matters, and simply changing the gendered language of the Marriage Act to be gender neutral fit with their pragmatic natures. The problem is the noisy minority, but the trick is to realise that they are a noisy minority and push on. The only problem is we don't know if they will be around on Nov 26.
The Labour Party might change the Marriage Act, and probably would if they form the next Government. I think that in the end, the amount of political capital the Labour party expended on the CU issue was not that much at all; it was more a matter of constantly talking up the advantages. But I would encourage them to act swiftly, and without fear. Skies don't fall.
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Wearing some pohutukawa council issued hat - Thanks Melanie - if you can please send me an email to christopherDOTdempsey@@@aucklandcouncil.GOVT.nz (I've munged it) and I'll pass you onto the people doing the research.
As far as noise goes - I suppose now is a good time to ask, given our computing whizz bang technology, can I create a soundscape of the CBD i.e. something that tells me the noise will be X here if band/music/whatever plays at Y spot.
The blindspot of Council in general is the assumption that everything is a flat plain, as in Saskatchewan flat. With no defining features, geological or otherwise. So our system of District Planning / rules / bylaws / regulations etc generally assumes this, which clearly it's not. Myer's Park is a bowl so naturally noise will be louder there to some degree.
I'm looking for a 3D model of the city that can cope with complexity. And not for a Room that Echoes...
Doffing Madam, said hat.
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
ahhh - thanks Craig (I'm wearing my Council hat here - most fetching - it has a pohutukawa like thingy that jingle jangles from the crown). Indeed the Laneway festivals and such like add much to the city, and I support them.
I also support inner-city residents, so my main concern is to see that they know about what is happening. Excitingly, research is actually being done at the moment to investigate inner-city residents (not the students, but the people who actually live and work downtown). Some early indications is that some kind of community notice-boards might be helpful for residents, much like other communities have them. But it's early days in the research, and when complete, I'll make sure it's available on the Council website.
BTW - if anyone is having problems with Council, or have some observations to make - please email me and I'll find out for you. Part of my role in these early days is to get the systems running as best as possible - and from what I've heard and seen, they seem to be.
Doffing said hat cause really, jingle jangle thingys don't suit me.
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Sacha,
Both hat-states agree Sacha :)
My problem is that the shoeboxes on Nelson/Hobson Sts a) were the product of a multi-factorial system that enabled such buildings to be built b) because of that - the causes require more explanation than can be safely done here in terms of length and most worryingly, c) those shoeboxes you see there, and elsewhere around town, will, at some point, slide down the scale and become slums. At which point it is a Council problem.
Much like Council was not particularly responsible for development of building standards that lead to leaky homes that became Council's problem, in this case, Council had some control over the development of shoeboxes, and consequently, will reap the outcomes of that. What I'm really saying here is that problems in the urban environment tend to wind up in Council's lap. No-one else's.
And because it's a hot day here in Opotiki, I'm keeping my straw hats on... :)
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Sacha,
yes. Indeed Sacha, I agree.
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Hard News: Hip in the Square, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Wearing my ponderous and delightfully crocheted elected representative hat ...
No Craig, I wasn't shrugging my shoulders. I was merely pointing out that I suspect a breakdown in communication. The second half of that sentence was orginally "I will investigate this and report back" but I thought it too impudent for readers of PA. So I will investigate and report back. OK?
Doffing said hat.
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Wearing my heavy hat of Council Elected Rep I'll just say yes, people living in town should expect some noise, and yes, the Laneway Festival was promoted all over the place, but there is a difference between these facts and potentially doing more preparatory work in letting residents know about any kind of festival and the potential noise.
People usually are accommodating given adequate time to know about an event, and knowledge of the implications of the event; perhaps if the gentleman over 60 who may not have appreciated the music would have taken himself off to somewhere for the major part of the day if he had known ahead of time.
I suspect something may have gone wrong in the communication...
doffing said hat... on this very hot day...
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
@ Geoff - my point about bagging Granny is simply why waste all the energy pointing out the behaviour of Granny, which we know will never change? Surely one aim of criticizing behaviour is to change behaviour, and given the screes of words written about Granny Herald (within PA, and elsewhere), she's plainly and clearly hard of hearing and/or deaf, and hasn't visited an audiologist in decades, and doesn't have a hearing aid.
Could we not simply just say a few words that instantly everyone knows refers to the synoptic, duplicitous, and clearly irrational and non-fourth estate behaviour of the Herald? Something like, oh, USIREBOH (USual IRrational non-fourth Estate Behaviour of (the) Herald)?
That way we could perhaps focus on the times when Granny does get it right - which does happen, from time to time, but we can't deny they do happen. When they do shouldn't we celebrate this?
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Honestly, why do people bag the Herald? Mr Brown spent not a considerable amount of broadband width analysing it recently, and essentially the complaint made was the same as the one made several years ago. What is the point? Granny isn’t about to change any more than Garth George is about to discover that climate instability is all too real.
But yeah, Key’s basic math doesn’t stack up: 300m/weekly borrowings. That’s a cool 1.2billion a month. And asset sales will realize just 10b, or 10 months or so of borrowing. And he calls himself a finance man? That kind of math is plain stupid.
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The issue of hot coffee suddenly spurting from a plunger as the action of plunging gives way usually lies in the grind of the coffee. If you put in a fine grind, and put in a bit of it, it will form a rigid layer that you have to push down against - which can be hard to do. The water is being forced through the grinds as you push down, but the fine grind 'mats' together preventing relatively easy passage of water. It will give way at some point which is where you get burnt from the resulting gush of hot water.
Use a coarse grind for plungers and you won't have that problem. If you can't get a coarse grind, then I recommend what someone has suggested, plunge a little, then lift the plunger up and push back down a little bit more. This action seems to break the grinds up a bit.