Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Hard News: Some reprehensible bullshit, in reply to Jim Cathcart,
If I were Len Brown or one of his spin team, I would have made it anticipated this and made it clear that the secret rooms were for Len and the future cleanliness of other mayors.
In which case, Jim, I would be genuinely outraged at such an egregious waste of public money. I don't know if you've been paying attention, but "anticipating" the pathological toy-throwing of various unelected and unaccountable Herald editors, columnists and useless public titty-suckers like Quax and Brewer would be a costly and futile exercise.
I'm sorry you don't like the outcome of a free, fair and legitimate election. The Herald has made it abundantly clear it doesn't. But it's not Brown or Auckland City's responsibility that the only daily newspaper in Auckland is exercising the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages. It would be really nice if your moral indignation was turned in that direction for a few moments.
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Hard News: Some reprehensible bullshit, in reply to simon g,
Research and effort required: minimal. Is basic professionalism too much to ask?
Apparently so -- and not for the first time, Russell seems to have committed more journalism in ten half-awake Sunday morning minutes than The Horsepiss on Sunday managed all week.
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Hard News: Some reprehensible bullshit, in reply to Russell Brown,
“A secret dressing room, complete with a two seater couch, is a luxury lair, not value for money for ratepayers.”
Does this idiot have any idea what a proper bed of nails costs?
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The mayor’s office will not have blinds like any other office, but “blackout blinds”
And take away the sleazy, nudge-nudge, wink-wink scare quotes any decent home furnishing store should have a wide range of blackout drapery readily available. They're not only great for blocking out light and noise, but the insulation qualities don't do any harm if you're one of those people who has a small panic attack every time the power bill arrives.
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Hard News: Some reprehensible bullshit, in reply to Richard Wain,
$10K doesn’t get you much for a bathroom? We renovated our apartment’s bathroom for $4,500, took out the old crappy corner shower and put in a shower/bath, it looks sweet as!
No, it really doesn’t if you’re hiring professionals who will go to some effort to make sure the work in fully compliant with all relevant building codes. Now if Auckland City was getting dodgy cowboys to do illegal (and potentially dangerous) work on the cheap and downlow that would be a real scandal, don’t you think?
You know, if I was building myself a “play space”, I think I’d do better than a two-seater couch and a dressing mirror.
Of course you would, Russell. You’d do your homework and quickly grasp the only place for mirrors in a respectable fuck dungeon are on the ceiling, carefully positioned for optimal sightlines from the sling and rack combo (New Zealand made from sustainable materials of course!) You’d even work out some contra deal for all the… bits and pieces, I’d bet.
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Hard News: Park Life, in reply to Glenn Pearce,
Chamberlain (and Takapuna) are special in that they bring golf to the masses, anybody with a borrowed set of clubs can just rock up and queue for a Tee off unlike most other courses on the Auckland isthmus.
And that's very nice as far as it goes -- I remember many a happy Sunday afternoon in my youth with Dad hacking around the Hutt Park public golf course a long way back in the day. But sorry, I really can't get terribly upset about public land being re-purposed for public use.
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Some will be glad that the 'what-happens-on-tour-stays-on-tour' ethos is still being invoked, there are stories out there that don't cast such a rosy light...
Different times, and different behaviours were acceptable, perhaps.I'm with Russell in saying I bloody hope not -- because some of the shit I've heard (and wouldn't dare repeat here for fear of a nastygram from Sue, Grabbit and Runne) would only be acceptable if you were a Visigoth on a day trip to sack Rome. I doubt I'm alone in rolling my eyes a bit at Golden Codgers waxing sentimental about the good old days, because in many respects they weren't that flash. And it's why I think it's really great when RB puts the spotlight on people who not only cash the reality check on that sentimentality, but also try and provide a bit of a memory bank so a new generation of performers and promoters aren't wasting time and effort reinventing the wheel. Making your own fuck-ups is a lot better than repeating everyone else's. :)
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On the other hand, Su’a William Sio is ranked eleventh with a relatively light policy load, including “interfaith dialogue”.
What "interfaith dialogue" has that waste of oxygen ever engaged in beyond his fact-free pandering to homophobic evangelicals in South Auckland?
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Hard News: News from home ..., in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
She had been a lifelong Labour Voter….literally since before birth.
Not this time.
Why? The proposed Capital Gains Tax.
It’s weird that I’m saying this, of all people around here, but most of my circle took a rather more… nuanced view of a Capital Gains Tax that tended towards “I’m OK with the principle, but it’s the execution I’m not so sure about.” Anyway, it would really nice if good policy was always greeted with universal acclaim but that’s not the world I live in. Back on Planet Earth, grown up politics is about the slow and painful process of making your case and building a constituency. If that didn't happen, I think we're long past the point where blaming Cameron Slater and Kim Dotcom is a credible out.
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Hard News: News from home ..., in reply to Dean Wallis,
“What we won’t be doing is what he has done now for so long, which is give the appearance of a happy-go-lucky chappy but run the vilest, nastiest smear machine we have ever seen in New Zealand politics. We will be calling him out on that.”
BAM! PROVE THAT ONE DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS DOING THE SAME OLD SHIT AND EXPECTING A DIFFERENT RESULT!
National would be foolish to make the same mistake with Little that Labour did with Key, but the smartest thing he could do is sharpen up and focus. Especially when the last week or two hasn't exactly been bereft of low-hanging fruit for the Opposition -- Roger Sutton, the very bad look of Air New Zealand dumping regional services after boasting a $250 million profit (and a special dividend to its shareholders, including the Government), and that convicted murderer/child abuser who came horribly close to becoming New Zealand's answer to Ronnie Briggs.
Those aren't only things people DO care about, but which really need an Opposition who is doing its damn job.