Posts by Deborah
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It looks great, Jen. Looking at the shadow from the powerpole, it looks as though one of the silver linings is that you've been able to position the house on the section at a good angle for the sun. And All That Space for the littlies to run around in is fabulous.
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Best line at 4.25, from Bob Haywood: Red Zone Resident: "Silly Gerry Brownlee."
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I'll be slutwalking again this year, in Wellington, and this time with my 13 year old daughter. My other two younger girls will be going to the zoo with their daddy. I said that I would take them slutwalking too when they were old enough to explain it to me themselves. Having said that, if it had turned out to be one of the many days on which their dad was away for work, then I would have just taken them with me. I've taken them along to marriage equality rallies quite happily, because I didn't have a childcare option.
I think one of the things that I'm taking away from this post is that words do matter, because they can help to create a climate in which change become possible. I think it's important not to get so frantic about words that people fear to speak because they might say something not quite right, but at the same time, we can recognise the powerful impact that words can have. There is a tension between these two ideas, but I think it's one we can manage with a bit of care.
And not just the words, but being seen to say them. That's why old fashioned protest marches matter. They show that not everyone is happy, that plenty of people want change, that plenty of people support those who want or need change. This is one of the reasons why Typing Activism is useful, and why protest marches are useful.
Long story short: great post, Emma.
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Hard News: The Base, in reply to Rob Stowell,
apart from maybe Myanmar/Burma
North Korea?
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I’ve just had a student in here, asking me about his exam result for last year. He got a good grade, which anyone would be proud of, a high honour. But not the grade he wanted… And no amount of me telling him that he had actually done rather well made up for the fact that he didn’t get that higher grade. He’ll get over it in time, and after a while it will cease to matter, as he moves on to his first job, and starts chalking up some successes there.
So yes, when someone wants to be leader, and presumably Prime Minister one day, then it *is* a matter of setting aside personal ambition, even though you may still end up with an interesting and worthwhile job to do. It can be done – witness Michael Cullen – but just because it can be done doesn’t make it an easy task.
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Hard News: The Base, in reply to Sacha,
Those backroom / comms people…. it took me about 5 minutes on google yesterday to work out that it was DPF rabbiting on about ethical standards (Unethical vs illegal), but that Key had said something very much to the point about six weeks ago in response to the Nick Smith and ACC fiasco.
Mr Key acknowledged Dr Smith’s “huge contribution” to the National government but said he expected higher standards of his ministers.
“It is important that Ministers are seen to actively manage both real and perceived conflicts of interest in the exercise of their duties,” Mr Key said.
“I have always expected high standards from my ministers – and I will continue to do so.
I think the back room advisors have to stop playing silly psephological games with themselves and each other, and stop pretending they’re all in The West Wing . I don’t think there is a magic phrase or a special word that will suddenly spark a wholesale surge to Labour. There’s just a lot of hard work and hard thinking to be done. So far, the only people I can see doing it are David Shearer and David Cunliffe.
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Sure, but there has been a noticeable silence from the Labour party, and only two really rather poorly received speeches from David Shearer. If there had been more of substance from other senior figures in the Labour party, including from David Shearer, then perhaps David Cunliffe's speech would not have received so much notice. But really, aside from those two speeches by David Shearer, there has been nothing. A vacuum, as someone said upthread, and it got filled.
David Shearer is on notice, as he has been since he was chosen by the caucus, and as any new leader would have been, given the process by which he was selected. I think he's still got time, perhaps even until the end of the year. I think that would have been the case no matter who the caucus elected. I'm not convinced by Shearer yet. But I think he has yet to have been given enough of a chance to make a go of it. As I said, if nothing is changing much by the time he has been in the job for a year, then perhaps the leadership issue will need to be revisited.
None of this will seem quite so urgent if the Herald Digipoll result is not an outlier.
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We've just seen in Parliament that the only person who can be held responsible for what is said on Kiwiblog is DPF.... Shearer left stumbling over PM 'quote'
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In effect, what we are asking David Cunliffe to do is to set aside his personal ambtitions, and work for the team. To his great credit and with good grace, that is exactly what he has done since the caucus chose David Shearer as leader. However, it’s a huge shame that Shearer et al haven’t done the same in return, and kept David Cunliffe on as Finance spokesperson. What’s-his-name Parker has been nearly invisible in the role.
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David Cunliffe is very, very intelligent, and he doesn't downplay it, or pretend that he's not smart. I think that some plonkers in the Labour caucus can't cope with that. I think it's part of NZ's pervasive anti-intellectualism. We should get over it.