Posts by Deborah
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Congratulations, Danielle. I'm so pleased for you. I'm at my parents' place, where they don't have wireless, and the computer is very old, so internetaccess is creaky at best. I spnet all yesterday thinking, I guess Danielle's baby must have arrived by now... And he has! Lovely news for Christmas.
I can report that the pohutakawas are just starting to burst in New Plymouth, with the exception f one that we can see on the foreshore, which is a brilliant crimson. A day or two more of this warm weather, and Christmas Day itself should be gloriously red.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Also, the internet problem here? Someone has cunningly given Dad an iPad, so we'll be sorting out the wireless later on today or tomorrow.
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Very good! It is a joy to see just how much care has been taken in trying to work out and respect voters' intentions. The contrast with the hanging chads episode is remarkable.
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Very much non-religious. But so imaginative. The capacity to think and feel towards another's place. Imagination is a critical moral capacity.
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Back on topic, and you will please excuse the somewhat munted presentation of this comment - I'm still trying to learn how to.drive my lovely, shiny iPad (Chrissie pressie from my darling)...
Is New Zealand politics being taken over by the commentariat?
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The drugs may keep him in remission for months, maybe a year, but it is a temporary reprieve. We are in a liminal space of summer joy and grief. The only thing we can do is enjoy the pleasures of the moment, conversation and presence, music and food shared.
Thank you, Jackie.
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Channeling my beloved uncle, who is dying, and there is no consolation for it... humanity is compassion. That is what marks us out, and the lack of it marks the inhumane.
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Please, Russell, could you edit that epithet, and my comment, out?
As you wish. It did seem to be the undertone, but I’ve chosen a synonym as a matter of grace.
Edited by Deborah to add:
Oops. Russell and I have both been in editing my comment. To be clear, the quote up there is my words, and the plain text words are Russell’s. Russell was adjusting some wording in the comment at my request.Thanks, Russell.
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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus, in reply to Russell Brown,
I'm sorry. I misread your comment.
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Back on topic: Describing David Cunliffe as a 'business analyst' is like describing Grant Robertson as a 'student politician'. Robertson has put together an effective career as a student politician, a diplomat, a political aide - all very useful skills as a politician and hopefully one day, a minister. David Cunliffe has put together a very useful career as a lawyer (I think), a diplomat, a business analyst, and a minister - all very useful skills for a politician. Focusing on just one aspect of either man's career does not do them justice, at all.
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Some thoughts:
First up, a big wave to rjal. I hope you might comment again from time to time... It doesn't seem right to welcome you to the community, because it seems you have been here for a long time.
On Self-censoring: I do it all the time here. There's a heap of stuff I won't say, or opinions I won't venture, because I feel that they simply won't be heard. A bit like Ben's opinion re the anti-smacking legislation. I *do* think that PAS is sometimes not all that good with respect to listening to dissent. This thread has been pretty uncomfortable for anyone who doesn't buy into the Anyone But Cunliffe meme. Much like back in the day PAS was pretty uncomfortable for people (including me) who didn't buy into the Obama=Good/Clinton=Bad meme. Sooner or later you learn to just shut up.
On "Don't be a dick about it". I like your reframing of it, Russell, as "show good grace to each other". The latter emphasises reciprocity, but the former doesn't. The former is one group of people telling another group of people how to behave, and it comes from a position of power.
On the current argument: I've had some pretty intense disagreements with Giovanni, and there's one issue in particular where I feel as though we are just talking past each other. I've been able to move on and say, "Okay, we disagree on this one" because it has never been attended by ad hominem/feminam comments. I felt that there was a bit of needless personal stuff coming into this conversation, which didn't help.
On class in New Zealand: All been said, really, but by way of summation: it isn't defined by money, 'though money is a contributor. It isn't defined by family status, 'though family status is a contributor. It isn't defined by education, 'though education is a contributor. It intersects with culture and race: from the outside I can see that there are class hierachies within Maori groups, but I don't understand them, nor how they work, nor how power is transmuted within them. I suspect that thinking about the power to effect change, and the power to withstand government intervention, and the power to access government services (very broadly understood), might be a more useful way to analyse class structure in New Zealand, but I don't know, because it's not an area I've given much thought to, nor am I trained in that area. Maybe one of the difficulties in this discussion has been because the language of class, and Left and Right, doesn't serve us all that well. Actually, this turns out not to be a summation at all...
I'm going to put another comment up in a moment that is back on topic, but I think that there is something that people here might turn their minds to over the next few weeks, and that is the extent to which PAS is a bit of a closed shop at times, and if you don't hold the same views as the main grouping here, then it can be difficult.
And yes, this comment has been self-censored. There's a lot I'm not saying, because it won't progress things at all, and it will only hurt people. However, one thing I must not self-censor is this: I do think that a fair amount of the opprobrium that was directed at Gio was unfair.