Posts by Rob Stowell
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to Russell Brown,
I don’t believe in communism
Think of it as enlightened self-interest
If Marx were to drag himself out of his crypt, he'd probably look at our public education, pulic health, and social security and mutter- 'we won!"
Or he might have a few decades back. Now public services and welfare are all on the retreat :( -
Speaker: Abortion: morality and health, in reply to Russell Brown,
sorry, but I’ve blocked you.
Thanks Russell. Wasn't going anywhere good. There's a good conversation happening and 'kiwi_guy' wasn't interested in being part of it.
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Polity: Unity, success: Chicken, egg?, in reply to steve black,
I hope this isn’t going to develop into a case of
Progress is to Labour as ACT is to National
with parties running a two brand strategy.
I thought Mana and Labour could work like that - Mana proposing what (many in) Labour really wanted to do, pushing the envelope, providing the conscience and principle.
But instead of welcoming Mana into the wharenui, it was all cold shoulder and 'wait outside' and 'get off our patch.' -
Getting anything through the US tripartite legislative system is a nightmare. In this case, for TPPA supporters :)
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<too busy to rant!>
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I feel for Mark Jennings. Good journo and generally straight shooter. But between the rack and two hard people.
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It's all about $ for sure: you can bet the 'outcomes' will involve 'saving the taxpayer money' not saving people's lives.
And there's another assumption which unpacks as nasty - that we (collectively as a society) could provide much better services to the vulnerable, but we won't unless there's dollar in it. -
Hard News: Campbell interviewed, in reply to Stephen Judd,
good management is a thing,
Yes. In most cases I reckon good management involves as many people as possible in decision-making. Good managers know the limits of their own knowledge; know when to delegate; can balance organisation and creative chaos; and don't cling to authority as if it were their mortal soul.
Managers can be a strong force for good - or evil :) -
Hard News: Campbell interviewed, in reply to Bart Janssen,
my own profession is owned and run by white male managers who neither understand nor care about what is done “at the coalface”.
Education is in the same boat. So is health. The idea that health professionals and educators should have a role in managing health and education seems almost quaint now.
That's why we're all so cynical about 'measurable outcomes'. We expect managers to be able to count. Heck, most of us can count ourselves. Making decisions about quality is never that simple. Yet the managers get the big money for counting - and the hard-to-define-but-you-know-it-when-you-see-it goodness or greatness of things shuffles quietly off into the corner.
And it makes some of us furious! -
I hope someone saved that interview somewhere. One day it will simply disappear. (Didn't play for a couple of minutes, but still there now ...)