Posts by Chris Waugh
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Rob Stowell,
Be careful.
I know. I'm watching this most nervously. Unfortunately I won't be back in time to reclaim my right to vote*, so I'm relying on you lot to help keep that threat at bay.
*Well, yes, I could, but that wouldn't be fair on my family, boss or students.
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Matthew Poole,
that Labour are doing their damnedest to not win this election, and succeeding admirably.
A bit harsh, don't you think? There have been some quite interesting policy announcements, and the aggression shown in fighting this non-scandal has been a welcome breath of fresh air.
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Speaker: The problem of “horror tenants”…, in reply to Moz,
First, a language issue
Well, my instinct was to write "horror landlord", but the title of the original post had "horror houses" on the landlord side of the ledger, and what Matthew said, it's not like he actually set out to hurt anyone. There are different kinds of negligence, and although this example had a particularly horrific outcome, we have no evidence to suggest it was wilful or deliberate.
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Electioneering?
Well, it's got a name on it, but I thought an address was also necessary.
But:
Roughan writes that Mr Key's frustration began with the "Teagate" saga surrounding the taping of his conversation with Act candidate John Banks at a Newmarket cafe during the 2011 election campaign.
For the first time, the Prime Minister let a trivial incident gnaw away at him for months.
Oh, the poor dear. (funny how such powerful people feel so put upon by such powerless people)
but was overwhelmed by side issues which seemed to take on a life of their own - be it Kim Dotcom's $50,000 donation to Mr Banks, extra pokies at SkyCity, the Novopay mess or the backdown on increasing class sizes.
Yeah, cos political corruption, the destruction wrought by gambling addiction, paying teachers and our kids' education* are just minor things. Not at all important.
As for the firing of ministers: There were those named fired for nothing, and yet there's one unnamed unfired despite there being plenty of something to raise serious questions about her place in cabinet. Buy, hey, priorities, people.
*might I emphasise: the number one reason we're leaving China next Chinese New Year.
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
- it’s here at last!
Hagiography, already. A bit early, isn't it? When will the first reports of miracles appear? Wait, is that an image of John Key's smiley mug I see in the smog smothering this city?
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Horror house, and the landlord gets 6 months home detention.
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
A rowing club being a club for having rows and arguments?
One of those classic loony lefty things? Hawkes Bay Rowing Club vs. Rowing Club of Hawkes Bay?
Tangential to a tangent off a tangent, but it's gifts originating in China finding their way to the South Pacific: Xinhua's Anhui branch has a partial translation* of this Washington Post article on the diplomatic stoush between NZ and Tonga over that plane China donated to Tonga. Might be worth a look for those better equipped than myself to discuss international relations and China's moves in the Pacific.
*shhh! Don't tell John Key, but his quote was not considered important enough for the people of Anhui. Also missing is anything about less than harmonious relations between imported Chinese workers and the locals, the old chequebook diplomacy rivalry between the Mainland and Taiwan, and questions over the effect of all that debt on Tonga.... But all way off topic, sorry.
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Speaker: Kultur in the heat, in reply to Graham Reid,
In the above piece I mentioned the city of “Kunming”
Funny, I could've sworn you wrote Kuching in the original post. Years of teaching writing mean I'm normally incapable of reading anything without picking out all the errors. Perhaps you and Jameson were subconsciously wishing you could be enjoying the more humane climate Kunming's 1800-odd metres of altitude bless it with?
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
I get pretty much everyone else around here is willing to extend Labour the benefit of the doubt, and write Liu off as a pathological liar.
No, I'm just finding the evidence of Labour or any Labour MPs up to no good with Donghua Liu that has been presented so far is underwhelming and rather flimsy. It certainly doesn't deserve the fulmination and frothing at the mouth that has been going on in some quarters. Compare that with the very solid evidence against certain National MPs, one of whom has suffered no consequences more severe than being told to stay clear of Twitter, and you can't blame me for suspecting there are some other, hidden motives behind all this.
I’m just saying we should have to take “just trust me now, and move along” from anyone.
I think you may be missing a negative in that sentence. But whatever, I agree. Those trying to prove Labour has been up to no good should at least make some effort to put forward something resembling solid evidence to back up their claims. And ideally all political parties would come as clean as they possibly can about who's been giving them what and how much.
I'm still puzzled as to why nobody has gone after Damian O'Connor, who was, after all, the Labour minister who granted Donghua Liu residency...
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Hard News: The Letter, in reply to Sacha,
Hmm. 100k Yuan is about the right amount in NZ Dollars..
Also, 10,000 is the point at which translating numbers between Chinese and English gets tricky. As in 100 thousand in English is 10 ten thousands (十万 (shí wàn)) in Chinese; 15 thousand in English is 1 ten thousand 5 thousand （一万五（千）(yī wàn wǔ (qián)) in Chinese. Still, the quality of the English in the quotes attributed to Donghua Liu suggest that either his English is too good for him to be making these mistakes or that there's a good translator/interpreter involved. Also, if he's such a shit hot businessman, why would he go confusing the currencies?