Posts by Alfie
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
An OIA request following by a complaint to the Ombudsman by NoRightTurn has forced the PM's hand. He's finally agreed to release texts (or is that text singular?) between Glucina to himself at the time she used her Herald column to further victimise the waitress in the ponytail affair.
The Herald story does refer to "a text message" from Glucina. Or could that be just a sneaky method to get around the pesky problem of the Ombudsman?
-
Slater Junior fined $1,500 for contempt and ordered to pay $6,600 costs to Matthew Blomfield.
LPrent over at The Standard offers an analysis.
-
Christchurch radio station RDU has banned Max Key's single via a press release on their Facebook page.
"This is an Anti-TPPA zone (Tune's Piss Poor Aye) and anyone caught playing the single will be pulled out of the studio by the ponytail and their show will be cancelled."
"We have the upmost respect for real musicians and artists," responded the station. "However, having suffered through listening to this song we can guarantee this does not meet the RDU standard."
-
Another day and more pro-change propaganda appears on Stuff. They tell us that lots of famous kiwis all want a change of flag, and nobody… not even one token person… wants to keep the current flag.
While Stuff doesn’t have the "with assistance from the flag committee" disclaimer on this piece, one would have to assume from the lack of balance in the story that it’s indeed an ongoing paid promotion.
To me the biggest losers in this game are Fairfax. Any major news organisation prepared to sell its integrity so easily risks undermining its reputation as a credible news source.
-
The Herald’s not the only media group extracting taxpayer money to promote Key’s choice of flag. Now Stuff has got in on the act as well with a story pretending that kiwis are finally engaging with the deeply flawed process. The caption on the video provides the first clue.
We’ve worked with the Flag Consideration Project to see what the flag, both current and proposed looks like in everyday New Zealand
And the opening line aptly flags the ‘editorial’ attitude which follows.
With less than a month to go, it appears Kiwis are finally taking the flag debate seriously.
No shit, Sherlock? It's funny that all the polls show the opposite, but whatever. Right at the very bottom of the story there’s this little disclaimer.
Produced with the support of the New Zealand Flag Consideration Panel
“Support” indeed! How much did taxpayers contribute towards this pseudo-journalistic nonsense? Over at the Herald Brian Rudman takes a more realistic view of the process in Alternative flag selection a fiasco.
Leaving the design of our possible new national emblem to such an anti-intellectual process was odd. Government departments and private companies all spend a fortune on design consultants for new logos and branding.
Instead, the Government threw it open to the mob, leaving the short-listing to a Noah’s Ark crew of amateurs whose only point of similarity was their absence of design expertise. Little wonder the result is an underdog. One which, hopefully, will soon be put down.
Amen!
-
Hard News: Helen Kelly's letter, in reply to Craig Young,
Where are NORML and the ALCP during this tragic situation?
I asked the same question during the Alex Renton debate. If neither group has the awareness to even write a press release on these issues, which surely fit both of their remits, then there's little point in them existing.
The common link between both groups these days is their noticeable absense from any important debate. Their inaction gives stoners a bad name.
-
Hard News: Helen Kelly's letter, in reply to Russell Brown,
They also say they found no evidence to challenge the view that Sativex is “desirable and divertible”. Which is odd.
Indeed. In fact this line (page 36) suggests that the Ministry adheres to the goverment's documented philosophical objection rather than any evidence-based criteria.
Sativex is considered to be a desirable and divertable pharmaeutical due the the inherent nature of its active substances.
Considered.. by whom? Wayne Eagleson perhaps? Or Mike Sabin in a previous life? The OIA document does not make this clear and provides no references to back up this assertion. In fact the manufacturer's own information completely contradicts this view.
There is no evidence to suggest that Sativex® produces a ‘high’ comparable to recreational cannabis.
I've said this before but it's worth repeating. No recreational cannabis user is going to pay $1,000 a month for a 2% THC product when the raw product is considerably cheaper (per dose) and several times more effective.
People who have never used cannabis might find that reality difficult to grasp. But seriously, the only people who need access to medicinal cannabis are sick and/or dying. And they deserve a good deal more compassion than our state currently provides.
-
Polity: TPP, eh?, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Mr Key said...it was from a small group of individuals..
The Herald has a video online which gives the impression that the group of individuals may have been a little larger than Key suggests.
-
Polity: TPP, eh?, in reply to Steve Barnes,
John Key booed off stage at Big Gay Out
And he was glitterbombed at the event. But I doubt the message is getting through to him.
-
Julie Christie reacted to NZOA's rejection of Mediawork's proposed $10m Trinity Point daily soap as an attack on her integrity.
Do I hear cries of "Don't you know who I am?" in the background?