Posts by mark taslov
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Hard News: Five further thoughts, in reply to Joe Wylie,
With that tendency in mind; had we the nouse of the Tazzies, we could have built an empire.
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Speaker: Why we should not dismiss…, in reply to HORansome,
Excerpt from the Forward to Nicky Hagar’s Secret Power,1996:
There are also many things with which I am familiar. I couldn’t tell him which was which. Nor can I tell you. But it is an outrage that I and other ministers were told so little, and this raises the question of to whom those concerned saw themselves ultimately answerable. It also raises the question as to why we persist with the old order of things. New Zealand doesn’t have much in common with Major’s Britain and probably less with Blair’s Britain. Are we philosophically in tune with Clinton’s USA? Is he?
Does all of that prejudice our new orientation to Asia? There will be two responses to this book. One will be to take the easy course of dumping on Hager. He is quite small and can easily be dumped on. The other will be to challenge the existing assumptions and to have a rational debate on security and intelligence. I have always enjoyed taking the easier course but we may have been the poorer for it.
David Lange
Prime Minister of New Zealand 1984–89 -
Hard News: Five further thoughts, in reply to Joe Wylie,
but no Kalashnikovs. Guns for butter would have been a step too far,
Could that also have been a reluctance to flood an already saturated market?:
This fully functional AK is one of a small number brought back to NZ by the NZ Army.Solid steel lower receiver with 1966 manufacture date & chinese markings NZ OHMS Number 25 on butt.
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All the specific examples given are fairly negative ones.
A few more, not limited to ‘theories’ and with a little bit of overlap both here and there, but some successes, some mixed bags, some ongoing, some quickly digestible, some commentery. From that first link:
One of the more surprising revelations was that the KGB was actively involved in an extensive campaign to spread misinformation about the Kennedy assassination and undermine the U.S. government. In short, there was a KGB-led Kennedy conspiracy… to spread conspiracy theories!
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Chris Holah and her husband both went way above and beyond the call of duty helping us sort the situation
I’m glad to hear this, as with any job, human error will be a factor. I guess my point is that it’s not in our democratic interests to absolve MFAT or any department of criticism based on our limited exposure. In fact it is often the case that criticism of a larger body such as an institution, department etc may facilitate change that enables individuals to be more productive.
This is a matter of public of interest:
Officials took it upon themselves to act contrary to our Government’s wishes and did so without advising ministry boss John Allen.
The only other accountable individuals being name checked are:
The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murray McCully told us at the time that our Government had been strenuous in asking the Malaysian Government to waive immunity.
That the conclusion includes one of the few non-ironic MSM references to #Dirty Politics for quite some time, is a bonus.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
Meanwhile David Parker's letter gathers grease stains and dust, democracy checks her watch.
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Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Except that my experience of MFAT is the complete opposite of what Rodney Hide describes. In my experience they are superb, highly professional, highly competent. I’m still surprised at how badly they apparently screwed up in this case.
They’re ok, I’d be prepared to give them B, I give them a loss of marks for making we wait 3 days before acquiescing to accept cash for a new passport at the HongKong consulate (2012).
Further marks lost in Beijing (2008); fully informed of a deadline the PSB had given me to replace a lost passport, Attache Christine Holah had promised me a 10 day turnaround on a replacement. On late delivery of the passport she appended it with a letter in which the acknowledgment of MFAT’s own liability was insufficient. At the end of the day, and it really was the end of the day, not long before closing, just as the minute hand had crossed twilight, I got yelled at by a PSB officer, a stamp was added to my blemish free Chinese record, and I walked away with a receipt or warning. It could have been worse but.
However every other interaction I’ve had with them has likewise been superb, with a notable mentions to Rebecca Needham and the staff at the New Zealand Consul-General, Guangzhou and Chase Williams at the New Zealand Embassy Beijing.
In Rodney’s article, I took the MFAT aspect as more of a preamble to criticism of the Ministers themselves.
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The dragon opens an eye; a most unexpected contender. Well done sir.
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Gareth Morgan explains my point incredibly well. It’s maths fuckers, do the maths.
I particularly liked this:
We might also see people and businesses relocating to other regions in search of a better lifestyle. Now that would be a revolution!
Something that actually could begin to address poverty levels nationwide.
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Speaker: An Open Letter To David Cunliffe, in reply to Jack Harrison,
We need skyrise apartments
Yep, and hopefully catering well to the variety of needs, from experience, at least in terms of inner inner city, 45m2 is more than sufficient for a single individual, 60m2 comfortably accommodates a couple and 90m2 is more than enough for a 3 person family etc. As long as there are good amenities, i.e. a park nearby to stretch the legs and remember the green…If that doesn’t sound like someone’s cup o’ tea, there’s always Opotiki.
at nice prices and government help in all inner city suburbs. Auckland City. The New York of the pacific.
It's important not to neglect that in flourishing mega-cities like New York real-estate appreciates, that's all it does, at least until we see something like happened in Detroit.