Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: History is now

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  • mark taslov,

    if you didn't find what i wrote coherent Giovanni, if you couldn't understand it giovanni, then what was it that prompted you to tell me it was wank?

    surely if you don't get it you jsut leave well alone

    i'll give you another shot though, because admittedly it may a bit of a stretch:

    "i do feel concern that there seems to be more celebration in NZ over the US voting in a black president than there ever was in NZ electing a female prime minister.

    not forgetting that for days there has been an ad to the right of these boards reminding us that all politicians are liars

    furthermore considering the closest 'darky' to reaching the top position in NZ has just been more or less politically castrated for doing little more than accept donations

    in light of the fact that obama's victory was inextricably inked by a victory of donations and capital raised.

    knowing full well that when a maori finally attains the coveted NZ captaincy there won't be half the hyperbole. (which does highlight something positive about our nature)

    and no disrespect to to Obama; he has great teeth and and has said the right words. I'm just left with kind of in awe of how successful the wires and wirelesses have been in turning the droves into US drones.like a giant Truman show.

    just days out from a NZ election where neither of the major parties has suggested anything more than fresh ways to tread water.

    congratulations to the Obama campaign,

    4 more years of totalitarianism there
    and NZ is about to start its next 3 year tour of duty
    with scant choice between two 20th century monoliths
    most distinguished by the frequency of the light bouncing off the representatives respective neckties and flare;

    made all the more worrying by R.B's lack of a post today just hours out, to remind us that yes, yesterday was history but Saturday could also be, albeit not on the grand scale of the greatest sporting extravaganza on earth, just witnessed. but

    most relevant."

    I'd argue nothing a 6th form english student couldn't get the basic gist of.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    no really Joe, cursèd earth? says it all

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Ben McNicoll,

    I'd argue nothing a 6th form english student couldn't get the basic gist of.

    I'd hope the 6th form English student could do a better job of editing and proofing it.

    Seriously, dude.

    Punctuation makes things readable. And lack of it changes meaning.

    Grey Lynn • Since May 2007 • 115 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Punctuation makes things readable. And lack of it changes meaning.

    ibis redibis non morieris in bello

    just saying...

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    How about the Palin bet, then, Craig. Are we on? This is your last out.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    I didn't know ben, I'm sorry. I try to put the full stops where they should go. sometimes i'm not sure about the commas, i rarely have time for capitals. is it really hard to read without the capitals?

    sometimes instead of a full stop i just leave a space


    but as a first language speaker, i've seen worse on the internet, and never had a problem reading anything except that textspeak, sure sometimes commas could help a bit, but i find a comma in the wrong place can be more misleading than no comma.

    but ok. i'll try to make more effort with my punctuation in future.

    Joe Wylie I'm not claiming any kind of political expertize,that's no master deduction there..I don't feel I'm the only one that posts here that doesn't possess more than a novice's understanding of politics.

    However regarding the bulk of your correspondence with me today, to clarify. I have no racial prejudice, and hope you will refrain from implying so. At least for accuracy's sake,

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    OK, this thread is now totally ridiculous and I'm a shrew (I'm apparently 'benignly' insulted, though, so I suppose I should count myself lucky), and you know what? I don't care, because I just saw a clip of Maya Angelou reciting 'I Rise' on the CBS Early Show this morning, and I saw Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart try to hold back tears last night on the Daily Show election special, and this morning I saw a photo of a young African-American man joyously yelling 'my president is black! my president is black!' wearing an Obama/Aladdin Sane t-shirt in Chicago last night, and I still think this is fucking awesome. Even if it's all shittiness and compromise and horrible disillusionment after this, I'm going to remember these few days.

    Just call me Pollyanna Hippy McGee and be done with it.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    nah, you're right to be over the moon. it was a monumental day.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    actually, it makes me think of the shot i had as my wallpaper for a few weeks. it was aboriginal guy leaping for joy when rudd said sorry.

    we all need our leaders to represent us. it's what democracy is all about.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I just saw a clip of Maya Angelou reciting 'I Rise' on the CBS Early Show this morning

    Fantastic. And thank you for restoring sanity (or is it the insanity of happiness?) to the thread.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Blake Monkley,

    Auckland • Since Jul 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    nah, you're right to be over the moon. it was a monumental day.

    agreed

    Sorry if i caused any offense Danielle, I'm sure shrew wasn't the worst thing you've ever been called, and again i should clarify it's a bit of a delayed reaction to the 'baby making machines'. enjoy your evening.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov,

    but Giovanni.....I will never recover from 'wank'; D

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    We're only on this thread because there's a lot to talk about and Russell hasn't started a new one.

    Mark injected some life in with the worlds mildest troll, and was a bit shocked that a generally jubilant chorus had found their first victim. Or faux shocked I think.

    Personally I'm jubilant but that's tempered by the generally right wing company I keep. Had my first meeting today with a 'middle NZer' who desperately wants to get rid of Labour/Green. Not for any reason that wasn't totally disputable, of course, but it says a lot about the way things are going. And many of my colleagues are Utah mormons who seemed determined yesterday to ignore the news except to rag on the likely outcome.

    Saturday is shaping up to be a bumout. A surreal one when I consider that about 5 years ago I was totally happy with the way NZ was going and very bitter about international prospects. It's been that way my whole life. I think NZ is 'out of phase' with the rest of the world. One of the main things this middle NZer liked was the '3 strikes and you're out' thing, but I can't help but see it's only purpose is for toadying up to Bush Administration, which will be gone around the time our own parliament comes back from holiday.

    Of course Wall Street is still up shit creek, because electing Obama isn't going to lift declining profits, or bail out bad debt or any of the other crappy things that will happen over the next couple of months or more to keep depressing markets.

    Still, over the long term, it's a damned good thing, and that'll keep me happy until Saturday night.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Andrew E,

    At the risk of seeming hypocritical by posting in this thread...

    I don't have to be an election junkie any more

    174.77 x 41.28 • Since Sep 2008 • 200 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    He is however the first 1/2BPOTUS.

    Jefferson had black kids ... does that count?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Bloody hell! I pop off to Welly for lunch with some spin doctors (more of which later) and it all goes funny ...

    Did it start here?

    @Mark

    well mixing it up would have been a little more interesting, very little written here this year about Ralph Nadar. understandably... I don't know, i just find it hard to read things that are so one sided. Sure it's a leftwing site, and i piss in that direction, but that doesn't leave much space for unchummy discourse.. hence the malcontent aired today at the mildest issuance of disloyalty to the site protocol.

    Well friggin' make some sort of argument instead of being all passive-aggressive and snotty about everyone else here. You'll find people will happily engage you if you do them the credit of advancing a proposition.

    Let me start there: Nader calling Obama an "Uncle Tom" yesterday was a pathetic act that suggests nothing so much as that Nader should just retire from public life before he further embarrasses himself. It was an extraordinary act of arrogance from a man who is 30 years past his use-by date.

    So ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    I'm sure shrew wasn't the worst thing you've ever been called

    Well, what a charming apology that isn't!

    When I get drunk (as I am now, in fact), I'm very amorous and sentimental.

    At least I assume Mr Taslov is drunk - that is the most charitable interpretation I can put on his... almost Dadaist ramblings. "Zang tumb tumb" anyone? A game of Exquisite Corpse perhaps or maybe a Burroughsean cut-up?

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Hi just popping in while cooking prawn mala bari, but don't want to read 15 pages really and then I saw a black thing goin' on (albeit @ 5 so want to add only cos my man is white english and I am irish spenglish but please, it is different to be black and no kudos , it just is easier to understand when you grow up being that way(I discover this in many conversations with my man) ,no matter what one may think

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Hosking,

    South Roseneath • Since Nov 2006 • 830 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Nader calling Obama an "Uncle Tom" yesterday was a pathetic act that suggests nothing so much as that Nader should just retire from public life before he further embarrasses himself. It was an extraordinary act of arrogance from a man who is 30 years past his use-by date.

    Khrist, he really said that? While I haven't paid much attention to his doings in decades, He was someone I used to respect.

    Mark injected some life in with the worlds mildest troll . . .

    Oh come on, racist intent is pretty vile even when it's presented in such a garbled fashion.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    This is what happens: you go away for a couple of days and the messages accumulate in your absence (949 postings!!). I don't suppose anyone wants to provide a precis of this particular thread?

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    This is what happens: you go away for a couple of days and the messages accumulate in your absence (949 postings!!). I don't suppose anyone wants to provide a precis of this particular thread?

    Lessee... It would appear that America elected its first black president. There were pictures of Kenyans rejoicing, in spite of the fact they've been electing black presidents for a number of years. The general mood here was: happy, elated, a little teary even. Then tipsy. Then we went to sleep. Today was wet blanket day: first James Bremer, than His Incoherence from the Chinese PAS contingent; then I had to tear a new one to Denis Welch. Then Danielle came and restored sanity and happiness.

    Am I forgetting something?

    A post-election post from Jolisa would be very sweet.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I come from what used to be called 'a Labour Party family.'
    None of us have (as far as I know) ever been Labour Party members- but we vote Labour (well, none of us ever ask each other about that, it's jusr assumed from our attitudes et al...)
    My conservative acting father - before he died at age 42- was president of the local Working Man's Club (in New Brighton, Christchurch) annnd - president of the local Buisnessman's Association
    (ditto.) The only early political activity I can ever remember was helping much old people stuff envelopes for Jock Msthieson-

    my father was born here, but his folk came from England.

    My family is Kai Tahu, and we hold to a several-generations-back agreement with Ratana - we vote Labour. This year I'll vote the (fairly-useless )Okeroa and tick the Greens. I hope that two-way comes in.

    There's no way in hell I'd vote Maori Party - almost totally North Island dominated, and riddled with people who have agendas that have almost nothing to do with the South-

    may we still be rejoicing about political futures late Saturday -

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Also we may be feeling a whole lot less jubilant on Saturday.

    Lalalalalalala I can't hear you.

    Are you, like me, Danielle, spending alot of time recently with your head in the sand? It's quite comfortable I must say. I'm rather enjoying it, until I have to go to the loo, when reality hits and Paul Henry crows about some poll or other that shows how NZers just can't resist change for change's sake. But it's okay, because then I toddle back to my wee space and bury my head again. Fantastic.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

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