Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The sole party of government

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  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Marianne Elliott,

    Tomorrow morning we’ll be organising and doing what needs to be done to become both a gathering and rallying point for the many progressive NZers who want to come together and take meaningful action to hold the government to account – and you can bet education will be on the agenda.

    Go Marianne. Was with you all the way on what you've done so far and will be there in future! And I'll donate more - after all, National aren't taking it from me in tax and I've got absolutely no problems paying the bills and the kids don't want any of my money when I die either. But, they do want their children to grow up in a decent society - like they did.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    To be clear about my response, I meant to say that my initial examples, Beijing's theme parks, are “pretty shit”, not the historical sites obviously, especially not the Summer Palace.

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

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    What, exactly, can the Privileges Committee do to MPs who misbehaved in a previous term?

    It brings the matters it takes to the court of public opinion - and out from under the propaganda of 'left-wing conspiracy'.

    If you want to get (even more) sick to your stomach about how National handled this whole campaign - read this and spot the similarities;

    http://www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/mkv1ch06.html

    Most important quotes follow:

    " The receptivity of the great masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, but their power of forgetting is enormous. In consequence of these facts, all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points and must harp on these in slogans until the last member of the public understands what you want him to understand by your slogan. As soon as you sacrifice this slogan and try to be many-sided, the effect will piddle away, for the crowd can neither digest nor retain the material offered. In this way the result is weakened and in the end entirely cancelled out...

    But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success."

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Amanda Wreckonwith, in reply to mark taslov,

    shit in rivers and methane it is then!

    We can sort the rivers but the methane will still be an issue. We can't ignore that either.
    I never said it would be easy...

    Since Sep 2012 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to JonathanM,

    Large swing against Nats in Christchurch East, Helensville, Rimutaka, but the benefit isn’t Labour.

    Wow - really interesting, thanks!

    Hellensville swing very interesting. He was totally bored during the debate there. Said a lot. He's not an MP in the constituency sense. And PMs can be - e.g., David Lange.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    Perhaps if Fonterra hadn’t ballsed up their supply chain by messing with their organic milk contracts they wouldn’t be struggling.

    You are probably on the money there : having organic supply was only ever a PR/damage limitation thing for Fonterra - a way of shutting up a small and vocal minority of suppliers who wanted to raise their game.
    No place for that sort of thing in a co-operative, right?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    At the risk of rattling Farmer Green’s cage

    Tourism is recreational pollution in my book.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Farmer Green. Just give us some insite into the side of the economy you have eyes on. What do we do with milk?

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Amanda Wreckonwith, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Tourism is recreational pollution in my book.

    But what type of pollution do you think it causes? Greenhouse gasses? or are you thinking of another type of pollution?

    Since Sep 2012 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    But, ok, Deborah’s job is basically to talk to Labour and likely Labour voters in her seat,

    That's true. Labour's policies were in no way attractive to me, but I obviously wasn't alone in that. And national's policies leave plenty to be desired.
    But there is nothing wrong with giving your electorate vote to someone to whom you can relate.
    If you never meet the candidate then you may be more likely to vote along party lines for both of your votes.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    Nothing is easy….


    Mr Green, Chris asked how to make more money, there aren’t many industries to choose from so that’s a suggestion, we’ll just put that aside, down here on the rug beside the the slippers.

    I do worry how easy it is for top tax bracket earners to dismiss ideas on environmental or ethical grounds when NZ is literally swimming in shit and up to 48b debt for the trouble, and while children are living in poverty. Ideally everyone would be engaged in environmentally sustainable farming like you Green but where’s their land to work? Where’s their education? What are people actually going to do? All those beggars in Wellington, how are they going to be brought back into New Zealand?

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

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    You are a Labour voter Farmer Green, we're going to change you and make you rich.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    What do we do with milk?

    Currently we burn vast amounts of coal to co-generate steam and electricity so that we can take all the water out of a large proportion of the milk ,thus turning it into a low -value commodity, which we then try to sell to poorer countries where clean fresh water is in increasingly short supply.
    Why do you ask?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    Winston Peters has said, very loudly and very clearly, that he can’t think of any job he’d like less than being Speaker. I don’t know why people keep suggesting it.

    Because they don't want him in the opposition.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Katharine Moody,

    It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success

    Thanks for that Katharine, so so true.

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

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to JonathanM,

    In case folk are interested, the party vote swing is available here:party vote swingLarge swing against Nats in Christchurch East, Helensville, Rimutaka, but the benefit isn’t Labour.I’ll see if I can pull out the candidate data and do a similar thing sometime this week.

    Wow - great stuff, thanks!

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    Yeah, apathy won on the day.

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

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    You are a Labour voter Farmer Green, we’re going to change you and make you rich.

    Good one Jack :-) But don't worry about making me rich ; I don't go to town much. And I love recycling things ; it gets to be a bit of a bone of contention at times.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    Can I suggest this would be way, way more informative as a side-by-side bar chart? Humans are awful at visually guessing angles and areas, but very good at relative heights, and you wouldn’t need 2 charts.

    ETA: Oh, and pretty please! This is good stuff...but pie charts are really quite poor at conveying the desired information. Their usefulness probably ends in primary school when teaching simple fractions.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Katharine Moody,

    Because they don’t want him in the opposition.

    And because he would make fewer speeches.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh,

    What's this I see in the Port of Tauranga? Raw logs? Awaiting export? I'm hardly the first person to ask why we aren't adding a bit more value first.

    Also, it would seem to me that there's a lot more to the NZ economy than primary production, tourism and export education. Oh, and the occasional Hollywood blockbuster. New Zealand builds planes, don't you know, and I seem to remember them doing a deal with a Beijing company earlier this year, but my Google fu is deserting me, can't find a relevant link. Anyway, the point is there's plenty more going on in NZ than churning out milk powder, raw logs, graduates to fill international plane seats, and Hollywood films. Yes, there is a bit of media coverage of the rest of NZ's industries, especially the few who make it big, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the same level of support that those big few get.

    It also seems to me [takes a deep breath before shooting in the direction of his own economic foot] that NZ has failed to learn from history and is still a bit too good at relying on only one market.

    Diversify, people! And let's try and persuade the government to join in. After all, we're stuck with them for the next three years (most likely).

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Shaun Lott, in reply to Euan Mason,

    To be replaced by whom?

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to mark taslov,

    Jeez Mark, there's only so much one guy can do :-)

    " where’s their land to work? Where’s their education? What are people actually going to do? All those beggars in Wellington, how are they going to be brought back into New Zealand?"

    You seriously want me to have a go at that lot now?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    Amazing. Low voter turnout (apathy) is a very big worry in academic circles/literature that I've been associated with. Just goes to show how many adults of voting age are disenfranchised, and of course they are raising children who will be similarly disengaged and disenfranchised.

    Media sensationalism is a real problem. Take for example the angle The Nation took on the IMP cannabis proposals - totally negative, attack-type reporting - looking only for something to embarrass with... virtually ignoring the serious issue that drug use/abuse is - only hoping to "score" a headline about a division of opinion within the party. See his discussion on Pundit of it here;

    http://pundit.co.nz/content/ideas-ethics-drugs-why-you-need-to-keep-asking

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Farmer Green,

    How do we use our primary goods sector efficiently, profits, jobs, new exports.?

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

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