Posts by Richard Llewellyn
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Without knowing much about this specific case its clear immigration is an incredibly tough issue to draw a clear line through. I'm extremely mindful, as Che pointed out, how Howard was able to manipulate perceived 'abuse' of the immigration 'process' during the Tampa to influence public opinion for electoral gain. But as others have pointed out, sometimes the official exit and entry 'process' just isn't a realistic option for those living elsewhere.
What I am mindful of is New Zealand's (at least relative to many other countries) proud record of immigration on human rights grounds.
Mum, a life-long teacher, cited as one of her proudest career moments when a few years ago she, now retired from teaching, had a knock on her door and opened it to find standing there one of the Somalian refugees she taught as a primary school-aged new immigrant years ago. He is now a doctor, and he was slowly but surely working his way through the people who had helped him start a new life here in New Zealand, personally thanking them. She was both chuffed and touched in equal measure.
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Mike Moore ..... sorry, still can't get past the Lamb-burgers.
Good luck with the anti-family violence campaign - for a public awareness campaign to be considered too successful (a'la the JK depression ads) in terms of stimulating demand is, I think, both fantastic (effectiveness) and faintly depressing (that the demand is there and that services can't cope).
As for strange music covers, I quite like these 'celebrity' Pixies covers in particular the Bob Marley one
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Nah, Al H (Hammy, Hamster, Rampton, Bundy) from Sydney
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And most always, they lead to new beginnings of some sort
Agree with that - when one of my closest friends died of cancer a few years back we were all on tenderhooks waiting for the 'call-up' to go and see him in the hospice to bid our farewells and make our peace.
When I got the call, our second daughter had just been born, so we took her with us, and its a lasting memory of Al smiling as he - eyes closed, shrunken, skin all waxy and colour of nicotine - woke up from a morphine slumber to say that he could hear Lily's breathing and asking that she be brought closer.
We all sat on the bed, and seeing a newborn sitting with a dying man was classic - and emotional - cycle of life ends and beginnings stuff. Still brings a lump to my throat thinking about it.
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Lovely - and have to admit, much to my horror, I miss IKEA.
Definately not the parking experience, but the inability to stroll through without buying a whole bunch of stuff that we really don't need,and the great shopping for kids rooms, and the 'ball-room' that the kids are happy to spend hours in while we shuffle around poking and prodding the kit-set furniture (on that note, how come IKEA doesn't do online shopping?)
When the Auckland store opens I'll be there, despite myself.
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As for naming three - well you know the gallery is a bastion of the abstemious lifestyle :-)
Heh - well, I know one pretty well, and you are absolutely right Felix, the words 'abstemious' and 'bastion' positively flew into mind :)
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There was a very loaded poll on one newspaper web site which asked whether Rudd's strip club visit was "in the national interest". An incredibly loaded queston.
At time of writing, over 50% said yes it was.
Heh - gotta love that larrikin humour, eh? Every time I go and see a friend who lives in Melbourne I pass by the Harold Holt Public Swimming Pool on the way - gets me every time :)
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and an arrogant wanker with very much the white man's burden on his ample shoulders
Heh - the Scottish phrase I liked was (used in reference to a similarly dislikable twerp - Rob Andrew) "He's got a face like a smacked arse".
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During the Air NZ v Ansett battle a few letters to the editor praised Ansett and they got a bit of deserved mileage from it.
I was living in Australia at the time, and the media view there was interesting on the Ansett sale/Air NZ collapse.
While there was a predominant Australian commentatariat view that seemed to enjoy Air NZ's death spiral and liked to paint it as a simple case of kiwi hubris and biting off more than they could chew, there was a credible counter view that Air NZ were guilty of no more than naivety, and the real culprits were Ansett (never saw a different airplane they didn't buy) with their hidden staff and maintenance costs, News Limited, who won big at the negotiation table with Air NZ, and most damagingly, the Keating Governments Ministry for Qantas protection racket, who, when welching on a deal to let Air NZ into Australian domestic competition, pushed Air NZ into an ill-suited romance with Ansett.
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Well, even though I'm a fairly rusted on lefty, I'm largely with Craig on this one, ham-fisted overreaction from Labour to what should have been a relatively politics free commercial non-issue.
That said, on principle I just can't stand being lectured to by that red-cheeked pompous smirker Lord Downer of Baghdad (the man who once saw fit to lecture Nelson Mandela on human rights issues and saw nary a glimpse of irony in his actions).
And while John Key and Kevin Rudd are at it, I have to confess I went to a bar in Patpong Road once, but thankfully I can't remember anything about it.