Posts by Craig Ranapia
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to martinb,
Wow, that's quite a casual slander there. Are we still on PAS?
Oh, bless. You know something, Martin, you might want to check out the racist, immigrant-bashing swill I linked to in my post today. Here's all one of Winston's little hench-things had to say:
Anne Martin, the Warkworth Grey Power president and NZ First Party secretary, says issues around immigration are often thought about but rarely discussed.
"Nobody comes out and says anything because they're scared of being labelled racist," she says.
"What's racist about asking for people's opinion? We skirt around these things because it's politically correct."
When it comes to casual slanders we should be expending righteous indignation on, I know where my focus is - on a party that still regards xenophobia and flat out anti-Asian racism as tolerable. How about you?
-
I’ve been doing the odd phone-in commentary for Radio Live, and they asked me if I’d be available on election night. That won’t be happening now. This should not be seen as any reflection on the people I’ve dealt with at the station, who have been pleasant and professional. But being on the same frequency as that sick little man just seems a bit too close for comfort at the moment.
Yup - and you're too modest to say this, but we had a few *cough* lively conversations about taste and tone in my pieces for Public Address Radio. Took a very dim view of the media, but if I'd ever thought about pulling shit like that 1) it would never have gone to air and 2) I'm fairly confident I'd have been sacked.
Radio Live should be thankful you kept me on the leash where Messers Laws and Henry were concerned.
-
<i>Also recommended viewing for Mr Dunlop is Chinks, Coconuts and Currymunchers. Mind you, model minoritarians aren’t much better either.</q>
Or a double bill of Rosanne Liang's Banana in A Nutshell and My Wedding and Other Secrets (the local rom-com this year that didn't suck a duck). This is someone who's actually had to think about - and live - what "intergration" really means, and has done so with more grace and insight in two films than Grey Power have managed in their worthless collective existence.
And where do old-genners like myself fit into his world view?
Simple answer: You don't. Neither does Dunedin mayor Peter Chin, whose family was here before my Irish ancestors stumbled off the boat and threw up.
-
Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Sacha,
I had a mental picture of Mallard standing just outside the studio with a taser in one hand, and cue cards in the other. "It says 'asset sales' in every sentence. It does this when it's told, or else it gets the hose again. Doesn't it, Precious? Yess it does!"
-
Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Russell Brown,
In comparison with either of them, the Greens seem an absolute model of stability.
Quite – and really if I was forced to choose who to ask to hold a pinless hand grenade, I’d pick Turei and Norman in a heart murmur. Peters and Harawira would throw it in a school bus out of force of habit.
But when it comes to stability, I know a couple of people who used to be quite involved in New Zealand First. Not a particularly healthy place for anyone who dares to disagree with Winston on anything, which may explain why the only person who isn’t a complete blank slate on the upper reaches of the NZ First list is Andy Williams. YMMV on whether ignorance is bliss where Piddles The Clown is concerned. :)
-
Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Sacha,
Again I want any journo to laugh in Key’s face if he claims Act are stable.
Infinitely more stable than New Zealand First. Sorry, needs to be said even if it's not a terribly high bar to clear.
-
Hard News: The perils of political confidence, in reply to Sacha,
Radio NZ has a story about Key warning voters off Winston First (1m27, listening options).
Which I wouldn’t argue with, really – and there’s also his lengthy track record of being a toxic, divisive douchebag. But in the end, if Winston First gets over 5% of the party vote that’s the end of the matter. I guess all we can do is start a pool on when Winston will find a pretext to flounce out of the room. Again.
(But, FWIW, I’m not sure the “instability” argument settles the matter as firmly as Key thinks it does. On one level, the whole point of MMP is to act as a brake on hyperactive governments of any stripe. is it really the end of the world if the Government of the day loses a bill, now and them - even one I strongly support. Nope.
The flip-side of that is that shagging around with confidence and supply is a real nuclear option, and something I’d like to think even Winston wouldn’t be that cavalier with.)
-
Muse: Friday Fluff: Shelf Life, in reply to Islander,
However – what books would you really like your family/beloved others to read – is a-erm- whole different ballgame? And one that could be usefully explored?
I think you could guess there would be complete sets of Austen in every home (and a test) if I ruled the world. :) But it’s an interesting question to mull over as Christmas approaches – books are the only thing I buy with any confidence whatsoever, and that’s not much. I’m a big believer in the idea that the right book at the right time, can be (to coin a cliche) a game-changer. The other side of that is that even my beloved Jane can fall on fallow ground. When I first read P&P as a callow yoof, I didn’t have the literary or emotional software to understand it was a lot more than highbrow Mills & Boon.
You also have to watch gift-giving narcissism - or "buying presents for YOU". Now that really is grounds for a social death sentence. :)
-
Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Russell Brown,
one must always respect big daddy’s authority
I could say something, but I’d probably regret it.
I'll say it for you -- good fucking luck with that.
-
Hard News: Criminalising Journalism, in reply to merc,
That’s hate speech not trolling, needs to be held to task in law.
I'm not so sure about that, and wouldn't even confidently say it meets any legal bar for incitement. But as I pointed out, it has a nasty whiff when journalists are being murdered for doing their jobs.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 221 222 223 224 225 … 1235 Older→ First