Posts by Russell Brown
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We'll go a bit differently with the music this time - I don't expect Isaac to drown out conversation, and it'll be a DJ in Wellington.
It's always a bit tricky, because it's nice to have performances, but you don't want people scattering either. It worked brilliantly when we had the Phoenix Foundation play at the Maritime Museum, not so well at the Hopetoun Alpha.
Smokers might find the Auckland venue a little challenging: it's quite a long way down and out from the museum events centre, and they don't have their roof garden open yet.
BTW, the museum's New Zealand Decorative Art gallery will be open when people arrive - if you haven't seen that, it's got some really cool stuff.
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I keep wondering when Mayor Quimby is going to pop out.
I propose this for a meme.
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The outsourcing in Iraq isn't limited to dodgy private security companies. Dodgy PR companies get the big bucks as well.
Oh yeah. Lincoln Group was bizarre from the beginning. There's more on the founder, Christian Bailey, here:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Christian_Bailey
The amount of money that has been thrown around in the form of political favours, or as just plain folly, is simply staggering.
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More so than in the past, we do live in a multicultural society and the challenge for politicians now is how to convince different groups that their needs are going to be represented in decision making.
Recognising the power and timeliness of that idea helped Labour squeak home in last year's election - and completely missing it helped National lose Auckland.
Just quietly, one of the things Clark did after returning to work after the election was to commission a report into the political implications of our growing diversity. Key's speech, with its assimilationist undertones, suggests that National still doesn't quite get it.
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Myths, of course, have their own very deep reality, but is that a reality that we can or should hold onto when an "idealised feeling for the land" manifests itself through chopping that land up into quarter-acre blocks and paving the rest of it so that we can drive there?
I think King was right when he identified the emergence of the environmental movement as part of a developing sense of nationhood. For decades we didn't have that sense of duty - we treated the hinterlands of our towns and cities like rubbish tips. (People who bitch about the RMA tend to forget that.)
I guess there's a difference between something people feel and something they're expected to sign up to. And I don't think it's culturally exclusive. If you go to Muriwai, you'll always see Chinese and Indian families walking the beach, which makes me feel good (although some of them need to embrace more practical attire ...).
And doing a story for the Listener on New Zealand's technological future last year brought it home to me how much our economic future is tied up in living with the land and sea, from energy to future biomaterials.
So I guess it makes sense to me. And given our historical indifference to churchgoing (even compared to Australia) it also seems relevant to any New Zealand spirituality. Which is where we started with the "paganus" idea ...
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Okay, if you tried for Auckland and got a message saying it was full, don't fret. We figure we can fit more this time, so try again in a few minutes (ie: about 2.15) and you will be served.
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Yes, very near. I won't be hurt if you want to go to the debate and then stroll over to the Boatshed.
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So, perhaps Sharples and like minded politcians could look at what's already in place and see how they could make it work better (i.e. make it easier for people to actually use the money) instead of hatching grand plans to establish yet another scheme...
(or maybe that's just too simple)
In the end, I think that's what Sharples does want - the work for the dole talk is just fluff. Anyway, you can judge for yourself now. Richard Beniston's interview with him yesterday is now online:
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I agree that the concept of "paganus" doesn't seem any more acceptable than that of the "kiwi way".
But why not? You and Merc have just said "I disagree", and I've cited cause for the observation that an an idealised feeling for the land is a component of our national identity. Michael King and Keith Sinclair have made similar observations in more graceful prose than mine.
I don't think it excludes other elements, or precludes change, but where we're at now, it remains a reasonable observation.
On the other hand, 81st Column, you seem to be ruling cultural diversity out of your own definitions. What are these "cultural values that act against nationhood"?
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