Posts by Joe Wylie
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Sacha,
I wouldn’t rule out ‘too under-resourced to get involved’ either.
As an excuse? Crying poor has never played too well as a politician's argument on social justice issues. Perhaps it's an indication of their upmarket aspirations that it gets invoked.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to Sacha,
If Doc Newbold had gone back for a sabbatical in the form of experience that once underpinned his academic credibility, he might have been better placed to provide some form of citation for his anecdotal allegations.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Sacha,
. . . it’s pragmatic rather than principled.
When you have a burning local issue, as is happening with Canterbury’s rolled-over red zone residents, the Greens’ lack of interest certainly makes it look that way. Six years ago the party’s Christchurch Central candidate did letter box drops stressing her connection with local issues. Currently they seem bent on projecting themselves as being too shiny to get involved
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
And that stupid searchlight (- of hope – hah! ) kept on going, aimlessly wandering about the firmament, questing for the Brownlee Blimp . . .
Thanks Ian, wihout that heads-up I'd never have spotted the bastard.
The mayor's father, Bob Parker Sr, last night flicked the switch on Father's Day . . .
No doubt Dad P blinked back a tear as the lights reminded him of the star that appeared in the firmament at the hour of Bob Jr's birth.
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Not that I think te Herald is a great information source but it is common to the country and available for a broken down city
As part of the group that owns the widely-circulated Christchurch Star giveaway, they're only as parochial as they choose to be. For example, their online photo & video coverage of the quakes rivaled the local Fairfax stuff.
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Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Just thinking,
Do you think this is fair?
If you mean is it a fair overview of the post-quakes situation, I believe that it's a pretty good snapshot of how things were at the time the article was published (September 20}.
I don't get to read the letters to the Press, but I've been looking at the online comments. There have been some very ugly sentiments expressed, including a few that seem to stem from outright snobbery. You don't have to be too paranoid to suspect an orchestrated campaign to portray quake victims as opportunists. Brownlee, elements of the insurance industry, and the Parker faction of the City Council all have a vested interest in hoping that they'll give up and roll over.
For me the sudden surge of support for Bob Jones's opinion piece on rebuilding the CBD is an indication of how fast the mood here is evolving. It's certainly blindsided The Press and the City Council, both of which have long fancied that they can manage the public mood. People are plainly fed up with being fobbed off with cynical window dressing such as "Have Your Say". What's changed since Peter Bills's article appeared is that they're moving on from blaming one another to demanding realistic answers.
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Bitter in-fighting has replaced the initial shock and grief. Cantabrian has turned on Cantabrian: A distanced perspective, unconstrained by the crippling timidity that blights our local media, from Peter Bills in South Africa's Cape Argus.
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Hard News: Auckland, so much enormity to…, in reply to andin,
Still, he hasnt come to terms with his mortality, that fear of death, shadows his every step.... as it does us all. And not in a nice way. Still I bet his funeral will have more flowers and hot air than mine.
"My will contains directions for my funeral, which will be followed not by mourning coaches, but by oxen, sheep, flocks of poultry, and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarfs in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures." ~ George Bernard Shaw
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Hard News: Auckland, so much enormity to…, in reply to Glenn Pearce,
What I want to know though is whether JK is going to knight Cleary and Capn. Mannering if they win ?
You really want to know, can't wait? Get networking. Get on the blower, facilitate. Did the Butcher get where he is today by sitting around waiting with his legs crossed? Hell no. A legendary life lived as one big maaaating season.