Posts by anjum rahman
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I didn't point out that my observation is that it isn't just his generation who are perturbed, it's in fact a demographic who have largely dominated political speech in our country - older well-off white men whose views could generally be classed as "conservative." (Of course there are exceptions to this sweeping generalisation.)
this is something that drives me wild too - the amount of public talking space these people occupy, compared to other groups. including talk balk radio hosts, newspaper editors, etc. then there's those who could be called "rent-a-quotes" - SST, family first, etc. nice research project for a media/communications masters student would be to measure in some way the amount of public airtime these guys get compared to others in our country. the next and more troubling question is how to provide more balance, without resorting to quotas, stereotypes and other pitfalls.
rant over. back on the EFA...
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given we don't do xmas, this year we'll be spending 25 dec on the road, driving from hamilton to levin with 4 under fives, 1 teenager and a multitude of adults. some of this group (including 3 of the under fives) will have got off the plane after a 7-hour flight the day before. i'm sure there will be some stories to tell by the end of that day...
but i thought is was time for my kids to see the south island, given they've been to europe, asia & australia. let's hope it doesn't flood this december - the heavy rain warnings this morning didn't make me feel too optimistic!
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just to make sure yours isn't the last on this thread...
worse still is when you post & everyone ignores what you've said & starts carries on the discussion as if you hadn't commented at all!
ben, i guess practice makes you better, or at least more comfortable with commenting - but not always so. i'd echo what others are saying about the quality of the debate and wit on these blogs. it means that if you feel you don't measure up, you just keep quiet.
as for your "harden up", don't you know that women can't do that... ;)
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i don't know mr bailey, but our 7th form history teacher looked, and consequently acted like, john cleese. it was a hilarious year. part of the gems of english history he taught us was that james I had a habit of playing with his codpiece, "because no-one had told him that if he left it alone, it would grow by itself"...
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this brings up a lot of conflicting thoughts for me. i agree that quotas aren't always helpful. they do provide access to those who currently don't have access. on the one hand, that's all they should do ie if you don't have the quality, then you shouldn't get access in any case. on the other hand, the ability to have access then ensures that you develop the quality ie there is a bit of nurturing that also needs to happen.
it's true that PAS can't be all things to all people. but on the other hand, there is a need to increase the public space for minority voices, and this is a wonderful site to be doing that. posting things publicly can be very daunting - i've found it to be so - even in an environment that is basically friendly and accommodating.
i'd also support the use of "speaker" to get writers up to speed, and to provide that mix of views readers here are looking for.
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if we're allowed phrases, how about "mum and dad investors", in light of all the finance company collapses this year? (another one down this morning, i see)
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i was really interested in the comments by laila harre yesterday on radio nz regarding the provision of about $0.5 million effectively free advertising for the sensible sentencing trust by the herald. i suspect i'm paraphrasing rather badly. does anyone have more information about this?
i responded to the stupid on-line question thingy, asking them to provide more information on this - how they decided to give to this particular organisation and not others, what was the basis of the decision etc. i'm not holding my breath for them to suddenly become open & transparent though!
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I'd leave that to the particular community you are talking about to decide. Personally I'd vote against pokies near me, but if I got outvoted then I'd have to swallow that.
i guess that is part of the problem - most communities didn't get to decide. how about we make every outlet go through a full resource consent process to make sure that every community does have a say in this.
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worst of all is the e-betting system that was being installed into pokies a couple years ago. i presume that means you just put in your credit/eftpos card & keep playing until your account is cleaned out.
i've also seen the "donation" process of a pokie trust. fair & transparent it is not.
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maxim have just put out a press release headed "terrorism, australia, children". hmmm, anyone want to try making a sentence out of that?