Hard News: Loving your dog and owning your words
185 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 … 8 Newer→ Last
-
Sorry - Don Franks is the workers' rights candidate.
-
It's catch 22. If they don't like your opinions, you should keep them to yourself because of the time-honoured tradition of a politically neutral public service. If they do like your opinions, keeping them to yourself is an unforgiveable act of cowardice in the face of overwhelming pressure to conform, which is a gross breach of the time-honoured tradition of a politically neutral public service.
-
Presumably Franks' dog can give informed consent to the marriage thingy...
-
From the NYT magazine article:
When a student observed the death of Jam Master Jay of the hip-hop group Run-DMC by wearing the group’s trademark tracksuit to the racism seminar, Obama acknowledged the gesture with a nod and a smile.
That makes me feel all warm inside.
-
The West Coast electorate can get rabid (witness the voting in of a Nat not too many years ago: she was inefficient as an MP and didnt get a second term.) Damien O'Connor will probably meet the same fate - he is not high profile in the electorate, and really doesnt have his finger on the pulse here any more (and yes, we're all aware of his very real family distresses.) Chris Auckenlick (?sorry, sp. unknown) is a Nat list MP, and will be returned. The Maori party has *no* sway here (I am a registered Tai Tonga voter and sure as shit wouldnt vote for the listed candidate- or the party.)) Watch for a substantial Labour and Green *party* vote-
-
Chris Auchinvole (Nat, List) gave the worst most embarrassing and patronising speeches I have ever heard in the House the other night - reminded me of some of those dreadful Nats from the 1970s. Why anyone would vote for him is beyond me.
-
Craig, remember the goal posts and someone called sagenz?
I think this is a pot and kettle moment.
No, Don. I'll express my profound gratitude that Michael Cullen is just a bitch and not a queen, and someone needs to write Nick Smith some new material. On the occasion I'm thinking of, Street was in the chamber and said nothing in response to a pretty ugly bit of fag-baiting innuendo from (surprise!) Trevor Mallard at his thuggish self. Would have taken a little more courage than that display of faux outrage.
But when it comes to pot calling kettle black, perhaps Street should stick to the unfunny musical comedy skits, and wonder why the voters don't seem to be keen on that kind of campaigning.
-
__When a student observed the death of Jam Master Jay of the hip-hop group Run-DMC by wearing the group’s trademark tracksuit to the racism seminar, Obama acknowledged the gesture with a nod and a smile.__
That makes me feel all warm inside.
Yep, a Presidential hopeful who counts Jay Z as a mate and confesses to the odd Jay Z and Ludacris tune on his iPod would already get my vote. Even before finding out the astounding news that the man is a Hammers fan!?!
Dude is too cool for school.
-
'factors other than how you can do the work - like keeping true opinions to yourself'.
As B Jones point out, keeping true opinions to yourself is a factor in how you can do the work: it's called political neutrality, and there are plenty of other organisations with similar things in their code of conduct (which is why I no longer have a blog).
-
Craig wrote:
Well, the next time Grant does a webcast cottage meeting someone could ask him why gays and lesbians aren't allowed to marry.
I - really don't need to see a video of that nature...
Oh, and Craig? Gays can marry lesbians any time they like ;-)
-
Thanks Hilary Stace- apropos Auchinvole - think dairy farmers. Quite a few of those on the Coast, getting wealthier as we email, polluting a thousand waterways without effective control (local regulatory bodies seem, to me, to be captive to this subset of West Coast society, simply because of their membership) and *ruining* both land & waterways with impunity.
Not everyone loves* 'em. Hence, look for a big Green vote.
*Actually, an amazing number of Coasters hate 'em. Anecdotal evidence, but very widespread.
-
I - really don't need to see a video of that nature...)
Well, Mark, it's that tiresome context thing again. There's a school of thought that "queers" shouldn't be buying into a patriarchal heterosexist institution -- to which my response would be "well, who's breaking out the shotgun and forcing you into a Vera Wang gown< Miss Thing?" Or the line that it's a first step to eventual marriage equality -- which I think is at best a wee bit naive.
Would be nice to see Grant come down off that fence, on the record.
-
Chris Auchinvole (Nat, List) gave the worst most embarrassing and patronising speeches I have ever heard in the House the other night
You mean this one (scroll down)? I'm sure some of his best friends are disabled..
-
Well, Mark, it's that tiresome context thing again. There's a school of thought that "queers" shouldn't be buying into a patriarchal heterosexist institution ...
I suspect Grant said "queer" because someone in the room was being sharp about it -- "we prefer queer", as opposed to gay, y'know -- and had snapped at Franks. Naming wars are one of the more inscrutable elements of the, um, queer community.
But does Grant's near-autistic knowledge of Otago rugby also count as "buying into a patriarchal heterosexist institution"?
-
"near-autistic" - nice. :)
-
__Chris Auchinvole (Nat, List) gave the worst most embarrassing and patronising speeches I have ever heard in the House the other night__
You mean this one (scroll down)? I'm sure some of his best friends are disabled.
O.
M.
G.
That's pretty bad.
Turia's speech is okay though.
-
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.
Mr. McCain, the Republican candidate for president, has recently begun campaigning as a critic of the two companies and the lobbying army that helped them evade greater regulation as they began buying riskier mortgages with implicit federal backing. He and his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, have donors and advisers who are tied to the companies.
But last week the McCain campaign stepped up a running battle of guilt by association when it began broadcasting commercials trying to link Mr. Obama directly to the government bailout of the mortgage giants this month by charging that he takes advice from Fannie Mae’s former chief executive, Franklin Raines, an assertion both Mr. Raines and the Obama campaign dispute.
Incensed by the advertisements, several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000. Some who came forward were Democrats, but Republicans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed their descriptions.
“The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again,” said Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, who said that while he worked there from 2000 to 2002, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together paid Mr. Davis’s firm $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis “didn’t really do anything,” Mr. McCarson, a Democrat, said.
Mr. Davis’s role with the group has bubbled up as an issue in the campaign, but the extent of his compensation and the details of his role have not been reported previously.
-
The Times further reports that two of the biggest foreign banks in need of such relief are Barclays and UBS. In fact, my understanding is that UBS is more on the line here than any other foreign bank.
Let's add this up.
John McCain's top economics advisor, who is widely believed to be his choice for Treasury Secretary, should he win in November, is former Sen. Phil Gramm. (Indeed, just last night his spokesman refused to say Gramm wouldn't be McCain's choice for Treasury Secretary.)
Gramm is both vice chairman of UBS's US division and a lobbyist for UBS.
If UBS successfully lobbied over the weekend to get in on the bailout, what was Gramm's role in the lobbying?
The NYT is on fire.
-
Naming wars are one of the more inscrutable elements of the, um, queer community.
I'm planning to stick to "cock suckers. rug mungers, those who will shag anything with a pulse, the genitally-indecisive and all you other perverts" and offend everyone. (I'm dissing my peeps, so the rest of you better watch out.)
But in the end, you want to call yourself a "queer", fine. If I've heard all the arguments about recontextualising hateful slurs, and find them of somewhat dubious utility in the real world. There are also people out there who are quite happy to call themselves niggers, and refer to women of colour as "bitches" and "whores". Not seeing how that combats racism and sexism.
-
But does Grant's near-autistic knowledge of Otago rugby also count as "buying into a patriarchal heterosexist institution"?
I'm here. You see that small dot on the horizon? That's Grant's rugby fetish -- and I'm not going there unless there's a nice hotel and a range of good bookstores.
-
Turia's speech is okay though.
They were otherwise pretty good speeches, and the level of cross-party support was heartening. Of course, there's still a fair amount of work to turn that support into stuff that makes a difference in everyday lives. Like resources. Anyone got a spare billion?
-
The NYT is on fire.
Who would have thought that the same paper that rubberstamped the war in Iraq would be one day infiltrated by actual reporters.
-
I'm here. You see that small dot on the horizon? That's Grant's rugby fetish -- and I'm not going there unless there's a nice hotel and a range of good bookstores
Would a farmers' market on Saturdays do?
-
Craig wrote:
Well, Mark, it's that tiresome context thing again.
The context, dear heart, was in the cottage.
-
finding out the astounding news that the man is a Hammers fan!?!
OMG, that says it all about the Dem's desire to actually win anything. Its the taking part that counts, I suppose.
That article is a treasure, BTW. Most of the UK hates Arsenal enough without having this revealed:
First there was Osama bin Laden's association with Arsenal, which led to the north Londoners reportedly banning the terrorist from attending any future games.
Bin Laden was apparently on the terraces as Arsenal side reached the final of the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994 season. The man behind the Sept 11 attack was rumoured to be so smitten with the Gunners that he bought a replica kit for his eldest son.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.