Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Masters of Reality

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  • Angela Hart,

    The reality distortion is shameless and deplorable but enormously effective. Invitations to be seen or heard on media where the fantasies might be challenged are simply declined. It is all too easy to mislead most of the people most of the time.
    What gets me is how they live with themselves. Perhaps the spin Doctors have a conscience killing pill.

    Christchurch • Since Apr 2014 • 614 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Angela Hart,

    What gets me is how they live with themselves.

    First, create the perception that you deserve better and Nactional will deliver.
    Then create the perception that not everyone is equal.
    Then create laws to make money the most valued commodity
    Then make sure to protect those who are not struggling and voila! Guaranteed vote.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Back to life, back to reality
    Welcome back Russell. I feared for a while you had been swallowed by some middle class monster, what with your house now being worth more than a million bucks.
    I was imagining a headline on Kiwiblog... "Millionaire Brown quits the Loony Left"
    ;-)

    All of the above, your post, illustrates something I have been saying for quite a while.
    The Key Govt. has been and continues to, put up false threats to the people of New Zealand and then backs away from those threats as if they are doing us all a favour.
    The examples are so many that listing them is pointless but we should all be aware that this is their modus operandi. After telling the people that we didn't want Sky City to build an eyesore Key now says

    Prime Minister John Key says the SkyCity convention centre plan grew in both size and "flashness" until a public backlash persuaded the Government not to spend any more money on it.

    They listened to the people, yeah, right.

    But in the end I just think that public opinion on this thing, rightly so, was: 'There's a deal, leave it as the contract said, even if SkyCity were right, it's possibly gone up a little more, we all need to live within our means', and that's what we are going to do."

    As Dave Armstrong says

    I've heard that children of SkyCity executives are turning up at their Auckland private schools without having had a decent cafe breakfast. At playtime the kids have to fill their bottles with tap water.

    Let them eat Gateaux I say.

    We have for too long, more than six long years, been subjected to this cynical manipulation and I thank you Russ for standing up once more as our champion.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Welcome back Russell. I feared for a while you had been swallowed by some middle class monster, what with your house now being worth more than a million bucks.

    I've been busy!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I've been busy!

    Fair enough and I hope it is all going well for you.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • James Littlewood*,

    Thanks for doing the yards on this backstory Russell. It seems Key's teflon stays intact precisely because of the copious amount of muck it has to deflect. It appears to actually convert new muck into more teflon.

    In other words, the more BS he promulgates, the harder it is to identify.

    How's that crowd-funded Kennygram looking?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 410 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    The Auckland Eyesore -
    all hail StyeCity...

    How perfect for the Suppurating City
    if you 'sup' with the devil
    you get back 'pus'!

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    a weak of it...

    It’s a week since the Prime Minister’s statement, the annual opening act of Parliamentary politics, when the leader traditionally sets out the governing party’s plan for the year.

    As I understood it Key didn't even bother to read it out in Parliament - just handed it to the Opposition and then got straight into the extra time he now had for his killer new comedy material - written as Russell points out - on our dollar!

    Comedy or the killer quip have their place in debate - but Key and cohort seem to think it is all they have to do now - where is the reasoned debate, the exchange of ideas, the dance to resolution - no, it's all put downs and cheap shots - so declassé...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • izogi, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    As I understood it Key didn’t even bother to read it out in Parliament – just handed it to the Opposition and then got straight into the extra time he now had for his killer new comedy material – written as Russell points out – on our dollar!

    It really needs to be up to the opposition to capitalise on this and convince voters that it can provide a better alternative, preferably in a positive way.

    I share the disgust at how our current government and its cheerleaders seem to be acting, but I think I’ve given up on complaining about it. In the end, repeatedly expressing discontent only goes so far and that distance doesn’t seem to be extending the length of convincing people to change their votes. At worst it devolves into polarising voters into camps who want to argue about who’s most stupid for who they support.

    In the end, history’s going to judge what type of government we’ve had in the last few years. Funnily enough there’s less often disagreement once you’re looking back far enough.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Still relevant: Matt Nippert's 2013 story A licence to print money:

    How good was SkyCity's winnings from that deal? An Australian casino consultant believes the Government significantly undervalued the gambling concessions it finally granted to SkyCity.

    The Government's own officials consistently raised concerns as far back as 2010 that the nub of the deal - the 27-year extension of SkyCity's exclusive Auckland casino licence - was being similarly undervalued. Across the ditch, casino licences have sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Curtis,

    What an absolute liar Joyce is , a complete and utter liar. His project was much more expensive than the original tunnel project approved under labour.
    Thats because he made it wider and connected to the City bound lanes.

    His story about a shorter tunnel is nonsense, it starts after Richardson Rd and ends just by Waterview interchange , as was allways intended.
    His cut-cover or trench proposal was rejected by the contractors as too expensive when you were tunneling anyway.

    Additional costs added by the liar in chief were the widening of lanes through to St Lukes, cutting down trees at Western Springs.

    The brazen liars he tells is just stunning.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 314 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    So, on to Sabin…

    The same thing is happening with the Sabin scandal. Key’s line is that Helen Clark didn’t stand down as Prime Minister during ‘painter-gate’,

    The disingenuous “Blame Labour” cry is wearing a little thin, It comes up with such regularity it is like the boy who cried wolf and coming, as it does, from the naked Emperor, makes me feel we are living in a Grimm tale, grim indeed.
    The denial is strong with this one, so strong we have to wonder why. With a total lack of information we are left to guess as to what the offence must be and it must be bad.
    I must say at this point that I hold dear the concept of being innocent until proven guilty and as such the police are caught between a rock and a hard place, what with the given super injunction and the secrecy surrounding this scandal. Silence begs noise and that is all we hear, noise and speculation.
    Even the oily one has misgivings and he is not alone [redacted] in thinking the worst.
    Key must come clean as it now appears that the investigations started as long ago as 2011 so our PM has either been kept in the dark and lied to by his advisors or he himself is being more than economical with the truth.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Steve Curtis,

    Anyone who's had to deal with him on transport matters is unsurprised by his lies. He couldn't lie straight in bed, that man.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    he is not alone in thinking the worst.

    Who is Lauda Finem ? Does anyone know?

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to nzlemming,

    Who is Lauda Finem ? Does anyone know?

    Oooh, I found [redacted]

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    I'm fairly convinced that we'll only get rid of the Nats when either we have a fairly massive economic crash that hits the average mortgage payer, or Key gives up and gets replaced by someone a lot less user friendly.

    The latter might happen if Key gets niggled enough - he did say in an interview that he considered it in his last term. The business alluded to might do it - the suppression order will hide the sordid details, but they'll drip out slowly. If nothing else, there might be a new prisoner turning up in jail sometime in the next two years?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to nzlemming,

    They are apparently nasty local miscreants rather like Slater. Take anything they say with a sack of salt. Note that they may also be breaching suppression, which could put Russell at risk here.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    So, on to Sabin

    why? other threads for that topic.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Sacha,

    why? other threads for that topic.

    point me to one.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to nzlemming,

    Oooh, I found

    Now that is a real low down hate attack site if ever I saw one, nasty.
    I cannot vouch for Lauda Finem but the site you linked to seems like an attack on any credibility they may have. It would seem, however that Lauda Finem have links to the rabid right and as such I find it quite telling that they and Slater, have turned on Key &co.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    Now that is a real low down hate attack site if ever I saw one, nasty.

    Sure is. But Lauda Finem have gone to some trouble to be as anonymous as they can - it almost invites this sort of rejoinder. LF doesn't appear to keen on Slater most of the time, either.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    They are apparently nasty local miscreants rather like Slater. Take anything they say with a sack of salt. Note that they may also be breaching suppression, which could put Russell at risk here.

    Yeah, sorry, I deleted the the links to LF (which potentially put me in breach of a suppression order) and the hate site (because it was just horrible, and really off-topic).

    The suppression order is wildly over-reaching, but I prefer to stay the right side of these things.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    I find it quite telling that they and Slater, have turned on Key &co

    He has never been right-leaning enough for some of the rabid Actoids. Atilla might please em.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    Lauda Finem comes across as a bit like an Alex Jones/InfoWars site for legal types.

    I’m fairly convinced that we’ll only get rid of the Nats when either we have a fairly massive economic crash that hits the average mortgage payer, or Key gives up and gets replaced by someone a lot less user friendly.

    In other words, one that likely involves the banks, as happened in Europe and America. Still, I do think SkyCity could be a tipping point.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Kumara Republic,

    Lauda Finem comes across as a bit like an Alex Jones/InfoWars site for legal types.

    Indeed, there seem to be connections to Ian Wishart and the main editor is, apparently, one Dermot Nottingham who exposed the Odometer fraud way back. Howling at the Moon, Wishart's publishing company, published a book on the subject, Car Wars: the true story of the Odometer Winding Scandal. The name says it all really.
    Credit where credit is due, Wishart did quite a good job of exposing corruption in the banking industry in the eighty's, Fay Richwhite et al, but these people ruin their own credibility with their over the top rhetoric and, sometimes, outright defamation. No wonder they hide behind anonymity.

    Still, I do think SkyCity could be a tipping point

    It may well be but Sabin will be the final nail in the coffin.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

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