Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Something odd and unresolved

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  • FletcherB,

    More in depth reporting from the Herald....

    That piece on Joyce's "plum spot" on the list..... doesnt actually mention WHICH spot it is....

    It mentions that it's one of only 5 list-only spots for a National candidate.... but completely fails to mention exactly HOW plum it is.... #1? #70? No clue from that article...

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    enormous growth in the number of people on the DPB, and where people have been, for want of a better term, breeding for a business

    Jesus Christ.

    United States, "which has a minimum of two weeks' holiday a year, and the economic prosperity in the US is so much greater than New Zealand's".

    That is actually untrue - it's even worse than that. There are no federally mandated vacation days for US workers, and many people in low-paying jobs do not receive *any paid holidays at all*.

    Craig can freak out on me all he likes, but I just *know* that little free marketeer-weasel and all his cronies are lying to us about their plans.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Craig can freak out on me all he likes, but I just *know* that little free marketeer-weasel and all his cronies are lying to us about their plans.

    Danielle: Oh, why would I bother?

    More in depth reporting from the Herald....

    That piece on Joyce's "plum spot" on the list..... doesnt actually mention WHICH spot it is....

    It mentions that it's one of only 5 list-only spots for a National candidate.... but completely fails to mention exactly HOW plum it is.... #1? #70? No clue from that article...

    Well, Fletcher, since the list isn't ranked yet I'd be very much surprised if there was anything to report. But there is a cap on the number of candidates who can stand list-only -- but they're not guaranteed any position. That's no secret, and if my memory serves that change was made to party rules ahead of the 2005 election.

    Or I guess the Herald can just make shit up. Would that be OK with you, Fletcher?

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    Or I guess the Herald can just make shit up. Would that be OK with you, Fletcher?

    No... you've told me something I wasnt aware of.... that the list hasnt been ordered yet.... thankyou. Maybe the herald could have told me that instead?

    I thought lists, and placements on them were a fairly major part of MMP.... so when you report on someone getting a "plum spot" it might be important to know the number..... or it might not be as plum as is being implied by the article.

    I wouldnt call #70 "plum", would you? How does the Herald know its a good spot if they DONT know the number?

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I wouldnt call #70 "plum", would you? How does the Herald know its a good spot if they DONT know the number?

    Well, Fletch, being someone who finds the shaking babies and kissing hands (or is that the other way round?) end of politics rather icky, I'd find any list-only spot a bucket of plums. :)

    Though I do think 'plum spot' can be put down to hack reaching for fundamentally meaningless cliché, rather than some sinister move by the VRWMC. I think it would be fair enough to assume that these list-only spots wouldn't be occupying the last five positions on the party list, but it would also be rather previous to assume anything else. If nothing else, Joyce would be a complete fuck wit to be seen lobbying in the media. And he's nothing of the sort.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    __I think the election is already over__

    That's not true at all, Kyle.

    No really, that's what I think. Honest.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Is Graeme Henry giving campaign advice to National?

    No change to the tactics, just the instigation of a Political Personal Rotation Policy.

    Explains why he hasn't been on his game of late (this year).

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    lobbying in the media?

    And he's nothing of the sort.

    I bet it's just his caring demeanour eh Craig ;)

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

  • Russell Brown,

    "In a more harder-right sounding moment Key in mid-2002 also revealed to the Sunday Star-Times a tough personal view on welfare. Asked about the topic as National struggled internally with its policy line, Key said there had been "enormous growth in the number of people on the DPB, and where people have been, for want of a better term, breeding for a business".

    You know what's wrong with that statement? It contains no facts. At the time Key made that claim, the number of people receiving the DPB had been falling since a peak of 113,000 in January 1998, after rising sharply through the 1990s. I think it had ducked under the 100k mark by 2002.

    Key might have claimed some credit for National's 1999 reforms in easing the path to paid employment (much as Labour points to WFF as the trigger for a sharp fall in DPB numbers in 2004), but to try and demonise recipients on the basis of "enormous growth" is complete bullshit.

    Would it have killed the Herald journalists to toss in a fact or two?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    lobbying in the media?

    For some strange reason, folks who are talking up their list placings in the media (or caucus/Cabinet rankings) are seldom satisfied where they end up. Inflamed ego + unmoved object = tears before bedtime. :)

    I bet it's just his caring demeanour eh Craig ;)

    Group hugs don't actually get results, Sophie. Sad but true. I'd be a lousy campaign chair, because it's akin to trying to mould a sackful of feral kittens into a marching band. Just don't have the patience, discipline or sheer stamina for it.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • FletcherB,

    Though I do think 'plum spot' can be put down to hack reaching for fundamentally meaningless cliché, rather than some sinister move by the VRWMC.

    I was merely pointing to the crap-nes and lack of info in that particular Joyce article... so maybe basically we agree?

    I was not trying to suggest the lack of info was intentional or otherwise part of a vast conspiracy... which, in light of the general trend of this thread, I can see how that might have been implied or inferred.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    No really, that's what I think. Honest.

    I'm sure that's true, but there's this tiresome little poll that actually counts called the general election. And given my thoroughly crap psychic abilities (and lack of access to a TARDIS) I'm not willing to call it yet.

    And I don't think it's stretching plausibility too far to suggest that, both covertly and explicitly, the National Party conference this weekend is going to be told over and over again that there's not even a fag paper's worth of room for over-confidence.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    And given my thoroughly crap psychic abilities (and lack of access to a TARDIS) I'm not willing to call it yet.

    And I don't think it's stretching plausibility too far to suggest that, both covertly and explicitly, the National Party conference this weekend is going to be told over and over again that there's not even a fag paper's worth of room for over-confidence.

    If you did have a Tardis, you could have as much over-confidence as you wanted. It'd still all fit in the phone box.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    If you did have a Tardis,

    Mine is a hand bag,

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

  • Paul Williams,

    And I don't think it's stretching plausibility too far to suggest that, both covertly and explicitly, the National Party conference this weekend is going to be told over and over again that there's not even a fag paper's worth of room for over-confidence.

    Craig, I'm sure many others will support my request that you candidly report on the conference at PAS at your earliest convenience!

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Craig, I'm sure many others will support my request that you candidly report on the conference at PAS at your earliest convenience!

    followed by a group hug :)

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

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Oh and what fag paper will it be in :)

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

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Craig, I'm sure many others will support my request that you candidly report on the conference at PAS at your earliest convenience!

    Now, if I'd had the presence of mind to corner Russell on Friday night I might have finagled the cost of a press registration, but my conference going days are well and truly over. To be honest, isn't the modern party conference (especially in an election year) rather dull? Busby
    Berkely does Nuremberg on a shoestring dull. You don't even have the prospect of a good round of bitching, back-biting and intrigue behind the scenes. Not with polls like this, and a spookily united and well-disciplined caucus and party organisation. Which suits me fine as a party activist (I certainly expect to be wearing out a pair of walking shoes during the campaign proper), but is rather short on entertainment value.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    followed by a group hug :)

    Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs Bribiesca? :) I'm up for a group hug, but don't you expect me to wash my hair specially.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs Bribiesca? :) I'm up for a group hug, but don't you expect me to wash my hair specially.

    I think you'd have to head to Obama land to find a Mrs Bribiesca plus I'd probably leave seduction to my other half(I'm sure he has tried) and don't you worry about the hair there Craig, most first impressions of mine are that mine is never washed! Can you tell I am waiting for Parliament TV?

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

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I'd probably leave seduction to my other half(I'm sure he has tried)

    tried meaning pushed a few of your buttons and should be followed with:)( to placate him)

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

  • Paul Williams,

    I've no first hand knowledge of how Labor in NSW or Australia is run, but the limited second hand knowledge I do have suggests that this article is pretty accurate. Scarey!

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report

  • Jeremy Eade,

    "I've no first hand knowledge of how Labor in NSW or Australia is run, but the limited second hand knowledge I do have suggests that this article is pretty accurate. Scarey."

    They really need some new parties over there, so do we.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    Herald Editorial takes Key to task for not being sufficiently resolute in his reasonableness:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10523964

    ...he seems too anxious to nullify any policy that might be unpopular. He wants to offer the election policies that are pleasant and painless and barely distinguishable from the present.

    He is making a rod for his own back if he is elected and wants to move the country in a more enterprising direction.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Herald Editorial takes Key to task for not being sufficiently resolute in his reasonableness

    Shit! Someone didn't get the memo (with explanatory diagram) regarding the editorial position of abject Tory sock puppetry to be assumed at all times. :)

    Can you tell I am waiting for Parliament TV?

    Sofie -- you're terrible. You inspired me to tune in the new Freeview enabled television and a couple of hours forced me to the following conclusions:

    1) We need to get some MPs who don't induce nausea when viewed in gleaming high resolution for any length of time.

    2) Watching all of Question Time is every bit as degraded and degrading as it was in the flesh.

    3) After that, it took about twenty minutes to come to the conclusion that Michael Cullen and Bill English were re-enacting the Dawn of Man sequence from 2001 as a performance art piece.

    4) Ron Mark is either a very special boy, or afflicted with a particularly sad form of Parkinson's or Tourettes that make him gesticulate every time the camera is on Winston.

    5) Whoever sits directly Jerry Brownlee's left shoulder is way creepy.

    6) Jeanette Fitzsimmons is hot. Louisa Wall is not. And it's only a matter of time before Rodney's bloody jacket causes a seizure. Go figure.

    7) Fraggle Rock on TVNZ6 was better written and more informative.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

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