Assuming that swollen ego has receded to the point where it no longer afflicts your reading skills, I'll briefly restate my point,

QFT and get to it, Joe. It's not that hard.

Now, if you want to dump the flambé troll roast and bring a rational and froth-free dissent to the table instead, be my guest. But the Redbaiter impersonation is boring and obnoxious.

Boring, Craig? I've no recollection of undertaking to provide you with entertainment.

Assuming that swollen ego has receded…

NO LONGER ON FREE TO AIR TV!

So you now have to pay to watch an extended promotional film for the movie industry?

They're bloody clever, those media companies. I'm surprised they find it so hard to make money...

You can download it from Pirate Bay.
I love the smell of…

"It's in your head" (x2)

Ah, *another* argument apparently taking place only in both protagonists' heads. Where's Ben Wilson when you need him?

Mark: __She lives, she will die. That much is fact. What happens in between or, more importantly, what you know about it is up to her and her…

Isn't the Police Association a union? They get a lot of TV coverage. And, I might add, you always know what Greg O'Connor is going to say, regardless of what facts are known, so it seems a little pointless.

Yes, and they do get a lot of coverage. I suspect…

Craig – I don't wish to take sides in this fascinating stoush – but is rational and frothfree how you see yourself?

Jan: Not always — but I'll take ownership for my misconduct and not anyone else's. And I'll leave it there.

Isn't the Police Association a union? They get a lot of TV coverage. And, I might add, you always know what Greg O'Connor is going to say, regardless of what facts are known, so it seems a little pointless.

This is an interesting point Gordon. The nature of the media…

rational and froth-free dissent

Craig – I don't wish to take sides in this fascinating stoush – but is rational and frothfree how you see yourself?

What part of "quit fucking trolling" don't you understand? I've no problem with religious groups contracting to provide social services, but with pretty reasonable and strict provisos attached. I'd call that pragmatism — you don't have to be a pious Anglican church lady to say the Auckland City Mission…

Sorry, but I don't…

I've given up the (dubious) pleasure of troll-baiting on Kiwiblog for Lent, and have no interest in starting up with you. Still, hope you feel better because I'm at a loss what that bile-dump was meant to achieve.

David Cameron's son Ivan, who was severely disabled, died early this morning after being suddenly taken ill overnight, the Conservative party announced today.

A party spokesman announced the news "with great sadness" and appealed to…

They are not being funded to prosletyse.

Sure Craig, no more than you're being paid to preach. What concerns me is the way the Salvos have allowed themselves to become involved in the justice system in places such as the US, with Army members acting in some states as unqualified…

And that applies to everyone else too.

True. Similarly I heard an interview with one of the Anglican Bishops across the ditch who supports the idea of having blasphemy laws abolished.

And if that's too much ... what about those Oscars, then? The most feelgood ceremony in years?

Yes, and you'd have to have a heart of stone not to get the Slumdog Millionaire/Heath Ledger warm-fuzzies. But I've got one gripe — how the frak did Viola Davis not walk away…

In those pre-election rumours the Salvation Army was mentioned as a possible organisation to lead a Mission Australia deal. Not casting any aspertions on the SA and its work, but interesting that it has one of the rare invitations to the summit.

To be fair to the Australian Salvos, they've…

i didn't ask what you meant on anyone "else's behalf".
it's in your head.

I do get tired of people who are overly sensitive on someone else's behalf.

no need for me to try again, because you obviously have no idea on how to compose a clear sentence.

i read your strange sentence as a cheap attempt to mock someone's misfortune to be dying of cancer. that's pretty low, in my opinion.

Perhaps my pointy-headed elitist National Radio-listening perspective is distorted, but I don't recall ever hearing Andrew Little or Brenda Pilott getting a particularly hostile — or even particularly probing — reception on National Radio.

Glad to hear it comrade!

But I guess this happens with any club: my wife likes us to belong to the AA – as she has been 'rescued' a few times. But we don't agree with everything they say on transport!'

Don't confuse compulsory unionism with modern unionism pKiwi. These days joining a union is…

People die every day. What makes dying of cancer so special?

Did I say that? No. No, I didn't. Read what is written, stephen, not what you want me to have written.

@Mark

here is what you wrote:

She lives, she will die. That much is fact. What happens in between or, more importantly, what you know about it is up…

Most references in the popular media to trade unions and their activities are cast in a negative light and portrayed as harmful to investment prospects and economic growth.

Really? Perhaps my pointy-headed elitist National Radio-listening perspective is distorted, but I don't recall ever hearing Andrew Little or Brenda Pilott getting…

I heard that. DPA, the Salvation Army and one other group got invitations. That is not the community and voluntary sector. Tina Reid represents lots of groups through the Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations (and a huge sector workforce paid and unpaid) and there are other umbrella organisations…

"B-R-A-A-A-A-N-S!!"

Social networking websites are harming children's brans, says
scientist. P31 DAILY EXPRESS

No, that is not my misprint!

And I don't…

And Back Benches tonight (Wed) starts filming at the BackBenchers pub at 8pm for a job summit extra long…

Craig, going to India was how she was making money. It was her job.

The sad thing about that, Sacha, is that you're right. And it says nothing flattering about our scopohiliac society that it's as much Goody's "job" to die in public as Nicki Watson's endless self-abasement is hers.…

so you are saying that she and her publicist decided she should die from cancer before she was 30?

Did I say that? No. No, I didn't. Read what is written, stephen, not what you want me to have written.

so you are saying that she and her publicist decided she should die from cancer before she was 30?

Well, I'd like to know what kind of advice she was getting when she decided going to India was a higher priority than being in England to get the results in…

I honestly don't think it's callous to say that.

ok, i can see that you weren't referring to her demise. i misunderstood your initial allusion.

We have a little way to go before Evernote lives up to the promise of Continuity in William Gibson's Neuromancer trilogy.

but describing this person's demise as "oddly perfect" sounds quite callous to my ear.

Yes, but I'm not talking about her demise as being oddly perfect. It's terribly sad, and I don't think anything I've said here has been unsympathetic — unlike some of the coldly snobbish "quality" paper coverage.…

We carry lots of it on Scoop.

Just thought I would mention that.

http://search.scoop.co.nz/search?to=Unions&sort_by=relevance&q=unions

Admittedly its not really news – just statements from unions – but its something.

My point, and it's not a particularly original one, is that Jade Goody's life is like a story.

yes, like a story. but not a story. like one.
maybe i'm nitpicking, but it just doesn't seem right to me, to describe some woman's early death from cancer as "oddly perfect".…

She lives, she will die. That much is fact. What happens in between or, more importantly, what you know about it is up to her and her publicist

so you are saying that she and her publicist decided she should die from cancer before she was 30?

Having been defined in genres that are 50% fiction — reality TV and celebrity tabloid news — she has transcended both with her actual life. The Secretary of State for Justice intervened…

i certainly wouldn't suggest that it was "news" in any sense that i understand that term, and i do not disput that the whole thing is laced with real…

but surely the subject matter has nothing to do with "dramatic fiction"?

Given that it's about the work of tabloid "news"papers, it has everything to do with dramatic fiction.

Fictional forms infect all sorts of material for better or worse, and use the same narrative devices and characters. Some argue…

Considering that the contrast between Shilpa Shetty – a polished, poised, intelligent, classy, attractive woman ...

And an actress coming out of Bollywood — where women, if they want to last, have to be incredibly circumspect about what they say and do. I don't think a Lindsay Lohan would survive…

Considering that the contrast between Shilpa Shetty – a polished, poised, intelligent, classy, attractive woman – and Jade Goody could…

I think we should invoke Los Bros more often. Could they be PA's next Battlestar Galactica?

I invoke it (kinda) every time I post.

Wow... My brain melted a little trying to picture what kind of wonderful world would see Hoppers and Palomar in their true glory on a television…

ah, ok.
but surely the subject matter has nothing to do with "dramatic fiction"?

Only in that's how it reads.

I think we should invoke Los Bros more often. Could they be PA's next Battlestar Galactica?

Wow... My brain melted a little trying to picture what kind of wonderful world would see Hoppers and Palomar in their true glory on a television near you.

They're bloody clever, those media companies. I'm surprised they find it so hard to make money...

I hear it's because everyone is stealing their movies over the intawebs.

eh?

could you explain in more detail what you mean by "oddly perfect" in this particular context?

The story arc is one of the essential structures of dramatic fiction. If you were writing a drama about a character's journey, this one has almost perfect symmetry — she was born into…

the strange, oddly perfect, story arc of terminally ill reality TV star

eh?

could you explain in more detail what you mean by "oddly perfect" in this particular context?

I'm surprised they find it so hard to make money...

Would that be the sort of money deposited in an off-shore facility to pay for your cool lifestyle (aka cash)? Or the sort used to get subsidies (aka paper loss)?

I think I posted this in the comments one Friday roundup – the first 9 minutes or so of a 20-year-old edition of One News.

Interesting old clip, thanks for that Graeme. :o)
Bill Ralston almost sounded youthful!!!!!

Not bad coverage for a small club.

The NZ CTU represents around 300,000 members, so it's certainly representing some people, even if it can't claim to represent all. The unions are doing ok, as well as you'd expect given the circumstances (they didn't exactly all their wishes given in the…

This week's Media7 has two themes. One is media coverage — or the lack of it — of the trade union movement.

What lack of it? It might have gone done since the election, but what struck me over the last 9 years under Labour was the increasing commentary by…

This week's Media7 has two themes. One is media coverage — or the lack of it — of the trade union movement

I think I posted this in the comments one Friday roundup – the first 9 minutes or so of a 20-year-old edition of One News. The union article…

He did. He sang, he danced, he was funny and charming. But bizarrely, some US TV critics came over all shocked and appalled because he said "human excrement".

I don't think the US really "gets" Jackman, it seems to me that there's some distaste in some quarters that Wolverine has…

The extraordinary thing is the extent to which tabloids and reality TV have been her life.

Every time I've been in the UK over the last few years (and before I left in 04), Jade has been featured in at least one magazine or tabloid newspaper, either for her escapades…

Los Bros Hernandez early 'Mister X' had an incidental character turning off a program called 'Celebrity Autopsies' and that does seem where we're headed. Actually, X's drug prevented sleep, produced fits of rage, frequesnt changes of abode...

I think we should invoke Los Bros more often. Could they be PA's…

apart from beyonce, that was an amazing show
is there something contractual about using her in every single show in some way or another?

You know what they used to say about the Fat Lady singing? Well now that we're all panicked about the "obesity epidemic" the rather more streamlined…

NO LONGER ON FREE TO AIR TV!

So you now have to pay to watch an extended promotional film for the movie industry?

They're bloody clever, those media companies. I'm surprised they find it so hard to make money...

For anyone upset at missing it today, check daytime TV2 listings for this, or possibly even next, weekend. It'll likely be there.

He did. He sang, he danced, he was funny and charming. But bizarrely, some US TV critics came over all shocked and appalled because he said "human excrement".

...

It was quite a different production, and I thought it really worked well.

From today's TVTattle coverage (clink through for their…

Milk it, I say. The UK tabloid press plays SO dirty with their big chequebooks, so why not take advantage of it? It's not as though she's trying to hide her strategy – and if the papers are stupid enough to fork out the cash, why not?

I think so.…

I like the fact that she's now getting her own back…

Did Huge Ackman do OK?

He did. He sang, he danced, he was funny and charming. But bizarrely, some US TV critics came over all shocked and appalled because he said "human excrement".

The sound recordist guy from Slumdog gave a lovely, emotional speech in barely-up-to-the-job English, the guy from…

Did Hugh Jackman do OK?

"New Zealand" was one of his punchlines...

Did Huge Ackman do OK?