Hard News: We're in this together
49 Responses
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It's been a delight watching Public Address grow and mature over the years, Russell. Keep up the good work and here's to a bright future.
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And Christmas is all around... [Love Actually]
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Fantastic post Russel. I always enjoying reading Public Address for it's thoughtful and insightful take on the world.
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Oh, thanks for the shout out Russell. Very kind words. We love your work too, so do our readers - we had an MP into the office this morning who said he was all up-to-speed on the status of the legal high law thanks to your recent piece.
p.s. I heard your very first @95bFM Hardnews on Graeme's show as an Akl uni first year in '91, and have been a #fanboy ever since.
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You can dance, if you want to.
God damn you, Russell.
(And yes, I'm a 1991 bfm Hard News listener. I was sixteen!)
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Thanks Russell
Hope there's only one truth and you're not going all pomo on us? -
Ross Bell, in reply to
Pomo is *so* 1991.
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It's also more valuable than any amount of tub-thumping and armchair political generalising.
Big-picture, robust, historicised political criticism is easy to ridicule but it's absolutely vital for a society. It's also one of the areas in which our media fail to deliver most spectacularly.
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Ahem, LOCAL boards ...
Good post BTW.
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Good work Russ. I've always been in awe of your ability to write stuff that makes sense out of the noise and do it so consistently. The world is a better place for your efforts (or at least, better informed). Merry Xmas.
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Tamara, in reply to
snap, me too!
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And, in general, I think a good way forward for us will be through specialised subject blogs with multiple authors.
Great work Russell. It's the blog I spend most of my spare time (and not so spare time!) reading and I've really enjoyed contributing to specialist topics - love the Friday Music.
And a song for you, one you've often cited, a demo version thereof, posted by one Brian Eno
If a Lawrence Arabia version surfaces, I'd love to see it!
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Russell Brown, in reply to
God damn you, Russell.
I was 100% certain that someone would post that clip in the first half-dozen replies.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Ahem, LOCAL boards …
Duh. How many times will I make that same mistake? Thanks.
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Thanks Russell. Have a great summer.
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Thanks for the Access opportunity, Russell and Sacha. Good to have something pan-disability as a sort of successor to the humans autism blog (which I hope is archived somewhere for some fine early disability writing from Giovanni and others now old hands). Some of my posts on Access are ideas revisited from my PhD thesis on autism - not the conventional way to publish, but suits me better and I like the way the discussions meander.
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Hebe,
You and Public Address and its peoples make this world more interesting, intelligent and fun. What a great thing!
Many, many thanks to you for providing a platform for the Christchurch quake rants of so many of us. It has made a difference, in tangible ways. Your 1am Twitter invitation for Greg to write about watching the floodwaters rise in the muntlands in March kickstarted a chain of events.
Many requests were made for republication in major metro papers and small newsletters. Endless Christchurch people (the latest just this week) stopped Greg in the street, the park, the supermarket, saying that the piece lessened their feeling of overwhelmed isolation.
TV news and newspapers like the New Zealand Herald picked up on the problems the floodites were and are facing, meaning the national attention put pressure on the government and the city council to come up with help for the worst-affected, especially when we had three flood events in three months. Things like accommodation subsidy were gained (those flooded and unable to live in their houses were not eligible for the earthquake subsidy until mid-year and had to pay both mortgage and rent. Many were in severe financial difficulty.)
Council consultation with the community about what had happened, and possible area-wide solutions, was fast-tracked and extended to cover not only the Flockton Basin but areas like the Heathcote River catchment through Woolston, St Martins, Opawa and Beckenham where hundreds of houses were flooded or affected by sewage-infested river water.
Solutions are still some way off, but they are being worked upon – and some measures are working. Flockton has an interim pumping station. A working flood warning system is in place. Better systems all round for dealing with this huge effect of the earthquakes: the loss of height of land and uplift of riverbeds.
In practical terms, Russell, and the Public Address community’s support has helped make all our lives easier. Isn’t that what a true community is about?
Thank you all. Wishing you a fine and fab summer.
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Merry Christmas Russell. Hopefully we'll catch up over summer, if it ever arrives. Which reminds me. Laneways - I may break my habit and attend this year for a change.
Al
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Merry Christmas Russell – hoping everyone has a great summer.
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Great perspective on the rapidly evolving arena of current events.
Look forward to your contributions on local issues next year - Auckland desperately needs some more informed, balanced commentary on our issues to complement the great work of Transportblog. This is particularly relevant in 2015 with a 10 year budget (that currently repeats a lot of the mistakes we've seen since WWII) out for consultation early in the year.
Have a relaxing break! -
Sacha, in reply to
Likewise, it has been good getting our writing out there where others can add to it. I have always appreciated this community's supportive yet challenging nature. Tribute to its curator.
I believe Russell was going to migrate the Humans posts across to Access? Summer project, prehaps..
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chris, in reply to
Awesome words Russell. As someone who tends to push the barrow quite a bit, e.g. I have more logins than John Key has hats – it’s not that I’m attempting to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes; in the interests of transparency those logins: mark taslov, NSA, “chris” and this one – It’s just that I guess I tend to think of logins the same way our PM thinks of his job. And yeah, guilty of tub thumping, tendentiousness, being a bore, and worse, so I’m immeasurably grateful for your tolerance of my often injudicious longwinded posts. W.I.P. A Merry Christmas to you and to everyone here. And a goodish new year.
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Hebe, in reply to
Likewise, it has been good getting our writing out there where others can add to it. I have always appreciated this community’s supportive yet challenging nature. Tribute to its curator.
Thanks Sacha to you for Access, help, support, and for your patience.
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JacksonP, in reply to
Looking back, my first post here was now 5 years ago, during the Carly binding referendum. Still can’t work out how that didn’t win WOTY in 2009. I mean, who even is Michael LHaws?
At times this community has sustained me, at others driven me to distraction, but it remains unique among online communities, IMhO, in that the engagement is 99% of the time delivered with good intent, and mutual respect. This is no mistake, and takes a lot of effort by the whole community. Nice work. Take the day off.
Ahem. Love your work Russell, and thanks for letting us share in the good times.
You can dance, if you want to.
God damn you, Russell.
This one’s for you too Danielle. :-)
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I'd also like to acknowledge my boss for allowing moderation and other input during the working day as required. Thank you.
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