OnPoint by Keith Ng

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OnPoint: Dear Labour Caucus

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  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    (I hasten to add that I, for one, welcome our new Broadcasting Overlord.)

    I guess this wouldn’t be the right time to discuss an appearance free for my turn here in a fortnight. :)

    Now, Shearer needs to spend his Summer break watching this... and taking notes. We must be entertained!

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

  • merc, in reply to Sacha,

    He's not, there will be a heavy price to pay for his other pets...think insurance.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Isaac Freeman,

    “They are your enemies”, whispers his sinister Grand Vizier,

    Who got Grand Vizier? Why hasn't this been reported? Bloody media.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Lew Stoddart, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Yeah, there’s an underlying assumption in asking the question which could be crudely summed up as ‘what’s in it for me?’, rather than ‘what’s in it for all of us?’

    I don’t tend to vote based on just my own narrow self-interests.

    I have, in the past, railed against the damfool working poor who vote for a Tory government on cultural grounds of social-conservatism or petit-authoritarianism while folk like me -- who do OK economically under a National government -- vote for parties who have their best interests at heart. I may at times have expressed views along the lines of "why the fuck don't I just vote for me, and if you lot are too stupid to vote for you then tough".

    While I retain some residual resentment, it's a simplistic, deleterious view. Non-material things matter, and the left's proposition to the electorate -- especially to the working class -- must be couched in broader terms than just "we're on your side, you dumb bastards". And a more just and equal society benefits everyone -- the wealthy included. Though perhaps not strictly in terms of how many superyachts they can afford.

    L

    Wellington, NZ • Since Aug 2010 • 109 posts Report

  • Rich Lock, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    an appearance free

    Freudian slip? No such thing as a mistake?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Danielle,

    I know the conversation has moved on, but… how is Giovanni’s remark an unreasonable response? I too am perfectly well-served by either Labour or National in government, because I’m middle-class and well-off.

    Damian was responding to the claim that there's little or no difference between Labour and National and said he thought that in a New Zealand context Labour could be identified with the left. Perhaps I was wrong, but informing him that as a middle-class professional he'd be all right whatever happened didn't seem all that helpful. But anyway, 'twas but a moment in a rather grumpy thread.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Rich Lock, in reply to Lew Stoddart,

    I suspect that rather neatly sums up and crystalises my fuzzy ill-thought-out view on this. So, uh, thank you?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report

  • Isaac Freeman, in reply to Lew Stoddart,

    Labour is not the Greens, for whom an influential niche position is a significant achievement. It is, or ought to be, a mass movement.

    I'll bite.

    I'd suggest that one of the difficulties facing Labour is a lingering attachment to previous generations when it was a mass movement. The ghosts of past glories sit in judgement of the current generation, and find everything they do wanting.
    Reconnecting with the past is useful inasmuch as it helps people identify their values, but it can also lead to a cargo cult mentality of trying to reconstruct the old mass movement instead of serving a new one.

    Christchurch • Since Feb 2007 • 134 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Russell Brown,

    I’m grieving somewhat that we didn’t get Chris Finlayson as new Minister of Broadcasting [...] So Broadcasting goes to … Craig Foss

    Cry me a river ... we got bloody Steven "we don't need your stinking evidence" Joyce as minister of science and innovation

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Cry me a river ... we got bloody Steven "we don't need your stinking evidence" Joyce as minister of science and innovation

    Suck it up, lab coat guy.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    And who would have thought of Peter Dunne as the coiffed white knight of public television?

    How ridiculous. He belatedly styles himself as the saviour of TVNZ 7, but then confesses that he asked the government and the government said "no", so he's going to "put pressure on the TVNZ board". Arrgh.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Suck it up, lab coat guy.

    Fully expecting a ring road to be built around Mt Albert Research Centre

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    start tailoring your grant applications to the interests of provincial trucking/construction magnates and you'll be sweet.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    every KAREN node deserves some asphalt - to remind us all of what really counts

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Arrgh

    heh. I knew that'd work :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    He belatedly styles himself

    many times throughout the working day

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Sacha,

    many times throughout the working day

    Oh, bravo.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Freudian slip? No such thing as a mistake?

    Preparing myself for disappointment. :)

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

  • BenWilson, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Fully expecting a ring road to be built around Mt Albert Research Centre

    It's actually nearly complete.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Leopold, in reply to Sacha,

    `The coiffed white knight`' of public broadcasting and TV?

    Your evidence is??

    Since Jan 2007 • 153 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Leopold,

    sarcasm

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Damian was responding to the claim that there’s little or no difference between Labour and National and said he thought that in a New Zealand context Labour could be identified with the left.

    Yup, and it struck me as a pretty uncontroversial observation. Labour is firmly on the centre-left and National on the centre-right. Obviously, plenty of people around here would like it if Labour’s centre of gravity was more leftish, just as it should be blindingly obvious there are many ways I’d like National to be fiscally drier and socially more “classically liberal”/libertarian than it actually is. But outside the WhaleOily/Standardista bubble, anyone who thinks either party is on the flaming fringes needs to get out of the house more.

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

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Feathers day...

    Why hasn't this been reported?
    Bloody media.

    Some fool taught the Ravens to say
    "Here pussy, pussy, pussy..."


    I am a CERN troll...

    Fully expecting a ring road to be built
    around Mt Albert Research Centre

    Excellent place to hide a particle accelerator!
    Joycean trucks, going faster and faster until
    they blur and turn into butter...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to BenWilson,

    Fully expecting a ring road to be built around Mt Albert Research Centre

    It's actually nearly complete.

    Don't be silly it's one way and far too narrow, some of the corners are too tight for 100 kph turns, pedestrians are still allowed to use the road to access greenhouses and labs, there is no dedicated parking building, resources that could have been spent on improving vehicle access to the site have wasted on failed research project (only successful projects will be funded in the future) ridiculous gates and site security has been installed that merely slow delivery truck access, space has been wasted providing secure covered bicycle parking, ...

    We have so much to look forward to ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Stewart, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    These Joycean trucks - has he put a tiger in the tank?

    And should Fonterrible be worried about the new source of butter?

    Te Ika A Maui - Whakatane… • Since Oct 2008 • 577 posts Report

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