Posts by Sacha
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Hard News: Criminalising Journalism, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Annette King was the only one expecting the guy to jump.
I'd say a few others in the chamber did too, hence the yelps from more than one mouth. And thank goodness the security guy and bystanders up in the viewing area stopped him.
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After tear-gassing of Occupy protestors at University of California Davis, a junior staff member has written to his ultimate boss, the Chancellor who ordered the police in.
This is what balls sound like. Heard anything remotely similar in NZ politics any time lately?
You are responsible for it because this is what happens when UC Chancellors order police onto our campuses to disperse peaceful protesters through the use of force: students get hurt.
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I am writing to tell you in no uncertain terms that there must be space for protest on our campus. There must be space for political dissent on our campus. There must be space for civil disobedience on our campus. There must be space for students to assert their right to decide on the form of their protest, their dissent, and their civil disobedience—including the simple act of setting up tents in solidarity with other students who have done so. There must be space for protest and dissent, especially, when the object of protest and dissent is police brutality itself. You may not order police to forcefully disperse student protesters peacefully protesting police brutality. You may not do so. It is not an option available to you as the Chancellor of a UC campus. That is why I am calling for your immediate resignation.
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Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Steve Parks,
way off base
or desperately trying to whistle to them
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Nothing compared with the scale of sanctioned vandalism in Christchurch right now. Heritage property owners whining about the cost win against Historic Places Trust experts. Swift demolition. Exactly as Gerry promised.
Now will the other 99% of Cantabrians do anything meaningful about it at the polls, or just give this government a blank cheque for more of the same?
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Hard News: Criminalising Journalism, in reply to Ian Dalziel,
badoomtish
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Speaking of criminal, I can't recall (your honour) which thread we were discussing it on, but Rudman has written more about Auckland's ANZ tower's creche being removed but not the 5 extra floors that it bought the original developers.
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Hard News: Criminalising Journalism, in reply to JLM,
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While we're at it, here's Lew on Joyce's statistical tactics.
Leaving aside questions about the veracity of these figures (they could be utterly fabricated and we’d be none the wiser; Bomber reckons they’re bollocks), this actually is a case of a politician deploying polling data to send a message, not only to the media, but to the public: If you care about this you’re out of touch, disconnected, in the minority, obsessed with trivia, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
While I disagree with his assessment, what’s more interesting is how he framed that assessment: as a normative argument about what election campaigns ought to be about, and what “real New Zealanders” care about; echoing John Key’s “issues that really matter” rhetoric, which is precisely what all the National supporters I’m in touch with have been saying: nothing to see here, it’s a sideshow, can we get back to the substance, and all that.
Which is pretty ironic given that the Nats have done extremely well for most of the preceding five years by staying the hell away from policy arguments wherever possible.
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Hard News: A week being a long time in politics, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
a couple of crushed up paracetamol tablets being stirred into a freshly made short black
does that actually work?
#notametaphor -
John Drinnan unmasks the teapot genius.
Who is advising the PM on this Mexican stand-off with the media?
A source familiar with the Government communications strategy said the PM's attack on the Herald on Sunday and refusal to explain his comments to John Banks was a strategic decision, rather than a symptom of concern or panic from the media storm.
It was based on the premise that Key was so popular the public would support the PM and any negative outcome would be less than if the details of his conversation with Banks were actually released, the source suggested.
The expectation was that any damage to media relations in the campaign could be fixed with a charm offensive in the New Year.
The sharp edge of the criticism reflects the style of Kevin Taylor, Key's chief press secretary, who lacks the skills of Helen Clark's Mike Munro.
That said, Steven Joyce can play a heavy hand when media transgress his rules and the Rena debacle revealed his lack of experience in handling a media storm.
Experienced National strategist Murray McCully is not playing a big role in the case, and that might explain how it has escalated.