Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Satire's shooting star, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Did David Haywood’s recent post on Coling Craig get C&D’ed by any chance?
No, David took it down when it transpired that some people felt very strongly that it was homophobic – which it most certainly was not, but you possibly had to be aware of Colin Craig’s submission the the marriage equality select committee to fully get the joke. He also didn’t feel it was his best work and although I was happy for it to go up, I tended to agree.
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Hard News: Satire's shooting star, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
Get him along too!
At the least, I'll put what he says to Jon.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Heavy Metal's…, in reply to Rich Lock,
Russell – belated, but I’m very pleased and quite surprised Jimmy enjoyed himself. I would have assumed an event/atmosphere like that would have been a bit too overwhelming.
He's been coming to gigs with me for nearly a year -- and yes, I was surprised at how he had no problem with the noise and crowds. He really loves it and handles himself well.
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I see Wayne Mapp is discussing He Toki Huna on The Standard -- in the process clarifying that he is registered commenter "Wayne".
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Idiot Savant,
He’d go to the Ombudsman, because it is an open and shut case. The ombudsman has ruled in the past that agencies must provide information in the format it is requested in, unless it would be contrary to the interests protected by the Act, contrary to a legal duty, or impair efficient administration. Furthermore, it seems that the charge is purely an artefact of Auckland Transport’s refusal to provide the information digitally, and hence it is unreasonable.
Thanks I/S.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Fair enough.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
No, Russell, it’s not “pretty basic democracy” it’s OBEYING THE LAW. If Auckland Transport officials don’t like the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, they should make the case for amending it so potential political inconvenience/embarrassment becomes grounds for declining an OIA request.
Auckland Transport considers itself within the law, of course -- but sometimes it takes the Ombudsman's office to, er, focus minds. Josh had similar issues seeking Auckland-related documents from the Ministry of Transport and one of his readers was frustrated trying to get some of the same material from Steven Joyce's office.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Hey, Sasha, ableist mental-health shaming? Really? Dude, you know better than that so do better.
This isn't the place for this and I'm not going to sacrifice the discussion to the policing of a vernacular we all, you included, use.
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Hard News: You can Roughan but you just…, in reply to Robert Fox,
I don’t think I’ve ever read a columnist as willfully and consistently wrong as John Roughan. His shameless dedication to the art of venal, disingenuous, bullshitting really is something to behold.
I think it's important to have commentators who aren't afraid to to be wrong, in that they're willing to buck the received wisdom, and Roughan occasionally comes up with a point. But mostly, his reasoning is just awful.
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Great work, guys. You're making Auckland awesome.