Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Mark Easterbrook,
I had a quick chat with him outside Pak N’Save the other day and that’s exactly how I felt too. He seemed to be feeling just a little bit awkward about having to do the handshaking/babykissing stuff, which I think says good things about a politician.
I mentioned on Twitter that I'd seen him doing the same outside the Pt Chev Countdown and someone said they'd seen him a few days before, planting trees down at Oakley Creek. On his own. No crowd, no photo-op.
I think that says a lot about the man.
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Hard News: Sharing the Wealth, in reply to BenWilson,
The most dangerous viruses are the ones with a long infectious period before you show any signs. Zombieism strikes me as easily containable.
Indeed. I keep wondering how they’ve managed to fuck it up that badly in the Walking Dead universe. Surely New Zealand and other Pacific islands are still okay? Perhaps the NZ-hosted root server is what keeps the internet going for the rest of the world. Not very confident about China though. That’s probably wall-to-wall walkers.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Think I’m just biased? Hamish Keith wasn’t whelmed either; and we both thought Chris Finlayson fronted an equally no-weight policy from National.
It's a fail for both. For Finlayson, because he has the grounding in the sector to do something out of the ordinary.
And for Labour because Arts, Culture and Heritage (like Broadcasting) is something they should nail as a matter of identity.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to tussock,
If the left stays home, we’ll have a one-party state for three years, with people who don’t like accountability, don’t like evidence, don’t like government spending (health and education, eh), and who could rattle though a quick change to a less proportional electoral system and keep it that way.
I do tend to think they've ensured they won't have another armchair ride with the media this time though.
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Capture: Don’t Point Me Out In A Crowd, in reply to Jonathan Ganley,
Not only that, but I wanted to send the link to my Mum! Anyway, I transcribed from the lyrics on the sleeve of ‘Cut It Out’.
Ah. Interesting.
I was going on Shayne's comments when he hauled it out at the King's Arms. I recall he speculated that it was surely the only rock song with "cunt" in the first line.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Hayden East,
I’ve been out door knocking for Jacinda, campaigning for the Green party vote, and flyering for MMP.
Bravo.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Which is fine for determining what you won’t vote for.
But still leaves what you will vote for confused, well maybe not for you, but certainly for me.
I'll vote how I always vote :-)
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Kracklite,
Fascinating (as Bishop would say, dissecting a dead facehugger in Aliens), listening to Hooton on Nine to Noon. He was obsessively repeating “ so-called asset sales” and puffed up with moral indignation over Labour’s “scare campaign” (this from a man who compared them to the Kahui parents a few years ago). His urgency, and his repetitiveness was quite morbidly interesting – he seemed to be panicked.
Hooton has made disingenuousness a high art.
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Hard News: Last Words, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
As it stands, I’m party voting Mana and electorate voting for Grant Robertson, as he’s one of the better Labour MPs and deserves to survive a wipeout on the list.
I keep having to remind myself I'm not in Auckland Central any more (it was the boundary that moved, not me), because I'd really like to vote for Jacinda Ardern.
Which isn't to say I don't think Nikki Kaye isn't capable. Indeed, the quality of candidates in the electorate is remarkably high -- both the Greens' Denise Roche and Act's David Seymour do their respective parties credit. But winning in Auckland Central would give Ardern a political base that I really think she deserves.
Stil, can't complain about the MP I have. David Shearer, who should canter home in Mt Albert, strikes me as one of the most genuine people I've met in politics. He's hardworking, humble and intelligent.
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And what pisses me off about Labour …
Well, I think some policies aren’t well-considered. The Broadcasting policy is a missed opportunity, and removing GST from fresh fruit and vegetables is like to achieve little beyond eroding the tax base. It’ll save my household way more than it saves a household on the benefit or minimum wage.
But mostly … it’s the list. This term was the perfect time to clean out the time-servers and give Labour’s new talent three years to find its feet.
Instead, a badly flawed process may well see Carmel Sepuloni – one of a handful of MPs picked out as the face of the party for the opening broadcast – out of Parliament because her list place isn’t high enough. Others behind her, like Jordan Carter and Kate Sutton, have no show.
In the likes of Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern, Labour has authentic future leaders. They should have had company on this year’s party list and it’s a bloody criminal shame they don’t.