Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: This. Is. Crazy., in reply to Moz,
Specifically, what should be an indication that extra help is required is being used to dump people on the streets with no help at all.
It basically runs counter to everything our National Drug Policy says.
That would be an interesting line of inquiry with the responsible ministers.
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The Drug Foundation has an OIA request in on this stuff, but I don't know the details.
It would be handy if it showed which companies Housing NZ is using.
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Hard News: This. Is. Crazy., in reply to Bart Janssen,
Even more worrying, we know nothing about the methods used by the testing companies, sampling regimes, cleaning of equipment between houses, calibration protocols etc. All of which might take a reliable test into the realms of garbage data.
Many of these companies are using consumer reagent testing kits.
And as Ian pointed out – if a testing company is also a cleaning company you have the possibility of corruption as well.
Yeah, there seems to be a good business in “further testing” too. Some companies are better than others, but they all have an interest in rarking up the alarm – and they’re generally reported in the press as experts rather than businesses with a direct commercial interest in a particular perception of the issue. This is where the “it’s the next leaky homes crisis” headlines come from.
There is a small but significant issue with chemical contamination from clan labs, which often move around (hotels and motels are popular). But it’s been twisted and used for advantage in deeply misleading ways.
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I was also told this morning – informed source, etc – that Housing NZ has been ramping up the meth-house panic in pursuit of more money in the Budget.
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Hard News: This. Is. Crazy., in reply to Ian Pattison,
You’d think so but this isn’t about protecting kids from meth-contaminated houses. As Russell said in the post, it’s about targeting lifestyle and masking it as an environmental health and safety issue.
Exactly.
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I've just received the comments from Canons Best Blog Site judges Deborah Hill Cone and Bill Ralston:
With Public Address Russell Brown inspires hope the internet can be deep as well as fast. He should feel proud he has created a unique and meaningful community with a compelling voice that demands to be heard, not by shrieking loudly but by talking thoughtfully.
For an online entity, Public Address retains a surprisingly quirky and organic personality. Readers are left in no doubt this is an enterprise which is authentic and wholehearted, not dreamt up in a corporate focus group. The writing is classy but fierce, bringing clarity to topics as varied as racism, footpaths and eczema.
Public Address is a place to read something that means something.
Awwww ...
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Speaker: Confessions of an Uber Driver…, in reply to BenWilson,
What I find a bit freaky is the number of times I’ve been invited into the house of people who got a ride. So far, I’ve not taken anyone up on that, but there’s definitely a strange implication in the whole process that I’m actually somehow the rider’s new mate.
I find it really easy to be congenial with the driver, especially on a ride with friends, because the reality of a payment transaction isn't present. It's just "Thank you driver! Have a good night!" and we're all good. But I haven't got to the point of inviting my new Uber friend indoors – and that's not just because most of my Ubers are outbound.
I guess it’s beyond their experience to have had their musical drinking party continue all the way home, and they don’t want it to end. I can be their DJ all night long, and maybe even marry their sister.
Lol.
So how many drivers have the Bluetooth? Should I ask when I get in?
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Hard News: The media awards are dead –…, in reply to Adrian Humm,
Russell’s understated rant
I don't think I've ever heard it called that before ...
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Hard News: The media awards are dead –…, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
and then never got around to it, so it’s nice to know I actually won :-)
You did – and I'd have been happy to verify your entry. But would I then have had to enter "Public Address, apart from Graeme Edgeler"?
So I think there's a pretty clear case for a Best Blogger too. The category keeps changing and the judges' decisions have been a bit odd at times – and this year all three finalists were multi-author blog sites, because that's what the category implied.
People have asked, so I should also note that I won the "Best Blogger" award the first year it was offered at the old Qantas Awards, some time in the 2000s.
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Hard News: The media awards are dead –…, in reply to Carol Stewart,
Also very happy to see The Wireless get the best website award. I’m not exactly the target demographic, but I love it. RNZ just get better and better.
I snuck a pic of a very happy Radio NZ CEO Paul Thompson just after the website award was announced.
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