Posts by Russell Brown
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It keeps coming: The Radio New Zealand field recording of Anthonie Tonnon at the King’s Arms, as showcased at The Wireless
Tremendous crowd singalong to finish ‘Water Underground’.
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From Radio NZ's Music 101: Bic Runga and Hollie Fulbrook convene to cover Simon and Garfunkel in session:
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Envirologue: Too Big to Fail – Why…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Woohoo Bingo!
We now have the
“Science is never absolutely certain so because there is always some doubt it must be wrong”Next step: "What is truth, anyway?"
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OnPoint: Beyond 'a bad look', in reply to Bart Janssen,
It was mildly amusing in that it made both leaders look like plonkers.
I asked her on Twitter and apparently she did ask Key for a response to Little’s claim – and the “Angry Andy” nonsense was the response. Sure, “PM refuses to respond to allegation that public was misled over Budget” is a much better story than the silly one that went to air?
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Tova O'Brien's "Angry Andy" report on 3 News last night might as well be a picture of what Keith is talking about in the post.
She doesn't actually even put the main claim in Little's speech – that the government knew well before last year's election that a surplus was unachievable – to Key, and instead makes the whole report about the other guys' attack line. Just weird.
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Hard News: Synthetic cannabis: it just…, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
“But 90% of illicit drug users don’t enter emergency departments or become addicted” – actually, I think it’s more than that.
It very probably is.
What emergency doctors are saying these days is quite notable. They often have a pretty clear-eyed view. I spoke to one recently who said his life would be easier if people could safely obtain MDMA ("a safe form of intoxication") rather than the many riskier alternatives currently circulating in pills.
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OnPoint: Beyond 'a bad look', in reply to Sacha,
it’s a planned tactic involving lying about figures, knowing that most of our media will regurgitate them unchecked without the slightest qualms.
It does remind me of the long, strange struggle to get the Herald to stop using false figures on TVNZ 7’s audience that were cited in the first place by the Minister of Broadcasting, Jonathan Coleman.
I wrote this at the end of the linked post:
But to the Herald’s editors I would say this: you were given a bogus statistic by a government minister looking to frame a story in a particular way. Instead of scrutinising it, you parroted it repeatedly via your editorial voice. That’s not exactly speaking truth to power.
On the evidence of this week, I’d have to say there’s a place for public service broadcasting yet.
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The government’s current tack in its cold war with Auckland Council has been interesting.
Yesterday Radio NZ’s Todd Niall wrote a very measured column pointing out that the figures brandished by Simon Bridges and Nick Smith on council transport spending were entirely fictitious. Whether they were quoting the numbers maliciously or simply because they and their advisors are incompetent, it was important that someone pointed it out. As far as I know, only Niall did so.
Also yesterday, John Key made these bizarre comments in a soft interview with Paul Henry:
The Government has ruled out giving the council the power to implement a fuel tax.
“I just think their priorities are wrong,” Prime Minister John Key said on TV3’s Paul Henry programme this morning. “They’ve got to turn around and say, what is the most important issue? The most important issue has to be, in our view, provide roading solutions in the very short-term for where people live. Only 15 percent of people live in the CBD.”
The Government has also called on the council to rethink plans to build from the airport to the CBD.
“If they want more tools for funding, I think they have to demonstrate to everyone they have the right strategy,” says Mr Key.
“When the strategy they’ve got is focusing on 15 percent of where people live – not the 85 percent of where they live, or on the fact that we need to build more houses and build those houses we need infrastructure – I think the council does need to sit down with the Government and say okay, because we have a lot of experts. They are going to do that I think, because in the end, if they don’t, then their options will be limited to basically their rates, and there’s only so far rates can go."
The idea that the council’s transport strategy only serves people who live in the CBD is nonsensical (for more detail, see Transportblog ). Rail to the airport? There isn’t even a proposed budget for that. It’s no more than a possibility.
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Hard News: Synthetic cannabis: it just…, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
He wasn’t having to see on a daily basis the lives interrupted by alchohol and drug abuse.
Generations.
If decriminalisation, legalisation (and resulting control and regulation) and taxation will contribute towards better control of supply, education and mitigation of negative effects….why do we have such a HUGE problem with booze?
I don't think anyone is arguing for cannabis to be marketed and made available for sale in the way alcohol is -- for there to be some equivalent to the 10 bottlestores in a kilometre along Karangahape Road, or sports sponsorship or products targeted at young people.
The question is whether making criminals of people you're supposedly trying to help is useful.
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OnPoint: Beyond 'a bad look', in reply to Tinakori,
Sensationmongers like David Fisher and Patrick Gower eventually have the same problem.
Actually, their practices are completely different, and lie largely on opposite sides of the line Keith draws in the post.
He doesn’t have a left wing equivalent and that’s the Left’s loss. Danyl McLachlan at the Dim Post is probably the closest to an equivalent but without the gonzo damn the torpedo approach.
Or the clients or the background factional disputes. I personally like Hooton, but you're being quite naive about the reasons he might take a particular position.
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