Posts by Tom Semmens
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Hard News: Who owns the news?, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Mr. Rastini admits he has no morality and makes no useful contribution. Cancer? How Freudian of him. If an Saudi was to fly an aeroplane into his building, I would at least consider sending a card of condolence to Riyadh.
On the main topic,
Puzzling over the corpse of journalism in this country is all well and good, but isn't it time we just admited the body is starting to stink the place up, and give it a decent burial? Then at least we start looking around for a replacement.
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Hard News: Auckland, so much enormity to…, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
However a kindly driver took pity on us and gave us a lift in his drivers cubicle – so we saw what train drivers see as they errr, drive along.
Definitely in the "only in NZ" department. Anywhere else in the English speaking world machine-gun toting cops would have surrounded the cab in a potential terrorism alert.
The hotel/motel trade, who set out to gouge the hell out of anyone from out of town on game nights, looks to have suffered a serious case of self-inflicted burn. And it serves the greedy bastards right. Price gouging of the order described in the Herald (1577%) simply stimulates people to be more energetic and inventive in finding alternatives. I know people who have met tourists in bars and offered them room on the floor of their houses to help them get around paying the money demanded by hotels and motels. Hopefully a few lessons have been learnt.
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The only bum note I would have about Saturday was getting dropped off in Morningside Drive with a lack of directions - one of our bus load asked directions and was told to "follow everyone else". I actually live closer to Eden Park than where we were dropped off, so no harm done - I acted as the ersatz guide. But if we'd all come from outside that part of town, then you could have ended up walking to Eden Park a very long way round.
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I have but one thing to say to the NZ Herald:
Klaatu barada nikto
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I (uncharitably) suspect John Armstrong woke up with a raging hangover, checked the Herald, and couldn't believe he actually clicked "publish" on his first piece, so he thought he had better bang out something by way of trying to reestablish his credibility.
Either that or Alzheimers.
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Terribly nice of Tracy Watkins to issue a press release in support of Mr. McCully this morning in the Dom-Post, don't you think?
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I have seen greater Police crowd control at the Satan Parade,
Wow, things really have gone downhill under Red Len.
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However, he and the Councillors share responsibility for not adequately verifying the assurances they were fed by the staff who report to them and to the CCO Boards largely appointed by the govt.
But hang on, how does an elected representative verify what his/her highly paid, experten officials are telling them? isn't that what you have the bloody officials for?
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Hard News: The Minister's Brain Has Exploded, in reply to Russell Brown,
Armstrong occasionally writes some interesting stuff, but it has been clear for some time now he is completely besotted with Key at a personal level and all his irritating assumption he knows what voters think is complete tosh. you are right – he needs a holiday out of the bubble, preferably picking apples in Hawke’s Bay with actual human beings or something.
It would be interesting to hear what he and Sneddon would say about the Govt’s handling of the RWC if they could be completely candid.
The day after we win the final, a good journalist would try and find out. More likely we will get a piece from John Armstrong proclaiming the PM’s triumph.
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John Armstrong appears to have written his column in the Herald whilst wanking over a picture of John Key.
He should read Fran O’Sullivans actual journalism in the same paper and resolve to keep his masturbatory fantasies more private in future.
Oh and the other award for spectacular sycophancy in the media has to go the TVNZ’s 6pm news bulletin, where in the most insultingly condescendingly way possible the nations viewers were addressed in a tone of voice and terms usually reserved for the audience at a Wiggles concert that “the Auckland council has dropped the ball children and luckily the big, brave government has wrestled it from them and picked it up! Hurrah for the brave government!”