Posts by Michael Stevens
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There is a significant class aspect to this - kids from the wealthier suburbs do tend to make some distinction I'd say. There is a definitely a lower class pronunciation, and also an Island a Maori one of NZ English, as well as an upper class one.
But English is a glorious soup of a language, always on the go, and always upsetting someone (often me, I admit) with its changes.
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But, even though this guy seems to be an opportunist out to make himself some cheap thrill by laughing at us, but...
NZ does take itself very seriously at times, and this can be a bit of a bore. We do tend to be as earnest as a serious teetotal methodist maiden aunt, or today, a vegetarian lesbian raising organic chickens while trying to leave a zero carbon footprint.
There is a sanctimonious streak a mile wide in NZ culture these days, a sort of over-reaction to the old cultural cringe, and just as bad for us. Too much unquestioned praise for NZ culture/wine/food/landscape/film whatever is just as bad as too much unthinking dismissal of it was in the past.
And there is a lot of crap in our galleries that is there because it is "indigenous" and is therefore treated with reverence, not informed criticism.This guy deosn't appear to be the one to offer it, but some good clear criticism of NZ culture and its faults is not a bad thing.
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In fact, it seems to me that this Govt would have loved to have a Maori as Police Commissioner - the idea that "they didn't want a Maori at the top" is just absurd.
Jackson is just a blowhard - never really seen what his point is.
And rickards - well, I hope he leaves his kids with Shipton and Schollum when they get out of prison - they'd be perfect babysitters obviously.
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Rich, this is still completely beside the point. It's not about what some group of hypothetical off-duty cops or NF supporters might say, but what was said here.
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What a group of NF nutters or off-duty cops might or might not say is totally beside the point here.
What matters is what was being said by this group. And that is cause enough for concern.
And even though Tuhoe have had the focus on them at Ruatoki, isn't it correct (if my memory serves me) that most of those arrested were not Tuhoe, or even Maori? I'd like clarification on that please anyone.
Yes, the underlying root causes of all this matter, and need to be addressed, but the idea that this type of planning (if that's what it was) can go unremarked, and even be brushed off by some people here just strikes me as amazingly naive.
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If you have ever lived in a country where one small group thinks it is its 'right' to go round letting off bombs and shooting people, (and yes, I have) then this sort of talk is both familiar and deeply disturbing.
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RB, thanks for the measured analysis here.
Something about this Bill just makes me very uneasy. Yes, something needs to be done to tighten up our election rules, but I don't think the Bill in this form does it. It really does seem like a knee-jerk reaction against the brethren mafia of last time round, rather than a well-considered and thorough re-ordering of our electoral laws.
I am very uncomfortable with how it's heading so far, but will wait till the final draft.
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I agree RB - it is wonderful that we are in a country where the SG can stand up to the police and say "No, your case doesn't make the grade" - that is something worth celebrating, amidst the all the doubts I have over how the whole thing has been handled, this gives me great comfort.
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I lecturer in Sociology at Auckland, and I think it would be very hard for someone else to mark my paper, unless they had sat through the course, done all the readings, and attended the tutorials I give.
In the humanities, I'd argue that marking exams or assignments, is a mixture of art and science - you can't say exactly if the student has interpreted Bourdieu with utter precision, but you can easily see if they have no idea what they're talking about, or how they are creatively applying theory to data and interpreting concepts.
Marking the good ones is so much easier than the bad ones.
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Dave Waugh said...
We worked on the curriculum project at my work and having read all it's various incarnations as it was developed I must say I have been well impressed by it's vision and scope.
it's = it is
its = genitive form (possessive) of it
Will the new curriculum teach our kids these basics?
;-)