Posts by Matthew Littlewood
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Are we still talking about the elligible age for voting in elections?
Anyway, I'll assume we are.
As someone whose family lived, breathed and worked politics for many years, I was pretty immersed in it from a young age- even to the extent that I won a speech competition in Intermediate with one on the inagrual MMP election (which makes me 24, now, in case you're wondering).
And as a would-be history student, I am inherently fascinated in the precedent of politics- and politics always has precedent.Buit I admit I'm probably an anomally in that regard- which isn't to say I didn't have friends who were interested in politics, rather that most people aren't as a rule. They have "other interests."
And I think 18 is the right age to have the responsibility to vote. By then most people have some perspective.If I'd change anything, it'd be to somehow squeeze more NZ history into the school curriculum, which possibly could have a flow on effect
of getting more people interested in NZ politics.
But it's hard to know how to approach it.Re: the McCain "apology"- the phrase- "horse has bolted" springs to mind. It's amazing he got in bed with the same team which went some way to bringing down his own 2000 Primary run, and then plead innonence of their tactics. He knew the game they ran.
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On a happier note, I enjoyed a crystalline day in Christchurch yesterday, strolling around the Botanical Gardens, visiting the art gallery -- I intended to just check in on 'As there is a constant flow a light', a painting that almost makes me tremble when I stand close to it, but got the wonderful bonus of Daniel Crooks' video installations, which brilliantly explore time and space -- having a beer out at Sumner and catching up with schoolfriends I haven't seen in many years. (None of them can remember John Key either.)
Yeah, it was one of the few fine weekends we've had in ChCh all year. It's been diabolically bad weather, and most of those weekends have seen me cover club rugby in conditions so bad that players had to subbed off for fear of catching hypothermia. (I kid you not!)
This week's Media 7 sounds good, as it deals with something that relates directly to me this year, did you invite any HODs from the Journalism Schools?
As for Sarah Palin, she fascinates me, for all the wrong reasons. I mean, the more you look at this choice, the more it seems that no thought was put into at all, other than as a pure "narrative" pic. Her knowledge of foreign affairs makes even Bush II look shaky- remember that infamous 2000 interview where he couldn't name any of the leaders from the major Asian countries- well, that performance was positively Churchillian next to Palin's gormless teleprompter fembot efforts with Charlie Gibson. Truly unnerving.
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Fisk was urbane, reasonably cheerful and of course gimlet-eyed and realistic about there being a solution as westerners would understand it to any particular Middle-East 'problem'.
I remember years ago reading a biography of the great Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent James Cameron who followed a similar beat for many years and emerged depressed and virtually suicidal till he was saved in his latter years by the love of a good woman. Fisk somehow seems to have managed to stay at the coalface long after lesser lights have given it away. Why though he feels the need to fly 30 hours to bless us with his wisdom I’ve no idea, but it felt a privilege to be there.
Except the questions from the floor. It didn’t take long before we were listening to local burgher’s world views and wasting the precious hour with Fisk. Organisers of his other talks take note.
Were you there on the Friday? If so you (indirectly) have me to thank- well, my class actually. The journalism school was meant to get a private lecture (and I was meant to bloody interview him!) but demand was such that eventually the Friday became another public session.
Not that I minded really, as you said, he was incredibly sharp, and I love his wry view of the world- it comes accross well in his writings, and if anything was more accessible in person, if that makes sense. He also had a nice line in the absurdity of communication. So much knowledge, so much wit and sagacity.
I agree that you have to be careful about both picking the right person to ask the questions, and know when to cut people off at the floor, too. Inanity can run riot otherwise.
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And silly. But I'm sure John Key is quietly chortling that the big criticism appears to be that the latest round of billboards aren't enough like the "cancerous and corrosive" Iwi/Kiwi effort. Anyone else think that might be the point -- despite the overly busy background?
I guess so, were it not for the fact there's something almost poetically vague and detached about these ones. As if they can put two statements together that are somewhat disconnected and expect the reader to make their own absurd leap.
And while I'm pretty sure Labour is going to avoid any more dangling babies, I wonder if it is going to go for a reboot of this kind of creepy and stupid.
John Key 'dragged up' as Ruth Richardson or a pair of 'devil eyes' photoshopped over his face? Considering the amount of time and energy expended on "Slippery John" and so forth, I wouldn't be at all surprised. And my major criticism of the last campaign was that Labour make the strategic mistake of thinking they could demolish Don Brash early, and forget about running any kind of positive messages about their own record -- in short, a classic opposition campaign.
Absolutely. Even a cursory glance of Labour's recent press releases on Scoop will reveal that a large proportion of them aren't so much about Labour has done for you but what John Key and National may do to you should you vote them in.
If their campaign is going to have any truck with the public then they might be best advised to put out more of a "vision thing" and concentrate less on the latter.
And yeah, I see the John Key/Ruth Richardson thing face-morphing thing being something they could well put out.
All this of course, is more about the advertising than y'know, actual substance or ideas. But it's interesting to watch anyway.
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Okay, I'll stop now. But this surely has to be one of the more cryptic "political sloganeering" campaigns in a while.
I'm not quite sure how they've managed to mix Crosby-Textor dog-whistling with Labour's quite baffling 05 "pitches," but they've done it. Does anyone remember their poster which had the baby, the string and the scissors? That was seriously weird. I think the "string" had various policies on it, or something.
I've already forseen this election campaign to be one of the messiest in quite some time, but I think the vagueness might become an art in itself.
Btw, how do you edit the original layout of them?
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Explain?
That would be losing
Look at the pretty pictures -
Blue is an Ambitious colour, which
when mixed with yellow
gives you Green. -
McCain: Obama Lacks Experience Running 5,000-Person Town in Alaska
McCain should employ Andy Borowitz as his strategist, I mean, it's not as if the shit his team's coming out is that much less ridiculous...
Note to those who haven't seen all the speeches- the Huff post has them all online complete with transcriptions, should you be so inclined.
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Note to self: read the full piece, not just the googled headline.
In what might be his most controversial attack ad in a campaign dominated by them, presumptive G.O.P. presidential nominee John McCain today launched a new TV spot attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill)'s two children.
According to political insiders, a negative ad targeting a rival's offspring is highly unorthodox, especially when the children in question are under the age of ten.
But after the two Obama kids scored in their performance on national television last night at the Democratic convention, "we had to do something to give the American people some straight talk on those two brats," Sen. McCain said today.
In the ad, which is being broadcast in key swing states, an announcer intones, "They're the cutest children in the world - but are they ready to lead?"
The spot uses visuals to link the two Obama kids to other famously cute kids, such as the young Drew Barrymore and the Cabbage Patch dolls.
The commercial goes on to blast the Obama children for "smiling and giggling but refusing to state their position on offshore oil drilling."
Still, if all else fails...
To American people on this forum- what's the reception been towards McCain's Veep nominee?
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Oops, I just re-read the author byline. Epic fail from me.