Posts by philipmatthews
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But Craig, as Sam said earlier, there are differences: Rush Limbaugh and Ian Wishart are "niche" (euphemism) broadcasters, whereas One News is the news and current affairs arm of the national, state-funded broadcaster. If you can't expect fairness, balance, good taste and decency there, then where?
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Apart from the "dead" part, I hope, Rich ...
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That Henry clip is indeed a shocker, even by his very low standards. But who produces that show? Does anyone? "Everyone is saying don't read it out," he says, and he goes on to read it out, against the advice of his co-host and the people talking in his ear. That shouldn't happen.
But I felt Alison Mau handled it well; her revulsion was pretty clear. Pippa Wetzel probably wouldn't have said a word.
Bring back Tim Wilson ...
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Hang on. Is Go Girls meant to be a comedy?
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Okay, getting back on topic. Graham asks, "what could be so imperative that at such a time it needed to be conveyed?"
Could be any number of things. She could be texting the babysitter to say they're going to be later than they thought. She could be texting someone who's still at the office about something she forgot to do before she left. She could be texting a friend or a partner to say, I'm over the limit, can you pick me up? Any of those would be important enough to justify a phone call - but it's better she sent a text. Is there an assumption that because she's texting, and because it's a gig, the content is frivolous?
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Thanks for those speeches Russell. As one of those parents that Grant Robertson alluded to, I was touched and impressed by his comments about how we fail special-needs children. I wish he was in a position to do something significant about it. Unfortunately, as Hilary Stace has said here and in the paper on Sunday -- great letter if you're reading, Hilary -- the education amendments are going to have the opposite effect, penalising the parents of kids who find school stressful or difficult.
And Phil's speech -- I'm sure he appreciated the ironies of being someone of Key's generation who remembers exactly what it was like to be politicised by the anti-Apartheid years.
I also think PAS has been really great this year. My "blogosphere" resolution for 09: no more reading the comments on Kiwiblog ...
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Jonathan, what are your feelings about "awesome"? Apparently visitors to NZ can't get over how often we say it and how multi-purpose it is. It's a word I've come to hate, personally.
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What seems zeitgeist-y, if you like, about credit crunch is the euphemistic, weasel-ish quality of it. Without the context, would anyone translate it to mean "financial catastrophe" or "Great Depression Redux"? Taken at face value, the phrase doesn't even seem to be negative. It's that kind of disconnect between the language itself and what the language represents that seems very 2008 to me.
Or as Anne Karpf said in the Guardian back in July, "Recessions are serious, but credit crunch sounds like a cheery breakfast cereal - a helping of financial reality that will do us all good."
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No Ben, this "Ryan" character is just seeing what you know and what else you can tell him ... Can't be too careful these days.
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Well, what is democracy but the free exchange of views?
Or in this case, shoes.