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quaxing

#Quaxing
It is official and spreading globally.

sesquiotic's avatarSesquiotica

Do you like quaxing? I like quaxing. I quax all the time. Well, to be precise, I quax regularly every Friday at around 6:30 pm, and I may also quax on other days of the week.

What is quaxing? By context, you may guess it is not related to sounds ducks or Aristophanic frogs make (brekekekex, quax, quax?). No, this word is an eponym. Or perhaps I should call it a contreponym or perhaps a spitonym, because its sense is pointedly in spite of the person whose name it uses.

I don’t know if this word will take off and last. Its sound is sharp and exceptional and suggests things unrelated to its referent. But right now it’s a fun little flash in the pan. And I bet at least one of my regular Sesquiotica readers (hello, Janet!) will know it already, since she’s from New Zealand, which is…

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April ’15 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

While quieter last month Talking Auckland did improve its rankings to 21 (well 20 as Whale Oil is not publicly showing his Stats Meter) up from 24 in March.

Again a thank you to readers and the growing numbers of commenters. Without you Talking Auckland would not be possible.

This month we have the Budget Committee debating the Long Term Plan, and myself due to give a presentation to the Auckland Development Committee on sub regional development.

Also this month starts the first of my Unitary Plan mediation/hearing sessions as well with Transport as the first topic being transport. Fun times ahead.

Ken's avatarOpen Parachute

Social-Media_EmailImage credit: Hosting A Competition To Increase Blog Visits

There are now over 300 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or have removed public access to sitemeters. (Let me know if I weed out yours by mistake, or get your stats wrong).

Every month I get queries from people wanting their own blog included. I encourage and am happy to respond to queries but have prepared a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) people can check out. Have a look at NZ Blog Rankings FAQ. This is particularly helpful to those wondering how to set up sitemeters.

Please note, the system is automatic and relies on blogs having sitemeters which allow public access to the stats.

Here are the rankings of New Zealand blogs with publicly available statistics for April 2015. Ranking is by visit numbers. I have listed the blogs in…

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Shayne Currie and the mystery of the ever-changing statement

For those in Facebook who have gone
FOCUS ON ISSUES THAT MATTER

Sorry but you might not be understanding the role of the 4th Estate which is the Media holding the State to account.

What we have here is an Editor breaching ethics, ethics so needed when running stories especially sensitive stories and anonymous sources.

If such ethics are thrown out the window as might be apparent then the 4th Estate is no longer doing its job. And by that they are not holding to account the Government and State on issues like

Taxes
Expenditure
Deployment to Iraq
Natural Disaster Response
Conduct of Government, Opposition, and MPs otherwise known as part of The Parliament
Policy that affects us all one way or the other
The Police (who have been in the firing line as of late)

So yes this is now an issue that matters as the 4th Estate is brought into disrepute when it meant to be an arm of our Democratic Institute. That is right the Media are part of our Democratic Institute as much as The Executive, The Legislature/Parliament, The Judiciary, and The State.

jononatusch's avatarOccasionally Erudite Publications

In my previous post, I quoted the statement posted online by Shayne Currie, NZ Herald editor, in response to questions as to Rachel Glucina’s ethics. It’s a statement that was initially posted, disappeared, and was then re-posted.

What I hadn’t realised is that some quite fundamental changes were made to the statement between being posted and then being re-posted. They’ve been mapped by Peter Aranyi, author of the excellent On The Paepae blog, via Twitter:

Shayne Currie statement

The most pertinent change would seem to be the removal of the words “No objections were raised” from the second-to-last paragraph. Did Mr Currie, on second thoughts, realise that such a statement was indefensible?

Then note, in paragraph three, the inclusion of the phrase, “Regardless of any confusion over the initial approach, all three agreed they wanted to make a public statement.” As I’ve previously written, the  confusion seems to have been manufactured by Glucina…

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Rachel Glucina and journalistic ethics (or the lack thereof)

Two things from this:

1) The actions of two people – an editor and a gossip columnist no less have pretty much belittled the Main Stream Media profession and the fine work the journalists actually do out there. If people or organisations are more hesitant to approach the MSM now with stories gee I wonder then why

2) The entire saga has for 48 hours now buried anything else coming out in the cycles today. If Mayor Len Brown wanted to pass a 10% rates rise today he could have done so and Auckland would have been totally clueless until the next Rates bill. The point being today there have been some larger Auckland stories coming through such as:

Auckland Transport considering transport investment over the next three years

Minister of Finance Bill English and Mayor Len Brown are in Flatbush today launching a large housing project with housing so short in Auckland.

Sticking with the Mayor it seems he has done it again and struck a deal on the Port situation. Len is known for striking deals that are the most pragmatic in the middle of a cluster turd storm

The PonyTailGate affair has been one bollocking up that is a case of wanting to turn away from a slow moving wreck but you can not.
The original offence of the Prime Minister touching someone without consent is still a big NO NO on all grounds.
The Herald cocking things up is something else entirely.

Talking Auckland does feel for the good journalists out there today. Why should two inept idiots ruin it for the rest.

Talking Auckland also feels for the waitress caught in this Category 5 shit storm. Having worked in hospitality as a worker and manager I would be guttered if from what I am hearing the owners effectively pimped out the story the way it seems to be unfolding. The Hospo Industry is fast pace and fun but hell it can be downright trying as well.

jononatusch's avatarOccasionally Erudite Publications

As everyone knows, John Key yesterday became an international laughing stock thanks to his penchant for stroking or yanking women’s ponytails. The blog that yesterday outed the issue kept the waitress’s name secret – her account of John Key’s actions at the cafe where she worked was anonymous.

Turns out it didn’t take long for her name to hit the headlines, thanks to the actions of NZ Herald gossip columnist / wannabe-real-journalist Rachel Glucina. You might remember Ms Glucina from Dirty Politics

An excerpt from Nicky Hagar's book Dirty Politics. An excerpt from Nicky Hager’s book Dirty Politics.

The waitress has detailed her account of Ms Glucina’s overtures here, and, if true, Glucina’s actions (and, indeed, the actions of her editor, Shayne Currie) reflect appallingly on the Herald. Here’s the long and short of it:

  • The Parnell cafe, Rosie, in which this all went down, is owned by Hip Group.
  • Rachel Glucina’s twin brother, Henry

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March ’15 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

Again a good month for Talking Auckland with new records set in Monthly readership.

My thanks to readers and commenters both old and new.

Without you Talking Auckland simply does not happen.

April looks to be a relatively quiet month with the Port issue being dealt with in the Auckland Development Committee today.

My Unitary Plan mediation and Hearings start in May so I will be busy going through the Council marked version of the the Transport topic in a couple of weeks.

Also I see Auckland Transport is finally getting its backside into gear over the successive weeks of train failures ( http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11426521 )

But again my thanks to you and as always you got a burning topic you like to write on or maybe I write on let me know 😀 .

Ken's avatarOpen Parachute

BlogThere are now over 300 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or have removed public access to sitemeters. (Let me know if I weed out yours by mistake, or get your stats wrong).

Every month I get queries from people wanting their own blog included. I encourage and am happy to respond to queries but have prepared a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) people can check out. Have a look at NZ Blog Rankings FAQ. This is particularly helpful to those wondering how to set up sitemeters.

Please note, the system is automatic and relies on blogs having sitemeters which allow public access to the stats.

Here are the rankings of New Zealand blogs with publicly available statistics for March 2015. Ranking is by visit numbers. I have listed the blogs in the table below, together with monthly visits and page view numbers.

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February ’15 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking

Another good month for Talking Auckland with the blog breaking into the Top 30.

My main goal is to get both visitors and Page Views sustained over 10,000 for each month by the end of 2015.

And with that I give my thanks to readers and commenters alike with without you Talking Auckland would not be possible.

This month sees the Long Term Plan feedback rounds close on March 16 with the Council then to deliberate before the final thus operative Budget commences in July.

This month also marks March Madness with the Universities back and the transport systems to get their full work out. Today while the rail system coped State Highway 16 certainly didn’t.

Expect more transport related commentary as we work our way through March Madness.

The Unitary Plan debate heats up again with the Panel releasing Interim Recommendations around the Rural Urban Boundary that marks the line between Urban and Rural Auckland.

Also with the Unitary Plan I have my first two notifications on my submission I gave to the UP. While my hearings are not until later this year I will be gathering the evidence I need to support my claims and ideas to my submission.

All in all this is month three of what will be a busy but interesting 2015

Ken's avatarOpen Parachute

blog-breakdown

Image credit: Dear Kitty. Some blog

There are now over 300 blogs on the list, although I am weeding out those which are no longer active or have removed public access to sitemeters. (Let me know if I weed out yours by mistake, or get your stats wrong).

Every month I get queries from people wanting their own blog included. I encourage and am happy to respond to queries but have prepared a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) people can check out. Have a look at NZ Blog Rankings FAQ. This is particularly helpful to those wondering how to set up sitemeters.

Please note, the system is automatic and relies on blogs having sitemeters which allow public access to the stats.

Here are the rankings of New Zealand blogs with publicly available statistics for February 2015. Ranking is by visit numbers. I have listed the blogs in the table below, together with…

View original post 1,626 more words