Throng

The folks over at Fox News America tried their best but came up a little short in this graphic warning of a potential tsunami.

I'm sure one or two Sydneysiders wouldn't mind if the city was relocated to the far North of Australia but it'd be a little tricky moving the Opera House in one piece.

Thank you again to all of you for your continuing support. After one day I feel so humbled with how sharing people have been with me. I've seen families burying their family and then playing games of Vollyball.  These are a resilient people but they are overwhelmed.

Faofao beach fales was one of the places I visited today. I made the TAXI stop when I saw a bunch of people sitting in the middle of the rubble.  They look stunned and shocked. The only clothes they have are the ones on there backs but thanks to Ewan Gilmore they will have nearly enough T-Shirts tomorrow for their entire family, which comprises 40 individuals.

I first noticed this story on Teletext some months ago, and today read the following on www.stuff.co.nz:

"A New Zealand entertainer has pleaded guilty to a criminal charge at the Auckland District Court today. However, the media remains gagged and the identity of the entertainer cannot be reported because of a court-ordered suppression. Judge David Harvey said that, if the entertainer's identity was to be made public, "it may have considerable impact on his future and future prospects". The situation would be reassessed at the man's sentencing on October 28. "At that time, the full story can be told rather than released drip by drip," Judge Harvey said. The nature of the charge the man has pleaded guilty to is also suppressed. A second charge was withdrawn by police this afternoon."

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A reality television project with the Jackson family could gain newfound viewer interest in the wake of the King of Pop's death.

The A&E network commissioned a one-hour special following Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Randy that was originally intended to serve as a "backdoor pilot" for a potential series.

The project was commissioned months ago and producers have finished shooting footage that followed Jackson family members as they readied a new album and reunion tour.

A&E planned to air the result as a special, tentatively titled The Jackson Family, next year, taking a "wait and see" approach and gauging viewer reaction before deciding whether to order the project as a series.

After Michael's unexpected death last month and subsequent intensive media coverage, the question for A&E becomes: What now?

Yes, Wall Street screwed up majorly, yes wars in far off places have stuffed numerous economies and yes people took too much notice of Gordon Gecko when they maybe should have been listening to some of the ideas Karl Marx had (I was too busy watching his brother, Groucho), but having the nightly news ram  ever-increasing doom and gloom over the "global recession" down our throats, night after night surely can't help.

This is not a head in the sand opinion. The economy is heading south and we have to deal with it, but the odd positive spin wouldn't kill anyone. It'd save some if anything. Taxes and interest rates drop, more money flows in and things will improve. New Zealand is isolated enough to weather the situation with relative safety. Lets focus on that.

The ‘Real’ Ron Burgundy Passes Away - Journalistic Legacy Lives On.

Sad news today that journeyman local news anchor Ron Hunter—who is thought to be the inspiration for Ron Burgundy in Anchorman—has passed away at the age of 70. “In his long career, Ron Hunter anchored top rated local news desks in New Orleans, Miami, Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Hunter brought a style of journalism now synonymous with the News on most of our country’s news networks (and indeed most western/commercialized networks). The Newscorps, Time Warners, Viacoms, Disneys and human interest Pandas/Polar Bears will forever be indebted to this man - as are we.

More @ www.politico.co.nz

TVNZ Proves BBC Model Can Be Boring - Even when No One’s Watching.

The BBC-esque model is in full-swing over on the Platform of Death (Freeview).
Never more so than on TVNZ's New News Missive 'TVNZ7'.
The BBC's objectives to Inform, Educate & Entertain are destined to govern the Channel.
So, with former Shorty St non-english speaking Actors like this in place of seasoned journalists, and Programmes like 'Alien Investigation', or (for those with a strong stomach) 'Afternoon Breakfast with Paul Henry' one wonders, how can it fail?

Indeed, during prime time 3 of the 4 Freeview exclusive channels present Maori-only content.
Given less than 4% of the population speak Maori and only 100,000 Freeview boxes exist, it'd be conservative to assume a turnout of roughly, nobody per channel.

Regardless, Informing? No.
Educating? Well probably not.