The LawsWatch travel advisory
As part of our on-going commitment to the safety of Watchers over the holiday season, LawsWatch has decided to follow the example of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and issue our own "travel advisory" for Wanganui residents looking for a week or so of peace and quiet. Coming from an area publicly identified with the Diva is considered to be extremely high risk, and Watchers are advised to plan safer holiday alternatives, such as a farmstay in lovely Chernobyl or perhaps caving in Afghanistan.
Ohope Beach, while highly desirable at this time of year, is obviously an extreme risk. And beware of stopping in at genetically deficient Raetihi for fuel. Any items linking you to Wanganui (LawsWatch daks, for instance) should be removed before entering Christchurch (high risk as the Diva-annointed white trash capital) along with Murupara and Stratford and Dannevirke who have also come in for a slagging.
In fact caution should be exercised when passing through anywhere capable of receiving a television signal, as these areas are probably hostile and dangerous on account of the likes of Celebrity Treasure Island, a Game of Three Losers etc.
Any Watchers finding themselves inadvertently in Whakatane should call the LawsWatch cave to arrange for an immediate airlift.
After calling Whakatane the "trash capital of New Zealand" the Diva bravely refused to be interviewed by the Whakatane Beacon, to front up in the town, or to discuss the matter with local iwi, who famously said they could "see through the mist" that the Diva was talking about Maori and demanded an apology.
It seems, however, that not all residents of Whakatane are busy growing marijuana, collecting benefits, drinking beer and beating their spouses and have in fact found time to pen some fairly articulate rebuttals to the Beacon's letters page. Here's a couple of examples:
Regarding the Beacon front page story about Michael Laws' attack on Whakatane. Michael Laws is a self-opinionated person who couldn't hack it in Parliament. In his talkback programme he cuts off people who don't agree with him and calls them idiots...The remainder of Mr Valentine's letter points out some of the other tourist attractions of Mayor Laws' perfect city such as Aramaho, Heads Road and the wharf area... so effectively Whakatane citizens have received their own travel advisory and would now probably rather visit Baghdad than Wanganui. We're sure the local tourist industry will appreciate the Diva's efforts to establish friendly diplomatic relations with other parts of the country. After all, having a high profile mayor is certainly "putting Wanganui on the map". Just for all the wrong reasons.
Ian Robson
I smile at Michael Laws' derogatory comments about Whakatance. He is only Wanganui's new part-time mayor and it seems that with his radio and peacock appearances he has just not had the time to tour his own fine city to find out just what he is in charge of. If he took the time to enter his city from the north, he would realise that he has got the two towns names mixed up.
Let me explain. As you enter Wanganui from the town boundary to the Aramaho rail bridge then back over to the east town, you will find an area of poorly-maintained state homes and units where I often see police cars. This is the Trash Capital Michael could be referring to...
I'm not knocking Wanganui - I love the place, have many friends anf family living there and spend a lot of time there...
As a ratepayer in both Wanganui and Whakatane, I have some advice for my new Wanganui mayor: Michael, you have bitten off more than you can chew on this one, so for once in your life pull your head in or you will be a one-term mayor.
Richard Valentine
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12 comments:
Back on the previous post a commenter said: “The Mayor was in Wellington on Xmas Day because I saw him there. Get a pair of glasses!”
Now Mickey himself tells us, courtesy his latest online ramblings, that “I have been in bed with the ‘flu for much of Christmas”.
So the anonymous commenter who claims to have seen him in Wellington on Xmas Day was actually in bed with him - in Wellington then. Oh, I get it now, thanks Mickey.
Speaking of hot travel destinations with uncanny links to our political regime, Robert Fisk has this to say in his new tome on the Middle East.
He’s explaining how Saddam was fond of prefacing his mass executions of opponents by visiting groups of Iraqis (like a farmers union, for instance) and asking them whether named “spies” should hang, whereupon “the people” duly chorused they should.
Says Fisk: “It was the same old Baathist technique; get the people to make the decision - once they knew what it should be - and then obey the people’s will.”
At least Saddam didn’t waste ratepayers’ dinars on all that Vision-style referendumb nonsense.
Hey Morgs
He may not have paid your deposit but it sounds like he's writing your comments for you... very clone-like indeed.
I had been amused to see this blog giving you such a good run but it's not surprising to see you revert to (diva) type now the party's over.
the difference between a disgruntled fast food worker and hunter-bell...........one works for a living , the other one is subsidised by the worker.....get a job smartass.
It’s nice for Morgs that Michael offered to pay his deposit. Whatever the mayor’s failings, he’s shown an astute eye for picking talent. Eighteen months ago we were probably wondering what on earth made him hand-pick the likes of Dotty, Muzza, Higgie and Marty for Vision. Did they have the intellectual heft, the debating skills, the ideas for the job., we wondered?
Now we know. They’ve gone from being unknowns to being well known, for their pigmy brains and tongue-tied stupidity. On the other hand we’ve been awed by the dazzling virtuosity of the published writings of Dotty (Professor Phard was a stroke of genius) and Muzza’s lightning strike on Ron Janes.
So Morgs should be flattered that Michael recognised his potential to fit in with the rest of the diVision team.
Get off Morgs back.
He has had the guts to enter the political process and be constructive agst negative dickheads like you lot. His work for the youth council has led to a permanent committee for youth and $50K of funding from council which is more than any other contributor here has gained, you can bet.
The mayor contributes over $45K a year to worthy causes in Wanganui (again more than any negative here) and if he saw Morgs as a good cause, then good on him.
The bitterness here is consuming you people.
So BOTH Watchers were wrong - the one that said the mayor was insulted running on Xmas Day and the one who saw him in Wellington.
He was sick in bed with the flu we now discover courtesy of his column. That's the problem with this blog: people keep on making stuff up.
anon Morgs should be flattered that Michael recognised his potential to fit in with the rest of the diVision team.
You forgot the most important quality of all to ensure rapid rise through the diVision ranks. It's called mayoral sycophancy and judging by this outburst, Morgs has it in spades.
Isn't your graphic of Whakatane as bad as the mayor's comments? And OHope Beach is NOT Whakatane - my parents would have a fit. They live there and they've finally got rid of Whakatane off their address after many years of lobbying.
anon .... And OHope Beach is NOT Whakatane -
Dickhead. As a former ratepayer of and resident at Ohope Beach I can confirm that the Whakatane Beacon is the local newspaper there and residents of Ohope, as with all other parts of the Beacon circulation area, know all about the shithead potty-mouth mayor of that weird place down south somewhere.
That's the problem we have, being "represented" by such a crap mayor and the Diva's sematic bullshit here or in any other media outlet that is prepared to print his spin doesn't change that.
Anonymous said...
Isn't your graphic of Whakatane as bad as the mayor's comments?
You are right of course. The person who made this graphic is as bad as the mayor so I demand that that person not be eligible for election as the representative of any city, borough or region that purports to be civilised or even "normal".
Thanks anon for alerting us to the absurdity of having a jerk like Laws as Wanganui's "ambassador". Now how about having a good talk with his underlings who think it's a jolly good idea to have their mayor throwing insults around NZ.
And while you're at it, how about warning the populace not to vote for anyone who will perpetuate the mandate he claims to cast Wanganui and its citizens into disrepute.
Thanks anon. It's good to see someone here who agrees with the raison d'etre of this blog.
Morgs Hunter said...
The majority of commentors here are just full of shit ..
Got news for you, Morgs. The majority of commentors in here ARE the mayor. Go figure.
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