Len Brown gets to pick the Deputy Mayor, and off memory the Committee Chairs. Who will he pick?
Mike Lee is a contender. However he was a potential rival to Len, and as a former ARC Chair may find it hard to be Deputy.
If Brown wants to solidfy the region, Penny Webster the former Rodney Mayor is a possibility. Also Penny Hulse former Waitakere Deputy Mayor.
The committee chairs will also be of interest – will they all go to the left, or will they be shared around? I suspect Brown’s leadership style is to be collegial and make sure some go to those on the right – Cameron Brewer might pick something up? Also George Wood the former North Shore Mayor.
A related issue is who will become team leader for C&R? Could it be Jami-Lee Ross? As he is from the former Manukau City, that would help show they are not just Auckland City based.
Off this afternoon to Australia – again. Over the past decade I normally only end up in Australia once every two to three years. And for various reasons, this will be my 5th trip to Australia in the last five months.
On the plus side, I can now navigate Sydney CBD without a map!
NewstalkZB reports Jim’s latest excuse:
Jim Anderton believes national politics had a big impact on his mayoralty campaign in Christchurch.
The Wigram MP came in almost 17,000 votes behind Bob Parker, who took more than 68,000 votes.
Mr Anderton says he’s almost certain there was a polarisation around party politics during the campaign and with Len Brown winning Auckland, it could have been seen as a seismic shift in national politics if he’d won as well.
So Jim lost because Len won.
The HoS reports:
A drilling rig punched through to the underground purgatory where 33 miners have been trapped for 66 agonizing days under the Chilean desert, raising cheers, tears and hopes on Saturday.
Champagne sprayed and hard hats tumbled off heads as rescue workers pressed close to the drill, hugging each other and shouting for joy. Down in “Camp Hope,” where the miners’ relatives waited, people waved flags and cried as one man energetically rang a brass bell even before the siren sounded confirming the escape shaft had reached the miners.
The men are still several days away from efforts to bring them to the surface: the rescue team wants to eliminate even a remote chance of something going wrong on their way up, and plans to carefully inspect the shaft with a video camera before deciding whether to reinforce it.
I’ve found this story fascinating. The way the miners survived for those first 18 days before contact was made, is quite amazing, and you just know this is going to be turned into a film before long.
One just hopes that the rescue operation proceeds without incident.
The HoS reports:
Radio host Michael Laws has come under fire for calling Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand a “large, fat man” who has “never left” the buffet table.
His bosses at RadioLive have also been slammed – for saying they are comfortable with the remarks.
At least one complaint from a high-profile sporting personality has been laid with the Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres.
De Bres and media commentator Brian Edwards said they were appalled by the crass comments, which lacked good taste and decency.
They may not be racist,but they are lacking in decency. Sir Anand has performed his duties very well, and without controversy. He has done nothing to deserve such nastiness. And especially nasty is the fact that unlike most NZers, Sir Anand can not respond.
There have been some former GGs I have had misgivings about – the ones who take stances on political issues. But Sir Anand has behaved as impartially and neutrally as you would expect from a former Judge and Ombudsman.
By coincidence I got to meet Sir Anand a couple of days after his appointment was announced, as I was the guest speaker at the Wellington Central Rotary Club, of which he is (and remains) a member. It was very obvious he was held in high esteem by the club members, who were of course delighted with his appointment.
With the combination of Henry and Laws, I’m tempted to say that perhaps the PM should just re-appoint Sir Anand to a second five-year term.
Kerry Prendergast has a margin of just 40 votes on the ordinary votes. If this holds up against specials, then it will be congrats to Kerry on winning a 4th term – a hard thing to do in an STV environment where all the votes of those against you accumulate.
Either way it is congrats to Celia Wade-Brown for a strong campaign. Celia did not stand for Council again, but if she does lose and stays active may be a front runner for 2013.
There are 900 special votes, so Celia may still win. She needs to be ranked higher than Kerry in 52.3% of the specials.
(Note re-written from the original which was based on a media story declaring Kerry elected)
UPDATE: We now have fuller results:
For the Wellington Regional Council, the results are:
NewstalkZB reports:
Labour MP George Hawkins says he will be resigning from parliament.
He has just been elected to the Manurewa Community Board.
Mr Hawkins says he has yet to decide when he will step down.
On the plus side, this gives Phil Twyford another seat he can try and get the nomination for 🙂
Hawkins has only been elected to a local board, not even the main Council. I don’t think resigning from Parliament is necessary – but that is his choice to make.
UPDATE: I am interpreting resign from Parliament as meaning actually resign. It is possible he means retire, and is not ruling out staying until the election. He could avoid a by-election if he stays on until middle of 2011.
I will update as they come in:
The Dominion Post has done a profile of the candidates for Mana, and also an article about the race to win, which includes quite a few comments from me. I thought I would use the blog to expand on my printed remarks and out a bit of context around.
First if all, I have consistently said that the chances of a National win are low (but not of course non existent). I say this for two historical reasons:
The article quotes me:
He said the Government’s popularity meant there was little impetus to vote. Mana is a Labour safe seat. “Is there an incentive to give a government that already has a majority an extra seat?
This is why I think no Government has even won a seat off the Opposition – because they don’t actually need it. If people want to change the party that represents them locally, they tend to do it to send a message they are unhappy to the Government. It is harder to motivate people to vote to send out a message they are happy, and like the Government.
Now again this is not to say it isn’t possible, but that the incentives are harder for the Government than they are the Opposition.
The way for National to win, or at least reduce the majority, is not to only frame it as give National an extra seat because John Key is a good PM. The message needs to also be about who will be the best local MP for Mana.
“Hekia will pull `I will be a better MP’. People who have met Hekia and like her, could well respond. But you don’t get to meet the entire electorate.
The context of this is that when people meet Hekia, they are normally very impressed with her, and the more people she meets the more votes she will get. I think her career and background make her a considerably stronger candidate and MP than Kris. That is not to say that Kris won’t make a fine contribution if given the chance – but Hekia has a very formidable record of achievement, and a strength of character which I believe will see her become a Minister in the next term.
But the reality is it is very hard to meet every voter, or even half of them. And those who don’t meet Hekia, will then be faced with the question “Why do we vote to give the Government an extra seat”. That is the difficult part.
John Key’s smile only goes so far.
I really must restrain my sense of humour. This was short-hand for the PM is a popular Prime Minister, but being popular doesn’t necessarily mean voters will want to take a seat off the Opposition and give it to the Government as a thank you note.
So yes the chances of National achieving two historic firsts – winning Mana and a Government gaining a seat off the Opposition in a by-election is remote. But it is not nil, and the way to improve the odds is to have as many voters as possible meet Hekia and decide they want her as their local MP. She would be an outstanding electorate MP if given the chance.
I just lost $2,500 on iPredict. I had purchased a massive amount of Anderton too win stock when he was 30% ahead in the polls.
I can honestly say I have never so happy to lose $2,500.
Bob Parker has won with around 68,000 to 51,000.
Mayor Parker made some mistakes in his first term. But his response to the earthquake has been excellent. It has been more than just talking to cameras as Anderton snidely put it. A natural disaster does not always help the incumbent – look at Hurricane Katrina and Bush.
I wonder if Anderton will persist, in his final year in Parliament, with the myth he is a party leader.
Not online yet but I am told Len Brown has won the Mayoralty with a pretty large margin, and also that the left hold 11 of the 20 Council seats. I believe C&R have five seats and not sure how the others lie yet.
It’s an over 50% turnout so those who won can claim a good mandate to govern Auckland for the next three years – they have the challenge to make the Super City work, and be an improvement on what was there in the past.
I also understand despite being an incumbent Mayor, Andrew Williams failed to even be elected as a Ward Councillor.
With 95% counted it is huge – 220,000 to 160,000 – a real mandate.
UPDATE: Fuller results now in.
And for some of the boards:
The fact nine people are seeking Labour’s nomination for Te Atatu, reflects its safeness for Labour. No as safe as Mana (National won the PV in 2008), but whoever gain the nomination probably has a long parliamentary career ahead of them.
So who are they:
Phil Twyford – his fourth attempt to gain a seat after being rebuffed or scared off in Mt Albert, Auckland Central and Waitakere. As Chris Carter is said to be backing Twyford this should help him with the local electorate votes. Will Head Office back him though, and will the often union dominated floor votes go his way? A fourth loss would be even more humiliating.
Rajen Prasad – he had a top twelve list ranking from Labour in 2008 but has been near invisible in Parliament. My only sighting of him has been booing National MPs at Backbenchers. Given his age also, I would be surprised if he could beat Twyford. In fact I wouldn’t want to place much money on him having that high a list ranking next time either.
Nick Bakulich – A PI funeral director standing in the local body elections. Former public servant, and a church elder.
Jim Bradshaw – law student.
Dr Michael Kidd – barrister, stood for Waitakere Council in 2007. Appears to be past middle age, which may count against him. In safer seats you tend to look for someone who can do 15 years or so.
Hamish McCracken – I’ve lost counts of how many elections and nominations Hamish has lost. He does get union support though, and maybe people will feel sorry for him.
Anne Pala – a community advocate who also sought Waitakere nomination off memory. My spies say she was highly regarded in terms of political skills.
Greg Presland – could be a substantial candidate. Has been very involved behind the scenes with Labour, and when he is not commenting on blogs is a lawyer. A previous City Councillor and Labour appointed him to various boards.
Kate Sutton – Last time I checked Kate has the Woman Vice-President of Labour, and gained the job at a very young age. She has strong support from the younger activists and is pretty feisty would run a hard campaign. I’m not sure, but don’t think she is from the West which could count against.
So who are the front runners – I would say it is a choice between Twyford, Presland and Sutton, but reserve the right to change my opinions as the contest moves on.
The Herald reports:
The Super City result in Papatoetoe is likely to be legally challenged by political rivals of a candidate charged with forging documents to sway the election.
Up to 1500 votes are in question.
If the race between Len Brown and John Banks is close, a judicial inquiry could even cast doubt over the first mayor of the new Auckland Council.
Name suppression has been lifted from Daljit Singh, a Labour Party candidate in the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board in the Manukau Ward.
He and another man, who still has name suppression, have been jointly charged with forgery.
The pair are alleged to have forged change of address forms to falsely enrol voters in Papatoetoe.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. …
More than 300 voters have been removed from the electoral roll but the Weekend Herald understands up to 1500 enrolments are under police investigation.
If Singh is elected, we face a fascinating possibility – a judicial inquiry into the election can be petitioned within 21 days. This would normally be heard quite promptly – well before the criminal case makes it to court.
So you face the prospect of the judicial inquiry covering much the same ground as the criminal trial. Could the two arrive at different conclusions?
The Herald has reported on a poll done by Curia for Natural Dairy, who are bidding to buy the Crafar farms. They have placed online the full results.
The results were pretty interesting. There were three main things we were trying to ascertain:
The answer to (1) was pretty clear cut. 65% said that farms should only be able to be sold to NZ residents, with only 28% disagreeing.
With (2) three different scenarios were put about only employing NZ workers, paying tax in New Zealand and increasing exports. All of them reduce the level of opposition to some degree. Only 40% said the location of the owner matters if only NZ workers are employed. On the tax issue, only 42% said the location of the owner matters if tax is paid in NZ. But 52% would still be against foreign ownership even if the extra investment could triple output and exports.
So it showed that the level of opposition can reduce under various scenarios, but it still remains controversial.
The final aspect was finding out the level of comfort or discomfort based on the nationality of the intended buyer. In an ideal world, there would be no difference. So the first thing I looked for is how many people said they had the same level of comfort or discomfort for all five nationalities. It didn’t matter whether they were hostile to all five, or relaxed about all five – it was whether they treated them the same.
Only 42% rated all nationalities the same. 58% said that their level of comfort or discomfort varies by nationality.
We used a five point scale. If you define the net comfort result as the two most comfortable response options less the two most uncomfortable response options, then the net comfort results were:
This suggest to me that Maurice was not entirely incorrect when he said some opposition to foreign investment is fueled by racism. Certainly not all of it,m but for a fair few people, they are happy to have foreigners own NZ farms – so long as they are Australian and British, not Chinese.
At 1 am yesterday, Lianne Dalziel blogged a pretty direct attack on her opponent Aaron Gilmore:
This was why I thought I would look at Aaron’s cv and play with the internet – just to see if the story I had been told was worth investigating further:
- Senior Associate, Australasian Financial Services Association – No such organisation that I could find
- Member, Chartered Financial Analyst Institute – Website does not show him as a current member
- Member, Associate Chartered Accounting College – No such organisation that I could find
These anomolies need to be addressed. The following two are not really examples of inaccuracies in his cv but they gild the lily so to speak. He says on his cv under qualifications: Postgraduate Diploma (Accounting), Massey University (75% complete) – I don’t know about you, but I don’t think you can include something under the definition of a qualification if it is not completed – but I suppose it proves he is an optimist – “75% done” sounds better than “25% shy of the qualification”. And under Awards he has included Finalist, 2007 South Island NZIM Young Executive of the Year – there were 7 finalists that year – only one woman, and she was the one who won the award. But good on him for getting that far.
A commenter responded on the issue of a 75% done degree being on a CV:
Hi Lianne
I saw that Darien Fenton was seeking nomination for the Te Atatu seat and since I don’t know much about her looked at her CV on the parliamentary website.
I noticed that she had a BA from Victoria (incomplete). I immediately thought of you and hopes that the information helps for this latest crusade of yours to bring greater honesty to MP CVs.
Heh.
The Herald has picked up on the story and reports:
National list MP Aaron Gilmore has claimed a high-level finance industry qualification he does not have in a CV published on Parliament’s website.
The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute yesterday told the Herald Mr Gilmore was not a member, although he listed membership as part of his list of educational and professional qualifications on his parliamentary web page. …
A spokeswoman for the international Chartered Financial Analyst Institute said yesterday Mr Gilmore was neither a member of the institute nor of the CFA Society in New Zealand. He was a CFA programme candidate, meaning he is registered as studying towards the CFA qualification which would give him membership.
So he is studying towards a qualification which would give him membership. Now if the Herald is correct, this is an exaggeration, which is not a good look for an MPs – and could even be an offence. Yes many people exaggerate somewhat on their CVs, but if you are in public ife I think it is a wise idea to be very conservative with what you put on your CV.
Because after all, if one day you are exaggerating on your CV, then the next day you may end being a Minister who lies blatantly to the media and gets sacked by the Prime Minister for it.
For those interested, the CV is here.
I’m lucky enough to now be a reviewer for Circa Theatre, as well as Downstage. So ended up out at the theatre two nights in a row.
Circa have BeatCamp! on until 30 October, which is a cabaret style show with the Beat Girls.
I’d not actually come across the Beat Girls before, despite them having performed at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. This was my loss, as they were just fabulous. For two hours they sang and entertained with their takes on everything from hits of the 60s, to the most wonderful piss-take of Amy Winehouse.
I’ve rarely seen an audience so engaged, and loving it – especially as the performers would often leave the stage and get amongst the audience.
There were numerous costume changes – from air hostesses, to whip wielding, to slinky dresses.
Maureen, Doreen and Chlorine were a fun talented act. Not only very good singers, but performers in the wider sense – their facial expressions, their dancing were all great.
Some productions only appeal to certain people. I have to say I can’t think of anyone at all who wouldn’t enjoy BeatCamp! It would even cheer Jim Anderton up tomorrow night.
I’m not sure what more I can say about how fun it was, except to say that Auckland Girl and I enjoyed it so much, that we plan to attend again – bringing along a group of friends. I would happily go back a second or third time – and there are few productions I’ll say that about.
Martin Kay at the Dom Post reports:
Mr Carter revealed yesterday that he had offered to reconcile with Mr Goff in a joint press conference similar to that attempted by ACT leader Rodney Hide after Heather Roy was deposed as deputy.
“I reluctantly agreed two weeks ago to send Goff a message that I would do a Heather Roy-Rodney Hide-moment press conference, where I would admit to a moment of madness and he would admit to not giving me the support that he should have over the media beatup around travel, but we got the message back last Friday that [there would be] no reconciliation, no negotiation.
My God. Chris actually proposed a Rodney-Heather style press conference as something positive to be emulated?
And further he wanted Phil Goff to publicly apologise to him, for not defending him over his travel?
I can say without hestitation that if Phil Goff had agreed to this, his political career would be over.
If any staff member actually advised him to take up Chris’ offer of a reconciliation press conference where he apologises for being critical of Chris’ travel, then that is a sure sign that they are in fact a National Party plant in your office.
If any MP advised Phil to agree to the reconciliation press conference, then they are planning to become Leader in the near future.
What is interesting is that Carter’s sense of entitlement over the travel is what is really driving him, not the performance of Phil Goff.
Carter also gave an interview to gaynz.com, where again he said he was picked on for being gay.
“To have Phil Goff say it’s not homophobic – of course it’s homophobic. Why was I different to everybody else? Because I was the top spending MP? I wasn’t actually. Because I was the top spending minister? I was number four actually.
The Prime Minister, Foreign and Trade Ministers all have international travel as an integral part of their job. With other Ministers it is an occassional requirement.
I have to say, I was loyal to him a lot longer than he was loyal to me. Hanging me out to dry over that ministerial travel – he was one of the ministers that signed it off.”
This sounds like a fair point, but overlooks the reality of ministerial approval. Ministers are not treated like junior sales clerks, where their boss scrutinises travel applications and turns them down if not convinced. If a Minister decides to apply for overseas travel, they will almost inevitably have it approved. Ministers are expected to use their political judgement about whether their amount of travel can be perceived as excessive or extravagant. And in this area. chris did not show judgement – and still does not get it.
Carter questions why any concerns about the travel spending were not raised at the time, saying he believes there were no concerns. He says every trip has to be approved and if he had not gone another minister would have.
And it would have been better if others had gone.
The reality is that a Minister could find enough worthwhile conferences and seminars in their portfolio area that they could spent half their job overseas. And taken individually one could justify each and every trip. But what one should do is look at your total travel, and exercise judgement as to whether you are spending too much time overseas.
The proudly-gay MP, who has been the voice and face of gay New Zealand in Parliament for almost two decades, at least in the eyes of the mainstream and the media, has one lingering disappointment. Two weeks ago he received an invitation from the British Labour Party to come and speak at the Rainbow Network Fringe event in Manchester.
“I felt that I couldn’t go because of my estrangement from the Labour caucus. No other New Zealand Labour Party politician has ever been invited to speak at the British Labour Party Conference before.”
So his big regret is that he had to turn down another overseas trip! Incredible.
And without wanting to be a party pooper, there is a massive difference between being invited to speak to a British political party conference, and to a fringe event at the conference. I have been to the Conservative conference so this is from first hand experience. There are generally 80 – 150 fringe events at a party conference. It is not a huge thing to be invited to speak at a fringe event. At the risk of sounding immodest, I could probably arrange for myself to be a guest speaker at a fringe event at the Conservative conference. If I did, I would not of course have the NZ taxpayer pay for me to attend!
Carter says he has a personal connection to the area as his family emigrated from Preston, near Manchester.
“That’s been my greatest disappointment really, in this whole drama.
Not going to Manchester is his greatest disappointment? I really thinks words fail me.
Thought that this morning’s coffee would be enhanced by a whistling kite, caught in the split second it’s hanging in the air
Hope everybody has a relaxed Friday.
It is unclear to many whether or not the Hubbard companies have just been guilty of sloppy book keeping, or whether what has been reported could be a breach of various laws.
David Hillary blogs a list of potential offences under the Crimes Act. I stress this is not an allegation of guilt – just saying that on the reports made public, these are charges which could be under consideration. They are:
He also says that other Acts may have been breached such as the Companies Act and Securities Act.
I’ll personally be very happy if it transpires that Allan Hubbard has not broken any laws, but that is a decision for the SFO and other authorities. As David Hillary blogs, the reports to date certainly indicate that it would be premature to conclude there is no wrong doing.
The Herald reports:
A woman who had sex with her nine-year-old son feels disgusted by her actions and blames a “cocktail of medication”, her lawyer has told a court.
The 48-year-old on Thursday cried in the dock of Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court where she sat beside her husband, 57, who has also pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the boy.
Sick enough.
The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are facing sentencing for the offences against their son, which occurred between January and November 2009.
Some of the offences include streaming footage of the sex acts online.
Even sicker.
However, crown prosecutor Craig Everson said there was no evidence before the court to show the woman was taking any medication at the time of the offences.
So one can’t blame it on the panadol after all.
The Tramsway Union has done a survey of all of the candidates for Wellington Regional Council. Their questions basically were:
1. Earlier in the year Christchurch Bus Company Red Bus lost the tender for 6 routes resulting in 80 drivers being made redundant (see Radio NZ report: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/109/80-christchurch-bus-company-jobs-to-be-cut). If elected what you do to make sure this never happens to Bus Drivers in Wellington?
2. In a recent report released by the Greater Wellington the council wants greater competition in public passenger transport in the region. Given competition has tended to result in driving down the wages and conditions of Bus Drivers will you oppose greater competition?
3. If elected what would you do to improve consultation between Greater Wellington and Workers in the public transport industry.
4. Do you support including minimum standards of employment as part of any tendering process for Public Transport bus services (eg minimum rates of pay, redundancy clause, a reports and complaint process)
5. Would you if elected support the Tramways Union in campaigning for greater public investment in public transport, and as part of this increasing the wages of drivers?
Of the candidates who answered, most tried hard to grease up to the union and say the right things. The most direct and honest response has to be Charles Finny whose response was:
Hi Nick. You have caught me offshore. But my answers are brief:1. No2. No3. No4. No5. NoThanks for taking an interest.
On Monday 20 September I blogged my views on the Wellington City Council elections.
Around 12 days later on 1 October, Eastern Ward Councillr Rob Goulden sent the following complaint to the WCC Returning Officer:
This email is in relation to information I sent to the Electoral Officer as a candidate profile.
My profile was sent for WCC to circulate on its website to the media, as general information as to who was standing, and for publication in the Candidates handbook.
I did not and have not given permission for my information to be published on the Kiwiblog website.
I am also required by the Electoral Act to authorise such publication. I have given no such authorisation to the Mr David Farrar the author and owner of the Kiwiblog website.
I believe his publication under the banner of Local Government Election 2010 on his website is a breach of the act. He tells people how to vote in numerical order, and whom they should vote for.
I do not see this as any different from circulating a leaflet doing the same thing, which was the subject of a recent complaint in Tawa.
I wish information about me to be removed from his website.
Can you please consider this matter as a formal complaint?
The first I knew of this complaint was today.
I should point out at this stage that in my blog post, I did not actually advocate a vote for or against Rob Goulden. I did endorse Simon “Swampy” Marsh and Amanda Nicolle for two of the three spots and said:
The three current Councillors are all quite well known. I’d keep at least one of them on – so people should also support their preferred incumbent.
Ironically several people wanted me to explicitly state that Rob should be ranked in an unwinnable spot. But because of some shared history I declined to do so, and did not state any preferences amongst the three incumbent Councillors. I won’t be as generous in future.
I also provided links to the official candidate supplied statements on the WCC site, allowing readers to make up their own minds on who to support.
Anyway back to the complaint, the Returning Officer responded the same day:
I acknowledge receipt of your complaint and, as required by section 138 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, your complaint will be referred to the Police for their investigation and appropriate action.
Oh what fun. I’ve been under Police investigation without knowing about it. The Police responded quickly:
Police response on Kiwiblog complaint
The Police very sensibly can tell the difference between an advertisement and a hyperlink.
Anyway I found out about all this today when Rob e-mailed me and said:
Please see the attached. I hope you will comply forthwith and remove my information from your website.
Now I am under no legal obligation to remove the link – it is to a public elections site. And I am bemused why Rob didn’t just e-mail me directly in the first place. But just so Rob doesn’t lose any more sleep about this, I have removed the hyperlink.
But perhaps I should replace that hyperlink, with another one. This hyperlink is to the WCC Watch Blog, specifically (by coincidence) to a blog post they did today on Cr Goulden.
UPDATE: A further e-mail from Cr Goulden:
I sent you an email tonight with the Police and Electoral Officers response attached.
I made a complaint to the Electoral Officer because that is the process I am required to follow.
You published my material without permission, which is why you have been asked to remove it.
For the record in 2007, you also published on your website defamatory material about me. You were told to remove and you subsequently did.
I note already a defamatory remark made in response to your latest post.
I am not going to be as lenient as I was last time and intend to do something about you and your posts.
I will give you until the morning to remove them and no longer.
I have responded:
I am disappointed you have not learnt anything from this. Polite requests go down better than threats and complaints.
You have not specified which of the comments you feel is defamatory. If you do so, I will consider your request.
I will continue to blog updates.