Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The March for Democracy

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  • Kyle Matthews,

    Good on all the people who made the mocking signs and turned up. They're no doubt over-represented in the photos but a good sense of humour is often the best way to deal with these sorts of things. My favourite was "My arms are getting tired!". Deep on so many levels.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    No, I was asking a question because something in your post interested me. I wasn't trolling.

    Anyway, sorry if my questions bothered you.

    My apologies again then. I'm obviously mistaking your tone, but I do sometimes feel you're not posting in good faith.

    I'm all for scrutiny of officials, but the abuse copped by Kiro was disturbing, and I don't think it's unconnected to the difficulty in finding a new Children's Commissioner.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Idiot Savant,

    Wait, isn't the rule that NZ PMs aren't allowed to wear trousers while meeting the Queen?

    I thought people normally got arrested for mooning the monarchy?

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report

  • Idiot Savant,

    Good on all the people who made the mocking signs and turned up. They're no doubt over-represented in the photos but a good sense of humour is often the best way to deal with these sorts of things. My favourite was "My arms are getting tired!". Deep on so many levels.

    But they missed some obvious ones:

    "Who would Jesus hit?"
    "My parents beat me, and I turned out OK"
    "Spare the rod, spoil the child"

    The latter, I think, would have been perfect for hoisting these people by their own petard.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report

  • Matthew Poole,

    does anyone think we dont have the capacity and the technology to be more self governing by way of online or txt based referenda ?

    Yes. Me.

    Texting is certainly absolutely, irredeemably insecure. Anything that relies on a device that can be cloned with negligible effort and expertise is unsuitable to be entrusted with the basic functions of democracy.

    Online, well, maybe. I have expostulated on the past on how you could create a system that would achieve both verifiability and non-casual levels of anonymity, but it does rely on some form of useful two-factor authentication being issued to voters. It's a similarly non-trivial exercise to conducting a general election online, which I believe is scheduled to be trialled in the future but is still quite some way off from being widely utilised.

    To be credible, voting must be heavily non-trivial to rig. Paper-based systems as utilised here meet that requirement. SMS-based fails, miserably. Online is untested, and is also vulnerable to coercive techniques when performed from home. That is a significant hurdle.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    But comparing the present situation to the French Revolution... Is he suggesting that they'll storm the Beehive and hold public executions?

    Possibly. He just wasn't referring to Le Roi Soleil.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Emma Hart,

    "Who would Jesus hit?"

    An old favourite of mine, in terms of 'minimum change for maximum upset' is

    "Who would Jesus do?"

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • andrew llewellyn,

    Wait, isn't the rule that NZ PMs aren't allowed to wear trousers while meeting the Queen?

    That only applies if the PM is a freemason.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report

  • Idiot Savant,

    Texting is certainly absolutely, irredeemably insecure. Anything that relies on a device that can be cloned with negligible effort and expertise is unsuitable to be entrusted with the basic functions of democracy.

    Or indeed, where a thug can just beat you up and take it - which at minimum silences you.

    Which is why SF demarchies tend to rely on SF technologies, like implants in your head.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report

  • Idiot Savant,

    "Who would Jesus do?"

    Teenage girls, if you believe medieval saints. Its practically a genre of medieval porn.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    I was going to go to the march with a placard reading "Is this the way to the stoning" or "If spanking was good enough for my monkey, it's good enough for my kids" but I couldn't make up my mind so I didn't go. Bloody Librans for you.
    But I really liked your "Who would Jesus hit" ;-)

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd,

    To be credible, voting must be heavily non-trivial to rig.

    That's one requirement. Another problem (for me, at least) is that ordinary people ought to be able to verify the legitimacy of the count. With electronic systems, even if they are cryptographically sound, it comes down to competing experts saying "trust us" or "don't trust them." Whereas any crew of reasonable common sense can count papers. I prefer a slower process that everyone can have faith in to an electronic one that can only be assessed by a very few people, no matter how efficient the electronic process is.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Brickley Paiste,

    My apologies again then. I'm obviously mistaking your tone, but I do sometimes feel you're not posting in good faith.

    And again, none needed. And always in good faith perhaps with a bit too much good fun.

    I'm all for scrutiny of officials, but the abuse copped by Kiro was disturbing,

    Yes, it probably was. That's too bad. But it comes with the job.

    and I don't think it's unconnected to the difficulty in finding a new Children's Commissioner.

    You're lawyerly double negative leads me to think that it was an inference. That was basically what I was driving at. I also get squeamish with journos saying "I like free speech but..." I spend a lot of time quixotically defending the media.

    In terms of the pro child abusers, before Warriors games I would always agree to sign their petition. Then I would deface it and while handing it back, but before they noticed, I would say something like "You guys are doing great work. <Big smile> I can't wait to get home and smack my little daughter around if the boys lose today".

    It often took them a minute.

    Since Mar 2009 • 164 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    "Who would Jesus do?"

    Jesus Loves ya...yes he does... Gigiddy gigiddy.
    Quagmire

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • dc_red,

    I thought people normally got arrested for mooning the monarchy?

    Given all the bowing and scraping that's expected, you'd think pants would be a good idea. Presumably even inadvertent mooning is an offence to her Royal Britannic Majesty.

    Remember Charles I!

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report

  • Steve Barnes,

    Remember Charles I!

    I remember Selassie I , but I digress.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report

  • Idiot Savant,

    Remember Charles I!

    Indeed we should. The first war criminal tried for crimes against his own people, he also is the first recorded use of the war criminal's classic defence that they're not accountable to us. It didn't work then and it doesn't work now; the law applies to kings as well as peasants.

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report

  • Rich of Observationz,

    The insurmountable problem with electronic (or postal) voting is that it destroys the concept of the secret ballot. People can influence, buy and cajole voters as they wish (or simply fill their families ballot papers out and send them off).

    Incidentally, has anyone noticed the text of Maori Party posters - "our whanau supports the Maori Party". Personally, I make *my* voting decisons idenpendently of the rest of my family, and I reckon most Maori people do as well. But the National Party (Maori Section) seem to think it's ok for Dad (or Mum) to decide how everyone's going to vote?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic,

    I recall the satirical website Righttosmack.co.nz, sadly now offline, having something written up about "geological projectiles" being a guaranteed solution for "what to do with a Rebellious Son".

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I'm all for scrutiny of officials, but the abuse copped by Kiro was disturbing, and I don't think it's unconnected to the difficulty in finding a new Children's Commissioner.

    To refer back to a sidebar on another thread recently, nor can I imagine that there will be a bulging mailbag of CVs when Bill Hastings decides to move on from the Office of Film and Literature Classification. I don't know the Chief Censor nets after tax, but I hope it includes serious danger money for the inevitable slagging off as a degenerate pervert.

    Incidentally, has anyone noticed the text of Maori Party posters - "our whanau supports the Maori Party". Personally, I make *my* voting decisons idenpendently of the rest of my family, and I reckon most Maori people do as well. But the National Party (Maori Section) seem to think it's ok for Dad (or Mum) to decide how everyone's going to vote?

    Clutch my pearls, girlfriend! Hyperbole is the lingua franca of political advertising... Tomorrow's shock horror expose: There's plenty of New Zealanders who hate Watties tomato sauce and don't give a rodent's rectum if the All Blacks don't make it into the quarter finals of the RWC.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    I also get squeamish with journos saying "I like free speech but..." I spend a lot of time quixotically defending the media.

    I spend a lot of time being embarrassed by the profession I've been in most of my life.

    I can't live in a world where the default assumption about anyone in a public professional role is that they're corrupt, incompetent or evil. It's corrosive and self-defeating. That's my beef with conspiracy theorists too.

    In Kiro's case, the most obvious example is the lying, racist tirade delivered by Michael Laws, but there are plenty of others: the Cyfswatch loonies, any number of right-wing bloggers.

    It's quite telling that Angus is saying pretty much the same as Kiro -- like her, he's professionally bound to tell the truth and serve the best interests of children. I don't think the long record of service of both Kiro and Angus is trumped by Colin Craig and his "common sense".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    I don't think the long record of service of both Kiro and Angus is trumped by Colin Craig and his "common sense".

    And you can certainly, to roll out a truly horrifying cliché, play the ball and not the man. Cindy Kiro the public servant in no immune to having her performance critically examined, even strongly criticised. The truly vile personal abuse she and other have been subjected to -- shading into death threats and what can only be described as violent rape fantasies -- is totally indecent.

    Folks like Laws also need to get over the idea that "truth" and "objective reality" are post-modern constructs designed to enforce hegemonic authority. Or, in English, they should stop making shit up.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • JR Murphy,

    Such cynicism, so sad. I admire any person who stands up for what they believe in.

    I watched the interview between Colin Craig and Chris Trotter - ooohh yuk. Chris opens with irrelevant and degrading comments aimed at Craig, this of course to give himself some credibility and authority where he really had nothing to say.

    Russell, in which country and socio-economic class do you reside. Obviously not in the real NZ alongside the poor and dysfunctional. Craig is a wealthy man insensed by the lack of democracy in New Zealand and the way the average man was being made a criminal for smacking his own child. He was right to put money into this cause.

    I was a member of the Green Party for years and had the chance to challenge Sue Bradford on the subject over dinner several years ago at the annual conference. Didn't do any good though.

    Speaking from the crevasse created by mental health and ACC's non-existent rehabilitation services for the mentally injured, I am now a leading authority on the subject of traumatic stress, health, rehabilitation, ACC, human rights, government bureaucratic corruption and democracy (or more correctly lack of it).

    After I was raped eight years ago (age 37) and became severely dysfunctional, I wasn't unable to manage my business (which I subsequently lost), however I was able to read and gather knowledge. I read dozens of books on abuse, behaviour, traumatic stress, health, rehabilitation, etc. Dozens of brochures on 'support services' yeah right and several pieces of legislation, eg ACC, human rights, bill of rights, Auditor-General, health. Attended dozens of workshops on these topics.

    My mental health continued to deteriorate after every attempt to get the rehabilitation and support I needed to heal from my mental injury was thwarted (hence the crevasse). As I was studying to be a lawyer at Victoria prior to the rape I have kept everything on my journey, including the hundreds of letters I wrote to every manner of person I believed should take responsibility for my appauling care.

    Like many other people, particularly children, I was left to rot from the inside out, developing an eating disorder, violent behaviour, suicidal ideology, anxiety disorders, addictive behaviour, compulsive behaviour, sexual dysfunction, mood swings, depression, cognitive damage, etc, etc. Look up Complex Post Traumatic Stress if you are interested, its what I have but can't get a medical assessment to prove it - thank you ACC and mental health - I have been asking for seven years.

    One positive aspect of my disorder is you become highly creative, thankfully Masterton has a NGO called King Street Artworks that caters to mentally ill people. I have been going there about six years now.

    Recently my political art began to be censored by King Street, I write a lot of poetry about how bad ACC, mental health and social services are. I was allowed to exhibit my lovely garden poetry but it was now considered disrespectful to say anything against any organisation, which included ACC and mental health - ooohh yuk.

    When I tried to use their complaints process the chairperson never called me back and staff refused to give me her phone number saying it was a privacy issue - ooohh yuk.

    Thankfully some new parts of my cognition have returned recently and I am capable of using the internet. Watch out NZ.

    There is a lot more to this story but I know you don't want to hear it now. So instead I will include one of my most recent poems.

    TAKE YOUR BLINKERS OFF

    Take your blinkers off I say
    With people's spirit you do play
    The police are left to sort this out
    While mental health do less than nowt

    If you arrived dripping in blood
    If you staggered in as you could
    Would you expect to be turned away
    Told its not bad enough you can't stay

    Back on the streets of this masters town
    Neglected, regjected, oppressed, put down
    They keep the suicidal from view
    If only you knew, if only you knew

    But you don't want to see
    How the system treats ones like me
    So you put up barriers left and right
    Leaving the only option, fight, fight, fight

    Fight that unseen enemy
    Those that choose neglect are many
    Giving excuse after excuse
    Not taking responsibility for this abuse

    Although I endure a stress disorder
    That seems me on the edge, the border
    No-one comes to sort shit out
    All they do is look and spout

    Of course, almost dead is not enough
    Living with sucidal ideology is tough
    They know it, I've studied
    So why neglect people bloodied

    Compare us to the strongest man
    Would he say, any weight I can
    I can lift 100, maybe twoo
    But even I know what I can't do

    And what if this strong man
    When asked to bear all weight he can
    Was put in water above his head
    That's real easy - he'd soon be dead

    I've lived like this for months, for years
    Thousands of hours, thousands of tears
    Trying to make you do what you say
    But you keep the power at the end of the day

    And with that power you do abuse
    Neglect, regject, oppress, refuse
    The backlash we see in social stats
    Dysfunction, addiction, violence, the facts

    Do something my people
    Don't leave us to cry
    Rescue us from this place of neglect
    Or watch us writhe

    End

    Sitting here listenin to Eric
    In my battered old 50s rockin chair
    My discman gives it to me just how I like it
    Loud and surround in my ear

    Off in the distance past the neighbours
    The poplars whisper the winds symphony
    As spirit blows 'cross the papa
    There's a storm brewin sweeping up country

    Eric's started blowing harp in my head
    And knockin on the door of the dead
    Trying to keep it together through this killer storm weather
    A battle that fills me with dread

    The CDs now on Guns and Roses
    As the evening air touches my skin
    And the clouds rolling in from the west
    Like a woollen cloak being pulled 'cross the heavens

    Now Axle starts knockn on the door
    As only he knows how to do
    He sings it - I live it
    Trying that door to break through

    Oh God when are they gunna listen
    Their ears are so closed to our pain
    The voice of a casualty of abuse
    Writhing in pain
    Writhing in pain

    The light is starting to fade...

    Knock, knock, knockin on heaven's door
    Knock, knock, knockin on heaven's door
    Knock, knock, knockin on heaven's door


    Did you know it is policy for the police to strip suicidal people. When I was arrested after a desperate call to ACC, first time I have ever been arrested in my 44 years, I was forced to remove all my clothes, when I said I had my period and couldn't remove my underwear they said I had to. My reply 'you will have to fight me for them' saw them back down.

    I have been arrested since then for the same thing but refused to go quietly unless the policemen promised I wouldn't be stripped.

    What country do I live in? What century is this?

    New Zealand's journalists should take their blinkers off

    Wairarapa • Since Nov 2009 • 1 posts Report

  • George Darroch,

    Teenage girls, if you believe medieval saints. Its practically a genre of medieval porn.

    God did a 15 year old virgin, if you believe the orthodoxy.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report

  • Lucy Stewart,

    The first war criminal tried for crimes against his own people, he also is the first recorded use of the war criminal's classic defence that they're not accountable to us.

    In the context of the seventeenth century, "war criminal" is a bit over the top. "Incompetent, stubborn, and not overly bright" is more where you want to aim.

    Russell, in which country and socio-economic class do you reside. Obviously not in the real NZ alongside the poor and dysfunctional. Craig is a wealthy man insensed by the lack of democracy in New Zealand

    I love the smell of ironic juxtaposition in the mid-afternoon.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report

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