Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Up Front: An Open Letter to the Labour…, in reply to Idiot Savant,
Other than guaranteed representation for the government and opposition due to s28(2)(e) of the Electoral Act
OK, perhaps I needed to be more specific.
Labour and National can (and do) make all the representations and objections and counter-objections they like to the Representation Commission they please, just like everyone else.
Otherwise, I'll pay all the members of the Representation Commission the bare courtesy of presuming they place the law and the public good above all other considerations -- including partisan interest. If the Government and Opposition members can't clear that low bar, they I'm thankful they're outnumbered by career civil servants whose credibility and political independence I've no cause to doubt.
If the above isn't the case, I'd prefer we follow the naked and degrading jerrymanderpalooza that passes for redistricting in the US. It at least has the benefit of full-frontal contempt for democracy.
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Up Front: An Open Letter to the Labour…, in reply to Hebe,
Correct. I expect a scrap by National and Labour over the redraw -- which will have significant changes for the city and province.
And they can scrap away, because (it's worth noting) the Representation Commission is a statutory body and political parties have no more standing than anyone else.
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yeah, those are traditionally safe [insert party/incumbent here] seats
Which fucks me off beyond reason, because... you know, parliamentary democracy and all that jazz. It's a little hard to expect high quality candidates when you're either being treated like a family heirloom or not worth the effort.
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Way down the list of things that's fucked up about Eden Park's "it's just part of the game" attitude is, well... it's pretty damn insulting to straight male rugby fans.
I have plenty of straight male rugby fan friends whose default setting isn't "homophobic, misogynistic, racist dickbag" and, en mass, keep their animal penis brains in check. Really.
Or put another way: I expect more from people, because I have a (perhaps naive) belief that they are capable of getting there.
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This might be a good time to dig up my DVD of Jafar Panahi's Offside. Seems relevant here...
But, hey, at least in Iran women are protected from the gross, icky conduct of men at sporting events (damn animal penis brains strike again!) Amirite or amirite?
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Hard News: Not good enough, Eden Park, in reply to Tom Semmens,
If you can't cope with being insulted, ever, you'd best not to go out at all, ever, just in case you over hear some school kid two steps in front of you pronounce the app they just downloaded "literally gay".
Really crappy analogy there, Tom. I've got slightly higher expectations from sentient adults than children. And for the record, I've had occasion to have the OTHER talk with younglings about using "gay" as a slur. Socialization, FTW!
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Hard News: Not good enough, Eden Park, in reply to Russell Brown,
But in this case, they give the razz to someone who has actually been subjected to bullying and harassment? What the hell is wrong with them?
A question I hope Auckland Rugby and the NZRFU are asking as well, considering they're making some effort to... well, give live rugby an image make-over with slightly less alcohol-marinaded testosterone in the mix. And I'm sure we can all applaud the sight of All Blacks and Black Ferns as ambassadors for the Applaud Initiative to get the sporting equivalent of stage mothers to tone it down a bit. Well, a lot.
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Hard News: Not good enough, Eden Park, in reply to Bart Janssen,
The management of Eden Park can specify the behaviours that are acceptable in the stadium.
Of course they do. I imagine if I showed up with my dick hanging out of my trousers, a fully-loaded bong in one hand and a flagon of paint-stripper home-brew in the other, I'd be *cough* offered a ride home with the nice Police officers. And rightly so. :)
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Hard News: Not good enough, Eden Park, in reply to Tom Semmens,
Since that is the case, I am not sure why people are getting their knickers in such a twist about what to do about the two guys in question. Sometime, you just gotta put up with it.
I think this is worth repeating, Tom, but football clubs in the UK (you know, those havens of amok political correctness) are deciding nobody - not players, not spectators, not the folks whose taxes and rates are subsidising their corporate welfare - just has to suck it up and tolerate racist or homophobic sledging.
Apart from the question of sheer common decency, the Eden Park Trust need to remember they're running a business and GLBTI and women's money is legal tender too.
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Hard News: Not good enough, Eden Park, in reply to Danielle,
The key difference being that no one is abusively yelling "look at that guy, what a fucking heterosexual!" about them at the rugby.
Well, the Aussies are hosting the Bingham Cup next year, so don't speak too soon. (I jest, I'm sure our homolicious cousins over the water will be keeping it clean and fabulous.) :)