Posts by Russell Brown
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They may well want kids, or be not too worried if they show up. Not what I'd do, but I'm not their mum. And if you take the R16 at face value, it starts veering into "nobody's business but their own" territory. You can still legally marry at 16, can't you? A doctor would be better placed to advice on the specific circumstances of the letter writer. The WTF version would sound a little odd directed at a 25 year old.
I can't image a 25 year-old reading Girlfriend -- its salutations generally assume the readers are at school (the winner of the magazine's model quest last year, flown to the Gold Coast for shoots by the Clyne agency, was at intermediate school).
But I guess I'd have kicked off the reply to that letter with "Well, unless you actually want to get pregnant, you're taking a risk not using condoms. And there are these things called STDs ..."
But everyone in the office was fairly shocked by the near-obsessive profile of sex and boys in the magazine and the poor quality of some of the advice. I think it's regarded as a title that pushes the line by the rest of the trade.
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It would seem that given the degree of separation that has taken place that a purchase of Chorus would be a perfectly straightforward exercise.
I'm similarly impressed with the thoroughness of operational separation, the whistleblower provisions, etc. But Chorus does share various systems with the rest of the business -- I gather that it cost BT quite a lot to duplicate those systems when it was structurally separated.
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Again, it was the quality of the advice in Girlfriend that disturbed me. Some of it just seemed reckless.
We didn't end up using the reply to this one:
"I've been sexually active with my boyfriend for a couple of years. We don't use condoms but I have never fallen pregnant. Is there anything wrong with me? During and after sex is the man's sperm meant to stay in you? Because it comes out of me and I don't know if that's normal."
Which was:
When a guy ejaculates, the semen is initially gluggy, then it thins out -- and often runs out of you. Don't be fooled by the outflow though, sperm are hardy swimmers. However, it is also possible that one or the other of you has a fertility issue. I suggest you see a doctor to put the fertility issue to rest and get a reliable form of contraception.
So they got the contraception bit in at the end there, but I think it could have been a little more WTF? You're not using contraception? Do you actually want a baby right now? They don't seem to be big on safe sex, or on pointing out that you don't have to have sex. The only benchmark seemed to be the age of consent.
That was in the "R16" section which was really just the back of the magazine.
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The only advice quoted from the magazine was how to french kiss. Hardly that shocking for teens.
There was also the advice on deceiving your parents and putting yourself in a risky position with some guy you hardly (go off the the beach where there's no one around!), and just a general lack of good sense, I thought.
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New Zealanders are, it seems, moving away from the traditional funeral, reclaiming the rituals of passing as they have those of marriage. You can do it your way: so how do you want to go? Serene? Somewhere special? Or with a bang?
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budgeting $1000 let alone $5000 doesn't say much for respecting the worth and talent of nz film and video makers either. The music industry has been relying on the good will of video talent for its entire existence.
So true. But if you think you can make five clever videos on the same set, rather than do what the music channels (and the funding rules) say you should do, you deserve the chance. For $5k you could, for instance, tape a shit-hot live set, then pick the five songs you want and get tons of reach.
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I'm not going to argue some of the coverage yesterday was not overheated.
But that's nowhere near the same as saying Goff's comments should not have been reported, and reported prominently.
I think it was worth reporting, just not in the ridiculous way it has been. The "rules" of the "game" are as much a construct of the handful of people who cover politics as they are of the politicians themselves. The Herald's "clobbering machine" headline was so utterly divorced from what was actually said in the interview as to be, frankly, dishonest.
And I think Gordon Campbell's point was well made. The same people who bitch about politicians not telling the truth or avoiding the question are now standing up and screaming "But you didn't lie! You're supposed to lie!"
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His speechwriter is apparently some 26-year-old wunderkind called Jon Favreau. (No, not that one.) And a coupla other young whippersnappers.
Thanks -- fascinating story. Trivia: he has a Jesuit education.
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Careful Craig, using "tar" and "Obama" in the same sentence might be racist...
If we're being fussy, douchebag is probably sexist. I think everyone overlooks that because the word has such a music to it.
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From Obama's prepared remarks in Iowa --he's speaking at the moment about being "within reach" of the nomination, having picked up a majority of pledged delegates with Oregon to come.
The road here has been long, and that is partly because we've traveled it with one of the most formidable candidates to ever run for this office. In her thirty-five years of public service, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has never given up on her fight for the American people, and tonight I congratulate her on her victory in Kentucky. We have had our disagreements during this campaign, but we all admire her courage, her commitment and her perseverance. No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and yours will come of age.
Pitch perfect.
As is the rest of the speech. I'm never quite clear on the divide between Obama's own rhetoric and that of his speechwriters (who are they, anyway?), but it's so good.
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