Posts by Craig Ranapia
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And while the Privacy Act is a very good thing indeed, don't even get me started on the, shall we say, 'highly creative' (or outright fictitious) ways it can be invoked by spinners in full arse-covering mode.
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Brownlee did not write the press release or submit the Official Information Act requests himself (the numbers are compiled from select committee questions and OIA requests). He has staff for that.
And good job he does, Russell. When was the last time you lodged a request under the Official Information Act and the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act? I don't think its hyperbole to say far too much of the public sector is way too adroit at dragging their feed or redacting documents into gibberish on entirely spurious grounds. I guess the logic is that 99.99% percent of nosy hacks -- or even worse uppity members of the public -- are going to give up and go away.
Or am I the only person who feels even slightly disturbed when the Chief Ombudsman feels it necessary to put his name to a document titled Access to information – not a courtesy but a right {PDF format}, or threaten to name and shame Ministers and departments who are routinely flouting the statutory deadline to respond to OIA requests?
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Having said that the 'announcement trailer' for the 'Star Trek' prequel is still hella cool -- just old school enough to keep the Trekkies quiet (for now), but with a rather neat twist. chockasunday might be pleased to know the Enterprise is entirely the wrong shape so no smutty reference. :)
Let's just hope Karl Urban can manage 'I'm a doctor not a..." without disgracing himself -- its a matter of national pride and self-preservation. Either this works all along the line, or everyone involved is going to be staying away from the internet for the rest of their lives.
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Craig, the potty mouth obscures your interesting points.
You don't have to refer to genitalia or sex acts in every message ...Every message? Putting that aside, chockasunday, I'll take the rebuke in the spirit in which it is offered.
Here's two things to contemplate.
If its any comfort, when I attend children's birthday parties (or social gatherings in general) my taste in T-shirt runs to plain white or basic black cotton. PA System is an 'opt-in' experience, and my comments are rather easy to scroll past if folks find their language or content offensive. A childishly provocative T-shirt in public is not quite the same thing. (And sod the "social semiotics", any woman who is going to put 'whore' or 'porn star' or 'I fucked your boyfriend last night' isn't going to get my respect -- though I very much doubt she cares. Nor do I expect a very friendly reaction, or indulgence for a media studies seminar, if I pull on a T with the legend Muhammed/Buddha/Jehovah/Helen Clark/Ed Hillary is a C**t.)
I saw Cloverfield again last night -- taking a couple of asprin first -- and find my potty mouth a damn sight less offensive than sitting through the trailers for Aliens V. Predator (I've read gore geeks getting their squee on over a scene where a pregnant woman is disemboweled!) and the latest entry in the Saw torture-pron franchise (sat through the first and came out feeling psychically slimed. Just walked out of Hostel.)
I may be a foul-mouthed little troll, but at least my comments here don't get off on relentless sadism and the pretty much unquestioned notion that human sexuality is such a vile thing its an invitation to be stalked and graphically mutilated then hacked to pieces.
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Meh... you learn to live without it, and just keep staggering on regardless. :)
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If they're really Labour funded then I think a demand for money back might be in order.
Actually, rich, I know quite a few Labour folks who think the party establishment are waaay too right. But that's a whole other sack full of squirming kittens I don't want to touch 'cause there's more than enough ideologically purist crazy on my side of the fence. Really, how do you react to a hard-right chap who opines that John Key is so wet he might as well be (and I quote) "Helen Clark with a sausage between her legs". Apart from grabbing a heavy object while backing towards the door, that is.
Campaign season is going to interesting in all the wrong ways, I fear.
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sometimes the word is not intended as a perjorative. one young woman I met wears a tattoo "niga c**t" on her arm, which for her doesnt imply a self esteem problem.
Interesting, ali, that you've read the room and think an asterisk-less 'cunt' might not go down well. Geoff might have a point about the social semiotics thing, but as a pratical matter I don't think I'll be wearing my 'suck my faggot cock nigger cunt' hoodie to the Otara Markets this weekend. The sistas might not get the transgressive subversion of hegemonic socio-linguistic norms, or the expression of solidarity with the triple oppression minority lesbians suffer in a homophobic, racist and misogynistic society, and decide I'm a cracker prick who needs a good stomping.
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The amount of hoohah from right wingers suggests this Standard is causing them some grief?
Well, nanoplanet, I'd like to think sewer rats in the blogisphere would case some grief to anyone with a shred of decency and who thinks political blogs can be a useful and sane contribution to discourse.
There's a reason why I've deleted the overwhelming majority of RSS feeds to American political blogs (left, right and otherwise) from my reader. And in my opinion, this election year is going to be the big test as to whether their domestic equivalents will be going into the same recycle bin.
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Do you have to be so ... lurid? :-)
'Fess up, Russell, you wouldn't have me any other way. Though I prefer, "disturbingly vivid turn of phrase" (true story - comment appended to one of my uni essays) myself. :-)
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I don't really want to get into this debate now, but The Standard has never taken the position that David is doing anything wrong on his blog.
Tane: Can you excuse me if I raise my eyebrow in a Spock-like manner, here. And can you please try and get your head around this, not everyone who says something you happen to disagree with is "pushing the official National Party line"; by that standard Russell spends quite of bit of time "pushing the official Labour Party line". Heavens forfend that he might actually think in good faith, that the Labour Party -- or the Government -- is right on an issue?
Hell, I could reel off the occasions I've heard DPF criticise National, give credit to the government when he thinks its due, and even defended the Evil One herself against attacks he considers unfair. But what's the point, really?
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