Posts by Craig Ranapia
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absolute nonsense. the Herald and Listener publish letters from unverifiable sources on a daily basis. do you really think they have the staffing resources to check letters' provenance, or the inclination to do so when they provide pro-editorial copy?
Well, nanoplanet, I actually have a received a perfectly pleasant call from The Herald checking out my supplied contact details were accurate, before printing a letter that was supportive (with qualifications) of an op-ed column. Don't know if they do this in every case, but it would be a prudent course of action considering publishers are actually liable for the contents of every letter, on-line comment and column they publish.
As for identity disclosure of bloggers and commentators. Well, the anonymous wanker on Kiwibog who repeatedly accused me of "supporting [a] pedophile" wasn't providing "contentious information"; it was an ugly, baseless and outright defamatory lie. It's perfectly fair comment to ask whether this kind of fucktard (and there's all too many on both the loony left and the rabid right) would be quite so brave if they were unable to hide behind pseudonyms.
Pardon me if I don't have a grain of sympathy for scumbags and liars who try and wrap themselves in the mantle of brave tellers of truth to power, and victims of censorship. They're nothing of the kind.
Disclosure isn't a perfect accountability mechanism, but its a good start. I'm no saint, but at least when I play the devil I've got the courage of my convictions - and the sheer common decency -- to put my name to what I say. Graeme Greene defended his friend Evelyn Waugh against a posthumous attack by saying that whatever his other flaws, he'd always choose (figuratively) to spit in your face rather than stab you in the back, or piss on your grave.
Would be nice if a few folks in the Kiwi blogisphere had a little of Waugh's integrity.
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Remember, if the Dems win this year they will inherit the shit avalanche that's about to drop on the US, and in 2012 the Repubs will spin it as 'what you get when you elect a Democrat to the Whitehouse'
And I've never heard a politician stand up and say the rat-bastards on the other side deserve any credit for the golden weather. But you're adroit enough, they can carry the can for everything for years. Never mind that the reality is a little more complex, especially when economic cycles are disobligingly reluctant to follow electoral timetables.
I guess the karmic scales balance out eventually.
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Yes, but identities of the officers of the political parties are public, and they are accountable for the actions of the parties..
But if you're seriously arguing that we need the EFB to eliminate 'covert influence' over public policy, who knows who is really pulling the policy levers inside political parties? Doesn't the public have a right to know that too, or determine for ourselves whether National ireally is run by rich pricks from Remmers and Labour dominated by the Gay Lynn dykeocracy?
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And incidentially I support the rights of bloggers to stay anonymous.
And I didn't mean to give any impression to the contrary, but I think its fair comment to point out the fainted whiff of hypocrisy of people who denouncing so-called 'Hollow Men' from behind pseudonyms. Also, without wanting to fall into the trap of assuming correlation implies causation, is it pure coincidence that the ugliest trolls on Kiwiblog don't have the guts to put their real names to their toxic waste? I think this is one respect in which the blogisphere could usefully emulate the MSM - because I've never heard of a newspaper that would publish a letter to the editor without verifiable contact details.
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Anyway, my main objection to Clinton is that surely in a country of 300million the USA can do better than continually handing the presidency to the same friggin families
I agree with you to the extent that there's always something queasy-making about any democracy coming to resemble a Ruritanian fiefdom, but you can ovestate matters. These chaps may have been cousins, but I suspect there are a few people on both sides of the aisle who would rate them both a damn sight higher than any of the candidates currently hoping to follow them into the White House.
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The Standard (see link) has a story on Shadbolt and an ad someone has placed in the ODT
Could you point me towards The Standard's registration as a third party - I mean, its so easy even Farrar, who regurgitates Tory talking points as an evil running dog returns to its vomit, can do it. And, as usual, its always charming seeing folks who hide behind pseudonyms calling others liars and cowardly Hollow Men.
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The objection to registration is even more absurd, when you consider that we have to register to vote, too. Is this, too, an "attempt to monitor political expression"? Actually, it is. It's to monitor political expression – voting – to stop votes from being cast twice, or by people pretending to be someone else, or in an electorate other than the one they live in, etc. We force people to register to vote to ensure that voting is fair; we force people to register or declare themselves on campaign material to ensure that campaigning is fair.
Well, Keith, sorry for sounding like a broken record but my primary medium of "political expression" has been my membership in the New Zealand National Party. Depending on how involved you want to be, members of political parties have influence over candidate selection, policy development and formation, campaign strategy and endless opportunities to lobby caucus members at conferences, fundraisers and other events.
So why don't we require these people to be open and transparent by requiring all registered political parties to have their (frequently updated and audited) membership rolls -- including residential addresses -- made publicly available?
And just to be a little pedantic about your electoral roll analogy, you're quite right that everyone is required to register to vote. But not everyone's details are publicly available .
I don't think there is anything intrinsically 'undemocratic' about my foster brother and his wife being on the unpublished roll when they were Police officers, who'd both been subject to threats and harassment by someone rather unpleasant characters.
And I know this analogy isn't precise, but I'm quite pleased that DPF doesn't require commentators on Kiwiblog to post their residential addresses considering some of the psychotic loons I've locked horns with over the years.
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In general the liberal (mostly white, male, middleclass) pundocracy has been anti-Hillary. They have all been almost uniformly repeating the mantra that she is unelectable, she's too divisive etc for the past few years despite the fact that she's been riding high in public opinion polls.
Neil: I'm sure that's the spin Clinton supporters want to get out there and I understand the politics of it. But I'll respectfully agree to disagree on whether it has much basis in reality. If anything, I think the media deserves criticism for buying into the line of Clinton's 'inevitability' until a few weeks ago. If anyone has been getting an utterly undeserved free ride from the media for far too long, HRC is the beneficiary rather than the victim of a slavering pack of Obamaniacs.
And to be blunt WTF makes Clinton so special that she's beyond criticism from the left or within the Democratic Party (which isn't always the same thing)? Perhaps its a flaw in my personality, but the only thing that irritates me more than the taste of poll-driven fruitcake is politicians (and their supporters) with engorged senses of entitlement.
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HP print a lot of lies about HRC which are immediately deinied by those concerned
Or it could be a truth that everyone concerned quite wisely wanted to back away from as quickly as decently possible - I don't know for sure. And I make no apologies for saying that's a very good thing. If the Clinton and Obama camps want to go at each other, they should do so directly and be accountable for it, rather than hiding behind proxies.
Do you really think Talking Points Memo is some kind of Clinton-hating bearpit? Iif we were talking about the Daily Kos I might agree. But from what I've seen, I'd type TPM as clearly partisan toward the Democrats but with a good spread of views. And that even includes a few posts by people who don't think the sun doesn't shine when Senator Clinton clenches her buttocks. Frankly, Neil, its glib and more than a little arrogant to dismiss any criticism as the inevitable result of right-wing misogyny.
Anyway, good on her. Not the outcome I'd have preferred, but no matter how thin the margin you'd have to have a heart of stone not to congratulate her. And as I said up-thread, its pretty healthy IMO that nobody got their coronation tonight. While the primary process is absurd, the more we see of all the candidates - and the more substantive scruinty you can wring out of the manfactured photo ops - the better.
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Why? They're doing a fabulous job as the PR wing of the National party.
That's what they are, right? A party political organ?
And it would have worked too... if it weren't for those pesky kids! And Scooby-Doobie-Doooooo Too!
I'mm sure the more excitable Kiwiblog regulars would agree with you 100%, though they might have a small difference over whose organ Tim Murphy strokes six nights a week. I'm sure it would be vastly amusing, though be warned - I find The Exorcist piss-your-pants funny.
Now, a more useful question would be this: Are basic numeracy and statistical and scientific literacy considered important skills in the contemporary newsroom? And if not, why not?
I'm not saying (for example) you can't be a perfectly competent and scrupulous health reporter without a ladle of alphabet soup after your name. Just a few more hacks and editors who understand why the phrase "correlation does not imply causation" actually matters would be a start.
And I don't think political bias has anything to do with it, rodgerd, unless indulging confirmation bias is more important than piss-poor non-journalism that veers from the asinine to the outright sinister (like the PR puffery disguised as current affairs surrounding Sensing Murder)..
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