Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Jon:
Heh... I'll confess my prose would often be improved by a good thrashing with a rolled up copy of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style. (Except it's far too slim to smack any sense into a skull thick as mine.)
I'll simply take my licks, and defer to Mr. Morrison's elegant concision:
This sort of reasoning about the power language reminds me of magic spells and has as much reality. Politicians are always choosing words to suit their argument, the Greeks called it rhetoric, the art of persuasion has been around for a long time and all parts of the political spectrum practice it.
Or to put it in the Aussie vernacular: "Get you hand off it, Grant, before you go blind." If the secular left has a political problem in framing debate, I'd respectfully suggest their own moral and intellectual arrogance - and inept campaigning - is more likely to be a root cause than making the Maxim Institution some kind of post-modern, neo-con bogeyman.
And just as a sidebar, I'm really impressed by the folks up thread who
can talk about Leo Strauss' influence on 'neo-conservatism' with such confidence. If anyone out there has actually read Liberalism Ancient and Modern, Thoughts on Machiavelli, Natural Right and History or On Tyranny without their heads exploding, they have my sincere admiration. Personally, I wonder if Strauss - much like Darwin and Marx and Freud - is one of those intellectual figures who gets name-checked and and put through the pop journalism grinder rather than being read and intelligently discussed. -
nice try, but over-consumption of alcohol is self-harm, whacking children is harm of another.
It's Friday, Ridldley, and I don't really have the time or the energy to start writing you a reality check about the amount of domestic violence, child abuse and other violent crimes that are perpetuated by folks under the influence of alcohol. Again, I very much doubt that's much of an argument for prohibition - though there are plenty of hysterics who will do their best.
Have a nice weekend, because I've got to go to work in the reality-based community
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But do you trust the "scary loons" to know the meaning of reasonable force?
Not at all, Russell. Then again, there are some folks of my acquaintance who don't know the meaning of 'moderate alcohol consumption' - which may suggest many things, but I'm far from sure it's much of an argument for prohibition.
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Rogan:
I actually think that's a rather stupid straw man argument from all sides. I'm no anarchist, but nor do I think the state has a legitimate interest in regulating every aspect of your life Parliamentarians find distasteful or 'weird'. . I will be interested to see how many MPs who support this bill, will also support allowing same-sex couple to adopt because they don't consider it legitimate for the state to disqualify homosexuals from raising children.
On another thread, I raised the point (and got thoroughly rubbished for doing so) that I find 'time out' a psychologically abusive - if undeniably effective - form of bullying. Why not ban that too - or is 'violence' acceptable as long as you do it with your tongue rather than your hand?
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Grant:
Remove the pseudo-academic verbiage, I really have to wonder whether there are too many people on both the left and the right who view politics as (to paraphrase the late French political philosopher Jean-Francois Revel) a secular religion, with it's own pantheon of unquestionable dogma, saints and devils, and heresies that must be terminated with extreme prejudice.
Rather than bitching about the Maxim Institute 'stealing' you language - like some horrible child touching your toys - I'd like to see some hard questions asked and answered about why the pro-repeal campaign resembled a pack of wide-eyed evangelists rather than rational adults putting a case.
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Yes, I know not every opponent of the bill is a weirdo.
Too kind, Russell. Can I just say here that I don't lump you as an opponent of the Iraq War in with the photogenic anti-Semitic loons that seem to attach themselves to every anti-war rally out there? Or should that actually not need to be said? You can find lunatic extremists and over-heated rhetoric on all sides of every issue, and I don't think it really adds much to a sensible debate to try and tar everyone on the 'other side' with that brush.
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I may be out of line here but the last time Bridgette Saunders saw 39 was on a bus
Um, yes you are and it was still funny any way. Still, nice to see Campbell Live have finally found some hard-hitting edgy current affairs journalism to keep Jackie Brown occupied.
Ye Gods, when is Pop Goes The Weasel coming back - that was deep.
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There's a new Repeal Section 59 site which lets you email MPs of your choice to lobby them about Sue Bradford's Bill.
Well, thanks for the link but am I the only person who questions the value of 'lobbying' by spam-generating websites? I wasn't really impressed when the Maxim Institute was pulling this kind of crap in opposition to the Civil Unions bill, and it doesn't really impress me any more when I'm (more) sympathetic to the cause.
And here's another observation: MP's staffers aren't stupid. They can tell when they're being spammed by lobbyists, and they will give such communication their proper weight. A polite but passionate letter or e-mail that's obviously been generated by a human being is more effective.
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Che:
I agree with you - and having done my share of living la vida loco parentis, I can be twitchy and neurotic as anyone. My point - and I did have one - is (as out host pointed out) that I don't think you enter into any kind of relationship with Second Chance Enterprises without them being all the way up front that they exist to "provide employment opportunities for people with psychiatric disabilities." And I also assume Burton had to fill in a couple of pieces of paper with his residential address and there were some discussions as to the level of supervision he'd require?
Hey, if Auckland Zoo has a clear, consistently applied policy of refusing to employ paranoid-schizophrenics because they might go bonkers and beat some family to death with a shit-shovel... well, I won't say that's fine, but at least it's consistently stupid. Where I get rather nervous is sacking an employee who, as far as I'm aware, is competent, conscientious and closely supervised because the Herald on Slumday missed out on the kinky kops scoop.
Let's put it this way: I'm pretty comfortable outing myself as a manic-depressive alcoholic, and I know for a fact that scares the shit out of some people. And that's never going to change regardless of own well I maintain my sobriety, religiously take my meds, and don't put myself in situations where I'm compromising the well-being and safety of myself or anyone else. Life's not always fair, and sadly Burton is probably going to spend the rest of his life as an easy target for every tabloid scumbag or the frustrations of people who can't - or won't - vent at the people who are actually responsible for fraked up mental health and justice services that aren't susceptible to quick fixes.
I've just got to wonder who is really the winner if Mark Burton spends the rest of his life rotting in a boarding house on a sickness benefit because he's never going to get a job without it hitting the media?
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i just think when u choose to take your family into a place such as the zoo, its reasonable to expect all of the people employed within to be of the "family friendly" variety.
OK, folks, so does Aucklland Zoo require all employees to sign a statutory declarationthat if they're suffering from any kind of mental illness it's strictly 'family-friendly'? Good luck - because I'm wondering where my manic-depressive alcoholic self would fit into that scale...
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