Posts by Craig Ranapia
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to Idiot Savant,
Sadly, there seems to be very little we an do legally about such well-meaning dickery.
Legally, no. But when I get the OIA requests out of the way, I'll be posting links to this to Len Brown and the members of the Parks, Recreation and Heritage Forum asking if 1) They were aware of Cr. Coney's actions, and I can find no evidence in the minutes on-line they were. And if not, whether they support them.
As I said above, if she went rogue and is acting as a one-woman arbiter of what constitutes appropriate discourse in public space there are a whole new set of issues involved. And in Brown's position, I'd be questioning whether she's a fit person for the position.
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Damn you Ranapia, you’ve got me going now.
Since we're trading Public Enemy anecdotes, even a hippy-hoppity loathing beige guy like me can see why Yo! Bum Rush The Show, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and Fear of a Black Planet are often cited as three of the most influential, politically engaged albums in the genre. And the second track on their debut (with the otherwise impeccably right-on Vernon Reid credited) is...
'Sophisticated Bitch'.
Yup, another gold-digging uppity ho gets put in her place. Which might speak to the truth of where Public Enemy was at, but it sure ain't no party song.
Would it kill any chance of a booking if I was a club owner? No, but I'd sure like to ask where the sisters fit into their sociopolitical scheme of things nowadays.
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to Jeremy Andrew,
Plus your parents will hate it!
Quite - I suspect there's a few punk scenesters out there who, back in the day, didn't have a neo-Nazi micron in the bodies but made some epically unfortunate accessorizing choices. Juvenile shock and awful tactics seldom end well, but I think you'd have to draw a very long bow to connect naive suburban kids trying to shock their parents and the NF. Gives the former far too much credit, and ironically enough conceals the deep and ugly roots of the later.
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to Craig Young,
Namesake o' Mine: Did we agree on something? Stop it. Stop it now.
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to Sacha,
I presume Craig has already read the minutes of the commitee linked to?
I have, but I really really want to have missed a lot of something - and it's not beyond the realms of possibility that I have. If Coney went rogue, to coin a phrase, that's a whole other set of issues.
-
Muse: The Very Odd Future According to…, in reply to 3410,
“I approached the CEO of Regional Facilities Auckland John Brockies with Calum's concerns and my own having watched Youtube,” she says.
“After a discussion with BDO organisers this group will no longer be appearing in BDO in NZ.”
If Cr. Coney wants to come here and assure me the quotes attributed to her are categorically false and/or she was totally unaware that Brokies would get Odd Future pulled from the BDO lineup, I will withdraw and apologize. Until then, I think calling her "a self-appointed censor" is not only accurate but downright restrained compared to my first draft.
-
Please enjoy the irony, but I know this is a topic that’s going to raise strong feelings on all sides. Make this an example of Public Address System at its very best – which is pretty awesome – especially if Sandra Coney and John Brockies accept my invitation to drop by.
1) Talk about the issues not each other.
2) Yes, discussion of misogyny/homophobia in Odd Future’s work specifically, and hip-hop/popular culture in general is in order. However PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT EXPLICIT LYRICS MAY BE TRIGGERING TO PUBLIC ADDRESS READERS AND USE CLEAR TRIGGER WARNINGS Failure to do so will lead to comments being redacted or deleted at moderator’s discretion.
3) This is not certain other blogs where racist, sexist or homophobic trolling is emabled. Not to put too fine a point on it, try it on and the Mallet of Loving Correction will be wrought like Thor on speed.
4) And if all else fails, I can turn the comments off. You all decide whether that’s necessary.
-
OnPoint: Fiscal Responsibility is the…, in reply to Keir Leslie,
Which is a hypothetical slippery slope argument based on the purity of the tax code. Against it we can put real quantifiable figures produced by real actual academics doing real actual studies.
FFS, Keir, since I don't have access to a Tardis I do need to talk in hypotheticals when answering the question you asked. You don't think that's worth engaging with, fine. But please don't pat me on the head with a rolled up abstract.
-
OnPoint: Fiscal Responsibility is the…, in reply to linger,
OK; want to try applying that point to the fruit & vege exception?
Say please, and try to make me believe it.
But the fresh fruit and veg exemption is pretty simple. It is worrying if it opens the floodgates to lots and lots of exemptions.
But why wouldn't it? Grey Power has been arguing for around fifteen years that GST on local body rates is "a tax on a tax" that disproportionately and unfairly stings elderly people on fixed incomes.
Why stop at "fresh fruit and vegetables"? Seriously - can't you make a similar public good case for zero-rating lean meat, milk, locally produced clothes and footwear (seriously, keeping kids clothed is a money pit), electricity etc.?
I'm not trolling for a fight, but asking a serious question. At least when GST was :"aesthetically" pleasing, industry lobbyists left that part of the tax code alone.
-
Hard News: We interrupt this broadcast ..., in reply to Paul Williams,
What’s the worst example you can think of from Labour? Harry’s Law? Politically expedient, sure, but not something that affected NZers’ lives.
You know something, Linger, I think this is not a good time to be all “whatevers” about the Electoral Act being fucked around with under extreme urgency simply because Labour and National didn’t want a by-election. That’s not a pressing and extreme constitutional or public interest matter requiring abrogation of due Parliamentary process.
And, yes, I will say “a plague on all your houses” because I’d have liked to see National and the Greens grow a fucking pair, walk out of the House and publicly refuse to have any part of it.
Still, I guess it's easy to be complacent in a country that doesn't have a history of corrupt legislators passing election laws to disenfranchise opposition, electoral fraud and election outcomes with no credibility whatsoever. Just don't you dare tell me again the credibility and integrity of our electoral law doesn't affect people's lives. It affects every one of us every damn day.
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 234 235 236 237 238 … 1235 Older→ First