Posts by Craig Ranapia
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Tupacrophilia - when is Holopac going to get a celebrity zombie cameo in The Walking Dead?
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Hard News: The war over a mystery, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
We could find out by asking Russell.
Yes - he's rather clear on the difference between being charged with an offense and convicted of same and all that wet liberal pussy "presumption of innocence" foofy tosh. I'm no so sure about a disturbing number of other people who should know a lot better.
The problem with the media appointing itself judge, jury and executioner is that there's no appeals and bugger all accountability when they just get it wrong. (Unless of course, you can afford the services of Sue, Grabbitt and Runne.)
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Hard News: The war over a mystery, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
And still to say ,that is not good enough.
Not getting any disagreement from me there, Sofie. And I don't think the class of cops I know would disagree with you either -- because, you know, when someone's freedom and reputation is at stake (and they've been accused of horrific crimes like infanticide and prolonged sadistic child abuse) you really shouldn't be cutting a micron off the corner of your case.
The Police have their rep on TV. Use the 6 oclock news. Tell how it’s going. Don’t be precious. Transparency doesn’t hurt. Truth is knowledge. And respectful.
Yes, but that works both ways. No matter what talkback callers and the Herald's more excitable columnists thought, the Police couldn't actually force members of the family to co-operate with the Kahui inquiry. And "90% of the self-selecting sample of an on-line poll says he looks like a bad bugger and has to be guilty of something" isn't really grounds for laying criminal charges.
How many times do you need to keep repeating those non-trivial points of fact before the fucking Herald (which is not a judicial body, BTW) gets the clue?
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Tom Beard,
Actually, I don’t make the default assumption that anyone knows their own fucking minds.
Perhaps I need to be a little more specific then. How about this:
When women talk about their own experiences, bodies and sexuality on-line, make the default assumption they're speaking in good faith.
no-one’s desires and actions are immune to received wisdom, unspoken assumptions, peer pressure, advertising, body-shaming and the countless other forms of cultural influence and persuasion to which we are subject.
Which is really wizard in a seminar room. Perhaps we also need to talk about other things people (especially women) who don't conform to hetero-normative, cis-gendered sexual norms aren't immune from. Emma can speak to that with a hell of a lot more authority than I can, but I'm personally rather sick of people who confidently ascribe my sexuality to childhood sexual abuse or maternally-induced gynophobia. I wasn't diddled by a dirty old man trying to hit his recruiting quota for the quarter, or traumatized by the sight of my mother's verdant quim. Promise. Please take my word for it.
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Hard News: The war over a mystery, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Indeed. Timothy McVeigh actually wanted the US federal Govt to execute him, so that those who shared his views could revere him as a martyr of the militia fringe.
Even more than that, I'm trying to remember who said (and not at all facetiously) that if you're going to commit a capital crime in the US and live to tell the tale you should be a white, middle-class, middle-aged "mainline" Christian mother. The important qualifier is don't kill your children or a sympathetic husband - that drives your odds of beating the needle way down.
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Lilith __,
Sure, it can be sexy, but I danced with a lot of great dancers who I had absolutely zero sexual interest in.
I'm more interested in the sheer craft of it all - because having heffalumped my way though a dance class or two as a child I know how much "one-two-three- shitshitshit - one-two-three-and-four aaargh! that's not supposed to click like that - don't stand on her toes and hit your mark, rinse and repeat" goes into a few minutes of seeming effortlessness. :)
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Hard News: The war over a mystery, in reply to Kumara Republic,
And no matter how tempting the death penalty may be, miscarriages of justice like those of Bain & Ellis are the single biggest reason to oppose it.
Possibly - but I also think a pretty damn good reason to oppose state-sanctioned murder is that (AFAIK) there's no empirical evidence that it has any deterrent effect whatsoever. If you're only in it for the vengeance, that I've got to register some moral qualms about the hierarchies involved on both sides of the equation.
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Tom Beard,
That sort of social pressure can then make women’s choices less than truly informed.
Perhaps, but can I suggest a guideline for a sex-poz utopia? (And I mean this as a general comment with a side of owning my own penis-privilege, not a bitch-slam on you, Tom.)
When women talk about their own bodies and sexuality, make the default assumption they know their own fucking minds and aren’t just gynoid sock-puppets of the patriarchal media-industrial complex.
And that especially applies to things that are all the way out of your social or sexual comfort zone - which is not a universal constant, BTW.
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Up Front: Towards a Sex-Positive Utopia, in reply to Deborah,
Well, no one is obliged to provide sex, no matter how much another person may want it.
And a corollary of that Islander might agree with: If you're NOT interested in sex, that doesn't mean you're somehow broken or a frigid God-bothering prude or must have been sexually abused. Seriously. I've been through a couple of quite lengthy periods where fucking wasn't really on my to-do list. And that's OK.
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Hard News: The war over a mystery, in reply to Jonty,
Is it a fearful public putting pressure on the media for a quick result that causes the police to finger the poor sod who can't produce an alibi?
I wouldn't go that far, but really I think the media needs to have a good hard look at itself over day after day of not-particularly-useful "no arrest yet in Kahui case" coverage. I know Police officers who were peripherally involved in that case, and really think a good chunk of the public (and media) need to be reminded that cop shows/forensic procedural on television are NOT DOCUMENTARIES. Of course, you're damned for "not getting results" fast enough for the Six O'Clock News, but if you don't get a conviction off a weak case then you get it from the other end.
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