Posts by Russell Brown

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  • Hard News: The Debate and Onwards,

    Mind need boggling?

    Check out some of the usual suspects on Kiwiblog on the bailout story.

    Laugh? Cry? You choose.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Debate and Onwards,

    McCain has declared that now is not the time to assign blame for the bailout failure -- 90 minutes after issuing a statement containing these words:

    "Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill ...This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country."

    Could he get any more weird and erratic?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Debate and Onwards,

    Que?

    That's Spanish for "WTF?", right?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: "Rubbish" is putting it politely,

    I made you a copyright thread.

    I'll invite some other clever people to come in and we'll work out a way to get a resource from it, as well as a debate.

    Go play.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Discussion: On Copyright,

    As the balance of the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Bill continues to shift, it seems that we still need to talk about copyright itself, from first principles. What is its purpose? How is it broken? What would you fix? Post your case here …

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Debate and Onwards,

    While the shit hits the fan, MSNBC's Chris Matthews blames McCain for the failure of the bailout vote -- "He shouted 'charge' and Republicans retreated":

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Policeman at the Dinner Table,

    Not only will there be no domestic murders in the post-welfare world, but everyone will have a pony.

    That is wonderful.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Debate and Onwards,

    This. She's expected to do so badly that if she doesn't just giggle and fall over, it'll be seen as a win.

    They pulled that off with the convention speech. It really was not great. But expectations were so low that her high-school-debate styling was greeted as a triumphant performance.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Policeman at the Dinner Table,

    @Peter

    You might be content to rest on your "it's only domestic violence" defence ...

    I almost ignored this, because it's clearly not a statement made in good faith: ie, it's a troll.

    But I will anyway. If you're going to talk about an increase in violent crime, it makes sense to know what you're talking about.

    There is decent evidence that (a) the recent increase in recorded violent crime is overwhelmingly composed of an increase in recorded family violence, and that (b) that increase is very largely driven by a greater readiness to report family violence and a zero-tolerance policy in following it up on the part of police. Both of these are a result of strategies you have mocked.

    You're fond of raging about the obscenity of child killings in the home, and of attempting to depict a correlation between those and "welfarism".

    Well guess what? the vast majority of people drawing benefits don't kill their children. But I have a much stronger correlation for you: little children are overwhelmingly beaten and killed in homes where there is already an acceptance of violence. Look it up.

    You invoked the name of Darnell Leslie, the Invercargill stabbing victim, in your response today. Did you actually bother to read the reports? The 26 year-old offender was also hospitalised with injuries; the fatal assault took place at a residential address. It may well have been a fight.

    It was, in the broader sense, another domestic, and not even remotely amenable to to your analysis of a welfare-addicted underclass running around stabbing the good people.

    The thing is, reality isn't amenable to your analysis.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Policeman at the Dinner Table,

    Peter, I respect your preferences in regard to phasing out the DPB, I'm sure many would agree. Unfortunately, I don't really see it lowering incidences of violent crime; in fact it might, y'know, make shit worse.

    If only because those most affected would disproportionately be victims of crime.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

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