Posts by Craig Ranapia
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One last thing…
Agree with them or not, the whole “holding a consistent policy position twice in a row and arguing for it” thing seems to be working out for the Greens doesn’t it?
“White-anting” or actually doing what they were elected to do, and attracting left-leaning folks who (to paraphrase Neil Gaiman on George RR Martin) are not Labour’s bitches? For that matter, I really hope Judith Collins and Simon Power are really proud that they've made up my mind to sit this campaign out. This conservative is rather wedded to reactionary shit like the right to silence, the presumption of innocence and the Police being kept on a very short leash indeed.
Discuss.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Russell Brown,
I reserve the right to get more exercised about stupid shit the actual Prime Minister says.
And nobody’s saying otherwise (PAS is a place where policing the discussion goes down badly) – but, hey, if the actual public relations professional can’t keep a lid on her shit I’m not surprised Labour has signally failed to be an effective opposition. Which does actually matter in a functional parliamentary democracy – .because good stuff does happen when Labour gets its collective shit together. You know, checks and balances yadda yadda...
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Russell Brown,
It did strike me that the motivation for Curran’s whoopsie – she’d actually been out door-knocking and meeting families who were struggling while, in her view, the liberal commentariat carped from their keyboards – was rather overlooked in the pile-on. I found the nature and degree of scorn it attracted a bit silly. I frankly don’t care much about it.
With all due respect, Russell, Curran went further than that. Look, I've said more than once there are elements in both National and Labour who really need to accept that their cosy duopoly on power is gone. Hey, if Labour wants to piss on the Greens and the Maori Party and assume they've got nowhere else to go, go to -- it really seems to be working wonderfully so far.
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It’s not as if the commentariat wasn’t moved. “It’s hard to recall when John Key looked this bad,” raged John Hartevelt, describing the show as “an utter farce” and concluding “Excuse me, Mr Key, but what’s fun about another Kiwi soldier dead, and a double blow to the economy? I suppose there is always that Warriors Grand Final at the weekend … ”
Meanwhile, I look forward to Mr. Hartevelt's organ publishing an in-depth investigation into Dan Cater's fucking groin.
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OnPoint: Set it on fire, then, in reply to Sacha,
However I have yet to hear why compulsory student association membership so shrivels the willies of the young men of Act. In real terms.
Sacha: Sorry for being all po’ faced and PC, but when I was involved with VSM campaign there were plenty of women around the place. Perhaps we could save the gendered/sexualised insults of people whose politics you don’t like for Kiwibog and the Sub-Standard?
And since you went there, my cock is a bit smaller than usual -- bracing, energising cold showers tend to do that.
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OnPoint: Transcription of new Rick Perry…, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
Would it be quicker and less painful if I stuck a brick in a pair of pantihose, came round your house and you gave that wall the day off?
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OnPoint: Set it on fire, then, in reply to Steve Parks,
The part that I’m questioning was the Graeme’s absolutism.
And when did absolutism become such a bad thing? To drag things a little closer to the topic… Do I think Oxford University was a totally worthless institution of higher learning before 1920, when women were finally allowed to become full members of the university and receive degrees? (And it hadn’t been that long before that when restrictions on the admission of Catholics, Jews and ‘non-conformist’ Protestant undergraduates were significantly relaxed.)
Not at all.
But, yeah, I’m pretty unapologetic for being an absolutist that it’s totally unjustifiable to restrict access to tertiary education solely on the basis of having a vagina instead of a penis, or your religious beliefs (or lack thereof). I’m also pretty absolutist that it is hardly a red letter day in the history of Victoria University that Professor Von Zedlitz was removed from his teaching post – by Act of Parliament! – in a fit of WW1 anti-German hysteria.
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OnPoint: Set it on fire, then, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I'm not being entirely snerky here, Hilary, but if you were depending on VUWSA to resource opposition to the closure of the GWS programme I don't think your issue is with VSM but what kind of representation/advocacy is coming from tertiary unions and professional bodies.
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OnPoint: Set it on fire, then, in reply to Andrew E,
Besides being labelled an ‘ecological trotskyite’
Does that mean you kill only the cutest baby seals with an ice pick instead of a club?
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OnPoint: Set it on fire, then, in reply to George Darroch,
Perhaps students can regain their role as the conscience and critics of society, instead of the NGOs and think tanks that now have that position. But they’ll need to do it themselves.
And I'm only being slightly snarky in saying this: How the hell did the civil rights movement, opposition to the Vietnam War, feminism and gay lib happen in the United States in the 60's and 70's without compulsory student unionism?
Really, I'm a lot less invested in the whole VSM argument since I graduated -- and never really saw much evidence that Student Unions were the fount of all evil -- but my God I don't understand why compulsory student unionism is the only option. The hideously false analogy that got trotted out was "you don't get to opt out of paying taxes, do you?" Well, no - but I've yet to see anyone convincingly make the case that student unions are equivalent to nation states with any conviction.
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