Hard News: About Arie
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
Speaking of ruffled feathers, still no sign of a copy of Collins’ email. Anyone?
not a dot.
hasn’t been 20 working days yet though.
I was referring to the one mentioned over the weekend as saying nasty things about the residents of PAS, not any official response. Not holding my breath that one will be eventuating without a complaint to the Ombudsmen.
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Hi Russell,
I am a journalism honours student at AUT and am hoping to write an article on Police conduct in relation to Arie Smith.
Would you have anytime at all for me to ask you some quick questions?
Thanks,
Sophie
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Russell Brown, in reply to
Hi Sophie. Sure. Just click the little envelope to the right of my name to email me.
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I was referring to the one mentioned over the weekend as saying nasty things about the residents of PAS, not any official response. Not holding my breath that one will be eventuating without a complaint to the Ombudsmen.
Oh well. Given that it has already been subject to an OIA request, it specifically mentions me, and has apparently been widely circulated by email anyway, I might as well cut to the chase. It’s a response to a contact from John Greally of Asperger Syndrome NZ:
Dear Mr Greally,
Further to my telephone call to you, I was very disappointed to receive your email and the allegation contained in it.
I have always had a great deal of respect for the work that Asperger’s Syndrome New Zealand does for families who often suffer from
prejudice from the wider community.It was therefore personally distressing for me to see such allegation and I understand that you have repeated a statement published on
“Russell Brown’s blog”.Let me assure you that the allegation on Russell Brown’s blog is wrong. It is highly defamatory. It is the sort of allegation that is purposefully hurtful
and deeply unfair.I would be grateful if you did not further disseminate such an untrue statement.
Yours faithfully
Judith Collins
Good to know who the victim is.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
So yeah – they’re watching.
And have been for years. In general, that's a good thing, although it was be helpful if ministers could refrain from appearing to attribute to me things that I did not actually write.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I have always had a great deal of respect for the work that Asperger’s Syndrome New Zealand does for families who often suffer from
prejudice from the wider community.And some of her best friends are Aspergians, but...
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
How can reposting a ministerial communication, in full and unedited, be in any way grey? Is Collins that stupid that she'd sue someone for circulating an official email?
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Russell Brown, in reply to
How can reposting a ministerial communication, in full and unedited, be in any way grey? Is Collins that stupid that she’d sue someone for circulating an official email?
I would hope not. I did think a bit more about the interests of the recipient, but it was an official email and has been circulated, so, hey.
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I think the Minister's reaction was to the NZ Herald report quoting her which was repeated on the first page of this thread by George Darroch and others. That was before John Greally entered the conversation here.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
What?
I think the comment she was referring to was this one from George Darroch.
I do struggle to believe that she hadn't noticed that her vile sentiment was being discussed online for days before George's comment. As I have noted before, she doesn't seem to like me.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
I replied asking what she did mean. I have not heard back.
I hope you'll be following that up with the Ombudsmen if you haven't heard anything after 20 working days. I have asked for clarification, even offering her four possible explanations, and will definitely be going further if she doesn't respond. Ministers are required to respond to questions.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Let me assure you that the allegation on Russell Brown’s blog is wrong. It is highly defamatory. It is the sort of allegation that is purposefully hurtful
and deeply unfair.I'm sure she knows it's only defamatory if it's untrue, rather than unfair to her poor beleaguered self. It certainly is true that her statement could be easily taken as a coded message about prison rape. I'd even say that's the most obvious interpretation of her words and that was purposeful.
She'd be very stupid to take any kind of legal proceedings - the last thing she wants is to be on some court stand explaining in weasel words exactly what she did mean in front of the media. For starters, it will piss off the people who DID agree with her sentiment.
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Che Tibby, in reply to
As I have noted before, she doesn’t seem to like me.
i seem to remember you taking the piss out of her while she was a member of the Opposition.
megalomaniacs tend to have a long memory for those who have annoyed them
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Che Tibby, in reply to
The idea that she is actually unable to understand why people would read it the way we have seems rather farfetched.
nah, the Minister is just completely disingenuous. rape is *exactly* what she meant in the heat of the moment, and she's backtracking on it.
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I've just finished reading Ben Goldacre's "Bad Science".
Snap (although I've been reading him online for years).
One minor quibble with your post...
Goldacre lays responsibility for the "MMR scare" firmly at the feet of people associated with media - as distinct from the particular researcher at the centre of the controversy.
Although it is true that Dr Goldacre lays the majority of the blame very, very firmly at the feet of a media intent on whipping up controversy and hysteria, the original researcher, Andrew Wakefield, does not by any means get away scot-free.
Dr Goldacre notes that his original Lancet research paper presented an incredibly muddled and flawed methodology, and that those facts presented which are discernable do not support his very, very dubious conclusion. The study has since been withdrawn.
The UK General Medical Council has also found that Andrew Wakefield 'failed in his duties as a responsible consultant', has 'acted both against the interests of his patients, and dishonestly and irresponsibly in his published research'. He has been struck off.
He has also been accused of having financial conflicts of interest, which were undisclosed at the time of the study (basically, he runs a for-profit organisation that offers...shall we say...unconventional cures for Asperger's).
The highly dubious nature of the research and it's conclusions were all apparent at the time of publication. However, it is true that the media whipped up a scare story and ran with it.
It is also true that they are now intent on making him their whipping boy and in doing so distracting attention away from their own huge culpability.
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Oh, man. This has made my day. From a comment by the mother of a 28 year-old Aspie, on Brian Edwards' blog:
My son loves old school buses and NZ Broadcasting.A subject he knows a vast amount about. He listened to Michael Laws’ recent diatribe aginst Special Olympics which my son participates in with great pride. Jake’s comments “Michael Laws works for Radio Live.The studio he works in is too small and dark.He needs sunshine to make him happy. He is not alive yet he works for Live radio.He needs to join Special Olympics and get some exercise” My son is very literal but has real empathy in his own inimitable way.
Just great.
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Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
“Michael Laws works for Radio Live.The studio he works in is too small and dark.He needs sunshine to make him happy. He is not alive yet he works for Live radio.He needs to join Special Olympics and get some exercise”
That's real wisdom.
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I'd just like to say that my relationship with my 16yo Aspie son has suddenly kicked up several gears -- partly through his maturity, and partly, I suspect, because we've been able to carefully work down his SSRI dosage by two thirds. I would also credit the time Ben Wilson spent with him last year as a significant influence.
We're now scheduling regular quality time together, when I talk about the news with him (including the Arie story) and he talks about games 'n' stuff. We just had a look through the new Unreal Development Kit, which is pretty cool. There's a mobile version of the UDK, so he'll potentially be able to make stuff that plays on iPad.
So yeah, I'm really happy.
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nzlemming, in reply to
we’ve been able to carefully work down his SSRI dosage by two thirds.
That’s so good to hear. They’re vicious buggers long term, and the side effects can make you wonder if it's worth it at all. I was on paroxetine for a looooong time. Not fun. Now moved onto an SNRI called venlafaxine – has its own issues, but seems to be doing the job. Mostly.
It’s such a lucky dip, though, the way the doctors prescribe. “We know something is wrong – let’s try this and see if it helps!” FFFFUUUUU….
I mean, I love my GP and all, but I really wish they could be more precise.
/me waves to Leo.
[ETA] Apostrophe abuse corrected.
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BenWilson, in reply to
I'm stoked things are improving, Russell, and glad to have helped.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
That’s so good to hear. They’re vicious buggers long term, and the side effects can make you wonder if it’s worth it at all.
We seriously didn't have a lot of choice at the time -- his anxiety was through the roof, really alarming. But it's been his choice to reduce and eventually stop it, which is great. It may be that he finds a very low dose useful, but that'll be up to him.
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nzlemming, in reply to
We seriously didn’t have a lot of choice at the time – his anxiety was through the roof, really alarming.
Oh, I know. It's a bugger of a thing - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. I'm glad he's finding a path that works for him.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
As I have noted before, she doesn’t seem to like me.
Boo-fucking-hoo. I do hope Mrs. Collins will deputise a flunky to read the various disobliging things I've said about her on Public Address Radio. Her contempt would be a badge of honour.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
I think the Minister’s reaction was to the NZ Herald report quoting her which was repeated on the first page of this thread by George Darroch and others.
Ah, yes... and as I've said over at Danyl's place, if Collins is accusing the journos concerned of fabricating a quote she should lay a formal complaint; it should be rather simple for them to produce their notes and/or a recording of Collins saying what they put in quote marks.
Perhaps she hasn't because she knows damn well the quote is accurate, and both Audrey Young and Fran O'Sullivan have handed out public bitch-slaps to politicians who've accused them for making shit up.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
I'm stoked things are improving, Russell, and glad to have helped.
You so did. It's like Leo has had a chance to think since and he's decided he wants to engage. We're going in to see the Grinding Gear folks when they're through their deadline, and he's signed up for their closed beta. Is good.
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