Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Media3: Panic or Peril?, in reply to Lucy Stewart,
That would be bad enough, but teenagers in the US have been charged for taking photographs of themselves which then got distributed by others.
Which brings us to textbook examples of what not to do.
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Hard News: Media3: Panic or Peril?, in reply to Emma Hart,
Indeed. I wrote this a couple of years ago, and the rest of the posts in the Porn Tuesday series, partly because I was so tired of hearing that sexually-explicit material was something new.
As Sacha notes, the Lizi Patch column is worth reading. It’s impossible not to feel sad at an 11 year-old boy losing his innocence – and knowing it – because he was pressured into watching a sexually violent and potentially abusive scene by his peers. I don’t think that’s irrational. So what do we do? Or, rather, what do we say?
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Hard News: Media3: Panic or Peril?, in reply to Emma Hart,
Heh, you might have to wait a couple of days given what else is on tomorrow night.
Of course.
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Hard News: Media3: Panic or Peril?, in reply to Emma Hart,
I'm keen to see what you make of the show. I thought our two panelists were pretty high signal-to-noise at the recording tonight.
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I was sent this by someone who works with a NZ tertiary institution:
One of the primary aspects of my job is to make
alternative exam arrangements for students with disabilities. As a
disability rights advocate, I routinely find myself between a rock and
a hard place.Having worked in the United States, where students can request
arrangements just by stating in writing they have a disability (though
that's changing a bit), the need to provide such stringent
documentation was a bit surprising to me. Our university doesn't
strictly follow NZQA/NCEA requirements, but we're aligning ourselves
with them more and more.One of our problems is that of resources. The government doesn't
really provide all that much funding to pay for alternative
arrangements. The money goes to the "disability services" team who
then reimburses us for expenses. A student who requires a
reader-writer and has 4 exams in a semester generates about $800 extra
to run exams (reader-writer wages, separate room fees, extra staff
time to manage the arrangements, such as packing, labeling,
scheduling, bla bla bla). We have about 300 students requiring
alternative arrangements each semester. It's a significant amount but
at the same time a drop in the bucket. Thing is, we're still looking
at tens of thousands.The advocate in me thinks "cost of doing business" and "have to treat
students equitably" and "if we don't give kids a good education we're
setting them up to be beneficiaries", etc. Preaching to the choir here
I'm sure.The problem is, every year we're getting more and more requests for
alternative exam arrangements. About 20% more from one year to
another. And we're less and less resourced to provide them. We *have*
to draw the line somewhere. And that begins with appropriate
documentation. Which is cumbersome and expensive to get for students
and/or their parents.I don't know what the answer is. I really don't. The system's fucked
and doesn't feel like it'll smell good anytime soon :( -
Hard News: Friday Music: Walking Distance, in reply to Tom Semmens,
Moby's set was pretty interesting. A bit of generic EDM at first, then the hits. And a MASSIVE production, as per your description of the way things are trending.
It was great, but I found it a bit exhausting to even watch after a while. But then I switched over to the Xx, who were utterly boring, and switched back.
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Up Front: Another Brick in the Wall, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I’m not talking about fathering. I’m just saying that in my experience those disabled children who have an activist ‘mother’ tend to do better throughout life. In reality it is usually the biological mother. But that one person could also be a father, grandparent or some other person who is prepared to fight on the front line for that person’s rights for as long as it takes, which could be a life time.
What you say about the gendered nature of care in society is manifestly correct, Hilary, but if you’re constructing any positive advocacy role for men as de facto mothering, as you seem to be above, that seems to be drawing a long bow.
That mother of the two autistic men in Christchurch is a very good illustration of this theory.
Alison Adams is clearly an extraordinary woman, and according to the Campbell Live report was a sole parent when her sons were diagnosed 50 years ago, which must have been a terrible challenge in itself. But it also seems noteworthy that her second husband, Laurie, has taken on that challenge too. As Gio notes, there's a strong media resonance around mothering roles in this context -- note the way Laurie lurks around the edges in almost every shot of the broadcast report.
This review of literature on families and disability seems to suggest that the picture is complex and strongly culturally mediated.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Walking Distance, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Coachella temperature update. Still 26º C at 12.30am.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Walking Distance, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
A front page story on Coachella in today’s LA Times describes scaled back sound volumes and ‘comfy chairs’ to meet the needs of concert goers. We were in that neck of the woods last weekend and shade and buckets of water seemed more appropriate,
There are a lot of people there not wearing a lot: 90º at 6pm!
Even Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes was wearing a bikini top on stage. I'll say it: she has a lovely tummy.
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If you got to the Coachella website today and choose Channel 3 of the live stream, you can see the kind of production Tom's talking about.
I'm not sure I like the whole EDM thing, though. Just been watching Baauer DJ to a huge crowd and it seemed banal and boring. Like someone who's copped all Diplo's moves and made them really bland.