Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to Sacha,
These are the top 50 words in Shearer’s speech.
Interesting -- and it suggests a certain coherence. I did note a lot of "everything" and "everyone".
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Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to Sacha,
Please let’s knock that ‘do nothing’ myth on the head. Where do you think the rush of govt actions in recent weeks came from?
I didn't say "do nothing". I do think that this is a government that increasingly ignores process, prudence and evidence. They might have had the ideas in mind for ages, but the execution looks increasingly haphazard.
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Up Front: Safety Net, in reply to Deborah,
On the second hand, we have a persistent commenter at The Lady Garden who frequently turns up to make picky points or ask leading questions or explain things to us ...
Ah, yes. We have had the odd one of them ...
And on the gripping hand, there’s the bizarro bullying in places like Kiwiblog, where it is impossible to have any sort of discussion whatsoever.
Ironically, the only risk I perceive there is the risk of me behaving as a troll. I'm fortunate enough to not feel I have to take any of those goons seriously. But I realise that's not the case for everyone.
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Up Front: Safety Net, in reply to Megan Wegan,
I’m all for telling men ...
I am most admiring at the way men get told on this site when necessary. It's good.
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Up Front: Safety Net, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
And “own your privilege” is, of course, exactly the kind of language you’re talking about.
Russell and I have had a *cough* free and frank exchange of views on that turn of phrase.
Understanding your own privilege is really important, but I hate it when I see the principle being invoked competitively, or to invalidate someone else's perspective. Or, indeed, any case where a language crime is called to negate the substance of what someone's trying to say.
Fortunately, no one has tried "disablist" on me in such a context. My response would not be a pretty one.
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Up Front: Safety Net, in reply to Megan Wegan,
This makes me really sad. Because you _do_ have something to contribute. It’s one of my immense frustrations with any number of feminists websites that shut out men completely. What the hell is the point of just talking to women?
To be fair, it's not a shut-out; more my own perception of risk in joining a debate. The incident I referred to validated that feeling.
I am sometimes disturbed by the level of what looks to me like bullying in women's spaces online (especially via the control of language), but I now take the view that it's not for me to point out.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to Kumara Republic,
And it looks like someone within PoAL has handed the union’s PR team a headline of their own
Guessing it has come via one of the PR companies paid by POAL, although perhaps not directly to the blogger concerned.
It doesn't stop there, though: the wider port wrangle is a vipers' nest. People associated with various lobbies and entities are trading scuttlebutt about each other. Quite an eye-opener.
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Also: most-commonly cited reason for wanting to contribute to PAS discussions, but not doing so?
People tell me they're anxious about looking stupid, or at least insufficiently clever.
It's actually a bit of a pain for me, because the people who say this are perfectly clever. They're just over-thinking it.
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As a white male who's been writing on the internet under his own name for ever, risk in this context isn't much of a factor for me.
The exception? Sometimes, feminist blog discussions. That's the only time where I can be interested in the discussion, feel I have something to contribute -- and not do so.
That was underlined when one time I did comment in good faith on part of a post and quickly found myself in an unpleasant confrontation where I ended up being abused for declining to be abusive in response (which would, of course have been a truly fucking terrible idea). It caused problems for my friends and made me feel unhappy and embarrassed.
It's not much of a risk compared to what others face (reputational, maybe?) but it was enough to make me wary of going there again.
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Cracker: On the Weekend: Rotoroa Island, in reply to Damian Christie,
Meh. I give Waiheke third place, after Otago and Martinborough - but my mate does a good job at Man 'O War, has to be said.
And I can report that their newish tasting pavilion right on the bay is a very pleasant place to spend an hour or two.