Posts by Russell Brown
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The wildly wingnut site The Blaze has collected a (short) list of pundits predicting a Romney landslide .
The excerpt from the Dick Morris editorial is amazing. He's basically just creating his own reality ("Only in the union-anchored state of Nevada does Obama still cling to a lead.") And the comments ... good grief.
The amazing thing is that Morris is regarded as a relatively mainstream voice.
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to linger,
If you want a more recent parallel, you need look no further than Penn State University’s coaching scandal last year. In both cases, one individual was regarded as essential to an institution; in both cases the institution protected itself by pretending the offending was not serious or ongoing, and certainly did not draw police attention to it.
I think that's a pretty good parallel.
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Watch Esther Rantzen’s body language in the “Exposed” documentary and you will see someone trying to hide their shame, she knew what was happening and did nothing because, back then, it was accepted and she is not a bad person.
Like Paul Gambaccini and others, Rantzen clearly feels she should have done more; asked more questions. She's taking that on herself.
But it's an unfathomable leap from that to saying what Savile did was "accepted" in society.
Did he operate within a particular culture? Yes. And I think you could extend some latitude to, say, John Peel, who doesn't seem to have been scrupulous about asking radio groupies their age in the 1960s.
But Savile, to take just one example, sexually assaulted a brain-damaged teenage girl at Stoke Mandeville Hospital . The fact that he was allowed to do these things is an indictment on the adults who should have been protecting those children. In no way does it make Savile a "victim".
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Hard News: When we had hope and change, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
Started in 74, not long before Kirk’s death, I understand. Continued under Rowling, and then under Muldoon.
Did a bit of a search yesterday to try to establish when they ended, but couldn’t find anything. Anyone here have the information?
The book Tangata o le Moana is quite helpful on this topic. There had been “random checks” on immigration status since 1972, but Kirk stepped up policing in March 1974, in response to a shift in the public mood. Almost immediately, Fraser Coleman, as Minister of Immigration, suspended the raids – partly because of the social outcry and partly because factories in Auckland complained about having their workers arrested.
Kirk cancelled the issue of entry permits and announced a two-month amnesty for Tongan overstayers already in the country, most of whom eventually went back to Tonga.
Newspaper editorials – the Southland Times, the Nelson Evening Mail –explicitly blamed Pacific overstayers for the country’s economic predicament and social problems. Muldoon expertly exploited the mood of the times, both before and after becoming Prime Minister.
The raids officially began again in 1976 (although they were always going on unofficially to some degree). The authors say:
The significant difference between the 1976 wave of raids and its predecessor of 1974 was that, while widespread condemnation had led to the cessation of the earlier raids, in 1976 there appeared to be widespread approval of the police tactics now employed.
Incredibly, the revived raids extended to random checks on any people of Polynesian appearance, at work, waiting for buses, at university. Even some National backbenchers broke ranks in their revulsion at the way Muldoon was willing to scapegoat Pacific Islanders for the country’s economic problems.
Inevitably, Maori were stopped and questioned in the streets. Joris De Bres wrote later that:
Ministers said that if you don’t look like a New Zealander then you better carry a passport
Looking like a New Zealander meant being white.
Frustratingly, the book is vague on exactly when the raids were officially ended.
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
So … am I the only person here who had never heard of Jimmy Savile before this all became public?
Having lived in London for five years certainly had an influence on my awareness, but I was also aware of him before that via general cultural osmosis from British comics etc. And later, as an inventor of the modern idea of a working DJ. But I'd understand someone younger than me being mystified by it all. He did fade from view in his late years.
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Hard News: Media3: Whistleblower Season, in reply to Steve Barnes,
I just watched Exposure – The other side of Jimmy Savile and couldn’t help but think of the Christchurch Crèche case. Whilst, undoubtedly, Jimmy Savile was an unsavoury character by today’s standards he was feted in his time and I wonder how many of his “victims” went on to valuable careers in the entertainment industry which seemed to find no wrong in the man.
The two cases could hardly be less alike. They’re polar opposites.
The Christchurch creche case was the consequence of a weird, twitchy culture founded in a belief in so-called satanic ritual child abuse, as depicted in seminars delivered to police and social welfare workers. The chief investigating officer has sex with two of the complainant mothers. Children were interviewed repeatedly, in contravention of all good practice, until they gave the “right” answer. Most of the accused eventually had their charges dismissed, apparent victims recanted their testimony. Evidence that didn’t fit was kept from the jury and the defence. It was a travesty.
In Savile’s case, girls who complained of their abuse were ignored or even persecuted. Carers were instructed to ignore Savile selecting victims from hospital wards and taking them to his “bedroom” at the hospital because he brought in so much money in donations. There were eyewitnesses and people he told. He sexually assaulted disabled kids who couldn’t resist. There are now victims giving very clear, consistent testimony of being raped. There are, for fuck’s sake, actual broadcast TV pictures of Savile feeling up young girls.
Steve, you are really, really wrong on this.
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OnPoint: #WTFMSD: "Damning", in reply to Kyle Matthews,
What’s been outlined above, if it’s accurate, is that low level people received DD’s report, which highlighted the problem. It was not then escalated properly.
If that’s accurate…
It will somewhat turn on what ‘escalated properly’ means.
This is interesting in the context of this week's Media3 discussion of whistleblowing. There are indications that concerns were raised internally and not acted upon. In theory the Protected Disclosures Act 2000 provides a structure and process for staff to safely escalate concerns above their immediate managers, and even to the Ombudsman or the minister.
In practice, not so much.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Do not disturb, in reply to Alan Perrott,
woah jolly, I think we might be talking about different things. that comment was about Emily’s pre-song comment not HB.
Ah, gotcha. As I said, I thought that was funny and wasn't remotely offended by it.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Do not disturb, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,
I wonder if they’d have been similarly outraged to discover what guests of honour Toy Love were like back in the day.
Peter McLennan found an old interview with Chris talking about the only other time Toy Love had been to a Music Awards -- that wound up with them all getting really drunk and Paul standing on a table abusing people.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Do not disturb, in reply to Alan Perrott,
it just seemed precalculated and childish.
But what exactly? What did they do that was so awful?
as I say it probably came off differently live.
It was a welcome respite from the MOR tone of much of the rest of the fare, yep.
I thought Home Brew, Kimbra and the Toy Love tribute were the highlights of the evening.