Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Craig Young,
Given that no-one’s slammed Brown for his hypocritical grandstanding over the depravity of street sex workers engaging in survival sex while engaging in extramarital nooky with a younger woman himself, I might as well be the first one.
I think the reason you're the first is that it's a spectacularly long bow to draw.
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I've just added Nick Bollinger's Audioculture article on Dave Dobbyn to the main post. Those first two paragraphs are just great.
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Diplomatic Courier magazine advises me: “We have removed Mr. Wewege from the Top 99 under 33 list pending further review.”
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
It’s been a long time since I had cause to make the National Party constitution bedside reading, but surely there’s still a mechanism in place to expel members who bring the Party into disrepute. Brittany Raleigh would have my full and public support if she initiated moves to take Wewege out with the trash.
I see someone’s saying on Twitter that he’s not actually a “registered Young Nat”. He strikes me as someone who who’ll step on any rung he figures will help him advance.
A couple of people have described him to me as a “lothario”, which may be a polite word. Even DPF noted that Wewege had treated a friend of his very poorly in a relationship.
With any luck, this business will follow him around like a bad smell.
Anyway -- check out the photo on his Facebook page: poor Wallace Chapman!
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The Herald's Who is Luigi Wewege? story confirms the type I described in the original post: ambitious Young Nat, Simon Lusk acolyte.
I think this young woman nailed it:
Mr Wewege's messages were criticised by Brittany Raleigh, the chairwoman of the Young Nats' northern region, who called it "emotional abuse".
"It's important that we speak out against bullying those you're in an intimate relationship with for personal political gain," she wrote on Facebook.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Steven Peters,
They do not seem to be self governing bodies, autonomous from the council, and one of those employment lawyers you mentioned may agree, particularly if these are paid positions ‘within’ the council.
The Ethnic Peoples Advisory Panel (EPAP) has a dozen members and a total annual budget of $87,000, so it sure ain't anyone's job. These panels/boards were established to provide a sounding board for various communities: disabled, Pasifika, etc, who might not otherwise have a voice on the council or in local boards.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Well, he is our mayor, and you know his name. I wouldn’t have a clue of the name of yours without going and asking Google.
His name's Dave. I know that.
But still, interesting how it's (not) playing out as you head south.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to Alan Perrott,
exactly, but what also amuses me is Slater saying he tried to protect her identity by – oh my gosh, blanking out her name, the devil – while providing enough clues in the text messages for us to get her name within five minutes.
The original story’s description of their relative ages helped too. But I confess, I only went looking after Brown’s press statement, which rather radically narrowed the field by saying she was an advisory board member and a local board candidate. Took me five minutes after that.
But even that was somewhat justifiable, given that the Brown camp was responding to Cook and Slater’s false claim that she was an employee.
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Hard News: Sick with Anger, in reply to tussock,
When we mistake a brainy, introverted boy for an autism spectrum disordered one, we devalue his mental gifts.
Or … when we notice that autistic people include fucking Einstein and Newton, maybe we notice that exceptional mental gifts are exactly what you bloody well hope for on the spectrum and maybe don’t get otherwise. Even though almost all of us aren’t quite so lucky.
The whole premise of “devaluing” is completely misguided. Whether you see it that way is up to you. A diagnosis is helpful if it helps someone understand the way they relate to the world.
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Hard News: Everybody's Machiavelli, in reply to SteveH,
Slater is only interested in muck raking. The Herald did mention the credit card thing, but I’m not convinced they are as dedicated to removing Brown as some have claimed. I think they’re interested in perpetuating the story and dragging up Brown’s history doesn’t do that because it’s not news. I think you’ll find it’ll refocus pretty quickly on Brown if there is any hint of other impropriety by him.
I think you're right. Their story is now uncovering what happened -- and Slater's certifiably insane post this afternoon accusing them of conspiring with the left will have been noted. I wouldn't be feeling too comfortable right now if I was Stephen Cook, let's put it that way.
The way that elements of the right have gone on a war footing on this one suggests a fairly high degree of anxiety about the whole business. I pretty much wouldn't rule anything out at this point.
PS: Cook's "sex website" is no longer a rumour. Confirmed, apparently. Thought I'd leave that with y'all over dinner.