Posts by Martin Lindberg
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Snap! I just read that article in Salon this morning. And as much as I also ponder which planet these people come from I can't help feeling that they cannot be serious. I know - everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I can't for the life of me believe that these people seriously hold the opinions they claim.
Must try harder to understand.
Or not.
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But I have met people like that and they annoy me. A lot.
Oh for sure. I went to university with a mixed crowd and we certainly had our share of students with an exaggerated sense of entitlement. Annoying indeed.
I just didn't see what these particular gits had said or done to be put into that category.
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The generalisations on this thread are getting a bit overwhelming.
and
Whether or not students are wealthy, either on their own, or through family money, or poor, shouldn't we be calling for them to get the same treatment as any other dickhead that drinks too much and does stupid shit
Indeed - what Kyle said...
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The discussion has been around students who have moved away from home to go to uni, and by and large that is the reserve of people with resources.
Oh sure, I agree with that. I came late to this topic and after reading through 100-odd post in one sitting I was amazed at the assumptions made about these students. Possibly our host set the tone by referring to "daddy's membership at the Northern Club".
I only see these kids as as young, first-time-away-from-home morons. Not that different from a lot of my fellow students 20 years ago. But I agree that it seems extra stupid that they are not actually "rioting" against anything in particular. Or maybe they are just fighting for their right to party. Heh.
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There is a lot of anger towards these morons in this thread. I certainly have no interest in defending their actions - let the police/prosecutors/courts deal with them.
But where did the angle that these kids are some kind of upper-class oiks come from? I have no idea about their backgrounds, but these are Otago Uni students (and/or Canty ones) we're talking about - not Oxbridge or Harvard students. (I only mean that in a cost per degree way - not in quality of education).
Sure, not everyone can afford a university education, but referring to these students as white, rich and privileged only seems to vent anger against a strawman stereotype.
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I found Labour's inability to argue their case wrt lightbulbs, showerheads (and now maybe condoms) utterly pathetic. I don't necessarily think these are great ideas, but if, as a party you do, then you must surely be prepare to fight for them. Not run away like a gunshy dog at first resistance. And these weren't really difficult issues to argue for.
This speech now seems to reinforce the concept that any initiatives that may be criticised are off the menu. Sheesh, why don't they leave it all to talk-back radio.
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Oh, and someone really needs to ask Boscawen what the hell is wrong with "criminalising" a father ...
Exactly. Saying, as Boscawen and others have said, that he was "criminalised" makes the father a victim.
Child gets assaulted by father - father is"criminalised" and convicted - father is the victim. What is the child's status in this? Accomplice? Provocateur?
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BTW, I've been wondering about some of the terminology in this debate. How do you "criminalise" someone? I can see how an act can be criminalised, as in "an activity that was once legal is now illegal". But are people who continue performing this newly criminal act "criminalised"?
For example, a while ago they made selling party pills containing BZP illegal. If someone would now be selling those same pills - have they been criminalised?
"Criminalised" appears to infer some kind of victim-status to the offender.
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Would the result have been different if the question had been:
"Should children have the same legal protections from assault as adults do?"
To me, that was the question that was asked. Yes, I know that the wording was different, but the true intention was clear enough.
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Ooh, and the chances are good
that the vegetable will respond to you10 points awarded for Mothers of Invention reference. Now, where can I go to get my jeans embroidered?