Posts by Sam F

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  • Island Life: What it don't get, I can't use.,

    Out of leftfield: this might just be me. But how did we end up with a Foreign Minister who attempts to negotiate with a Fijian government created by a military coup, and then calls for the summary deportation of people sheltering Indian overstayers in the same week?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: A Taxonomy of Poo,

    Oooo, thanks Lyndon! 'Corporate' is a must-have poo label on the left-wing side of the ledger, although it seems to be a fairly recent usage - I'm probably betraying the age of the materials I studied in leaving that one out.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: A Taxonomy of Poo,

    Can I just say I'm quite happy with how we've ended up with such a useful and expressive term as "poo labels".

    I appreciate its evocation of a whole complex of rejection, loathing and fear of contamination - as well as its implication of general barely-concealed monkeyhood in those who fling poo labels around.

    Many of these sound better when preceded by 'running dog'.

    Go read 1950s or 1960s journals and books from socialist nations and you'll be amazed at how many of these labels can be shoehorned into one groaning sentence. And I agree with you that 'running dog' adds a nice tone, but it gets old fast. Trust me on this.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: A Taxonomy of Poo,

    To be honest, I think these comments are his true calling and blogging is for Danyl like an indie band "going commercial". His true fans reject the move.

    So, so true. In Danyl's absence, commenting on TBR.cc is like playing a warmup set for a main act that never arrives.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: A Taxonomy of Poo,

    Or what's wrong with being a lesbian I should say?

    One of the interesting points drawn out in the paper is that, in talkback-land, lesbianism isn't really a huge issue in its own right. But adding it to other value-laden symbols 'promotes' it into something bigger than the sum of its parts. It seems that when you combine the word 'lesbian' with 'socialist', talkback audiences are somehow struck with contradictory impressions of sexual deviance, sexual puritanism and obsessive control over private lives. Or at least, that's what I got from the paper.

    What are the conservative or right-wing equivalent poo labels that lefties use?

    I'd agree with what Paul said, but note that the extreme left already has its own extensive set of poo labels drawn from particular understandings (or misunderstandings) of Marxist theory, as funneled through innumerable parties and organisations over the last century. A mild sample of what I can remember my own research, just for flavour:

    - oppressor
    - imperialist
    - comprador
    - puppet
    - revisionist
    - capitulationist
    - right deviationist/left deviationist
    - social imperialist/socialist imperialist (applied by China to Soviet Union)
    - black elements
    - rightist/capitalist restorationist (Chinese campaigns 1950s/60s)
    - saboteurs/wreckers (Stalinist era purges)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: So far from trivial,

    Can someone please write a letter to the Herald in response to Garth's nauseating column? I would but I've had a letter published within the last month slagging off Mr George, and a repeat so soon would be bad form.

    Or am I just playing into his hands as New Zealand's premier IRL troll?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: So far from trivial,

    Owen McShane can only grasp the wrong end of any stick.

    Please forgive me for adding to the sniggers from llew's direction at this point. Sometimes the right thing is posted at the precisely wrong time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: Relieving Ambiguity,

    The absence of dollar numbers means, of course, that the Herald can leave these promises out of its "Porkometer". So we'll be getting all we have now, but for free.

    (Finance spokesman Bill English was not available for comment).

    I'm excited already!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Hard News: Relieving Ambiguity,

    "vote for change! Elect the status quo!"

    Shades of the House Republicans' "rebranding" slogan, as revealed on the Daily Show recently: "The Change You Deserve". Erm, what?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

  • Island Life: Abusage,

    All us old bugges posting at the same time

    Call it the PAS hivemind in action...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report

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