Posts by Hilary Stace
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Thank you Russell.
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complaining that she's (at best) being textually harassed
Craig - that is what I am referring to. You assume you know the whole story and at the same time judging it to be trivial.
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Wellington citizens have had to fight pretty hard over the years to stop buildings taking over the waterfront. Waitangi Park was originally intended for hundreds of apartments (like at Greta Point) and the disastrous events centre and buildings nearby were built before we could stop them. There are still an awful lot of new buildings on the waterfront but there also some nicely developed and well-used public spaces.
So don't assume that just because it is in public ownership it won't be largely privatised. Needs citizenship vigilance.
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The first rule in responding to anyone who is brave enough to disclose abuse of any kind is to take it seriously. Not belittle, not demand proof, not mock them or laugh at them, not tell them they should just accept it. Not assume you are more of an expert on the situation than they are (as Craig does above).
We live in a violent abusive society because people do not feel safe enough to ask for help. Worth and Key have shown exactly why it is not safe.
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But the others? It looks like a club ..
I think there is a real gender divide here. So many women, even powerful right wing women, have been on the receiving end of this sort of behaviour sometime in their lives, and so they know how humiliating and demeaning it is.
So many men - sometimes older, who haven't caught up with feminism, or just plainly feel threatened by strong women - cannot see that they are doing anything wrong.
That is one of the reasons that I find the discussions here on PAS so heartening. There has been a real sea change in attitudes to what maleness is over the last few decades - it's fine to openly discuss rugby as well as childrearing and emotions apart from anger. Now that probably sounds like a patronising old feminist talking (which is true) but could be backed up by historical study into gender and attitudes.
It's exemplified by that It's Not OK campaign. It just would not have happened in the 1950s.
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And Richard Griffin has again been allowed to go on the radio and declare nothing-to-see-here-there-is-no-chance-of-criminal-charges-and-it's-all-Phil-Goff's-fault-anyway on his mate's behalf.
Today's DomPost editorial is also taking the line that sexual harrassment is just fine if the woman involved is a political activist. The blame of course lies with those trying to get some justice for the complainant - in this case Phil Goff.
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Sofie - thanks for stroke insight.
Russell - Did you see the 60 minutes segment about Jonathan Eady and his family's fight to get him home?
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Apropos of nothing much, it is wierd to see that enormous photo of Russell and other Not OKers in the foyer of MSD in Wellington. I wonder if the Minister, as featured in the latest Listener, will put a stop to that.
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On this beautiful sunny morning I was walking across the parliamentary forecourt on my way to an appointment (as you do in Wellington), and came across a gaggle of journalists, cameras and school girls clustered around a familiar figure. In the clear air I distinctly heard, 'Where were you on Saturday night?'
Craig, you have a point - you couldn't do that in Iran.
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There is theory that those over 60 have a natural immunity to H1N1 due to a similar but forgotten epidemic in the 1940s. It could possibly be related to the old outbreaks of whooping cough which were everywhere in the 1940s.
One of the worst things about the polio epidemics, from those who remember them, is that you weren't even allowed to play with the neighbourhood kids.