Written By: lprent - Date published: 4:43 pm, January 17th, 2021 - 18 comments
I have a problem with dimwits waving around a slogan of “free speech” without understanding it. Ignorant fools more interested in screaming slogans than understanding the constraints of their ‘right’. The events of the last 4 years in the USA have made that very clear. So I thought I’d point out a few facts of life about constraints on freedom of speech – with a sidetrack through Trumps’ incitements to riot.
Written By: lprent - Date published: 4:43 pm, January 17th, 2021 - 18 comments
I have a problem with dimwits waving around a slogan of “free speech” without understanding it. Ignorant fools more interested in screaming slogans than understanding the constraints of their ‘right’. The events of the last 4 years in the USA have made that very clear. So I thought I’d point out a few facts of life about constraints on freedom of speech – with a sidetrack through Trumps’ incitements to riot. Written By: lprent - Date published: 11:05 am, October 29th, 2019 - 14 comments
I was reading one of Chris Trotters reflections which looked at the Corrections Amendment Bill 2018, that just passed its 3rd reading. “Putting
???? Chomsky does no such thing.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of the least force necessary …
Good, you got one thing right. That s encouraging.
RedLogix …
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see. Maybe I missed it.
If you want to understand an event properly, it s essential to have a clear grasp of the context. The left is supposed to be good at this sort of thing.
But stepping back from this diversion, my real point is this. Yes the USA (and it s allies) have been involved in a long list of conflicts since the end of WW2. But crucially all of them are over, and in virtually all of them the USA never replicated the pre-WW2 imperial model of permanently occupying and colonising.
It has never ceased to surprise me that those who profit at the expense of others are so unaware of the harm suffered by those they exploit, and are so convinced that they have a right to do the exploiting and that their profit is a proper and justifiable reward .
4 days ago
The government’s recent housing package may work; will it do enough?
Trick Question: Does New Zealand have a capital gains tax on housing? If you ask the Prime Minister she will say not. It is true that her government is increasing the scope of the ‘bright-line test’ on non-family homes to .
2 Auē by Becky Manawatu (Mākaro Press, $35)
3 Aroha: Māori wisdom for a contented life lived in harmony with our planet by Dr Hinemoa Elder (Penguin, $30)
A beautiful little book containing 52 whakataukī – a proverb for every week of the year.
4 Imagining Decolonisation by Rebecca Kiddle, Bianca Elkington, Moana Jackson, Ocean Ripeka Mercier, Mike Ross, Jennie Smeaton and Amanda Thomas (Bridget Williams Books, $15)
$15!
6 Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given (Cassell, $38)
They do not.
The Paris Review has published Roy’s introduction in full, including this snippet:
“Some of the essays in Azadi: Freedom. Fascism. Fiction. were written through the eyes of a novelist and the universe of her novels. Some of them are about how fiction joins the world and