tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post768986765224186126..comments2023-10-07T22:37:49.244+13:00Comments on The Hand Mirror: Turn the page on hatekatyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15742280289613450293noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-15997934791826176132011-09-01T12:30:15.331+12:002011-09-01T12:30:15.331+12:00Bruce S - well whatever it is, it ain't workin...Bruce S - well whatever it is, it ain't working out for ya.MelissaFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-45334193442543840702011-08-31T14:19:40.512+12:002011-08-31T14:19:40.512+12:00MelissaF; well, in the words of Edgar Allan Poe - ...MelissaF; well, in the words of Edgar Allan Poe - "I have great faith in fools - my friends call it self-confidence."Bruce Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-21982913399219708692011-08-30T08:40:25.290+12:002011-08-30T08:40:25.290+12:00What a lovely strawman you're attacking there,...What a lovely strawman you're attacking there, Bruce S. You're either extremely obtuse or wilfully mistruing the OP's & commenters' points. Stop making a fool of yourself.MelissaFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-20898754139234330102011-08-30T07:38:47.067+12:002011-08-30T07:38:47.067+12:00Bruce S - that is one giant leap you made there.Bruce S - that is one giant leap you made there.Jannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-77590955478868853652011-08-28T15:48:26.441+12:002011-08-28T15:48:26.441+12:00At least Michael Laws dares to depict these "...At least Michael Laws dares to depict these "people" as inhuman; it is not human to kill your kids! What do you suggest we do? Put them on a pedestal and praise them for their actions? Feel sorry for them to encourage them and their ilk to repeat the behaviour? No wonder NZ society is as sick as it is when we have commentary and false compassion such as yours!Bruce Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-49233347702652191202011-08-25T21:53:39.374+12:002011-08-25T21:53:39.374+12:00Lindsay Mitchell, LudditeJourno hits the nail on t...Lindsay Mitchell, LudditeJourno hits the nail on the head. IMO the reason Michael Laws' slurs are problematic is the way he is using them as a blanket term. He doesn't just point terms like "feral" at the individual/s who are the child abusers, there's also a strong implication that everyone who is on a benefit or part of the "underclass" (a problematic term in itself) is "feral" etc. He's fostering the attitude that everyone who lives in poverty or are on benefits "smoke, drink, drug, crime, victim and bash.". He says that the "underclass" should only receive financial aid if they are sterilised (eugenics anyone? I hate to Godwin the thread, but...). He seems to believe that humans are going down two different evolutionary paths - with the "underclass" devolving (he obviously has no idea how evolution works). He speaks in blanket terms. He others the poor & struggling. He thinks that he is innately superior, & it shocks me how cruelly he dehumanises an entire group of society. Now if he were just to say "the bastard who killed this child is a feral monster" I wouldn't take issue with it. But he's not doing that. Thanks for an excellent post LudditeJourno - I had no idea Laws' was such an asshat. (source for quotes "Michael Laws: Child Abuse Symptom of Evolving into Them and Us")MelissaFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-31344722294337146802011-08-23T11:17:34.013+12:002011-08-23T11:17:34.013+12:00It must be awful being Michael Laws. Imagine being...It must be awful being Michael Laws. Imagine being so utterly incapacitated by how much you hate everyone and everything. It would be horrible to wake up every day feeling so hateful and miserable. He hates himself that's why he finds it so easy to hate others. Dehumanising people by using terms like 'feral' has been around forever. During the Rwandan genocide Tutsi were called 'cockroaches' to stop people treating them like human beings. People need to think about their language. The 'underclass' already feel so isolated - I don't know why people want to dehumanise them on top of that. It's obviously a way to drive them into the ground further.Megnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-49747121966990493292011-08-22T18:50:53.178+12:002011-08-22T18:50:53.178+12:00Oh right, I forgot about the whole Whanganui/Wanga...Oh right, I forgot about the whole Whanganui/Wanganui thing.DPF:TLDRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06372937855256319716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-82357088753448972552011-08-22T18:02:18.494+12:002011-08-22T18:02:18.494+12:00Hugh - petty enjoyment of taking the "h"...Hugh - petty enjoyment of taking the "h" out of his name, when he refuses to acknowledge the spelling of Whanganui which local iwi wish to use.<br />Lindsay - I would describe them as people who have done awful things to children. I think that's a much better way of addressing that behaviour than name-calling the person.LudditeJournohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13154447284268192467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-75322535927562976112011-08-22T17:25:13.580+12:002011-08-22T17:25:13.580+12:00Putting Michael Laws aside, what word would you us...Putting Michael Laws aside, what word would you use to describe people who do things to children that would terrify and torture?Lindsay Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-38195075549943019402011-08-22T17:07:58.059+12:002011-08-22T17:07:58.059+12:00Any reason you're spelling his name "Mica...Any reason you're spelling his name "Micael"?<br /><br />Also, describing one's political opponents as "feral" has a pedigree much longer than Law's use of the word:<br /><br />http://tvnz.co.nz/view/tvnz_smartphone_story_skin/21405DPF:TLDRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06372937855256319716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8770341086445997547.post-5195690378451322532011-08-22T13:39:33.843+12:002011-08-22T13:39:33.843+12:00Spot on, LJ. Thank you. Michael Laws is one reas...Spot on, LJ. Thank you. Michael Laws is one reason I buy the SST only rarely.Sandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00679010667380926214noreply@blogger.com