Media landscape / Acid rain

[hirez]

I dunno that it's worth the wear on fingers, brain and keyboard to fulminate about the supreme uselessness of Guardian journos, but I may as well get it out of my system here rather than gesticulating outside the newsagents. And, really, the Guardian motoring section is more of a tick-list inclusion in one or other of the Saturday throw-outs, along

Comments

[ellen_fremedon]

some broken thinking about equality through abdication of competence

Oh god this. It's such a toxic idea, and you see it everywhere.

It mostly seems to come down to what I've seen described as subtractive masculinity, or oppositional masculinity-- the notion that manhood is being everything women aren't, or maybe more accurately being nothing that women are.

Which tends to lead to frantic attempts either to deny that women are competent people with agency, or to deny that men are. Either way, it's pretty horrid.

[hirez]

Ha. Not just me then. Good. Well, not 'good', but You Know What I Mean. I wasn't entirely sure I'd quite identified what I was seeing and was being a bit of a bloke about it.

However, yes. Quasi-essentialist idiocy of the highest order.

[quercus]

I was invited to a mens' drumming circle last weekend (hippies). Obviously I spent it polishing the cat instead.

Tell me more of this Carrousel for celebs. Have you sold the TV rights yet?

[hirez]

"The thing about the drumming makes them real easy to hit with a high-powered rifle..." (Should have been Bill Hicks, but probably Dennis Leary.)

I hadn't thought about it too hard. Obviously we need it to be presented by Jenny Agutter.

[quercus]

That Hicks / Leary confusion is a tough one. With hindsight, Hicks clearly invented it all, but Leary does do it better.

[reddragdiva]

Oh! Oh! You know what's particularly fun with these people? Intimating the existence of homosexuality. Particularly in regards to oneself. The dears' heads EXPLODE. It's marvellous.

[s0b]

The full SL rant is 40 minutes long - it gets funnier each time I watch it

[inulro]

There was an article in the same Guardian a couple of weeks ago about some bloke feeling like he didn't measure up because his dad did DIY (to the level of extension building), plumbing, sparking, car-mending and presumably the rest of the Heinleinian competency checklist.

My dad did all that. I spent most of my childhood assisting him, so I have a pretty good idea how a lot of stuff works (more with the building, less with plumbing and electricity, even though I spent New Year's Day when I was 16 helping him re-wire the basement; in my defence I was hung over).

As a result, I have decided that I have better things to do with my non-work time than fix the bloody house. There's a few things I don't mind doing, but I have no guilt whatsoever about paying someone to do everything else.

Interestingly, it is not my dad who has a go about this, but my mother, whose helpfulness in all the renovation work at home was measured in negative numbers. (Shouting that we're doing it wrong and are making a mess is Not Helping).

[reddragdiva]

My girlfriend does all that. And used to go hunting to feed her kids. At least I'm good with computers.

[steer]

And the silly bastard should totally go to Sweden and do his bloody time rather than bleating about being caught.

Hum... No really... that would be silly wouldn't it.

If he has done it (or is likely to go down for it anyway) the best thing for him would be to stay here and hence avoid the charge and associated increased probability of being yoinked over to America and then whatever thing might happen at the hands of the US justice system.

If he has not done it same applies.

If he WAS silly then he'd be on the plane going "I must clear my name" to stand "not trial" (apparently no jury for this one) in Sweden.

[quercus]

AIUI, he has already "done his time" in Sweden, and they binned it as "no case to answer". It took a second investigation, spurred by Swedish politicos, spurred by goodness knows what sort of spookery, to get it back onto the radar.

Given our past track record though, I'd see the UK as being appreciably closer to Guantanamo than Sweden. I think that Sweden might inconvenience him for some time, possibly have him doing hard time in a Swedish nick, and would thus keep him off the Wikileaks agenda for a while. However if they plot was to stick him in the stockade at Leavensworth, he'd be better avoiding Northolt, not Stockholm.

[steer]

I'm not sure what to believe myself. If you believe the Swedish authorities it's quite normal for one prosecutor to say "no case" someone to say "O'Rly?" and another prosecutor to say "we will pursue this will the full force of Swedish justice".

if they plot was to stick him in the stockade at Leavensworth, he'd be better avoiding Northolt, not Stockholm.

I wouldn't know myself but it's certain that's not the case his defence team are making and they are presumably legally trained. If it was complete and obvious bullshit the judge and opposing lawyers would surely spot it as such.

Edit: Hmm... it maybe the judge has just said exactly this.

Edit to edit: My mistake it was the prosecutor and he said that he believed that 'it would be impossible Mr Assange could be extradited without a media storm'". Note the careful choice of words (it's true but it's 100% misleading) -- were I Mr Assange I would find this scant reassurance.

[reddragdiva]

He has Geoffrey Robertson defending him, which I suspect is as good as it gets. I am starting with the assumption that anything Mr Robertson says is competent and to the point in the courtroom, until proven otherwise.