Author Archive
Facebook is a scourge. Convince me otherwise.
Totally worth watching: Robbie Nicol (of White Man Behind A Desk) explains …”After the protests [at Parliament Buildings, Wellington] in February, I tried to write a monologue about Facebook and radicalisation — and it ended up being 17 minutes long lol.” Surely Facebook’s twisted, evil, money-at-all-costs approach – radicalising users by placing a higher value […]
So, I was right about paid character assassin Carrick Graham, eh?
Today the shabby little train of denial ran out of smoke. Payment, apology in Dirty Politics case — Newsroom Crushing defeat for Dirty Politics PR man with apology to defamed academics — The Spinoff Here’s the apology wording, below. It’s ruined only by the clearly bullshit implication that there was a time when Carrick somehow […]
You cannot believe your eyes. (The Queen’s Gambit’s visual effects are astounding.)
Like, I guess, millions of other viewers, I throughly enjoyed the Netflix 7 hour series The Queen’s Gambit. Not only was it perfectly cast and acted. The writing, the music, the costumes and sets were all amazing. The visual effects, by a company called Chicken Bone FX, were absolutely astounding. They were so much more […]
Who funds Matthew Hooton?
I was asked a question about Matthew Hooton on Twitter recently, and it got me thinking: Who funds Matthew Hooton? Gee, that’s a good question. Hooton used to run a corporate lobbying/PR firm in Auckland. That’s the basis of the frankly risible NZ Herald disclosure statements on his ‘opinion’ columns (hit jobs, really) which variously describe him […]
The juxtaposition in this screen shot of the ‘NZ Taxpayers Union Inc’ astroturf lobby group receiving a government-funded subsidy makes me chortle
Sure, we’re all entitled to put our hand out for government support in times of need. No question about that. But THESE GUYS*? What a joke. (Except it’s real. Check for yourself: COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Employer Search) – P * We’ve discussed them before, here, a little bit. UPDATE: Thanks to a reader, I’ve now […]
This is not a dress rehearsal
Bill Murray interviewed by Charlie Rose.
Plagiarism, copyright infringement. Potato, potahto.
I’ve had skin in this game in the past, and reason to think about it recently in relation to the actions of local (New Zealand) lobbyists The Maxim Institute* (see Unlikely online bully, Liam Hehir). So a recent discussion caught my eye. This strikes me as a good working definition: Defining plagiarism is trickier than […]
Jordan Williams, Colin Craig podcast series announced
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out a press release saying he’d […]
Unlikely online bully, Liam Hehir
Check. Check. One, two, three, four. Is this thing ON? Hello readers, I logged in last night (yeah, it’s been a while) to mark THE END of the landmark legal case, Jordan Williams v Colin Craig, which (gulp) reached The Supreme Court, in which New Zealand’s most-defamed man was suing the politician he set out to destroy, for […]
Monica Lewinsky – a long echo of trauma leading to such wisdom
I heard a 45 minute interview with Monica Lewinsky talking to TED’s Chris Anderson on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, and have listened to it another two times out walking. I recommend it. Highly. Man, I am so impressed with how this woman has integrated her life experiences and come to an understanding of […]
Cameron Slater is a liar. We already knew that, but it’s actually worse.
The just-released book Whale Oil, by Margie Thomson, tells the ghastly true story of a nasty, protracted online smear campaign. The dirty work was carried out by discredited dirty politics/dirty PR attack website owner Cameron Slater. But don’t misunderstand: Slater (long exposed as a recidivist liar) didn’t himself have any grievance against the target, Matthew […]
‘Manifest Observable Behaviour’ – Patreon CEO on Content Policy, Lauren Southern
Worth watching in light of the ‘free speech’ debate under way.
Farewell Jeremy Hardy. RIP
Jeremy Hardy has died, aged 57, from cancer. He was a hero of mine, an absolute craftsman with words. In a world that values eloquence and intelligent, good faith argument, but has to often make do with ‘debate’, Hardy stood apart as a man who could couch the toughest criticisms in a comedy shell. He […]
Matthew Hooton’s latest fevered conspiracy theory: lügenpresse
National Party loyalist and paid political propagandist Matthew Hooton stooped to another low strategy recently, responding to a news report embarrassing to the National Party’s Simon Bridges with allegations of ‘corrupt’ journalism. I’ve noticed that when he’s under pressure, Hooton seems to opt for breathless conspiracy theories and smears. The last one we discussed here at The Paepae, […]
