Author Archive
Frankly, I can’t see how ‘bomber’ Matthew Hooton can survive as a political commentator [UPDATED]
I honestly hadn’t bothered listening to Matthew Hooton’s foaming hit-job on the new Opposition Leader on Radio NZ National earlier this week, but having heard a statement and ‘apology’ from Radio NZ’s Kathyrn Ryan (below) — issued through clenched teeth this morning — I went to the RNZ website and listened to it. Wow. What […]
What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing.
Twitter was … atwitter today about an [alleged] ‘selfie’ by Bill Clinton (below) which Bill Gates tweeted: A @billclinton selfie from #CGI2013 as we sat down to talk for an upcoming @WIRED story. http://t.co/0P4YjZa6vY — Bill Gates (@BillGates) September 24, 2013 Now, I saw it and my first thought was: Gee — why isn’t it […]
Left and Right: useful when doing the hokey cokey, but past its use-by date for politics?
“I put my right hand in, I put my right hand out, In out, in out. shake it all about. …” — words to the popular 1940s participation song (from Wikipedia) Prompted by Bill Ralston’s use of the label ‘the Left’ above and an earlier comment in another thread wherein Ivan says: I’m not a […]
A hint of siege mentality from Steve Joyce?
I watched an interview with Steven Joyce on TVNZ’s Q&A show yesterday and, as has happened before, was pretty impressed with his commendable communication skills … up to a point. Then, as has also happened before, I watched him unravel a bit as he descended into ‘political’ debate. Yeah, well, ‘Yawn’, you might say. Fair […]
Staying positive with your team
In the offline (i.e. real) world, one of my businesses is a training company. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with some amazing presenters and speakers. Not the least of those is my founding partner who is, in my view, one of the most inspirational facilitators I have ever seen in action. […]
NYPD promotes iOS7 security features
It’s pretty clear there’s a market for ‘hot’ Apple devices — ‘hot’ as in stolen! The police think reducing a device’s ability to be reset after theft from its lawful owner will reduce the market. Hence, as Michael Hoffman (@Hoffm) discovered, NYPD are promoting the new security feature of Apple’s iOS7 … with a public […]
Nothing like a clear rule
Spotted this sign as we were paying for lunch yesterday. – P
iOS7 — no worries
Every now and then one has to ignore the doomsayers. Earlier today I downloaded and installed Apple’s new mobile operating system iOS7 on my iPhone (5) and iPad (2). No issues. Of course, now I’m reading about a worldwide internet traffic spike and terrible delays and Apple’s servers being ‘slammed’ and yada yada … There […]
Inconclusive
A friend tweeted a link to this AAP/NZ Herald story about research into coffee drinking, with the ALARMING headline… Coffee quaffers face increased death risk: study As someone who, from long years of practice, knows how to repeatedly give up drinking coffee (i.e. I’m imbibing again, at present) reading it made me queasy — but […]
Here’s the story political journos fixated with sports metaphors missed yesterday
I got bored quickly with the boxing/gladiatorial references to Parliament’s Question Time yesterday. Apparently it was David Cunliffe’s first QT as Leader of the Opposition. The coverage I saw was largely a (sad) case of style being reported over substance. Having earlier in the day defended Patrick Gower’s ‘colour’ and instability, I was intrigued and, […]
Putting a name to Patrick Gower’s um, mischief-making
No Big Deal, but it was interesting to see how Patrick Gower described his own actions: The TV3 political journo seems to excite tremendous personal criticism every now and then — from various sides — for his attempts to ‘beat up’ or (as his critics allege) to create a story. (Quelle horreur!) Left-wingers who whinge […]
Please read this NY Times column — ‘The Banality of Systematic Evil’
Goodness me, I just want to quote the whole thing! Gah! Please, if you care about these issues of whistle-blowing and state surveillance (as I do) go and read this article by Peter Ludlow, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University writing in the NY Times: The Banality of Systemic Evil … In a June […]
On vulgar, irrational, deceitful misinformation campaigns
This, from Jon Stewart talking about Fox News, put me in mind of some of the oily local propagandists and liars who demonstrate a similar nasty, negative, fixation with ‘the left’ and reflexively spin their personal attack lines against public and private figures who represent it … After showing a montage of Fox clips, Stewart […]
