Author Archive
Twitter password IQ test
Oh boy! An intelligence test for Twitter users. Is it a spoof? (Answer: here.) – P Thanks to Nic Wise @fastchicken
Anzac Day anxieties and reflections
If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know I have people I care about in the military, and some who’ve very recently served in Afghanistan. Most are back, physically safe. (We’ve talked before about the psychic scars, the rapid sobering of youth that’s perceptible in them.) Some are training and liable for further deployment or orders. […]
How to be News Reporter
No point in hiding from this stuff: (warning: some salty language) In the wake of all the errors made in covering the Boston Marathon bombings, someone decided to show what it really takes to be a news reporter. — @evmoneyTV He’s wrong about the pay. – P From the fabulous www.newscastic.com via Mathew Ingram
Tripping over the paper trail. Spokesman says Mr Key advised cabinet about Fletcher link ‘orally’.
I remember writing a post before the last General Election, Hansard can be a real bitch, eh Mr Key? wherein I sympathised with noticed the difficulty some politicians seem to have remembering what they themselves said and how awkward that can be for them when they’re questioned about it in any detail. It’s not easy. Reporting […]
NOT a funny hoax
Nothing funny about this. Dorks. – P
A good, measured response to personal criticism
Criticism of Welsh opera crossover singer Katherine Jenkins — whom I last mentioned (respectfully) here: Using your marketing ‘assets’ — makes Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir look petty and shabby. Apparently the beautiful and talented Ms Jenkins used her participation in the recent London Marathon (impressed yet?) to raise £25,000 for a cancer charity. Ms […]
#NativeAffairs: well-paced TV current affairs, following issues that matter
I watched Maori TV’s Native Affairs again last night: their first live debate for 2013 with politicians from all parties (except Peter Dunne) discussing a wide range of issues. I really enjoyed it. (You can see it here at the Maori TV website. I recommend you do.) I described Maori TV as “this country’s last […]
‘Any extreme is the wrong place to be.’
I saw this interchange on Twitter today (that doesn’t make it ‘news’) and agreed with the conclusions. Having myself just said to a commenter here: It’s foolish to judge a ‘side’ by its extremists, as I’m sure you agree. A beehive staffer I follow on Twitter reported her Minister received an “Email from the NZ […]
David Bowie’s influence on acceptance of gay ‘lifestyle’
I’ve just watched this fantastic BBC 4 documentary David Bowie and the story of Ziggy Stardust (below) about Bowie’s emergence as a global pop star and, more importantly, cultural sensation and groundbreaker. I had all his albums. (On vinyl. Not an exaggeration.) I recall feeling anxious for him when I saw how skeletal he looked […]
Steven Joyce’s hyperbolic response to an Opposition policy announcement
Wow. I heard and saw some response from NZ government figures to the joint Labour/Green announcement of policy concerned with electricity market reform. Ministers Steven Joyce and Simon Bridges apparently couldn’t wait to slam the policy vociferously, taking the opportunity of ‘stand-ups’ in Parliament’s hallways to foam at the mouth issue a comment. Having paid no […]
Recognising culture war as … ‘War’. Not pretty.
The same sex marriage bill [Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill] passed in the NZ Parliament last night, to much jubliation from its supporters. Like many others, I watched the debate with members of my family live on Parliament TV. It was history in the making. Lew Stoddart, blogging at Kiwipolitico today (see: Recognising the […]
John Key addresses Parliament on his earlier misleading statement about Ian Fletcher’s appointment
Here’s the NZ prime minister John Key delivering a ‘personal explanation’ to Parliament yesterday for his misleading answer to a question about the appointment of his school friend Ian Fletcher to the job of Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau, GCSB. Well, that puts that matter to rest, doesn’t it? Ya think? (What do […]
Sue Bradford on recent developments in the area of protest and state surveillance
Left wing activist and former Green politician Sue Bradford posted an article at Pundit which I’ve just seen. She shares several valuable insights. I recommend you read it. A bad week for left activist paranoia by Sue Bradford writing at pundit.co.nz Army to gain new powers over protesters; GCSB spies on New Zealanders; new single […]
Evoking the spectre of external threat to justify spying on your citizens
The NZ prime minister has evoked ‘Reds under the bed’ style threats to national security to justify extending the already broad powers of the nation’s spy agencies, and aiding co-operation between them. Read the paragraph below and tell me it’s not redolent of the vacuous and deceitful ‘sexed-up dossier’ that Tony Blair used to justify […]
The power of labels (even in crossword clues)
Yesterday, in my typically discursive fashion, in ‘Uncertainty vs certainty. Growing out of old beliefs‘. I reflected on same-sex marriage law reform (or ‘marriage equality’). I wrote that as our thinking matures and we make friends with uncertainty, matters can seem to move beyond what we’re told is true and, for a time, believe to […]
