Author Archive
Confusing jingoism with patriotism.
From a good profile of actress Claire Danes, currently gripping segments of the intelligentsia/viewing public (including me) with her role in TV drama Homeland, this excellent distinction. “The first time I realised I was patriotic was after September 11,” she says. She was living in Sydney at the time. “I couldn’t have been farther away, […]
Liberal. One definition.
I stumbled across this on Pinterest today … “If by a ‘Liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — […]
Everybody knows the boat is leaking …
From Dan News … VIDEO: Small error in new NZ Herald TV commercial I really like the new TV commercials for the New Zealand Herald. One small problem though. In 1981…. and this … (With apologies to Leonard Cohen.)
Romney
I haven’t got much to say about the debate yesterday. (I watched it.) Romney, as discussed, it seems to me, will say anything, whether he believes it, or whether it will stand scrutiny or not, The ‘Etch-a-sketch’ illustration his campaign organiser Eric Fehrnstrom forecast in March (wherein Romney could pretend to be a ‘conservative Republican’ […]
Seinfeld makes a good point …
Jerry Seinfeld responds to criticism of people who use (or overuse?) “Really?” … Your Critic’s Notebook column about the overuse of the term “Really?” was so deeply vacuous that I couldn’t help but feel that you have stepped into my area of expertise. The best part is where he expresses disdain for the ‘wrap your […]
Conservatism with an open mind
Here’s a link to an excellent Andrew Sullivan article Conservatism And Extreme Inequality which discuss the challenge conservatism faces when responding to changed economic times. Part of it made sense. (Not just the part about ‘The good thing about having a blog is that I can go back and read my first impression …’) I […]
‘The Nation’ on the disintegration of the ACT Party
I watched this report on TV3’s The Nation this morning. It contains some interesting comments about the ACT Party and the toxicity of John Banks’ involvement, or, as the piece says, ACT’s narrowed focus in winning Epsom as their only hope of ‘survival’ and Banks’ ability to resemble a team player while ‘looking out for […]
I guess it’s too late for Mr Key to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority …
Sorting out some pix from the General Election campaign this afternoon, and found … remember this?: “A vote for me helps John Key” Oh boy. – P
A second apology (this time from Apple)
Apple’s iPhone Maps application (in iOS6) was delivered half-baked. That seems obvious. Here’s Apple CEO Tim Cook apologising for (shock, horror) ‘the debacle’. Good on him. Will it pull the sting? My first reaction to the shortcomings was to install a bookmark on my home screen for the web app of Google Maps (see below). […]
An apology unlikely to pull the sting
There’s no need for me to dwell on this disgrace. There’s plenty of coverage.* “Of course I apologize to Mr Dotcom. I apologize to New Zealanders …” — Prime Minister John Key (MP3 file here) Sometimes being the Minister in charge of the ‘intelligence’ services is a real let-down. I doubt that Mr Key is […]
Ye-ouch! Emmerson on Dotcom debacle
Crikey! That’s strong … Well, fair enough I guess. In A farce upon farce reaching to the highest level — John Armstrong of the NZ Herald offers a passable imitation of an apologist’s defensive spin for the Key government, ending with this: [Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill] English’s behaviour is inexplicable. But the […]
Scratch testing an iPhone5. Gulp.
Holy cow. I’ll be getting one of these phones … but I’ll treat it a little better than THIS: I don’t expect my gear to be literally bulletproof. But wow, the internet is FULL of drop-tests-to-destruction … is there a name for that? Shiny-gadget-bashing-porn? – P UPDATE: From 9to5 Mac Shocker!
