Author Archive
“HPPrintSettings plug in” crash on OSX
If you’re having trouble printing to an HP printer after installing the latest (Aug 2012) HP drivers update rolled out via Apple Software Update (er, like I was today crash, crash, crash after installing it last night), here’s a fix: [Thanks to Upton666 at Apple Support Communities who pointed this out] Upton666 Re: Problem with […]
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it
That’s a quote from Martin Luther King. One of the themes of this blog (apologies to those who don’t like recurring topics) is whistle blowers (as I write this, 66 posts are so tagged). I believe in supporting and encouraging them. As I have explained, I think the *urge* to tell the truth, despite possible […]
Wow. That’s intriguing …
One of the more formative books (‘most formative? Hmpf, doesn’t sound right) I’ve ever read was an eye-opening (and subsequently controversial) tome called The Origins of English Individualism: the family, property and social transition by Henry McFarlane … The Origins of English Individualism is about the nature of English society during the five centuries leading […]
Hard news for our country
Given my own very recent experience tearfully welcoming back loved ones from duty in Afganistan, I actually cried out when I heard this news on Morning Report today. Oh, god. – P
Criticism or demonisation? Thoughts about The Standard’s treatment of the Paganis
I personally still don’t buy the ‘left wingers making death threats’ spin promulgated recently with faux ‘outrage’, ‘sympathy’ and ‘concern’ by certain right wing political propagandists. (see: ‘Wailing about death threats, forgetting what they’ve written themselves‘) They’re just exploiting the evident divisions between some on ‘the left’. As they do. Making hay while the sun […]
Wailing about death threats, forgetting what they’ve written themselves
MOCK outrage from local right wing bloggers (the usual suspects) at left wing criticism of left wing activists appears disingenuous. At best. A RWNJ blogger and chorus have been wailing about some public criticism (blogged) of some left wing activists by some LWNJ activists/bloggers and their anonymous feral commenters … even breathlessly interpreting references to […]
Quick and easy reach for allegations of mental illness
I read (devoured) Bob Woodward’s State of Denial — Bush at War, Part III while on holiday last week. I spotted the book on a shelf, plucked it down and thought, This may interest me. Boy, did I misunderestimate. It’s a really great read. Woodward’s story is an extremely detailed and well sourced hatchet job […]
Been on holiday
I’ve just been away for a week with the whanau, hence the lack of posting here. I don’t like to announce trips ahead of time for reasons related to ‘security’. 🙂 We had a great time, not least because we (a) unplugged and enjoyed some good quality recreation and (b) re-connected with our loved ones […]
Quote approval is a defeat for journalists any way you look at it. Call their name.
Following up on my comment Flacks will always try this on. Resist. here’s an insider’s view from Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary to George W. Bush 2001 to 2003 … How Washington officials bested the media The problem with quote approval is it’s too easy. It turns the relationship between a source and a […]
A nice description of the journalist’s conceit (as in fanciful notion, not pride)
From Jeff Himmelman’s NY Times review of Yours in Truth — A Personal Portrait of Ben Bradlee. Some journalists seem incapable of seeing flaws in themselves or their heroes. They suspend their professional skepticism as if they’re not bound by the usual rules of gravity. It’s a kind of self-important higher-calling disease that has made some […]
One of my favourite right wing vixens pulls the plug, citing her children
Oh noes! MP Louise Mensch resigns to move family to New York Louise Mensch, possibly the most well-known Conservative backbencher, has resigned as MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, citing the difficulties of trying to balance her family life with political commitments. Mensch and her three children will move to New York to live with […]
Read this and tell me it doesn’t remind you (just a little bit) of John Key’s SkyCity Casinos convention centre deal for extra pokie machines
Dave Pell’s Next Draft recommended weekend read was Matt Taibbi’s The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia in Rolling Stone magazine. I agree. It’s a fascinating read, but kind of sickening too. USA v. Carollo marks the first time we actually got incontrovertible evidence that Wall Street has moved into this cartel-type brand of criminality. […]
The dignity of the office
There are roles the political leader of a country plays that are non-political. They are a task of the office rather than the office-holder. A prime minister responding to a national emergency, for instance, or representing our country in times of grief or alarm. John Key does these well, in my opinion. His everyman, guy-next-door […]
Heart warming NYC cabbie story
I like New York. I’ve never felt unsafe there. – P via John Gruber
