Author Archive
There’s no denying Sarah Palin is a talking point
I’ve resisted referring to Sarah Palin’s latest, umm, riff on American history, wherein she inserted words, actions, motivations and personnel into Paul Revere’s midnight ride … errr, he warned the British that ‘the British are coming’? PALIN: He who warned, uh, the British that they weren’t going to be taking away our arms uh by […]
Self-inflicted wounds
Hey. Remember my post Lying, my dear boy, just compounds the crime …? This whole ‘Congressman tweets picture of private parts’ hullaballoo proves the truth of it, huh? Oh boy. A journalist I follow on Twitter, Glenn Greenwald, asked the question: What % of those pushing the view that “any online sexual activity is newsworthy” […]
As part of this settlement, you agree not to tell the truth …
This clause, apparently an excerpt from a settlement between the borrower-victims of a mortgage issued by GE as part of the Blue Chip scandal, reminds me of something … “The borrowers agree not to comment adversely about the mortgagee or any member of the General Electric group of companies whether in New Zealand or elsewhere, […]
Sean Wood and Steve Goodey: Read the fine print
Oh boy! These, apparently, are the terms and conditions of the ‘lucky prize draw’ I referred to in my post Calling all gullible gamblers! They seem very complicated — totalling 1,114 words. An ‘Entrant Selection Draw’ followed by a separate ‘Main Prize Draw’ wherein a lucky punter (who needed to be physically be in the […]
Sarah Palin … who’s taking who for a ride?
This put it nicely. No one is fooled, really. But the conventions and protocols of “reporting” requires pretending otherwise. Contrary to a lot of our readers, I don’t think the answer is for the media to ignore Palin. Pointing out her ridiculousness doesn’t build her up and doesn’t give her oxygen without which she would […]
Dick Quax heir apparent no more
Final result THE full result of the Howick ward by-election for Auckland Council is: • Dick Quax (C&R): 11,600 • Maggie Burrill (Ind): 7023 • David Collings (Ind): 5393 • Penny Bright (Ind): 1491 • Wayne Young (Ind): 1349 • Ram Parkash: 1116 A total of 28,072 votes were cast, or 30.9 per cent of […]
Moral courage and standing in scorn, part 2 (in love)
What seems like a long time ago, but was only July 2009, in the early days of this blog, I wrote a post Moral courage — being willing to stand in scorn: So, in the end, each one of us has to find our own moral centre – the place inside us from which our […]
Bradley Manning – out of place in the US army?
The Guardian has produced a video of their investigation into the background of accused WikiLeaks source/security leaker Bradley Manning, showing he was (apparently) regarded as mentally and socially unfit to be deployed to Iraq. It reveals that Manning’s discharge from the army prior to deployment to Baghdad was reversed because of the severe shortage of […]
Blast from the past has lessons for today
A very clear and loud whistle was blown … Born in London from German parents, Frederick Voigt was the Manchester Guardian correspondent in Germany from 1920 to 1933. Voigt was one of the most important of the newspaper’s foreign team in the 30s, becoming famous for exposing the threat of the Nazi regime Today, when […]
‘Ethnic cleanser’ Mladic will face trial
About time. see Ratko Mladic: Legend, Monster And Coward – How The Serbian Soldier Rose To Notoriety by Sam Kiley at Sky News
Thinking can be overrated
’Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits…’ — Satchel Paige, US baseball player (1906 – 1982)
Another unflattering profile of propagandist Roger Ailes
The next issue (June 2011) of Rolling Stone features an extensive profile of Fox News supremo Roger Ailes. The guy fascinates me — well, better said, his tactics do — it’s really good to read some hard-out comments about the lack of veracity but enormous influence of Fox News and their propaganda machine. It’s like […]
Is Steve Goodey confused … or rewriting history?
Property spruiker and professional salesman Steve Goodey seems to be a very confused man. That’s one explanation. I stumbled across a statement ex-Richmastery franchisee Steve Goodey posted on the PropertyTalk discussion forum last week claiming that he’d been a ‘full-time property investor for 15 years’ — which made my ears prick up. Eh? I thought. […]
Understatement of the week
From a NZ Herald article today by Helen Frances, ‘Beware narcissists in workplace‘ … People who habitually make such grandiose statements combined with other, often intractable, behaviours may have narcissistic personality traits. Simpson has spent the past six years researching narcissism in the workplace for a PhD and concludes organisations are better off not hiring […]
Who needs CCTV surveillance cameras?
I really hope I don’t blow anyone’s cover or alibi by telling you I spotted this vanity number plate GNUINE on a car at Pakuranga Plaza this afternoon. Given that we occasionally discuss quirky number plates here now and then, and that I’ve been writing an article about some people who I have discovered seem […]
