Here’s to the knuckleheads.*
This is also true of former Press Gallery journos … (cough)
Affectionately, – P
* Yeah, I bought the T-shirt. 🙂
Top pic: Scott Griessel bottom: Universal Studios
When you can’t trust the Night Watchman. @MediawatchNZ on Duncan Garner’s spasm
With apologies to Technology gossip site semiaccurate.com – click. (Such a good name!)
Here’s Radio NZ’s Mediawatch review of the (let’s be kind): pre-reporting of a Labour Party leadership coup, and Duncan Garner’s part in further lowering the public’s trust in the media — if that was possible. [Discussed earlier in my post, Leave Duncan Garner alone! (And stop blaming the weed.)] It’s worth a listen.
— extract from Radio NZ Mediawatch 14 July 2013. Full episode available here at radionz.co.nz
Trust is a fickle thing. A journo’s ‘good sources’ sometimes can (and do) lead them astray, making the reporter and their news outlet little more than a puppet — a tool in a bigger game. (See: Every source leaks for a reason, Patrick.)
Continue reading →
Another option: Turn the other cheek
Wow, I hadn’t seen this message from Eleanor Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy responding to his complaints about her public criticism of him.
Sharp!
Gee, I must consider adopting that approach. 🙂
Via @BeschlossDC
Neutral Tones
I heard an extract of this poem on Radio 4 recently, and was struck. Wow.
It’s not that it resonated with any application or relevance to my own life (well, not presently) … I just admired the power of Hardy’s use of language to convey his melancholy.
Here’s Sarah Cookson reading it from a 1992 BBC Poetry Please broadcast:
Neutral Tones
By Thomas Hardy
We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
– They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.
Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro
On which lost the more by our love.
The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby
Like an ominous bird a-wing….
Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God curst sun, and a tree,
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.
– P
chidden — as in chided
Time to say goodbye … (Alas iPhone 3G, I knew thee well.)
Goodbye old friend.
I bought this trusty white 16GB iPhone 3G the day they were launched in New Zealand in July 2008.
It survived a few close calls while in my care, but I passed it, virtually unscathed, to my darling wife … who used it for a couple of years until she inherited my iPhone 4 last year when I upgraded to a 5.
So we passed it on, still in pretty good condition. to my darling daughter at Christmas last year.
Within a month or so of that ‘transfer’ the phone found its way to the bottom of a spa pool at a girlfriend’s house (still worked) then, a little while later, took a smack across the face and sported a 45o crack across the top left corner (yep — worked).
But this afternoon, it tumbled out of my daughter’s locker at her work onto a tile floor … and now it looks like this.
It still kinda works, but really, the phone ain’t that useable any more. Not like this.
Sayonara iPhone 3G.
Thanks for everything.
– P
Leave Duncan Garner alone! (And stop blaming the weed.)
Let me say, first of all: I don’t know how long it takes to get synthetic cannabis out of your system, but I think it is grossly unfair of people who take issue with the accuracy of Duncan Garner’s use of statements of ‘fact’ (and his political sources) to keep referring to this:
For heaven’s sake people, just let it go. Duncan was smoking that dairy-purchased synthetic high in the line of duty! There is NO EVIDENCE that Duncan’s sometimes slurred and hesitant speech, his erratic, lurching grasp of basic facts, and his childlike credulity have got ANYTHING WHATSOEVER to do with that ‘weed’ he smoked at Radio LIVE in May. That’s just Duncan. He’s been like that for AGES.
The latest culprit is the normally very charitable Steve Braunias whose column today, The Secret Diary of Duncan Garner contains this terribly offensive slur:
WEDNESDAY
O tea leaves at the bottom of my cup! O cured leaves of the tea plant Camellia sinensis which foretell events such as Labour leader David Shearer losing his job in a political coup.
Drain the remaining liquid.
Shake the cup.
Study the pattern of the leaves.
Nothing.
Light up the bong left behind on my 3rd Degree experiments with synthetic cannabis.
O boy!
The leaves form a letter. It reads, “Dear Duncan. Coup on in Labour. Letter of no confidence being circulated. It’s over for Shearer. Watch for his resignation. Well, that’s all for now. Take care. Give my best to Guyon. PS . . .”
See? “Light up the bong…” What’s with that, Steve? That’s just mean. [Read the whole ‘Secret Diary’ here — prepare to curl your lip.*]
It’s unforgivable to keep dredging up Duncan’s short-term use of synthetic cannabis. As if it explains his dodgem-car-like approach to news and current affairs. Duncan’s always been like that, people. According to one of my inside sources, the term ‘like a bull at a gate’ was invented for Duncan Garner. No, really. It was. Good source. Continue reading →
Amanda Palmer is a genius! (‘Dear Daily Mail’ song)
I like/love Amanda Palmer. You already know that if you read my post: The gutsy Amanda Palmer: The Art of Asking (TED).
Here’s her answer to the Daily Mail‘s consistent misogyny. Unmissable, but perhaps NSFW:
Genius. And courageous.
What a great human being, and media critic, she is.
Hooray.
– P
Lyrics: (via pastebin)
Dear Daily Mail,
It has come to my recent attention,
That my recent appearance at Glastonbury Festival’s
Kindly received a mention,
I was doing a number of things on that stage
Up to and including singing songs – like you do!
But you chose to ignore that and instead you published
A feature review of my boob
Continue reading →
Astonishing use of Photoshop to bend reality (John Key edition – episode 2)
Remember this?:
John Key with Merrill Lynch moko – pic: RadioLIVE (click)
…well I thought that was amazing use of Photoshop. But look at THIS:
Astonishing!
The image appeared in my Twitter stream. I don’t know who the artist is. (If you do, drop me a line in comments below or at this address, and I’ll update it.)
In an effort to locate its provenance, I performed an image search and found it was based on this widely used National Party campaign hoarding image:
The things these graphics people can do just amaze me.
– P
Must-read essay on John Key’s proposed spying laws
New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond has used Prime Minister John Key’s own warnings while Leader of the Opposition about ‘threats to democracy’ to condemn his planned law changes empowering the country’s spy agencies.
In an essay published by the NZ Herald today, the highly respected author accuses the National Party-led government of enacting laws which are an assault on its citizens’ civil liberties.
Dame Anne points to a NZ Law Society report to the UN highly critical of the government’s dubious legal processes and lack of proper Parliamentary scrutiny while ‘acting in conflict with the rule of law’:
Who could have imagined that in 2013, this same political leader would be presiding over an assault upon the democratic rights of New Zealanders? This is a matter of such gravity that last month, the Law Society felt impelled to report to the United Nations that in New Zealand “a number of recent legislative measures are fundamentally in conflict with the rule of law”.
Extraordinary though it may seem, this statement is no more than the truth. In its report to the United Nations, the Law Society lists a series of recent acts that have allowed the Executive to use regulation to override Parliament, that deny citizens the right to legal representation and cancel their right to appeal to the courts to uphold their rights under the law.
The Law Society also draws attention to the use of Supplementary Order Papers and urgency to avoid proper Parliamentary scrutiny of legislation. They express their concern that a number of bills formally declared by the Attorney-General to be in breach of the Bill of Rights have recently been enacted.
This report does not mention other key defects in the law-making process in New Zealand at present. These include the willingness of a minority government to pass laws that impinge on the rights and wellbeing of New Zealanders at the request of foreign corporations – Warner Brothers, for instance, or SkyCity and various oil companies. None of these deals, which amount to “legislation for sale”, can claim a democratic mandate.
Read Dame Anne Salmond: A warning to New Zealanders keep hold of democracy at NZHerald.co.nz
I wonder if all the criticism of his planned spying-on-New-Zealanders laws, and the disquiet expressed by ‘establishment’ and watchdog-types like The NZ Law Society, The Privacy Commissioner, The Human Rights Commission, as well as media, tech & internet groups, and other notable Kiwis will penetrate John Key’s defensive bubble.
That seems doubtful at present, given Mr Key’s ill-tempered ‘misrepresentation’ yesterday of the Human Rights Commission’s special direct report to the government about its concerns about wider surveillance/privacy issues as a ‘tardy’ committee submission that ‘missed the deadline’. It later emerged he’d apparently been expecting it for days.
Consider Mr Key’s if-not-bullying-at-least-intimidatory response to the Human Rights Commission sounding the alarm (as it should!):
“…they need to pull their socks up. If they’re going to continue to be a government-funded organisation they should meet the deadlines like everyone else did.”
Now read that again — especially “If they’re going to continue to be a government-funded organisation…” —  imagining Sir Robert Muldoon’s voice. (See?)
Continue reading →
Perhaps Judith Collins’ mysterious Wikipedia chimney sweep is a shy hobbyist #WhoisClarke43?
The question: ‘WHO is trying to clean up Judith Collins’ Wikipedia “reputation”?’ continues to intrigue. (See my earlier post: Suppressing free speech and editing Wikipedia. Is that why we pay taxes, Mrs Collins?)
Tonight, investigative reporter Phil Taylor had this to say in the NZ Herald …
Click to read Phil Taylor’s article at NZHerald.co.nz
Is that a drawbridge I hear being pulled up?
The Herald sent a message to Clarke43 via his user page, asking him to phone the reporter for this article. The message was deleted from his page within 30 minutes and Clarke43 had not made contact by press time.
We would have asked him to identify himself and declare any political affiliations. Collins’ office told the Herald it does not know who Clarke43 is.
Interestink. For the record. #WhoisClarke43?
– P
Update 13/7/13:
Someone’s just reminded me of this Trace Hodgson Correction: Sharon Murdoch cartoon from last year, when Mrs Collins was pursuing defamation action against a couple of Opposition MPs whose speculation about a leaked Michelle Boag email she said damaged her reputation …
Kinda fits with the JC press sec sock-puppet sanitising Wikipedia, dunnit?
Juxtapositions — David Shearer’s ‘price of power’
If you read The Paepae much you’ll know I’m often struck by humorous or ironic juxtapositions.
This, from the latest Auckland Today giveaway, popped out at me. Just the headlines: ‘The personality profiles of top salespeople’ and David Shearer’s column ‘Addressing the price of power’.
I don’t know Mr Shearer. I talked with him briefly at Paul Holmes’ funeral at the cathedral in Parnell. I’ve called the job of Leader of the Opposition one of the hardest, most thankless tasks a person could undertake, based on my observations over the years at Parliament and covering various party conferences.
For Shearer, faced with a popular PM who possesses, without a doubt, the ‘personality profile’ of a top salesman, and a nervous Party and caucus (almost terminally so*) the temptation to listen to the (mostly) well-meaning advice to try to re-package his own ‘personality profile’ must be intense.
But, you know, from the little I know of David Shearer — and really, more from what I know of myself as a fellow human being — that seems to me to be too high a ‘price’ to pay for power.
I prefer authenticity.
I can say this from the sidelines (and I admit such talk is cheap).
– P
* If one believes the scuttlebutt. And even if one doesn’t, most of the time Opposition is a nervous place to ‘be’.
Do you find John Key’s case for expanding the powers of the GCSB convincing?
Courtesy of the NZ Herald, Key: Cyber attacks, espionage targeting NZ
Do you find that clearly-scripted (by whom?) statement convincing? Because it seems the New Zealand Law Society (hardly a bunch of far-left conspiracy theorists) doesn’t appear to:
Here’s the New Zealand Law Society’s view:
Summary
3 The Bill changes the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) from being a foreign intelligence agency to a mixed foreign and domestic intelligence agency. The Bill empowers the GCSB to spy on New Zealand citizens and residents, and to provide intelligence product to other government agencies in respect of those persons, in a way not previously contemplated and that is inconsistent with the rights to freedom of expression and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA) and with privacy interests recognised by New Zealand law.4 The Law Society’s concerns regarding the absence of clear justification for these changes are exacerbated by the use of Parliamentary urgency, and the consequent short timeframe provided for consultation and submissions. The Law Society is concerned that, in the absence of compelling grounds for urgency, its use degrades the democratic quality of the legislative process.
5 The Law Society recommends that more information should be provided to the public regarding the justification for such changes, further debate should be held regarding that justification, further safeguards should be incorporated into the law if reforms are to proceed, and an updated section 7 report should be sought from the Attorney-General.
6 The Law Society’s submissions on the amendments to the GCSB Act focus on systemic checks that should be put in place to ensure the GCSB powers that are to be extended by the amendments are exercised appropriately. The Law Society also recommends that when the GCSB retains “incidentally obtained intelligence” such retention is required to be certified by the Director of the GCSB. In addition, we make recommendations as to aspects of the drafting of the amendments. …
from SUBMISSION ON THE GOVERNMENT COMMUNICATIONS SECURITY BUREAU AND RELATED LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL (PDF 250K)
Read it for yourself.
Speaking personally, the Prime Minister’s case, as expressed in that 14 April 2013 news conference, seems ‘sexed up’ — and redolent of the paltry and manipulative justifications for the ‘coaltion’ invasion of Iraq. (And we all know how well that worked out.)
-P
A short course in comparative religion
I’ve seen this before, but it’s still funny.
(Thanks to my friend Turi Hollis.)
Try not to make it personal
Note: I wrote this post in March 2012, but it felt just too raw to post it then — too soon, as they say. So it languished, forgotten in my ‘drafts’ until today, when I searched for a reference to Andrew Sullivan at a White House dinner for my reply to Lucia Maria’s comment on my post re Sullivan’s thoughts about  private and public unforgiveness. OK, enough time has passed.  – PÂ
—
From Andrew Sullivan’s response to propagandist/provocateur Andrew Brietbart’s sudden and early death:
The kind of high stakes in-the-arena 24/7 blogging lifestyle is not always easy on the body or soul. We were often at crossed swords online but tried not to make it personal. [emphasis added]
Elsewhere, Sullivan speaks of the ‘brutal’ ‘new media culture war’, and describes Breitbart as its ‘first casualty’. I don’t agree with the description, there have been other, more talented bloggers who’ve died in the harness (and journalists who’ve been executed for gods sake!) but focus for a moment on the ‘battle’ Sullivan describes: the new media culture war.
Jay Rosen alerted those working in mainstream media to wake uomto the fact that there are ‘enemies’ who seek their destruction. See “I’m committed to the destruction of the old media guard.” ABC News and Andrew Breitbart.
Brietbart, along with his confidence trickster/sorcerer’s apprentice James O’Keefe, are part of that group that use every opportunity to demean or attack those working in the news media variously describing them as liberal elite left wing blah blah – it’s usually tribalism, as we have discussed. People become fixated with scoring a point ‘For the Team’. That’s what is often behind the nasty sledging and attempts at online character assassination.
I enjoy reading Andrew Sullivan. He’s a complex, more nuanced writer and commenter than than his many cut-rate imitators. His kindly tone towards Brietbart on hearing news of his death is understandable. His:
“We were often at crossed swords online but tried not to make it personal.” … Is a good model.
Insults are cheap.
Continue reading →
Plain sailing?
Pretty sharp cartoon from Emmerson in today’s NZ Herald:
But last night’s Campbell Live report on the GCSB bill featuring an international observer* expressing astonishment at the Key Administration ‘kissing the feet’ of Washington DC, tells a different story. Watch it: Dissecting the GCSB bill
Click to watch at 3news.co.nz
The team Campbell Live is doing a sterling job … and anyone who (stupidly) paints them as politically partisan is ignoring history and demonstrating gob-smacking shallowness or self-deception.
My hat’s off to them at Campbell Live.
Campbell Live making the links … good journalism. Â (click to watch)
Rock on.
– P
* Human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam, now working with the Dotcom defence team.
