A crazier prediction: iPhone Plus is real, and huge — Marco Arment.
Worth a read if you’re interested.
– P
Farewell Paul Holmes RIP
My old workmate Paul Holmes has died. I learned a lot from his example, good and bad — but never indifferent.
My condolences to his family and those who also loved him.
RIP. – P
Judith Collins “breaching natural justice” in Bain case
Yeah, I thought it would come to this.
Judith Collins (pic: Glenn Taylor NZ Herald)
Bain takes High Court action against Collins – NZ Herald
David Bain has filed a High Court claim against Justice Minister Judith Collins seeking a judicial review of her actions since she received the Justice Binnie report last August.
The claim includes allegations Ms Collins has breached Mr Bain’s rights to natural justice and his rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, acted in bad faith, abused her power, and acted in a biased, unreasonable and predetermined manner. …
Read on at NZHerald.co.nz
It is my personal view that Mrs Collins has demeaned herself, her office and NZ’s international reputation by her actions in this matter, however well-intentioned. As I said earlier, I regret reaching that conclusion.
But there it is.
– P
The escape of exnzpat, Part 11
Becky’s Shadow
Together, side by side, Becky and I descended into what appeared to be very wide and expansive valley. The path, well flagged, appeared cemented in place, reminding me of a village road one might expect to find in Europe. It was easy to walk upon and we moved quickly. Looking back behind us, we saw that the fireworks from the dais intensified in ferocity the further we got from the place; the booming, cracking sound of thunder echoed out along the valley before us, hurting our ears. Years ago, I had once witnessed a transformer explosion; the brilliance of the Crystalson’s arrival was much the same: vital, intense, and stupendous. Whoever He was, Crystalson knew how to make an entrance, and I was thankful for it, because His brimstone helped us to navigate our way along the stone path in the darkening night with ease.
On either side of our stone path, we could see the crisscrossing of skeleton pathways about us. They ran up, down, and across the valley walls. None seemed to parallel our little pathway; their deep, dark color shone pale in Crystalson’s light, and they looked to be real bones as they cast their own eerie, off yellow light into the air about us. And I supposed they were bones of a sort: clutching, growing, and holding Wormwood all together in their bloody embrace. It made my shudder just to think of them; so I did not.
Lilith had been right. The air was colder now. Becky leaned closer to me and I felt her warmth. Occasionally, our paved path narrowed and we reluctantly let go of each other’s hands. But as soon as the pathway widened again, our hands found their way back to the others. Continue reading →
A space for discussion about psycho killer cats
A regular commenter here at ThePaepae.com, Ivan the Terrible, wants to discuss cats and the ‘sadistic psycho killers’ and ‘Cats to go’ national conversation Gareth Morgan is trying to float. OK.
Let’s start with Ivan’s opening comment, relocated from another thread …
“After crowing to others that “my cat never kills birds” – the little bumhole went and aced a dove out of a group that keeps hanging around my aviary hoovering up the pickings that fall out from my tame birds.
However – he didnt kill for fun – he ate the whole damn thing leaving only the feet and the beak. We do have tuis and bellbirds that are in the surrounding trees – he never bothers them and he does have a lot of noisy bling round his neck.
However – he does stalk and occasionally ace very tame blackbirds, thrushes and now doves (who i think must have escaped from an aviary and hence are too trusting)who get drawn in by the aviary birds etc.”
and
“Do you like cats?”
Well, yes. Yes, actually. Depending on the cat, I do. But they are killers — whether for ‘fun’ or just instinct, I don’t know.
I have a young cat, a neutered SPCA special my daughter picked out. The first I knew of it, we had a kitten (with stitches) and instructions to keep it inside for a couple of weeks. This is a photo of her asleep on my lap — judging by the frequency of that occurrence (her choice) that’s one of her preferred pastimes. And I quite like it too.
I find her a calming influence. She slows me down. (Except when she gets in a cat-fight in the middle of the night.)
This cat of mine does bring lizards and wetas and cicadas from the surrounding area into the house. She certainly does appear to ‘play’ with them, just as Gareth Morgan says. I ‘rescue’ as many lizards as I can from her and repatriate them to the garden.
She has also, judging by feathers, knocked off at least one small grey bird. I don’t know what it was, but its plumage was scattered underfoot on the landing at the top of our stairs.The tinkly bell on her collar does not seem to have inhibited her much.
A little geek humour … at the beach
"OK, good. So Mark and I are going to re-set the crayfish pots. Now ... *where* is that power switch?"
Bwahahaha. Deserving of a wider audience.
– P
What I didn’t say at the Howick Local Board last night
I’ve received a number of kind and gratifying comments about my brief presentation at the Howick Local Board public forum last night (see Bunfight at Howick Local Board). Thank you.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but Cameron Slater was live-tweeting the event, and these popped up on my phone after I spoke …
*Chuckle*
For those interested, below are the notes I prepared for my (3 minute!) talk, complete with scribbles I made while listening to other speakers.
Some of what I planned to say became redundant. As I noted, there was substantial support, and effusive character testimonials for Adele White were delivered by the speakers before me, which I didn’t need to repeat except by implication. Given the mood of the evening, I also decided not to directly address the drink-driving charges Michael Williams reportedly is facing — they were in the public domain, with the Board members and public attending well aware of the issue.
My planned comments about Mr Williams’ & Mr Donald’s participation in what I regard (then and now) as a racist stunt in the Garden of Memories on the day of the blessing for the whare and sod-turning likewise felt off-point. Continue reading →
Bunfight at Howick Local Board
"Where people matter." Nice slogan, Howick. Now let's live up to it.
Every now and then I feel the urge to participate in local politics, sadly usually from a sense of disquiet about how some of our elected officials are running the borough. (See: Why do you think we call it a struggle? for some background.)
Tonight was a special meeting of the Howick Local Board (costing $20,000 it was said) requisitioned by the chairman Michael Williams (of whom I wrote about here: Politics is a full contact sport) and a handful of his supporters seeking to ‘remove’ Deputy chair Adele White … on pretty flimsy grounds. One of those grounds being that she was sometimes ‘diametrically opposed’ to Williams on the important (my word) Maori Affairs portfolio.
Michael Williams hatched a scheme to sack his deputy chair and replace her with someone more sympathetic (to Williams, not to Maori): Jim Donald. Here’s Michael Williams’ somewhat shabby letter (PDF) seeking the meeting, and laying out his plan to axe Adele White.
My fellow Howick resident Cameron Slater has related some of the happenings…
Pie eating bully boy Michael Williams still at it and Caesar Michael Williams facing court for drunk driving — based on his knowledge (and low opinion) of Michael Williams and what’s been recorded in the local newspapers.
Howick Local Board Deputy Chair Adele White talking with Chairman Michael Williams tonight after she stared down his shabby attempt to force her out of the job. (Yes, that's an EXIT sign above him. Pfft!) Click to enlarge.
The idea that Mr Williams should be able to sweep his deputy Adele White aside on such flimsy grounds struck me as unfair. (Not just me, obviously.) To replace her with Jim Donald — whom I personally regard as having anachronistic prejudice against Maori — was even more appalling.
Just an indicator: When local MP Jami-Lee Ross presented an 800+ signature petition to the Board tonight representing locals seeking to keep Adele White in her deputy chair role, Jim Donald asked a question something like this: “Is your full name Jami-Lee Matenga Ross?” (Matenga being a Maori name.) Jami-Lee said ‘Yes, that is my name.’
Disgraceful.
In the public forum, a number of us were given a chance to speak to the board for 3 minutes each. There was a great deal of support for Adele White.
Here’s what I said:
Peter Aranyi, comments to Howick Local Board — 21 Jan 2013 (MP3 file here)
UPDATE: I’ve put my ‘speech notes’ in a post: What I didn’t say at the Howick Local Board last night
Anyway, I’m happy to report it was a rout. Michael Williams and Jim Donald withdrew their motion seeking to remove Adele White as deputy chair. (Her own speech was wonderful, I wish I could have recorded it.)
– P
Pics: Peter Aranyi
Facts are stated to the best of my knowledge and commentary is my honest opinion. Corrections or clarifications are always welcome by email. Comments are open.
– Best wishes, Peter Aranyi © 2013 All rights reserved.
Spoofing David Fisher
Some malicious drongo with too much time on their hands is pretending to be NZ Herald reporter David Fisher on Twitter, closely mimicking his real Twitter account @Fish_NZH, which is one I follow. (UPDATE: As you’ll observe in the comments below, David Fisher renamed his Twitter account to @DFisherJourno … And the deceitful impostor renamed his/her/its to @FisherJourno. Spot the pattern.)
Someone deceitful has gone to a little effort to impersonate David Fisher on Twitter.
Now, this is No Big Deal. I’m all for parody and satire. Laugh it up. Nobody thinks Steve Braunias’ ‘Secret Diary of …’ columns are real. But impersonation crosses the line, as I have said before (Anonymous comment vs IMPERSONATION). It is a step too far, in my view, and is an indicator of a level of personal dishonesty which disqualifies the user from being taken seriously in a debate, or it should.
I’ve had my own run-ins with legends in their own lunchbox who imagine they’re internet ninjas. See Internet ninja cowboys … spoofing revisited.
Dishonesty is never a winning strategy, culture war or not.
– P
This disgusting ad from the NRA is *meant* to offend us.
Nasty piece of work from the NRA. An abusive, half-thought-out propaganda hatchet job on President Obama disgracefully using the spectre of someone attacking his daughters. The idiocy of calling the first black man elected as president of the USA ‘just another elitist hypocrite’ is breath-taking — even for racist RWNJs like them:
(See UPDATE below.)
Rachel Maddow called it out as trolling, and her ‘word of the day’ segment (below) is nicely put together, even if some might call it a touch long-winded and earnest. I say good on her. Maddow makes the point that this kind of stuff is a wail for attention, akin to ‘Please notice me!
Puh-leeeeeease be offended by me’.
As Maddow says
Trolling is a key part of the conservative entertainment/media business model. These guys say stuff all the time that they do not intend to be persuasive. They’re not trying to explain something or to bring people along to their way of thinking. They’re doing something to attract attention and hopefully condemnation and outrage from the mainstream and particularly liberals.
They want to offend you, They seek to offend you. That is the point. They want the attention and they really want the condemnation because, hey, attention is attention and clicks are clicks on the website. Bad publicity is still publicity. But more importantly, the key part of their base audience — that they are trying to monetize — likes anyone who gets condemned by the mainstream … it’s a shtick that pays.
Too good!
Via @someofmybest (click)
Funniest home video? The repeating action of gifs like this speaks to me of futility — the futility of doing the same thing over and over.
– P
Farewell Aaron Swartz. RIP
Aaron Swartz pic by Sage Ross via Tumblr
I’m so sorry to read of Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Whether you know his name or not, Aaron Swartz made an impact — a ‘dent’. If you don’t, and you’re interested, do some research. 1
I offer my sincere condolences to those who knew Aaron and loved him, and those who mourn his death now.
Naturally, rightly, now there’ll be an examination of sorts of the US Dept of Justice prosecution against Aaron Swartz — a prosecution ostensibly brought about by his [allegedly] downloading thousands (millions?) of journal articles from JSTOR.
Read Lawrence Lessig on that here: Prosecutor as bully
Given the inept (among other things) US prosecution/attempted extradition of Kim Dotcom from our own shores, as a New Zealander I can’t help but look at the prosecution of Aaron Swartz with a jaundiced eye. (There’s a succinct summary here from the NZ Herald‘s David Fisher: Dotcom comes out fighting.)
– P
1 Perhaps start with this worthwhile obituary by Doc Searls: Losing Aaron Swartz with a good many links.
Update 1: Worth a read: The Truth about Aaron Swartz’s “Crime” by Alex Stamos
No Death Star under Obama
The White House has published a nice tongue-in-cheek response to a petition for the US Government to build a Death Star, specifically:
Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.
Here’s the response:
This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For
By Paul ShawcrossThe Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn’t on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We’re working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?
…
Read on, it’s a hoot with references to the International Space Station, laser-wielding robots on Mars, and a President who knows his way around a light sabre. Riiiiight.
– P
Um, hello …
First swim back home in Auckland this morning and look what I saw near the tree where I stash my gear … a reasonably-sized stingray. (That’s my cap on the rock for scale.)
– P
Insane
Hostage Taking Not Like Regular Negotiating
By Jonathan Chait NYMag.com
Worth a read, not least for the refreshing line:
This is completely insane. The two parties disagree about the appropriate size and scope of the federal government. They don’t disagree about the debt ceiling.
