Posts Tagged ‘authenticity’
A beautiful, inspiring speech, and person: Ellen Page.
I would be so proud if I had any even vicarious association with this brave young woman who has overcome her struggle. Alas, I’m just another unconnected viewer who appreciates her courage and the way she delivered this message. – P
‘Dead man waddling’
This line from an Esquire Politics Blog by Scott Raab, Why Christie Now Has Nothing to Lose, (and the Chris Christie Countdown Clock image) show how personally punishing US political media commentary can be. That’s its nature at times — a whirling clobbering machine, standing ready to attach clichéd labels. As for Christie, he’s a dead man waddling, […]
Converting lies, by repetition, to …
via Banksy
Spoofing the use of Photoshop to distort the reality of women’s bodies in ads
I spotted this wonderful ‘defacement’ of a fashion billboard image (in Germany?) It looks like the activists have pasted on a Photoshop toolbar. How wry. Given our discussions before about the use of Photoshop to create impossible-to-attain ‘role models’ (bleurgh) and the negative effects on women and girls of such distortions, it’s good to see […]
Now, if Cunliffe had joked that Judith Collins was a ‘troll’ …
Actually, I read this introduction to a David Cunliffe blog post (apparently. I haven’t read it) as jovial, a play on words. “The original brief was to respond to a post by Judith Collins. My post was going to be about snapper, not trout. But considering that issue, along with Judith’s leadership aspirations, has floundered, […]
Dealing with something new in your environment
This very cool photo, taken through the periscope of a US Navy submarine which had surfaced through ice in Arctic Ocean, shows a polar bear — investigating something remarkable, novel and outside its previous experience. (Well, I assume it hadn’t encountered a nuclear submarine’s tail fin before, but I can’t be certain.) Thinks: What is […]
Emmerson – Palino’s diner
This, from Rod Emmerson in the NZ Herald, is one of those cartoons with plenty of subtlety* … it rewards scrutiny. – P *Like, for instance, the ‘speciality’, the puddle under Banks, and, is Slater junior wearing pants?
Exhibiting one’s nature. Not always pretty.
Jobs sometimes avoided the truth. Helmut Sonnenfeldt once said of Henry Kissinger, “He lies not because it’s in his interest, he lies because it’s in his nature.” From Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson p 287 I’m reading this book at present and really enjoying it. I’ve learned when dealing with some people that this phenomenon […]
Here’s the story political journos fixated with sports metaphors missed yesterday
I got bored quickly with the boxing/gladiatorial references to Parliament’s Question Time yesterday. Apparently it was David Cunliffe’s first QT as Leader of the Opposition. The coverage I saw was largely a (sad) case of style being reported over substance. Having earlier in the day defended Patrick Gower’s ‘colour’ and instability, I was intrigued and, […]
Please read this NY Times column — ‘The Banality of Systematic Evil’
Goodness me, I just want to quote the whole thing! Gah! Please, if you care about these issues of whistle-blowing and state surveillance (as I do) go and read this article by Peter Ludlow, a professor of philosophy at Northwestern University writing in the NY Times: The Banality of Systemic Evil … In a June […]
On vulgar, irrational, deceitful misinformation campaigns
This, from Jon Stewart talking about Fox News, put me in mind of some of the oily local propagandists and liars who demonstrate a similar nasty, negative, fixation with ‘the left’ and reflexively spin their personal attack lines against public and private figures who represent it … After showing a montage of Fox clips, Stewart […]
A note on embracing storms
Spotted in Howick this afternoon — a little bit of wisdom from another age (or New Age?) This is good advice. Rather than indulging our reflexive fight/flight/freeze instincts when we strike conflict, it’s best to look for ways to meet other people’s interests — and get your own needs met. Sometimes that means compromise. It […]
“… serious criminal offences …” *
From ACT Party insider Simon Carr’s slender volume The Dark Arts of Politics… In the end, despite attempts at distraction (or bluster) the evidence speaks for itself … and is often inescapable. For my own part, I try to be a reasonable person, remaining open to negotiation where possible. But only up to a point. – P […]
Groping for the truth
Why does a lie offend us? Why is it that a lie — especially a lie to our face — vexes us so? Our efforts to identify the veracity of a claim (sometimes a very basic claim), can be frustrated by liars and rogues. So much of our lives can be taken up with efforts to […]
Dealing with one’s disillusionment with an elderly man
Rolf Harris is innocent until proven guilty, of course. But it struck me as sad that prosecutors have said (as quoted): “We have determined there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.” Quite unrelated to Rolf Harris, I know the sharp pang of disillusionment one […]
