Posts Tagged ‘debate’
Is cloud-based e-mail ‘private’? Depends who you ask!
From Google’s friend-of-the-court submission to a case where the US Dept of Justice is trying to get access to Yahoo users’ e-mail for law enforcement officers to read: “…users who store their e-mail in the cloud enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy that is protected by the U.S. Constitution.” “Society expects and relies on the […]
Andrew King back into the fray
I saw Andrew King speaking up again in the NZ Herald recently. Good on him. He’s also fighting the good fight for oppressed landlords (in some circles they’re being painted as villain of the month/year/generation) in comments threads on interest.co.nz — that bastion of reasoned argument (now, where is that sarcasm emoticon when I need […]
Exposing a dangerous fraud
Wow! Straight-talking, clear writing like this is a welcome thing. I applaud it. Exposing manipulators, fakers and dishonest hucksters for what they are is a truly worthwhile activity. Reading this encourages me to keep after the weeds — native and imported — in our own back yard … in spite of the insults, threats and abuse […]
The Marshmallow Theory — finding a soft centre
Remember we talked about how caving in to a bully just makes it more likely you’ll be bullied again? (That was one of the morals of the story of Poormastery’s parable.) I’ve been recently reminded of an influential cabinet minister from my time working at Parliament’s Press Gallery: Lawyer, later Finance Minister, David Caygill was […]
Godwin’s law
Sometimes falsely truncated to: ‘The first person to mention Hitler in an online argument loses’, Godwin’s law actually states (well, according to, gulp, Wikipedia): As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1. I saw the misinterpretation of Godwin’s law: “first person to mention Hitler, Nazis, or […]
David Frum’s ‘Waterloo’ blog post
— that got him sacked. www.frumforum.com/waterloo Just so we can find it easily…. oh, and it’s worth reading! Telling the truth about the ‘divergent interests’ of the Republican leadership and the ‘conservative entertainment industry’ I’ve been on a soapbox for months now about the harm that our overheated talk is doing to us. Yes it […]
Nice writing on a smear campaign
MSNBC took out a full-page ad in Friday’s Boston Globe for a ‘letter’ from their talk show host Rachel Maddow to her fellow Massachusetts citizens. This was a response to Senator Scott Brown’s claims (in an effort to raise money, apparently) that she is planning a run against him in 2012. Her letter contains some […]
James Cameron calls it as he sees it …
‘Let me put it this way,’ James Cameron said in an interview last month. ‘I’m happy to piss those guys off. I don’t agree with their worldview.’ Can’t argue with that. I feel the same way about weasels who try to paint themselves as my ‘competitors’ or ‘peers in the industry’… when they’re no such […]
Point and counter point … bottled water
Great example of an exposé of ‘Manufactured Demand’ for bottled water … Followed by a ‘fake journalism’ (complete with ‘noddies’) PR/propaganda fightback by the bottled water manufacturers*…’Good Stewards of the Environment’ How do they keep a straight face? *Let me know what BWM Report could possibly stand for.
Why ‘legal action’ can be sooo dangerous …
Look at the sort of thing comes out in the wash: For years, Viacom continuously and secretly uploaded its content to YouTube, even while publicly complaining about its presence there. It hired no fewer than 18 different marketing agencies to upload its content to the site. It deliberately “roughed up” the videos to make them […]
A tale of woe … or fevered imagination?
The vast majority of the world’s population will NEVER visit an online discussion forum. They don’t care. (More important things to do etc.) Those who do (visit, and care) can be divided into a few categories from lurkers (who look but don’t post) to occasional and regular posters, to fanatical networkers and naked self-promoters who […]
On the wall of honour … Fake Steve Jobs on Google
So good, I had to plonk it here: One of my heroes, Fake Steve Jobs (Dan Lyons)… China to Google: Drop dead Minister of Information Technology says Google must obey the laws or leave, and China doesn’t give a crap because they’ll be just fine without Google. (Especially since they apparently can waltz into Google’s […]
Ad-supported site … or ‘supporting’ the advertisers? A case study.
An interesting debate is rumblng about the use of Ad-blockers on web browsers… Ars Technica’s Ken Fisher laid out his case “Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love” including this section which got me thinking: My argument is simple: blocking ads can be devastating to the sites you love. I am not […]
When propaganda turns into ‘demonizing’ …
Sometimes a zealot can go ‘too far’ …. even for his/her own supporters. I’ve seen it in political debate. I’ve seen it in business. The ‘object’ of the exercise — the debate, the contest of ideas — becomes somehow personal, and the ‘campaign’ can start to lose focus. It can be like a blood lust […]
