Posts Tagged ‘propaganda’
Perception vs reality
He wasn’t the first to say it, but he was the first I heard say it, and he said it with such passion. Then Prime Minister1 Geoffrey Palmer, whose book Unbridled Power? was one of the texts I’d studied in politics at Victoria University, said, with feeling: “In politics, perception becomes reality.” — The Right […]
“… 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 […]
You’re doing ‘hit-pieces’ on government critics, now David? Seriously?
You may remember the name David Farrar. I write about him here now and then, usually fairly affectionately (well, comparatively). David Farrar showing WhaleOil how it’s done Negative credibility sux, eh @whaleoil? eh @dpfdpf? I’d double-check if they told me what day it was A study in spin. And Farrar lends a hand … Wailing […]
Two comedians speak up against animal testing
The ACT Party’s sole MP John Banks faced mockery and disrespect for his stand against animal testing in recent Parliamentary debate about amendments to the Psychoactive Substances Bill. Some people questioned his sanity or his social policy ‘priorities’. That’s a pretty harsh assessment, I thought when I heard it, but fair enough. Fair comment. A […]
Trying to pin a ‘con artist’ tag on Teflon John Key. Yeah, good luck with that.
I heard the NZ Prime Minister John Key (right) waxing lyrical about the (according to him) ‘rort’ that was the Opposition’s Stop Asset Sales petition. If I hadn’t known better I’d have said Mr Key was a glass or two off being refused wine service himself. His response seemed a politically desperate overreaction to news […]
So, what would get you marching in the streets?
Political activism is carried out for all sorts of reasons, by all sorts of people, in a variety of guises. The 1981 Springbok Rugby Tour divided families, households, workplaces … and the nation. Our current Prime Minister John Key “can’t even remember” whether he was for or against the tour, or the anti-Apartheid civil disobedience […]
Evoking the spectre of external threat to justify spying on your citizens
The NZ prime minister has evoked ‘Reds under the bed’ style threats to national security to justify extending the already broad powers of the nation’s spy agencies, and aiding co-operation between them. Read the paragraph below and tell me it’s not redolent of the vacuous and deceitful ‘sexed-up dossier’ that Tony Blair used to justify […]
Why pussyfoot around?
From a (quite sharp) Canadian public health/awareness campaign. Dark. Here’s a compilation of Top 40+ Creative Ads Made to Stop You Smoking including this one: – P
Gower on ‘Teflon John’ Key
Quite a good column — readable, at least — from 3News’ Patrick Gower on the narrative that he’s been promoting lately: that NZ Prime Minister ‘Teflon John’ Key has regained his ‘vice-like grip on the centre voter’. It’s not the first time, of course, the ‘Teflon’ label has been used referring to Mr Key. But […]
Samsung’s walk in the park
Daniel Eran Dilger is a ranter — but a ranter who builds a persuasive case by (often sarcastically) citing facts, history and numbers. I have a lot of time for him. I appreciate his attention span. This very dense paragraph (below) is from one of his wonderful takedowns — in this case of a pliant business press […]
So who CAN afford a house?
It can be good to challenge assumptions. Here’s an article by my pal (and fellow investor and author) Andrew King, president of the NZ Property Investors Federation. Andrew examines the subject of the ‘Housing Affordability Crisis’ — a contentious political issue at present — and finds it mislabelled. According to him it’s more a ‘Housing Expectation […]
Pick a theory to fit your paranoid fantasy
I stumbled across a lovely term yesterday … fantasy precincts … in a Robert Shrum article R.I.P Mitt Romney … “The media has debunked the fiction, which was borrowed from the fantasy precincts of the rightwing blogs.” Then, today, saw that Mother Jones has, rather wonderfully, put this summary of anti-Obama fantasies together …
