Posts Tagged ‘psycho-babble’
Off the agenda
Alec Baldwin makes a point about what September 11 has pushed off the agenda. I think what he says is good. I believe what has been lost since 9/11 is any real discussion of peace as a component of our foreign policy. You almost never hear anyone talk about peace now. I understand that there […]
Is there anything you’d like to share with the group, Cathy?
Was/wasn’t ACT list candidate Cathy Odgers (Cactus Kate) recounts the wearying psychological impact of poor opinion poll results on ‘tribal’ political party volunteers … from her own direct experience as a student volunteer in the early days of the minor right wing party (currently running something like 1.7% in the polls). Fine, emotionally honest writing […]
How I wish I had the talent to make a point like this so well
Via Tim Carmody’s Snarkmarket blog, this awesome argument with illustrations demonstrates the sexist double-standard operating in (sigh) comics … merely a microcosm/reflection of wider society. It’s an argument (discussion, really) that’s been running for a while … and is worth following if you care. But my point is the way Megan Rosalarian Gedris has pretty […]
Make no little plans
Inspiring. Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing […]
Understatement of the week
From a NZ Herald article today by Helen Frances, ‘Beware narcissists in workplace‘ … People who habitually make such grandiose statements combined with other, often intractable, behaviours may have narcissistic personality traits. Simpson has spent the past six years researching narcissism in the workplace for a PhD and concludes organisations are better off not hiring […]
Great headline: Do Narcissists Know They Are Narcissists?
{snort!} Of course they do! Read all about it from Scott Barry Kaufman at Huffington Post. Quite funny.
Taking criticism hard
A while ago, in follow up comments to a post A tale of woe … or fevered imagination?, I quoted Lemony Snickett about how reading bad news is the worst way to get it. Here’s a similar thought from The Guardian‘s Jean Hannah Edelstein about why bad reviews rankle writers far more that good reviews […]
An insight into sociopaths and liars
This quote, from an excellent Tom Junod piece in Esquire on Murdoch’s Fox News Gruppenführer Roger Ailes, says a LOT about the trouble with trying to shame the manipulative, or liars and con artists … The pundits, the professors, the professional journalists, the left-wingers, the tree huggers, the liberal blogosphere, President Obama — they all […]
Losing respect
Both my kids have learnt sailing at our local sailing club. Last weekend, in pretty rough conditions, I helped out in a minor way when the club hosted a big Auckland regatta … a huge effort by the club, parents and volunteers, and really worthwhile, especially for the junior sailors. I noticed this quote about […]
Why am I doing this? Muckraking?
Remember Cactus Kate’s description of blogging as “an utterly useless waste of a person’s time” (Soooo well put, Kate!) But her comment, of course, fits into Jonathan Swift’s self-aware description of satire … Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own, which is the chief reason for […]
James Arthur Ray on trial for being a bully-boy
You may or may not be aware of the manslaughter trial under way in Arizona of personal development guru James Arthur Ray following the deaths of three people during/following a sweat lodge exercise on a pretty intense ‘Spiritual Warrior’ course led by Mr Ray. Here is a document from the prosectors which forms part of […]
A process
From one of my favourite, favourite people on the interwebs, Havi Brooks (theFluentSelf.com) recently: We all have our stuff. We’re all working on our stuff. It’s a process. *Sigh.* So true Havi. Thanks for the reminder. – P PS Havi’s list ‘Some things I have learned about sovereignty‘ is absolutely golden.
Fallen hero?
There’s a particular kind of anger and outrage sparked when you feel someone has shafted you financially. I’ve been reflecting on the strength of feeling expressed by some commenters in the thread ‘Is this how Shaun Stenning handles a request for a refund?‘ and the public and private reversal of fortunes experienced by some former […]
Is narcissism the new normal?
I love the irony in this news. Apparently an upcoming revision of the psychiatric diagnostic standards manual, the DSM-V, has removed the narcissistic personality disorder from its roster… does that mean it has become so pervasive that it’s no longer thought of as pathological? Is narcissism the new normal? Well, maybe it is. Certainly it […]
Getting your brand into your customers eyes?
One of the books I read which changed the way I looked at the world was Vance Packard’s late 1950s The Hidden Persuaders — an account of how psychology entered the advertising industry. I recommend it. Funnily enough Bob Dylan recounted one of his NYC hosts telling him in the 1960s that the ‘high priests’ […]
