Posts Tagged ‘telling the truth’
“If book publishers are supposed to be the gatekeepers…”
First raised in a comment here, this story of a fabricated Enola Gay memoir, an imaginary PhD supposedly issued and withdrawn by Victoria University of Wellington (my Alma Mater) complete with “baseless and defamatory” allegations of a hot debate about evolutionary theory (!) … well, the whole thing just gets more and more interesting … […]
Where the slippery slope of deception ends …
A scandal is whipping through the internet about a tech reporter/blogger called Randall C. Kennedy who “invented” an alter-ego as an “expert” source for info about a speciality area of computing. He even posed as his fake self when giving interviews to other reporters! Sucker/innocent victim ComputerWorld writer Gregg Keizer reflects on lies and liars […]
Ace communicator or duplicitous spruiker? (VIDEO)
There are certain ‘sales types’ who veer so close to Con artists and scammers that you wonder why the ‘authorities’ don’t shut the lying bastards down. Newly-bankrupt Mark Bryers of Blue Chip seems to fit into that category, judging by some of the material I’ve seen privately and from reports in the media and from […]
“No more lies”
Thank goodness there are still people like this in the world … Bridgecorp staff told to lie to investors, court told By Edward Gay NZ Herald Monday Feb 15, 2010 A former staff member of failed finance company Bridgecorp has told the court she and her colleagues were told to lie to angry investors who […]
Tax? ‘Quite a good idea’…
In New Zealand, there’s been a lot of, umm, ‘debate’ (heat but not much light) about finding a way to tax residential property investors. Much ado about nothing, we hope. Here’s a brilliant ad in support of a proposed UK tax on banks… I have one or two people I would like to question in […]
Speak up (or shut up) to defend a friend?
I’ve had occasion to reflect on this, one of my habits/traits/addictions: Speaking up for my friends. And, having thought about it: Yup — I’d do it every time. It’s almost involuntary. (Asperger’s?) I’d hope (but not expect) my friends to do the same for me. There’s another aspect, too: A friend of mine was approached by […]
The state of the media
Oh, this is very funny … a true spoof. The cliches fall like autumn leaves. (Pwah!) I have a serious book somewhere called Bending Reality: The state of the media (James Curran) which, among other things, discusses the compromises and distortions those in the news media routinely can and do make in the effort to ‘package’ […]
Unintended consequences
A fair minded person seeks to put themselves in the other person’s shoes … I find myself doing that more and more. (… and I’m not saying, ‘Aren’t I wonderful?’ by that comment, I assure you.) I would hate for some of the things I’ve said about the activities and behaviour of others to be […]
Talking with Dave: thoughts about media blur
I’m part way through an online conversation with Dave, who I like, about hyperbolic opinion pieces masquerading as news (what I call the Glenn Beck/Fox News effect). We’re discussing Dave’s frustration with the “blur” between news and opinion. Dave said: I wouldn’t mind if the media did genuinely report as an opinion piece. At least […]
Slave to ‘consistency’
One of my favourite ‘let me off the hook’ quotes expressing wisdom is this: Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.) ‘Song of Myself’ — Walt Whitman, US poet (1819 – 1892) I have at various times, to my cost, roasted myself on a bed of […]
I hope this site was helpful
A search string someone used recently to find their way to ThePaepae.com: “How many times should I turn a blind eye to dodgy practices before I blow the whistle?” Great question! I hope you found something on this site that was helpful.
Did they jump or were they pushed?
Heads must roll… Fallout from last week’s blinding flash of the obvious, which I described as classic ‘provider capture’. Kneecapper and straightshooter Dame Margaret Bazley found that the Legal Services Agency was being routinely rorted by lawyers and that lawyers were effectively asserting control over the legal aid system. Four resign over scathing legal aid […]
Blinding flash of the obvious
Well, who’da thunk it? Doh! A classic case of Chicago School of Economics ‘public choice theory’ or ‘provider capture’. Read the full story for tales of (shock, horror) crooked lawyers playing the system. (Never!) Breathless reportage from the NZ Herald: A damning review of legal aid says a sea change is needed to fix a […]
Plagiarism stigma …
‘Uni needs to address plagiarism’ | Stuff.co.nz: University dean of arts, Associate Professor Jan Crosthwaite, said while concerning, Ihimaera’s actions were not deliberate. Ihimaera said the offending passages amounted to less than half a per cent of the novel, but respected author CK Stead said that was beside the point. ‘It’s really like saying `well […]
Plagiarism looks like…
Link provided by Jolisa Gracewood in her blog post discussing her uncovering of Witi Ihimaera’s plagiarism. Our lawyers prepared a similarly convincing graphic display for our High Court copyright infringement action, which may have helped the plagiarists in our case decide to settle the case last year.
