Author Archive
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 […]
“Sleazy gutter politics is not my style” by @imperatorfish
Oh, you must* read this wonderful spoof by Scott Yorke: A statement from John Palino Nice. A highlight (for me): “Your decision to talk to Cameron Slater disappoints me, and no good will come of it. If I were you I would just forget about the whole thing. Move on with your life, and try […]
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?
I think it’s OUTRAGEOUS that poor Simon Lusk’s name gets dragged into these dirty, shabby, venal, nasty political schemes time and time again. How must he be feeling?
Like this uncalled-for example, for instance, from this morning’s NZ Herald Who is Luigi Wewege?: John Palino man’s links to the National Party’s youth wing The political organiser who asked Len Brown’s mistress to reveal their affair belongs to the National Party youth wing. The Herald revealed yesterday that Luigi Wewege, a key member of […]
The same post-election vindictiveness we’re seeing in Washington DC? Probably.
If one loses an election (or the candidate/Party one was hoping would win loses it) there are a number of options for dealing with that. This is all I need to know about the political machinations behind a recent public humiliation … accompanied by a sworn affidavit. Ms Chuang was unable to be reached for […]
How would the locals have dealt with a dead whale a hundred years ago?
I saw this online at the time Couple make whale of a catch from beach, and today came across it again, wondering: How would on earth would people have treated a whale carcass in days gone by? I don’t know. I suspect they would have taken more from the dead whale than a few ‘samples’ […]
The challenge of dealing with a whistle-blower
I referred in this post: Please read this NY Times column — ‘The Banality of Systematic Evil’ to the discomfort that ‘management’ can experience — and the poor decisions they can make as a result — when someone in their organisation highlights wrongdoing. Remember?: “… an accountant was dismissed because he insisted on reporting “irregular payments, […]
This mortgage graphic bears looking at closer
I spotted this entertaining graphic on the NZ Home Loans website. If you understand mortgages, you’ll know the bank doesn’t own ANY of your home (as owner, you merely offer the property as security to the lender for your loan) but it can be good to have a sense of consciousness of your outstanding debt. […]
Speechless
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. What a team. – P via Stuff.co.nz
Rihanna at Vector Arena in Auckland last night
I went to this concert last night — and really enjoyed it. Read a review in the NZ Herald Concert review: Rihanna in Auckland (+photos). Here’s one of Sarah Ivey’s pics of this talented (and let’s face it, gorgeous) performer, Rihanna: Well worth going, if you get the chance. – P
The ‘values’ & ‘goals’ of immoral political deceivers
This, from a (typically) excellent politics column by Charles P. Pierce goes some way to explaining why I feel such disdain for the dishonest political ‘operators’ whose activities I observe and highlight here now and then, and whose reptilian coarsening of political ‘debate’ I have come to see as so irredeemably negative. The second basic […]
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 […]
Echo chamber? Or seeing the world as one wants it to be?
I like receiving Bryce Edwards’ NZ Politics Daily newsletter. It’s a valuable digest of political issues seen through the filter of media coverage, including the blogosphere, and Bryce’s commentary is always worth a read. (Material from The Paepae features now and then too, which I also appreciate.) Yesterday’s missive reflected the theme of the Thorndon […]
Alastair Campbell demolishes the Daily Mail’s deputy editor Jon Steafel (video)
A master class on BBC Newsnight. “The Daily Mail is the worst of British values, posing as the best”.
