Author Archive
Is it OK for Don Brash to call a journo ‘a deceitful bastard’?
Is it OK for ACT leader Don Brash to call a journalist ‘a deceitful bastard‘ and refuse to be interviewed by him? Yes. Absolutely. Damn right it is. Is it smart? No. In an election campaign? Even less so. Never mind. This (below) is how I prefer to see Don […]
Peter Shirtcliffe’s campaign against MMP (MkII)
I watched Sandra Grey of the Keep MMP group pretty much wipe the floor with Dr Who’s faithful assistant Jordan Williams (right) in a brief discussion panel/debate about the MMP referendum compèred by Sean Plunket on TV3’s The Nation on the weekend. (video here) Poor Jordan ducked and dived, bobbed and weaved. He didn’t want […]
Watchdog issues warning about Sean Wood Property Tutors enterprise
UPDATE: This situation has developed further. See Property Tutors’ Sean Wood is ‘not of good character’ – according to Authority & Judge 26 April 2012 — Remember this?: Calling all gullible gamblers! Here’s the latest badge of honour … And how it’s being reported … It’s also covered in the NZ Herald. Something else to add […]
Getting a narrative going
Sometimes, especially in an election campaign, the political reporter’s role is to stand out of the way and let the protagonists slug it out. Really, all we need do in some circumstances is let them say what it is they’ve prepared, report it accurately, and let the public decide. Like most people, I’ve never seen […]
Steve Jobs’ biographer talks to Jon Stewart
Nice. The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
Playing whack-a-mole with ‘da media’
‘Da media’ cops a lot of flak. I heard someone complaining on the radio today about the saturation coverage of the Rugby World Cup … every possible angle explored and elaborated upon. Those who work in news and its many-fangled tributaries make a big fat juicy target. Generic criticism rains down on them. It’s instructive […]
Green Gorilla: What? No authorisation statement?
OMG, don’t let Cameron Slater see this! After last week’s brain fart he might blow a gasket. I don’t know exactly which Green Party candidate it’s promoting — who is the ‘Green Gorilla’? Does anyone know? Russel Norman? Bu-bu-but I couldn’t see an authorisation statement anywhere! Gee, they’re cunning, those Greens. Very cunning … – […]
Iconic graphic spreads
Family back from visiting Thailand earlier this week brought me back these images based on the iconic interpretation of the Apple logo to mark Steve Jobs’ passing. I read the guy who developed the graphic Jonathan Mak Long‘s humble ‘I’m not sure if I’m first with this idea…’ message when he published it … and […]
Phew!
The All Blacks held on in a tough, tense final against ‘old bogey’ France. Well done to Richie McCaw, Graham Henry and the team. – P Update: front of the NY Times …
Dodgem or dipstick? The miraculous rehabilitation of Chris Trotter from scheming Labour flunky to honourable lefty
David Lange once described Mike Moore as not so much having a train of thought but ‘Dodgems of thought‘. In a way it was a compliment, because Moore was unquestionably an ideas man — he generated lots of ideas. Ideas spilling over each other. The trouble was, as someone who I can’t remember said, that […]
Images of death in the street
When I was a boy I had a school friend whose dad had been a Kiwi solder in North Africa and Italy during WW2. All the time I knew him, my friend’s dad, (let’s call him Charlie), worked at the Ngauranga meat works north of Wellington. I learned in a ‘when in Rome’ fashion that […]
Put yourself in her shoes
This is worth reading … Naomi Wolf: how I was arrested at Occupy Wall Street. It demonstrates something I’ve seen — police becoming fixated with ‘keeping order’, and applying strong-arm tactics to people who are not their normal clientele, and will inevitably apply ‘scrutiny’ to their civil-rights-cramping actions. I’ve been caught by this myself, and […]
Priorities
I spoke to Adam Feeley, the head of the Serious Fraud Office yesterday about the conspiracy charges the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption had just laid against the unsuccessful Crafar farm bidders, particularly May Wang, He told me the charges resulted from 16 months of work by a dedicated SFO team, co-operating with the […]
Putting fuel on the fire
Enough with the sheep jokes, already! As a Kiwi with Australian friends, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to be a good sport over so-called ‘jokes’ about New Zealanders and sheep. (Example: “Q: How do NZ’ers practice safe sex? A: They paint an ‘X’ on the back of sheep that bite.”) Especially when I’m visiting the […]
