Author Archive
Don Brash’s ACT will cannibalise National
I like (agree with) John Armstong’s analysis of the nothing-if-not-brazen Don Brash takeover of ACT. And I agree with his take on whose political problem his ascendancy is… “With Labour down to its core support, the only source where Brash can realistically pick up votes is from National”. Yup. Ruthless Brash now National’s problem … […]
Silence and the abandonment of moral leadership
Wow. Following President Obama’s decision to publicly release the long form of his birth certificate to address Republican crazies, conspiracy theorists and cynical opportunists (or all three like Donald Trump) I read a brief essay by Clarence B Jones which, like others since, squarely placed the hallucinatory ‘controversy’ in racist territory … and also echoed […]
Calling all gullible gamblers!
Two communications arrived in my in-boxes a day apart … and I couldn’t help but see them as similar. Property spruikers Sean Wood and Steve Goodey are soooo keen to get you along to their hyperbolic sales pitch that if you buy a ticket to attend (instead of getting one free from an affiliate, or the […]
The iPhone is not logging your location
Read this if you cared… Apple Q&A on Location Data 1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone? Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so…. 3. Why is my iPhone logging my location? The iPhone is not logging […]
What is it about TVNZ Breakfast?
In the style of their sacked-in-disgrace old boy Paul Henry, now TVNZ Breakfast newsreader Peter McWilliams let his mouth cross to side of duuurr! — by referring to double Olympian and Badminton champion Mark Todd in these unflattering terms, according the NZ Herald. While commenting on Todd’s win in the Badminton Horse Trials, Williams said: […]
… actionable copyright infringement?
I just read an interesting side issue to the Apple v Samsung IP lawsuit about the iPhone/iPad. The case itself is interesting, but Nilay Patel raised an issue about Apple’s lawyers’ without permission use of two images from websites in their documentation for their claim. So as I noted in my breakdown of Apple’s lawsuit […]
Despite that, your honour, I wasn’t ACTUALLY there
A few years back, if I recall correctly, a man was convicted for stabbing a woman in Fort St, downtown Auckland. He had an alibi that placed him somewhere else — someone who said: ‘He was wiff me, guvnor.’ But the Crown prosecutor produced evidence from a phone company’s cell tower records that showed that […]
Compulsory ‘uncovering’ of sin
I read this article last week with a shudder. A mother has been jailed after her conviction for child neglect: A mother who knew her partner was sexually violating her two daughters has been jailed for a year for failing to act, in an unprecedented case of child neglect. So, effectively, this individual has been […]
Carumba! Scott Adams defends himself using sockpuppet? Yes.
From the ‘Huh? Wha? Dang!’ files and following on from my post: ‘Is it worth dishonestly defending a reputation? No.‘ It’s emerged that Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, has slipped into the same category as property spruiker Sean Wood — using an anonymous sockpuppet to defend himself from criticism/discussion online. (OK, Adams is not quite as […]
RIP Kerry Smith
I was saddened to hear yesterday that Kerry Smith had died. Like many, I’m sure, I liked her. As a broadcaster, Kerry was a true professional: warm, engaging, endlessly versatile and competent. As an actress she came across as wry and very funny at times, but, to me, always retained an edge of well-presented class. […]
A sad case of amateur signwriting
Spotted on a walk near Burswood the other day… Oops. (Same on both sides!) Where’s a good proofreader when you need one? -P
The stain never leaves you
Just saw Terry Pratchett say in a TV interview: “… I still am a journalist because the stain never leaves you.” Yup. I know just what he means. He also said he declared his Alzheimer’s because as a former journalist he “believes in the truth”. All cynicism aside for a moment: Ditto. – P
Unjust enrichment? Well, yeah, maybe.
Remember when Arianna Huffington and her co-owners sold The Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million? And remember how some of those who blogged and contributed to the site out of a sort of collective, we’re a left-wing blog in a world of right-wing media altrusim felt a bit let down? Like the last thing they […]
