Archive for July, 2011 | Monthly archive page
Capital Gains Tax: ‘Politics is the art of polarization’
The NZ Labour Party has (deliberately) let the cat out of the bag with its ‘soft launch’ confirmation that a Capital Gains Tax in some form will be part of its election policy for November 2011. Cue the scary music! And the completely predictable howls of outrage (some justified) with cries of ‘unfair’, ‘inconsistent’, ‘distortionary’, […]
Smoke gets in your eyes, Carrick?
Tonight TV3 broadcast an Inside New Zealand documentary: Dying for a Smoke, highlighting some of the health issues and the political debate around suggested moves to increase controls on the sale of tobacco products — and even suggestions to eliminate tobacco products from the country by 2020 … which strikes me as a pipe dream, […]
Head on a spike
So Alasdair Thompson’s words, taken by so many to reveal an anachronistic misogynist attitude, have cost him his job. Even more intriguing is this line from the NZ Herald‘s ‘breaking news’ story: His conduct sparked an angry outcry on micro-blogging site Twitter and saw the Council of Trade Unions call for him to be fired. […]
Murdoch Phone hacking – a visceral jolt
Wow, read this piece after my own heart: Rupert Murdoch Meets His Ahab by Jack Shafer in Slate. Brilliant. First words: If Rupert Murdoch could be slain by a mere scandal, he would have been embalmed and entombed long ago. The genocidal tyrant has successfully swept away every scandal—major and minor—he has ever faced because of […]
On a collision course
I briefly mentioned in passing the small c ‘controversy’ generated by blogger Martyn ‘Bomber’ Bradbury loudly expressing his opinion about whether or not blogger Cactus Kate (Cathy Odgers) was suitable ACT MP candidate material. ‘Hell no’ Bradbury says (or words to that effect) because he says she’s a ‘far right hate merchant’ who has previously […]
George Orwell nails journalism? … Maybe.
I had cause to think about public discourse, propaganda and Public Relations recently … Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations. — George Orwell Is the English press honest or dishonest? At normal times it is deeply dishonest. All the papers that matter live off their advertisements, […]
The road not taken — copyright is a complicated playground
Sometimes we’re caught by the law of unintended consequences … and sometimes we’re saved by it. Righthaven is a law firm widely portrayed as copyright trolls trying to shake down bloggers and commenters for reproducing news stories published by Stephens Media. According to David Kravets in WIRED 20 June, ‘copyright litigation factory’ Righthaven has sued […]
It’s only ‘propaganda’ if you’re talking about the other side, right, Carrick?
A few days ago in the context of the public discourse around plain packaging legislation for tobacco products, No wonder tobacco co.s are SQUEALING … I briefly mentioned a PR flack who appears to be an advocate (paid or unpaid? Not clear) for Tobacco manufacturers. This spin doctor* Carrick Graham follows me on Twitter and […]
Richard Nixon’s dirty dirty tricks alive and well in 2011
I’m still reading Nixonland by Rick Perlstein, initially prompted by the mention of Fox News’s Roger Ailes‘s early work as a Nixon operative. Ailes is credited with teaching Nixon how to succeed in the world of television — by bending reality, faking news events and running highly staged ‘impromptu’ candidate meetings with ‘off the cuff’ […]
