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The Persuader
My personal blog, started in 2006. No paid or guest posts, no link sales.
Posts tagged ‘politics’
11.07.2022

As far as coincidences go, this was unexpected.
To readers from Toronto, and anyone else emailing me about this, Iâm not the guy running for mayor there.
I realize Iâm way more likely to come up in searches for my name and for my name with mayor or mayoral candidate, since my namesake doesnât appear to have much of a digital trail yet.
If youâre the Toronto mayoral candidate, please get in touch. I have a domain name you might be interested in. English and French spoken. (Which no doubt will add to the confusion.)
PS.: My namesake now has his website up. Head here to visit it. Some decent policies here!
Tags: 2022, Canada, election, local government, Ontario, politics, Toronto Posted in politics | No Comments »
10.07.2022
Sean O’Grady puts into his opinion piece what so many of us have said. He does it far better than I could.
They backed Johnson through the Dominic Cummings scandal, through the resignations of two ethics advisers, through the scandal of a party donor paying for the decoration of his flat, through the mishandling of the pandemic and the mismanaging of Brexit with a rotten deal, Partygate and law breaking, an unlawful prorogation of parliament and breaking treaties and international law, allegedly trying to get Carrie a ÂŁ100,000 job and Wilfred a ÂŁ150,000 treehouse, depriving kids of free school dinners ⊠and much, much more âŠ
So itâs not just Johnson whoâs morally compromised, but the whole Tory party, with rare exceptions. They are all guilty men and women because they voted for him, campaigned for him, sustained him, lied for him and generally disgraced themselves and the country in the process. They were all members of the cult of Boris, and they knew exactly what he was.
They didnât care because he was a winner. He hasnât suddenly turned nasty â he was like this since about the age of eight. Heâs outlived his usefulness to them, but if they thought the devil incarnate could win them the next election theyâd be signing his nomination papers right now. Parties tend to get the leaders they deserve.
Sunak, Javid and others are in no position to be preaching about integrity. If seeing the monarch mourn her husband whilst sitting alone due to COVID-19 restrictions at the same time Johnson partied at his ‘work event’ didn’t concern them, are we to believe that they are one bit concerned about sexual assault? Pull the other one.
If the Tories are smart, they’ll go for someone well outside this band of muppets. But as O’Grady also states, ‘Your next PM, like Johnson, will be chosen by about 90,000 mostly elderly, reactionary and unrepresentative members of the Conservative Party.’ In such cases, name recognition and familiarity will decide the next leader. Sadly, that’s unlikely to be anyone from the moderate wing of the Conservative Party. That is now a minority.
Will they promote a better culture than Johnson did? Possibly. If they have some sense of organization and leadership. But that alone is not going to fix the UK’s problems. Ideologues should not come before pragmatists, but it’s hard to see any other outcome given what the Conservative Party has become.
Tags: 2022, Boris Johnson, Conservatives, deception, ethics, media, newspaper, politics, scandal, The Independent, UK Posted in culture, leadership, media, politics, UK | No Comments »
25.06.2022

I write notes for my appearances on RNZâs The Panel, and while I donât read them verbatim, they are useful for copying and pasting into this blog afterwards. (Anyone who has ever attended a conference where Iâve spoken might find this familiar: Iâll upload the notes but they arenât a word-for-word reflection of what I said.)
Last Wednesdayâs notes for âIâve been thinkingâ are:
Iâve been thinking that we pay our politicians a lot, and in some cases we get value for money. But I want politicians to be pragmatists, not ideologues. No government is perfect, and ours isnât. When ours makes mistakes, what does the opposition do? Spout more ideology, rather than do the hard yards and genuinely figure out how to fix things. There are some incredibly able MPs in National, some of whom I know well. Yet theyâre not the loudmouths who get press. Why are we giving these folks air time when they donât do their homework, donât have basic awareness of Kiwi political history, and what makes economies work? Why do some media talking heads fawn over them, looking at them doey-eyed like Stephen Colbert looks at Jacinda Ardern? I thought by the time youâre 25 you have a reasonable understanding of actions and consequences, and spouting ideology in the hope that a little gaslighting might fool voters isnât going to swing this swing voter. George Gair, whose politics were similar to my own, would not recognize his party, and neither do I.
You can find the three parts here on the RNZ website: the pre-Panel, part one, and part two. Wallace and Sally were in the Auckland studio, while I was in the Wellington one, trying not to change Kathryn Ryanâs desk set-up. I have to say Wallace is a very capable host as he knows I can’t see them, so he’ll give me little nudges where I can chime in. It was nice to be back on after six months and hopefully I kept up the notion that RNZ National is for the thinking New Zealander.
Tags: 2022, Aotearoa, New Zealand, politics, radio, Radio New Zealand, Wallace Chapman Posted in culture, media, New Zealand, politics, Wellington | No Comments »
15.06.2022
How fascinating. Eight years ago, I had high hopes for this Christopher Luxon, according to this blog. Who knew that as a politician, the guy would really let me down?
I Tweeted:
The reality is I see a guy who doesn’t have a full grasp of the issues at hand, spouting soundbites that fail to satisfy any real analysis, yet media are giving him an easy ride.
I’ve recorded my gripes with how some media cover politics beforeâand I reflect on how suited my 2010-campaign policies, authored in 2009, could have placed this city in such a great position for the pandemicâand once again, we realize that coverage is not meritorious.
In some cases, it will be down to the limited intellect of the journalist or editor to grasp the issues at hand (can I name some names!), and I believe in other cases, there is an editorial slant that proprietors want (and hire accordingly).
We saw it with Tony Blair in 1997 (‘Change’; ‘New Labour, new Britain’), and we’re seeing it again.
I tend to vote for people who do the hard yards, and this bloke isn’t the knight in shining armour that many thought he was. The likes of George Gair would not recognize this National Party.
Tags: 2022, Aotearoa, journalism, media, National Party, New Zealand, politics Posted in culture, media, New Zealand, politics | No Comments »
13.02.2022
From the start, Iâve been a supporter of the democratization of design. Everyone has the right to access it, because fundamentally good design is something that makes the world a better place. A lot of websites are founded on this, such as Shopify, which has enough flexibility to give most of the stores we visit a unique look. Wordpressâs templates are generally good lookers that take into account the latest trends. Thereâs an entire industry out there making templates and skins. And, it has to be said, most social media have reasonably good looking interfaces, so people can feel a sense of pride after theyâve posted that theyâve shared text or a photo that has been presented well.
Itâs quite perplexing when you confront some other facts. People will judge the credibility of a website by how good it looks (among other criteria). People can also become addicted to social media, and theyâre designed to be addictive. And as design democratizes, itâs only natural that the less educated (and I donât necessarily mean in a formal sense), those who are not trained to discern fact from fiction, will have access to the same technology and present their work as capably and as attractively as anyone else.
It would be wrong to deny this, just as it would be wrong to deny access to technology or good design because we disagreed with someoneâs political views or their beliefs, even ones we might find distasteful. The key must be to bring social awareness and education up to a point that thereâs no appeal to engage in behaviour thatâs harmful to society at large. By all means, be individual, and question. We should have ways in which this can be done meaningfullyâone might argue this is done in the corridors of power, as anyone in a good, functioning democracy can stand for office. But in countries with low trust in institutions, or those infected by forces that want to send nations into corporatist fascism, there has to be something that balances the wild west of the online world, one that has marched so far one way without the structures to support it. We have, in effect, let the technology get the better of us. There is no agreed forum online where tempers can be abated, and because we have encouraged such individualist expression, it is doubtful whether some egos can take it. We have fooled ourselves into thinking our own selfies on social media have the same value as a photo taken by the press for a publication. As such, fewer can lead, because no one wants to play second fiddle.
These are confusing times, though the key must be education. It is often the answer. Keeping education up with the technology so our young people can see and understand the forces at play. Give them a sense of which corporations are wielding too much influence. Teach them how to discern a legitimate story from a fictionalized one. Teach them how the economy really worksânot just the theory but how the theory has been hijacked.
This canât wait till university: it has to be taught as early as possible. If todayâs kids are bringing their devices to school, then itâs never too early to make them aware of how some online content is questionable. Tell them just why social media are addictive and why they canât open accounts on the big sites till theyâre 13. In fact, tell them how the social media companiesâ bosses actually donât let their own kids use the services, because deep down they know theyâre bad for them.
If they know from a young age why some things are harmfulâin the same way we were told that cigarettes were, or to say no to drugsâthen hopefully they can steer clear of calls on social networks funded by parties who seek to divide us for their own gain.
Thereâll be a delay in having a gallery on this blog this month as a dear friend is helping me migrate our sites off an old AWS instance. He doesnât wish to be named. But I am deeply thankful to him.
The data have already been shifted off this server. At this rate I will have to repost this on the new box once the domain is set up. Reposting a gallery might just be a bit tricky, so there mightnât be one for February 2022, depending on when my friend can get to this domain.
Tags: 2020s, 2022, democracy, democratization, design, fascism, politics, server, Shopify, society, technology, Wordpress Posted in culture, design, internet, marketing, media, politics, publishing, social responsibility, technology | No Comments »
03.12.2021
Our governmentâs response to COVID-19 has been better than many nationsâ, but it is far from perfect, as Ian Powell points out in a well reasoned blog post, and in his article for Business Desk. Itâs backed up by a piece by Marc Daalder for Newsroom. To me, Powellâs piece makes a great deal of sense, and for those who feel the new system feels, instinctively, politically driven, then they are right. He says, inter alia:
At the time I thought that the traffic lights system had been initiated by the Ministry of Health (experts outside the Ministry were not supportive). Subsequently, however, according to senior Health Ministry officials privately, it came from the Prime Ministerâs department.
This helps explain the working it out as you go along approach that is causing confusion among many. Jacinda Ardernâs claim of the system being world leading is overcooked.
He cites Daalder, who writes:
While the outbreak was expected to have a long tail, the Government fully intended to return to zero cases and even to maintain an elimination status after reopening the borders in 2022.
Just two weeks later, Cabinet threw in the towel on elimination.
We know that the government is working on overdrive through this whole pandemic, but it seems there are areas where the experts are being overridden.
But what does our opposition do? Instead of firing at the targets that Powell and Daalder have helpfully revealed, new leader Christopher Luxon repeats the ad nauseam cries of his predecessors to open up, to put Auckland into the âgreenâ. Any expectation that National had found pragmatism with its new leadership vanished in smoke mere days after Luxon took the helm.
This is the identical complaint I have over Sir Phony Blair over in the UK with not only missing the targets painted on the Tories by themselves, but turning 180 degrees and firing the other way.
We need an opposition that holds a government to account but it seems Luxon, who bafflingly refers to Simon Bridges as having âintellectual heftâ, might be yet another ideologue, importing more of the same but in more hidden, calm language than his predecessor.
Are there any pragmatists left in politics, or is everyone following ideology these days?
Tags: 2021, Aotearoa, Auckland, blogosphere, COVID-19, health, Labour, media, National Party, New Zealand, Newsroom, pandemic, politics, TÄmaki Makaurau Posted in media, New Zealand, politics | No Comments »
16.11.2021
Taking some of the themes today on RNZâs The Panel with Wallace Chapman (pre-Panel here, part one of the show here, and part two here), I offer a bit more commentary. Todayâs topics: the COVID-19 mandate for schools; quitting drinking; Finland planning to let people see othersâ salaries; the level of spending above New Zealand Superannuation; Countdownâs toy gifts; and the multi-modal commuter.
Big thanks to Amelia, Wallace and Julia today for a very enjoyable hour and 15 minutes!
Please note that this podcast is not affiliated with Radio New Zealandâthis has been done of my own volition and from my own inspiration.
Tags: 2021, Aotearoa, Finland, life, New Zealand, podcast, politics, Radio New Zealand, society, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara Posted in business, culture, Hong Kong, New Zealand, politics, technology, UK, Wellington | No Comments »
27.08.2021

Bill Owen posted the above, and I replied in this thread on Twitter.
âJohnâs on ïŹrst, John Johnâs on second, Johnâs on third.â
âWhoâs on ïŹrst?â
âJohn.â
âThe guy on ïŹrst.â
âJohn.â
âBut thatâs the guy on third.â
âOne base at a time!â
âIâm only asking you, whoâs the guy on ïŹrst?â
âJohn.â
âI donât want to know third! Whoâs on ïŹrst?â
âJohn.â
âSo Johnâs on first now? Whoâs on third?â
âJohn.â
âBut you just changed the players around!â
âIâm not changing nobody!â
âYouâre saying thereâs one player on two bases! Itâs John! John!â
âHeâs on second.â
âWhoâs on second?â
âJohn John.â
âWhat? Johnâs the name of the guy on second base?â
âNo, Johnâs on first.â
âBut Johnâs on third.â
âHe is.â
âHe canât be on both! Which base is John on?â
âWhich one?â
âYes.â
âWhich one?â
âI just asked, which base is John on?â
âTell me which one!â
âIâm asking you!â
Tags: 2021, Canada, film, humour, parody, politics, social media, Twitter Posted in humour, politics | No Comments »
10.07.2021
At the beginning of July I noticed Facebook had changed its reporting options. Gone is the option labelled âFake accountâ, replaced by âHarmful or spamâ. Itâs a small change that, I believe, is designed to get Facebook off the hook for failing to remove fake accounts: since you canât report them, then you canât say theyâve failed to take them down.

Except, if you choose âHarmful or spamâ, Facebook does acknowledge that your report is for a fake account:

Of course theyâre harmful. Harmful to us regular people who have to pay more and more money to reach our human supporters since the fakes command an increasing amount of fans on our pages, for instance. It isnât harmful for Facebookâs revenue or Zuckerbergâs wealth. So it really depends how you define harmful; one would imagine that a competent court would define it from a consumerâs point of view.
Their new group policy, where Facebook has also given up against the bot epidemic, letting fake accounts join public groups, is a disaster. As you can see, the majority of new members to one group I overseeâand where I usually get tips to new bot accountsâare fakes. They’ve used scripts to join. It’s a bit of a giveaway when there are brand-new accounts joining groups before they’ve even made friends. The legit names have been pixellated; the fakes I’ve left for you to see.

It’s not as bad as, say, giving up on the people who elected you to run the country and letting COVID-19 do whatever it wants, killing citizens in the process. But it comes from the same dark place of putting people second and lining your pockets firstâMark Zuckerberg does it, Robert Mugabe did it, etc. Distract and plunder.
In The Guardian:
Boris Johnson will revoke hundreds of Covid regulations and make England the most unrestricted society in Europe from 19 July despite saying new cases could soar to 50,000 a day before masks and social distancing are ditched.
In fact, one Tweeter jokingly showed his interpretation of the UK’s COVID alert levels:

On this, let our own Prof Michael Baker have the last word. Also in The Guardian, which I shared three days ago on Mastodon:
Baker said public health professionals were âdisturbedâ by the UKâs return to allowing Covid to circulate unchecked, and that the phrase âliving with itâ was a âmeaningless sloganâ that failed to communicate the consequences of millions of infections, or the alternative options for managing the virus.
âWe often absorb a lot of our rhetoric from Europe and North America, which have really managed the pandemic very badly,â he said. âI donât think we should necessarily follow or accept Boris Johnson and co saying: âOh, we have to learn to live with virus.â
âWe always have to be a bit sceptical about learning lessons from countries that have failed very badly.â
We really need to be confident of our own position on this. There are too many, especially those propelled by foreign forces with their friends in the foreign-owned media, advocating that we follow other Anglophone countriesâprobably because they lack either intelligence, imagination, pride, or empathy. I’ve spent a good part of my career saying, ‘Why should we follow when we can lead?’
Tags: 2021, Aotearoa, Big Tech, Boris Johnson, COVID-19, deception, epidemiology, Facebook, leadership, media, Michael Baker, New Zealand, newspaper, pandemic, politics, social media, The Guardian, UK Posted in business, internet, leadership, media, New Zealand, politics, UK, USA | No Comments »
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