First night

Forty-three years ago (September 16, 1976), we arrived in this country.    As we flew from Sydney and into Wellington, my Dad pointed out the houses below to me. ‘See, those are the sorts of houses New Zealanders live in,’ he said. I thought it was odd they lived in two-storey homes and not apartment […]

Read More… from First night



‘If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?’

I didn’t read this thinking of Trump, which is what the Tweeter intended. I read it thinking of New Zealand. Heard the ‘If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?’ bullshit a lot—I dare say every immigrant to this nation has. English-born American columnist Sydney J. Harris, in 1969, answered it better than […]

Read More… from ‘If you don’t like it here, why don’t you leave?’



Bypassing the media, Carlos Ghosn tells it as it is

I haven’t blogged much about Carlos Ghosn, though I’ve Tweeted aplenty since his arrest last November. Earlier this week, his lawyers released a video of Ghosn stating his position, and it echoes much of what I had Tweeted. He couldn’t make a personal appearance at a press conference himself, thanks to some conveniently timed (for […]

Read More… from Bypassing the media, Carlos Ghosn tells it as it is



Fighting intolerance is the key to a tolerant society

Hat tip to Mauricio Freitas. Source: Pictoline. pic.twitter.com/eJVhZxA4ZW — Merlin Ks (@Merlin3ks) July 14, 2018    Quite simple, isn’t it? I sense my parents’ generation (who were kids during WWII) would have understood this, but I worry about my generation and the ones following. You may also like Victor Billot on the 2019 UK General […]

Read More… from Fighting intolerance is the key to a tolerant society



The double standards on the Ross affair are equally to do with race

Graham Adams, in a very good opinion in Noted, suggests that while there is a public interest in knowing the identity of the married National MP who had an affair with her colleague, Jami-Lee Ross, the media have been silent because of the relationship it enjoys with parliamentarians. He contrasts this with The New Zealand […]

Read More… from The double standards on the Ross affair are equally to do with race



Don’t group Chinese New Zealanders into one faceless bunch

Some visiting Australian friends have said that they are finding New Zealand politics as interesting as their own, although I don’t think this was meant as a compliment. Those of us in New Zealand had a few days of House of Cards-lite intrigue, in that it was stirred up by a conservative whip, in an […]

Read More… from Don’t group Chinese New Zealanders into one faceless bunch



The easy-to-spot signs of the social media racist

As Twitter (and other social media) descend, what’s been interesting is seeing how many of us Kiwis aren’t being terribly original. No, I don’t exactly mean Dr Don Brash thinking that he can import US-style division into New Zealand wholesale without understanding the underlying forces that helped Donald Trump secure their presidency (in which case […]

Read More… from The easy-to-spot signs of the social media racist



Developer creates a tool to expose bigoted, fake Twitter accounts; Twitter bans it

In theory, one of the positive things about social media should be the fact that a company has as much chance of succeeding as an individual. Another is that it shouldn’t matter who you are, you have the same opportunity to get your word out. No one should get special treatment.    But, on Twitter, […]

Read More… from Developer creates a tool to expose bigoted, fake Twitter accounts; Twitter bans it



Secret “Asian” man (with apologies to Tak Toyoshima)

Matt Clark Above: Driving a silver Aston Martin. I’m citing the Official Secrets Act when I say I may or may not be on the tail of Auric Goldfinger.   Oh dear, I’ve been outed. I’m a spy. Actually, Walter Matthau and I prefer ‘agent’.    You can read between the lines in this New […]

Read More… from Secret “Asian” man (with apologies to Tak Toyoshima)



Twenty years on, the Hong Kong handover reminds us how impotent Britain proved to be

Hong Kong’s skyline in 2008, photographed by Scrolllock. Has it been 20 years since Dad and I sat in front of the telly to watch both Britannia sail out of the harbour and China set off a magnificent fireworks’ display to celebrate getting Hong Kong becoming one of her possessions again?    Following some of […]

Read More… from Twenty years on, the Hong Kong handover reminds us how impotent Britain proved to be