While I have absolutely no doubt that the Occupy protestors against global corporate greed and the ever-increasing gap between the world’s rich and poor are correct in their analysis and that their anger is justified, I’m less impressed by their methods.
The logic of tent-squatting in civic squares eludes me. It serves merely to annoy and alienate the general public, whose support the squatters presumably want.
More importantly, it cannot achieve its aim which is to remedy entrenched global injustice through small scale local action. If you were to ask the protestors what they actually want New Zealanders to do, other than joining them in their protest, I doubt that you would get a coherent answer. Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s the tape that’s caused all the fuss. Fairfax has confirmed that it’s the real thing.
After listening to it, you might well decide that it is truly a storm in a teacup. But – it got Winston Peters and his motley crew into Parliament, so the PM may now be wishing he’d released it on the spot!
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post highly critical of the Heraldfor its coverage of the Carterton balloon tragedy in which 11 people lost their lives. The tabloid had interviewed a clinical psychologist, one Barry Kirker, who speculated not only on what would have been going through the minds of the victims as they faced certain death but on how their friends and loved ones might be feeling as well.
The children who gave their parents a ride on the ill-fated balloon would, he said, ‘be consumed with feelings of guilt and regret despite others telling them it was not their fault. They would also be thinking that other family members would be blaming them for their parents’ deaths, even though that wouldn’t be true at all.’
Mr Kirker’s speculations also included the observation that ‘the scenario was similar to that of the 9/11 victims, and the terror attacks might have put the thought to jump in Chrisjan Jordaan’s and Alexis Still’s minds.’
And, in case Herald readers were wondering who jumped first:
‘Mr Kirker said it would usually be the man who would take the lead in that situation and would suggest jumping from the basket to the woman.’
I expressed myself disgusted with the rank insensitivity of this piece of crass sensationalism. Most followers of this site agreed. Read the rest of this entry »
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A couple of weeks ago, I wrote