OH, FOR GOD'S SAKE
apparently, the most important new event of the last 24 hours was tiger wood's apology to the WORLD for cheating on his wife.
well, i feel better
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday, October 31, 2009
good things and bad
tomorrow i start training for self-care in dialysis. they had tried to arrange evening sessions, but this wasn't possible, so i am taking some annual leave.
this also means a chnage of days for the next two-three weeks, so i am going on monday, wednesday and friday afternoons at one.
this is good. i should get home by about six, and to bed at a decent hour.
plus, i get weekends, even if i will be too tired and drained to do anything on a sturday night.
there are two worries, though.
firstly, all dialysis is done in a chair, and the last three times i've used a chair, i've gone flat. the last time i vomited. i hope that the fact that i haven't had to take off that much fluid would address this.
the second concern is learning to needle myself. the nurse techs have two hands and are looking straight at my arm and they still occasionally manage to hurt me. i'll have one hand and will be looking at it upside down.
still, here goes
this also means a chnage of days for the next two-three weeks, so i am going on monday, wednesday and friday afternoons at one.
this is good. i should get home by about six, and to bed at a decent hour.
plus, i get weekends, even if i will be too tired and drained to do anything on a sturday night.
there are two worries, though.
firstly, all dialysis is done in a chair, and the last three times i've used a chair, i've gone flat. the last time i vomited. i hope that the fact that i haven't had to take off that much fluid would address this.
the second concern is learning to needle myself. the nurse techs have two hands and are looking straight at my arm and they still occasionally manage to hurt me. i'll have one hand and will be looking at it upside down.
still, here goes
Sunday, October 18, 2009
huh?
todays scandal du jour
the bit that has worried some people is this:
was the minister of maori affairs really advocating that gangs start a race war?
or is the result of lazy journalisim that forgot to publish what he meant or the full context of the quote.
i suspect the latter, or else the headline would have read "KILL WHITEY SAYS MINISTER"
this was discussed on natrad today with criminolgist (and ex-con) greg newbold. he suggested that the summit wouldn't make a difference to the supply of p and the gands are essentially anarchic. whatever committments the gang leaders make will be largely ignored by the rank and file
stillit makes it look that sharples is at least trying to do something
the bit that has worried some people is this:
"Why are we fighting whakapapa against whakapapa? There's so much enemy that is not brown."
was the minister of maori affairs really advocating that gangs start a race war?
or is the result of lazy journalisim that forgot to publish what he meant or the full context of the quote.
i suspect the latter, or else the headline would have read "KILL WHITEY SAYS MINISTER"
this was discussed on natrad today with criminolgist (and ex-con) greg newbold. he suggested that the summit wouldn't make a difference to the supply of p and the gands are essentially anarchic. whatever committments the gang leaders make will be largely ignored by the rank and file
stillit makes it look that sharples is at least trying to do something
Yay
I’ve had Sky UHF for years. Well, in October Sky are going to close that service down. So they offered me a deal to get Sky Digital installed. Free installation, and the old price for twelve months. I said yes.
So now I’ve got 4 movie channels, three news channels, Comedy Central, UK TV, Documentary, History and a bunch of others. Its pretty cool.
Now there is always something to watch.
For instance, Angels with Dirty Faces is starting on TCM in half an hour
So now I’ve got 4 movie channels, three news channels, Comedy Central, UK TV, Documentary, History and a bunch of others. Its pretty cool.
Now there is always something to watch.
For instance, Angels with Dirty Faces is starting on TCM in half an hour
Monday, October 12, 2009
Dressed to bore
Interesting article in the listener from Douglas Lloyd -Jenkins on why New Zealand men dress so badly.
His contention is that our bad dress is due to gay panic. The logic seems to be
a) Only poofs dress stylishly
2) Therefore if I dress stylishly, people will think I’m a poof
If this is the case, I suspect that it’s a subconscious thing, but I don’t thing he’s right.
First of all, it assumes that men actually think about what they dress like, and I’d suggest that most of the time they don’t. Their main concerns on clothes would be comfort and cost. It would be a hang up from childhood that your “good” clothes a re always uncomfortable, so if you have a choice, why wear them? There is also the imperative that you’ve got to keep your good clothes looking “nice”, which often seems like a bore.
Dressing well for men often means wearing a tie. I can’t speak for all men, but I hate ties with the passion of a thousand suns and only wear them when I have to.
Then there is the issue of cost. I remember being horrified when a colleague at work bought a $400 shirt, not least because at the time, $400 was close to my weekly wage. And it was just a shirt. Why spend a lot of money on a shirt when you could get something that is conceptually the same thing for cheaper.
Then there is the shopping angle. Most men, I would suggest, think that buying clothes is like shopping for groceries-it needs to be done, but you don’t need to spend a lot of time on it. I can spend hours in book or DVD stores, but just going on memory, I think that over the last year I have spent less than an hour shopping for clothes.
As for dressing to emphasize my heterosexuality, I don’t think I’ve ever done this. I’m a firm supporter of Albert Einstein who claimed that he had several identical suits in his wardrobe so that he didn’t have to think what to wear in the morning.
Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins’ article was a precusor to his book on a History of Fashion. I suppose that a theory of gay panic will sell more copies than a theory that men just don’t care about fashion.
His contention is that our bad dress is due to gay panic. The logic seems to be
a) Only poofs dress stylishly
2) Therefore if I dress stylishly, people will think I’m a poof
If this is the case, I suspect that it’s a subconscious thing, but I don’t thing he’s right.
First of all, it assumes that men actually think about what they dress like, and I’d suggest that most of the time they don’t. Their main concerns on clothes would be comfort and cost. It would be a hang up from childhood that your “good” clothes a re always uncomfortable, so if you have a choice, why wear them? There is also the imperative that you’ve got to keep your good clothes looking “nice”, which often seems like a bore.
Dressing well for men often means wearing a tie. I can’t speak for all men, but I hate ties with the passion of a thousand suns and only wear them when I have to.
Then there is the issue of cost. I remember being horrified when a colleague at work bought a $400 shirt, not least because at the time, $400 was close to my weekly wage. And it was just a shirt. Why spend a lot of money on a shirt when you could get something that is conceptually the same thing for cheaper.
Then there is the shopping angle. Most men, I would suggest, think that buying clothes is like shopping for groceries-it needs to be done, but you don’t need to spend a lot of time on it. I can spend hours in book or DVD stores, but just going on memory, I think that over the last year I have spent less than an hour shopping for clothes.
As for dressing to emphasize my heterosexuality, I don’t think I’ve ever done this. I’m a firm supporter of Albert Einstein who claimed that he had several identical suits in his wardrobe so that he didn’t have to think what to wear in the morning.
Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins’ article was a precusor to his book on a History of Fashion. I suppose that a theory of gay panic will sell more copies than a theory that men just don’t care about fashion.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
A cure for all ills
Just finished the latest Dalzeil and Pascoe novel by Reginald Hill. This is his best since Death’s Jest Book. No political undertones, just a relatively straight forward whodunit.
The fun thing about reading a series of books is that it is like visiting a group of old friends. A cure for all seasons is not for casual readers of the series. You would need to have read An Advancement of Learning, Dialogues of the Dead, Deaths Jest Book and The Death of Dalzeil to understand some the relationships between the characters, and if your going to read those, you may as well go through the entire ouevre.
There is nothing like reading a good book for the first time, where the twists come as a surprise. I read this pretty much over a weekend.
My only problem is that now it could be some time before a new book is released.
The fun thing about reading a series of books is that it is like visiting a group of old friends. A cure for all seasons is not for casual readers of the series. You would need to have read An Advancement of Learning, Dialogues of the Dead, Deaths Jest Book and The Death of Dalzeil to understand some the relationships between the characters, and if your going to read those, you may as well go through the entire ouevre.
There is nothing like reading a good book for the first time, where the twists come as a surprise. I read this pretty much over a weekend.
My only problem is that now it could be some time before a new book is released.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
dead list
Sir Howard Morrison OBE died on September 24.
There have been plenty of tributes to him, the best being a 15 minutes summary of his career on radio live.
Interesting to hear that his OBE and knighthood wasn’t for services to music, but for the work he did for Maori children. This was a side if him that didn’t get a lot of publicity.
The tangi went on for five days and it was estimated that well over 10,000 people turned up to say farewell.
On the day of his death, talkback hosts Willie Jackson and John Tamihere opened the lines for people to talk about him. It was interesting to hear people in provincial New Zealand remember concerts from the 60s and seventies, or people who had met him.
The overall feeling I got is that New Zealand is, at heart a small town. And that‘s no bad thing.
There have been plenty of tributes to him, the best being a 15 minutes summary of his career on radio live.
Interesting to hear that his OBE and knighthood wasn’t for services to music, but for the work he did for Maori children. This was a side if him that didn’t get a lot of publicity.
The tangi went on for five days and it was estimated that well over 10,000 people turned up to say farewell.
On the day of his death, talkback hosts Willie Jackson and John Tamihere opened the lines for people to talk about him. It was interesting to hear people in provincial New Zealand remember concerts from the 60s and seventies, or people who had met him.
The overall feeling I got is that New Zealand is, at heart a small town. And that‘s no bad thing.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
things are tough all over
NEW ORLEANS – Bullet-makers are working around the clock, seven days a week, and still can't keep up with the nation's demand for ammunition.
Shooting ranges, gun dealers and bullet manufacturers say they have never seen such shortages. Bullets, especially for handguns, have been scarce for months because gun enthusiasts are stocking up on ammo, in part because they fear President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass antigun legislation — even though nothing specific has been proposed and the president last month signed a law allowing people to carry loaded guns in national parks.
Gun sales spiked when it became clear Obama would be elected a year ago and purchases continued to rise in his first few months of office. The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported that 6.1 million background checks for gun sales were issued from January to May, an increase of 25.6 percent from the same period the year before.
"That is going to cause an upswing in ammunition sales," said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing about 5,000 members. "Without bullets a gun is just a paper weight."
The shortage for sportsmen is different than the scarcity of ammo for some police forces earlier this year, a dearth fueled by an increase in ammo use by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We are working overtime and still can't keep up with the demand," said Al Russo, spokesman for North Carolina-based Remington Arms Company, which makes bullets for rifles, handguns and shotguns. "We've had to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It's a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business."
Americans usually buy about 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, according to the National Rifle Association. In the past year, that figure has jumped to about 9 billion rounds, said NRA spokeswoman Vickie Cieplak.
Jason Gregory, who manages Gretna Gun Works just outside of New Orleans, has been building his personal supply of ammunition for months. His goal is to have at least 1,000 rounds for each of his 25 weapons.
"I call it the Obama effect," said Gregory, 37, of Terrytown, La. "It always happens when the Democrats get in office. It happened with Clinton and Obama is even stronger for gun control. Ammunition will be the first step, so I'm stocking up while I can."
So far, the new administration nor Congress has not been markedly antigun. Obama has said he respects Second Amendment rights, but favors "common sense" on gun laws. Still, worries about what could happen persist.
Demand has been so heavy at some Walmarts, a limit was imposed on the amount of ammo customers can buy. The cutoff varies according to caliber and store location, but sometimes as little as one box — or 50 bullets — is allowed.
At Barnwood Arms in Ripon, Calif., sales manager Dallas Jett said some of the shortages have leveled off, but 45-caliber rounds are still hard to find.
"We've been in business for 32 years and I've been here for 10 and we've never seen anything like it," Jett said. "Coming out of Christmas everything started to dry up and it was that way all through the spring and summer.
Nationwide, distributors are scrambling to fill orders from retailers.
"We used to be able to order 50 or 60 cases and get them in three or four days easy, it was never an issue," said Vic Grechniw of Florida Ammo Traders, a distributor in Tampa, Fla. "Now you are really lucky if you can get one case a month. It just isn't there because the demand is way up."
A case contains 500 or 1,000 bullets.
At Jefferson Gun Outlet and Range in Metairie just west of New Orleans, owner Mike Mayer is worried individuals are going to start buying by the case.
"If someone wants to shoot on the weekend you have to worry about having the ammunition for them. And I know some people aren't buying to use it at the range, they're taking it home and hoarding it."
With demand, prices have also risen.
"Used to be gold, but now lead is the most expensive metal," said Donald Richards, 37, who was stocking up at the Jefferson store. "And worth every penny."
.
no, this isn't scary at all
Shooting ranges, gun dealers and bullet manufacturers say they have never seen such shortages. Bullets, especially for handguns, have been scarce for months because gun enthusiasts are stocking up on ammo, in part because they fear President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass antigun legislation — even though nothing specific has been proposed and the president last month signed a law allowing people to carry loaded guns in national parks.
Gun sales spiked when it became clear Obama would be elected a year ago and purchases continued to rise in his first few months of office. The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported that 6.1 million background checks for gun sales were issued from January to May, an increase of 25.6 percent from the same period the year before.
"That is going to cause an upswing in ammunition sales," said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing about 5,000 members. "Without bullets a gun is just a paper weight."
The shortage for sportsmen is different than the scarcity of ammo for some police forces earlier this year, a dearth fueled by an increase in ammo use by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"We are working overtime and still can't keep up with the demand," said Al Russo, spokesman for North Carolina-based Remington Arms Company, which makes bullets for rifles, handguns and shotguns. "We've had to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It's a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business."
Americans usually buy about 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, according to the National Rifle Association. In the past year, that figure has jumped to about 9 billion rounds, said NRA spokeswoman Vickie Cieplak.
Jason Gregory, who manages Gretna Gun Works just outside of New Orleans, has been building his personal supply of ammunition for months. His goal is to have at least 1,000 rounds for each of his 25 weapons.
"I call it the Obama effect," said Gregory, 37, of Terrytown, La. "It always happens when the Democrats get in office. It happened with Clinton and Obama is even stronger for gun control. Ammunition will be the first step, so I'm stocking up while I can."
So far, the new administration nor Congress has not been markedly antigun. Obama has said he respects Second Amendment rights, but favors "common sense" on gun laws. Still, worries about what could happen persist.
Demand has been so heavy at some Walmarts, a limit was imposed on the amount of ammo customers can buy. The cutoff varies according to caliber and store location, but sometimes as little as one box — or 50 bullets — is allowed.
At Barnwood Arms in Ripon, Calif., sales manager Dallas Jett said some of the shortages have leveled off, but 45-caliber rounds are still hard to find.
"We've been in business for 32 years and I've been here for 10 and we've never seen anything like it," Jett said. "Coming out of Christmas everything started to dry up and it was that way all through the spring and summer.
Nationwide, distributors are scrambling to fill orders from retailers.
"We used to be able to order 50 or 60 cases and get them in three or four days easy, it was never an issue," said Vic Grechniw of Florida Ammo Traders, a distributor in Tampa, Fla. "Now you are really lucky if you can get one case a month. It just isn't there because the demand is way up."
A case contains 500 or 1,000 bullets.
At Jefferson Gun Outlet and Range in Metairie just west of New Orleans, owner Mike Mayer is worried individuals are going to start buying by the case.
"If someone wants to shoot on the weekend you have to worry about having the ammunition for them. And I know some people aren't buying to use it at the range, they're taking it home and hoarding it."
With demand, prices have also risen.
"Used to be gold, but now lead is the most expensive metal," said Donald Richards, 37, who was stocking up at the Jefferson store. "And worth every penny."
.
no, this isn't scary at all
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
quesque se?
It may pay to take a closer look at your colleagues - one may be a corporate psychopath with a "dark side" capable of creating a toxic workplace.
Up to one in 10 New Zealand workplaces harboured a psychopathically oriented worker who functioned within normal society yet victimised colleagues and harmed business with their dark side, research had shown.
The Auckland University Business School's Department of Management said its research showed some corporate psychopaths had such dysfunctional personalities they could create toxic workplaces "and could seriously traumatise workers to the point of suicide".
Psychologist and senior lecturer in management Dr Giles Burch said most people with personalities which fitted under the psychopathic umbrella did not commit obvious crime, and were not imprisoned or hospitalised.
They functioned within normal society, often with apparent success and the respect of their bosses, he said in a statement.
"However, psychopaths are generally highly destructive and manipulative individuals with dark sides who have no remorse for their actions, which can result in a range of serious issues for organisation and the people within them.
"We all come across people at work from time to time who are difficult, devious and troublesome," he said.
"They are typically only interested in power, control, domination and subjugation, and it is believed that female psychopaths are more dangerous than males as they are more socially skilful in their manipulation.
"Victims of corporate psychopaths can experience intense and sometimes prolonged symptoms as a result of the glib deception.
"Insomnia, intense self-doubt and mild depression are very common, and in more severe cases chronic anxiety, depression, despair and even suicidal ideation can result from the destruction of jobs, careers, joint ventures or businesses."
International research had showed unrelenting stress from a toxic workplace caused anxiety and clinical depression in 30 per cent of female and 20 per cent of male targets, Dr Burch said.
The damage by a corporate psychopath was not limited to the primary victims but also affected colleagues, families and friends.
Psychopathic behaviour covered a wide spectrum - from the devious, manipulative and bullying behaviour of an employee who was a high achiever and very sought after by management, to the compulsive violence of a hardened criminal.
The damage caused by psychopaths was potentially huge and impacted a business as a whole, individual staff, customers, suppliers and joint venture partners.
Genetic tendencies of a psychopath such as glibness or superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, cunning and manipulative behaviour, lack of remorse, guilt or empathy, a sense of impulsive non-conformism, sensation-seeking, egocentrism, disloyalty and narcissism, could take a huge toll on other employees, Dr Burch said.
They could hide their tendencies and were often promoted to senior positions with power, the research showed.
They could be difficult to remove from businesses and were likely to become highly abusive and litigious when threatened with job termination.
- NZPA
and the sad thing is that most of these are managers
the qyeston is, am i a psychopath?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
how can you tell?
Men lie twice as often as women, fibbing an average six times a day to their partners, boss and work colleagues, while women told just three, according to a new study.
Common porkies told by men included "This will be my last pint," and perennial favourite "No, your bum doesn't look big in that."
According to overseas reports, the poll of 2000 people in Britain revealed the most common lie was the same for both sexes: "Nothing's wrong, I'm fine".
But Victoria University senior lecturer in psychology Marc Wilson said you can't always trust how much a liar says they lie. Women were less likely to admit to it than men, he said.
His online study of 4000 New Zealanders, showed women told more white lies.
"Men are happier to admit they engage in self-promotion, lying to make themselves look better," Wilson said.
And there's no reason to feel bad about stretching the truth, lies serve an important purpose.
"It's a social lubricant because it helps smooth over some of the cracks in our every-day interactions," he said.
Men lied about missing phone calls and being stuck in traffic, while women were more likely to be evasive about their spending habits. Both sexes were prone to playing down how much they'd had to drink.
But we're not really fooling anyone: four fifths of those polled said they could tell when their partner fibbed.
And more than half admitted to being caught stretching the truth.
And think again the next time a colleague says it's "nice to see you" - it was the most popular workplace porkie.
TOP 10 LIES
Men
1. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine
2. This will be my last pint
3. No, your bum doesn't look big in that
4. I had no signal
5. My battery died
6. Sorry, I missed your call
7. I didn't have that much to drink
8. I'm on my way
9. It wasn't that expensive
10. I'm stuck in traffic
Women
1. Nothing's wrong, I'm fine
2. Oh, this isn't new, I've had it ages
3. It wasn't that expensive
4. It was in the sale
5. I'm on my way
6. I don't know where it is, I haven't touched it
7. I didn't have that much to drink
8. I've got a headache
9. No, I didn't throw it away
10. Sorry, I missed your call
online study. it must be accurate.
missing the point
from the herald
A
i know that reading dan brown is something that you'd like to get over with as quickly as possible, but still...
isn't reading a new book one of the great pleasures in life? something you want to savour?
i've got the new reginald hill and as soon as i finish my internet stuff today, i will be taking it into the garden and slowly drifting through a couple of hundred pages.
i can think of no better way to spend a sunny sunday afternoon
A
New Zealander has been crowned Australia's fastest reader after she became one of the first people in the world to read Dan Brown's eagerly awaited novel The Lost Symbol.
Carly Palmer, originally from St Heliers but living in Sydney for the past five months, churned through Brown's 509-page book in two hours and 34 minutes.
Her prize for beating 26 others in a competition: a $500 collection of books and transtasman bragging rights.
"We were told it would take about four hours to read the book. I guess I was lucky there were no real speed readers among them," said Miss Palmer.
The 23-year-old administrative assistant said the hype surrounding its release - a million copies were sold in the United States, Canada and Britain on the first day of sales on Tuesday - was justified.
The new tome was "definitely a better read" than Brown's controversial The Da Vinci Code, which has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 44 languages since it was first published in 2003.
i know that reading dan brown is something that you'd like to get over with as quickly as possible, but still...
isn't reading a new book one of the great pleasures in life? something you want to savour?
i've got the new reginald hill and as soon as i finish my internet stuff today, i will be taking it into the garden and slowly drifting through a couple of hundred pages.
i can think of no better way to spend a sunny sunday afternoon
Thursday, September 17, 2009
ha
Book titles, if they were written today:
Then: Romeo and Juliet.
Now: The Teen Sex and Suicide Epidemic: How to protect yourself and your family.
Then: The Da Vinci Code
Now: Jesus Christ: An International Man of Mystery.
Then: The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Now: Shed Your Skin!: How I gave up junk food and released the butterfly within.
Then: The Gospel of Matthew.
Now: 40 Days and a Mule: How one man quit his job and became the boss.
Then: A Clockwork Orange.
Now: Hooliganz: Ultra violence and the media.
Then: Romeo and Juliet.
Now: The Teen Sex and Suicide Epidemic: How to protect yourself and your family.
Then: The Da Vinci Code
Now: Jesus Christ: An International Man of Mystery.
Then: The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Now: Shed Your Skin!: How I gave up junk food and released the butterfly within.
Then: The Gospel of Matthew.
Now: 40 Days and a Mule: How one man quit his job and became the boss.
Then: A Clockwork Orange.
Now: Hooliganz: Ultra violence and the media.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
definately maybe
i watched this because it was recommended-i had planned to give it a miss because of the oasis reference.
its basically a fairly bog-standard rom com. nothing spectacular, but a pleasant enough way to waste a couple of hours on a post dialysis sunday
its basically a fairly bog-standard rom com. nothing spectacular, but a pleasant enough way to waste a couple of hours on a post dialysis sunday
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
know your place
Child Youth and Family staff at a regional office have been told they are Social Development Minister Paula Bennett's servants who should not trouble their master with concerns about their work.
In an email dated August 13, supplied to NZPA by Labour Party deputy leader Annette King, Kaitaia CYF staff were told to show respect to the minister when she visited the next day.
"It is not appropriate for staff to pour their hearts and souls out to the minister," a manager wrote. "This is a formal visit and she is not your 'friend'. It's a bit like the relationship between a servant and a master, ie the servant knows their place. She should not be presented with the woes of the office, or lack of resources, or anything like that."
However, the email said it was okay to state there were challenges that could be managed.
whoa, upstairs downstairs flashback.
who'd be a public servant these days, eh? considered as paper pushing bureaucrats by the public, considered as a resource that can be fired without affecting the unemployment stats by governement and as serfs by their managers.
i also liked the little bit of management speak at the end. yes, we all know that there are no problems, only opportunities, or in this case challenges.
now, if it's all right with you, i'm going to have something to eat. i'll be back at my desk early tomorrow. i promise, master
just missed
a person at work today managed to get a screen shot of her computer showing:
09.09.09am 09/09/09
me, i was two seonds out
apparently all registry offices have been booked up today with chinese couples getting married. i saw two wedding parties getting photos taken at lunchtime, and another group heading up mt eden on my way home. (aparently nine means happiness or something)
09.09.09am 09/09/09
me, i was two seonds out
apparently all registry offices have been booked up today with chinese couples getting married. i saw two wedding parties getting photos taken at lunchtime, and another group heading up mt eden on my way home. (aparently nine means happiness or something)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
honesty is subjective?
Dishonesty is not the clear-cut concept the criminal courts assume because it can vary from person to person and situation to situation, according to one of the biggest-ever surveys of public attitudes to deceitful behaviour.
Women are more likely than men to categorise some behaviour as dishonest, although men are more likely than women to convict someone of a dishonest crime in a court of law, the study found.
Older people more readily judge someone as being dishonest than younger people, although the situation is reversed for certain youth-oriented offences such as cheating in exams or prying in someone else's email account.
The online study analysed the attitude of some 15,000 participants to 50 different scenarios in 10 categories that involved varying degrees of dishonest behaviour, from claiming for an expensive insurance fraud to eating grapes in a supermarket without paying for them.
The research was carried out by two academic criminologists who wanted to test a central thesis of what constitutes dishonesty in law, namely that dishonesty as a state of mind is based legally upon the "ordinary standards of reasonable and honest people".
"The law is based on an assumption that the majority in society hold the same views about what conduct is dishonest," said Stefan Fafinski, a criminal lawyer at Brunel University, who carried out the study.
"Our research challenges that assumption. We found a great deal of disagreement, even upon very basic situations," Dr Fafinski said.
The study found 31 per cent of people thought it dishonest for someone to keep money found in the street, yet only 8 per cent would convict someone of theft for doing that if they were prosecuted.
Nearly two thirds of people said they had taken stationery home from work, but 82 per cent thought it dishonest, according to the study, released at the British Science Festival at Surrey University, Guildford.
Big discrepancies were found between online crime and physical crime.
Nearly 97 per cent of participants said taking a DVD from a shop was dishonest, yet only 58 per cent thought it dishonest to download pirated music, and 49 per cent said it was dishonest to buy a pirate DVD.
Only 43 per cent of people called it dishonest for a carer to try to persuade an elderly person to change their will in their favour (twice as many thought it dishonest to wear a dress before returning it to the shop). Only 21 per cent would convict a carer of such an offence.
Some 98 per cent of women considered it dishonest for a man to conduct an online romance behind his wife's back, but only 74 per cent of men agreed.
"Women are more likely to categorise a person's conduct as dishonest but less likely to convict that person of the offence," said Dr Emily Finch, a criminologist at Brunel University.
"Female participants are more likely to excuse conduct by reference to the circumstances or character of the person involved."
- INDEPENDENT
interesting. its like one of those irregular verbs
i am pragmatic
you are immoral
he is a criminal
Thursday, September 3, 2009
hmm
from the herald
the ideology here is the question of who has responsiibity for looking afetr themselves. in the case of restrictions, the question is often pitched as removing choice from consumers in their own best interests. this tends to rub people up the wrong way.
the problem is that consumer choice means that people will often do the wrong or stupid thing, even though they know that its wrong or stupid (i speak as a smoker).
this leads to the problem 9according to pro-large state people) that the people who do these stupid things will then turn to the state for assistance with health problems. the most common exxample given these days is letting junk food into schools leading to greater costs in dealing with obesity and diabetes.
i will be interested to see how they manage this campaign, but i suspect that deleivering a message of "you need to be protected from yourself" will be a hard sell.
still railing against the corporate sector may have some results
Every time Health Minister Tony Ryall and Education Minister Anne Tolley use the term "nanny state" to justify their new food policies, many public health researchers wince.
They know the two words masterfully tap into the ideology that the state should stay out of matters like food consumption.
So much so that public health workers and researchers have felt virtually powerless to respond.
Until yesterday.
Now they are planning a counterattack against the use of the terms "nanny state", "bureaucracy", "political correctness", "health nazi" and others by politicians and the food, tobacco and alcoholindustries.
Dr George Thomson and colleagues from Otago University at Wellington searched the English language media internationally and their findings included a sharp increase in the use of "nanny state" after 2002.
In relation to obesity, tobacco and alcohol in New Zealand, its use peaked last year at 120 references per 100,000 articles.
Big rises in the use of "nanny state" and "bureaucracy" coincided with the proposal to make bars smoke-free and Parliament's obesity inquiry.
"When industries think their profits are at risk, they negatively frame the efforts of government to protect people from an industry's activities," Dr Thomson said.
"There's a need to reframe public health activity as stewardship that protects people. We need to emphasise the advantages of the strong state, the state that protects," he told the conference. But the public health community, delving into alien territory, acknowledges it needs some help from the country's top advertising brains in coming up with catchy counter-phrases.
Professor Boyd Swinburn, of Deakin University in Melbourne, promotes the term "ninny state", which he picked up from an Australian conference audience.
Dr Thomson said "ninny state" was used to describe some current public health policies that were "stupid, weak and not protecting people".
He also promoted the slogan "end corporate welfare", which he said was a hit at industries that benefited financially from inadequate controls on their products.
the ideology here is the question of who has responsiibity for looking afetr themselves. in the case of restrictions, the question is often pitched as removing choice from consumers in their own best interests. this tends to rub people up the wrong way.
the problem is that consumer choice means that people will often do the wrong or stupid thing, even though they know that its wrong or stupid (i speak as a smoker).
this leads to the problem 9according to pro-large state people) that the people who do these stupid things will then turn to the state for assistance with health problems. the most common exxample given these days is letting junk food into schools leading to greater costs in dealing with obesity and diabetes.
i will be interested to see how they manage this campaign, but i suspect that deleivering a message of "you need to be protected from yourself" will be a hard sell.
still railing against the corporate sector may have some results
ouch
took 3.6 litres/kilos off last night, leaving me .9 under my target weight
nurse tech was worried as my systolic blood pressure dropped under 100 during the session. i am finding, though, that it always does. it seems to stabalise between 90-100, and rose to 123 once the needles were out
came off fine, but got bad cramps in both my legs a couple of hours later.
what i've learnt:
1) leg cramps are more powerful than sleeping pills
b) obscene language does not sound nearly as powerful if it is whimpered
nurse tech was worried as my systolic blood pressure dropped under 100 during the session. i am finding, though, that it always does. it seems to stabalise between 90-100, and rose to 123 once the needles were out
came off fine, but got bad cramps in both my legs a couple of hours later.
what i've learnt:
1) leg cramps are more powerful than sleeping pills
b) obscene language does not sound nearly as powerful if it is whimpered
Sunday, August 30, 2009
a confused post on bullying
Further to my post on the car driving into the IRD and Taniwha’s response that this could be seen as an extreme case of workplace bullying.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it.
Firstly, I must reiterate that I know nothing about the dispute between the driver and his manager. I am also assuming that his actions were a deliberate plan, rather than something that seemed a good idea at the time and then rationalized later.
I think that driving the car through the lobby could be seen more as protest. It was done at a time when no staff or public were near and it seemed to indicate that his problem was with the organization as a whole.
If he had driven his car through his manager’s (or human resource person’s house)…well, firstly, it wouldn’t have been as funny and secondly, it would have personalized the issue and put other people into danger.
The nearest equivalent I can think of is the local father’s group. They started off protesting outside the family court (and IRD, because of child support) chanting and waving placards. An annoyance, yes, but still a legitimate protest.
Then they started the same action outside the private homes of family court judges and solicitors. THAT, I would consider as bullying. it’s the difference between protesting against an organization/policy and protesting against a person.
The other issue, I guess, is the money that it will cost the IRD to fix the building. Again, I guess you could call this as bullying, but this is an increasing method of protesting. For instance, the latest protest against Hell Pizza involves not only protesting outside its outlets, but clogging up its website, and costing them money by ringing their 0800 number and not ordering.
The difference, you could argue that these actions are all legal, whereas driving a car through a building is not. I agree and while I may sympathize with his actions as a protest, I am pleased that he has had to face the consequences of his actions in court.
I’m sorry, but I just don’t get it.
Firstly, I must reiterate that I know nothing about the dispute between the driver and his manager. I am also assuming that his actions were a deliberate plan, rather than something that seemed a good idea at the time and then rationalized later.
I think that driving the car through the lobby could be seen more as protest. It was done at a time when no staff or public were near and it seemed to indicate that his problem was with the organization as a whole.
If he had driven his car through his manager’s (or human resource person’s house)…well, firstly, it wouldn’t have been as funny and secondly, it would have personalized the issue and put other people into danger.
The nearest equivalent I can think of is the local father’s group. They started off protesting outside the family court (and IRD, because of child support) chanting and waving placards. An annoyance, yes, but still a legitimate protest.
Then they started the same action outside the private homes of family court judges and solicitors. THAT, I would consider as bullying. it’s the difference between protesting against an organization/policy and protesting against a person.
The other issue, I guess, is the money that it will cost the IRD to fix the building. Again, I guess you could call this as bullying, but this is an increasing method of protesting. For instance, the latest protest against Hell Pizza involves not only protesting outside its outlets, but clogging up its website, and costing them money by ringing their 0800 number and not ordering.
The difference, you could argue that these actions are all legal, whereas driving a car through a building is not. I agree and while I may sympathize with his actions as a protest, I am pleased that he has had to face the consequences of his actions in court.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
join the war
One of the things I do when I’m training new comers to the organization is that I tell them what I did that day, using all the jargon and acronyms I can think of. After I finish my spiel, I ask the recruits if they knew what I said, inevitably, I get met with blank looks and nervous giggles.
The point is that each organization has its own dialect and that once you know what you’re doing, its easy to talk almost exclusively in that jargon. Which is fine if the people you are talking to know that jargon, but less than useless if you’re talking to a customer. It’s all very well for me to say “if you fill in a 490, I’ll be able to distill the Maguffin from the slimy tove” and know what I mean, but the customer will not have a clue what I’m going to do or, more importantly what they are supposed to do. My lesson to the recruits is one of the most fundamental pieces of advice about communication I know
Its not what you say that’s important, its what people hear
And added to this
How you say something sends a message that you may not want received
The worst example of this is management speak. It is a dialect that is particularly annoying-unnessarcarily verbose, filled with empty phrases, buzzwords and phrases, spin and so on.
When our organization was going through its last restructuring, management promised clear communication. When the report of the review came out, it was five pages long. Grabbing a metaphorical machete, I went looking for the key messages. After about quarter of an hour, I found that the five pages were concealing the following messages:
1) because we are short of money, 50 of you will be unemployed by next Tuesday
b) its not our fault. Honestly.
I know why management does this. Firstly to hide bad new (as in that example) but more importantly to send the message “We are smarter than you. Look at all the words we know. Some of them are really long, too. And so because we know these words, we really are smarter than you. That’s why we get the big bucks. So you can be sure that we know what are doing. Did you see that four syllable word in paragraph five? Only someone who knows what they are doing could use that. That’s why we’re here and you’re going to be looking for a new job. Remember to use of lots of big words on your resume”
(Sorry, got carried away there.)
The real fun part is when they make words do things that they are not supposed to. For example for the last few years I have been fighting managers who insist on using “learnings” as a noun. I guess that they think it sounds “cool” from a managerial perspective. I just think it sounds illiterate, a point I’ve made repeatedly, along with the notion that there is already a perfectly acceptable noun available for use. I have had limited success, because while “lessons” is a word that anyone can use, “learnings” is clearly a word used by people who really now what is going on.
About a year ago, radio live’s weekend host (and former able tasman) Graeme Hill declared war on the phrase “going forward” claiming that it is a completely redundant phrase. Yes, it’s designed to make the speaker sound dynamic, but its been used so often that its passed through being a cliché, to being really annoying, especially when its over used. In her last presentation to us, our manager used it fifteen times in thirty minutes (yes, I counted)
I’m with Graeme on this. Do not allow management speak to continue. If a speaker continues to use it, all them out on it. The strategic use of mockery can be effective. Don’t forget the value of irony.
Make a stand for clear communication. Lets stamp out Management speak in our life time.
Going Forward
The point is that each organization has its own dialect and that once you know what you’re doing, its easy to talk almost exclusively in that jargon. Which is fine if the people you are talking to know that jargon, but less than useless if you’re talking to a customer. It’s all very well for me to say “if you fill in a 490, I’ll be able to distill the Maguffin from the slimy tove” and know what I mean, but the customer will not have a clue what I’m going to do or, more importantly what they are supposed to do. My lesson to the recruits is one of the most fundamental pieces of advice about communication I know
Its not what you say that’s important, its what people hear
And added to this
How you say something sends a message that you may not want received
The worst example of this is management speak. It is a dialect that is particularly annoying-unnessarcarily verbose, filled with empty phrases, buzzwords and phrases, spin and so on.
When our organization was going through its last restructuring, management promised clear communication. When the report of the review came out, it was five pages long. Grabbing a metaphorical machete, I went looking for the key messages. After about quarter of an hour, I found that the five pages were concealing the following messages:
1) because we are short of money, 50 of you will be unemployed by next Tuesday
b) its not our fault. Honestly.
I know why management does this. Firstly to hide bad new (as in that example) but more importantly to send the message “We are smarter than you. Look at all the words we know. Some of them are really long, too. And so because we know these words, we really are smarter than you. That’s why we get the big bucks. So you can be sure that we know what are doing. Did you see that four syllable word in paragraph five? Only someone who knows what they are doing could use that. That’s why we’re here and you’re going to be looking for a new job. Remember to use of lots of big words on your resume”
(Sorry, got carried away there.)
The real fun part is when they make words do things that they are not supposed to. For example for the last few years I have been fighting managers who insist on using “learnings” as a noun. I guess that they think it sounds “cool” from a managerial perspective. I just think it sounds illiterate, a point I’ve made repeatedly, along with the notion that there is already a perfectly acceptable noun available for use. I have had limited success, because while “lessons” is a word that anyone can use, “learnings” is clearly a word used by people who really now what is going on.
About a year ago, radio live’s weekend host (and former able tasman) Graeme Hill declared war on the phrase “going forward” claiming that it is a completely redundant phrase. Yes, it’s designed to make the speaker sound dynamic, but its been used so often that its passed through being a cliché, to being really annoying, especially when its over used. In her last presentation to us, our manager used it fifteen times in thirty minutes (yes, I counted)
I’m with Graeme on this. Do not allow management speak to continue. If a speaker continues to use it, all them out on it. The strategic use of mockery can be effective. Don’t forget the value of irony.
Make a stand for clear communication. Lets stamp out Management speak in our life time.
Going Forward
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