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Author Topic: Internet tips and tricks (Read 2866 times)
Mir Hossain
You don't need the http:// portion of a web page
When typing an Internet address you do not need to type http:// or even www. in the address. For example, if you wanted to visit facebook you could just type facebook.com and press enter. To make things even quicker, if you're visiting a .com address you can type facebook and then press Ctrl + Enter to type out the full http://www.facebook.com address.
Quickly move between the fields of a web page
If you're filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift + Tab to move back a field. For example, if you're filling out your name and the next field is your e-mail address you can press the Tab key to switch to the e-mail field.
Tip: This tip also applies to the buttons, if you press tab and the web developer has designed correctly the button should be selected and will allow you to press the space bar or enter to push the button.
Tip: If you have a drop-down box that lists every country or every state you can click that box and then press the letter of the state or country you're looking for. For example, is a drop-down box of States in the United States you could press u on the keyboard to quickly scroll to Utah.
Use Internet search engines to their full potential
Make sure to get the most out of every search result. If you're not finding what you want try surrounding the text in quotes. For example, if you were searching for 'computer help' this actually searches for pages that contain both computer and help and not necessarily pages that have computer and help next to each other. If you search for "computer help" with the quotes around the search query this will only return pages that actually have computer and help next to each other.
Tip: Many new computer users also don't realize that in every search box you can press enter instead of having to move the mouse button over to the Search button.
Know your Internet browser shortcuts
There are dozens of different shortcut keys that can be used with Internet browsers. Below are a few of our top suggested Internet browser shortcuts.
- Pressing Alt + D in any major Internet browser will move the cursor into the address bar. This is a great way to quickly enter an Internet address without having to click the mouse cursor in the address bar.
- Hold down the Ctrl key and press the + or - to increase and decrease the size of text.
- Press the backspace key or hold down the Alt key + left arrow to go back a page.
- Press F5 to refresh or reload a web page.
- Press F11 to make the Internet browser screen full screen. Press F11 again to return back to the normal view.
- Press Ctrl + B to open your Internet bookmarks.
- Press Ctrl + F to open the find box in the browser to search for text within the web page you're looking at.
Take advantage of tabbed browsing
Take full advantage of tabbed browsing in all Internet browsers today. While reading any web page if you come across a link you may be interested in open that link in a new tab so it can be viewed later. A new tab can be opened by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the link or if you have a mouse with a wheel click the link with the middle mouse button.
Try alternative browsers
Most computer users use the default browser that comes included with the computer, with Microsoft Windows this is Internet Explorer. There are several great alternative browsers that are all free to download and use and may have features your current browser does not include. Below are a few of our favorites, try one or try them all.
Install plugins and add-ons
Each of the above alternative browsers also have a large community of volunteers who develop add-ons and plugins that can be added into the browser. Each of these browsers have hundreds of thousands of these add-ons that can do such things as giving you live weather in your browser window, changing its color, and adding additional functionality.
Make sure your browser and its plugins are up-to-date
Each Internet browser can have several additional plugins that give it additional functionality. For example, Adobe Flash is a great way to bring movies and other animated content to the Internet. Keeping these plugins up-to-date is vital for your computer stability and also security. Using the below tool you can quickly verify if your plugins are up-to-date and get links to where to download the latest updates.
_______ Md. Mir Hossain
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« Last Edit: March 21, 2013, 02:37:33 AM by Mir Hossain »


What about graphic above? is actually in which incredible? if you feel thus, I'l d teach you some impression again below.
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On October 10, 2018, the Postal Regulation Commission (PRC) approved a proposal to increase the United States Postal Service rates for shipping and mailing service fees. The new prices, rising by up to 10 percent, will vary by product and take effect January 27, 2019.
Price changes include raising the cost of a first-class stamp by 10 percent from 50 cents to 55 cents each. Some items, such as postcards, will remain at 35 cents while the price letters weighing more than 1 ounce, will decrease.
This rate increase is an effort to keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with additional revenue. As a reminder, the Postal Service does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses; instead, they rely heavily on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations. In addition, mailing service prices are influenced by the Consumer Price Index, while shipping service prices are adjusted based on market conditions.
An analysis by the alliance of nonprofit mailers found the increase will also raise other classes of mail by about 2.5 percent. Overall, shipping services rates will increase 5.9 percent for priority mail and 3.9 percent for priority mail express.
Organizations, but especially nonprofits that rely heavily on bulk marketing mailings will feel the impact of the 2019 rate increases. Nonprofit organizations should prepare and budget for the cost of their bulk outgoing mail to increase twice the rate of inflation. They also need to consider the cost of including a return envelope to facilitate donations as these will also incur a higher first-class letter rate.
If you need guidance on how to meet these challenges, please call the experts in our office.


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Vintage Tea
Browse virtual services and resources for hosting your event safely.
Edmonton variety bands
Book a Variety Band to play, well, a variety of music at your event! Weddings, birthdays, corporate functions, and more. Search now from the top-rated Variety Bands out of the Edmonton, AB area. With The Bash, you can forget the hassle and focus on the fun!
Variety Bands /
Alberta /
Edmonton, AB Variety Bands
Please note these Variety Bands will also travel to Kapasiwin, St. Albert, Lancaster Park, Sherwood Park, Beaumont, Namao, Acheson, Leduc County, Enoch, Devon, Spruce Grove, Fort Saskatchewan, Cooking Lake, Ardrossan, Nisku, Edmonton International Airport, Leduc, Morinville, Sturgeon County, Stony Plain, Gibbons, Rolly View, Calahoo, Riviere Qui Barre, Calmar, Spring Lake, Alcomdale, Legal, Carvel, Hay Lakes
Are you a variety band looking to book more events? Get more variety band events today.
Looking to celebrate your event online? Check out different vendors offering virtual services for online events.
Pro Tip: You can hire a virtual variety band from any location to bring your online event to life.
Top Variety Bands Near Edmonton, AB
(181)({{searchCtrl.fullFilteredResults.length}}) REFINE
Craig Moritz
Country Band from Calgary, AB (176 miles from Edmonton, AB)
So here is the part where I talk myself up a bit for the sales pitch! Well first off...experience! I have been performing live on stage for about 15 years now and it is my full time career and my passion. I have headlined hundreds of shows ( bars, clubs, casinos, festivals, rodeos, weddings, theatres) and would describe my show as professional, fun and interactive with a diverse list of covers and originals. Some of the major festivals I have performed include Calgary Stampede (Nashville... (more)
Mojo the party band
Verified Booking
Variety Band from Post Falls, ID (427 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Check out our video... mojothepartyband on youtube COME BE THE PARTY ! MOJO the party band brings the Big fun "Dance/show", "Extreme Interaction", Uninterrupted Dance with DJ breaks, and "Sing In The Band", all customized as it happens for your event and vibe A premier Live Karaoke band with lyrics - What a Rush! Sing with your own killer band Mojo is the ultimate party band for; Festival Concerts, Corporate, a ?-Party, weddings or whatever Our clients include; CDA Resort,... (more)
Verified Bookings
Variety Band from Chico, CA (1026 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Since 2010, Decades (based in Chico, CA) has been working (and rocking) around the clock to learn material spanning from the 1940's (Glenn Miller's Orchestra's "In The Mood") to today (Bruno Mars & Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk"). The band has played over 700 shows all along the West Coast, and are well on their way to booking another 100+ shows for 2018, earning its place as one of California's most in-demand bands. Throughout a single show, they'll swap between several instruments (including... (more)
Ethan Keller
Variety Band from Milwaukee, WI (1373 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Ethan Keller is a singer-songwriter from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was voted Solo Artist of the Year in the 2011 Radio Milwaukee Music Awards, and Pop Artist of the Year in the 2011 Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) Awards. Ethan produces many blends of original music, often melding folk, blues, and rock, with funk, jazz, and hip-hop. He has been performing and promoting for over 20 years, has appeared at venues and music festivals in over 30 states, and has sold over 10,000... (more)
Ken & Mary Turbo Accordions Express
Variety Band from Marysville, OH (1672 miles from Edmonton, AB)
"Ken & Mary" is a "turbo" powered, high energy Polka and Variety Band with a large variety of music to compliment events from Oktoberfests and festivals to dances, parties, banquets, conventions and weddings. They proudly announce that they performed over 200 events in 2012, 2013 and 2014, from Quebec to south Florida, and they expect to reach or exceed that number this year. In addition, the Miller Brewing Company has hired them to perform for their huge Pilsener Oktoberfest in El... (more)
The Nashville Blue Tones®
Variety Band from Nashville, TN (1755 miles from Edmonton, AB)
The versatile Nashville Blue Tones® are the best party band for any event or wedding, period. They are Talent Agency, Blue Tone Music's, most popular ensemble. Performing favorites from all eras, they have award winning male and female vocalists, a world-renowned horn section, play all the styles, and travel nationally. Consider our Band/DJ combo or adding strings (The Blue Tone Chamber Players)for the ultimate entertainment package. A typical event might start with music in the styles... (more)
Blind Manifest
Variety Band from Charlotte, NC (2027 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Ranked in the Top 25 Cover Bands in the USA! Variety is the spice of life. The key to throwing a great party, whether it's entertaining your guests at a wedding, a private party or community event, is having music that your guests will enjoy. Blind Manifest brings together a formula of top songs from a wide variety of genres which have been proven at radio stations and clubs across America to appeal to the widest spectrum of people. If you want a fun, professional show and the best... (more)
The Stephen Lee Band
Variety Band from Atlanta, GA (1965 miles from Edmonton, AB)
The Stephen Lee Band (SLB) prides itself in offering the best entertainment experience with versatility in music that everyone knows and loves. We have a strong focus on professionalism in communication with our clients and exceptional quality in musicianship at a reasonable rate. SLB performs for all types of events including wedding ceremonies/receptions, corporate events, private parties, and regional festivals. In most cases we perform as the full four-piece band which consists of... (more)
The Jon Bates Band
Variety Band from Katonah, NY (2010 miles from Edmonton, AB)
THE JON BATES BAND is a unique blend of extraordinary musicians and vocalists, with a magical chemistry that has evolved from a passion for playing music, shared experiences, and deep personal friendships over many years. They have performed at some of the most high profile venues and events around the world, and entertained for parties with guest lists including some of the most prominent names in business, politics and entertainment. They have collectively accompanied and shared stages with... (more)
Variety Band from Austin, TX (1779 miles from Edmonton, AB)
********VIDEO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST******** With literally hundreds of songs in its repertoire, LONDON CALLING can best be described as a "Human iPod!" No matter what style of music you are seeking or what age group of your function, LONDON CALLING performs with the highest quality of musicianship, fun and swagger that is expected from an elite variety dance band. The band is capable of playing all the hits from the 1940's to the present with styles including Big Band, Swing, Classic... (more)
Variety Band from San Francisco, CA (1167 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Yazz Jazz Music & Productions
Variety Band from Buffalo Grove, IL (1407 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Hall of Fame winner with The Knot, you won't be disappointed with Amy Yassinger and Yazz Jazz Entertainment. Amy and her team have won "BEST OF WEDDINGS" with The Knot for over 4 years in a row. They know how to pack a dance floor and keep the event seamless! The musicians are professional, charming and full of infectious energy. Whether you want mellow, elegant music to create a special mood or fun dancing music from Swing, Oldies, Motown, Disco and today's Pop Hits, Yazz Jazz has you... (more)
Midnight Piano Band
Variety Band from Saint Louis, MO (1500 miles from Edmonton, AB)
The Midnight Piano Band is all about the live, musical performance. They are a throwback to when bands actually played their instruments and sang on stage. It seems hard to believe, but a band with this level of commitment to live sound is becoming quite rare. In the Midnight Piano Band, there are no laptops, no backing tracks, no tricks, and no gimmicks. What you see is what you hear, and what you hear is awesome. The band loves playing classic piano rock hits from the 70s and 80s by artists... (more)
Variety Band from Sacramento, CA (1099 miles from Edmonton, AB)
People's Choice Band
People's Choice Band from Austin Texas has been entertaining audiences for decades. We perform live music for all events. Public and Private. We've performed for countless private events and would love the opportunity to perform for yours! We take care of all "behind the scenes" details, as well as coordinating with your event planner to insure your night is perfect. We'll play the songs that'll entice your guests to get on the dance floor! We also provide soft mp3 music during... (more)
Looking to celebrate remotely? Hire a virtual variety band to help bring your online event to life!
Shirts & Skins
Variety Band from Minneapolis, MN (1079 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Shirts & Skins is one of the most dynamic touring bands in the upper Midwest. Their musicianship, exceptional training and dynamic show will have you captivated from the very first note. With a diverse song list, Shirts & Skins hits all genres and musical tastes. This is a band that brings passion, excitement, and positive energy to audiences all across the United States. Comprised of seasoned veteran performers from some of the most popular bands throughout Twin Cities and the Midwest,... (more)
Griffin And The Gargoyles
Griffin and the Gargoyles is the premier high-energy party and dance band from the Midwest. Recently awarded "best cover band" by the St. Louis Riverfront Times, musicianship, customer service, and style is the reason Griffin and the Gargoyles have played to packed houses for over 20 years. Their extensive play-list and freshness keeps the crowds coming back for more. Griffin and the Gargoyles easily provides the widest variety of music in the area and depending on the venue or crowd can... (more)
My Friend Mike
My Friend Mike is the choice for memorable entertainment. Comprised of talented musicians, My Friend Mike covers the latest Top 40 hits along with soulful Motown classics, country, rock and anything in between. My Friend Mike has been featured at many premier events, including a 7 year stretch at the St. Louis Cardinals home opener rally (Keiner Plaza), the St. Louis Zoo, 4th of July celebrations in O'Fallon and St. Charles, wine countries finest and many upscale clubs in the area With... (more)
Tom Mazzaro High Energy! Very Engaging!
Variety Band from Las Vegas, NV (1196 miles from Edmonton, AB)
"ONE CLICK AWAY"...VIEW THE MEDIA SECTION ABOVE...EXPLORE THE DIVERSITY AND POSSIBILITIES FOR YOUR EVENT...PRICE IS ALWAYS NEGOTIABLE! An entertainer, singer, actor who has over a 1000 appearances to his credit from pageants 'Miss Canada World' - 'Miss Michigan USA' - 'Beauties of America' - 'Miss Black Michigan' among others, to trade shows, casino performances, corporate events, moderated forums and improvisational events...all contributing to his ease at working a room. Growing up in... (more)
Vegas Beyond the Strip
Variety Band from Henderson, NV (1208 miles from Edmonton, AB)
With over 25 years of experience, RainMaker Productions, brings events to life! Music from one performer to 50, vocalist & musicians. Designing & producing live music entertainment events to delight all audenices. Company celebrations,association meetings,fundraisers,social galas,festivals, corporate receptions or multi-day conventions. RainMaker Productions provides the best in live music entertainment services including Tribute Shows, R&B entertainers & the great american song book. We... (more)
Spectrum Band
Variety Band from Saint Charles, MO (1487 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Spectrum is proud to announce that we are a recipient of the 2018 "Best of Weddings" award from The Knot! We were also inducted into The Knot "Hall of Fame" for consistently receiving outstanding reviews from past clients for so many years in a row. We were also honored to receive the WeddingWire 2018 "Couple's Choice Award" as well as this same award for the past 10 years. We are proud to be the only St. Louis band to win both of these awards for the past 6 years in a row! We also have... (more)
Riggs Entertainment
Variety Band from Memphis, TN (1709 miles from Edmonton, AB)
With over 20 years in the entertainment business, we've developed a wide network of trusted, talented entertainers who can make any event shine. We book acts around the country, and we represent some of the best bands and entertainers in Memphis and the Mid-South, including * Brilliant original artists like The Justus Brothers and John Paul Keith * High-energy party bands like The 901 Heavy Hitters and Bluff City Bandits * Authentic Delta bluesmen like Billy Gibson and... (more)
Cover Band from Los Angeles, CA (1370 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Patrick & the LVB - Los Angeles Cover Band / Party Band / Top 40 Band (Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix) Patrick Sieben has quickly become one of Las Vegas' top performers. He and his band currently hold a residency at Mandalay Bay located at the heart of the Las Vegas strip, performing a young and energetic mix of modern pop tunes, classic hits and originals. While maintaining his residency in Vegas, Patrick and his band travel across the country performing. Patrick opened for One... (more)
Robert Mabe Band
Booked 67 Days Ago!
Bluegrass Band from Winchester, VA (1924 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Robert Mabe provides entertainment for dozens of weddings and private/corporate events each year. Services include: Duets to five piece bands Sound/PA operation/setup Musical planning and special requests Announcements/DJ In addition to exceptional music/entertainment, Robert brings experience and service that is unmatched. Please check Roberts client reviews. Hundreds of clients are very happy for selecting Robert Mabe and you will be too! Robert Mabe is a stellar banjo... (more)
Face 2 Face Band
Just Booked!
Cover Band from Rutherford, NJ (2012 miles from Edmonton, AB)
The Face 2 Face band is a 5 piece all event cover band. We can expand our band up to 7 pieces and add a full horn section as per request. We will work with you to perform all music of your choice and can learn any song request you may have if not on our website. You can pick form oldies, classic rock, hard rock, 80's, dance, todays; country and all current top 100 music is in our repertoire. The band is very entertaining and crowd interactive; our dance floors get a real work... (more)
Cover Band from San Diego, CA (1448 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Patrick & the LVB - San Diego Cover Band / Top 40 Band / Party Band Patrick Sieben has quickly become one of Las Vegas' top performers. He currently holds a 4 night per week residency at Aria Resort and Casino located at the heart of the Las Vegas strip, performing a young and energetic mix of modern pop tunes, classic hits and originals. While maintaining his residency in Vegas, Patrick and his band travel across the country performing. Patrick opened for TOTO and YES on multiple dates... (more)
Cover Band from San Francisco, CA (1167 miles from Edmonton, AB)
Patrick & the LVB - San Francisco Cover Band / Top 40 Band / Party Band Patrick Sieben has quickly become one of Las Vegas' top performers. He currently holds a 4 night per week residency at Aria Resort and Casino located at the heart of the Las Vegas strip, performing a young and energetic mix of modern pop tunes, classic hits and originals. While maintaining his residency in Vegas, Patrick and his band travel across the country performing. Patrick opened for TOTO and YES on multiple... (more)
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All Disciplines » Search: *
Include sample content
American History(3)
Pre-Columbian Americas, to 1492(3)
Discovery and Exploration (1492-1650)(1)
World History(1)
Climate and the Environment(1)
Family and Culture(1)
Migration and Diaspora(1)
Anthropology(4)
Archaeological anthropology(4)
Cultural anthropology(4)
American Studies(3)
Author / Creator
Gary Glassman, fl. 1987(4)
Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005(3)
Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998(3)
Julianna Brannum, fl. 2006-2015(4)
Place Discussed
Cahokia Mounds State Historic Park, IL(1)
New Mexico(1)
Chaco Canyon, NM(1)
American Indians(4)
Antropologia Arqueológica(4)
Brannum, Julianna, fl. 2006-2015(4)
Glassman, Gary, fl. 1987(4)
Providence Pictures(4)
4 results for your search
within these results
Title / Album Segment / Track
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Native America, Episode 1, From Caves to Cosmos
directed by Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998 and Gary Glassman, fl. 1987; produced by Rob Tinworth, fl. 2004, Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987 and Julianna Brannum, fl. 2006-2015, Providence Pictures, in Native America, Episode 1 (Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 2018), 54 mins
Native America challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents...
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Native America challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. The series reveals some of the most advanced cultures in human history and the Native American people who created it and whose legacy...
Native America challenges everything we thought we knew about the Americas before and since contact with Europe. It travels through 15,000-years to showcase massive cities, unique systems of science, art, and writing, and 100 million people connected by social networks and spiritual beliefs spanning two continents. The series reveals some of the most advanced cultures in human history and the Native American people who created it and whose legacy continues, unbroken, to this day. This series explores this extraordinary world through an unprecedented combination of cutting edge science and traditional indigenous knowledge. It is Native America as never seen before -featuring sacred rituals filmed for the first time, history changing scientific discoveries, and rarely heard voices from the living legacy of Native American culture. Native America rediscovers a past whose splendor and sophistication is only now being realized, and whose story has for too long remained untold. It reveals a unifying belief that inspires these diverse cultures - people are deeply connected to earth, sky, water, and all living things. This belief is rooted in millennia of living on this land and continues to resonate in the lives of Native Americans to this day.
From Caves to Cosmos focuses on the deep roots of Native America: Who are America's First Peoples and how did they create their unique world? Answers emerge from Hopi Elders on pilgrimage at sacred Chaco Canyon in the New Mexico desert, scientists examining ancient cave painting in the Amazon jungle, Chumash boat builders exploring their tribe's ancient migration legacy off California's coast, and an archaeologist digging deep below a towering pyramid near Mexico City.
Rob Tinworth, fl. 2004, Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987, Julianna Brannum, fl. 2006-2015, Providence Pictures, Robbie Robertson, 1943-
Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987
Date Published / Released
Public Broadcasting Service
Speaker / Narrator
Robbie Robertson, 1943-
Topic / Theme
Climate and the Environment, Family and Culture, Pre-Columbian Americas, to 1492, American Indians, Coastal Chumash, Hopi, Post-Classical Period (500–1450), Classical Period (1000 BCE–500 CE), Prehistory to Early Civilizations (Up to 1000 BCE)
Copyright Message
Copyright © 2018 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)
Native America, Episode 2, Nature to Nations
directed by Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987 and Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005; produced by Rob Tinworth, fl. 2004, Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987 and Julianna Brannum, fl. 2006-2015, Providence Pictures, in Native America, Episode 2 (Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 2018), 54 mins
Nature to Nations explores the rise of great American nations, from dynastic monarchies to participatory democracies. What lies behind these diverse and sophisticated governments? Answers emerge from an archaeologist excavating America's oldest temple in the Peruvian Andes, a tribe initiating a new chief at a ceremony surrounded by cedar totem poles in the Pacific Northwest, an expert reading ancient hieroglyphs from a sarcophagus to tell a forgotten history of Maya kings, and the return of an ancient shell wampum belt to the birthplace of democracy near Syracuse, New York.
Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005
Iroquois Confederacy Founded, 1451?, Political and Social Movements, Pre-Columbian Americas, to 1492, American Indians
Native America, Episode 3, Cities of the Sky
directed by Gary Glassman, fl. 1987 and Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005; produced by Rob Tinworth, fl. 2004, Scott Tiffany, fl. 1998, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005, Gary Glassman, fl. 1987 and Julianna Brannum, fl. 2006-2015, Providence Pictures, in Native America, Episode 3 (Arlington, VA: Public Broadcasting Service, 2018), 54 mins
Cities of the Sky explores the creation of some of the ancient world's largest and most splendid cities. Were people across Native America inspired by celestial phenomenon to build their communities? Answers are revealed in American urban centers that bloomed from the Mexican jungle, a massive multi-cultural city in Central Mexico that is among the largest urban centers in history, and the capital of South America's greatest empire.
Gary Glassman, fl. 1987, Joseph Sousa, fl. 2005
Pre-Columbian Americas, to 1492, American Indians, Inca, Choctaw
Native America, Episode 4, New World Rising
New World Rising reveals Native American cultural continuity in the face of genocidal warfare and history's worst demographic devastation. Native Americans tap 10,000 years of beliefs to fight and survive the forces of Conquest.
Pre-Columbian Americas, to 1492, Discovery and Exploration (1492–1650), Comanche, American Indians


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All you need is one NewTumbl user to undo management goodwill « Jack Yan: the Persuader Blog on NewTumbl takes things seriously
Jack Yan on NewTumbl takes things seriously
This was the natural outcome of greed, in the forms of monopoly power and sensationalist media « Jack Yan: the Persuader Blog on Big Tech and advertising: the con is being revealed
Autocade reaches 22 million, while Rachel Hunter appears in Lucire
Who'd like to ask the hard questions of Wikipedia as it turns 20?
All you need is one NewTumbl user to undo management goodwill
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The Persuader
My personal blog, started in 2006. No paid posts.
Posts tagged 'Canada'
Seasonal Canadian humour
My thanks to Sydney-based photographer Robert Catto for linking me to this one, especially near the festive season.
It is funnier than the one I took in Sweden many years ago, which in pun-land could be racist:
The sad thing is, at some point, the majority will not get the top joke.
I have a ringtone on my phone for SMSs, namely Derek Flint's ringtone from In Like Flint.
If I mention In Like Flint, in my circles there'd be about one person every two years who'll get what I mean.
Twenty years ago, everyone would have said, 'Who's Derek Flint? That's Austin Powers' ringtone!'
Today, some of my younger readers will ask, 'Who's Austin Powers?'
So far, only a tiny handful of people get my reference when I say, 'Dear guards, Jeffrey can be taken off suicide watch. Signed, Epstein's mother.'
No, what Epstein did to his victims—children—is no laughing matter.
However, I don't think I'm alone in needing humour as an anchor for my sanity when the news is abhorrent.
Tags: 1980s, 2010, 2019, actor, Canada, celebrity, crime, culture, film, humour, language, law, Montréal, Québec, Robert Catto, spy-fi, Stockholm, Sverige, Sweden, TV, Twitter
Posted in culture, humour, internet, Sweden, TV, USA | No Comments »
Ford to stop selling passenger cars in the US and Canada, save for Mustang and Focus Active
The Ford Focus Active: by the turn of the decade, this will be the only four-door passenger car Ford will sell in the US and Canada
In a surprise move, Ford has announced that it will cease selling passenger cars in the US and Canada by the early 2020s, excepting the Mustang and the Focus Active.
The announcement was actually for 'North America' but as Ford of México does a reasonable trade on Figos and Fiestas, it's hard to see the policy be uniform right across the continent.
It's a cost-cutting exercise, designed to save $25,500 million in five years, and trucks and SUVs simply make more money for them. Small cars mean small profits. In fact, car sales lag those of the F-series, Escape and Explorer in the US. Shares have risen on the news.
That means Americans and Canadians will say goodbye to the Fiesta, Fusion (the four-door sedan counterpart to the Mondeo) and Taurus, the last of which is already superseded in China. If you liked the cooking RS and STs, then too bad. Lincolns are losing money for Ford, too, so maybe the Continental will vanish—given the Fusion is history, the MKZ will follow. That doesn't leave much in the Lincoln line-up.
My initial reaction was that the economies of scale would worsen: if you're not developing for a global market, will development costs be successfully amortized in the same period? We have, however, seen the Japanese do reasonably well with products strictly for the North American market, e.g. certain Acuras and Hondas that are sold only in their neck of the woods. We also know most of the costs of the car are in the platform and architecture, and Ford has shown decent adaptability, particularly with the C519 Focus (the recently released Mk IV).
Ford says the cuts will come from sales and marketing, engineering and product development, as well as material costs, manufacturing and IT, in that order, according to Automotive News.
The fact that product development and engineering rank so highly there is worrying to me.
They're bandying the word efficiency about a lot, and that always has me worried. That's the word you used to hear from corporate raiders like Slater Walker. Things can look efficient while they're being weakened.
CEO Jim Hackett says he's feeding the healthy parts of the business, 'and deal decisively with the parts that destroy value.'
While it's true that the crossover, SUV and truck markets are strong, as they are in many parts of the world, I can't help but think that Ford isn't preparing itself for tougher future scenarios.
Energy crises can come unpredictably, for one. Ford was late to the downsizing game in the 1970s because it saw the dollar signs with big cars. By 1977, GM had stolen a real march on Ford. By the turn of the decade, Chrysler was back from the brink with fuel-efficient cars while Ford sailed into the red.
Chrysler found itself too truck- and SUV-heavy with the recession of the late 2000s, and its entry-level nameplate Plymouth had already vanished, thanks to mismanagement by Daimler earlier in the century.
While there's not always a need for a full line—AMC taught us that extending yourself too far isn't always wise—I wonder if Ford is leaving itself vulnerable.
Crossovers like the Escape, which might outsell the Fusion, are being beaten in the market-place by the likes of the Toyota RAV4, so it's not as though Ford is that strong in all the markets it wishes to remain in.
GM, having pulled out of Europe and Russia, might be in better shape because of its position in China. Ford trails GM when it comes to its Chinese footprint, although it will remain in Europe.
Ford's Jim Farley says the company is looking at new types of vehicles that are spacious, versatile and economical, which hopefully will fill the gap should economic surprises surface. Because you need something cheap to hook buyers and get them to the brand. That's not going to happen if Focus Active is the smallest car in the line-up.
Ford is likely to have these on global platforms. But that signals to me a real need to remain strong in R&D. Failing that, Ford is looking to partner up with someone, and it may already have an idea who that is.
I am speculating here, since I don't have any figures outlining what proportion of revenue is devoted to that area.
Nevertheless, this sounds like an appeasement of Wall Street.
That leaves one concern over nameplates. Ford has successfully introduced nameplates over the years because the product was right: Cortina, Mustang, Escort, Capri, Fiesta and Focus among them. But it has also failed by killing nameplates and replacing them with ones that had no real goodwill, such as Five Hundred and Freestyle.
Whatever Ford has in mind, I hope for their sake that the new product is compelling, as much as the Mustang and Fiesta were when they appeared on the market. Both emerged in the wake of economic recessions, with Ford innovating because it had to.
In this century, Alan Mulally's time at Ford had a measured, sensible approach, where you could understand the future. There are question marks over what Hackett has planned, and usually we have some clue what these new products will be four years out. All I know of is that the Ranger will make it to the US again, boosting truck sales, but that's hardly an innovation. That's just filling a market niche with familiar product.
Will Ford do Brasil come up with something that can be sold in both North and South America? Perhaps the next-generation Ecosport?
There are lessons in history that shouldn't be ignored, and Ford has one of the most interesting pasts of any car maker. There is, however, a feeling from the announcement that this heralds a time of retrenchment, as its profits fall globally, and net income in the US rising for the first quarter in part due to a lower tax rate.
Remember, Isuzu also once thought it was a good idea to stop selling passenger cars and focus on SUVs and trucks. And they're no longer around in North America.
Tags: 2018, 2020, 2020s, 2022, automotive industry, branding, Canada, car, car industry, China, finance, Ford, global economy, GM, history, innovation, Isuzu, Lincoln, marketing, Michigan, new-product development, R&D, USA, Wall Street
Posted in business, cars, China, globalization, marketing, USA | 4 Comments »
Does TPPA redux protect Big Tech?
SumOfUs/Creative Commons
Prof Jane Kelsey, in her critique of the still-secret Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (formerly the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPPA]) notes in The Spinoff:
The most crucial area of the TPPA that has not received enough attention is the novel chapter on electronic commerce—basically, a set of rules that will cement the oligopoly of Big Tech for the indefinite future, allowing them to hold data offshore subject to the privacy and security laws of the country hosting the server, or not to disclose source codes, preventing effective scrutiny of anti-competitive or discriminatory practices. Other rules say offshore service providers don't need to have a presence inside the country, thus undermining tax, consumer protection and labour laws, and governments can't require locally established firms to use local content or services.
If this new government is as digitally illiterate as the previous one, then we are in some serious trouble.
I'm all for free trade but not at the expense of my own country's interests, or at the expense of real competition, and the Green Party's position (I assume in part operating out of caution due to the opaqueness of the negotiations) is understandable.
Protecting a partly corrupt oligopoly is dangerous territory in a century that will rely more heavily on digital commerce.
While there may be some valid IP reasons to protect source code, these need to be revealed in legal proceedings if it came to that—and one hopes there are provisions for dispute settlement that can lift the veil. But we don't really know just how revised those dispute settlement procedures are. Let's hope that Labour's earlier stated position on this will hold.
Google has already found itself in trouble for anticompetitive and discriminatory practices in Europe, and if observations over the last decade count for anything, it's that they'll stop at nothing to try it on. Are we giving them a free ride now?
Despite Prof Kelsey's concerns, I can accept that parties need not have a presence within a nation or be compelled to use local content or services. But the level of tax avoidance exhibited by Google, Facebook, Apple et al is staggering, and one hopes that our new government won't bend over quite as easily. (While I realize the US isn't part of this agreement, remember that big firms have subsidiaries in signatory countries through which they operate, and earlier trade agreements have shown just how they have taken on governments.)
She claims that the technology minister, the Hon Clare Curran, has no information on the ecommerce chapter's analysis—and if she doesn't have it, then what are we signing up to?
However, Labour's inability to be transparent—something they criticized the previous government on—is a weak point after a generally favourable start to 2018. The Leader of the Opposition is right to call the government out on this when his comment was sought: basically, they were tough on us when we were in government, so we hope they'll live up to their own standards. Right now, it doesn't look like it. I suspect Kelsey is now the National Party fan's best friend after being vilified for years. Bit like when Nicky Hager (whom one very respected MP in the last Labour government called a right-wing conspiracy theorist) wrote Seeds of Distrust.
And the solutions that Kelsey proposes are so simple and elegant that it's daft they weren't followed, since they are consistent with the Labour brand. I know, trade agreements can stay confidential at this stage and this isn't unprecedented. But that's not what Labour said it wanted. At least these suggestions would have shown some consistency with Labour's previous positions, and given some assurance that it's in charge.
What should a Labour-led government have done differently? First, it should have commissioned the revised independent economic assessment and health impact analyses it called for in opposition. Second, it should have shown a political backbone, like the Canadian government that also inherited the deal. Canada played hardball and successful demanded side-letters to alter its obligations relating to investment and auto-parts. Not great, but something. New Zealand should have demanded similar side-letters excluding it from ISDS as a pre-requisite for continued participation. Third, it should have sought the suspension of the UPOV 1991 obligation, which has serious Treaty implications, and engaged with Māori to strengthen the Treaty of Waitangi exception, as the Waitangi Tribunal advised. Fourth, it should have withdrawn its agreement to the secrecy pact.
I once joked that National and Labour were basically the same, plus or minus 10 per cent. On days like this, I wonder if I was right.
Tags: 2018, antitrust, Aotearoa, business, Canada, commerce, economics, economy, free trade, global economy, globalization, Google, Jane Kelsey, Labour, media, New Zealand, oligopoly, politics, technology, The Spinoff, TPPA, transparency, Treaty of Waitangi
Posted in business, globalization, New Zealand, politics, technology | 1 Comment »
Stefan Engeseth's Sharkonomics out in China with a new edition
My good friend Stefan Engeseth's Sharkonomics hit China a year ago, and it's been so successful that the second edition is now out. It looks smarter, too, with its red cover, and I'm sure Chinese readers will get a decent taste of Stefan's writing style, humour and thinking.
I even hope this will pave the way for translations of his earlier works, especially Detective Marketing and One: a Consumer Revolution for Business (the latter still remains my favourite of his marketing titles).
I've written a brief quote for Sharkonomics and the publisher (with some nudging from Stefan) has taken the time to make sure my Chinese name is accurately recorded, rather than a phonetic translation of my Anglo transliteration, which, of course, then wouldn't be my name.
Stefan's inventive and innovative thinking might seem left-field sometimes, till some years pass and people realize he was right all along. Take, for example, Google wanting to build a high-tech neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, announced in October. Notwithstanding the hassles Google has created on its own turf in Silicon Valley, it's the sort of project we might expect from the giant now. But would we have expected it in 2007? Probably not, except Stefan did.
In 2007 (though he actually first floated the idea a year earlier), Stefan blogged about his idea for Google Downtown—why not make real what Google Earth does virtually? Why not shop at places that already know all your personal preferences, if that's where things are heading? The town would have free wifi and you'd be paying for it with 'your self' (the space, I'm sure, was intentional). In 2008, 500 people heard his plans at a conference and laughed. The following year, he met Eric Schmidt and mentioned it to him. Eric paused and didn't laugh—and maybe the idea sunk in.
It's not the first time Stefan has hatched an idea and it gained legs, from Coca-Cola delivering its product through taps to Ikea making flat-pack fashion—both have wound up being done, though the latter not quite in the way Stefan envisaged.
Tags: 2000s, 2016, 2017, author, book, Canada, China, Coca-Cola, Eric Schmidt, Finland, Google, Ikea, innovation, language, Ontario, publishing, Stefan Engeseth, Stockholm, Sweden, Toronto
Posted in business, China, marketing, Sweden | 1 Comment »
Travel diary (or, a diary that travels)
A photo posted by Jack Yan (@jack.yan) on Apr 9, 2016 at 10:31pm PDT
A photo posted by Jack Yan (@jack.yan) on Apr 10, 2016 at 10:37pm PDT
What a fun project! In September, a class in a Québec school set its pupils a travel diary project. The idea: see how well travelled each pupil's diary gets by passing it to a friend, then to their friend, and so on. The aim is educational: they want to learn about different cultures. The person who receives it nearest April 15 has to send it back to the origin. That was me: the diary arrived in my office on Friday. I've since written a four-page letter to the schoolgirl about my life in Wellington, my hobbies, and my family, in reply to her opening piece.
It has been over 25 years since I wrote in an exercise book. Prior to me, it went to the Netherlands, France, and Hong Kong. I hope she has the most well travelled journal in her class.
And yes, I chucked it on a courier. It would suck if it travelled all this way and got lost on the last leg. It left for Québec this afternoon.
Tags: 2015, 2016, Aotearoa, Canada, culture, education, Instagram, New Zealand, Québec, social media, social networking, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara
Posted in culture, France, New Zealand, Wellington | No Comments »
Time for a rewatch: Reza Aslan interviewed on CNN about Muslim violence
Found on my wall today. While it's over three months old, the responses from Prof Reza Aslan of the University of California Riverside address a lot of the comments that have surfaced post-Charlie Hebdo head-on—which shows that we continue to go round and round the same arguments and not making an awful lot of progress.
In October, he contrasted the coverage between Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the Canadian Muslim who murdered Cpl Nathan Cirillo in Ottawa, and the Norwegian Christian mass murderer Anders Breivik who killed 77 people, in an op–ed for CNN:
In the case of Bibeau, his violent behavior could have been influenced as much by his religious beliefs as by his documented mental problems, his extensive criminal past or his history of drug addiction. Yet, because Bibeau was a Muslim, it is simply assumed that the sole motivating factor for his abhorrent behavior was his religious beliefs …
Nevertheless, a great deal of the media coverage surrounding [Breivik's] actions seemed to take for granted that his crime had nothing to do with his Christian identity—that it was based instead on his right-wing ideology, or his anti-immigrant views, or his neglectful upbringing, or even, as Ayan Hirshi Ali famously argued, because his view that "Europe will be overrun by Islam" was being censored by a politically correct media, leaving him "no other choice but to use violence."
Aslan does accept that 'religious beliefs can often lead to actions that violate basic human rights. It is also true that a great many of those actions are taking place right now among Muslims,' which will require more than a blog post to analyse, but adds, 'When we condemn an entire community of faith for sharing certain beliefs with extremists in their community, we end up alienating the very people who are best positioned to counter such extremism in the first place.'
Aslan probably came to most people's awareness after his interview on Fox News about his new book Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, where he was questioned why, as a Muslim, he would write a book about Jesus Christ.
As a religion expert who has to defend his position academically—and in the mainstream media—Aslan makes a far more compelling case, backed by research, than some of the anti-Islamic rhetoric that has made a reappearance in social media lately.
Tags: 2014, bias, Canada, Christianity, CNN, human rights, Islam, media, religion, Reza Aslan, social media, social networking, TV, USA, YouTube
Posted in culture, general, media, USA | No Comments »
A year of random thoughts: 2014 in review
For the last few years, I've looked back at the events of the year in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. (In fact, in 2009, I looked back at the decade.) Tumblr's the place I look at these days for these summaries, since it tends to have my random thoughts, ones complemented by very little critical thinking. They tell me what piqued my interest over the year.
These days, I've been posting more about the TV show I watch the most regularly, the German Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei. A good part of my Tumblr, at least, and of Danielle Carey's, whom I first connected with via this blog, features screen shots and other photographs from it. But Cobra 11 aside—and for those "cultured" Germans who tell me it's the worst show on their telly, may I remind you that you still make Das Traumschiff?—I still will be influenced by everyday events.
So what do I spy?
Sadly, despite my intent in wanting to blog humorously, it turns out that 2014 doesn't necessarily give us a lot to laugh about. And we've had over a year after that Mayan calendar gag, and 13 years after Y2K. It's still not time to laugh yet.
I made a spoof English Hustle poster given all the hype about American Hustle, which seems to have, prima facie, the same idea. It meets with Adrian Lester's approval (well, he said, 'Ha,' which I gather is positive).
I post about Idris Elba giving a response about the James Bond character. (Slightly ahead of my time, as it turns out.)
Robert Catto wrote of Justin Bieber's arrest: 'So, J. Biebs is arrested for racing a rented Lamborghini in a residential neighbourhood while under the influence (of drugs and alcohol) while on an expired license, resisting arrest, and a bunch of previous stuff including egging a neighbour's house. With that many accusations being thrown at him, this can only mean one thing.
'The race for Mayor of Toronto just got interesting.'
I wrote to a friend, 'If there was a Facebook New Zealand Ltd. registered here then it might make more sense ensuring that there were fewer loopholes for that company to minimize its tax obligations, but the fact is there isn't. Either major party would be better off encouraging New Zealand to be the head office for global corporations, or encourage good New Zealand businesses to become global players, if this was an issue (and I believe that it is). There is this thing called the internet that they may have heard of, but both parties have seen it as the enemy (e.g. the whole furore over s. 92A, first proposed by Labour, enacted by National).
'Right now, we have some policy and procedural problems preventing us from becoming more effective exporters.
'It's no coincidence that I took an innovation tack in my two mayoral campaigns. If central government was too slow in acting to capture or create these players, then I was going to do it at a local level.'
And there are $700 trillion (I imagine that means $700 billion, if you used the old definitions—12 zeroes after the 700) worth of derivatives yet to implode, according to I Acknowledge. Global GDP is $69·4 (American) trillion a year. 'This means that (primarily) Wall Street and the City of London have run up phantom paper debts of more than ten times of the annual earnings of the entire planet.'
The Sochi Olympics: in Soviet Russia, Olympics watch you! Dmitry Kozak, the deputy PM, says that westerners are deliberately sabotaging things there. How does he know? 'We have surveillance video from the hotels that shows people turn on the shower, direct the nozzle at the wall and then leave the room for the whole day.'
Sports Illustrated does an Air New Zealand safety video.
This was the month I first saw the graphic containing a version of these words: 'Jesus was a guy who was a peaceful, radical, nonviolent revolutionary, who hung around with lepers, hookers, and criminals, who never spoke English, was not an American citizen, a man who was anti-capitalism, anti-wealth, anti-public prayer (yes he was Matthew 6:5), anti-death penalty but never once remotely anti-gay, didn't mention abortion, didn't mention premarital sex, a man who never justified torture, who never called the poor "lazy", who never asked a leper for a co-pay, who never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes, who was a long haired, brown skinned (that's in revelations), homeless, middle eastern Jew? Of course, that's only if you believe what's actually in the Bible' (sic). For those who want a response, this blog post answers the points from a Catholic point of view, but the original quote's not completely off-base.
My friend Dmitry protests in Moskva against Russia's actions in the Crimea. This was posted on this blog at the time. He reports things aren't all rosy in Russia when it comes to free speech.
Another friend, Carolyn Enting, gets her mug in the Upper Hutt Leader after writing her first fictional book, The Medallion of Auratus.
MH370 goes missing.
And this great cartoon, called 'If Breaking Bad Had Been Set in the UK':
I call Lupita Nyong'o 'Woman of the Year 2014'.
A post featuring Robin Williams (before that horrible moment in August), where he talks about the influence of Peter Sellers and Dr Strangelove on him. I seem to have posted a lot of Robin that month, from his CBS TV show, The Crazy Ones.
A Lancastrian reader, Gerald Vinestock, writes to The Times: 'Sir, Wednesday's paper did not have a photograph of the Duchess of Cambridge. I do hope she is all right.'
A first post on those CBS TV attempts to create a show about Sherlock Holmes set in the modern day in the US, partnered with a woman: on 1987's The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
The fiftieth anniversary of the on-sale date of the Ford Mustang (April 17).
The death of Bob Hoskins. Of course I had to post his last speech in The Long Good Friday, as well as the clip from Top Gear where Richard Hammond mistook Ray Winstone for Hoskins. They all look the same to me.
Judith Collins' story about what she was doing in China with Oravida collapses.
Someone points out there is a resemblance between Benedict Cumberbatch and Butthead from Beavis and Butthead.
Jean Pisani Ferry's view on the origins of the euro crisis in The Economist: 'Suppose that the crisis had begun, as it might easily have done, in Ireland? It would then have been obvious that fiscal irresponsibility was not the culprit: Ireland had a budget surplus and very low debt. More to blame were economic imbalances, inflated property prices and dodgy bank loans. The priority should not have been tax rises and spending cuts, but reforms to improve competitiveness and a swift resolution of troubled banks, including German and French ones, that lent so irresponsibly.'
British-born Tony Abbott says he doesn't like immigration, or some such.
This humorous graphic, made before the launch of the five-door Mini, on how the company could extend its range:
Sir Ian McKellen says, 'Did I want to go and live in New Zealand for a year? As it turns out, I was very happy that I did. I can't recommend New Zealand strongly enough. It's a wonderful, wonderful place, quite unlike [the] western world. It's in the southern hemisphere and it's far, far away and although they speak English, don't be fooled. They're not like us. They're something better than us.'
Lots of Alarm für Cobra 11 posts.
Sopheak Seng's first Lucire cover, photographed by Dave Richards, and with a fantastic crew: hair by Michael Beel, make-up by Hil Cook, modelled by Chloé Graham, and with some layout and graphic design by Tanya Sooksombatisatian and typography by me.
Liam Fitzpatrick writes of Hong Kong, before the Occupy protests, 'Hong Kongers—sober, decent, pragmatic and hardworking—are mostly not the sort of people who gravitate to the barricades and the streets. Neither do they need to be made aware of the political realities of having China as a sovereign power, for the simple fact that postwar Hong Kong has only ever existed with China's permission. In the 1960s, the local joke was that Mao Zedong could send the British packing with a mere phone call.
'With that vast, brooding power lying just over the Kowloon hills, tiny Hong Kong's style has always been to play China cleverly—to push where it can (in matters such as education and national-security legislation, where it has won important battles) and to back off where it cannot.'
It didn't seem completely prescient.
The General Election campaign: National billboards are edited.
Doctor Who goes on tour prior to Peter Capaldi's first season in the lead role.
The suicide of Robin Williams.
Michael Brown is killed. Greg Howard writes, 'There was Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., and Oscar Grant in Oakland, Calif., and so many more. Michael Brown's death wasn't shocking at all. All over the country, unarmed black men are being killed by the very people who have sworn to protect them, as has been going on for a very long time now …
'There are reasons why white gun's rights activists can walk into a Chipotle restaurant with assault rifles and be seen as gauche nuisances while unarmed black men are killed for reaching for their wallets or cell phones, or carrying children's toys.'
Like so many things, such a statement of fact became politicized in months to come.
Darren Watson releases 'Up Here on Planet Key', only to have it banned by the Electoral Commission. With his permission, I did a spoken-word version.
Journalist Nicky Hager, who those of us old enough will remember was a right-wing conspiracy theorist, is branded a left-wing conspiracy theorist by the PM because this time, he wrote about National and not Labour. The Deputy PM, Bill English, who commended Hager's work 12 years ago over Seeds of Distrust, and even quoted from it, remained fairly quiet.
It wasn't atypical. I wrote in one post, 'In 2011, Warren Tucker said three times in one letter that he told PM John Key about the SIS release. Now he says he only told his office but not the PM personally—after an investigation was announced (when the correct protocol would be to let the investigation proceed) …
'Key did not know about GCSB director Ian Fletcher's appointment (week one of that saga) before he knew about it (week two).
'Key cannot remember how many TranzRail shares he owned.
'Key cannot remember if and when he was briefed by the GCSB over Kim Dotcom.
'Key did not know about Kim Dotcom's name before he did not know about Kim Dotcom at all.
'Key cannot remember if he was for or against the 1981 Springbok tour.'
Some folks on YouTube did a wonderful series of satirical videos lampooning the PM. Kiwi satire was back. This was the first:
Matt Crawford recalled, 'At this point in the last election campaign, the police were threatening to order search warrants for TV3, The Herald on Sunday, RadioNZ et al—over a complaint by the Prime Minister. Over a digital recording inadvertently made in a public space literally during a media stunt put on for the press—a figurative media circus.'
Quoting Robert Muldoon in 1977's Muldoon by Muldoon: 'New Zealand does not have a colour bar, it has a behaviour bar, and throughout the length and breadth of this country we have always been prepared to accept each other on the basis of behaviour and regardless of colour, creed, origin or wealth. That is the most valuable feature of New Zealand society and the reason why I have time and again stuck my neck out to challenge those who would try to destroy this harmony and set people against people inside our country.'
And my reaction to the Conservative Party's latest publicity, which was recorded on this blog, and repeated for good measure on Tumblr: 'Essentially what they are saying is: our policy is that race doesn't matter. Except when it comes to vilifying a group, it does. Let's ignore the real culprits, because: "The Chinese".'
The passing of Richard 'Jaws' Kiel.
John Barnett of South Pacific Pictures sums up Nicky Hager: 'Hager is a gadfly who often causes us to examine our society. He has attacked both the right and the left before. It's too easy to dismiss it as a left wing loony conspiracy. We tend to shoot the messengers rather than examine the messages.'
New Zealanders begin vilifying Kim Dotcom: I respond.
I blog about Occupy Central in Hong Kong—which led to a television appearance on Breakfast in early October.
I'm not sure where this quotation comes from, but I reposted it: 'A white man is promoted: He does good work, he deserved it.
'A white woman is promoted: Whose dick did she suck?
'A man of color is promoted: Oh, great, I guess we have to "fill quotas" now.
'A woman of color is promoted: j/k. That never happens.'
Facebook gets overrun by bots: I manage to encounter 277 in a single day. (I eventually reach someone at Facebook New Zealand, who is trying to solicit business for one of the fan pages we have, and point this out. I never hear back from him.) The trouble is Facebook limits you to reporting 40 a day, effectively tolerating the bots. It definitely tolerates the click farms: I know of dozens of accounts that the company has left untouched, despite reports.
Kim Dotcom's lawyers file a motion to dismiss in Virginia in United States v. Dotcom and others, and summarize the case so far: 'Nearly three years ago, the United States Government effectively wiped out Megaupload Limited, a cloud storage provider, along with related businesses, based on novel theories of criminal copyright infringement that were offered by the Government ex parte and have yet to be subjected to adversarial testing. Thus, the Government has already seized the criminal defendants' websites, destroyed their business, and frozen their assets around the world—all without benefit of an evidentiary hearing or any semblance of due process.
'Without even attempting to serve the corporate defendants per the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Government has exercised all its might in a concerted, calculated effort to foreclose any opportunity for the defendants to challenge the allegations against them and also to deprive them of the funds and other tools (including exculpatory evidence residing on servers, counsel of choice, and ability to appear) that would equip robust defense in the criminal proceedings.
'But all that, for the Government, was not enough. Now it seeks to pile on against ostensibly defenseless targets with a parallel civil action, seeking civil forfeiture, based on the same alleged copyright crimes that, when scrutinized, turn out to be figments of the Government's boundless imagination. In fact, the crimes for which the Government seeks to punish the Megaupload defendants (now within the civil as well as the criminal realm) do not exist. Although there is no such crime as secondary criminal copyright infringement, that is the crime on which the Government's Superseding Indictment and instant Complaint are predicated. That is the nonexistent crime for which Megaupload was destroyed and all of its innocent users were denied their rightful property. That is the nonexistent crime for which individual defendants were arrested, in their homes and at gunpoint, back in January 2012. And that is the nonexistent crime for which the Government would now strip the criminal defendants, and their families, of all their assets.'
Stuart Heritage thinks The Apprentice UK has run its course, and writes in The Guardian: 'The Apprentice has had its day. It's running on fumes. It's time to replace it with something more exciting, such as a 40-part retrospective on the history of the milk carton, or a static shot of someone trying to dislodge some food from between their teeth with the corner of an envelope.'
Doctor Who takes a selfie and photobombs himself.
Andrew Little becomes Labour leader, and is quoted in the Fairfax Press (who, according to one caption, says his mother's name is Cecil): 'I'm not going to resile from being passionate about working men and women being looked after, having a voice, and being able to go to work safe and earn well. That's what I stand for.
'The National party have continued to run what I think is a very 1970s prejudice about unions … We have [in New Zealand] accepted a culture that if you are big, bold and brassy you will stand up for yourself. But [this] Government is even stripping away protections [from] those who are bold enough to do so.
'I think New Zealanders are ready for someone who will talk bluntly about those who are being left behind. That's what I'll be doing.'
I'm not a Labour voter but I was impressed.
I advise my friend Keith Adams in Britain, who laments the driving standards there, that in order to have the road toll we have, they'd need to kill another 2,000 per annum. 'The British driver is a well honed, precision pilot compared to one's Kiwi counterpart.'
Julian Assange on Google, and confirmation that the company has handed over personal data to the US Government. He calls Eric Schmidt 'Google's secretary of state, a Henry Kissinger-like figure whose job it is to go out and meet with foreign leaders and their opponents and position Google in the world.'
The Sydney siege and the tragic deaths of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson.
The killing of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. The NYPD doesn't look very white to me, but a murderer used the death of Eric Garner as an excuse to murder a Dad and a newlywed.
My second post on those CBS TV attempts to create a show about Sherlock Holmes set in the modern day in the US, partnered with a woman: on 1993's 1994 Baker Street.
Craig Ferguson hosts his last Late Late Show. And more's the pity: he's one of the old school, never bitter, and never jumped on the bandwagon attacking celebrities.
Tags: 2014, actors, actresses, Air New Zealand, Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei, Aotearoa, Australia, BBC, book, Canada, Carolyn Enting, CBS, celebrity, China, culture, Danielle Carey, Doctor Who, fashion, fashion magazine, finance, Germany, Google, Hong Kong, humour, Jack Yan, Jesus Christ, JY&A Media, Keith Adams, Kim Dotcom, Lucire, media, musician, New Zealand, news, Nicky Hager, Olympics, politics, publishing, racism, religion, Robert Catto, RTL, Russia, Sopheak Seng, Sports Illustrated, The Economist, TV, USA, YouTube
Posted in business, China, culture, Hong Kong, humour, interests, internet, media, New Zealand, politics, publishing, TV, typography, UK, USA | 2 Comments »
Cuba's automotive time warp
My friend Stephen Smith filmed the following in Cuba, looking at the pre-1959 US cars that are still running (mostly on non-original engines) there. It's also interesting for the odd non-US car that you see: various Ladas (the original Zhiguli shape), a Volkswagen Gol in one scene, and an Emgrand EC8. Steve and his wife Ilona Kauremszky have more travel stories at their website, www.mycompass.ca, and more videos at their YouTube channel.
Tags: 1950s, Brazil, Canada, car, cars, China, Cuba, Ilona Kauremszky, media, Mycompass.tv, retro, Russia, Stephen Smith, travel, USA, YouTube
Posted in cars, China, media, TV, USA | No Comments »
Fighting the politics of division
Loving this excerpt from Nancy J. Adler's 'Leading Beautifully: the Creative Economy and Beyond' in the Journal of Management Inquiry, vol. 20, pp. 208–22, at p. 211, which my fellow Medinge Group director Nicholas Ind referred to me:
McGill University strategy professor Henry Mintzberg asked the people in his native Quebec to see the world as artists view it, rather than as normal consumers of the public media. Immediately prior to the last referendum that would decide whether the Province of Quebec would separate from the rest of Canada, Mintzberg challenged the electorate to turn off their radios and TVs, look out their windows, and ask themselves: Do our French- and English-speaking children play together? Do we invite each other into our homes? Do we work well together? Mintzberg was asking his neighbors to view Quebec society through their own eyes and to not let themselves be blinded by politicians who were insisting that people from different cultural and linguistic groups so dislike each other that they cannot live together. He encouraged his neighbors to vote based on their own data. Mintzberg was particularly effective in getting the people of Quebec to see the beauty in their well-functioning, multicultural society, a beauty that had been obfuscated by a profusion of political myths that were broadly perpetrated and perpetuated by politicians and the media alike.
A few points:
in many countries, politicians engage in the politics of hate and division;
by extension, the worse things get for people, the more extreme they can be pushed toward the political fringes;
recognizing the good in our society can reignite our collective purpose—and help make things better.
I've heard some of the arguments in the Republican primaries, and to a non-American, the time wasted by PACs on attack ads seems a waste. They also seem rather foreign to a New Zealander. Sure, we attack the opposition, too, but not with the sort of negative undertone exhibited there.
The more time spent on attacks, the less time spent on solutions.
Though you wonder if the institutionalization and the deals done behind closed doors can ever be undone, and I don't mean just the Americans.
I've also been reading Michael Lewis's latest book, Boomerang: the Meltdown Tour—and can happily report to Mr Lewis that I have bought three copies (the one in New Zealand at twice the price of what I paid in India). While most of it covers the global financial crisis, he spends some time with former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (original emphasis):
… "When you want to do pension reform for the prison guards," he says, "and all of a sudden the Republicans are all lined up against you. It was really incredible and it happened over and over: people would say to me, 'Yes, this is the best idea! I would love to vote for it! But if I vote for it some interest group is going to be angry with me, so I won't do it.' I couldn't believe people could actually say that. You have soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they didn't want to risk their political lives by doing the right thing."
He came into office with boundless faith in the American people—after all, they had elected him—and figured he could always appeal directly to them. That was his trump card, and he played it. In November 2005 he called a special election that sought votes on four reforms: limiting state spending, putting an end to the gerrymandering of legislative districts, limiting public employee union spending on elections, and lengthening the time it took for public school teachers to get tenure. All four propositions addressed, directly or indirectly, the state's large and growing financial mess. All four were defeated; the votes weren't even close. From then until the end of his time in office he was effectively gelded: the legislators now knew that the people who had elected them to behave exactly the way they were already behaving were not going to undermine them when appealed to directly. The people of California might be irresponsible, but at least they were consistent.
This is just at state level. It's a lot worse at the national level there. And yet certain politicians here have a hankering to emulate this behaviour.
Let's hope that when we next get a chance to elect our officials, we'll keep these scenarios at the back of our minds—and stay away from them. Let us, instead, look at all the good we can do—and find ways to unite, rather than divide, people. And also, let us ensure that democracy continues to be accountable to the people, rather than the same old, same old "business as usual".
Tags: Aotearoa, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, Canada, democracy, division, history, humanism, Jack Yan, Medinge Group, Michael Lewis, New Zealand, Nicholas Ind, politics, Québec, unity, USA, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara
Posted in culture, leadership, New Zealand, politics, USA | No Comments »
Farewell, Leslie Nielsen
A quick tribute to Leslie Nielsen—the 'OC'—and the world's favourite Danish–Canadian guy, who died today at age 84.
And don't call me Shirley, either.
Tags: actor, Canada, celebrity, film, humour, USA
Posted in culture, humour, interests, USA | No Comments »
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We are holding our annual Spring Cleanup on Saturday, May 4, beginning at 9:30 AM and running to about noon.
There is no need to sign up in advance. Just show up at the corner of St.Mary's Rd and Bishop Grandin where you'll find a sign-up sheet, garbage bags, and a few other things. There will be Bishop Grandin Greenway volunteers on hand to answer any questions you might have.
We hope to see you there. Everybody is welcome!
Big things are in store for 2019!
The volunteer board of Bishop Grandin Greenway Inc held a planning session in January to iron out some of the details of the Bittersweet Way project that we've been working on.
Bittersweet Way is an enhancement north-east of the intersection of Bishop Grandin Blvd. and St.Mary's Rd that includes new signage, landscaping, and a secondary train leading to a circular rest area with visual markers that commemorate the historical significance of the area.
We have some funding lined up and construction is expected to start this spring! There may also be some related shrub-plantings, and of course our annual spring clean-up, so stay tuned!
Bishop Grandin Greenway will be holding its annual spring clean-up on Saturday, May 5, beginning at 9:30 AM at the corner of St.Mary's Rd and Bishop Grandin Blvd.
Boots and gloves are recommended, but we will provide garbage bags, and will have water for refilling water bottles. There are rumours of donuts as well!
Come help us keep the Greenway clean!
Our website has been moved over to a new, modern platform that will allow for easier updates and improved functionality. The old site served us well, but required manual coding for even the smallest updates.
With the new platform, the content will be more current and interactive. Users will be able to leave comments on the blog posts and contact us directly through the site, and soon we will be accepting donations on-line.
We are still fine-tuning some aspects of the web site, but we hope you enjoy the new look and come back often.
Our September 30 tree and shrub planting went well. 45 bird-friendly trees and shrubs were planted. Thanks to all volunteers to helped, to the City of Winnipeg for their assistance with the planting, to Ron Paul Garden Center, and to the Bluebird Fund for providing the funding to allow this to happen.
Board members post updates about events and activities on the Greenway.