The silly fuss over teleprompters

Of all the silly things that people in politics make a fuss of, one of the silliest is the use of a teleprompter. Somehow not using it when giving talks is considered admirable while using one is seen as a weakness. Some people are more skilled at using it than others and president Obama is particularly adept and yet that very skill has been used against him, as if it is a sign that he cannot think on his feet, whereas he has convincingly proved that he can at unscripted events like interviews and at press conferences.
[Read more…]

Parody of any TED talk

I have been getting increasingly disenchanted with TED talks. I keep getting sent links to them by people because the speaker supposedly says something interesting but quite often I find the talks to consist of overhyping something banal or exercises in self-promotion. I hear that the speakers are extensively coached and assisted in giving polished presentations which may explain why the talks seem to impress people more than is perhaps warranted.
[Read more…]

The debt recovery racket

On his show Last Week Tonight focused his attention on the dubious business of debt collection in which people’s debts to some institution are sold cheaply by that institution to agencies that then try and strong-arm people into paying them back, even if the debts have expired. Oliver shows how easy it is to set up a company that can purchase the debts of people.
[Read more…]