A Japanese ad agency invented an AI Creative Director

Recently, I've been reading about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how we can exploit it in different fields such as education. Therefore, I was very interested when I came across this article that talks about AI and the advertising industry. How uncomfortable would you feel if AI was preferred to a human?

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Iran: making the most of it

Recently I was elected president of Queenstown Travel Club and at the first meet up of the year we learned all about Iran. Here is what the speakers said.

Jon and Robyn Bitchero talked about their experiences in Iran when they spoke at the Queenstown Travel Club, which met on 27 February. They pointed out how different Iran is from the way it is portrayed in the media. Referred too in the ancient world as Persia, it conjures up romance, great food and great living. In contrast, the country Iran often conjures up visions of burqa wearing women (which is often not the case), tyranny and evil. Yet it is the same country.

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Trump declares war on grammar

This story made me laugh. Since it appeared in the "Evening Harold" I take it, it's tongue n' cheek. It's well said though.

Factor investing will not dumb down the craft of investing

This article crossed my desk the other day. It was sent by one of the author's, Amin Rajan. in it, Rajan and Pascal Blanqué explain the blurry distinction between passive and active investing. The article first appeared in The Financial Times.

“Truth is rarely pure and never simple,” cautioned Oscar Wilde, the 19th- century playwright. The advice is worth heeding in the current seemingly black and white debate on active versus passive investing. It ignores the rise of a third way, factor investing, that is blurring old demarcations.

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Accessing the right information in crisis situations

How accessing the right information in crisis situations can be crucial

In this article Lucia Dore and Melisande Middleton, founder of the Center for Internet & Media Ethics (CIME), discuss how information flows matter in crisis situations, even in small, far away countries like New Zealand.

 During the civil war in Afghanistan (1989-92) Iran opened its borders to refugees but not many people knew about this, cites an Afghan familiar with the situation. “Many people fled to there and sought safe haven and temporary education for their kids. Many didn’t hear about it and stayed and I know many people who lost their loved ones because they didn’t know that Iran had finally opened the border.”

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Gaw Capital Partners Recognized as the Winner of Asia Firm of the Year 2016

From time to time I receive press releases from private equity firms since I worked in this sector for so long, in Asia/Pacific and in the Middle East. Here is the latest release from Gaw Capital Partners, a Chinese private equity firm that specialises in real estate.

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Bernie Sanders' Speech on Israel

This article first appeared in Haaretz on February 28th. It's worth the read.

Bernie Sanders' Speech on Israel, Trump and anti-Semitism at J Street Conference

Thank you for inviting me to address you here today. It’s a pleasure to be here with J Street, which has been such a strong voice for saner, more progressive foreign policy ideas. And I am delighted to be in the company of friends from the Middle East and all over the world who I know will continue the struggle for a world of peace, justice and environmental sanity.

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Trust and warmth matter most

It's interesting that trust and warmth matter more than competence when people first meet you. What does that mean for you?
A Harvard psychologist says people judge you based on 2 criteria when they first meet you
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Walking the Kepler Track

It's been a week since I last posted on here. Since then I've been on a 60km hike from Te Anau and back again. It's a hike known as the Kepler Track http://www.doc.govt.nz/keplertrack, one of New Zealand's Great Walks. It is a great way to get away from it all, without going on a retreat. No internet, no cellphones-  only freez dri food and lots of walking, with a full pack. 

For me, since my great grandfather was an early explorer around Lake Manapouri and I was born in that part of the world and spent my early years there, the information I found out was even more impactful. Here are some photos.

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Why New Zealand needs a written constitution?

by Lucia Dore

On a road show around New Zealand are Sir Geoffrey Palmer, law professor and former prime minister, and Andrew Butler, a litigator at Russell McVeagh in Wellington, New Zealand. They are promoting their book: “A constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand” and are asking people for their views on the points they have laid down for a otential written constitution.

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How to hunt a lone wolf

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is increasing all the time and much of it is a result of "lone wolf" attacks. Often these attacks are the result of people acting alone but whom ISIS has approached later in the day. They then claim the attacks as their own. This article is from Brookings Institute.

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Investment Environment Report - February 2017

I received this report from the NZ Super Fund earlier today. It provides some insights into the investment environment right now.

 In this 'Investment Environment Report', Dr Roland Winn, Senior Investment Strategist, explains the global investment environment and its implications for the NZ Super Fund.

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Journalists who obtain leaked official material could be sent to prison under new proposals

Reading this article, I hope the proposed law doesn't proceed in Britain and that it doesn't even get proposed in New Zealand.

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Backing into World War 111

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Denmark’s 29,000 Doctors Declare Circumcision of Healthy Boys an “Ethically Unacceptable”

I came across this article that appeared in The Huffington Post about a month ago. Here, research is discussed that furthers the debate as to whether one should circumcise or not.

Denmark’s 29,000 Doctors Declare Circumcision of Healthy Boys an “Ethically Unacceptable” Procedure Offering no Meaningful Health Benefits

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Why Companies Should Seek #INSTAFAME Right Now

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New Zealand’s Refugee Report Card

A campaign to increase New Zealand's refugee quota started two years ago, when I completed a documentary: "Stepping up: NZ's response to the refugee crisis" https://www.luciadore.com/blog/stepping-up-nz-s-response-to-the-refugee-crisis. 

Amnesty International then endorsed it. In it, I point out that while I agree with increasing the refugee quota, any increase should also go hand-in-hand with an increase in government funding. Refugees will only do well if they have employment, have educational prospects, overcome any language barrier and have good access to healthcare. The Canterbury Refugee Resettlement and Resource Centre (CRR&RC), formerly, the Canterbury Refugee Council (CRC) and I are about to embark on a study to investigate these issues further.

In the meantime, Tracey Barnett, has written this great article about NZ's response to the refugee crisis so far.

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The forgotten NZ deal behind Trump’s phone call

Amidst the frenzy of President Trump's first two week's in office, and of his phone calls with other world leaders, including the prime minister of NZ, Bill English, the plight of refugees has been forgotten. What does the new American vision mean for refugee policy and for New Zealand in particular? In this article, Tracey Barnett, founds out.

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Four more journalists get felony charges after covering inauguration unrest

It would appear that America is no longer the country of the "free", with immigration being curbed and a ban on Muslim immigrants in particular, and a crackdown on the media. No longer can journalists say what they know to be true; it is clearly better to present "alternative facts".

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Saudi Arabia Opens the Hood on its Reserves

The volume of oil reserves in Saudi Arabia has interested me, ever since I covered oil and gas in the Middle East. There were often disputes about the oil reserves in the region, and that the current estimates were not believable. How much does Saudi Aramco administer? How much will it fetch for its planned IPO? This article that appeared in the Wall St Journal, on 26 January, sums up recent activities.

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