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Congratulations Ralph
Ralph Hotere has been made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Given his contribution to art and to the political discourse, this is well deserved. Congratulations Ralph, from all of us here at the Standard.
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Archives · 2011-01-01 to 2011-12-31
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Whose Values?
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here Another brutal attack on a young child and yet more hand-wringing. "If only we could do something" people cry, as if nothing can be done…
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Shapes of things (2012 and all that)
lprent: From Gareth at Hot Topic, his views on what 2012 will bring. I'm currently sceptical on the impact of the known Eastern Siberian methane releases - but Gareth is more worried than I am. The rest is likely. If anyone else wants to make…
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Self inflicted injury
FFS: If you are going to confess your foibles to facebook, then do the following:- Only publish it to the group that you want - like "family" or "close friend" when you publish it. Always turn the privacy settings to "friend only" for everything on…
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Concerns Mount Over Absence Of Social Media Gaffes
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here A National Party MP's colleagues have become increasingly concerned about his wellbeing, after he failed for two consecutive days to make a fool of himself…
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Absolutely damning
No Right Turn turns up this gem of misgovernment. Last month, I highlighted the new Internal Administration Circular 11-10 [PDF], which requires immigration officials not to record reasons for their decisions, in violation of both the right to justice and the Public Records Act. I was curious about how the Department of Labour…
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Peter Jackson – “Satan’s Little Helper”
Ken Perrott at Open Parachute points out another of those strange absurdities of our time. The Christians (well some of the stranger sects) think he is... arghh it is absurd. And it is too early to be a shameless self-promotion. My only question is to wonder…
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Myths and moralising – the conservative trademark
The Economist has a wonderful blog post from "Democracy in America" tearing apart an argument by a conservative columnist for the New York Times DAVID BROOKS argues that analogies between today's America and that of the Progressive era are misplaced, and Progressive-era solutions ill-suited to modern times,…
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Inequality and the rich
In today's Herald, Geof Nightingale, tax partner and member of National's Tax Working Group, joins the argument for greater inequality in New Zealand. He quotes the OECD report saying that The OECD reckons it's vital Governments review their tax and transfer systems and increase the…
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Summer service: open mike 29-31/12/2011
As usual, it's reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you'll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we'll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix... Open mike is…
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Petty
Under cover of Christmas, the Nats are following in their long tradition of intimidating journalists. The Herald reports: 'Tea tape' newsman's costs 'political vindictiveness' The Government's demand for court costs from cameraman Bradley Ambrose can only be seen as "political vindictiveness", according to political analyst…
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Rich attacks unions
Katherine Rich writes in the Herald: The Ports of Auckland strike action this Christmas period, the busiest time of year for the grocery sector, brings back bad good memories of how regularly New Zealanders were held to ransom by strike action at critical times. had…
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Will Collins walk the talk?
Radio New Zealand reports that Peter Ellis has a petition to the Minister of Justice seeking a pardon. The current Minister of Justice, Judith Collins, signed another petition seeking an inquiry into his case in 2005. The question is will Collins now walk the talk?
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Worst Election News Coverage
According to Janet Wilson (I know - I was surprised she's still around too) the Standard are blind to any rational coverage. Wilson makes this claim while posting her list of best and worst of 2011 (we got "Worst Election News Coverage"). Apparently someone may…
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Summer service: open mike 25-28/12/2011
Merry Christmas! As usual, it's reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you'll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we'll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix... Open…
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Latest quakes
Heartfelt greetings and commiserations to all in the shaky city. (I'll be joining you soon for Christmas.) Use this post for general discussion of the ongoing quakes in Christchurch.
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Workers beat the Grinch
In a heart-warming Christmas story, 111 workers have stood strong and faced down Canterbury Meat Packers, which locked them out for 2 months to extort a 20% wage cut and make them work harder for less money. It's not a total victory, there will be…
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Summer service: open mike 23-24/12/2011
As usual, it's reduced service over the summer break, unless anything big happens. We hope you'll get a good break with those dear to you, and that we'll have some decent weather to enjoy. And if you still need your politics fix... Open mike is…
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Together: union security for $1 week
There's a new union in town and who knows? it might just prove to be the salvation of the union movement (so you can put money on some hard-headed unionists opposing it for ideological reasons!) The concept of Together is simple; if you currently belong to a union and…
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Health, Safety and Accountability
CTU President Helen Kelly talks about Pike River and the death of security guard Charanpreet Singh Dhaliwal and what these tragedies tell us about employer accountability for health and safety in the workplace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzOYFl7KF8g
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Key: tired & bereft of ideas
Shearer's never going to be a Churchill but his address in reply was well-delivered, passionate, issues focused. What a contrast to Key. All he could serve up were the same old lame jokes. Where was the plan for the next 1,000 days? Where was the…
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Still no plan
“Once in office, you've got to do something. That is why having a plan matters.” - Simon Power, 2011, valedictory speech to parliament The government's paucity of ideas is such that they could only muster 2100 words in their speech from the throne yesterday. Last term…
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Open mike 22/12/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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ImperatorFish: A Plea To Jim Hopkins
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here —————————————————— A Plea To Jim Hopkins Dear Jim I was thrilled to read your latest column in the NZ Herald. I’m a big fan of…
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Key the politician
Despite his very carefully presented image, Key has long been a 'politician'. His snarky performances in the House long ago showed his partisanism, with his writing off any idea that came from the 'wrong' side of the floor. In 2002 he could claim naivety of…
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Shearer shows he means it
Labour's new leader promised a fresh approach. He's delivered already in his speech in reply today. Gone is the ritual opening denunciation of the government's programme - Shearer begins with where a new Labour government would start. He puts Labour firmly on the path to…
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ImperatorFish: The Round Institute Of New Zealand Business Tables?
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here —————————————————— The Round Institute Of New Zealand Business Tables? I am somewhat surprised to read that the Business Roundtable and New Zealand Institute are to…
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Irony
Irony will be if Anne Tolley gets sacked over a portfolio she no longer holds. And if she's fired, not for turning one of the world's most successful education systems into an ideological warzone over performance pay but, for lying to Parliament about a principal…
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Farewell NZ Institute
I'm really disappointed the New Zealand Institute is merging with the Business Roundtable. It smells like the NZI was out of cash. It's a pity because, since getting rid of David Skilling, the NZI has been producing some good, broad-minded,practical work on the economy's fundamental…
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Brownlee moves to kill Chch democracy
How long until National usurps Christchurch Council? Brownlee's doing the groundwork - creating a crisis, making the councillors to blame (for not automatically agreeing to whatever Parker wants), claiming public support. Reckon he'll wait until rebuilding is just about to start. Then council gets blamed…