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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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It's bloody good to see Darien Fenton get the labour portfolio. Mallard did it well but work rights is where Fenton's heart lies and she's worked bloody hard to push for them - she's a fighter and work rights is going to be a good…
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The Sunday Star Times has been having a more serious look at what it means for New Zealand, but The Onion has a more amusing take on the gap between rich and poor. Starting: PARIS—At a press conference Tuesday, the World Heritage Committee officially recognized…
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John Key has been less cunning than some thought he would be. A July election could have caught the Left on the hop and ruling out Winston Peters means nothing, he couldn't get through his privatisation plans while working with Peters anyway. By going for…
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The December quarter employment statistics are out. And there's a big jump up to 6.8% unemployment. 11,000 people lost their jobs, 8,000 became "unemployed" and 3,000 others left the workforce altogether. The labour force participation rate (the number of people of working age, working) is…
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That wannabe Crusher Collins. Can't crush a car. Can't save money on double-bunking. Tried to do it cheap. Now the bunks need $2.6m repairs. She reminds me of this bully at primary school. Seemed big, impressive, scary. Until we learned he couldn't tie his shoelaces.…
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The same old formula has played out again: National appoints an expensive, hand-picked working group (this time, the Savings Working Group). The working group comes up with predictable and disappointing recommendations. National rejects extreme recommendations out of hand, making it appear moderate, and does what…
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By the time this is posted Yasi will have hit Australia. There will be massive damage, and probably loss of life. Most New Zealanders will have friends or family in Australia, perhaps in the areas affected. I'm sure our thoughts are with our cousins over…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Periodically I run a scan to identify network parasites that are sucking up our bandwidth and processing resources in excess. Of course I leave the benign parasites that provide search facilities alone. Like the ubiquitous googlebot and its other benign brethren. But I stomp on…
admin blogs humour inoculation interweb scoundrels Spying The Standard
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So I reckoned the election would be in July. That's because July would have been a good call. And I thought Key and his wee crew were good. Turns out they're locking in November 26. That's a big mistake, he would have had the opposition…
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So John Key has flip flopped and decided to rule out working with Winston Peters again. He's trying to portray that as a principled decision, about running an "aspirational" government. "Nothing has changed since 2008. My reasons for ruling him out then still stand." "He's…
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Darn, we sneaked past the 7000th post without my noticing at the end of last month. We passed 6000 posts on August 25th last year. So we did that thousand in 160 days. It is pretty good considering we had summer in the middle and…
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The PM has called a surprise press conference. According to Vernon Small at Stuff: Prime Minister John Key has called a surprise press conference at Parliament at 12.45pm today at which he is expected to call an election. Our political staff believe he will name…
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Our Deep Throat in the press gallery (Rob Hosking) leaked us a copy of the admittance test. Q4) Which of these stories is newsworthy? a) Greying MP dyes hair b) Fat MP a little less fat c) PM supports dictator against popular uprising d) PM…
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December 2007, John Key, speaking to Carolyne Brooks-Quan said: "We would love to see wages drop". Key tried several conflicting excuses, including that he was talking about Australian wages (which became a mini-meme). But actions speak louder than words. Yesterday, we had more confirmation that…
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So, in America a federal enquiry has now confirmed what we already knew. The New York Times reports: Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds WASHINGTON — The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Today is the day that Anne Tolley's $400 million dollar cut to early childhood education bites. A sector which delivers $13 value for every $1 invested is really going to hurt. Centres themselves are having different responses: 90% of centres are definitely raising fees -…
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I don't think the global economy is out of the woods yet. Not by a long shot. But pundits are talking up any sign of "recovery" as good news. Here in NZ for example: Brighter economic times ahead Cheer up Kiwis, because 2011 is looking…
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Judith Collins is an utter failure. She calls herself 'Crusher' but hasn't crushed a single car two years after promising to. Crime has gone up under her watch and police deaths have increased despite her claim that the Taser would make them safer. So, there's…
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The early childhood education cuts have hit - families will face an average $20-$45 a week increase in the cost of sending a kid to kindy. And Anne Tolley is signaling more to come. But it's not just the education of the next generation that's…
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In a poor attempt to make it look like NACT are actually doing something about New Zealand's incredibly high rate of bio-diversity loss , and warnings that our forests will soon be silent Nick Smith has introduced a National Policy Statement on Biodiversity whilst NACT…
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Yesterday Queen of Thorns laid out her thoughts on how the left lost touch with feminism. Today she's talking about how to get the whole rigmarole back on track. Part Three: identity politics kicked Chris Trotter's dog But don't think Trotter reserved his scorn just…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...