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20 March
Here's my prediction for 20 March 2011. By the end of the day, Ken Ring's 15 minutes of fame will be over. All of my posts for March will finish with this note. While life goes on as usual outside Christchurch, let our thoughts be…
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Archives · 2011-01-01 to 2011-12-31 · Page 64
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Open mike 20/03/2011
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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Caption Contest
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Who will do the rebuilding?
Who will rebuild Christchurch? Of course the physical work will be done by skilled tradespeople, thousands of them, over many years. My question is about who will plan, oversee and administer the process. Even if you believe (I don't) that the invisible hand of the…
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Open mike 19/03/2011
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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Ceasefire in Libya
If you're like me, you just got home and were watching Te Karere with your nightcap. When it ended they cut to BBC with a live press conference of Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa (awesome name) who declared a unilateral ceasefire and called for talks…
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Three Wise Men of Kurow
Well-known Wellington artist Bob Kerr has produced a series of paintings on "The Three Wise Men of Kurow", Davidson the teacher, McMillan the doctor and Nordmeyer the clergyman; three friends whose conversations in the small South Island town in the 1930's laid the foundations for…
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The battle for Benghazi
I wrote and scheduled this post last night and literally at the same time as it went up, the UN Security Council voted for the No Fly Zone, which authorises air attacks on ground forces. I'm still worried it's too late. The Arab League turned…
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Children First
Firstly: a quick thank-you to The Standard for letting me blog here. Secondly: today our thoughts are (still) with Christchurch and the difficulties those there face. Especially those whose friends and relatives are still on the missing list. . I was going to have my…
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Who’s bulldozing Christchurch business?
There's a large number of reports coming out of Christchurch of businesses that have been demolished without Civil Defence consulting with the owners, as is procedure, and giving them a chance to recover vital equipment and records first. Disturbingly, some of these demolitions seem to…
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Christchurch memorial service
A memorial service will be held in Hagley Park today to pay tribute to victims of the February quake. Events begin at 10:30am, with the service starting at 12:30, and two minutes silence at 12.51pm. TVNZ has a good page on practical details here. I…
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Open mike 18/03/2011
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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Killer Cars?
Reports from up and down the coast of Japan have commented, almost as an aside observation, that the roads out of towns were essentially gridlocked as the tsunami approached. Now I'd guess that a lot of people will conclude that roads came to a stand…
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Fukushima crisis deepens
In American football, there's a move called the 'Hail Mary pass' - throw the ball down field and pray. That's what filling the Fukushima reactors with sea-water has been described as, a Hail Mary pass. It just doesn't seem to be coming off. Reactor 3…
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Land of the free?
With so much going on in terms of large scale disasters at the moment, it is easy to lose track of the stories of a mere individuals. But there are two individuals whose stories should not be forgotten. They are facing the full might and…
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Open mike 17/03/2011
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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The building blocks of new Christchurch?
Me and others: So how come the government seems to have no plan for rebuilding Christchurch or desire to get one? Righties: Well, um, Key's awesome and, anyway, what's your plan, smart-arse ? Me: I'm not the government, rebuilding Christchurch isn't my job. But here's…
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Re-run: Unemployment up, productivity up
As I predicted in this post last year, productivity has risen sharply in the latest stats but for all the wrong reasons.The Herald gushes "NZ employers squeeze more out of fewer workers" but that's fundamentally wrong. We're getting less out of even fewer workers. "Labour…
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Shine my shoes, f*ckface
Bill Maher takes a swipe at the 'Undercover Boss' and 'Secret Millionaire'. "TV used to give Americans the reverse fantasy: what if you, normal person, were a millionaire. Now it says, oh who are you kidding? You're lucky to hold your job frying chicken parts.…
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The Wrong Stuff
This week's Sunday Star-Times was full of stories about unaffordable food, housing and fuel affecting the country's urban dwellers, nowhere more so than in Auckland. Meanwhile the shortage of housing after the earthquake promises huge rent and house price hikes for Christchurch, assuming the locals…
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Continuing nuke crisis in Japan
Every day brings a new disaster from the Fukushima No 1 nuclear power plant. Four reactors have now experienced an explosion and/or fire and/or partial meltdown. Yesterday saw the first significant radiation release, from Reactor 4. It's a complex situation, so I've tried to summarise…
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Christchurch RWC
I don't think that anyone who has been paying attention to events in Christchurch could seriously have expected the city to host a major sporting event like the RWC within a few short months. The city is trashed, the stadium is trashed, no one can…
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Open mike 16/03/2011
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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Labour exposes planless Key
There's been increasing concern over the past week or two that not only has the government failed to communicate its plan for the Christchurch recovery, it doesn't actually have one, and isn't particularly concerned about getting one. Yesterday in the House, Labour took Key to…
crime Economy im/migration john key labour national Parliament phil goff
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Weeping for Christchurch
Sometimes we take comments here and put them up as posts. Here's one from long time contributor vto: How much can people take when it comes to one disaster after another? A venture into the CBD to check on some decades of work brought an…
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“Boosting science and innovation”
No Right Turn says all that is required on another of Nationals aspirational failures. For the past year, the government has been talking a lot about "boosting science and innovation" as the "keys to economic growth". Today, we saw the reality behind that talk, with news that…
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The racist party
3-time election loser Don Brash spoke at the ACT conference on the weekend. It was an attempt to revive the Owera days with an anti-Maori speech. When he made a 'they don't know how lucky they are' reference to how Australians used to "shoot the…
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Chart of the day: measuring success
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Saudis invade Bahrain
For the second time in 14 years, the Saudi monarchy has sent troops into Bahrain to crush protests by the Shi'ite majority against the Sunni monarchy. Having intimidated their own people into silence on Friday, the Saudis now want to bring the Bahraini Shi'ites to…
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No faith in Nats’ economic ‘plan’
So, how are you enjoying your brighter future? Not too flash, eh? GST up. Wages down. No jobs. More crime. Earthquakes. Oil and food shocks. No bloody cycleway. Discretionary income (after tax, housing, food, transport) is down about 15%. No wonder Kiwis don't believe Key…