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Weekend social 31/08/2012
Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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Archives · 2012-08-01 to 2012-08-31
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Shearer Says #4
This week your Labour team and I have put all our efforts into tackling the Government’s shocking record on inequality and poverty. New Zealand now has the widest gap ever between rich and poor. And it’s not just the poorest who are doing it tough…
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Government in turmoil over spending cap
Conflict between support parties. The government without the majority needed for legislation. The Nats' economic plans in turmoil. Confusion reigned yesterday. The so-called "spending cap" was cooked up by National and ACT in their 2011 confidence and supply agreement. Somehow forgetting the fact that the…
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The conservative’s nightmare
Soon, a 18-year old gay man will be able to get married and, then, celebrate by having a drink. If Jacinda Ardern's Bill passes, he'll be able to adopt his husband's child (why do they portray it as about couples adopting unrelated children? It's mainly…
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Big trouble for Groser
Suspicion is turning to Minister Tim Groser as Government witchhunter Paula Rebstock searches for the person who leaked information on Murray McCully's botched reforms of Mfat to Phil Goff. As I understand it, the suspicion is not that Groser directly told Goff but that Groser…
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Open mike 31/08/2012
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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Apple vs Samsung
When businesses like Apple patent hand waving, obvious design, round corners, or software (which in a way is like patenting maths), we all lose. I'm not pleased with Craig Foss's "minor amendment" to our block on software patents. Expect to be paying over the odds…
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Imperator Fish Exclusive: Leaked Government Poverty Plan
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here. Child poverty seems to be the political issue of the moment. All parties will want to be seen to be doing something about the…
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The drinking age
As Bunji has said, the Government's alcohol reforms miss the real issues - advertising, price, availability - and focuses on wowserism over teens drinking, instead. Guess cause I'm older now, the drinking age debate doesn't get me going like it did last time round. Reckon…
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Marriage equality – how they voted
The 80 to 40 vote in favour of marriage equality (at the first reading of the bill) is being described as a "near landslide". For the record, the breakdown of MPs' votes (courtesy of Stuff at the link above) is as follows: FOR 80: Amy…
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Right votes for future asset sales
National, Banks, and Dunne voted to keep the door open for more asset sales yesterday. Clayton Cosgrove's Bill would have required a super-majority in Parliament or a referendum to move more companies out of the SOE Act - a necessary step in the privatisation process.…
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Alcohol distraction
Today MPs will have a conscience vote on the drinking age. That's all well and good, but it is mainly a distraction from the fact that National will not be reforming where it matters. National say they're acting on the vast majority of the Law…
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Nats hollow excuses on poverty
National has a line on child poverty to allow them to oppose actually doing anything: 'Jobs! Jobs are the solution to poverty, not more assistance for poor kids. National is about jobs, not handouts! And we'll get more jobs with mining!' But their record doesn't…
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Open mike 30/08/2012
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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Marriage Equality and other bills
Louisa Wall has had her first reading of the Marriage Equality Bill passed 80 - 40. History is in the process of being written... Clayton Cosgrove's attempt to entrench state-owned assets so that future sales require 75% of Parliament to agree failed by 1 vote:…
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Auction for Child Poverty Action
Child Poverty Action Group is auctioning on Trade Me a set of three Tom Scott cartoons, originally drawn for the Inside Child Poverty documentary shown on TV3 last year just before the election. They would love you to be a part of it. View the auction and…
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Asset Sales to pay for nearly 1.5 years of roads
Tsar of Canterbury Gerry Brownlee had his transport hat on today as he announced $12.3 billion of road road road spending over the next 3 years. It's a 13% increase in the road budget as petrol hits record highs, and car usage declines. We'll be…
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Sex National Standards
From the excellent SMBC:
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Child Poverty to Increase; Key won’t care
The Children's Commissioner's expert group (a large bunch of Professors and Doctors + Business NZ's Phil O'Reilly) has recommended that things must be done about Child Poverty, and wondered why we accept 25% poverty among our children when we won't accept Pensioner Poverty. They went…
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A quick question
Bennett (playing the distraction card) is pushing her drug testing policy again: Drug testing of beneficiaries will come into force next year, with penalties for those who fail tests - including have to reimburse the cost of the test and having welfare payments stopped. Social…
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Turning a blind eye to poverty
In Parliament yesterday, Metiria Turei challenged Key on his record on poverty, holding up a graph of the GINI index, showing the increase in inequality under National. Key nonsensically blamed the recession - why must it be that in a recession the poor get poorer…
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Getting ahead of themselves?
If the Government still hasn't decided whether to sell the assets, why is its stockbroker advertising them? Could it be that the Nats' consideration of the Tribunal's findings is just a sham? In related news, it turns out that Mighty River has so far spent…
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Open mike 29/08/2012
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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Caption competition
Courtesy of Hawke's Bay Today. Click through for the story and video of PM dancing...
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Children’s Commissioner’s report due
Today the Children’s Commissioner’s Expert Advisory Group (EAG) report will be released, apparently. In anticipation of this Tim Watkin and Bomber have posts on the poverty issue: http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-death-of-nz-egalitarianism.html Figures released on Thursday show 21% of children now living in poverty, median household incomes fell 3%…
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Marriage equality set to pass
Louisa Wall's marriage equality bill comes before Parliament tomorrow - there'll be a rally outside. It should pass comfortably. 61 MPs have said they'll support it to at least first reading and only quarter of that number say they will oppose it. Many of the…
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Conscience votes
Two high-profile conscience votes are coming up in Parliament over the next two days, the marriage equality (gay marriage) bill, and a proposal to split the minimum age for buying alcohol (raise it to 20 for supermarkets and bottle stores, but leave it at 18…
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Open mike 28/08/2012
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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Turn off turnout – National’s 2014 strategy?
Depress turnout among low-income voters by changing the enrolment rules - voter suppression is an old right-wing trick. The Republicans are doing it in the US - voter enrolment rules are set at State level and Republican-led States are moving to require voters to produce…
community democracy democracy under attack democratic participation election 2014 electoral commission racism same old national us politics
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Romney joins the birthers
I've been meaning to write for a while on the American presidential campaign, and the terrifying possibility of a Ryan-Romney presidency. Later I hope, but I can't help but note briefly now that Mitt Romney has joined the truly loony "birthers": Romney makes birth certificate…