Brits aim assistance to the low income
The irony of this article struck me when this week the well-off get the biggest boost to their wallet. From the Guardian : […]
Dancer
SSTimes Editorial: Clark’s UN job great for NZ but…
I haven’t spotted an on-line version of this yet (SStimes Editorial, 29 Mar 2009) but wanted to pull a couple of quotes out […]
Once upon a time there was an island
Fancy a restful island holiday? If the Cateret Island was your chosen destination you might want to travel sooner rather than later according […]
Death knell for print media?
A conversation that seems to be occuring more and more frequently is asking what’s the future of our newspapers? It’s a global question […]
HerStory – what’s happened to the quality chic-flick?
A couple of weeks ago I listened to a very interesting interview with Dr Diane Purkiss (audio here) on Nine to Noon. I […]
Beneath the headlines – complete sentences
The issue of parole has long been controversial. We’ve also seen one of the core underpinings of our justice system become a manipulated […]
Tax cuts no help for those worse off
According to RNZ: Official papers confirm low income families will be worse off under the National Government’s tax cut package, compared with Labour’s. […]
Education lesson from UK
Last year we saw how unpopular National’s “national testing” policy was going to be. Now a major study in the UK is highly […]
A sign of the times?
This item in the Brisbane Times caught my eye as to how the whole nature of campaigning is changing – and the mixed […]
Love’s Labour’s lost
There were few Valentine’s Day sentiments for Labour in John Armstrong’s column today: It is difficult to put a finger on it, but […]
Marking time: Darwin to Lincoln
Today is the anniversary of two of histories great names – Darwin and Lincoln. Both men made significant (albeit different) contributions to our […]
When less is less
It appears National are trying to promote the “little and often” approach to economic planning – but commentators are appearing a little skeptical. […]
Thoughts with our neigbours across the Tasman
It doesn’t seem appropriate to write a detailed post on the horrific fires raging across in Australia. But at the same time I […]
A musical interlude : Mary Poppins – a tale for our times
The stage has often been the realm where society holds itself up for examination and consideration, but who amongst us would have picked […]
Walk the walk
Parents around the country are counting down the days until school starts for the year – but for some the NZHerald had some […]
Join the job queue – an Aussie perspective
Jobs, jobs, jobs seems to be the theme of the day. After reading that Microsoft has announced that 5,000 jobs are to go (the […]
Job losses in Aussie
Across the Tasman Kevin Rudd’s plea for employers to save jobs has fallen on deaf ears, with some of Australia’s biggest companies (mining, retail and automotive […]
Obama implements pay freeze for some aides
President Obama has announced his intention to institute a pay freeze on the salaries of senior White House aides earning over $US100,000. He says […]
What lies around the corner?
Under the full warmth of the summer sun those clouds that keep gathering on the horizon seem to have been quickly dismissed by many, with the hope […]
Xmas Eve whimsy: little yellow ducks
The Guardian informs us that: Sailors, fishermen and cruise passengers should be on the alert. If anybody spots a yellow rubber duck bobbing […]
Impressions of the House
First question time – the teams square off. Let the games commence. So what was the vibe? Well both sides kept getting their […]
Enough already – no more tests please
When I went to my first parent/teacher interview I was amazed at the breadth of markers against which my daughter’s performance was being […]
Rod Oram: The global crisis is real
As usual an insightful analysis from Rod Oram on the need for our political and business sector leaders to better come to grips […]
Keith Rankin: Controversy over National’s Tax Cuts
If you’re feeling lost in the discussion around National’s tax plans there’s handy analysis from Keith Rankin who point out: … persons earning between $14,000 […]
Valuing children
I know I won’t be alone in being disappointed in the results of the Unicef survey, which says that “New Zealand has an […]
Tough law for tough times
Against the backdrop of tough new employment laws there’re predictions that “35,000 jobs could be lost in the construction sector.” No wonder that there […]
Hanging up on Barack
According to the BBC: US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen thought she was being hoaxed when a man who sounded a lot like Barack Obama […]
The ethical considerations of Christmas trees
Christmas is coming. We want to feel like we’re part of the sustainable, clean and green in action movement. So what sort of Christmas tree […]
Attention turns to local government
Seems the commentators are definately picking local government as one of the issues to watch in terms of how the new Nationaladministration handles […]
The Bard offers chance for new Minister
This afternoon I read with a degree of surprise that Shakespeare’s days as standard classroom fare could be numbered: Shakespeare’s plays and other […]
Crosby/Textor on repeat
The topic of Crosby Textor has emerged again with a story in the NZ Herald. While it is unsurprising to read that Crosby […]
Gordon Campbell: new Labour leadership
As we’ve come to expect, a thought provoking piece from Gordon Campbell, who says …the public may one day come to rue the […]
Fare thee well
Firstly I must say congratulations to the winners on the night, and sympathies to those who did not succeed. We may not hold […]
Video: Get the vote out
Want a say in who will run the country – let’s get the vote out. Just as long as they know it’s Saturday […]
PSA tackles the stats
The PSA have put together some interesting numbers on the size of the public service. They appear to tell a different story to […]
Public politics
In today’s Herald six prominant NZer’s nail their political colours to the mast: Sir Paul Reeves: electorate vote Maori party, party vote Labour; […]