Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 15th, 2009 - 28 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 4:30 pm, October 14th, 2009 - 133 comments
Down in the comments long time contributor gobsmacked wrote: I have never seen a post on here saying ‘The left parties want the voters who switched to National last time. They aren’t idiots. But we lost them. Let’s find out why.’ That’s step one. I live in hope. Happy to oblige! Gentle reader, if you […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 14th, 2009 - 17 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 3:32 pm, October 13th, 2009 - 2 comments
One of the snippets announced while John Key was over performing for Letterman recently was a call for action on research into emissions: NZ pushes for Global Alliance on agricultural emissions Prime Minister John Key says the New Zealand Government is pushing for a Global Alliance to research how to cut world-wide greenhouse gas emissions […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 13th, 2009 - 33 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, October 12th, 2009 - 28 comments
Did John Key pick up a pair of cowboy boots on his latest trip? Because he’s come back talking like some kind of macho macho man: My message to the gangs is clear. This Government is coming after your business and we will use every tool we have to destroy it. We will be ruthless […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 12th, 2009 - 10 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 11th, 2009 - 17 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 am, October 10th, 2009 - 40 comments
So President Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace prize: OSLO – President Barack Obama on Friday won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 10th, 2009 - 20 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, October 9th, 2009 - 7 comments
I know I’m banging on about it this week, but it’s rather an important topic! This clip from Wake Up Freak Out is an accessible introduction to the science of the tipping points that are going to accelerate climate change. As the title of my posts in this series suggests, I think we’re too late. […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, October 9th, 2009 - 21 comments
Sweden has had a smacking ban for 30 years. How is that working out? Stockholm When celebrating the 30th anniversary of the world’s first national ban on corporal punishment of children last month, Sweden’s social affairs minister, Göran Hägglund, claimed a dramatic success over something many Swedes now consider a scourge. “Colleagues from other countries […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 9th, 2009 - 22 comments
We’re trying a daily “Open mike”. This is a place for anyone to post comments on topics that might be of interest, and for any discussion following up on the comments. Over to you…
Written By: - Date published: 6:19 am, October 8th, 2009 - 4 comments
From Inter Press: Climate Change: Food Supply Hangs in the Balance Uxbridge, Canada – Rocketing food prices and hundreds of millions more starving people will be part of humanity’s grim future without concerted action on climate change and new investments in agriculture, experts reported this week. The current devastating drought in East Africa, where millions […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, October 8th, 2009 - 30 comments
A lot of stuff happens in the world, and Standard writers don’t cover all of it. Let’s try a daily “Open mike” post and see what happens. Hopefully the concept is self-explanatory, a place to post a comment on any topic*. Clearly this is modelled on Kiwiblog’s daily “General Discussion” posts, but we hope there […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:25 am, October 7th, 2009 - 18 comments
From The Guardian: Arctic seas turn to acid, putting vital food chain at risk With the world’s oceans absorbing six million tonnes of carbon a day, a leading oceanographer warns of eco disaster Carbon-dioxide emissions are turning the waters of the Arctic Ocean into acid at an unprecedented rate, scientists have discovered. Research carried out […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, October 6th, 2009 - 48 comments
Poor DPF must feel like he’s through the looking glass these days. He’s got to defend a government that flip flopped on tax cut promises. He’s got to defend a leader that refuses to be open with the public (on why a Minister was sacked). He’s got to defend the blatant greed and hypocrisy of […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, October 5th, 2009 - 20 comments
Greetings to the good people of Dipton. Must be fun to be so much in the news lately! I hope some local entrepreneurs are working out how to make good on all the free publicity. I’d expect Dipton’s high profile in the media to last a bit longer, as Bill English continues his belated attempts […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, October 4th, 2009 - 11 comments
Maybe it would be good for my blood pressure to try not to be grumpy about politics on Sundays. So here is a site I found last week which both rekindled my sense of wonder, and re-calibrated my sense of perspective. The site displays a full 360 degree spherical image of the night sky as seen […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, October 3rd, 2009 - 26 comments
Remember “Education cuts don’t heal”? That was the rallying cry during the last National government. Looks like we might be needing it again this time round. National’s 2009 budget was a very mixed bag for education, but it turns out that it only narrowly avoided being worse – much worse. Seeking to save $50m in […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, October 2nd, 2009 - 78 comments
That last post was probably a bit dull for a Friday morning, so now for something completely different. I was a little surprised last night to see on Scoop the following worthy publication: Plain English – No. 2, 2009 Welcome to Plain English, my regular newsletter aimed at Clutha-Southland residents. It covers local issues as […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, October 2nd, 2009 - 11 comments
Bill English keeps claiming that he has “no pecuniary interest” in his family trust. What does that mean? A while back John A did a post on pecuniary interest. Time for Part 2 in the series. As John A noted, the main case which seems to be cited in defining pecuniary interest (at least in […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:17 am, October 1st, 2009 - 67 comments
National in opposition irresponsibly fanned the flames of all kinds of unrest, from the divisive Iwi / Kiwi campaign, to the nanny state ranting and Section 59 stirring, to the cynical “Democracy Under Attack” EFA nonsense. National made it their mission to get people scared and angry. And for what? History suggests that they would […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, September 30th, 2009 - 33 comments
Bill English is teetering on the edge. National spinners are claiming that he has done what is needed to “close the issue down”. Labour are going to keep pushing. National’s next step will be to run a “poor Bill” defence. “Poor Bill has paid it back, what more can he do?”, “Poor Bill was just […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, September 29th, 2009 - 30 comments
If DPF doesn’t practice Yoga already I think he should take it up. He’d be a natural. He’s so damn flexible! I’ve had occasion to comment on this once before. But for the EFA we see DPF lowering the bar of consistency to unbelievable depths, and limboing right on down. The Electoral Finance Act (EFA). […]
Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, September 28th, 2009 - 66 comments
There’s an old lawyer joke: “When the facts are on your side, bang the facts. When the law’s on your side, bang the law. When you’ve got neither, bang the table”. National have a similar tactic, of banging on legal vs. moral tests as it suits them. When sacking Richard Worth, Key was at great […]
Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, September 26th, 2009 - 8 comments
The health care debate going on in America is a very serious debate, and who wins it has important implications for what kind of direction America takes from here (more in a later post perhaps). The Republican / Conservative / talk back radio framing of the debate is as dishonest as it is predictable. This […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, September 25th, 2009 - 8 comments
Night classes – Adult and Community Education (ACE). An incredibly cost effective and valuable part of the NZ education sector for decades. The ACE budget has been eviscerated by National, cut from $16m to $3m. Effectively a death blow, most of the infrastructure and expertise will go. Right from the start reaction has been strong […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 pm, September 23rd, 2009 - 49 comments
Watching the Maori Party get done over by National is getting painful. The MP thought they had a good faith dialogue on the issue of Maori seats on the Auckland Council, but before the select committee process was even finished Key announced that there would be no seats. The MP abandoned all its environmental principles […]
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, September 22nd, 2009 - 15 comments
National are up to their old tricks again – bullying the media to try and shut down critical comment. This time the culprit is Bill English, lashing out* at those who are covering the story of his ongoing hypocrisy and greed: Radio New Zealand’s political editor reports that Mr English rang journalists from TVNZ and […]
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, September 21st, 2009 - 13 comments
I’ve posted before on “mainstream” media editorials, their variable quality and the paradox (in this world of blogging) of their anonymity. Every now and then it means that even The Herald can come up with a scorcher. And the Saturday Editorial on Bill English is certainly that. Usually I would try to “add value” (don’t […]
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