Cops ♥ Chases
The common factor in Police chases is adrenaline fueled driving. And not just by the kid in the stolen car. The Police strategy of chasing stolen cars is a bigger problem than the thefts themselves and it needs to stop. Now.
Economy
Posts on the economy, work, business, income, and labour
How To Get There 13/1/19
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
President Peaches
I’m moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches! Donald Trump has yet another bizarro, almost Freudian, moment as his threat to invoke a national emergency to fund his wall falls flat. Peaches, people! Not impeachment, peaches!!!
Legalize it!
A new poll shows solid support for legalising cannabis. Is the 2020 referendum a done deal?
New Zealand needs a Government that understands climate change
In an opinion piece in Stuff National Spokesperson on climate change Todd Muller has cast doubt on National agreeing to a political consensus on climate change.
Brexit: Tories Lose Control of the House and the Process
Another day, another humiliating defeat for Theresa May. Surprisingly, the news is no better for Jeremy Corbyn.
Mood of the workforce shows urgent need for change
The CTU has released the results of its recent cost of living and income survey. The results suggest that urgent change is needed.
Julian Assange and the Streisand Effect.
Wikileaks has tried to silence media organisations on behalf of Julian Assange. Why is a ‘transparency’ organisation opposed to free speech and have they made things worse for the Aussie hacker?
UPDATE: The list has been leaked. Link in post.
The wonder of e-bikes and e-scooters
The rise of cycleways, e-bikes, and e-scooters is steadily revolutionising commutes around Auckland, especially Central Auckland. Like public transport the economic reasons for commuters are easy to understand. You don’t get ridiculous parking costs or the lousy variable commute times of fat footprint cars jammed up on crowded roads.
How To Get There 6/1/19
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
What can we do about climate change – air travel emission offset
How do you reconcile your desire to do what you can about climate change with taking air travel?
The Race To Replace Trump has Started
Elizabeth Warren has announced that she will be seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to be the 46th President of the USA. With the Republicans unsure about whether Trump will run again due to the difficulties of campaigning from Federal prison, the Presidential election should be a shoo in for the Dems. Warren is just the first; there will be many more candidates who will see this as the opportunity of a lifetime.
How To Get There 30/12/18
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
Matt King goes full nut job
National MP Matt King has claimed that Stuff has been censoring comments that are critical of the Government and that an article expressing concerns about the run down of health infrastructure, the increase in child poverty, the use of private contractors to spy on us and the inability of NZTA to properly regulate WOF inspections is “left wing claptrap”.
National’s brave new world of MOAR ROADS!
National has taken to criticising the Government for not building roads that had no coherent business case and no proposal to build.
The Taxpayers’ Union* responds to the Clark and Thompson spying fiasco
* not a real union.
How To Get There 23/12/18
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
Random 2019 predictions …
What will happen in 2019?
China; Hack to the Future!
China has apparently been sprung hacking hundreds of western businesses and Government agencies, including some here in NZ. Should we be worried?
Public Service meltdown
How much Wellington-political-economy damage can the Government sustain while pushing reform across so many Ministries?
Slavery Days
A Hawkes Bay man has been charged with slavery and human trafficking. Why are we surprised?
Unhappy Gilmore loses to well known Union Socialist lawyer
Former National MP and in his imagination potentially the next Prime Minister Aaron Gilmore has reached the headlines for not paying compensation to a former employee of his company as agreed and for describing her lawyer as a well known union socialist.
How To Get There 16/12/18
Welcome to TS’s Sunday think piece. It’s a blank sheet, a tabula rasa, waiting for your thoughts on the future and How To Get There.
The SPOTY’s 2018
Here’s your chance to vote in the Standard’s Politician of The Year awards. The SPOTY’s are recognised worldwide as the leading indicator of political success in NZ and have been awarded annually for over two hundred years.
Now it’s your turn to prick the Thorndon Bubble, dear reader. Who’s your Politician of the Year?
Labour’s budget wellbeing objectives
The Government has announced that the next budget will include well being objectives as well as fiscal objectives.
A Right Shambles
With the UK Tories self imploding, the US President contemplating jail time, Angela Merkel moving on and the conservative parties on both sides of the Tasman looking increasingly irrelevant, what should the left do to fill the gap?
Let it Be
Letting fees are a thing of the past. Labour’s Phil Twyford has outlawed the practice of charging tenants an upfront fee for a non existent service. It’s about fairness and it’s about time.
The Air New Zealand Industrial dispute
Air New Zealand has provoked industrial action from its workers by trying to wind back wages and conditions at a time it is making near record profits.
Labour’s education reforms
The Government has released a discussion paper proposing radical change to our education system, including the establishment of regional hubs to improve cooperation between schools and provisions to strengthen the proposition that kids should attend their local well resources and well run school.
Safe from prying 5Eyes
I like my Huawei phone. Apparently the US National Security Agency can’t break its encryption. That’s presumably the “security” issue why Spark is being blocked from using Huawei, and why Meng Wanzhou is held hostage in Canada at the behest of US neocons.
Pete Shelley: History is Made by Those Who Turn Up
Pete Shelley, lead singer of ground breaking punk band Buzzcocks has died. And Ed Sheeran still walks among us. Where’s the justice?
The Reserve Bank Reform Bill
The Government is planning changes to the Reserve Bank Act to require it to seek full employment. Maybe it is time for a dramatic change to its powers so that it has the regulatory powers to properly deal with the Australian banks.
Child poverty reduction
It’s likely that Labour’s new Child Poverty Reduction Bill will get through its third reading by the end of this year.
National; Leaking Like a Sieve
Another day, another leak from the National Party. If it’s not JLR, just who is poking the borax inside the Tory caucus?
Jesse Mulligan deserves a medal
Maggie Barry is facing fresh allegations of staff bullying. And Jesse Mulligan has responded to her criticism of him by saying it shows he was doing his job properly.
Latest Colmar Brunton poll
The latest Colmar Brunton poll result is out suggesting a slight rebound in National’s fortunes.