The legitimacy of distraction
A cold weekend afternoon. Perfect timing for a distracting article on Twitter, Adderall, lifehacking, mindful jogging, power browsing, Obama’s BlackBerry, and the benefits […]
Media
articles
Changing gears: Cars of tomorrow coming soon?
Whenever I spot one of the dual electric/petrol cars I always find myself a little fascinated and a little envious. But I have […]
Observations in passing
I’m a little re-created – some mysteriousness with my profile means I am re-defined “similar but different” for the time being. But I […]
The republic can wait
No Right Turn highlights Thursday’s Herald editorial calling for our political leaders to step up and take some leadership in the republic debate. […]
Herald preaches class warfare
If you’d told me the Herald would use International Workers’ Day as an opportunity to preach class warfare I wouldn’t have believed you. […]
Gordon Campbell on the MoU
Gordon Campbell’s latest Scoop column takes a very critical view of the Greens’ Memorandum of Understanding with National. While the Greens’ strategy is […]
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 : […]
Espiner on National’s use of the crisis
Sadly, I couldn’t find Colin Espiner’s excellent piece in The Press today online. It’s good. Colin’s thoughtful observations derail the government’s PR spin […]
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 […]
The Wall Street Journal gets it
Despite all the claims of “centrist” and “centre-right” none other than the the Wall Street Journal has pointed out that John Key’s government […]
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 […]
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. […]
First as tragedy, second as farce
After Roger Douglas’ big comeback speech was accidentally released two days early on the Internet due to inept media handling, then parodied on […]
Fonterra set to simmer
Lawyer Stephen Price has rubbished Fonterra’s claim that the Chinese sub judice status of the Sanlu case prevents Fonterra releasing documentation of their communications. Price […]
Thank God somebody’s awake at Granny Herald
Surprise, surprise, it’s Garth George. “The economic situation is without a doubt the most urgent of predicaments to be dealt with, but so […]
Conservatism and Progressivism
Conservatism is all about maintaining the status quo. It assumes that the status quo is essentially ok, while change is best avoided. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Arrogant and out of touch
The Manawatu Standard has a good op-ed piece today on how National has squandered its honeymoon with its arrogant and out-of-touch behaviour on […]
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 […]
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 […]
Arseneau: Election too close to call
In her blog column Teresa Arseneau discusses the polls overall, and what happens if the largest party doesn’t form the government: Several of […]
The problem for National in fewer than 100 words
OK – they are not my words. I could do it – but then again I really liked what Gordon Campbell wrote: The […]
Words to watch
Two headings in today’s Herald caught my eye. One from John Armstrong (who I don’t always agree with but who is most often […]
Costs of the Nats tax cuts – commentators’ views
Here’s a smattering of what some of the commentators are saying: Gordon Campbell: Putting tax cuts ahead of science and research neatly underlines […]
Key’s leadership questioned again
When a commentator like Jenni McManus raises questions over Key’s leadership ability in troubled global economic times you know National should be getting […]
Ashcroft dealings under spotlight again
We’ve seen Mr Key look evasive on the topic of Lord Ashcroft, so when his name popped up in the British media over the […]
National’s “major policy shift it talks about behind closed doors”
This revealing quote is buried in the middle of today’s Herald story by Fran O’Sullivan headed “All change on the gravy train”. It […]
Academic, youse are paid too much
Professor John Gibson from Waikato University says public servants should be paid less because they get paid more than their private sector equivalents […]