Lowering his standards ever lower
Just when Farrar had made me happy, as I explain in this post, and had even been quite funny in his retort, he […]
Social issues
Govt to sell your kids junk food
Education Minister Anne Tolley has just put out a press release announcing the following: ‘As part of the National Government’s commitment to reducing […]
DPF and Whale make me happy!1!
There’s been a story that I have been dreading having to respond to because it is so low, dishonest, and despicable. Truth be told, […]
The return of DL Wellington
Drinking Liberally Wellington is back for the new year. Brian Easton, one of our leading left-wing economists, is speaking. Doubtless, he’ll have some […]
Car crushing fist of the State
Despite being remarkably quiet throughout a spate of serious police controversies, Police Minister Judith Collins has finally risen to the challenge of leadership […]
It’s a crime
I have a crime to report. Someone has kidnapped one of our most insightful journos and replaced them with an illiterate wowser. How […]
Iceland: not just a leader in cod
Nicked from the Hand Mirror, who got the story from No Right Turn – hattips all round: Next week Iceland’s going to get […]
Fingers burned
Word is Tony Ryall is feeling a bit burned over the herceptin funding. Turns out the private specialists needed to administer the treatment […]
John Key keeps disappearing into satire
Danyl at The Dim-Post has been indulging in his favored pastime again – satire. In this case Cabinet expresses concern over missing PM […]
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 […]
Stop the auction
The tragic shooting death of Halatau Kianamanu Naitoko on the motorway today was not National’s fault. In fact it was nothing to do […]
We would love to see wages drop – Key
Staying with today’s wages theme, The Herald is reporting: “Mr Key would not rule out pay cuts for public servants in the next […]
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 […]
Penny wise?
Health Minister Tony Ryall has followed Paula Bennett’s* lead by cancelling a conference for PR purposes**. In terms of symbolism it’s great. Even […]
What would Jehovah say?
Reports from Hawkes’ Bay confirm that the Exclusive Brethren broke its rule against voting to ensure a National/ACT victory last year. The Exclusive Brethren […]
Bad trips
I remember feeling sick to my stomach as the media childishly replayed Clark’s fall, particularly the morning Paul Henry sat there pissing himself […]
A topic for the NACT talk-fest. Needs a slogan for success.
My favourite indicator for a deep recession is showing up. The applications and enrollments for colleges and graduate programs appears to be significantly […]
Imperfect but far better than the alternative
It’s good to see Kiwipolitico taking a critical view of the Left from the Left – it’s certainly better than any critiques we […]
Truly sensible sentencing
“I’m not one for ideological stances; I support what works”, said John Key in a speech to the Salvation Army in early 2007. Well […]
Time for a truce in sentencing bidding war
An interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald: THE NSW Opposition has pledged to end the “law and order auction” in a dramatic […]
Police nurture a unwise form of direct democracy
The Economist has an fascinating article “Rioters of the world unite“. It is partially about the demonstrations, protests, and outright riots in Athens […]
Evolution and Crime
The Economist is one of the few main stream media that seem to be flourishing in the days of decline for most media […]
Homegrown
At the end of my post a couple of days ago I touched on the notion of a new Zealand identity and a […]
Spend, baby, spend
Retailers are whining and the Herald has taken on the role of nanny-state, telling us it is our social responsibility but more stuff […]
Animal right activists, farming and the police
On ABC last night there was a excellent video “Animal rights campaigner spreads message“. It is worth watching for people who (unlike me) […]
Have the police been inciting?
There is a slowly emerging twist in police spy scandal. The question of incitement and provocation from an agent of the police. Bearing […]
Mindless vandalism
The intersection of The Terrace and Salamanca Rd is the best graffiti spot in Wellington – big bare concrete wall, huge audience. For […]
Howard Broad: Incompetent, dishonest or about to fire some people?
Let us assume, for a while, that Broad didn’t know the detail of SIG’s activities with Gilchrist If his staff were doing their […]
Prison tucker
When I saw this photo of Pita Sharples tucking into a prison meal in today’s Dom Post I was hopeful it was a […]
Police spied on Unite Union too
Matt McCarten, head of the Unite Union, has just released emails showing police informant Rob Gilchrist gave the police spy unit details about […]
Bill Ralston on police spying
Bill Ralston usually gets stirred by posters at The Standard for what he says. I’ve generally liked him after seeing him give some […]
Gratitude
I haven’t commented on the maiden speeches yet (we’re doing some analysis later) but I can’t let this stand. Aaron Gilmore, the bottom-ranked National […]
Who else are they spying on?
Gordon Campbell raises a good question in his latest Scoop column – are the Police also using paid informants to spy on mosques? […]
Time to reconsider Hobsonville
After initially saying they would cap the number of state houses, National/ACT’s Housing Minister Phil Heatley actually got informed. Despite the good work […]
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 […]
The limits to tolerance of the police
On discovering that her boyfriend had been spying on her and her friends for the police, and the consequent violations of her expectation […]