Petition for medicinal cannabis
Good to see that Nikki Kaye is doing so well after her cancer scare. Also good to see her changing her mind on an important issue. Please sign the petition to allow doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis.
Social issues
75th Anniversary Battle of Endau
Today marks 75 years to the day since the suicidal Battle of Endau, when obsolete aircraft were sent to prevent the Japanese landing. Of the 72 aircrew from Nos. 36 and 100 Squadrons who participated in the raids, 27 were killed, seven were wounded and two were captured. My uncle was killed but Ron Reid survived the raid and captivity. He is interviewed by Dave Homewood of WONZ in memory of the day.
Privatised Education Strikes Again.
The problems we have identified many times, with privatisation of essential services, continue.
Housing. Cut the Crap.
All this housing malarkey…are we over it yet?
Trump’s global gag law on abortion
“Donald Trump signs anti-abortion executive order surrounded by men”
Sit-in Occupation to Stop Niki’s Eviction Tuesday 24th January
“These are the people’s assets” – Ioela ‘Niki’ Rauti.
State houses are being given to developers, and people are being evicted from their homes.
Dodgy foreign trusts – will English take action?
Matt Nippert continued his excellent work on foreign trusts yesterday in The Herald. Will Bill English clean up the mess that John Key was determined to ignore?
Obama orders early release of Chelsea Manning
In breaking news: Obama Commutes Bulk of Chelsea Manning’s Sentence.
The shame of homelessness
A rich old white idiot, who would only be amused at our anger, has vented about the homeless, in a piece that shouldn’t be rewarded with our clicks.
Love Trumps Hate Festival Wn Sat 21
‘Love trumps Hate’ Festival in Wellington to celebrate democratic values and human rights will take place in Wellington to coincide with President-elect Trump’s inauguration on Saturday 21 January. Civic Square, noon- 2 pm, Saturday 21 January 2017. Details inside
Bradbury should be ashamed
Martyn Bradbury has hit rock bottom and suggested that Pike River is somehow Andrew Little’s fault.
More Multi-millionaires than ever!
In this glorious ‘go ahead’, ‘get ahead’ land of opportunity…
The Lighthouse
The lighthouse is a piece of public art recently erected in downtown Auckland. It is to celebrate the institution of the State House and has been paid for by real estate barons.
Trump’s First Press Conference
You have to say he is not afraid to take on the heavy mob. A very direct attack on Big Pharma – a US version of Pharmac? A very direct attack on the armaments industry’s star program the F-35 fighter-bomber and its cost overruns. Then there is the intelligence community and the mainstream news media. Read the transcript for yourself.
Screwing more out of Auckland renters
Already sky-high Auckland rents are set to rise further.
Advertising Standards Authority rules in favour of Greenpeace ad on river quality
The Advertising Standards Authority rejects all 12 complaints about the ad, including one from Dairy NZ.
The St Johns Industrial Dispute – #HealthyAmbosSaveLives
St Johns is one of the first organisations to use new Industrial powers brought in by the Government and is attempting to refuse to negotiate with First Union and is docking workers pay for wearing a campaign t-shirt.
A word of thanks
Robert Guyton deserves many thanks for the series of posts he recently wrote for the Standard.
Positive
This is a difficult concept for the left to address in election year in New Zealand but it’s possible to be positive about 2017.
Briefing Papers: And so this is Christmas…
Alicia Sudden reflects on Christmas at The Briefing Papers: “Yet this brief annual window excludes the elephant in the room: that this poverty is a consequence of our welfare system failing to provide the support it was intended to.”
Rudman on Nats’ total housing fail
Rudman: “The Prime Minister, in his role in charge of Housing New Zealand, and Smith have spectacularly failed to solve Auckland’s housing crisis over several years.”
Of Leaks and Hacks
Maybe the Russians weren’t coming. Or we must believe that “KGB chief Vladimir Putin put Inspector Clouseau in charge of Russian security and left him to get on with it.” George Washington discusses the evidence. Fodder for the net-savvy
Donate to Auckland City Mission
Auckland City Mission is calling for donations to meet Christmas demand. You can donate here.
A warning from post-truth Turkey
A Turkish journalist writes about the “post-truth” collapse of human rights in Turkey, and warns “western” readers that the same thing is happening to them.
What Paula is proud of
Apparently it’s “getting homeless people into homes”. Given the ongoing explosion of homelessness, just think how much scope she has to make herself proud next year…
Housing? A National mess
3 stories from Checkpoint yesterday that add up to a picture of National’s response to housing: waste on unacceptable temporary housing; empty state houses where they’re needed most; and vilify anyone who dares complain.
NRT: Even more expensive
NoRightTurn: The police’s illegal raid on Nicky Hager’s home has got even more expensive
Fare well David Shearer
This pattern of Kiwi’s exploiting migrants is shameful
A depressing feature in The Herald this morning explores the exploitation of migrant workers. The same pattern as the private sector’s treatment of foreign students. This paints a shameful picture of New Zealand. Greed has made us forget who we were.
The cusp of something “special” in Auckland
Could be that the Auckland property market is turning downwards.
Caption competition
Whaleoil and Rachinger – the final chapter starts
In the Manakau District Court later this morning the trial of Ben Rachinger on fraud charges related to a admitted solicitation attempt to hack this site by Cameron Slater begins. The trial is set down for 5 days. Unfortunately I won’t be there. However there aren’t any court orders to prevent me from expressing my views and advice on the trial.
Cabinet reshuffle – Haere ra McCully?
Bill English gets to name his own cabinet on Monday. It will be interesting to see what happens to McCully. In February McCully announced his intention to stand down in East Coast Bays and that he would seek a list place, but only if he remained as Minister of Foreign Affairs after the next election. It’s an ultimatum he may have cause to regret.
Charter schools fiddling their results
Charter schools are fiddling their results. Just another example of the way that education for profit is all about profit, with education hardly getting a look in. All of National’s ideological interventions in education are failures.
David Shearer resigning?
The Herald has reported that David Shearer is expected to resign, forcing a by election in the new year.
Meanwhile, the Housing Crisis
Bill English and Paula Bennett won’t be thinking about it this week, but Auckland’s Housing Crisis continues to get worse.