The Standard

Social issues

Categories under Social issues

Housing Corp is running out of money

Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, October 13th, 2016 - 38 comments

Housing Corporation is forecast to run out of money by next February if urgent action is not taken.

Trump continues to get massive popular traction – why?

Written By: - Date published: 5:05 pm, October 11th, 2016 - 129 comments

After Trump’s worst week in the campaign so far he attracted a capacity ~8,000 strong crowd to hear him speak in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., including thousands of women. What’s going on? Maybe it’s the fact that a hundred million Americans are essentially flat broke in an economy that the MSM repeaters keep insisting is recovering well, and anti-establishment feelings are running very, very high.

Nothing’s Going to Happen.

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, October 11th, 2016 - 104 comments

A wee reflection on our psychological fuck-edness.

Solidarity with junior doctors

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, October 10th, 2016 - 36 comments

Junior doctors taking strike action are being bullied and threatened that they’ll harm their careers.

Water and community

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 10th, 2016 - 10 comments

In coming together around a common need to protect water and land, community forms.

Clinton vs Trump; Debate 2

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, October 10th, 2016 - 235 comments

Round 2 of the Presidential debates. Trump is on the ropes, can Clinton land the knockout blow? Certainly, there’s a lot of Republican Party grandees hoping Hillary puts them out of their misery. Seconds out at 2PM, NZ time.

UPDATE: Obama nailed Trump’s real issue a few minutes ago; it’s insecurity. Video in post.

UPDATE 2: LIVE STREAM now in post.

International Days of Prayer and Action with Standing Rock

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 9th, 2016 - 4 comments

What we know is coming largely from outside the mainstream. Which is how it should be.

Trump physically slams WWE billionaire McMahon to the ground, mercilessly mutilates him

Written By: - Date published: 2:02 pm, October 8th, 2016 - 49 comments

Definitive documentary evidence of Trump the violent, volatile, unpredictable sociopath revealed.

Trumped

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, October 8th, 2016 - 173 comments

It looks all its over for Donald Trump. On the eve of the second Presidential debate, his polling has tanked, the Russians have come out in support of him and his team have run out of money for TV ads. Plus, truly awful video has emerged overnight of him admitting sexual assaults. Has there ever been a worse candidate? And will he still be the right’s candidate in a month’s time?

UPDATE: Trump says he will be a better man. Pearl Jam sue.

The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Serco and MECF

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, October 7th, 2016 - 46 comments

The Chief Prison Inspector’s report on Mount Eden Corrections Facility has now been released and has presented a damning judgment on Serco’s management of the prison.

Don’t despair

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 7th, 2016 - 134 comments

It’s year 8 of a National/ACT government and things are looking pretty bleak. And it’s really, really easy to spin down into a spiral of bleakness and anxiety. But we can make it through.

Why we need to stand with Standing Rock

Written By: - Date published: 2:33 pm, October 6th, 2016 - 25 comments

For seven months the next movement of social and environmental justice and resistance has been growing. We should be paying attention.

The main risk to New Zealand according to John Key

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, October 6th, 2016 - 59 comments

John Key is pretty good at providing media commentary on what problems New Zealand faces.  But is he any good at addressing those problems?

Phil Twyford: the Housing Crisis

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, October 5th, 2016 - 148 comments

Phil Twyford argues housing will be the defining challenge for the next Labour-led Government, and sets out Labour’s reform agenda.

NRT: Targets for everything but poverty

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, October 4th, 2016 - 5 comments

No Right Turn on National’s refusal to set any child poverty targets, when setting targets are the way the operate – as exemplified by the target they set the same afternoon on wild kiwi.

Goff on foreign buyers; and Vote!

Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, October 3rd, 2016 - 5 comments

Ban them / tax them, but lets reduce demand. And make sure you get your vote in for local elections!

The middle vs the centre

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, October 2nd, 2016 - 42 comments

The notion is there’s a left/right continuum and people are smoothly spread across it in a kind of a bell curve. The implication is there’s a big chunk of voters out there who think the same way politically. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

Out of the mouths of babes

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, September 29th, 2016 - 15 comments

Watch five-year old Brook Blair give it to Theresa May about homeless people. Got the right answers too. Brilliant!

Arrest Blair’s Mate

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, September 29th, 2016 - 303 comments

The downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17 was a Russian sponsored war crime. When will Vladimir Putin be arrested?

UPDATE: Animation and actual photos and video of the BUK launcher added.

Clinton vs Trump; Debate 1

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 27th, 2016 - 274 comments

The first Presidential kicks off this arvo. Who will win? Do we care? Should we care? Stay tuned Standarnistas, it’ll be a doozy!

A Constitution

Written By: - Date published: 11:22 am, September 26th, 2016 - 31 comments

Absolute h/t to Ovid who linked to proposals for a written Consitution for Sir Geoffrey Palmer this morning in Open Mike. The SpinOff 1. New Zealand should become a republic. 2. The Head of State should reflect New Zealand’s national 
identity, culture and heritage, and should be appointed for a term of five years on […]

Dear Herald you can do better than Rodney Hide

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, September 25th, 2016 - 248 comments

Rodney Hide continues to provide extreme analysis free right wing ramblings courtesy of the Herald.  Is it time for them to reintroduce a left wing columnist?

Stand Up for Housing: Protest today in Aotea Square

Written By: - Date published: 6:38 pm, September 23rd, 2016 - 45 comments

Young people, union members, and other Aucklanders will meet in Aotea Square today to make some noise about the devastating Auckland housing crisis.  Stand Up Youth Union Movement and Unions Auckland are hosting the Monopoly-themed event, which will highlight the damaging effects of the crisis and call on local and central government to do a lot more to fix the housing market.

Brendon Bonner supports Living Wage

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 pm, September 22nd, 2016 - 17 comments

Red/Green/Independent Brendon Bonner is a candidate for the Southern Ward in the Wellington City elections. PSA staffer and declared socialist, he would like Wellingtonians to know that he too supports the Living Wage. His campaign video is here and a list of the policies he supports is here. More information on Facebook.

Paula Bennett improves supply of housing, or does she?

Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, September 19th, 2016 - 74 comments

National’s latest plan to do something about the housing crisis is to buy a Motel and kick families who stay there out on the street.

Delivering the Green New Deal

Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, September 18th, 2016 - 3 comments

London-based macro-economist Ann Pettifor will speak on this topic at Wesley Church, 75 Taranaki Street, Wellington, on Tuesday 20 September at 5:30pm. Ann is a member of the Green New Deal Group, whose proposition  is designed to power a renewables revolution, create thousands of green-collar jobs and rein in the distorting power of the finance sector while making more low-cost capital available for pressing priorities. All welcome; more info inside.

Fortress NZ

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, September 16th, 2016 - 120 comments

TS regular Tony Veitch has some practical ideas as to how we insulate NZ from the ravages of neoliberalism and climate change. Readers may agree with some, none or all of the suggestions. However, whichever way you look at it, the time for hand wringing is over. It’s time for action.

Parliamentary Services is snooping on MPs’ emails

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, September 14th, 2016 - 123 comments

It appears that Parliamentary Services is monitoring MPs emails.  And not just for things such as spam and viruses.

The manipulation of burglary statics

Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, September 11th, 2016 - 36 comments

Reporter Eugene Bingham who broke the story on how Papakura police were doctoring crime statistics by recoding burglaries as other offences two years ago has written about how his attempts to get to the truth of the matter has effectively been thwarted by the police.

Rally for Democracy

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 10th, 2016 - 14 comments

Details of the Rally for Democracy event in Auckland today.

Chloe King – John Key, I am a low waged worker, and neither “lazy” nor “drug addled”

Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, September 9th, 2016 - 254 comments

Blogger and social activist Chloe King, one of the hundreds of thousands of low waged workers in this country was devastated by John Key’s comments suggesting that she and others were lazy and had no work ethic. This is her response.