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Jacinda’s Valedictory Speech

Written By: - Date published: 6:28 pm, April 5th, 2023 - 6 comments

Video of Jacinda Ardern’s Valedictory speech given today in Parliament.

We should have a chat about Artificial Intelligence

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, April 2nd, 2023 - 36 comments

As we adjust to the advent of civilisation threatening climate change there is a new threat that is emerging, the unregulated development of artificial intelligence.

Debating with nazis

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 pm, March 24th, 2023 - 278 comments

So Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull aka Posie Parker is coming to Aotearoa New Zealand and intends to spread her message. Wikipedia describes her as someone who “has used posters, billboards, stickers, and social media to promote anti-trans messages, and she has organized events in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia that have been protested by […]

Submit!

Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, March 19th, 2023 - 10 comments

What sort of city do you want to live in? If you do not wish to live in a city that is going backwards environmentally, artistically and socially then please submit on Auckland Council’s Draft Annual Budget.

Luxon slumps in latest Colmar Brunton poll

Written By: - Date published: 6:18 pm, March 13th, 2023 - 57 comments

The latest One News Kantar Poll result has been released and it is a doozie.

Helen White wins Mount Albert selection

Written By: - Date published: 3:24 pm, March 11th, 2023 - 25 comments

In breaking news Helen White has won the selection for the Mt Albert seat over Camilla Belich.  This is something of an upset as Belich was rumoured to have head office support.

But How Do You Pay For It?

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, March 5th, 2023 - 27 comments

To pay for recent flood damage Grant Robertson has to decide on what proportion of this will be paid by new debt, what proportion by reallocation of expenditure, and what proportion by special tax levies.  Is an Australian style levy under consideration?

What Chat GPT thinks of the Standard

Written By: - Date published: 10:28 am, February 18th, 2023 - 27 comments

I thought that I would get Chat GPT to write 500 words on the Standard and this is what it came up with.

Greenpeace calls on government to cut Big Dairy climate pollution

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, February 16th, 2023 - 20 comments

Join our call on the government to take real action to cut climate pollution from NZ’s biggest polluter: industrial dairying.

Is it too early to talk about climate change?

Written By: - Date published: 8:58 am, February 13th, 2023 - 50 comments

Two unprecedented summertime storms in Auckland suggest that the threats posed by climate change are not in our future but are here now.

Waitangi Day reading

Written By: - Date published: 5:47 pm, February 6th, 2023 - 14 comments

“It’s a road we are travelling together” – Sharon Murdoch

Luxon blunders again

Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, January 26th, 2023 - 25 comments

Chris Luxon has provided another example of his ineptness by suggesting in an MMP environment that a vote in a Maori Seat is worth more than a vote in an European seat.

There is no misogyny in New Zealand *

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, January 24th, 2023 - 62 comments

* sung to the famous tune from Blam Blam Blam.

It will be Chippy for PM

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, January 21st, 2023 - 101 comments

Chris Hipkins is now set to become prime minister. I rather expected that would be the likely outcome. Helps the election campaign as it will mute the revolting misogynist arsehole conservatives of the right and some on the left. I’m really tired of listening to them, and I suspect that way more than half of the countries population are as well.

Caption contest

Written By: - Date published: 6:12 pm, December 20th, 2022 - 35 comments

Keep it seemly.

Push Back Against Tyranny and Win

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, December 17th, 2022 - 136 comments

Australia is showing New Zealand how to resist the authoritarian Xi Jinping’s pressure and stay prosperous at the same time.

Much ado about nothing

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, December 16th, 2022 - 54 comments

The big news this week was Jacinda Ardern describing David Seymour in an unparliamentary phrase on an open mike in Parliament.  But the matter was resolved in a way that can only happen in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Dog whistles and South Auckland garages

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, December 14th, 2022 - 20 comments

luxon sheep

Chris Luxon has doubled down on a dog whistle attack on South Auckland garages by apologising if anyone was offended, thereby ignoring most of South Auckland who were definitely offended.

Stop the gentailers bribing investors with borrowed capital.

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, December 10th, 2022 - 47 comments

Brian Easton at Pundit provides a clear overview on what is happening in out large generator / retailer market at present. Their implicit collusion on excessive pricing is profiteering and even using future capital to pay off investors rather than improve the cost of and efficiency usage of power.

Labour and National and Industry Intervention

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, December 9th, 2022 - 73 comments

Minister Mahuta’s water reforms are by some measure the most consequential industry intervention of this Labour government, and likely to be the most successful in over a decade.

Three strikes law is not the answer

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, November 29th, 2022 - 25 comments

National is proposing a return of the Three Strikes legislation, despite the Supreme Court ruling that the law went well beyond excessive punishment and would shock the conscience of properly informed New Zealanders, and was so disproportionately severe as to breach the Bill of Rights.  And despite there being no evidence that it would actually work.

Prime Minister Ardern and Premier Xi

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 pm, November 24th, 2022 - 6 comments

New Zealand has the most adroit and high profile international leader in a generation with Prime Minister Ardern, but she has weakened New Zealand against China.

Surviving the apocalypse of the Great Twit

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 am, November 22nd, 2022 - 15 comments

The Great Twit at Twitter has been cauterising off staff in excess. I suspect that the platform is going to go down the toilet for that (amongst other reasons). My concern here has been to preserve the embedded tweets in posts and comments on this site if the idiot engineer manages to destroy the platform through simple stupidity.

The power companies are rorting us

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, November 15th, 2022 - 25 comments

FIRST Union, NZCTU, and 350 Aotearoa have just released a joint report suggesting that the privatisation of our power companies by National were not only disastrous for the country’s finances but also disastrous for the planet.

Equality for the Black Ferns

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, November 13th, 2022 - 42 comments

After the epic Women’s World Cup result from last night’s final the question has to be asked, why aren’t the Black Ferns and the All Blacks paid the same amount?

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Pause With Map In Hand and Scratch Their Heads

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 13th, 2022 - 19 comments

If 2020 was the worst year in my lifetime how does 2022 compare?

The Year Skiing Died

Written By: - Date published: 4:47 pm, November 11th, 2022 - 13 comments

Climate change has ensured that this is the winter that broke skiing.

Why Is Labour Such a Hard Sell Now?

Written By: - Date published: 7:40 am, November 10th, 2022 - 140 comments

So why is Labour and Ardern struggling when the economy is so strong?

Comrade Chris and the politics of the warm inner glow

Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, November 9th, 2022 - 127 comments

Left wing contrarian Chris Trotter has made some outlandish claims about Jacinda Ardern’s recent conference speech.

What happens if Twitter dies?

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, November 8th, 2022 - 95 comments

It seems strange to type this but Twitter may be terminal.  The social media site that has become the go to for many years for journalists, politicians and any one interested in news especially breaking news may be on its death bed.

Upcoming Conflict Between Justice and Politics in the United States

Written By: - Date published: 8:08 am, November 8th, 2022 - 12 comments

Unlike even Brazil’s election and transition of power, events are going to make the full restoration of functioning democracy in the United States very, very hard and starting soon.