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This 2007 quote from John Key is doing the rounds among angry "No" voters: Labour shows contempt for New Zealanders The Labour Government has shown utter contempt for New Zealanders and the democratic process with its plan to railroad the anti-smacking bill through Parliament, says…
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Meet Robert Wadlow. When he died in 1940, he was the tallest ever recorded person, standing 8 feet, 11 and a half inches tall (2.72m) . That record still stands. The tallest living person, Bao Xishun, is a comparatively puny 7 feet, 9 inches (2.36m).…
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I find myself in the curious position of sympathising with a company reneging on an environmental promise. Foodstuffs announced yesterday that the charge on plastic bag was to be optional, and that they would not charge people for plastic bags if they object. Get Real,…
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The Herald editorial this morning calling for mining DoC land: "That resource represents wealth which this country is in little position to ignore. Such is especially the case when the value of gold is particularly high, as is usually so in recessionary times." Nick Smith…
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Question: 'Do you expect business conditions to improve in the next 12 months?' Answer: 'Well, we're in the worst recession in a life-time but everyone says it's coming to an end and our prospects are looking a bit better, obviously that's going to be better…
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The Economist has an article on the recent election in New Zealand's current region of conflict - Afghanistan. The title of the article says it all really, so that is the title of the post. But here are a selection of depressing quotes from the…
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Remember FART (Farmers Against Ridiculous Taxes)? Shane Arden driving Myrtle the Tractor up the steps of Parliament? Bill English with his poster carrying the sexist attack on Helen Clark: "the mad cow shouldn't have signed"? (actually, it was Jenny Shipley who signed us on to…
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Not surprised to see that the Government has confirmed the Drinking Water Subsidy Scheme is being put on hold and reviewed. The subsidy aims to improve drinking water supplies in small communities of under 5000 people, and improve life for the 9% of the population…
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I find the Right's assumption that the bosses are acting in some greater interest fascinating. There's this unwillingness to believe that the bosses would be acting in their own interests and that what's in their interests are often not in the interests of the rest…
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I've had a further read of the select committee report on the Emissions Trading Scheme, and found a huge problem - National, United Future, and ACT want to get rid of the cap on emissions. The normal emissions trading scheme is called cap and trade.…
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ACT as part of its coalition agreement, and probably as a result of their funders conditions, forced a review of the Emissions Trading Scheme last year. The review has concluded that the science is valid and chosen to go with the IPCC 4th report as…
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ACT Party Press Release 1/4/2010: ACT has now identified the number one threat to personal freedom, to unbounded economic growth and to vast wealth for all who deserve it. It is "science". "Science" creates nothing but trouble. "Science" causes climate change. The essence of the…
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Seeing as Zet's taken to writing serious posts these days, I thought I'd try my hand at a few wee gripes: - I see Larry Baldock's still crying about the stupid, leading question on the smacking referendum being ignored, while Family First continues to run…
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I was browsing through our image archives and came across this, which I think is from a protest before the election: Well, they got it wrong about Kiwirail but they got it the main bit right - under National, NZ is for sale to overseas…
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A good outcome from the Zeal320 dispute. The deal doesn't quite close the gap between Zeal320 workers and other AirNZ flight attendants but gets a long way there. It's scary going out on strike, not knowing when you'll be back to normal work and pay.…
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There's nothing like a Tory Government in power and a monopolistic corporate flexing its muscle to remind you that capitalism is all about serving the bosses and screwing the workers. This Telecom dispute. The engineers are being made redundant from their current roles already in…
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Looks like the Maori Party has decided to stand by their principles and oppose weakening the Emissions Trading Scheme. Their stinging minority report rules out supporting any weakening of the already too weak ETS and calls for a far greater commitment to the environment from government:…
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The report of the special select committee on the Emissions Trading Scheme has been released. I've only had a chance to read the recommendations and the minority reports (the whole thing is 130 pages). The committee (with the exception of ACT) says that the climate…
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It seems I've hit a sore spot with David Farrar over the business of death threats to Sue Bradford. He's now claiming I've dived for the gutter. At the risk of starting a flame war I'd like to point out that if I was aiming…
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How come the Government says that the people of Auckland should decide whether they want Maori seats in a referendum after the supercity is formed, but they don't get to have a referendum on whether they want a supercity at all? It's clear there is…
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In the aftermath of the "smacking" referendum I was struck (as I often am lately) by the range in quality of editorial / opinion piece writing on the subject. Compare and contrast. John Armstrong writes: The referendum's opponents have naturally sought to downplay the 88…
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Why are house prices rising at the same time as mortgagee sales are hitting record highs? More people than ever are unable to meet their mortgage, and a growing proportion of them owned only a single home. It's not just speculators losing their shirts. With so…
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The Sunday Star Times reports that Sue Bradford's security has been stepped up following a series of death threats being made against her via blogs, email and twitter. I'm not surprised. Just about every poster at the Standard has had threats made against them by…
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Richard Black, environment correspondent for the BBC News website asks an interesting question - Has climate change hijacked the wider environmental agenda? If so, why? And does it matter? He a number of leading environmental thinkers for a BBC Radio Four documentary, Climate Hijack. He says:…
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We haven't talked lately and that has partly been my fault. Just doesn't seem that we share as much in common now that you have moved away to a more succesful life in your new job. What happened to the carefree person I used to…
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It probably isn't possible to have rational discussion about the F word. It has been trivialised by overuse as a meaningless term of abuse. But in its real meaning it is an important word, and some people are taking it very seriously just now. So…
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The Conservation Minister, Tim Groser is quoted today: "If you can extract wealth from that [conservation land], that's what we should do." Stuff and goes on to label any opposition to this clear intent as 'emotional hysteria'. While it was obvious that Brownlee was indulging…
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Last month, the Guardian launched their first YouTube standup competition. They've put up their findings here: In the end (and it was close, going to a final count with fellow judges Sarah Millican, Guardian arts editor Melissa Denes and head of audio Matt Wells), our winner…