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No Right Turn blogs on the National/ACT coalition agreement. Of particular interest is the clause he's pulled out that shows ACT will be funded by the taxpayer for consultants and research: To enable ACT to make a substantive contribution to the government's programme, it will…
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As we predicted, National has used a confidence and supply agreement with ACT as a vehicle for its true right-wing agenda. National has given a wide range of concessions to ACT, far more than is necessary to gain ACT's already pledged support. Together, they amount…
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I've just put another round of optimizations into the system. In this case caching the p-code generated by php into shared memory This should usually result in faster page display where content is changing rapidly. Posts with fast growing comments should get the major benefit…
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This afternoon I read with a degree of surprise that Shakespeare's days as standard classroom fare could be numbered: Shakespeare's plays and other great works of literature considered too difficult for some pupils will disappear from classrooms under proposed changes to the curriculum, alarmed principals…
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With a masterful awareness of the import of his actions, President Roosevelt termed his economic program to lift the US out of the Great Depression 'the New Deal'. Laissez-faire capitalism, whereby the 'invisible hand of the market' ruled, had failed to fulfil the conditions of…
climate change economy Environment International workers' rights
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The topic of Crosby Textor has emerged again with a story in the NZ Herald. While it is unsurprising to read that Crosby Textor is "drumming up business after last week's election by offering insights into the new Government and its personalities" there's another aspect…
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While there have been reports here of distraught voters calling the police and helplines for assistance in dealing with the trauma of a National/Act government, spare a thought for the millions of Obama supporters around the world who, now victorious, find themselves with no purpose…
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One of the things I like about being left wing is how often the best moral decision is also the best economic decision. Take economic stimulus for example. In a recession it's the most vulnerable such as beneficiaries, low paid workers and youth that are…
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Thanks to the two people have mailed election leaflets authorised in my name back to me. And such lovely messages you've attached to them. Glad to see you're so in favour of free speech. Of course, sending intimidating or threatening messages through the mail is…
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On one level, the Maori Party's dealing with National is smart work. Key needs to look inclusive even though he doesn't need the Maori Party's support to govern. In return, the Maori Party can cement its future by getting the Maori seats entrenched through a…
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From Scoop: The hapless polar bear that emerged during the recent TVNZ You-Tube leaders debate has resurfaced to issue a plea to Prime Minister-elect John Key. "The planet is on the slide due to climate change," stresses the bear. "Me and my ilk are like…
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The unions have proposed an alternative to National's plan to slash Kiwisaver in half. If Kiwisaver has to be cut, and with National/Act in power it will happen one way or the other, then I prefer the union plan. As it stands now, you contribute…
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A mate just sent me this, classic:
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Michael Cullen has released the latest economic and fiscal update, the one Key commented on in today's papers but which he refused to reveal the details of to the public. Basically, it's pretty bad news. How Key is responding or, rather, not responding to this…
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It's amazing to see how quickly John Key got over his fear of five-headed monsters once it came time to cobble together a government, and more amazing still how quickly the media chose to forgive and forget. You'll recall that just two weeks ago the…
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Via Laughing Squid: This morning in NYC international pranksters The Yes Men recruited volunteers through the website Because We Want It to distribute thousands of copies of a fake version of the New York Times dated July 4, 2009 with the headline 'Iraq War Ends'. Gawaker describes how the prank came together and…
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From Stuff: Mr Key said New Zealand had a significant advantage over other countries because official cash rates set by the Reserve Bank were high. "If that weaker scenario is anything like what it could be, then you will see significant rate cuts in New…
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John Key's got to be taking the piss with his decision to appoint ACT MP Heather Roy as Minister of Consumer Affairs in the new National/ACT government. I guess it could have been worse (say, ACT in charge of Labour or Social Development) but you…
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As we've come to expect, a thought provoking piece from Gordon Campbell, who says ...the public may one day come to rue the change they sought on Saturday. But if and when they do, there is no guarantee that a paternalistic Labour would be the…
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[I'll just preface this post by saying I have no love for Winston Peters' politics and I'm happy to see New Zealand First out of Parliament but, then, I would also be happy to see National out of Parliament and, surely, we shouldn't base an…
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Getting elected is easy if you promise people the world and tell different audience different, contradictory things. It's especially easy when you've got the media whole-heartedly on your side. Governing is a bit tougher though. Those same commentators who thought it was great fun regurgitating…
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The New Zealand Herald has a telling story today about how the Maori Party's decision over whether to prop up a right-wing National/ACT government "has exposed a schism between iwi elite views and ordinary Maori". Ordinary working class Maori who've felt the brunt of right-wing…
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I've been out and about over the last few days talking to people from the left and the right as well as a few apolitical types and the sense I get is that people didn't get what they expected from this election. Just last night…
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As has been widely reported, Phil Goff is set to take the leadership of Labour with Annette King as deputy leader. We'll hear all kinds of nonsense about how this is a shift to the Right. Rubbish. We are not going to see Labour try…
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One Aussie view of our election.
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A few months ago I asked National supporters who comment here what they wanted to see in terms of hard policy from National. What I got was a lot of Labour bashing but not much else. Now National is in government there's a lot of…
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During the debate over the economic stimulus package in the US earlier this year, Moody's produced a model that shows which stimulus options result in the most increase in GDP per dollar of government spending/tax reduction. I've highlighted the three options that are relevant to…
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Will it be the same tired old faces, the fresh noobs or a mixture of both? Will it be an all National cabinet or will Peter "marginal seat" Dunne secure himself a place at the grown-ups table? Here's a few off the top of my…
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Well, after years of National and its proxies beating up stupid, pointless stories about Labour MPs spending taxpayers' money on 'perks' like driving around the country doing their jobs it looks like it's finally coming back to bite them. This morning the Dominion Post reports…
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Some comments on Sunday about this site performing well induced me to have a look at the traffic over the last week. I was extremely surprised at how much load the system can now take without stalling. From the Wordpress blog stats, It turns out…