Explore the archive
Find articles and conversations by date, subject or search expression.
Searching: posts Sorted by: newest Results: 1–30 of 40
Post
On ABC last night there was a excellent video "Animal rights campaigner spreads message". It is worth watching for people who (unlike me) haven't been seen some of the material before. It concerns a animal rights activist in aussie, wealthy backers, and a certain amount…
Post
There is a slowly emerging twist in police spy scandal. The question of incitement and provocation from an agent of the police. Bearing in mind that it is an obvious escalation of paying people embedded deep in any activist organisation, it is something that an…
Post
The intersection of The Terrace and Salamanca Rd is the best graffiti spot in Wellington - big bare concrete wall, huge audience. For several months, 'Kiwibank - gone by lunchtime' has been written in large letters on the concrete wall. Recently 'and National too' was…
Post
Economics 101: if you consume more than you produce, your standard of living is unsustainable and, unless you fix the situation, it will eventually come tumbling down. As a country we import more than we export equivalent to 8% of our annual domestic production. The current…
Post
Let us assume, for a while, that Broad didn't know the detail of SIG's activities with Gilchrist If his staff were doing their job he knew about the story before Saturday, but let's pretend they didn't and the Police weren't asked for comment until um...…
Post
From Time: In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use…
Post
We always said that a National/ACT government would be anti-worker but I'm surprised by how blatant they are being about it. In a series of hasty, secretive laws, they've put up taxes on workers, cut their Kiwisaver, and removed their work rights for the first…
Post
When I saw this photo of Pita Sharples tucking into a prison meal in today's Dom Post I was hopeful it was a stunt to try and put a stop to the mean-spirited howls from talkbackland over how prisoners have it too good at Christmas…
Post
Yay, more infrastructure spending during a recession. That's the right thing to do - stimulate the economy and spend while the price of construction is lower. But why, oh why, cancel spending on rail and housing insulation and put the money into roads, instead? The…
Post
I had some good conversations with journos at the press gallery drinks. We're often critical of the media, and sometimes specific journos, and I don't resile from that - criticism is criticism, it's either well-founded or not and people are free to take it or…
Post
It's good to see Bill English acknowledge the last government has left New Zealand in a good position to face the economic crisis. The only shame is that he's using that position to throw money at people who are more likely to pay down debt…
Post
I was listening to some of the old White Stripes when I got home this evening when this song came on. Given the all the talk around the bailout of the Big Three car manufacturers I figured it was kind of appropriate. Enjoy.
Post
Matt McCarten, head of the Unite Union, has just released emails showing police informant Rob Gilchrist gave the police spy unit details about activities being organised by the union as part of their push to abolish youth pay rates and increase the minimum wage. 'These…
Post
So, I'm out of work. I was employed on a contract and when it came up for renewal the boss told me business is too tight, have to let me go. It wasn't their fault and they were pretty good about it. For the first…
Post
Bill Ralston usually gets stirred by posters at The Standard for what he says. I've generally liked him after seeing him give some politicians a degree of ribbing at the annual foreign policy conference in Dunedin in the mid-80's. I really liked his most recent…
Post
The latest Treasury economic forecasts are out and, in a continuing pattern, they not only make worse reading than the previous updates but they are already out of date. We are now looking at gross government debt rising from less to 20% to 30% or…
Post
Post
Bill English has stopped the sale of BlueScope's Taharoa ironsands business to a Chinese investor based on the fact that it won't bring any value to New Zealand. Good on him. If we aren't going to profit from investment then why should we allow it?…
Post
I haven't commented on the maiden speeches yet (we're doing some analysis later) but I can't let this stand. Aaron Gilmore, the bottom-ranked National List MP who got in by 39 votes, is having his maiden speech. He started by remembering growing up in a state…
Post
Gerry 'sexy coal' Brownlee has spent today ripping apart more anti-climate change laws. Today, under urgency and without the opportunity for the public to contribute via the select committee process, National/ACT has repealed the Biofuels requirement and is now in the process of repealing the…
Post
National's decides to hit workers in the pocket: ACC Minister Nick Smith yesterday said levies would increase from $1.40 to $1.70 for every $100 earned from next April. The employer and self-employed levy would rise from $1.26 to $1.31. Recommendations by officials to increase motor…
Post
Gordon Campbell raises a good question in his latest Scoop column - are the Police also using paid informants to spy on mosques? According to the original Sunday Star-Times article, the Police informant Rob Gilchrist was getting $600 a week for his information. This is…
Post
After initially saying they would cap the number of state houses, National/ACT's Housing Minister Phil Heatley actually got informed. Despite the good work that Labour did increasing the number of state houses and their quality, the problem has not been completely solved - there are…
Post
First question time - the teams square off. Let the games commence. So what was the vibe? Well both sides kept getting their language muddled up (Minister/ member etc) as they tried to remember that they had shuffled around in their roles. So what of…
Post
When I went to my first parent/teacher interview I was amazed at the breadth of markers against which my daughter's performance was being evaluated. I admired the commitment of the teacher to such a level of engagement. I felt fully aware and informed of my…
Post
On discovering that her boyfriend had been spying on her and her friends for the police, and the consequent violations of her expectation of privacy, my niece Rochelle had quite enough tolerance of the police. That is sufficient cause to get seriously annoyed, and it…
Post
A fundamental of social democratic politics is full employment. It is sometimes said that work is the best form of welfare. When people are in work they have a sense of belonging and self-worth, they commit fewer crimes, they contribute to funding public services, they…
Post
Here's a quiz. Can you name the one killing that has seen Sensible Sentencing's barking mad Garth McVicar support the killer and argue, in direct contrast to his normal practice, that the sentence ought to have been more lenient? And can you point to the unusual…
Post
Just in: Coldplay to play at Vector Arena on March 18th. No word yet on whether John Key has managed to get tickets.
Post
Yesterday, Howard Broad made statements about the targets of the SIG (Special Investigation Group) to National Radio. Interview with Howard Broad on his actions. I've seen some of the e-mails when Rochelle Rees discovered them. From them and his statements, I get the impression that…