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Is it just me or does this building have a strange beauty? Wind turbines have a hypnotic effect - but there are also a couple of other facts that appealed to me about this project. From the Guardian: As well as generating a predicted 50MWh…
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In OpenMike yesterday, Pascals bookie said this Check this out; fuckn hilarious. I've been predicting it for ages, but if the health care bill passes, it may well trigger peak wingnut. The post "Alert the patriots: Tyrants are ruining our country!" at a US political…
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For several months, my fellow author on The Standard, Sam Cash, has been covering the opening moves in the Supercity mayoralty race, particularly the problems faced by John Banks. Sam has gone so far as to say that the Right (the Citizens and Ratepayers group,…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Two list MPs and a popular local favourit son. It was always going to be a hard one to pick and it took the selection panel most of the afternoon to decide who would go head to head with Paula Bennet next year. Phil Twyford,…
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Last year a new TV show HungryBeast ran a check on how gullible the news media were. They generated a bogus institute, website, and a rather dodgy press release about a survey on how gullible different cities in aussie are. Here is the video describing…
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The Fabians have a new set of seminars looking at choices that the government should face in the upcoming 2010 budget. Choices and Consequences: The 2010 Budget is the first lecture in Fabian Society's Resilient Economy Series. Peter Harris, well-known economist, will outline an progressive…
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With one eye firmly on the polls and an awareness that cutting wages by stealth is one thing but actually lowering wages is another, National has decided to oppose Roger Douglas's youth minimum wage reduction bill. That hasn't stopped the right activists from promoting it…
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The Herald had an excellent editorial on the governments recent claims of hysteria in the media today, "Double-talk betrays where the real mining 'hysteria' lies". Unusually I find myself in full agreement with the anonymous editor. The Prime Minister, John Key, labelled as "hysterical" the…
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Education Minister Anne Tolley made quite an extraordinary statement on Wednesday. You can watch it at Red Alert, or see the transcript here. Tolley said: New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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New instalment from John Key impersonater "Plumedekiwi", in which the PM gets his linguistic knickers in a twist over national standards.... If you haven't seen the other vids by Plumedekiwi, check him out here
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We've been talking for a long time about how the Maori Party keeps getting screwed over by National and meekly accepting it. But maybe that's too simple an analysis. Look at the instances where the Maori Party got shafted: seats on the supercity, 3 strikes,…
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Paul Quinn's Electoral (Disqualification of Convicted Prisoners) Amendment Bill appears to be unjustifiably inconsistent with the electoral rights affirmed by s 12 of the Bill of Rights Act. The effect would be a blanket disenfranchisement of convicted persons detained in prisons on election day. People…
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With the Government wildly slashing its way through the support pillars of the public service, Geoff Robertson on Morning Report interviewed the PPTA's Kate Gainsford and the Nurses' Geoff Annals . Their message was clear: they are 'front-line' workers but they were opposing cuts to…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Demeter has already covered the Kaikoura Star article in which John Key says commercial whaling "might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others". You gotta love the leadership there: 'These are my principles and if you don't like them, I have others'. But you've…
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Lefter writes: I went to a fascinating discussion the other day, run by the newly resurgent NZ Fabian Society. The talk was presented by Ganesh Nana (Wellington-based economist with BERL Forecasts), Selwyn Pellett (wealthy entrepreneur), John Walley (CEO of the Manufacturers and Exporters Association) and…
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I got a call from a friend today, thanks to National his rent is going up. I'll call him Ned. He's retired and rents a two bedroom home for $310 a week. He recently received a letter from his landlord advising him of a rent…
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In this article, in which a Kaikoura Whale Watch spokesman states the bloody obvious (that if New Zealand turns pro-whaling his industry will suffer), our harpoon-wielding Prime Minister displays his usual lemming tendancies, saying commercial whaling "might be acceptable if it was acceptable to others'.…
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The not guilty verdicts in the Waihopai spy base case is a victory for the peace movement and proof of the value of the jury system. Now, dear righties, don't go fretting that this case creates open season for activists to damage property. Jury decisions…
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There's a danger in being a government that does nothing except pay off its rich mates, and that's losing faith with the conservative base. They aren't rich enough to win from the pay-offs and they expect fairness and decent public services. Garth George is the…
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As you'll be aware, I've been pretty flabbergasted by the way day after day Bill English is getting up in the House and telling out and out lies about Labour's record on the economy only for Labour to sit there and take it. Well, I've…
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Which minister will be next to go? Rodney Hide or Anne Tolley? If competence was a condition of keeping their job, both would be long gone. But doing a good minister has never been a job requirement in John Key's government. It comes down to…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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David Farrar is not stupid. Like everyone with a brain, he knows that climate change is a real and dangerous threat caused by human greenhouse gases emissions. Yet he persists in making denialist dog-whistles to his readers, always being careful never to outright deny climate…
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In a letter to the Herald today, responding to Mike Lee's op-ed of yesterday, Steven Joyce says: "Contrary to what Mike Lee says, the Auckland Council will be able to appoint or dismiss any member of the Auckland Transport Board at any time." Problem is,…
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Suddenly John Key is all over the place complaining about "hysterical" media coverage of National's plans to turn large chunks of our National Parks into smouldering slag. I know Key isn't exactly used to critical coverage of his government, but hearing his claims of "hysteria"…
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I tried to write a satire of John Armstrong's column today along the lines of the 'Beloved Key' one I did the other day. But I've had to give it away. It's beyond parody. So, I guess I'll do some serious analysis instead. Armstrong's piece…
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Did you miss the talks by Richard Dawkins and want to hear what the fuss was about? You can read about it in the Press: "It's an astonishing stroke of luck that we are here." That was the evolutionary message of author, biologist and atheist…