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I turned on the news hoping to see the Nats' rebuttal of the Greens' detailed plan to protect Kiwi manufacturing like our competitors are doing. Instead, I saw a smirking fuck who has overseen the loss of 40,000 manufacturing jobs say 'the high dollar's good'.…
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Parasitic blogger (Andrew Geddis) takes on Very Important Columnist who does Real Journalism Work to bring to her readers Informed and Insightful Commentary on The Issues That Really Matter (Fran O'Sullivan). I'd like to quote you great big chunks of wit and wisdom, but the…
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40,000 manufacturing jobs gone in four years. Manufactured exports in free-fall. Tourism revenue collapsing. If that's not a crisis, what is? Why is the government going to do? Nothing. Nothing. On Q+A, Russel Norman put forward a solid proposal: lower the OCR, new tools to…
exports greens jobs monetary policy russel norman tourism trade
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There is increasing concern about New Zealand's housing situation, with an escalation in homelesssness, people living in substandard conditions, and the lack of sufficient affordable housing stock (especially in Auckland and Christchurch). The government claims to have a plan, but so far there's little noticeable…
activism Annette King campaigning housing poverty Public Private Partnerships thinktank welfare
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40 jobs in a hi-tech business repairing jet engines are set to be lost. The business's profits are being slaughtered by the high dollar. The Bluff smelter could close - 900 jobs directly on the line, plus thousands more in the local economy - as…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Hazel Armstrong will deliver the second presentation in the Fabian Light-handed regulation series on Monday night in Connolly Hall in Wellington at 5:30pm. It is very timely in the light of the current review of work safety. Hazel is an acknowledged expert in the field,…
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CTU President Helen Kelly talks about the Government's Independent Taskforce on Workplace Health and Safety and the need for as many workers as possible to make a submissions and give the Government a real, on-the-ground picture of health and safety in the workplace. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Paw3eijHGcE
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The narrative that the Government has tried to sell, and which has been largely accepted to date, is that the GCSB's illegal spying on Dotcom was a cock-up. They claimed that Key wasn't briefed, when he was. Using the same 'unclearly and confusing law' play…
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In the latest news from Planet Key, teachers are absolutely useless at "national standards": High error rate in National Standards marking Almost 50 per cent of teachers are incorrectly marking National Standards writing assessments, according to a new report for the Ministry of Education. ...…
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Let me be clear right now. Feeding hungry kids at school is a GOOD THING. That said, it's a band-aid to deal with one of the symptoms of poverty, low wages, unemployment, and general structural inequity while you fix these bigger problems. If you don't…
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Welcome to Poverty watch, a weekly update on the National government's lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. A lot of background issues and links are set out in Poverty Watch one two and three. In related news this…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Where's the brighter future for our families? The Dotcom debacle has highlighted a fundamental political truth - above all else, governments are based on trust. John Key has failed that most basic test. His continually changing stories and attempts to push the blame to the…
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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I was going to write something about TEDx which is on in Auckland and that I (hopefully) have some tickets for if and when the courier arrives. But Eleanor Black over at Pundit has just about said everything that I was going to do. Tickets…
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Frankly Speaking has a nice compilation of some of John Key's "brain fades" in the last couple of years. Funnily enough, it tends to be that the things he forgets are his direct linkages to government embarrassments - Dotcom, SkyCity, the new BMWs, the Mediaworks…
Minister for Overseas Holidays Minister for Photo-ops slippery
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National's bungling and Key's duplicity have been all over the news for weeks - a "Never ending stream of blunders and stumbles". I think it's now clear that they are unfit for office anywhere but Planet Key. Which is unfortunate, because here on Planet Earth…
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I love this picture. First, because of how tone-deaf Key has obviously become that his first tweet from his 'important job creating trip to meet movie executives' that everyone is so cynical about is a picture of him hanging out with a TV star -…
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Today is a national day of action against welfare reforms with protests planned around the country. There has been lot of opposition to Bennett's welfare reforms from opposition parties, online journalists like Gordon Campbell, bloggers, and members of the public. They are clearly unworkable and,…
activism benefits child welfare class class war employment equality jobs poverty welfare
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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So, however briefly, Mike Tyson was issued a visa to come to New Zealand and make money off his celebrity, despite the fact that a large amount of that celebrity (especially if you’re not into boxing) comes from him being a convicted rapist and general thug. And…
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Some thoughts on how to get the economy moving again while also shifting us away from the failed banking system that we've been using for the last few centuries. What could the government do for the economy if? The government makes fractional reserve banking illegal…
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If it weren't for the fact that the Prime Minister is a) covering up for a corrupt, lying minister because he heads a support party and is, therefore, above accountability on Planet Key and b) being exposed as an inept and asleep at the wheel…
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Call me cynical but I just don't think it's credible that it took over two weeks after Key supposedly learned of the GCSB's involvement in the Dotcom raid before they realised he given a presentation featuring Dotcom by GCSB a month after the raid. They're…
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As Key heads off to the US to promote the NZ film industry, I look back at the Hobbit union-busting dispute and the issues it raised. Key Issues Raised by the Hobbit Dispute: NZ is considered to provide an advantage to international movie companies because…
accountability business capitalism copyright culture film International jobs john key Media overseas investment Politics uncategorized Unions us politics
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Watch this video of John Key being interviewed by the media on January 24th - four days after the Dotcom raid. First point: Key is clearly well-briefed on Dotcom. Second: he knows that Dotcom is a resident, so why didn't he raise that a month…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Ed Miliband's speech was splendid. No lectern, no notes, no teleprompter for 65 minutes. Fluent, self-deprecating, funny at times - but obviously the product of a seriously intelligent mind, addressing serious issues. It was clearly written by Ed as well; equally clearly a lot of…
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Didn't someone once call John Key "as slippery as a snake in wet grass"? It's interesting to watch him slither about, changing his story on the latest Dotcom revelations. Here's what Key is saying now: Mr Key said the review backed up his statements that…