The New Zealand Herald has always been essentially a cheerleader for the right. Its right wing dominated pages were however subject to the occasional burst of clearness and light provided by the likes of Brian Rudman and Dita di Boni. It also had writers capable…
Recent events have shown an unfortunate variation in the way that the Government handles issues concerning wildlife. During this month it has expressed willingness to house a couple of pandas at great cost while at the same time it has shown disregard for the future…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Bunnings staff are striking today after rejecting unfair contracts: Bunnings staff striking at New Zealand stores About 70 Bunnings workers delivered a strike notice at the company's head office on Thursday. First Union Retail and finance secretary Maxine Gay said Bunnings was proposing a collective…
How crap is it that we have come to this: Key told not to attend Paris and to pull NZ delegation Friday, 25 September 2015, 10:01 am Press Release: Greenpeace A coalition of environmental organisations (1), is calling for John Key not to attend the…
Pope Francis is a breath of fresh air. While I have some pretty fundamental issues with aspects of Catholicism, there's no denying that Francis is saying many things that need to be said. He's given two important speeches recently, the first (full text) to the…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
There are two critical things to understand about the Greens in this matter. One is that they use the term ‘work with’ to mean work on policy. They don’t mean it to support formation of government (either via coalition or Confidence and Supply). The other…
The AgResearch job cuts are terrible news. Bad for science (why would any young person choose science as a career?), bad for agriculture, bad for the economy. What could possibly make it worse? I know! - Cutting research on greenhouse gases: Research 'abandoned' in AgResearch…
German car manufacturer Volkswagen have gamed pollution tests. Turns out their ‘clean green’ diesels are anything but. The Guardian reckons that the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from the diesel cars produced by just this one company could equate to the cumulative emissions of NOx from…
Don't get me wrong. Some of my best friends are Green and if I did not have so much Labour DNA in me I would probably have joined the Greens. But I wonder if their deal with National this week over Red Peak was a…
It is great to see Dita de Boni back online, now writing for TVNZ: https://twitter.com/KeepingMum/status/646459543560392704 Good stuff: We can splash the cash on pandas but we can't keep NZ scientists in jobs ... This week, despite the fact the Government pooh-poohed it every time someone…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
We have the documents leading up to the what can only be described as a dreadful piece of law legalising employment agreements which tie workers to an employer without any of the reciprocity of guaranteed hours of work. It all started with the spectacular Unite campaign…
The first candidate has announced that he is seeking the super city Mayoralty. It is right winger Mark Thomas. He is well known as National's candidate in Wellington Central in 1996 who could have won the seat but was undermined by Jim Bolger's endorsement of Richard…
Key won power in 2008 on a diet of dead rats ("communism by stealth" anyone?). Since then, his government has been fanatically poll / focus group driven, and Key has racked up an impressive range of flip flops / U-turns. It has worked in terms…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
Gareth Morgan pulls no punches on the flag fiasco: Gareth Morgan: Mangled flag process has lost the public ... When the flag change campaign was first announced the number were 88 per cent against change. As the public discussion and debate progressed over subsequent months…
The Government yesterday released the Loopy Rules Report. I had a bit of a read of it and it looks like a state subsidised bitch session rather than a serious attempt to analyse and propose reforms for central and local government processes. The report is…
The Government's rules reduction taskforce has come up with the daft idea of letting 'some' builders self-certify. Like similar "experts" back in the 1990's, who similarly thought that removing council oversight of building practices would improve productivity, they are safely away from the downstream carnage and…
As last ditch efforts to pass the TPP continue, Key is softening us up to sign a bad deal, apparently just for the sake of signing something - anything: John Key: TPP will be 'best we can do' Prime Minister John Key has given a…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
John Key must be desperate to divert attention away from flags and other things. He is talking about Pandas again. The Herald reports: Taxpayer money will be put up to help bring giant pandas to Wellington if a deal can be worked out, Prime Minister…
It is inevitable that as the ice caps melt and sea levels rise the Pacific Islands will face the prospect of their homelands disappearing and their fertile land suffering from salination. Ioane Teitiota is possibly the first climate change refugee who will seek refuge in…
Yesterday Key listed, among the "achievements" of his government for this term: "investing in ... research and development". Was this an example of what he had in mind? AgResearch confirms job cut talks AgResearch has confirmed it is talking to staff this week about possibly…
It appears clear that the Government has been gradually divesting itself of social housing at a time when need has increased dramatically. From One news: Social agencies say a shortage of state houses in areas of most need is a crisis for low income families which the…