National have been a lousy government. They have enriched the rich and impoverished the poor. They have inflated a housing bubble and done nothing for the homeless. They have let the environment degrade and made a mockery of our global warming commitments. They have let…
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 …
Helen Kelly died a year ago today. She is missed. https://twitter.com/grantrobertson1/status/918982584108908545 https://twitter.com/richardhills777/status/918935862989090816
There's not much I can say about this. Yes, I've been in WINZ seminars where unemployment is sold back as an opportunity, and yes, I've encountered enough bosses who effortlessly, and even with indulgent smiles, slide on by any sliver of conscience they might still…
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it now favours higher taxes on the rich and has demolished the myth this might adversely affect economic growth. The authoritative Washington-based think tank in its influential half-yearly monitor also argued for taxes on capital, suggesting a wealth and/or…
I am cursed with the wretched combination of holding impassioned Red/Green values in tense interaction with my decades of work as a social scientist. Every morning, as the waiting for Winston to decide continues to fray my fragile psyche, I can look at myself in…
A couple of months ago we had some posts dedicated to left-wing discussion. It went pretty well so I thought we'd try another. Given the waiting around vibe at present it might be good to have some clear space over the next few days to…
https://twitter.com/avancenz/status/918681241708240897 Background: Plunket's appointment to the BSA. The tweets that led to the resignation. The Spinoff looks at whether Plunket is a suitable member of the BSA given his history and behaviour. Broadcaster and sometime TOP communications director Sean Plunket is back in the news…
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 …
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?
Last week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). This is a coalition of NGO's from over 100 countries, which has led the charge to convince nations to outlaw nuclear weapons. The committee honored…
Another term of the Nats would be bad news for the institutions of democracy. Quite apart from rewarding the tactics of blatant lies and dirty politics, the damage to specific institutions would continue. Consider this recent warning on the justice system: Chief Justice: ‘We need…
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 …
The massive artillery barrage at Passchendaele was supposed to cut the German wire and make advance easy. All it did was churn up the mud though which so many doomed New Zealanders slogged and died. A monument to military incompetence and political disaster. These days…
A neat series of tweets yesterday looked at elections past. https://twitter.com/lukechristensen/status/917893903155527681 https://twitter.com/lukechristensen/status/917894465083150336 https://twitter.com/lukechristensen/status/917894785041498112 https://twitter.com/lukechristensen/status/917895539961733121 That's a great reminder of just how gobsmacking it is to be even mentioning FPP in a favourable light in 2017 (looking at you RNZ). In addition to the points being…
So today is very likely D day. One of two things will happen. New Zealand First will accept the offer from National. This will be signed off quickly by the National Party caucus and the Board. After all the retention of power is its raison…
It's the last day of coalition talks (probably). RNZ: Coalition talks to be done by tonight It's crunch time for Winston Peters as he pushes into the final day of talks over forming a new government, and he says today will be the most substantive…
A few thoughts from social ecologist and green politician Nandor Tanczos on the options for the Greens in the coalition deal process, On the other hand, if he goes with Labour and elbows the Greens into the position of a support party outside of government,…
https://twitter.com/cgnetwork/status/918042666696429568 Background on the Weinstein case. https://twitter.com/ICaitlinCherry/status/917951481394761729 https://twitter.com/golrizghahraman/status/917998611526328320 When contacted by Newshub, Mr Plunket originally claimed no knowledge of the tweets. Later in the night, he clarified that he did not know which tweets we were referring to as he "hadn't tweeted [tonight]". "I've deleted…
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 …
Despite its scholarly pretensions, The Spinoff feature Election 2017: a vote for the status quo by Dr Claire Robinson seems little more than a highly aggressive PR strategy for the National Party. (Robinson = Massey Administrator, media pundit, “expert” in political marketing, former Academic & former Private Secretary to Jenny Shipley)…
This isn't new, but it came up again recently. Authorities and industrial dairy, including Federated Farmers and Fonterra have known about this from at least 2010. It's worth revisiting in a week when the next government of NZ is going to be decided by a man who…
Reposted from No Right Turn _________________________________________________________ In the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes, the government red-zoned a huge swathe of the city and used coercive buyouts to depopulate and demolish it on "safety" grounds. Now, having snapped up those properties cheaply due to the red-zoning,…
Fran O'Sullivan has a good piece this morning on the policy priorities that appear to be emerging from the coalition talks: Fran O'Sullivan: Winston Peters wish list has sensitive topics ... Peters has put overseas investment, the NZ currency and affordable housing near the top…
Widely reported last night: Winston Peters: It won't be known on Thursday who the new government is Winston Peters says no announcement will be made about the next government on Thursday... ... Peters said back in July that a decision would be made public on…
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 …
Good work form the Greens and Newsroom (Shane Cowlishaw): Government investigating fuel tax hike The Government has been investigating fuel tax increases to plug holes in its transport budget, despite ruling them out during the election campaign. ... Before the election Labour announced it would,…