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So trucking companies are unwilling to pay for the extra damage that 53 tonne trucks will do. Companies trying to privatise the gains and socialise the losses? Gotta love those capitalists. And there's Joyce telling us to harden up and cop it. Thank goodness we've got the…
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Eddie's piece on the importance of joining your union if you want to avoid a pay cut reminded me of another Peter Seeger classic:
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The Global Climate Wake-up Call is happening today. It's a grassroots way for people to say we want our leaders to do more about climate change before it's too late. There are flashmob gatherings all over the country this lunch time. The list is here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/tcktcktck_map/
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From Paul Krugman's review of Skidelsky's latest book on Keynes: "At research seminars, people don't take Keynesian theorising seriously anymore; the audience starts to whisper and giggle to each other". So declared Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago, writing in 1980. At the time,…
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Right now, spurred on by the hypocritical words of Bill English and John Key, employers in the public and private sectors are saying they can only offer a 0% pay increase this year - and many are trying to cut conditions like redundancy and overtime. 0% is…
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Rod Oram, as usual, has set the standard in commentary with his piece on the National-Maori Party ETS. The full article is here but I'll lift the core points: Oram argues a climate change policy package needs three things: Put a price on emissions to…
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The latest Roy Morgan poll puts National down 5% and Labour up 4%. Still a big gap, but it seems at last New Zealanders' patience is waning over this Government's competence and honesty issues.
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I've posted before on "mainstream" media editorials, their variable quality and the paradox (in this world of blogging) of their anonymity. Every now and then it means that even The Herald can come up with a scorcher. And the Saturday Editorial on Bill English is…
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One of these things is not the other, One of these things is not quite the same... Can you guess which one is not like the other, Can you tell me before I finish the game?
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The Sunday Star Times reports [page 4, currently offline] that Telecom has hired a private investigation company, Corporate Investigations, to spy on the lines engineers it sacked and is now trying to force into dependent contracting. That's right, not content with ripping these workers' livelihoods…
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I get sick of hearing our illustrious fourth estate refer to some piece of politicking as 'good politics'. Who decides what's 'good politics'? The commentators, of course. And they define good politics as maneuvering to ones advantage, rather than getting good policies in place. Take the ETS…
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We haven't seen much of this myth in NZ. However it shows some good examples of selective reading of news articles and papers by CCD's in support of the "Martians drive hummers" line. Thanks to Andrei for reminding me why videos like this have to…
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Climate change and the Emissions Trading Scheme are front and centre of political comment at the moment it seems. I thought this item from Patrick Smellie was a cut above the rest: No matter whether you're up or downwind of it, this week's political bargain…
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The Talleys and National Party-linked Open Country Cheese is currently trying to run its factory without its workers as it attempts to bust the union and casualise its workforce. They've said they're running the factory (arguably illegally) with local farmers and strike-breakers flown in from…
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If you are in love with the concept that 1998 was the warmest year on record (wrong by the way), don't watch this. This runs through exactly why you don't know what you're talking about. Check out this
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We're probably all now aware of the idea of peak oil. The earth is finite, and we can't suck an infinite amount of oil out of it. But oil isn't the only resource which is reaching its peak. Various important metals are running out even…
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In the second part of our double header for Drinking Liberally this month we've got director of Rethinking Crime & Punishment Kim Workman to come and talk about justice policy. When: 7pm TUESDAY 22 September - (not our normal Wednesday night) Where: Galatos - 17…
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You can read more about it here.
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Found this gem at Fighting Talk. Lyndon Hood examines the act of leaking. Lyndon Hood: Act Doesn't Feel Climate Heat Click to enlarge The Act party, in their minority report on the recent review of the emissions trading scheme, have argued that man-made global warming…
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A virulent attack on Greenpeace in a press release by Federated Farmers president, Don Nicholson, convinces me that Greenpeace are hitting the mark. In a hysterical rant, Nicholson as well as accusing Greenpeace of "lying", accuses Greenpeace of "economic treason", and even claimed that "Greenpeace…
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I've got no problem with the government helping out those who are genuinely in need but forcing the taxpayer fork out $400 million (or is it 1.6b?) to subsidise corporate polluters is a disgrace. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2864572/Public-to-pay-tab-for-polluters This is corporate welfare at it's worst. These businesses are…
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Labour's Charles Chauvel has released the paper records of Labour's attempts to agree a bi-partisan ETS with National. In total, Labour presented three draft MOUs detailing possible agreements, each moving towards what they believed to be National's position. Additionally, there was a letter from Phil…
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We told him here months ago - acknowledge what everybody knows: that he lives in Wellington with his family, and he should claim the out-of-town allowance when he visits Dipton. That would be the honest thing to do. Bill says there is a perception problem,…
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The Open Country Cheese dispute is underway. Workers are striking against the bosses' attempts to casualise their hours and reduce their conditions. They are not striking for huge pay increases, despite the lies of Open Country. Open Country Cheese, part-owned by the notorious Talleys and…
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I just read that the Troy Kennedy Martin, the screenwriter responsible for Edge of Darkness died earlier this week. I wanted to mark his passing because I think Edge of Darkness is one of the best things I have ever viewed on television. I was…
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Lhaws puts on his usual prima donna act over the H which is set to leave Whanganui an uninhabitable, post-apocalyptic wasteland: "I have a constitutional responsibility to fight this decision until there is no fight left in my body. [The Geographic Board] has deliberately put…
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Some photos from the picketline at Bridgeman Concrete in East Tamaki, where workers have been locked out indefinitely unless they submit to a two year pay freeze. Good to see them standing strong. Click the thumbnails to see the full size pics: Hat tip: NDU…
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Bill English is not holding up well to the persistent questions put to him in Parliament about shuffling around his financial appearance to rort the taxpayer by claiming $1000 a week in housing allowances. Today, Bill English was stuttering his way through questions put to…
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'In these tough economic times, the government must buy smarter,' said Vivek Kundra, the US federal chief information officer, as he unveiled the Obama administration's new government storefront for cloud computing applications and services. It's not ok for the government here to blame it's lack…
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People who treat politics as a game annoy me. People who see it all in terms of power and cliques and scoring points and winning at all costs annoy me a lot. These people have lost the plot. Politics is not a game. Politics matters.…