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From Time magazine: Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we're no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe…
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"Hi all, Ok, we're going to try to lock in a regular Drinking Liberally schedule now: first and third Thursdays of each month. Which makes the next session this coming Thursday... And a huge thanks to Dr Michael Cullen for coming along to the last…
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Kiwiblog now has a cartoonist and it's simply disgusting stuff. I'm not going to post the cartoon because I don't want the image on our blog (you can see it here) - it mocks Folole Muliaga, an ill woman who died needlessly. It's irredeemably uninsightful,…
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Sick of Internet Explorer for being slow and buggy and not open-source? Why not try out Firefox instead? It's a free, open-source browser, developed collaboratively for Windows, Mac and Linux. It's claimed to be (and most people seem to agree) the fastest most secure, most customisable…
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Reports have been circulating around Wellington for several weeks about a night on the town for John Key with a couple of senior (though not old) Press Gallery members. Apparently John called them up and said he was in town and did they want to…
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And the winner is... the compact fluorescent lightbulb! Stuff reports that "from late next year, the old incandescent bulbs will be phased out as part of an Efficient Lighting Strategy". The strategy aims to reduce lighting energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2015 and to help…
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Nominations have opened for this year's Roger Awards, naming and shaming the worst transnational corporation operating in New Zealand in 2008. Previous winners have included Telecom, Progressive Enterprises and TranzRail, but I reckon Rio Tinto and Spotless Services would have to be odds-on favourites for…
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A reader sent us this graph. It plots President Bush's approval rating and the price of petrol. (the price of petrol is upside-down, a fall in the price is a rise on the graph) As you can see, spikes in the price have been followed…
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The ODT reports that Bill English's brother, Conor English, has been picked as the new CEO of Federated Farmers. Once the press secretary to National Government Lands Minister John Luxton, Conor replaces ex-National MP Annabel Young as CEO.
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That is the reported view of the secretary of the Sikh Council of New Zealand in response to some attention grabbing behaviour from National Manakau East candidate in the wake of the tragic shooting of Natjev Singh. Specifically the article says: Mr Verpal Singh said…
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From The Huffington Post's "Fundrace" website: Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy you're seeing is actually a Republican or just dresses like one? If your boss maxed out at that fundraiser or got comped?…
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Apparently California is, on July 1, to become the 15th US state to ban cell phone use for teen drivers. In what looks like major differnce to the proposed new rules here though, unlike older drivers these younger Californians won't even be allowed to use…
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The Government's independent report on petrol prices is bit of a sop to be the public, really. The world oil price is driving petrol prices; any efficiencies that could be gained in New Zealand would be small and would not change the upward trend. Nor…
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Worth a read: Remember when George Bush's administration promised the world that the invasion of Iraq would be over in a few weeks? We were assured that the Iraqis would throw flowers at their liberators, the war would make a tidy profit and petrol prices…
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Stuff reports that National Party energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee has labelled the government's inquiry into petrol pricing a cynical move that would not make a difference to prices. A similar inquiry in Australia resulted in a decision to provide increased transparency for consumers by stipulating that…
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In most countries, accident insurance is big business. Insurers and lawyers make billions off premiums, claims, and court cases but many people don't actually get any cover if they are injured. The Third Labour Government set up ACC to ensure everyone would have cover if…
election funding kremlinology same old national workers' rights
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National has staked it all on delivering bigger tax cuts than Labour. To remain credible, they need to deliver $20 a week on average more than Labour. That's $3 billion a year. The operating surplus is gone, so where will the money come from? John…
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Another week of shadow boxing, as National tried to keep its policy secret and hints leaked out. But it gave us the chance to debate some of the big issues. And the threads that developed showed that, contrary to what Key says, people can understand…
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As you know, crime is down in New Zealand, which is not surprising - crime is a symptom of social deprivation and we've had eight years of high employment and rising incomes easing that deprivation. But reported violent crime is up. Why? One reason is…
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Thought this might make a good followup to Steve/Trotter's comments in the post below. It's from the group TruthThroughAction.org - a group of independent filmmakers who create content in support of Democratic causes. It may also serve as a timely warning to any women planning…
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Trotter is on the money today: ...[A]ll of you young, confident women of the 21st century urgently need to pause and reflect upon what is happening especially all you young, confident women thinking of voting for the National Party. Why? Because behind National, hidden by…
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The Guardian has extracts from a new book by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson, The Gods That Failed: How Blind Faith in Markets Has Cost Us Our Future, in which they explain "how the reckless speculation of a super-rich elite has left us all the poorer".…
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Last month Mike Hucknall, lead singer of Simply Red, asserted that 'ginger jibes' were a form of racism. Opinion was divided. As you ponder that one, spare a thought for Tanzanian albinos. The New York Times reports that in the past year at least 19 albinos there…
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It's sad to learn of the sudden death of Monte Ohia, the Maori Party candidate for Te Tai Tonga. Ohia was a prominent educationalist and would have been an enourmous asset as an MP. He had been tipped to pose a major challenge this election…
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Keith Holyoake used to say "tell the people, trust the people"; be honest about the benefits, trade-offs, and costs of policies and trust the people to judge you in an adult manner. Central to Brand Key, however, is playing to voters' baser desires, especially greed, and fomenting juvenile beliefs, including that it…
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Remember when National was all about the wage gap, whinging about it every day? Heard them talk about it lately? The last mention we can find is three weeks ago. Has the issue suddenly gone away? No, there is still a wage gap and solutions…
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Reading a_y_b's piece on National's policy talks with the Real Estate Institute I've got to say it struck me as having shades not so much of the Brethren fiasco as the leaked Insurance Council memo from the last election. According to a letter given to…
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Reported today in the ODT: Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope will not be accepting an invitation to stand as the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party's (ALCP) electorate candidate at the next election. "Their judgement has obviously been impaired by their recreational habits," he said when contacted.
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With tones of the Brethren debacle we're getting conflicting reports from the National Party as to whether or not they have haven't have met with the Real Estate Institute of NZ. Simon Power says unequivocally that National hasn't met with REINZ since the Real Estate…
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One thing that puzzles me about righties is that half the people on their side of the fence are racists, bigots, misogynists, homophobes or religious zealots and, yet, this doesn't seem to make the rest of them re-evaluate own their beliefs. If, for example, I…