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Here's a cool animation of Wal-Mart's spread across the US (click the image below to launch it): Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the world by revenue, and the largest private employer in the world. Here's a little Wikipedia info on them and a page dedicated…
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Some of our friends on the Right have been putting themselves through strange mental contortions over the recent series of posts we've had on the impact of National and the Left on wages. To recap: we've shown that National let the minimum wage stagnate while…
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Speaking in Rotorua earlier this week, John Key offered the following reason why you should vote for him to be Prime Minister: "The only time we've won the rugby World Cup we had a male Prime Minister." You make my stomach turn, Mr Key. You're just…
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Stuff reports that "a British commercial for a chocolate bar featuringThe A Team star Mr T has been pulled over concerns it could cause offence to homosexuals". Here's one airing locally that's likely to cause some controversy too. It's from a campaign by athletic gear manufacturer Skins…
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Today's front-page story in the DominionPost on New Zealand First is a complete beat-up. It starts off: More questions have been raised about donations to NZ First over a $20,000 deposit to the party's bank account that does not appear on its register of declared…
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The National party may prefer not to have their policy examined in great detail, but in today's Herald Nigel Haworth, professor of human resource development at Auckland University's Business School, provides some interesting observations about their 90 no-rights plans. Nigel Haworth suggests that: "National's intention to introduce, if elected,…
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I believe there are three core criteria on which a politician or party needs to be judged: (in no particular order) - policy, competency, trustworthiness - Do they have a good plan, are they capable of implementing such a plan, can we trust them to…
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Amnesty International does some great campaigning and human rights work around the globe and this week is Freedom Week, their annual fundraising and awareness drive. Most people will be familiar with Amnesty's work, especially with the spotlight they've helped to shine on China's appalling human…
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So US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice has left our shores. She inspired protest. She met the PM and said "New Zealand is now a friend and an ally." She provided timely distraction for Mr Peters, travelling to meet with the Pacific Island forum. But…
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So the news went out! National DID have some policy said Colin James: ...in behind the bland one-pagers lies quite a lot of study, consultation with outsiders and internal shadow cabinet debate. A 34-page paper backed the workplace relations one-pager. Law and order policy was…
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Brian Rudman's piece in today's Herald is so far the most sensible comment on the Spencer Trust affair. He points out that funding of elections in New Zealand has for far too long been vulnerable to the cheque-books of the rich. While some may be…
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This straight from Public Address - Guest writer Simon Pound: John Key has announced the adoption of yet another flagship Labour policy having a female leader. In a one-page policy briefing released today he stated that under a National government he would undergo gender realignment…
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The Electoral Commission has decided the EPMU can register as a third party under the Electoral Finance Act despite the National Party spending big bucks to try to stop them in the courts. Given the EPMU is a democratic organisation representing 50,000 Kiwi workers and…
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The Electoral Commission has ruled that several unions affiliated to the Labour Party are able to register as third parties under the Electoral Finance Act. Their registration was objected to initally by David Farrar, the National Party frontperson who is the principal behind the registered…
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The Melborne Age reports that: A writ is expected to be filed in the High Court on Wednesday alleging the involvement of the secretive Exclusive Brethren in a variety of crimes, including fraud and kidnapping. Three sisters, from India, who say they are on the…
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(hattip: Kiwipundit)
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The essential debate in New Zealand politics (and all capitalist economies) is between Right and Left over how big a share of the economy's production should go to the workers who produce it (ie wages, salaries) and how much should go to the capitalists who…
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Should Labour be worried about today's poll in the Herald which contrary to other recent polls showed the gap between the parties rising? Colin Espiner doesn't seem to think so, suggesting: I wouldn't take much notice of the Herald DigiPoll. This one's even worse than the…
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I recently caught a story on the radio about the gender wage gap of new graduates - and in the failed search to locate it came across some other related stories. As we head into an election campaign with political parties offering up their solutions for…
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Last week the Council of Trade Unions issued a devastating point-by-point critique of National's ACC policy. Now they've followed up with an excellent and surprisingly balanced critique of National's employment policy. When you compare the amount of detail the CTU has put into its critique…
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Hint: it ain't chocolate.
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Here's a well-reasoned article by Therese Arseneau in which she canvasses the reasons behind Labour thinking it can still win. She puts it down to: MMP, their 'core vote', voter mobilisation, National's policies, Helen Clark herself and a bit of a mix of good management and good…
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Eddie's already posted on the scripts the Tories in the UK used when it came to explaining (away) their associations with dodgy political consultants Crosby Textor. It was the same broken record used here by National in recent weeks. The anti-Blair "demon-eyes" ad below ran…
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Inevitably, reaction from some to the post showing incomes fell 6.1% under National between 1990 and 1997 has not been horror at the fact the incomes of Kiwis went down but 'so, I bet the Labour-led Governments haven't done better'. Bet again. The median income…
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For anyone who still doesn't want to believe that National cut incomes for most Kiwis last time they were in power (and would do so again). Here's something I came across in an incomes report from 1998: The median income earner was 6% poorer in after-inflation…
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A reader noticed a difference between National's workplace policy as quoted by us and as quoted elsewhere. We and some others have: "Continue to allow union access to workplaces with the employer's consent." taken from the PDF of the workplace policy. While others have: "Continue…
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John Key has announced Working for Families would be kept unchanged by a National-led government. That's the same Working for Families that National attacked endlessly. Key himself said "Working for Families is a real 'Maharey special''. It started as a mess, it was completed as…
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A sage comment from our reader, Bill, got me thinking. He said "If political news was even given the same modest in-depth coverage as (say) sports news we wouldn't be living in the NZ that we inhabit today." I might put it like this: "If…
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So, what have we learnt from the 18,000 words on John Key the Herald published with so much fanfare over the last two weekends? We've learnt that, even if you devote a good portion of three senior journalists' time to study the matter for six…