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The Tea Party movement ins the US started as a beast of the Republican Party but now it might kill it. The teabaggers began as astro-turfing - big money from key Republican players went into giving the illusion of a grassroots movement against 'socialist' health…
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Yesterday I posted on John Key being named "Dim bulb of the week" by the San Francisco Examiner. Continuing with a dim bulb theme - let's talk about Edison Hour. You'll recall (I hope!) that Earth Hour is an annual event, a world wide action…
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Apparently, President Obama has delivered a speech 'ranting' against technology. The opinion in The Economist is worth a read just for the joy of reading the hilarity between the lines. 'WITH iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations—none of which I know how to work—information…
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The Greens do good policy work. They confront the real challenges and try to offer real solutions. Policy is generally adequately detailed, it's costed, it's plausible, it offers a clear way forward. It's the kind of thing I hope to see Labour doing well before…
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National are clearly starting to worry that the New Zealand public aren't going to fall for their tax cuts for the rich swindle with Key trying convince Kiwis that they shouldn't be jealous of rich people getting massive windfalls because we need those rich people:…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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I'm really surprised that this comment from John Key hasn't elicited more reaction: "[Future] recessions are almost certainly in my view going to be global in nature and probably more severe... I think the question is not whether there is going to be another global…
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It is always amusing listening to Matthew Hooten being a spinster on politics. It was rather ironic for him to be in a conversation about John Keys "loose lips" over his Tuhoe remarks in NatRads political section in 9 to noon this morning. During it,…
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Well, our PM is now an international laughing stock. Check out this nomination by the San Francisco Examiner (hat tip schrodigerscat): Dim bulb of the week John Key What: The prime Minister of New Zealand made a crass cannibalism joke about an indigenous tribe. Say…
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As well as releasing its yearly report on World Development Indicators last month, the World Bank opened up its data. It has included a public API and access to over a thousand indicators. In the video below, World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick speaks about the…
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A passage from Matt McCarten's article in the Sunday Herald summed up for me not only the approach of Rodney Hide in setting up his Super City but also the neo-liberal project that has been in vogue for the past quarter century. McCarten writes His…
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Brent Edwards is a damn good journo but even he's fallen into the trap of not seeing the ubiquitous spin on tax for what it is. Three aspects of his piece this morning were repetitions of spin: When you cut income tax, of course those…
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Hmm, so another bad, bad week for the directionless Key Government. Lucky a major newspaper steps in with a chance to make the PM look cute and adorable. About one in five of the 50 questions put to John Key in the Sunday Star-Times yesterday…
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Nope, it isn't the budget. It appears that there is a bomb scare. At the beehive there is an evacuation. It appears that people in the rest of the parliamentary complex are not allowed to leave, and no-one is allowed to enter. Pretty freaky how…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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The tax changes that are about to be announced are characterised even by the Government as a 'tax swap'. They are fiscally neutral. The tax burden will not fall. All that will change is who it will fall on. So, it's pretty disappointing to see…
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I've always thought one of the defining features of the Right is their views are based on assumptions and prejudices rather than on knowledge and facts. Today, Tau Henare is reported opposing Labour's suggested policy of taking GST off fruit and vegetables. He said "If…
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The headline for the Herald's editorial today says a lot about where the media are at with National at the moment. The Government and its actions have been savaged by a range of msm outlets this week in New Zealand - and internationally, which in turn became…
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Good news for Auckland in Friday's Herald with Len Brown opening up a strong lead over John Banks. Len Brown's campaign seems to have been quietly gathering momentum since he launched his insurgency last year. He has got himself around the region, striking a positive…
auckland supercity john banks len brown local body elections supercity
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Family First have a history of trying to make political capital out of stacked questions. They're are at it again, distorting the results of a survey question to push for bringing back corporal punishment in schools. They are aided and abetted by some spectacularly bad…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Following up on the Hey Chubby post a few days ago. It looks like David Farrar has finally made a comment on it... m@tt (83) Says: May 15th, 2010 at 8:24 am David, why did you use the OIA to try and get information on…
blogs democratic participation dpf flip-flop national public services
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The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. They have stated 'It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.' National has taken up the cause wholeheartedly by celebrating the International Year of…
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You sometimes have to wonder about headline writers sometimes (including myself). But take a look at this one from Bloomberg.com, a site with a focus on investment. Windmill Boom Curbs Electric Power Prices for RWE RWE AG is a power utility and wind farm operator…
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Here in NZ we have the issue of mining front and centre, with assurances that it will be done with due process. Gerry Brownlee must be feeling frustrated at the senario in the US which vividly illustrates what can happen when it all goes wrong.…
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You may remember my remonstration of Audrey Young when she filed a reasonably major political story without even bothering to get comment from anyone but the government. It seems that rather than being some kind of aberration the dial for the Herald's political reportage is…
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Make no mistake, John Key's comment about Tuhoe cannibalism was no accident, it was no joke, and it certainly was not 'self-deprecating'. Key didn't just happen to accidentally make a comment that appeals to a deep-seated prejudice that is still current among redneck Pakeha and…
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Open mike is your post. It's open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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A republished post from No Right Turn on the ignorance of the main campaigner wanting a change to our electoral system. You'd think that if you're campaigning for something that you'd at least know what you are campaigning for. But apparently not. Published with permission.…
democratic participation MMP Parliament referendum Supplementary Member
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