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...
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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...
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.…
National and Kiwirail CEO, Jim Quinn, have displayed a pitiful lack of belief in the ability of New Zealand and the kind of knuckle-dragging narrow-mindedness that has been holding this country back ever since the neoliberal revolution. Quinn told Kiwirail workers yesterday that the company…
The Right has forced the Supercity on Aucklanders who don't want it, don't need it, and won't benefit from it. Already, Aucklanders have been lumped with a bill of $81 million so far to pay for the business elite's takeover of their city. 48.5% of…
Hey thanks John, you've really helped put New Zealand in the international spotlight yet again. First it was your clown act on Letterman, more recently your cringe-worthy fawning over Biden and attempts to be seen as another Obama, your valiant pro-whaling pandering while leaving a New Zealand…
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...
Already embroiled in a fraught Treaty settlement with the Crown, Tamati Kruger seems to have made things worse with an inopportune joke. "The good news tonight is that I was having dinner with my whanau as opposed to with the representatives of the Crown in…
Yesterday, No Right Turn wrote this post pointing out a case where an existing license to prospect on Schedule 4 land exists. The legislation for putting land into schedule 4 needs to be amended to remove such licenses. Republished with permission. The Southland Times this…
Peter Gluckman is easily one of New Zealand's most over-rated, under-examined public figures. Although little more than a corporate frontman out to extract as many public dollars for private interests as he can lay his hands on, because he's called 'Sir' and he's all 'sciencey' a lot of…
From Slashdot: Oil Leak Could Be Stopped With a Nuke "The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be stopped with an underground nuclear blast, a Russian newspaper reports. Komsomoloskaya Pravda, the best-selling Russian daily, reports that in Soviet times such leaks were plugged…
I've been tipped off to a possible issue with Dodgy John 'if I wear my policy on my sleeve, I won't get elected' Banks' most recent mayoral poll. I covered John Banks' first poll release noting that he cheekily weighted his results on 2007 sub-regional…
Marty Mars said the following in comments This is too far, too much insult it is time for the maori party to leave there is no other option. What he is referring to is this following Radio NZ article Prime Minister John Key has joked…
John Key was duly pleased when his mate David Cameron came to power this week. In congratulating the Conservative Party leader (with whom he's said to keep in weekly contact) Key said he was confident the relationship between the two countries would go from strength…
These online polls are always silly, but it's interesting to track the spread of the "smile and wave" meme. (Hat tip mickysavage in comments). The phrase is also used in the article itself: "Ah yes," Mr Goff says, laughing. "Smile and Wave!" It is a…
Phil Goff has put some good solid (if rather moderate) left-wing substance on the table in his pre-budget speech yesterday. Duncan Garner says that was the right move, but wonders if Labour now needs to focus on the questions surrounding John Key. Garner says in…
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...
I've been having a look at the new advice on the civil service code of conduct, which the Herald reported on the other day. It goes far too far and is a clear attempt by the Nats to make sure the civil service is 'politically…
We clearly ruffled a few feathers among the Nats by exposing the official advice to the government that their three strikes bill may increase the number of murders. Yesterday we got an email from Justice about an Official Information Act request for the names of…
Phil Goff has just delivered his speech on Labour's economic vision ahead of the Budget. It's a good one, filled with core Labour values and ideas that will get New Zealand moving ahead. Here are the highlights. First, Goff talks about the failures of the…
Science is the most socially disruptive force in the world. Astronomy did away with the earth as centre of the universe. Evolution did away with humans as the centre of creation. Physics created nuclear energy and The Bomb. Technology created modern telecommunications and the internet.…
The Herald editorial is rightly damning of the government's lacklustre approach to science funding: Public money is about to trickle again into one of the economy's least cultivated fields for economic growth, science and research. In a pre-Budget announcement yesterday the Government committed $225 million…
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called the Queen to signal his resignation, paving way for Tory leader David Cameron to be made Prime Minister. Brown has also resigned as Labour leader effective immediately. Mr Brown will head to Buckingham Palace to resign, and David…