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I'm puzzled as to why New Zealand's lack of a fast jet military capability is suddenly an issue. We been fine without it for nine years. Renowned defence expert David Farrar weighs in on the "terrible decision" to disband the Skyhawk and Aermacchi squadrons, citing…
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Youth unemployment is 19.8%, but is there much coverage of a shockingly high number? That's 1 in 5 young people Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEETs to the initiated); higher than the OECD average. If you're not listening to Radio NZ, you're not to…
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Back to civilisation after a few days bush. First thing I see in the paper - another kid killed in a police pursuit. 20 in the last 12 months. Makes me so fucken angry. Police policy needs to change. I don't have the answers. But…
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With oil heading back to $100+ a barrel, food prices are also rising. That makes sense, fuel and fertiliser from oil are major food production costs. The global food price index is now higher than it was in 2008. In New Zealand, we're supposed to…
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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 never, ever thought I would say this but there's a very good article in Investigate this week. It's about the Pike River disaster. With methane sensors in place, alarms should have gone off well before the gas reached combustible level. Investigate reveals the sensors…
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The editorial on Granny Herald by an anonymous writer on the 29th1 entitled "Rail shutdown casts doubt on service's value" really casts more doubt on the value of the use of editorials than anything else. It displays more of the writers divergence from practical realities…
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The British website False Economy has just put up "12 essential posts" on the significance of the British student protests. My favourites are this, this, this, and this one. There's no doubt that this is evolving into something big, in ways that the main stream…
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What's to stop a government minister taking taxpayer money and giving it to, say, a family friend or a political slush fund? In theory, lots. There's a formal budget-formation process through the ministeries and Cabinet, the Budget then has to be approved by Parliament, and…
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When was the last time that John Key mentioned the 'underclass'? In his Statement to Parliament at the start of last year - after Eddie called him out on never talking about the underclass - but he didn't actually read that part of the statement.…
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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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In his famous short story Typhoon, Joseph Conrad writes of a negligent sea-captain that "Omens were as nothing to him, and he was unable to discover the message of a prophecy till the fulfilment had brought it home to his very door." This is perhaps…
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In December, Dunedin City Council released its Peak Oil Vulnerability Analysis. We're going to weather the peak oil age largely reliant on the built environment we already have in place - we can't tear it all down and start again in time - but, the…
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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 few of us have chipped in to review the performances of the government in major areas. We're looking at whether the facts back up the promises that National made to get elected. Let's have a look at crime/law & order. Rightwing governments are always…
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Following Key's 'I'll have a hissy fit and quit if you don't re-elect me' interview yesterday, the Herald has an interview with Phil Goff. The contrast is stark between smile and wave's self-centred answers and Goff's focus on delivering real results for NZ. In terms…
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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 two significant things from the Herald interview: #1 The signalling by John Key of his willingness to step down. #2 The view of John Key that “essentially there is no money”. “There won’t be money for us and there won’t be money for Labour,”…
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I've been traveling around for Christmas/New Year's. I take the bus for my daily commute so, although I know objectively that petrol is up about 20% in the last year, it hadn't hit me until I drove about 1000kms around NZ. The extra cost isn't…
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We've always said that John Key was only in politics for his personal reward. He just wants to have 'PM of NZ' on his CV. He just wants to go around smiling and waving at people who know who he is because of the office…
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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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OIA papers show Key blocked lowering the drink-drive level fearing an anti-'PC' backlash. Officials warned "Drivers with a blood-alcohol content of [80mg], who are legally entitled to drive, are significantly impaired". But Key's office was worried about votes. So Joyce kicked for touch - commissioned…
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With the torpor of the holiday period well underway, it is difficult to rouse me to the level of irritation required to write a post1. An article by Martin Johnson in the NZ Herald did - "Patients told: Prove you're a Kiwi". Now I have…
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Having a read of Fairfax's 2011 political predictions, and their self-grading of their 2010 predictions, two things jumped out. The first is that Fairfax's political staff have now wedded their reputations as political analysts to a National victory. The number 1 prediction is: "National will…
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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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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...