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I remember a certain PM who used to claim to be "ambitious for New Zealand". In the real world, it seems that was all just talk. Because given the choice between investing in New Zealand industry and workers, and perhaps (in the short term) saving…
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The Roy Morgan Polls are all over the place, at the moment (see May 23rd, June 9th). Just as Trev warned us, the latest Roy Morgan has the Left once more at the bottom of the roller coaster: Support for the government is at 59.5%…
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Gerry Brownlee says an announcement on Christchurch's land will be made "very, very soon" but testily refuses to give a date, or even a real timeframe. I have a sinking feeling this is all a PR exercise. Just as Brownlee has got everyone really agitated,…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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The Te Tai Tokerau by-election has the potential to be a game-changer. If it comes off for Kelvin on Saturday the result may shake up a few other predictions for the general election - another example of the wisdom of Harold Wilson's famous remark that…
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NZX Chairman Andrew Harmos has come storming out of his boardroom to position himself in the apparent war of rhetoric surrounding what the New Zealand public generally know as state asset sales or the mixed-ownership model. He appears to offer some reasonable banter about the…
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Phil Goff has just announced that Labour is putting up a private members' bill to entrench SOEs. This would mean they could only be sold either with 75% support of Parliament, or with majority support in a referendum. Great stuff. That effectively means any asset…
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Labour proposes a new law to stop asset sales. More like this please! Labour proposes a new law to stop asset sales Monday, 20 June 2011, 10:32 am Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party Labour is introducing a new private members bill to prevent the…
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The Magic market should be left alone, it will self correct the Nact's say. Look at what Nature does when it's left alone, It tries to revert back to what it was before, it regenerates, yes we cut all the trees down, burnt, sprayed, killed…
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The "cast in stone" permanent obligations of majority New Zealand ownership and free local calls will be removed from law after the government dropped a last minute Special Order Paper[SOP] on the Telecommunications Amendment Bill last week: In the explanatory notes in SOP No 247,…
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Are we "roaring out of recession"? No. Is there an "aggressive recovery"? No. What's going wrong? The problem is that the Nats are squeezing the life out of the economy. I've written on one aspect of this before. The Nats believe that the correct response…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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I haven't seen the full interview of Brownlee on the Nation. If the clips on the news were anything to go by, it was more of the same. No info for Christchurch residents. No empathy for them either. More haughty bullshit. More vague excuses for…
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Stuff, 17 June: Consumer confidence 'back to normal' ... Nationally, consumer confidence is bouncing back strongly, after being badly dented by the Canterbury earthquake in February, according to a bank survey. ... In the June quarter, the Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index jumped 14.1…
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While climate change deniers still try to dishonestly pick holes in the science, and spread long disproved lies, the visible effects of climate change are becoming more and more obvious: Warning: extreme weather ahead Tornados, wildfires, droughts and floods were once seen as freak conditions.…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Hat tip to Penny Bright in comments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyePCRkq620
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Last week Lynn posted a list of authors and I was horrified to see that I have done 600 posts as r0b for The Standard. How time flies when you're having fun! It seemed like a good time to stop and review why I'm doing…
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Dear Colleagues, A brochure on the 22 June Global Day of Action in support of the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) is available in English and three other languages (French, Portugese and Spanish). This is the link for the English version: Global Day of Action, June…
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It seems that every day recently there are new stories of job losses in the news. Living in National's Brighter Future we have 304 job losses in Waipukurau and 171 full-time-equivalent jobs lost in Christchurch yesterday. The day before we had 55 staff at Pumpkin…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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From Canterbury TV (good to see they are still serving Canterbury) the first news report is better than most of the other stuff I see in the TV news about Christchurch. This is what people are telling us (one sent this clip through) in e-mails…
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One of my favorite bands and one of my favourite of their tracks. Barenaked Ladies playing "When I fall". Great lyrics for the ongoing GFC. You have to love satirical songs.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTn2WfzPVGw Songwriters: PAGE, STEVEN / ROBERTSON, ED I look straight in the window, try…
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What's on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can't we all just get along?
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The Global Commission on Drug Policy have just released their latest report on the global war on drugs. Its message is quite simple; the war has failed, and it is time to begin new dialogue on what has become the greatest social failure of the…
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When the government sold Telecom twenty years ago, they reassured us that free local calling would be protected under a "Kiwishare". Now National is repealing it, with an SOP to the Telecommunications (TSO, Broadband, and Other Matters) Amendment Bill removing the relevant provisions "reflect that…
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So, the statement of intent from the Ministry of Health has just been released. This document outlines how our health service will operate during the next three years; so what does it actually say? Is health truly safe under National? Let me first start by…
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What is Christchurch supposed to make of Gerry Brownlee? Residents of trashed suburbs want to know what is happening. They want to know which areas are going to be written off, and which can be rebuilt. Their lives, their emotions, in many cases their finances,…
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Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike...
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Patrick Gower has revealed the Nats are poised to announce a policy to reintroduce the youth minimum wage at a rate of about $10 an hour, and potentially make it apply to people in their 20s. Outrageous and a breach of human rights. You should…