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I guess they didn't trust him to get it right. Outstanding: And now the trains are bare This time the trains were ready - and most fans went by road or walked. Passengers were outnumbered by security guards by three to one at Auckland's central…
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In the 2008 general election over 600,000 eligible people didn't vote. That made No Vote the third biggest "Party" after National and Labour. There are many different reasons for this, but overall it doesn't reflect well on the health of our democracy. Particularly concerning is…
activism democratic participation election 2011 political education
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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 the miscellaneous bits of news department - a particularly grim Roy Morgan poll for the left: The latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll shows support for Prime Minister John Key’s National-led Government is virtually unchanged at 61.5% (up 5.5%). Support for Key’s National Party…
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The warnings on the economy are coming thick and fast now, both globally and nationally. Here's the head of the World Bank: World in new economic danger zone: Zoellick The head of the World Bank says the world has entered a new economic danger zone…
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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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Denmark has ended the 10-year reign of the right supported by the anti-immigration Muslim-baiting Danish People's party. The Social Democrats headed by their first woman PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt will move away from the right's favoured austerity and spending cuts to more investment in education, welfare…
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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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When it comes to making any kind of effort towards saving the planet from catastrophic climate change I guess being even a "fast follower" was just a little too ambitious for the Key government. Now it seems that they're content to be slow followers instead:…
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http://youtu.be/nuQM1Oko8IE lolz. Btw, what was up with Key referring to the "Web Ellis Trophy" in his speech? It's the Web Ellis Cup. Little thing compared to the organisational shambles Murray McCully and Key handed us on Friday. But another sign of a government that can't…
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When the Nats say they must cut early childhood education funding - remember their new $500m subsidy to polluters. When the Nats say the country can't afford adult community education - remember their new $500m subsidy to polluters. When the Nats say we have to…
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Goff calmly and systematically rips Key and the government apart on Friday's RWC fiasco. Armstrong calls it Goff's "best speech in a long time" - see Goff flays Nats over Rugby World Cup chaos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQR-pq5GGi8
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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 thought we were paying "international prices" for milk, but perhaps not. In a move today that just lost them the public relations war forever... Consumers at fault for high milk prices - Fed Farmers New Zealand consumers are at fault for the high price…
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Duncan Garner has demolished the government's disgraceful excuse-making over its woeful lack of preparation for the World Cup: For the Government to point the finger at the Auckland Council for the debacle on the woeful Waterfront last Friday is a cop-out. It's not just the…
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NRT continues to provide excellent coverage on the governance of Canterbury: When the National government disestablished the democratically elected Environment Canterbury and replaced it with a clique of hand-picked dictators, there was at least one consolation: the dictatorship would eventually pass. As drafted, the dictatorship…
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Does "a meticulous compiler and ferreter out of information that some people would wish to keep secret" sound like a good definition for 'journalist' to you? Not according to the Dom. Apparently, that's what Nicky Hager is. And he's not a 'real journalist'? So, what…
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The government's handling of the RWC opening and the resulting chaos has been both incompetent and insulting to Auckland. Incompetent because they were warned. They were warned about the likely transport issues two years ago: Auckland World Cup warning two years ago The Government was…
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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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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=share The entire, unabridged speech can be viewed here (It comes 'on topic' about 6 or 7 minutes in)
child abuse child discipline child welfare culture education schools
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See if you can join these dots to make a picture. Dot one: Dot 2: NZ universities lose ground New Zealand's universities are continuing to lose ground against their international rivals, according to the latest worldwide rankings. ... Auckland University, which made the top 50…
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Time for a Tax Revamp Written by Jackal at 4:54 PM Gareth Morgan and Susan Guthrie answered the critics of their ideas to transform NZ's tax and welfare system in a great read on the New Zealand Herald's website today. Don't get me wrong, I'm…
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Making the trains run on time Eighteen months ago, in what can only be described as a coup, the government disestablished the democratically-elected Environment Canterbury and replaced it with a clique of hand-picked dictators. In Question Time this afternoon, Nick Smith used a patsy question…
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Keen to shift the blame for the RWC opening fracas Murray McCully has used reserve powers under his very own CERA-like powers to seize control of the whole Auckland waterfront. Here's John Key explaining why: Key: Interestingly enough, one good example of where the Government…
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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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There was a time when authoritarian Tories would use draconian powers for things like outright class war, lockouts, or to turn the streets of our cities into war zones. While disagreeing with the politics of these abhorrent actions at every single level you had to…
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A good piece in the Herald by Max Rashbrook on the high costs of PPPs (public private partnerships) with the new Wiri prison costing over $21m before a single sod is turned or brick laid because of the complex contract negotiatons which have to cover…
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Gordon Campbell at Werewolf has an excellent piece pointing out the flaws in Asset Sales. Here's a quick summary, but it's worth the read in its entirety (there's a large pre-amble and conclusion, and an 11th myth!). 1. Asset sales will reduce debt and help…
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Yesterday, TVNZ: "Mr Keys says no one could have predicted the amount of people who turned up on Friday night." Friday, Keys: "There were people that were skeptical that the Cloud was the right thing to do but actually I think they'll eat their words…
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It was left up to Radio New Zealand to provide the best coverage of yet another shaming report on child poverty in NZ: One in five children in severe hardship - report A report on child poverty says at least one in five children experience…