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While the news is full of the Pike River debacle (yet another failure of National's self-regulatory fantasies) and the blogs are full of derision on John Key's idiotic statements and 'clarifications', I'm more interested in the MMP review. Colin James has expressed my response to…
democratic participation electoral systems MMP Politics referendum
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I just wonder in what world John Key thinks that it's OK for the PM to go around slagging off and insulting people in public. Planet Key, perhaps. Why does he think it's OK for him to call a visitor to our country '"thick as…
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Good to see a prominent and widely respected gay person take Key on for his thoughtless and damaging language: John Key is left looking like a foolish little Hobbit this morning by the man who plays the Tolkien wizard in the Peter Jackson films, Sir…
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Our human cognitive systems are a flawed hodge-podge of evolutionary hacks. Among our many failures of reasoning, we tend to believe what we want to believe (irrespective of the facts), and we tend to be bad about taking future consequences into account (we focus on…
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National's strategy around the Pike River report is to try to get the media story over in a day. That's why Wilkinson waited until now to resign - no punishment as she'll still be a Cabinet minister and her resignation will come in handy in…
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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've got to say I'm pleased to see the recommendations of the Pike River report and the fact that it looks like the government will be putting them in place. I'm not so happy about the reaction to the the resignation of Kate Wilkinson. She's…
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The Electoral Commission's report is out. Now we need to make sure that the Government follow through on what an independent board have decided having listened to ordinary New Zealanders' submissions. Personally I would have liked the threshold suggested to be lower, and indeed the…
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Stuff and NZ Herald are reporting Breaking news that Kate Wilkinson has resigned her portfolio as Minister of Labour, due to the findings in Pike River Mine report. It's about time a government minister was held accountable for some of the destructive things that they…
accountability disaster Mining national/act government workers' rights
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So John Key had a very ordinary Friday apparently. Not only did he deride a kind international celebrity who took 45 minutes out of his day to spend time with his son as "thick as batshit," he also was out there telling a radio host…
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John Key won't be on the West Coast today when the Pike River report will be released. He'll have a tightly managed press conference at the Beehive, instead. Key promised that he would stand by the Pike River families. He promised that all efforts would…
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It looks like Darien Fenton's "Keep Public Libraries Free" Bill will soon be getting its first reading in parliament. Public libraries are an important community resource. Keeping their resources and services free contributes to social inclusion and participatory democracy. Fenton reports that her Bill will…
community democracy democratic participation local government public services
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The estimated population of New Zealand reached 4,444,444 on the 1st of November 2012. Nothing special other than a rare moment of symmetry in an otherwise random and chaotic world. Interestingly the number 4 is associated with death in Chinese, and this population occurred the…
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On Breakfast just now, Tourism Minister Key tried out his line on the international debacle arising from his insulting a prominent visitor to our country who was forbearing enough to spend time talking to Key's kid. His plan is to try to stymie the story…
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The bosses justify their huge pay packets by saying they're the elite, the wealth creators. They get the money because their genius makes sure things work. But, when it all goes to hell it's the minions who get blamed. While the CEO gets a $100K…
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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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John Key has a problem. Okay, too vague. John Key has a specific problem I want to talk about today, and it's not actually his policies, his actions, or his own blessed mangling of the English language on a daily basis. It's that John Key…
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The failure of Labour to fire isn't limited to the leadership team. A big part of Labour's front bench simply aren't doing their job. I had to ask a mate last week who the health spokesperson was. I actually couldn't remember. It's indicative of what…
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Kim Dotcom has some ambitious ideas for NZ: Dotcom trumpets free fibre Controversial internet tycoon Kim Dotcom is promising free broadband for all New Zealanders, possibly alongside Trade Me founder Sam Morgan. Dotcom yesterday tweeted: "I will relaunch Pacific Fibre. Free broadband for all Kiwi's…
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My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week:…
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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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Ever wanted to talk like the esteemed leader of New Zealand's biggest leftwing party? Of course you haven't. But I'm going to show you the secrets of his success anyway, because I think you'll be surprised just how completely flaccid you can make yourself sound…
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Welcome to Poverty watch, a weekly update on the National government's lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. A lot of background issues and links are set out in Poverty Watch one two and three. In a bizarre comment…
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Look at this: Britain's largest selling daily newspaper The Sun (daily readership 7.6 million), has this story about Britain's favourite sportsperson as their lead: Becks is as thick as bats*** says New Zealand’s PM So our PM and Minister of Tourism is presumably trying to…
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Some prominent "journalists" are working to undermine a possible Labour-Green government: one that could turn against the neoliberal scam that such "journalists" feed off and promote. They particularly have their knives out for David Cunliffe in case of a Labour leadership change. The left should…
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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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People are a priority for Labour. This week, I went on a bit of a road trip in the South Island. It started on the West Coast, talking to Spring Creek miners and their families about the impact of job losses on their lives and…
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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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Audrey Young had a puff piece on Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone today. Wading through the fluff, we find an interesting insight into Longstone's thinking. Longstone says: ...New Zealand is seventh out of 65 countries in the latest OECD Pisa assessment for 15-year-olds. But broken…
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And now for something completely different - The Fabians are hosting an all-day seminar on the Kirk years in Auckland tomorrow at the Dorothy Winstone Centre at Auckland Girls Grammar, starting at 9:30am. Click through to see a great line-up of speakers and registration information.…