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Missed this last week - from I/S at No Right Turn. Not even pretending anymore The government has given up even pretending that its suspension of democracy in Canterbury is because an elected ECan would make the "wrong" decisions: But the Government says elections this year…
democracy under attack local government national sustainability water
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Welfare is supposed to provide a safety net for those in need. What happens to people when they are pushed off the net? They get desperate. This account from Australia describes a typical outcome: Single mums turn to brothels and stripping Some single mothers hit…
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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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In the continuing saga of Kim Dotcom against the forces of blind, silly, and technically illiterate conservatism, amongst whom John Key (our Minister of International Embarrassment) fits pretty well. Kim Dotcom has launched a new file storage service. Although that is not strictly correct - rather…
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Remember the great crimewave that followed legalisation of homosexuality in the mid eighties? Neither do I but Garth McVicar may remember otherwise. In his submission to the select committee on Louisa Wall's marriage amendment bill, McVicar has declares [full submission]: I see the marriage ammedment…
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As reported this morning by Rob O'Neill on Stuff, the World Bank has recently issued a report saying NZ needs to focus more on being friendly to multinational corporations, and be less focused on supporting small NZ businesses: Small businesses do not create jobs. They are less productive than…
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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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Word around the traps is that David Shearer is going to use his state of the nation speech next weekend to announce that he will put his leadership to full membership vote in February. If it's true, and it's a big if, it's a ballsy…
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Johnny's million dollar treat for his wife at your expense has turned into a bit of a farce. The delayed flight, the weird fainting (not jet lag, not overwork), and now they won't get to the pole because of snow. The justification for the Keys'…
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The PM is off to Antarctica: Parting plea to Key as he heads to Ice As Prime Minister John Key flies over the Ross Sea, environmentalists hope the experience will help him reinforce efforts to secure a marine reserve over the pristine region. I applaud…
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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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Key's government is falling apart, yet one fact remains stubbornly true: walk down the street and nearly 1 in every 2 people you see supports National, while less than 1 in 3 supports Labour (and the 1 in 8 who support the Greens don't quite…
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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 housing bubble's clearly back. More wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. More of the rest of us stuck with renting for life. The politicians are talking about affordable housing. But Labour's plan's not affordable unless your income's $60,000 a year or more.…
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Paula Bennett stated yesterday that the numbers of people on benefits had dropped noticeably during the last quarter. However, the figures are presented in such a way as to mask the reality of employment, unemployment, Bennett's punitive welfare reforms, and the struggles of those living…
accountability benefits class war greens Metiria Turei paula bennett unemployment workers' rights
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Hekia Parata has been a disaster as Minister of Education. Everything she touched last year turned to rubbish. And yet, as widely reported, Key has stated that she will keep the portfolio in his coming reshuffle. Here's the 3 News account: Parata doing a good…
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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 was just looking at today's edition of the (Auckland) Western Leader and came across a full page notice by the PPTA saying that Charter Schools are a failed idea. It says that submissions for the Education Amendment Bill (2012) close on the 24 January,…
act equality greens john banks national Privatisation treasury
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There have been various demonstrations of random processes beating professional stock market analysts. Here's the latest as reported by 3 News: Cat beats investment professionals in portfolio challenge A common domestic cat has outperformed two teams of humans, including a group of investment professionals, 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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The oil and gas industry employs fewer people than have lost their jobs in manufacturing every 4 months under National. Yet, Joyce devotes all his efforts to doing favours for the foreign oil companies and ignores our local manufacturers. Now, another of the foreign oil…
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For the 5th year running, it's that time of year, when the economists start promising the recovery is here. (remember 'green shoots' in 2009?) Meanwhile, in the real world, there are twice as many jobless Kiwis as five years ago, and rising. If the pattern…
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Plenty has been written on the damaging effects of NZ's house price inflation. It prices young families out of owning their own home (slowly destroying what has been part of the social fabric of the country), it sucks investment out of more productive sectors of…
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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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This is a topic that came up over the break that I noted to write about when I got back to posting. The Nats want to cut the budget for surgery to install grommets, a technique for treating persistent ear infection (especially in children). The…
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The Herald's running a pretty intense series about how awful it is to emigrate to Australia. A cynic might think the editor's daughter is talking about crossing the ditch, such is the passion in the anti-Aussie message. But all the stories follow the same pattern:…
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We all know, because that Nice Man Mr Key told us, the government can't create jobs. That is, unless it has given away $67m to international bully boys and wants to show a return on investment. Then, it can create 3,000 jobs out of thin…
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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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Last year, in the Arctic, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were measured at 400ppm. (referring to the text and links below the vid) If you search on line for historical CO2 levels, you’ll find a lot of comments that are of the opinion that 400ppm CO2 last…
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Christmas holidays - never long enough! Happy 2013 to one and all. So - what do we do with this new year of ours? I've been pondering blogging, the role of The Standard, the future of blogs and the like. I've ended up with far…