Is Progress Real?
It’s hard to overstate the extraordinary merging of events in Europe that led to the Industrial Revolution exploding in the mid-1800’s. There was […]
Open mike 31/12/2020
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Parihaka
A post reflecting on the history of the Parihaka settlement, how local Taranaki Iwi were treated appallingly by the Crown and the Government, and how the settlement amount paid is but a miniscule amount of the damage actually caused.
Open mike 30/12/2020
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An Introvert’s Guide to Spending Money*
Don’t waste your money on shit, spend it on good shit.
Open mike 29/12/2020
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Chris Bishop goes woof woof on variant ‘B.1.1.7’
I realise that this would normally be our silly season, but it seems a bit macabre with the northern winter death toll. But nothing really excuses Chris Bishop for being a complete dickhead in barking for immediate offshore testing for travellers from the UK. It is pointless. The government are a bit more sensible. They’re instituting an extra test at our border.
Open mike 28/12/2020
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Trump pardons buddies
Donald trump has in the past couple of days issued a number of pardons to people including former members of his campaign team, Jared Kushner’s father, a group of contractors involved in the massacre of 14 Iraqi civilians including a 14 year old boy and Ben Carson’s best friend.
Open mike 27/12/2020
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Plan B activists still think NZ should be like Sweden
In a letter published in the Royal New Zealand College of Medical Practitioners journal Plan B academics have criticised the Government’s Covid elimination strategy because of the economic effects at the same time that recently announced growth figures show the economy grew in the past 12 months despite Covid.
Open mike 26/12/2020
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Meri Kirihimete ki a koe me te whānau
Meri Kirihimete ki a koe me te whānau.
Open mike 25/12/2020
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Daily review 24/12/2020
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Words of Outrage or Outrageous Action?
Do you reward rage with rage or do you ignore it and walk away quietly?
Open mike 24/12/2020
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Daily review 23/12/2020
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
A Few Good Green Wins
There is always plenty of bad news when it comes to nature in New Zealand, but this year has had an accumulation of good.
Open mike 23/12/2020
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Daily review 22/12/2020
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
Open mike 22/12/2020
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Daily review 21/12/2020
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Beefing up the border – expensive and essential
From a few days ago (it seems like an eternity), RNZ reported “Govt to pump almost $3 billion into its Covid-19 response after report identified failings”. There were several points I’d make about the border controls and generally with our border and the long slow years in constraining this pandemic. But the Sydney outbreak and the UK Xmas Grinch appear to be making them for me already.
Open mike 21/12/2020
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The Malthusian Spectre
Population has always been a critical driver of events and prior to the Industrial Revolution we lived in a zero sum world, with […]
Must New Zealand Pay Back All This Public Debt?
Without much fanfare, Minister Robertson has used 2020’s crisis to bury the historic scourge of monetarism and within it the excuses of the governments that used it as a pretext to sell off our key government income generators.
Operation warped
Donald Trump has spent the past week stuffing up the vaccine roll out in some states, fighting attempts to cancel the Trump wall and blaming China for Russian hacks on American institutions and corporations.
Open mike 20/12/2020
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Open mike 19/12/2020
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Daily review 18/12/2020
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Shock horror, trickle down does not work
In yet another study academics at the London School of Economics have concluded that trickle down leads to higher income inequality but do not have any significant effect on economic growth or unemployment.
Open mike 18/12/2020
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Daily review 17/12/2020
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
State Zero
This short post reprises a comment on Kaya’s Identity a few weeks back. Kaya identity is expressed in the form: F = P […]
The Government’s finances are in very good shape
The Government’s finances are in remarkably good shape. Who would have predicted that dealing properly with a global pandemic would have had better results for the economy than timidly dealing with it and trying to ensure that economic activity continued? But by international levels our Government debt is already low and maybe now is the time to spend on vital areas such as poverty, climate change and the housing crisis.