Won’t the Government think about the kiwis?
The Government has granted Alpine Pure the right to construct a pipeline through a breeding area for a critically endangered Kiwi so that it can extract water from a Unesco World Heritage site for free.
Climate change, political heroes, political culture
How ironic that Parliament is to debate climate change today, as the latest in a torrent of warming-fueled extreme weather events bears down on the country, and as the government charges Russel Norman and the other heroes trying to end oil exploration in NZ waters.
Open Mike 13/04/2017
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Framing Syria
If you’re determined to believe that western liberal democracy is essentially benign and only ever makes mistakes and honest mis-judgements, or is something that’s sometimes marred by an odd ‘bad apple’ or two, then this post on Syria probably isn’t the post for you.
Daily Review 12/04/2017
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Craig wins rehearing in Williams defamation case
Colin Craig has had a major success in court with Justice Katz ordering a retrial on the basis that the award of damages by the Jury was excessive.
Weather warnings – be prepared
Newshub: “MetService warns Cyclone Cook will be the worst to hit NZ since 1968, people advised to stock up on food and water”
The United Airlines fiasco
United Airlines in America has in the past few days provided a text book example of how a large corporation should not behave.
Stay on the treadmill suckers!
That is the Nats’ advice to aspiring Auckland house buyers.
Little’s court win good for democracy
The defamation case against Andrew Little has been an unwelcome distraction while he should have been free to do his job as leader of the largest opposition party. The consensus is that the process delivered a qualified win for Little, and a clear win for democracy.
Open Mike 12/04/2017
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Daily Review 11/04/2017
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Greenpeace’s Taitu confronts oil exploration ship
Thank you Greenpeace, and specifically thank you Russel Norman and the crew of the Taitu, for taking to the seas to fight this little battle in the most important struggle of our age.
Motels are full of homeless so now what?
Ordinary people are priced out of home ownership and increasingly out of renting, the state-housing safety net has been deliberately run down, and now the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff is full. National leaps into action – by asking the Salvation Army for ideas…
Perhaps climate change will go away if we ignore it?
That seems to be Bill English’s position.
David Cunliffe’s valedictory speech party
David Cunliffe delivers his veledictory speech today at 5:30 pm. Eanna Doyle, one of David’s most loyal of supporters (there are many tales to tell) will be hosting a veledictory speech party for Aucklanders at his bar at Toucan Bistro in Albany starting 5 pm. The speech will be shown live. Update: Video of the speech added.
Open Mike 11/04/2017
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A basic primer on the law of defamation
There has been some very confused reporting on the fate of Andrew Little in the Hagaman defamation trial.
Daily Review 10/04/2017
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Bugger.
John Clarke has died.
Bid for Helen (for Women’s Refuge)
A rescued portrait of Helen Clark is raising money for Women’s Refuge via TradeMe.
Mediawatch on Hit and Run
“Has the meaning of book Hit and Run been obscured by all the claims and counter-claims in the media?” – Yes of course it has, and that is a deliberate strategy on the part of people who are desperate to avoid an inquiry.
Property porn vs. reality
Sick of the property porn on the Stuff and Herald websites? It was refreshing to read the truth for a change.
Open Mike 10/04/2017
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Syria sarin capitalism and war
The dirty truth behind many of the wars that our political / media world gets itself so excited about is that they wouldn’t be happening without the arms that we (the “western” world) sell so copiously.
RNZ: The 9th floor – Palmer
On RNZ Guyon Espiner is running what will be a fascinating series, The 9th Floor, consisting of interviews with five ex NZ PMs. First up on Friday was Sir Geoffrey Palmer, “reflecting on the revolutionary fourth Labour government and his year as one of its three Prime Ministers”.
National’s Filipino campaign
National’s New Lynn candidate Paulo Garcia appears to be receiving campaigning assistance from the Philippine Ambassador for New Zealand. Is this appropriate?
Open Mike 09/04/2017
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National’s response to the Syria attack
Unlike the Australian and United Kingdom Governments’ response to the American attack has been muted and confused. Is this just the nature of anything that Bill English says or is it an attempt to assess public opinion before responding?
Green Party criticises US strike on Syria
“We expect and deserve cooler heads than this from our global leaders.”
Open Mike 08/04/2017
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Daily Review 07/04/2017
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World War?
Well…don’t know about you, but I’m feeling like I want to throw up.
MSD and our privacy
National’s plans for our privacy and access to social services are a perfect cocktail of over-reach and incompetence.
Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style – part 3
No further information from either Netsafe or the complainant. I can’t proceed any further apart from writing explicit site HDCA instructions. The Daily Blog has had the samehappen, with an attempt to gag any public debate on their actions by Netsafe. Amy Adams has hurriedly issued a press release saying how wonderful the HDCA is… I guess she doesn’t like debate.
Independent media a losing battle
Unfolding in Australia, but obviously relevant here, bad news for Farifax media staff and their editorial independence.