The neoliberal revolution
Thirty years old today – the longest April Fool’s joke in history?
Scientology awarded major contract by new Ministry for Vulnerable Children
People who do not agree or who wise-up to what’s going on are, as per the instructions of Scientology founder, L Ron Hubbard, to be “disposed of quietly and without sorrow”.
New commenting policy on The Standard
Trip trop trip trop…
Open Mike 01/04/2017
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Daily Review 31/03/2017
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Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style – part 2
Ok. Round 2. Still no more relevant information from Netsafe.
I’m getting somewhat irritated with them. When exactly are they going to get off their arses and provide the information that we need to make a decision?
RNZ poll of polls
RNZ: “Labour and the Green Party have closed the gap slightly on National in the latest Poll of Polls”.
HERALD EXCLUSIVE ON HIT AND RUN shows they haven’t read it
Worst piece of “journalism” on Hit and Run so far.
Update: To their credit, as of 11am this piece of nonsense seems to have vanished from The Herald website.
Warnings on Auckland Housing
Warnings on the state of the Auckland housing market are coming thick and fast now. People who bought recently (at the peak of prices and low interest rates) are likely to get burned.
Open Mike 31/03/2017
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Daily Review 30/03/2017
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Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp: “As a nation we owe it to ourselves to find out”
Mapp: “Part of protecting their reputation is also finding out what happened, particularly if there is an allegation that civilian casualties may have been accidentally caused. In that way we both honour the soldiers, and also demonstrate to the Afghans that we hold ourselves to the highest ideals of respect of life, even in circumstances of military conflict.”
National’s policing problem
National is facing increasing public concern about the ability of the police to do its job properly.
Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style.
I just got sent a notice of complaint from Netsafe under the HDCA (Harmful Digital Communications Act). It appears to me that Netsafe still either hasn’t read the act or that they are cooperating with the perpetrators of Dirty Politics. Either way, I don’t have time to deal with people who don’t put in the information required by the act for me and the unknown author to make a decision. Updated
Brexit begins
Here we are then. Article 50 has been invoked, and the 2 year countdown to Brexit begins.
Open Mike 30/03/2017
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Daily Review 29/03/2017
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Trumping Idiocy
If you are absolutely determined to be one of the idiot legion who’re forever squirreling their heads deeper into sand, then don’t read this post.
Caption contest
Keep it seemly …
The 60th Anniversary of the European Union
Last week the main heads of the European Union governments got together to celebrate 60 years since the first declaration in Rome. This is a good time to review if it is still fulfilling its original goals.
Hit and Run developments
It appears that the questioned NZDF attack took place at the location claimed by the force, but hit the villages named by the book (coordinates used by various parties are off by 2km).
Right-wing American stupidity is now a global crisis
The Trump regime has begun the process of dismantling environmental protections in America, including those designed to limit carbon emissions / climate change.
Isn’t that convenient
A full report into the Havelock North water crisis has been delayed until (surprise!) after the election.
Open Mike 29/03/2017
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Daily Review 28/03/2017
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China is in New Zealand to stay
At a time when the United States is reducing its diplomatic capacity and its willingness to enter into International Treaties New Zealand’s willingness to deal with China places it in an almost unique position in the western world.
Motels are not state houses
It’s almost as if deliberately running down state housing stock doesn’t make the need for homes magically go away – who could possibly have predicted that?
Another reason for water pricing
The Government will be embarassed by another example of a corporation planning to extract ten billion litres of fresh water a year essentially at no cost which has arisen.
Open Mike 28/03/2017
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Daily Review 27/03/2017
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Down the Gurgler.
Getting sick, tired and angry of this malarkey.
Scots git on Q+A
I went to Q+A yesterday in search of political comment and was astonished to see John McTernan aka “Malcolm Tucker without the charm” given ten minutes to burble. McTernan promotes himself as a former political adviser to Blair and Gillard, but his last real job was chief of staff to Jim Murphy who led the Scottish Labour Party to oblivion in 2015.
Spinoff series – rent week
While much of the coverage of the housing crisis focuses on buyers, the situation facing renters is just as bad. Last week The Spinoff ran an excellent series on renting in NZ: “It’s getting desperate out there”.
What does National do about English?
John Key has claimed that the transfer of power from himself to Bill English was flawless and designed to ensure continuation of National’s rule. Based on the last couple of opinion poll results he should reconsider his optimism.
NZDF credibility on the line
There were several significant developments on Hit and Run and the NZDF over the weekend. Which version of the NZDF story is it that Bill English backs 100%?