Obesity policy ignores elephant in the room

Obesity is a difficult topic to write about, but with the release of new government policy yesterday it is very much in the news. Unfortunately, unsurprisingly, National have chosen to tinker with the consequences of obesity without addressing the causes.

Open mike 20/10/2015

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Daily Review 19/10/2015

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Future Auckland

There are rumours that National is looking to organise a new regional ticket, Future Auckland, to contest next year’s local body elections in Auckland.

Open mike 19/10/2015

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Cameron Slater back in court

For the observers of the continued disaster that is Cameron Slater, here is a snippet observed in the High Court list for tomorrow. There is a first call for action against him for contempt. A new application? He only just got done for 7 charges.

Argghh! The comment bug

I have spent a few hours been chasing the bug that has been causing people to go into moderation automatically. Found it, killed it, and I thought I’d share it with you.

Labour’s position on TPPA

The last fortnight has not been a great time for Labour when it comes to the TPPA.  But a couple of imprecisely worded comments may have had far too much read into them.  And the left and the media may have fallen into a trap set by the right.

Our influence in Australia

Key has failed to budge Australia on the detention and deportation of Kiwis. Apart from the photo ops and the mutual admiration society, our actual influence is zero.

Open mike 18/10/2015

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John Armstrong – a person worth disagreeing with

Today John Armstrong published his swansong at the NZ Herald. He is losing his long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Like most things that John wrote, it is worth reading. Certainly that was how he was regarded here. More than 500 of our 17,000+ posts referenced his work.

Keeping going

Advantage has some suggestions on how to maintain and reignite your political activist self.

Open mike 17/10/2015

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Daily Review 16/10/2015

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Are you Newstralian?

So John Key and the new Oz PM are having a chat today and good ol’ JK will be mentioning the issue of “New […]

Jane Kelsey on Groser’s proven breach of duty

“Throughout the TPPA negotiations Minister Groser sought to justify their obsessive secrecy with a mantra that ‘it’s always done this way’. That was parroted unquestioningly by every fellow travelling journo and politician, and others who were unwilling to challenge the Minister, despite being told that was untrue.

Groser changed his tune during the case, arguing that ‘every agreement is different’ and the TPPA is special. Why the shift?

 

Lucky Labour – disgraceful Speaker

Three of the four member’s bills drawn yesterday were sponsored by Labour leaders. What followed was one of the most disgusting maneuvers ever pulled by this government, justifying the headline – Nats play politics while Kiwi kids die in homes.

Open mike 16/10/2015

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Daily Review 15/10/2015

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Christine Fletcher’s dear Phil letter

Christine Fletcher has penned an open letter to Phil Goff where she criticises in trenchant terms super city’s current performance and offers some thoughts on where improvement can be made.

Labour’s deputy

An anonymous editorial in The Herald this morning is a mostly well balanced discussion of the issue of Labour’s deputy leader.

Open mike 15/10/2015

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Daily Review 14/10/2015

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 …

Thanks Canterbury for the surplus

The Government books have hit surplus.  But it looks like treatment of the financials for the Canterbury Earthquake may account for pretty well all of it. Update: Underspending on special education accounts for much of the “surplus”.