Sky City crying too poor to build a bigger casino – give us a break, please! Casino expert Sudhir Kale estimated the extra pokies gained by Sky to be worth $35million over figures used by government. That’s for year upon year to 2048. It could cover any casino upgrade in four years. Either Joyce and Key are being played for suckers, or they are playing the rest of us for suckers. The deal stinks.
Well ok, after the election I figured that I could shift the site to some slower storage with a whole lot of redundancy in a RAID6 array of slower drives. We’d have a lot fewer readers than our peak for 6 months after post election, right? Nope – wrong. You are making me work…
Sir Edmund Thomas will discuss this topic in Wellington at Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace, tomorrow Wednesday 11th at 5:30pm. All welcome – see synopsis – if you would like to come please register here.
I/S at No Right Turn on the most interesting event at the first session of Parliament for 2015. The Speaker’s actions open up an interesting can of legal worms…
Eighteen months ago Stephen Joyce said about the Sky City Convention Centre deal that anything not written down was not happening. It appears that he was wrong as John Key softens us up for more public money being spent on a private convention centre.
The excellent Gordon Campbell on Key’s divisive and opportunistic lines on “Maori separatism”.
The Salvation Army has all but ruled out being involved in the Government’s Social Housing unless it is provided with capital. And if divestment occurs it considers that tenants should have a role in governance of the houses they live in.
Feinstein Doak has a post up with the Top Political Facebook Posts of 2014, and the results are interesting.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Leaving Mike Sabin in charge of the Law and Order Select Committee was certainly a captain’s call by John Key. Just like Tony Abbott’s award of a knighthood to the Duke (as if he needed more fruit salad), this was a judgment call. And it does call Key’s judgment into question. It’s not about when he knew what he knew, it’s about what he did when he knew.
We are in the process of locking in inequality through the intergenerational ownership of housing, thus squeezing more and more mobility out of society.
The latest bout of National’s cult of “personality” was on show at yesterday’s Big Gay Out
In which Rodney Hide writes the column that The Herald’s senior political reporter should have written…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
There’s a fascinating article in the latest New Statesman titled “An Empire that speaks English: the right’s dream of a new world order.” Suddenly UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond’s recent visit here makes sense. So does John Key’s references to sending troops to Iraq on behalf of the “club” or the “family” – he’s at the heart of the Empire.
Over in Australia a spill motion scheduled for tomorrow may end Tony Abbott’s reign. Former PM Julia Gillard who famously lectured Abbott on his misogyny must be grinning from ear to ear. Update: Abbott has survived with the vote reported to be 61-39 against a spill. I suspect the left will be pleased …
It has been claimed that Andrew Little has advocated for Maori to have law making powers. What he has done is reflect on a recent Waitangi Tribunal decision which concluded that Maori never ceded sovereignty to the Crown and properly concluded that this is an issue that needs to be considered.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The complexity of the current Middle East situation explained in a single letter to the editor.
The only person to receive 100% in the world for her work was a young kiwi with only two years background. Read more […]
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
A Guest Post by David Meech presenting an irreverent view of Waitangi day, and New Zealand history and culture.
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Perhaps John Key should consider a Churchillian thought before he rushes to send our young to die in Iraq.
The social democracy of my youth has radically collapsed into our current culture of individualism, privatisation and personal greed.
The Productivity Commission has a new report out which looks at changes in the labour income share, or LIS, from 1978 to 2010. […]
Has it really been 11 years since Brash’s infamous Orewa speech? Yesterday Gareth Morgan gave a very different kind of speech there…
Darien Fenton at Jobs That Count brings us the details of the fight for decent pay and conditions at Talley’s meat processing plants
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The Labour Local Government Council ran a hui last Friday in Wellington. I went along and it was one of the better Labour events I have been to in a long time – community-based organisers sharing and discussing what works. Crosby/Textor is onto it too.
Our thoughts are with Christchurch as a huge fire rages to the west of the city.
John Key wanted to be in the Five Eyes “club”, but I guess that didn’t focus group well, so now we’re being fed a new line – “family”.
We need a much better analysis of what kinds of jobs and conditions are out there in NZ, crude figures are not telling us enough.
Issues surrounding Mike Sabin highlight the handling of the matter by Andrew Little. With commendable restraint he chose to privately notify the Prime Minister’s office that one of his MPs faced problems. And his recollection of matters is clearly better than Key’s recollection.
