The Taxpayers Union has responded to Eleanor Catton’s comment that New Zealand is dominated by money hungry politicans who do not care about culture by demanding she pay back funding used on her six month residency. Way to prove her point boys.
Sexist right-wingers are lining up to abuse Eleanor Catton for speaking her mind. The odious Sean Plunket is the worst, calling Catton a “hua” (sounds like and sometimes defined as “whore”). Imperator Fish responds…
The choice is clear.
Rob Salmond at Polity on Key – “Is he deluded, or is he being deliberately misleading?”…
experiences of solidarity and support can be found across the planet. they aren’t particularly hard to find, these many instances of kindness and humanity. so why does it feel like we live in a world that is incredibly hostile?
The speech notes from Andrew Little’s State of the Nation speech delivered this morning
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Award winning author Eleanor Catton has expressed her disappointment and anger with politics in general and the government in particular.
Rob Salmond has a bite at Eric Campton’s rather ideologically naive ideas about balancing up the GST playing ground between local and overseas retailers. Rather than not doing anything about it as Eric suggests and leaving local retailers flailing. Why not just make it simple as local collection of GST?
somebody says something stupid about muslims. then it has to be picked up by every media organisation who rush around for comments. of course they’ll find some muslims who will be angry and upset, given the serious stupidity of the comments. then the media report how OUTRAGED those muslims are, as well as interviewing the original culprit to give more air to his views.
Greece has voted to reclaim its future from the banks.
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Donald Trump and Sarah Palin are reported to be considering runs for the Republican nomination for the United States Presidency.
The scale of the housing affordability crisis, particularly in Auckland, is now unmistakable. Not only do individual families suffer as home ownership increasingly […]
George Monbiot wrote recently on how Canadian and United Kingdom public media reporting on corporate news are hopelessly pro business and lacking in any sort of balance. And how the volume of articles concerning environmental issues is declining. Is it the same in New Zealand?
Happy Birthday Auckland. Body in The Herald comments on “A splendid anniversary”…
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Queensland Liberal Country Party Premier Campbell Newman has claimed that the Queensland Labor Party is funded by gangs because some people have told him so. Yet he refuses to acknowledge the urgency of climate change even though pretty well every climate change scientist in the world is telling him it is real and we need to act now. Can you detect the scent of hypocrisy?
Farmers are copping stick for doing what the rest of us are doing. We all need to change, not just them.
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American commentator William Rivers Pitt on Obama’s state of the union.
Senior political reporters Vern Small and John Armstrong have both chosen to pan Nick Smith’s proposed RMA changes using remarkably similar logic. Update: and Fran O’Sullivan has a go too.
Metiria Turei’s speech prepared for delivery at Ratana has attracted some attention for her strong criticism of John Key’s revisionism of Aotearoa’s history in suggesting that Aotearoa was settled peaceably.
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
For the first time in ten years, reported cases of child abuse have declined. Minister Tolley and I are in agreement, that the […]
Fracking has created a short term oil glut. That’s bad news for climate change. Could we at least find a silver lining in this carbon cloud, or will it be business as usual?
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That’s as in spat. Characteristic. Richard Smith of Naked Capitalism questioned her Samoan fiduciary company fronting for a company delisted from GXG Markets, a small European exchange. It’s an interesting story, and Smith promises more to come from GXG about New Zealand if not Odgers.
Mass surveillance cannot accomplish its stated goals, and it’s likely that many within the security / government system understand this full well.
Nick Smith has given his housing speech and blamed Auckland’s housing crisis on the RMA. A Treasury commissioned report, based on discussions with developers, has put dollar figures on what the RMA is allegedly costing. The logic of the analysis is that by reducing urban design standards we will make housing more affordable. Updated with link to Rob Salmond Polity post.
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The Guardian has some amazing extracts from a diary that Guantánamo detainee Mohamedou Ould Slahi kept and gave to his lawyers. It’s the first book by a serving Guantanamo inmate.
I have pointed out before that Bomber Bradbury is wee bit unsuited to the two way dialogue of the blogs. A fragile prima donna who doesn’t like to be contradicted by the people he gallantly slags off in his routine piques of bitchy ranting. Updated with Bomber proving the point as his manufactured myths fall apart.
I think when justifying sending troops to Iraq the club John Key is really talking about is the group of right-wing political parties known as the International Democratic Union. Today Key chairs its Executive in Sarajevo, his first meeting as President. This move by Key to the IDU is calculated; he sees himself as leader of the world right-wing club and this is the first step to his international political career post New Zealand politics.
Falling numbers yes, but falling through the cracks.
