My semi-regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere. This week: Prism, sick leave, female voters, and weeing during a filibuster.
A Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here.
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Labour has a strong new addition to its caucus – Meka Whaitiri beat two strong candidate fields, first in her selection and then in today’s by-election. Her percentage of the votes cast was higher than Parekura’s in his first go in 1999 – I’m picking he knew what he was doing when he encouraged her to put her name forward.
The National Party are the good economic managers, right? So why are they spending money we don’t actually have yet?
Slippery John Key continues with the theft of the common weal, while the Kiwis with the least powerful voices are being neglected. Labour MPs, it’s time to get over your personality politics, your divisions and careerist maneuverings, and step up.
National’s spend-up promises in Auckland look like panicky policy on the hoof. Where is all this money going to come from? Key says they’ll just write a cheque!
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, a report from the English Children’s Commissioner on the 600,000 children driven into policy by their government’s policies, and check out the “Race to End Poverty”.
Comments on this post have now been enabled for a discussion of the outcome!
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So John Key has today re-announced the Auckland plan, albeit delayed. So the Central Rail Link is on. There’ll be a 2nd Harbour […]
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
1. This potato will not lie, prevaricate, or have convenient memory lapses.
Four contenders with excellent track records. Some important issues for the electorate have been highlighted, especially related to poverty, jobs, education, and affordable housing. Some commentators claim tomorrow’s by-election will be a test of this or that party’s strength.[update: RNZ interviews]
Distinguished Professor, noted historian and author, and New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond had a powerful piece in The Herald yesterday. Here are some extracts, but you should go and read the full article.
Key’s grubby little deal on the Sky City convention center is about as popular as halitosis. Public opinion is against it, and so is the Auckland City Council. But Key will carry on regardless, because he is much too arrogant to back down.
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Dear Prime Minister, It appears that we may have made a terrible mistake. We made a detailed submission outlining our concerns about your government’s plans to increase the powers of the GCSB. But it looks like we were wrong. You have told Parliament and the media that you disagree with us. You haven’t said why, but we now accept that you know better than us. What use is all our combined wisdom when arrayed against your everyman common-sense?
If your child wants to be a teacher, a lawyer, a nurse, an artist, an actor, a writer, an engineer, an architect or a historian to give some examples, you go to University or Polytech and get the full training you need to at least be qualified. However if they want to be a builder, a plumber, an electrician, an arborist, a plasterer, a mechanic, an upholsterer, a bus driver, a train driver, a bicycle mechanic or a welder then you have to hope like hell they fall into the training one way or another.
There’s something to be said for Fairfax and Westpac’s launch of the Women of Influence NZ awards. Many women do not receive social recognition, or a fair financial reward, for their valuable contributions to society. The Fairfax-Westpac, right-leaning, individualistic awards foreground money, profits, leadership and business.
The Tea Party / Republican Party in Congress are a bunch of anti-science crazies who will never agree to any action to tackle climate change. But Obama doesn’t need them. And it looks like he has finally decided to act.
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Kevin Rudd is PM of Australia again after defeating Julia Gillard 57 votes to 45.
Today in Texas, a small victory was won for reproductive rights, thanks to this kickass senator.
It’s a massive win for the Greens, for Labour, and Auckland. National has caved to the pressure from local government, from business, and from its political opponents. With the polls so close National couldn’t afford to go into 2014 opposing the CRL when Aucklanders want it and the opposition is mobilising it as an issue, including the Greens’ ‘re:connect’ campaign.
Imagine if, five times in 18 months, I stuck my head out the window on a random day, made a guess of the temperature that was 95% likely to be 3 degrees or less too high or too low and, then, extrapolated climate change data from my results. You would laugh at me: too much chance and margin of error, not enough data points. Still, that doesn’t stop the Herald.
Yesterday Key actually ran the classic justification for “police state” surveillance: if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. This argument is bollocks. Here’s why…
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Just in case you don’t know, Danyl’s book, Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley, is now available for pre-order.
Personally I’m in awe of anyone that can manage to write a whole goddamn novel, especially a good one. And I reckon this will be a good one. I’ve got mine ordered – you should too.
“If an information technology project costing more than $10 million goes off the rails, the buck will now stop with Government chief information officer (GCIO) and Internal Affairs boss Colin MacDonald.”
There’s an issue for solar power about to hit: Standards NZ’s new proposed standard requires the use of a particular, untested, inverter which is not expected to even exist until July 2014. The current 2005 standard on solar power production allows electricity lines companies to enforce their own set of standards onto independent solar power installers.
Back in 2008, a bright new thing called John Key said that, if he became Prime Minister, he would take the Tourism portfolio. He said “it’s an industry that’s particularly important in maintaining and boosting this country’s employment levels and growth prospects” and “we can do an awful lot better”. International tourism revenue has fallen 20% since 2008.
The Law Society is not exactly a hotbed of leftie activism. So the supporters of this appallingly arrogant government should sit up and take notice when they speak out as clearly as this against the GCSB spying bill. Two faced Key is simultaneously claiming that the current law is both unclear and “very clear”. He needs to be called out on it.
Labour Minister Sim0n Bridges has been trying to justify the latest round of attacks on workers’ rights by saying the law currently requires workers to be union members for the first 30 days on a new job and that people ought to have choice. That’s a lie. The law Bridges wants to throw out says new workers can’t be paid less than union rates, not that you have to join the union.
If one needs any more reason to worry about the government’s GCSB bill, here is the latest news from the UK: police there […]
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