Open mike 06/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
$425,000 for scapegoat
That’s how much we’re paying for Lesley Longstone‘s being forced to resign on 19 December last year, hidden in the Christmas rush. At […]
NRT: The Constitutional Conversation
A useful note from NRT on the constitutional review. Make your submissions…
TPPA: US, corporate dominance – let’s do ACTION!!
TTPA talks under way in Singapore. Jane Kelsey leads critical discussion in NZ: Obama skewing the agenda in favour of US corporates; pharmaceuticals, internet, copyright & more; John Key’s dodgy figures. In Aussie today, a seminar on the TPPA & corporate dominance over women’s rights & health provisions.
How bad does it have to get?
Record breaking droughts in Australia and America, drought in NZ. Food prices rising. Worse to come. How bad does it have to get before we take action?
Throw another mil on the barbie
National’s going to spend a million taxpayer dollars just on advertising trying to convince Kiwis to sign up to buy something we already own and just in the ‘pre-registration’ phase of the Mighty River sale. God knows what the full cost of the sale will be. They’ve wasted $26m already and seem determined to keep throwing good money after bad while ignoring Kiwis’ howls of protest.
Open mike 05/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Novopain protest Tuesday!
Nationwide protest against the Novopay fiasco tomorrow Tuesday (early!). Check here for details of a protest near you…
Annoy Prosser and vote Muslim!
After reading Queen of Thorns complaint about the limited gender options in the census, I was considering the census. For me and almost […]
Gender and the census
The 2013 Census is pretty limited in its treatment of gender. Unfortunately, there’s no practical way to make your feelings heard this time around.
Mighty River is go!
Prepare for the government’s million dollar asset sales ad blitz…
What now for Sky TV?
News Corp is selling shares in NZ Sky TV. What does these mean for the on-going decline of public broadcasting? It is possibly part of the shift away from media moguls, and towards control of news media by bankers.
Kiwis at the front of the queue?
One of the promises that Key made about asset sales was that Kiwis would be “at the front of the queue”. So why will up to 30% of the current offering be heading overseas?
The Silence is Killing Them
The NZ Forestry Sector is completely unmonitored – It is one of our most dangerous industries and no one seems to know what is going on. From my perspective it appears within officialdom and the Forest Owners themselves, no one really cares.
Open mike 04/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Welfare is not a pissing contest
Why must we turn welfare, an important safety net and part of the social fabric / contract of our country, into a stupid pissing match about a minister’s “reputation”?
Sunday Reading
My 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: Killer robots, Al Qaeda on marriage equality and private prisons sponsoring sports teams.
Sequester USA
As the result of their political deadlock, automatic sequestration (budget cuts) have been triggered in America. This won’t end well for the economy – or the Republicans.
Open mike 03/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Stand back! The English language is evolving! GAY evolving!
Family First’s arguments against basic human rights continue to be absurd – now apparently we’re all going to forget what “husband” and “wife” mean.
Brilliant policy
I’ve got to stay that I stand in awe of this latest tax policy suggestion from the IRD. Simple, fair, easy to implement, it will be wildly popular. I think the Nats should adopt it at once.
Poverty Watch 21
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, more from the Children’s Social Health Monitor 2012 Update Report, and the British government’s maneuverings on the definition of poverty…
Caption contest
Ageing population
A British report on the implications of their ageing population structure highlights, yet again, the lack of any planning on this issue from the Key government…
Open mike 02/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Weekend social 01/03/2013
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
Caption contest
Transmission Gully: $60m before a sod even turned
So far, the government has spent $33 million on Transmission Gully. They’re planning on spending another $30m just to sign the contract on the Public-Private Partnership. That’s over $60m down the drain on a project with only $360-$500m of benefits before a single metre of road is built. All up, the cost will be $3.4 billion – trebled by using the PPP model.
Greens announce non-racist policy; 3News decides to make it racist
Yet again, Patrick Gower digs deep to find a story where there really isn’t one.
“Minister for Small Things”
Yesterday, David Cunliffe,on Peter Dunne’s Student Loan Amendment Bill, & the related inter-generational swindle, labelled Dunne as “Minister for Small Changes” & “for Small Things”. Dunne further showed his support of the “neoliberal” swindle, with a couple of tweets on non-residents buying NZ property, smearing the Greens as racist.
The last piece of the Hobbit story
Emails released on the Standard today show that, during the Hobbit “dispute” the Government and others lied to the people of New Zealand to maintain a perception of a crisis.
It was a shameful moment in New Zealand’s political history.
The Government must be crazy
Come one, came all to National’s fire sale! See how fast we can flog off your assets! Low prices, great returns to foreign investors!
The Daily Blog
Today marks the launch of a new leftwing political blog in NZ, The Daily Blog. Go check them out…
Open mike 01/03/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Latest Roy Morgan… a bit shit
I guess the title says it all. The latest Roy Morgan has National at 47.5% (up 3.5%), Labour 30.5% (down 4%), Greens 12.5%, […]
Project complete (at least for the moment)
Project code is complete and getting stamped on the hardware.
I have some time for maintenance and writing at last…. So put in your wish lists.
Oh and this is a warning to trolls. I have time to measure you and comment on your obvious lacks and deficiencies again 😈