A plea to deaf ears
The Antarctic Ocean Alliance is hoping that Key’s experience in Antarctica will move him to join the effort to create a marine reserve there. Seems unlikely to me – but I hope that Key proves me wrong…
Open mike 19/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
If these trends continue
Key’s government is falling apart, yet one fact remains stubbornly true: walk down the street and nearly 1 in every 2 people you see supports National, while less than 1 in 3 supports Labour (and the 1 in 8 who support the Greens don’t quite make up the difference). When tonight’s Roy Morgan came out I put down my whisky and pulled by my Roy Morgan excel doc. It’s some grim reading.
Weekend social 18/01/2013
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
Affordable housing
The housing bubble’s clearly back. More wealth concentrated in the hands of the few. More of the rest of us stuck with renting for life. The politicians are talking about affordable housing. But Labour’s plan’s not affordable unless your income’s $60,000 a year or more. And who could afford the petrol you would burn living in National’s planned exurbs?
Doing the numbers: benefits & (un)employment
Paula Bennett stated that the numbers of people on benefits had dropped over the last quarter. The figures mask the reality of Bennett’s punitive welfare reforms, and the struggles of those living on low incomes. Meanwhile unemployment is still rising. [Update: RNZ]
Doubling down on Parata disaster
Protecting the incompetent Parata is a further sign that Key’s government is well in to sclerotic middle age.
Open mike 18/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Charter Schools: A failed idea
Submissions for the Education Amendment Bill 2012 (includes Charter Schools) close on 24 January. The PPTA reminds us that Charter Schools are a failed idea. Even Treasury documents show they are a bad idea.
Market madness
Cat beats stockbrokers at playing the market. Bottom line, we are all at the mercy of a financial system that we don’t and probably can’t understand.
Open mike 17/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Time for Joyce to end the pipe-dream
The oil and gas industry employs fewer people than have lost their jobs in manufacturing every 4 months under National. Yet, Joyce devotes […]
This time, it’s different
For the 5th year running, it’s that time of year, when the economists start promising the recovery is here. (remember ‘green shoots‘ in 2009?) Meanwhile, in the real world, there are twice as many jobless Kiwis as five years ago, and rising. If the pattern holds, later this year the economists will be lamenting the mysterious under-performance of the economy, as petrol hits a record price again.
Where is National on house prices?
With a 10% increase in the median house price last year, we’re firmly back on a damaging house price binge. Labour has policies that address the issue. Where is National?
Open mike 16/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Ear treatment cuts another attack on the poor
The Nats want to cut the budget for surgery to install grommets, a technique for treating persistent ear infection (especially in children). Naturally those most effected by this ill-considered move will be children from poor families.
If you can’t beat ’em, scaremonger about ’em
The Herald’s running a pretty intense series about how awful it is to emigrate to Australia. A cynic might think the editor’s daughter is talking about crossing the ditch, such is the passion in the anti-Aussie message. But all the stories follow the same pattern: ‘Aussie is bad because of X, yet Kiwis are flocking there in record numbers’. There’s one number that matters: here it’s 7.3%, in Aussie 5.3%.
So, that’s what Nats mean by creating jobs
We all know, because that Nice Man Mr Key told us, the government can’t create jobs. That is, unless it has given away $67m to international bully boys and wants to show a return on investment. Then, it can create 3,000 jobs out of thin air. It turns out, that’s where the claim that the Hobbit films created 3,000 Kiwi jobs came from. But it gets worse.
Open mike 15/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Welcome to the Burdigalian
Last year, in the Arctic, atmospheric CO2 concentrations were measured at 400ppm. If you search on line for historical CO2 levels, you’ll find a lot of comments that are of the opinion that 400ppm CO2 last occurred about 800 000 years ago…or maybe just a bit longer. The implication is that since that’s well within the span of human existence it doesn’t really matter too much. It’s fine; we’ve been here before.
Questions questions
What is the role of blogs in the run up to the next election? What can the community here at The Standard accomplish in that time?
Johny on ice
After four weeks holiday in Hawaii, John Key will briefly land in New Zealand this week before popping off on a junket to Antarctica. Now, you won’t hear a lot about this in the media – because half the press gallery is going with him and they’re just excited to go to Antarctica – but there’s all kinds of buzz coming out of the public service about how and why Key set up this trip.
Open mike 14/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Deja vu all over again: Labour in 2014 edition
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here: a Labour victory in 2014 isn’t necessarily better than a National victory in 2014.
Police Association offers a recipe for dead cops
In December, a cop had his taser taken off him and fired at him. The Police Association said the solution is for cops to be armed. Judith Collins got it right, “if that was a gun [not a Taser] we’d probably be going to a funeral, actually, for a police officer”. On Friday, an armed cop had his gun taken off him. The Police Association’s answer: cops should pull their guns earlier.
Missing the point: Minister of Tourism fail
Michael Field on Stuff, responds to a question he attributes to “Labour Party blog, The Standard” about our Minister of Tourism spending most of his holidays in Hawaii and fails to answer the question he cites. Field diverts to past PMs, ignores all Clark’s NZ holidays, and champions “Kiwi” Muldoon.
Open mike 13/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
I know, how about a Jobs Summit
Today, Fran O’Sullivan calls Key out on his complete failure on jobs: “If I have one New Year’s wish it is that John Key returns from his Hawaiian summer holiday brimming with enough determination to challenge the nation’s employers – and himself – to tackle youth unemployment.” In fact, she is the latest of the rightwing’s pundits to conclude neoliberalism has failed.
Open mike 12/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Upcoming talk on Canadian student uprising
This Sunday hip hop artist and political activist Darius Mirshahi will be speaking in Auckland about the political situation in Canada and how the left are organising to resist Neo-Liberalism. Later he will be performing material which has lead to attention from Glen Beck and the Canadian police.
Weekend social 11/01/2013
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
State housing vs home ownership
Labour’s 2012 Kiwibuild policy has focused on building homes for first time buyers. Now we are told Labour’s 2011 policy pledging to increase the state housing stock still stands. This raises many questions: including do-ability and the Labour leadership’s continuing (neoliberal) focus.
Open mike 11/01/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Labour’s popular housing policy
I’m delighted to see that over 70% of respondents to a recent Herald poll, published today, think Labour’s 100,000 houses plan is “a winner for Labour”. The plan was announced by David Shearer at Labour’s November conference. I’d also like to thank Olwyn for asking some questions about Labour’s policy on housing in response to Zetetic’s post – they deserve an answer.
Mr Fail strikes again
On Monday, Steven Joyce promised lots of new jobs in the wood manufacturing industry thanks to the wonders of foreign investment and a do nothing government, and called the Left anti-jobs. On Wednesday, wood manufacturer Norske Skog sacked 110 workers. What’s Joyce’s next trick, attend a funeral, tell the departed to ‘wake up’, and blame the rest of the congregation when he doesn’t?
What’s the Right’s plan for Auckland 2013?
It’s 9 months until polls close in the 2013 local body elections. Len Brown has just been rated the 7th best mayor in the world. So, who’s going to stand up from the Right? 9 months is no time to get the brand recognition needed to take the most powerful political job in the country outside Cabinet’s top 5. Does no rightie want to run because they’re sure to lose?