Open mike 30/07/2011
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 29/07/2011
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
NRT on MMP threshold
I/S at No Right Turn looks at the arguments for lowering the MMP threshold instead, or as a trade off for, getting rid of the ‘win an electorate, win list MPs’ rule. The conservatives say that a low threshold would mean more parties and ‘instability’. I/S shows that’s not only mathematically false, it’s not a reason to deny people democratic representation.
Political crisis, not debt crisis
The media are reporting the chance of the US defaulting as a ‘debt crisis’, as if the problem is too much debt and people won’t lend to them. It’s not. The US is still borrowing at half the cost we borrow at. The problem is the debt ceiling. A purely political invention that lets lawmakers cut taxes, add spending, and then refuse to allow the resultant borrowing.
Mythbustin’: guns save lives
Rightwing violence fetishists are exploiting the Norwegian terror attacks to call for looser gun laws. ‘If only one of those teenagers had a handgun to take on the drugged up zealot with the automatic rifle’. Fact is, the ‘guns save lives’ myth was destroyed by the Tuscon shooting earlier this year. The armed bystander there nearly caused more innocent deaths.
Turnaround is fair play
Some are linking Labour’s polling to National’s in 2002. Well, I think it’s worth remembering the other side of the 2002 polls. Labour’s support plunged 13% in the last month of the campaign from 50%+ support to the point where a Nat-led government was a real threat. Then, there was 1996, where Labour went from polling 4th to losing by a hair.
Utoya island – New Zealand connections
Two pieces of news have recently linked Anders Breivik’s Utoya island massacre of members of Young Labour and New Zealand.
Open mike 29/07/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
American heatwave
On a road to nowhere
The government has put out a new policy statement on transport. Total funding is unchanged. But cost of the RoNS is rising before they’re even built. So, it’s more money into white elephant highways. Less money for road safety, local roads, road policing, and public transport. Stupid myopic policy.
Joyce and corporate handouts
National has handed Telecom a new monopoly to replace its old one. As landlines go the way of the Dodo, fibre optic cable is the new natural monopoly, and we’re learning that Steven Joyce was talking to Telecom as far back as 2009 to ensure they go the lion’s share of the government handouts for fibre and a virtual monopoly in the market.
Just resting in his account?
Did anyone else see the Herald article beginning: “A priest working as a senior executive at the Auckland University of Technology has resigned after “accounting discrepancies” involving hundreds of thousands of dollars.” and think “the money was just resting in my account“?
No? Just me?
Flavell fails on suicide
Last week, Jim Anderton said that the tidal wave of youth unemployment we’re experiencing will lead to more suicides. He’s right. The best response from the Right: slash young people’s wages and that might create a few more jobs. But Te Ururoa Flavell’s suggestion to ostracise and condemn the dead is just as bad.
Polls and policies
Much ado in the commentariat about the latest Farifax poll, another poor result for Labour. But some of these commentators could do to brush up on their history…
Open mike 28/07/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Indeed
A classic from stuff:
Prime Minister John Key said the Government had had very little room to move on the economy.
”The public recognises that the rest of the world isn’t in great shape and so New Zealand is having to contend with that global environment,” he said.
Chart o’ the day: more trouble brewing
Every US dollar we make in exports is worth 17% less in New Zealand than 4 months ago. Gonna get worse. How long’s this sustainable?
US brinksmanship takes us all to the edge
The Republicans are playing chicken over the debt ceiling. The idea is to win as much as possible in spending cuts and permanently shrink the government by appearing more willing to go over the edge than the Democrats without actually going over. But does the Tea Party faction understand the game, or will they block the last minute compromise?
Too many hungry kids
Making sure that children don’t go hungry is not the responsibility of charity, it is the responsibility of all of us, of society. It is the responsibility of government. The National government is failing.
Open mike 27/07/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Growing our own Breivik
Just after Irish has discussed how little it takes to jump from the violent language of the NZ Right to the violent actions of Anders Breivik (and an ‘expert’ had said it can’t happen here), we learn of a rightwinger who planned a van-bomb attack on ACC. The striking thing is that his online rants are unremarkable within the Right’s discourse.
Why Key’s opportunism was sickening
The Right is whining that Key said “If [the Norway massacre] is an act of global terrorism, I think what it shows is no country large or small is immune from that risk and that’s why New Zealand’s played its part in Afghanistan” . ‘IF! Don’t you see, IF!’ Try to get the point, righties. Key opportunistically framed a tragedy for his political purposes.
The Auckland Disease (var. North Shore)
There is a long and sordid relationship between National governments and developers. Just how many favours have National done for developers over the years? Are the so-called ‘Roads of National Significance’, especially the Holiday Highway, just a continuation of this practice? Is it any coincidence that Nicky Hager’s Hollow Men are all Shore Boys?
It’s cold in Christchurch
Why has the government delayed the second phase of Christchurch’s heating programme for two months? Could the timing be any worse?
Open mike 26/07/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
The violent right
The kind of racist right wing opinions held by the Norway shooter are shared by quite a few New Zealand bloggers and commenters. Many of the same bloggers are now claiming the massacre is somehow the Left’s fault. We should be concerned that there are people with such hatred and self-delusion among us.
Many a true word
Bill Maher on taxes, the deficit, and why 49% of Americans are voting away their future.
No byline
Gotta love the piece in the Herald today about Key[s]’s meeting with Obama. No mention of what was discussed or achieved (nothing). Just ‘oh they got along. And Key would have made Obama laugh. If Obama wasn’t busy with important stuff’. Best part in this non-bylined article is the list of what makes them such good buddies.
Nats smear kindergartens
Tolley’s running a nasty little smear through Cameron Slater. See, non-profit kindergartens have millions in the bank while saying they need more cash. It must be a rip-off, eh? Yeah. Nah. The kindergartens just have the cash they’ve been given for future operations. So, why is Tolley trying to make this an issue?
The answer to violence
The tragic events in Norway raise many questions, and there are no easy answers.
Open mike 25/07/2011
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How empires end
The US is embroiled in the most extraordinary of crises. Unique among nations, the US has a legal debt ceiling. This artifice has allowed the Republicans to create the current ‘crisis’. For 30 years, Republicans have cut taxes and upped (defence) spending. Strategic deficits that now allow them to force a crisis by refusing the raise the debt ceiling.
Mission: whatevered
Classic Key on his holiday very important series of very important meetings that were very important and achieved all kinds of important things: “I’ve got to be the luckiest Prime Minister of New Zealand in the last 25 years. I’ve come to Washington and every single person who we’ve met with from the Administration has wanted to see us” Yay! Meetings!
Farewell to space
I think our exploration of space is effectively over. The end of the shuttle programme is the end of that era.
Open mike 24/07/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Condolences to Norwegian Labour
