Bexley, eventually
Resources for the poor, eastern Christchurch suburbs have been lacking but everyone accepts things are stretched. Key did himself no favours trying to […]
Unemployment tsunami hits Chch
3065 people have already claimed the special benefit for people left unemployed due to the Christchurch earthquake. Once that payment expires in a […]
Another poll
Another Roy Morgan poll is out, and the results make for interesting reading.
Botany by-election
For obvious reasons the Botany by-election has received very little attention on this blog, or anywhere else in the media. Some are calling it “the byelection everyone forgot”.
Open mike 05/03/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
You know you’re from Christchurch when…
Sometimes black humour is the only way to cope. These are doing the rounds…
Truly Stranded
One of the names that the self-inflated blogs who consider themselves to be the “taste police” give us is the unimaginative juvenile name of The Stranded. Typically this is when they are writing a silly post trying to tell us why we should think like them (I guess everyone is entitled to a unrealistic dream). Anyway I thought I’d give them some real bad taste to moan about in a Friday Fun post (warning – written in the Cactus Kate style).
Recovery phase
I know that the thoughts of the whole country are with those in Christchurch, especially the family and friends of the dead and missing. And the thanks of the whole country are with the rescue teams and other workers, who have done everything humanly possible in very dangerous circumstances. Thank you all.
Football news
New Zealand has won the rights to host the U20 Football World Cup in 2015.
Farrar illustrates WfF folly
John Key has tidied up the confusion he caused yesterday and says that the quakes will cost the government $5 billion in rebuilding and $5 billion in lost revenue over the next 4 years. Big bikkies but easily covered by an emergency levy and canning the white elephant motorways. So, why are the Nats obsessed with tinkering with Working for Families?
Open mike 04/03/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Lhaws’ lhabours lhost
Michael Lhaws has done more to hurt ethnic relations in this country than, arguably, anyone else in the past decade. He chose the most racially divided city in the land and cynically exploited those divisions to get the attention his pathetic ego craves. Now, one of his greatest ‘achievements’ has been ruled illegal.
Key: quakes to cost 125,000 jobs
We’ve heard figures of $20 billion damage from the Christchurch quakes, $5 billion uninsured for the government to cover. Now, Key has given an estimate of the lost economic output this year – $12 billion, 6% of GDP. He says that will mean $5 billion less government revenue – a hole the size of the defence and law and order budgets combined. updated
Anarchy to the rescue in Chch
Farrar says it’s ‘ghastly’ to discuss how to pay for rebuilding Christchurch, since the obvious answer is by reversing the tax cuts rich people like him have pocketed. Well, I think how the poor eastern suburbs of Christchurch have been ignored is ghastly. Fortunately, resilient communities are organising themselves, without government.
Drinking Liberally – Dunedin
The first Drinking Liberally for 2011 is to be held in Dunedin. Pete Hodgson Thursday March 3rd 7:30pm Circadian Rhythm (72 St Andrew […]
Christchurch rentals
As the long haul gets under way in Christchurch there are going to be many flash points for conflict. One of the first to emerge is the tension between landlords and tenants, as the following selection of articles makes clear.
Open mike 03/03/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
English on Working for Families
English on Working for Families cuts: “around 1,000 families earning over $100,000 receive WFF, and payments to those families total only $1.1 million … Taking higher-income families out of WFF saves very little money …
In this uncertain economic climate, we want to give all families certainty about their incomes”
Christchurch Quake — More action needed in Eastern Suburbs right now
It’s 2am and, like many people in Christchurch, I am not sleeping too well just now. But at least we now have power, so I can use the time productively. My personal history of the past week will have to wait. It may be interesting to some, but it’s not important right now. What’s important is what is is NOT happening adequately in the acute post-quake period, because the official response is dwarfed by the size of the problem.
Powerless
The man tipped to be National’s next leader, Simon Power, has announced he will not be standing at the next election. The reasons are obvious. As a decent man and an old fashioned caring Tory, Power has no heart for the direction National want to take New Zealand. His resignation is a sign that within the party, the dry right have finally taken total control the idealogical reigns and there is no longer a place for liberal wets like Power.
Shock Retirement
Simon Power is not going to stand for re-election in November.
The knife edge
To get enough oil for global demand requires expensive technologies, and expending more energy. If the price is too low those investments won’t be feasible, meaning not enough production. But too high and the world can’t afford it and we enter global recession. The ‘goldilocks’ in the middle is shrinking, to a knife edge. It’s the same story with food and metals.
The art of political prediction
Make enough predictions and some of them will turn out to be true. Here are two fine examples of the art of political prediction which reach completely opposite conclusions. Take your pick…
Open mike 02/03/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
The Shock Doctrine
I’m really pissed off that politics has come into the Christchurch earthquake so quickly. But make no mistake, the Nats are pursuing a strongly ideological agenda. They’re using the quake as cover for radically cutting important policies and making other extreme decisions, while preserving the tax cuts for the rich. It’s called the Shock Doctrine.
No-fly zone for Libya
NATO leaders are discussing a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent the crumbling Gaddafi regime bombing and strafing protesters. Gaddafi’s loyalists are tied up keeping Tripoli under control, and the opposition is preparing to send in troops. Meanwhile, the big question elsewhere in the Arab world is what will happen on Saudi Arabia’s March 11, ‘Day of Rage’?
Govt must lead Chch rebuild
The government’s wage subsidy and universal redundancy for quake-affected workers is a start. But with 750 red-stickered buildings in the CBD alone and 200+ jobs already lost, it is just a start. The private sector won’t rebuild without demand, that will have to be supplied by the government upping its spending, and that needs to be paid for.
A Reassuring Rebuild: The Freiburg Parallel
Christchurch has been called “Victorian planning at its most remarkable”. It needs to be rebuilt in a style that retains or even amplifies as much of its formerly cosy, reassuring character as possible, for the sake of the tourism industry, the locals, and its cultural legacy. Germany’s Freiburg is a useful example of restoring a city to former glory.
Quarter of a million comments soon
As of Tuesday morning, we have had about 249,250 comments since The Standard launched three and a half years ago. We’re averaging a 317 comments a day since New Year’s. Although politics has rightly cooled in the past week due to the quake, the quarter of a million mark should still be reached on Thursday. Who will be the lucky commenter?
Two minutes silence
Today at 12:51 pm marks exactly one week since the earthquake struck, and probably around 300 people lost their lives. PM John Key has called on the country to observe 2 minutes silence, starting at that time, to honour the victims of the quake.
Open mike 01/03/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Universal Income Revisited
The tax system we currently have is a relic of the pre-IT age. In the days of manual clerk-handled accounts, it was impractical […]
Tapu Misa: Right On
Tapu Misa’s latest piece in the Herald is just so right I can’t really add anything to it. She nicely sums up the Welfare Working Group’s message: “We’re not saying it’s your fault you can’t get a job. We’re just saying you’re a malingering freeloader who’s not trying hard enough.”
Rebuilding choices reveal govt priorities
Unless a leader is horribly neglectful in the wake of a disaster, like Bush after Katrina, I don’t think there is any grounds to criticise them for the immediate disaster response, which is largely out of their hands anyway. But the policy response that follows is a legitimate topic for political debate. And I’m worried about Key’s.
Christchurch power chart
They are doing pretty well on restoring the power. With the exception of some small outlying areas, along the strike line and the CBD most of the city has power again as you can see from this chart. At a guess it will probably take some time on the major remaining areas simply because these are the areas that had the most vertical acceleration during the quake.
Seismic events in Christchurch, food & fuel
Concurrently Christchurch’s second big quake, the effects of two other shocks are beginning to ripple through our country. Food prices are putting basics out of reach and this week will see another big petrol price hike. All three of these shocks will require us to pool our resources and redirect them to rebuilding resiliently.