Open mike 03/02/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Dealing with the DIA website-harvest parasite
Periodically I run a scan to identify network parasites that are sucking up our bandwidth and processing resources in excess. Of course I leave the benign parasites that provide search facilities alone. But I stomp on the nasties.
Tonight the biggest parasite appears to have been a New Zealand government department – the Department of Internal Affairs.
Key’s mistake
So I reckoned the election would be in July. That’s because July would have been a good call. And I thought Key and his wee crew were good.
Turns out they’re locking in November 26. That’s a big mistake – he would have had the opposition on the ropes if he’d called July or earlier.
Principles
So John Key has flip flopped and decided to rule out working with Winston Peters again. He’s trying to portray that as a principled decision, about running an “aspirational” government. So why did he need to spend so many months working out what his principles are? No, it’s a political decision. Key thinks he can squeeze a little more milage out of flogging the dead horse that is Winston Peters.
Past 7000 posts.
Darn, we sneaked past the 7000th post without my noticing at the end of last month. We passed 6000 posts on August 25th last year, so we did that last thousand posts in 160 days. The comment growth is pretty strong as well.
The site is also now iPad friendly. Have a peek at the screenshots.
Key press conference: November 26 election
The PM has called a surprise press conference for 12:45 today, and is tipped to announce a November 26th election date. A further “major announcement” is also expected.
Update: Election date November 26 confirmed.
Press Gallery exam
Our Deep Throat in the press gallery (Rob Hosking) leaked us a copy of the admittance test.
Q4) Which of these stories is newsworthy?
a) Greying MP dyes hair
b) Fat MP a little less fat
c) PM supports dictator against popular uprising
d) PM jokes about affairs with domestic abuser
e) Wages drop, as Key secretly promised business
Yeah. I didn’t pass either.
Well, at least he kept one promise
December 2007, John Key, speaking to Carolyne Brooks-Quan said: “We would love to see wages drop“. Key tried several conflicting excuses, including that he was talking about Australian wages (which became a mini-meme). But actions speak louder than words. Yesterday, we had more confirmation that wages have dropped under Key, except for union members.
Bunch of bankers
In America a federal enquiry has now confirmed what we already knew. The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by multiple failures of regulation and good old fashioned greed. If we don’t make some fundamental changes it is all going to happen again…
Open mike 02/02/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
ECE – cuts bite today
Today is the day that Anne Tolley’s $400 million dollar cut to early childhood education bites. A sector which delivers $13 value for […]
Economic recovery despite the Nats
Pundits looking to talk up the economy are hopeful that things will improve in 2011. National have done more harm than good, but there some encouraging signs too, arising from external factors such as high food prices, and returns on old investments such as NZ Super. The NZ economy will eventually recover. Not because of the Nats, but in spite of them.
Needed like a hole in the head
Judith Collins is an utter failure. She calls herself ‘Crusher’ but hasn’t crushed a single car two years after promising to. Crime has gone up under her watch and police deaths have increased despite her claim that the Taser would make them safer. So, there’s plenty of good ways to criticise her without dumb shit like this.
What will Key cut?
The early childhood education cuts have hit – families will face an average $20-$45 a week increase in the cost of sending a kid to kindy. And Anne Tolley is signaling more to come. But it’s not just the education of the next generation that’s for the chop as National seeks to balance the books after its tax cuts for the rich binge.
NZ takes one more step toward complete biodiversity loss
In a poor attempt to make it look like NACT are actually doing something about New Zealand’s incredibly high rate of bio-diversity loss , and warnings that our forests will soon be silent Nick Smith has introduced a National Policy Statement on Biodiversity whilst NACT also announces further cuts in conservation funding .
Guest post: Why the left needs feminism II
Why the left needs feminism part II: why the centre vote is a lie and what Labour needs to do to reclaim its soul.
Open mike 01/02/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Key: Mubarak’s last supporter?
Like many of you, I stopped watching Breakfast after Paul Henry left* but an alert reader sent me this interview with John Key on the show yesterday. Before he makes his weak excuses for not Mondayising public holidays but he says something truly amazing: he thinks Mubarak should stay in power in Egypt just because he recognises Israel.
Be honest on holidays, John
John Key says he needs ‘advice’ on Mondayising ANZAC Day and Waitangi Day. The fact is the move would be right and popular but his business mates are too cheap to pay an extra 4 days every 7 years. Key’s just playing for time.
It ain’t easy being green
At his ‘Blue-Green’ conference Nick Smith talked up the Nats’ environmental credentials. Proclaimed a marine reserve … where commercial fishing will still be allowed. And pushed new air quality standards from 2013 to 2020. That will cost 635 lives and a million sick days. Smith says it will save $506m. Guess the ‘Green’ in ‘Blue-Green’ is money after all.
Greens state of the planet
Russel Norman followed Phil Goff and John Key’s state of the nation speeches with the annual Greens state of the planet address. The capital gains tax initiative grabbed headlines but there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface. As we face myriad economic and environmental problems, the Greens have the real answers.
Guest post: Why the left needs feminism
In the first part of a two part guest post, Queen of Thorns takes a look at feminism, the left, the labour party and funny old Chris Trotter.
An argument for hope?
It’s crunch time for humanity and for our current way of life. Ever since the failure of the Copenhagen summit on climate change I have been less than optimistic about the outcome. So the Christmas break was a good time to read Here on Earth: An Argument for Hope by Tim Flannery. An argument for hope was exactly what I was looking for…
Open mike 31/01/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Hey Laydeez
Is it just me or is the idea of our Prime Minister joking around with Tony Vietch (a guy who threw his fiance […]
Economic reform for sustainability
Continual growth in the use of resources is not possible. Society and the economy has to be structured to allow a steady state economy where resource use is within sustainable limits.
Open mike 30/01/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Time for the Goffice to step up to the plate
We face a stark choice this year: a Labour-led government, which will create fairer tax and invest in jobs and innovation, or National-led government, which will govern for the kleptocracy, giving them tax cuts, then selling our assets and slashing our public services to pay for them. So why is the Goffice doing such a bad job making the case?
Food/oil crisis sparking revolutions
Food and oil prices have sparked unrest across North Africa. The Tunisian Government has fallen. Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak has declared martial law. In Cairo, thousands of protesters shook hands with the soldiers, and chanted: “The army and the people are united” and “The revolution has come.”* Yup. Mubarak’s screwed.
Contact Energy: A Case Study
We could look at bailed-out TranzRail and Air NZ, with privatisation leading to risk-free pay-outs for the temporary owners of infrastructure that couldn’t be allowed to fail. Or Telecom that doesn’t look out for NZers interests, and needs us to pay for it to build us a fibre network. But let’s look at the “success” story of Contact, the closest privatisation to National’s new plans.
Open mike 29/01/2011
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Friday Fun: raising your kid Objectivist
“…When little Aiden toddled up our daughter Johanna and asked to play with her Elmo ball, he was, admittedly, very sweet and polite. I think his exact words were, “Have a ball, peas [sic]?” And I’m sure you were very proud of him for using his manners. To be sure, I was equally proud when Johanna yelled, “No! Looter!” right in his looter face…”
Caption Contest
Stupid but dangerous
The Republican Party may be entering its death throes. In an unprecedented move, there were two competing Republican response speeches to President Obama’s State of the Union address. One from Paul Ryan, the powerful Chair of the House Budget Committee. The other from a Teabagger who looked into the wrong camera the whole time.
Welcome to Election Year
John Key was interviewed on Morning Report less than a handful of times each of the 2 years between winning power in 2008 and Sean Plunket leaving. He’s appeared on Radio NZ before 9.30 for lengthy interviews 3 times this week.
Election year accountability, you gotta love it.
Selling assets to pay for tax cuts for richest 1%
John Key, very optimistically, reckons he can raise $10 billion by selling our assets. Key’s Government gave massive tax cuts, averaging $16,000 each, to the richest 1% of taxpayers that they’ll get year after year. The present value of those tax cuts for the richest 1% is over $10 billion. He’s selling our assets to pay for tax cuts for the richest 1%.