Short and sweet
At the risk of following Bill’s excellent post with something seriously lightweight, I just read this in the Listener and thought it was […]
Que CERRA, CERRA?
After picking up my award for worst ever ‘Standard’ post title, I’d just like to say that there seems to a penchant these days to leave too many things up to higher powers, or perceived authorities. And authorities and those who are ideologically aligned with them or reliant upon them, naturally enough encourage such a giving away of agency. It’s not always deliberate. And it’s certainly not a conspiracy. It’s just the way it is and is borne of habit. This morning afforded a fairly clear example of it.
Hickey sees the light
Bernard Hickey, one of the country’s leading economic commentators, was a hardline neo-liberal – ie. the market is god. Now, he’s changed his mind. He’s come to the realisation that there’s no invisible god’s hand directing capitalist markets. Instead they are directed by short-termist elites. We need to take back control.
Jackson threatens capital flight
I thought Peter Jackson was an ordinary guy made good who hadn’t let success make him an elitist prick. I was wrong. New Zealand taxpayers contributed hundreds of millions to his <em>Lord of the Rings</em> trilogy and what thanks do we get? Threats of capital flight, which will probably soon be followed by demands for taxpayer subsidies.
Nat smear machine obsessed by Fa’afoi’s ethnicity
Ever since Kris Fa’afoi put his name forward to be Labour’s candidate in the Mana by-election, the National smear machine attacked him on his Tokelaun heritage. First it was ‘oh, they’re only going to choose him because he has a brown face’. Now, apparently, the problem is that he isn’t Pasifika enough. In truth, it’s National with the problems.
Jackson’s employment law fibs
Peter Jackson and others film industry employers are claiming they can’t employ their workers as employees.
That claim is simply untrue.
So what’s the real reason for their reluctance to employee people on proper agreements?
Open mike 29/09/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Anne Tolley is a fool
Anne Tolley, Minister for wrecking primary education, doesn’t have the first or faintest idea of what “national standards” are actually going to mean in practice. She is “appalled” at the idea of labelling children as failures. But that is exactly what the standards are designed to do.
Open letter on the CERRA
A group of 27 legal scholars from New Zealand and overseas has written an open letter outlining their deep concerns over the constitutional implications of the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010.
Nats’ shortsighted penny-pinching will cost us big in the end
While the cat’s away the mice will play. And while the clown’s sunning himself in Hawaii the ideologues in his Cabinet will launch vitriolic attacks on public service workers. As teachers are forced to endure another day of the country’s most powerful figures attack them, lets consider the consequences of undermining vital public services.
English spins on GST with no traction
It’s worth having a look at Bill English’s performance on Q+A the other day. What’s telling, to my mind, is that English can’t present a real vision or even any spin-free information. Why not? Because his tax swindle is about taking from us and giving to the elite, and he can’t just come and say that.
Solo parent bashing
Life isn’t hard enough already for solo parents, according to the Nats. So they’re going to make it harder.
Meanwhile, in some good news…
While the Anglo – Saxon or English speaking left seems unable to shake a deep malaise that began afflicting it some thirty years ago, the left in the Spanish speaking world is making some remarkable strides forward.
Open mike 28/09/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
MEAA fisks Jackson tirade
The MEAA has responded to Peter Jacksons Tirade.
And it looks like he’s not been very straight-up about how the situation got to this.
No Right Turn on GST policy changes.
No Right Turn has covered todays announcement about policy changes for GST on fruit and vegetables. Since it is pretty comprehensive we will reproduce the two posts here.
Denier dissected 2
Christopher Monckton has been one of the “highest profile” climate change deniers. But it looks like his days as poster pinup for the denier movement are well and truly over. He’s busted.
Key’s bunker of spin
According to NBR Key is locked down in a bunker of spin that separates him from his party and his caucus.
And it seems like that’s holding the hard right policy back for now.
But things will change in a second term.
A suggestion for students
The voluntary student union membership bill is based on a false premise, and a reflexive tory hatred for the word “union”. I have a suggestion for students…
Union boycotts Jackson
Film workers in New Zealand have been exploited for years
Now their union is standing up for them.
And Sir Peter Jackson is throwing a tantrum about it.
Open mike 27/09/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Ed Miliband UK Labour Leader
Ed Miliband has narrowly beaten his brother David to become the new leader of Labour in the UK. They now get to move on from the Brown-Blair era and fightback against the Tories.
Vote fraud fallout
It looks like a Labour candidate may be involved in electoral fraud.
If this is the case the party says it will come down on them hard.
But it may also have to take a look at how local body candidates get on the Labour ticket.
Key and Shirtcliffe conspire against MMP
Leaked notes from a meeting between Peter Shirtcliffe and Wayne Eagleson have revealed backroom dealings to kill off MMP.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the party of big business and the big-business-backed anti-MMP lobby would be colluding.
After all, it’s in all of their interests to take power from the voters and put it back in the hands of the elite.
Super City Picks
Matt McCarten’s website for who to pick for a progressive Super City is finally up. If you’re in Auckland and haven’t voted yet – make sure to have a look.
200,000 comments
We like to make a big deal over the comments because it is you coming on here, contributing your thoughts and ideas, that make The Standard what it is. Without all of you, it would just be a dozen or so people arguing with themselves/ If we wanted that we could just hang out with the Libertarianz. So, who was comment 200,000? Well…
Time for a new approach
On Thursday, the 2010 Organised Crime Assessment for New Zealand was released to the public.
Essentially it told us what we already know; we have a problem, we know what the problem is, and we’re failing to solve it. It is time we approached the problem rationally and responsibly.
Asbestos City
In the aftermath of the twin towers, the dust that accompanied their collapse gave rise to a health crisis in the medium/long term that continues to play out to this day. And given the prevalence of asbestos in Christchurch buildings, it just might be that the earthquake will result in a number of preventable deaths after all…
Open mike 26/09/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Dunedin North – David Clark
Long serving Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson is stepping down at the next election. The local Labour party today selected their next candidate, the Rev Dr David Clark.
Women majority in Swiss Cabinet
4 out of 7 of Switzerland’s cabinet are now women – a progressive surprise from a conservative country.
“We’re all shades of sheep” – the Calvert interview
Check out Hilary Calvert’s interview in the ODT. It’s, um, extraordinary and hilarious. Calvert can’t remember whether she was ever a member of a different political party, when she first stood for ACT, or whether she has any convictions.
More evidence of the depth of talent in ACT these days.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 4: Other Social Problems
The fourth of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects education, social mobility and teenage pregnancies.
Left voting guide to DCC elections
A reader has sent us a Lefty’s guide to voting in the Dunedin City Council elections. With the huge numbers of candidates and the relatively small amount of information we get on them, this kind of guide is really useful. If anyone else wants to put together a voting guide for their local bodies we’ll (almost certainly) publish it.
China rising
The idea of The Chinese Century has been around for a long time now. But a couple of articles that caught my eye recently make me think that the start of that century is well and truly upon us.