Open mike 18/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Key predicts future recessions
I’m really surprised that this comment from John Key hasn’t elicited more reaction: “[Future] recessions are almost certainly in my view going to be global in nature and probably more severe… I think the question is not whether there is going to be another global recession but when that recession is going to hit.” A sovereign debt crisis this year or an oil supply crunch in 2012?
Hooten has “loose lips” syndrome as well
It is always amusing listening to Matthew Hooten being a spinster on politics. But it was rather ironic for him to be in a conversation about John Key’s “loose lips” on NatRad this morning. He talked about this site posting conspiracy theories, but he was talking about a post at Tumeke and attributing to us.
“Loose lips” appear to be rife amongst the right-wing politicians and political commentators these days.
Key a dim bulb
Our PM is now an international laughing stock, having been nominated by the San Francisco Examiner as “Dim bulb of the week” for his cannibal joke. Nor are Key’s most recent comments on the Tuhoe deal likely to help matters…
World Bank opens up its data
As well as releasing its yearly report on World Development Indicators last month, the World Bank opened up its data. It has included a […]
The Supercity & neoliberalism
A passage from Matt McCarten’s article in the Sunday Herald summed up for me not only the approach of Rodney Hide in setting up his Super City but also the neo-liberal project that has been in vogue for the past quarter century. Democracy under the neo-liberal model is, as far as possible, to be a financial transaction.
Who says tax swap boosts growth?
There are several myths about the coming tax swap that have a surprising amount of currency. The biggest is that this tax swap will boost growth. It won’t and the Tax Working Group never said it would. What it will do is increase inequality with massive tax cuts for the elite funded by higher GST and rents for working Kiwis. That’s not by accident or inevitable – it’s by design.
No answers on the tough questions
Hmm, so another bad, bad week for the directionless Key Government. Lucky a major newspaper steps in with a chance to make the PM look cute and adorable. It’s pretty telling that National Party pollster David Farrar chose to highlight a joke question from Valerie Vili and a joke answer; the answers to real questions are amazingly weak.
Parliament in lockdown
Nope, it isn’t the budget. It appears that there is a bomb scare. At the beehive there is an evacuation. It appears that […]
Open mike 17/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Renters will pay for Nats’ tax cuts for the rich
The tax changes that will soon be announced are characterised even by the Government as a ‘tax swap’. They are fiscally neutral. The tax burden will not fall. All that will change is who it will fall on. Most people end up neutral or slightly worse off from the GST and income tax changes. The rich get huge cuts, which renters will end up paying for. Who are the renters? The census tells us.
Henare’s bigoted attack on poor proven false
Tau Henare is opposing Labour’s suggested policy of taking GST off fruit and vegetables saying “If they can’t afford to buy a lettuce or a tomato then they should give up the drink and the smokes,” and “It’s a well-known fact that poor people, if they don’t have enough money, will buy smokes and not bread.” Really? Well, it took two minutes checking on the Stats’ website to prove him wrong.
The New Zealand Herald: “Coalition is shakier by the day”
The headline for the Herald’s editorial today says a lot about where the media are at with National at the moment. The Government and its […]
Strong showing for Len Brown
Sam Cash writes it’s good news for Auckland with Len Brown opening up a strong lead over John Banks. Len Brown’s campaign seems to have been quietly gathering momentum since he launched his insurgency last year.
Corporal punishment bullshit
Family First have a history of trying to make political capital out of stacked questions. They’re are at it again, distorting the results of a survey question to push for bringing back corporal punishment in schools. They are aided and abetted by some spectacularly bad journalism.
Open mike 16/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Shed some sunlight on a limp response
David Farrar has finally made a comment on my “Hey Chubby…” post. It raises more questions than it answers. So I ask some of the obvious questions, and conclude that he has forsaken the principles of “free speech” that he so enthusiastically espoused only a few years ago.
International Year of Biodiversity but not in NZ
The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. They have stated ‘It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity for our lives.’ National has taken up the cause wholeheartedly in a variety of weird ways. They seem hell bent on enacting policies that will do nothing but destroy biodiversity in the name of the economic growth.
Wind power is (too) successful?
You sometimes have to wonder about headline writers sometimes (including myself). But take a look at this one from Bloomberg.com, a site with […]
Learning lessons on mining
Here in NZ we have the issue of mining front and centre, with assurances that it will be done with due process. Gerry Brownlee must be feeling frustrated at the senario in the US which vividly illustrates what can happen when it all goes wrong. This NY Times examines how the situation came to be…
Two senior journos, one side of the story
Two highly paid and highly experienced New Zealand Herald gallery journalists put their heads together for a budget story and what does the lucky reader get?
The world according to Bill English.
Pravda would be proud but most journalism tutors would be reaching for their red pen.
Key was sending a message to Tuhoe
Make no mistake, John Key’s comment about Tuhoe cannibalism was no accident, it was no joke, and it certainly was not ‘self-deprecating’. Key didn’t just happen to accidentally make a comment that appeals to a deep-seated prejudice that is still current among redneck Pakeha and wedges our society in two. It was a message to Tuhoe
Open mike 15/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Shirtcliffe can’t tell his electoral systems apart
No Right Turn on the ignorance of the main campaigner wanting a change to our electoral system. You’d think that if you’re campaigning for something that you’d at least know what you are campaigning for. But apparently not.
Caption Contest
Nats don’t believe in Kiwis
Shame on National and Kiwirail CEO Jim Quinn for not letting the Kiwirail workers even bid to build the new Auckland railcars. This isn’t just about national spirit and a belief in New Zealand. It’s about acting smarter and making the right choices for the economy. Steven Joyce and National have proven that they neither believe in New Zealand nor have the brains to recognise the smart moves for the country.
Aucklanders revolt against Right’s Supercity
The Right has forced the Supercity on Aucklanders who don’t want it, don’t need it, and won’t benefit from it. Aucklanders were denied their legal right to a referendum on amalgamation into the Supercity. But they’re getting a vote soon. And they’re going to punish the Right’s candidates. And, of course, Brown is also just a far better candidate.
Aucklanders – check OurAuckland and vote.
PM’s idiocy goes global
Hey thanks John, you’ve really helped put New Zealand in the international spotlight yet again. First it was your clown act on Letterman, […]
Open mike 14/05/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Murdering thieves ‘joke’ clouds Treaty talks
Embroiled in fraught Treaty talks, Tuhoe negotiator Tamati Kruger has made things worse with an inopportune joke: “The good news tonight is that I was having dinner with my whanau as opposed to with the representatives of the Crown in which case I would be lucky to get away without having my land stolen and my family murdered”.
Plans to mine a schedule-4 protected wetland
Yesterday, No Right Turn wrote this post pointing out a case where L&M Lignite has a exploration license on schedule 4 conservation land granted back in 2003 before a schedule 4 site was expanded.. The legislation for putting land into schedule 4 needs to be amended to remove such licenses when land is moved into a protected status.
Gluckman’s apology for National’s science package shredded
Peter Gluckman is easily one of New Zealand’s most over-rated, under-examined public figures. Although little more than a corporate frontman out to extract as many […]
What could possibly go wrong?
The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could be stopped with an underground nuclear blast, a Russian newspaper reports. Excellent idea, what could possibly go wrong? That was sarcasm, by the way.
Question over Banks’ polling
Sam Cash has spotted a possible issue with Dodgy John “if I wear my policy on my sleeve, I won’t get elected†Banks’ most recent mayoral poll. Could it be Banks is just polling ratepayers to boost his numbers?
Joke? Or deliberate insult?
There appears to have been a recent and sudden shift in the attitude of John Key and the National party towards Maori. Marty Mars has drawn my attention with a ballistic comment to the latest insulting and distasteful ‘joke’ by John Key about the Tuhoe.
Update: His ‘joke’ has now gone international. Our clueless Tourism Minister has just ‘lifted’ our profile abroad. Thanks John…
UK coalition good for climate
The Conservative/ Lib Dem alliance is good news for the climate, with the coalition already stating its committment to a low carbon, “eco-friendly economy”. Will Key show any of the same vision next week?