Open mike 04/12/2009
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the […]
Goff: Scrap the 2025 Taskforce
We all know the 2025 Taskforce is a farce and a waste of taxpayers’ money. The Government has disowned it, the critics have […]
Hone back but Maori Party divisions laid bare
So Hone Harawira has been readmitted into the fold of the Maori Party. It’s hard to see how excluding him from Parliament until […]
A world gone crazy
It started with me agreeing wholeheartedly with Fran about youth unemployment. Now I can add Garth George and Bruce Sheppard to this strange […]
Words of wisdom from the 19th century
One of the most amusing things in the granny today is Garth George, our iconoclast from Rotorua ripping another hole into the credibility […]
Greens release Green New Deal pt 2
Anyone who thinks that our economic troubles are over because the economy grew 0.1% is delusional. And no-one seriously believes that we don’t […]
Oram on the Brash Report
Always worth listening to, Rod Oram rips the Brash Report on Nine to Noon, not just on the findings but on the quality […]
Key of the seven veils
Here’s a wee gripe in the morning. John Key. Did you ever see such a prima donna? Headline on Newsroom this morning: “Key […]
Obama – war president
Well, any lingering hopes that Obama was something different can now be out of their misery. He’s just another American establishment politician after […]
Open mike 03/12/09
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the […]
Need an exemption from the law? Just ask a corrupt Nat
Doug Schmuck owns and runs a boatyard in Opua in the Bay of Islands. The boatyard borders a public reserve. Schmuck wants to […]
Jon Stewart’s Glenn Beck parody
Caught this on The Nation. Brilliant. Jon Stewart has done it again, and this time he even brought out his acting chops. In […]
Systemic failure of the media
felix in comments points out in his usual sarcastic style about the media response on Don Brash’s 2025 Taskforce report. For example, consider […]
What works?
As the dust settles on the cynical theatre that was the 2025 Taskforce, one fact is becoming abundantly clear. The political Right haven’t […]
Guaranteed minimum income + capital tax, the way forward?
Occasionally something in politics really surprises you. Like when I turned over to Campbell Live last night (I’d seen the Family Guy episode […]
Tax working group disappoints
I’ve had quite high hopes for the Tax Working Group. I thought it would be a genuine, ground-up review of the tax system […]
Open mike 02/12/09
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the […]
President punches kid in face
The Associated Press reports: Romania’s government has collapsed and its economy is in shambles but its presidential campaign has been dominated in recent […]
With some time to consider….
I’ve been thinking about the reaction Phil Goff has had to his Nationhood speech, and whether Team Labour would be happy with the […]
Dubai: Subprime state
Dubai is the subprime folly writ large. In the US, they built ‘exurbs’ in the Californian high desert, two hours each way from […]
Undoing the trouser button
Recall that last week Speaker Lockwood Smith tried to heavy the press, demanding that they stop doing stories on MP’s expenses or he […]
Tony Abbott elected Liberal leader
According Melbourne paper The Age, Tony Abbott is the new leader of the Liberal Party, winning the leadership by one vote over Malcolm Turnbull. […]
Remember this?
Pascal’s Bookie dug up this classic in the comments: Congratulations…. You always knew that politics would be exciting, but I guess that neither […]
Tax Working Group report preview
Let’s hope the Tax Working Group’s report out today is more worthwhile than the effort of the 2025 Taskforce. The basic idea that […]
No more jobs for Nats’ old mates
Apart from keeping Don Brash well stocked with corned beef in his dotage, what exactly are we getting out of the Government’s half […]
Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention
Everyone played their part in reacting to the Brash Report. Bosses uncritically applauded it. Unions forcefully rejected it. Labour and the Greens exposed […]
Open mike 01/12/09
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the […]
Public rage at govt policies and lies
On Nightline just now there was coverage of a meeting held by Nick Smith in St Heliers. Two interesting things: 1) there was […]
Get rid of the fool.
I haven’t bothered looking too far for reaction to Paul Henry jerking off in public to attract attention to his personaility defect – […]
Digging for nuggets
As we predicted, the main recommendations of the Brash report have been rejected out of hand by John Key. They are, as intended, […]
Tip Top pulling a Cadbury?
I was interested to read in the Herald on Friday that Tip Top is under fire for cutting the size of its 2 […]
Shipley to knife Banks?
There is a very revealing article in this month’s Metro magazine (not online) that takes a look at the strengths of the campaigns […]
Where’s Key?
Brash’s taskforce releases its report today. Where’s Key? CHOGM ended yesterday but he’s not back until Wednesday. Catching Aussie by 2025 is meant […]
Someone Else’s Country
As the same old faces of the Right roll out the same old failed neoliberal ideas in new packaging, it’s a useful time […]
Shifting the centre
Well the productivity task force is reporting back today and some of their ideas have been forward released. As we expected they are […]
Planet A – Concert & March
Mark your calendar, and turn out next Saturday for the Planet A Concert and March (the concert to be webcast live): In Auckland, Wellington and […]