The song of the sewer
An old favourite came around on the playlist. It sounded like the ostriches that occupy the sewer and appear here for our entertainment… […]
A return to elected dictatorship?
Back in the days of First Past the Post elections, we had what Geoffery Palmer termed ‘the fastest law in the West’ and […]
Diffusion of responsibility
Diffusion of responsibility means that the bigger the group the less chance that anyone in the group will take action. In a typical […]
Why blog?
So, against my better judgement I’m now a card carrying Standardista. Finally managed to get through the initiation ceremony without fainting. I’ve been […]
Kate’s pretext falls over
Yesterday, National’s Kate Wilkinson tried to use a dispute over how to apply the new rest breaks law for air traffic controllers as […]
OECD child poverty report
I’ve been having a look at the OECD’s report on child poverty. A lot of the data is quite of of date and […]
Wanganui: a Laws unto itself
The Wanganui District Council (Prohibition of Gang Insignia) Act 2009, which prohibits the display of gang insignia in a public place, so clearly infringes of […]
10:10
The scientists say we need to reduce our greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 if we want to even […]
Rest-breaks under attack
In 1908, the miners at Blackball took a famous strike over the right to take rest breaks at work. For most of the […]
Protect our natural heritage
The Greens are leading a petition campaign, asking Parliament to: reject any move to mine our national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, marine reserves, protected […]
An angry little sadsack
I know a dude who went to law school. In one of his lecture theatres was this ‘old guy’ who was always whining […]
Politically illiterate authoritarian git
There are an interesting couple of posts over at Red Alert about an editorial in the Dominion Post yesterday. Grant Robertson describes it […]
Does John Key believe a word he says?
This 2007 quote from John Key is doing the rounds among angry “No” voters: Labour shows contempt for New Zealanders The Labour Government […]
Are you smarter than a 10th year?
Meet Robert Wadlow. When he died in 1940, he was the tallest ever recorded person, standing 8 feet, 11 and a half inches […]
Foodstuffs: Voluntary regulation fails
I find myself in the curious position of sympathising with a company reneging on an environmental promise. Foodstuffs announced yesterday that the charge […]
Wee gripes: temporal confusion and the recession
The Herald editorial this morning calling for mining DoC land: “That resource represents wealth which this country is in little position to ignore. […]
Wee gripes: Business confidence
Question: ‘Do you expect business conditions to improve in the next 12 months?’ Answer: ‘Well, we’re in the worst recession in a life-time […]
More votes than voters
The Economist has an article on the recent election in New Zealand’s current region of conflict – Afghanistan. The title of the article […]
Always an excuse to do nothing
Remember FART (Farmers Against Ridiculous Taxes)? Shane Arden driving Myrtle the Tractor up the steps of Parliament? Bill English with his poster carrying […]
Let them drink… bottled water.
Not surprised to see that the Government has confirmed the Drinking Water Subsidy Scheme is being put on hold and reviewed. The subsidy […]
Capitalism, it’s not a love-in
I find the Right’s assumption that the bosses are acting in some greater interest fascinating. There’s this unwillingness to believe that the bosses […]
Devil in the detail
I’ve had a further read of the select committee report on the Emissions Trading Scheme, and found a huge problem – National, United […]
Stop pandering to the modern flat earthers
ACT as part of its coalition agreement, and probably as a result of their funders conditions, forced a review of the Emissions Trading […]
“Science”
ACT Party Press Release 1/4/2010: ACT has now identified the number one threat to personal freedom, to unbounded economic growth and to vast […]
Wee gripes
Seeing as Zet’s taken to writing serious posts these days, I thought I’d try my hand at a few wee gripes: – I […]
NZ for sale
I was browsing through our image archives and came across this, which I think is from a protest before the election: Well, they […]
Victory for Zeal320 workers
A good outcome from the Zeal320 dispute. The deal doesn’t quite close the gap between Zeal320 workers and other AirNZ flight attendants but […]
Telecom and the logic of capitalism
There’s nothing like a Tory Government in power and a monopolistic corporate flexing its muscle to remind you that capitalism is all about […]
Congratulations Maori Party
Looks like the Maori Party has decided to stand by their principles and oppose weakening the Emissions Trading Scheme. Their stinging minority report rules […]
Emissions Trading Scheme report released
The report of the special select committee on the Emissions Trading Scheme has been released. I’ve only had a chance to read the […]
Classic Moreu
Note to DPF: stop playing victim and take some responsibility for your blog
It seems I’ve hit a sore spot with David Farrar over the business of death threats to Sue Bradford. He’s now claiming I’ve […]
Why no referendum for Auckland
How come the Government says that the people of Auckland should decide whether they want Maori seats in a referendum after the supercity […]
Two referendum editorials
In the aftermath of the “smacking” referendum I was struck (as I often am lately) by the range in quality of editorial / […]
The emerging landowner class
Why are house prices rising at the same time as mortgagee sales are hitting record highs? More people than ever are unable to […]
