The Standard wager
John Key has announced his ‘jobs summit’ at the end of Feburary saying “I don’t want this to be a talk fest, I […]
How peak oil can devastate the rest of the economy
We all know the story of the sub-prime crisis that had developed into the credit crisis – a flood of credit saw mortgage […]
National’s first hundred days of (in)action
Govt creaks into inaction
Only four weeks into a well-deserved holiday following two frantic weeks stripping Kiwis of their work rights, the National/ACT Government has been spurred […]
Change of career for Campbell?
Is John Campbell leaving TV to pursue his childhood dream of being a pugilist? No, it’s diminutive Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez. Uncanny […]
Serendipity, now with dinosaurs
Truly sensible sentencing
“I’m not one for ideological stances; I support what works”, said John Key in a speech to the Salvation Army in early 2007. Well […]
Internet campaigning
There have been two interesting pieces from the Guardian recently on the way UK Labour are beginning to embrace the opportunities of the […]
When will oil peak?
We’ve seen that oil production in oil fields and countries peaks long before the oil actually runs out, and as individual countries go, […]
Time for a truce in sentencing bidding war
An interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald: THE NSW Opposition has pledged to end the “law and order auction” in a dramatic […]
crashtheinauguration.com
Via SwissMiss: CrashTheInauguration.com, an online Inauguration guide created by AirBedAndBreakfast.com, is connecting last minute travelers with accommodations in Washington DC. Individuals or groups can […]
War crime?
Idiot/Savant seems to think so. DPF doesn’t. Robert Fisk does: What happened was not just shameful. It was a disgrace. Would war crime be too […]
Streetview sleuthing
Nikki Kaye might be right to fear Google’s watchful eye but police in Massachusetts have used streetview to solve the alleged kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl […]
The supply of oil must peak, get used to it
There is only so much oil in the world. It was all formed when, over the course of a few hundred million years, creatures […]
Anger, that’ll solve our problems
Yesterday, Labour leader Phil Goff challenged National to present its plan for getting the economy through the global downturn. Halfway through National/ACT’s much-hyped […]
Israel – a failed democracy
The following quoted text is a e-mail response by Mike Treen from Global Peace and Justice Auckland to someone who was complaining about […]
What’s the economy? or why energy matters
The more I learn about energy, and peak oil in particular, the more concerned I get. So, in the spirit of the season, I […]
Splits and divisions
Which MP only got his job by 39 votes? Which former State house kid and brand-new Tory MP already has ambitions to be […]
Police nurture a unwise form of direct democracy
The Economist has an fascinating article “Rioters of the world unite“. It is partially about the demonstrations, protests, and outright riots in Athens […]
KiwiPolitico started
Pablo, Anita, and Jafapete have (finally) started their new KiwiPolitico blog site. I don’t know Pablo* (at least under that psuedonym), but the […]
Get out of Gaza
Israel’s latest attack on Gaza, purportedly to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, is an unjustified, immoral, and, above all, stupid action. I […]
Pillow talk
I’ve been thinking about the concurrent crises we face – peak oil, climate change, and tightening food supply – how the limits to […]
ETS submissions open
Submissions for the review of the Emissions Trading Scheme have opened but will close on the 13th of February. Given the time of […]
Climate change deniers – accidental comedians
I’m always amazed about the level of sheer scientific ignorance of most of the climate change deniers. Characteristically ridiculous statements (and scientifically humorous) […]
Payback?
National’s decision to allow a 40% increase in endangered Sea Lion kill-quota for the squid fishing industry is old news but I haven’t […]
For richer
I’ve spent the last week touring around the provinces and catching up with old friends and family I haven’t seen for years and […]
Shooting blanks
Italian males, despite the appearance of virility in their persistent attentions to female tourists, have caught the European disease – male infertility. A […]
Madoff, transparency, and electoral regulation
Reading about Madorf and the filching of USD 33 billion in a pyramid scheme from his select group of customers makes for interesting […]
Evolution and Crime
The Economist is one of the few main stream media that seem to be flourishing in the days of decline for most media […]
Debt
A couple of good but not quite satisfying articles today. The first is Brian Gaynor’s analysis of the economy in which he lays […]
Homegrown
At the end of my post a couple of days ago I touched on the notion of a new Zealand identity and a […]
No Xmas
And before anyone calls sour grapes I have to say even John deserves some xmas cheer but this was just too funny not […]
Xmas Eve whimsy: little yellow ducks
The Guardian informs us that: Sailors, fishermen and cruise passengers should be on the alert. If anybody spots a yellow rubber duck bobbing […]
A real alternative
One of Bruce Jesson’s constant bugbears during the New Right revolution of the 80’s and 90’s was that the Left allowed itself to […]
The recession, graphically
OK, one last graph for the year. The latest GDP data isn’t pretty, a 0.4% contraction of the economy in the September quarter. […]
Labour’s maiden speeches
Rather than decorating their tree, some committed Labour Party staffer seems still to be hard at work posting maiden speeches to YouTube. The […]