More bluster, still no policies
Every month, Stats releases migration figures. Each month, they show little change in the pattern from last month. And each month, National comes […]
The headline you didn’t see
‘Unemployment benefits at record low.’ The number of people receiving the unemployment benefit has fallen to just 17,465. That’s the lowest number since […]
Reverse graffiti
It’s a viral ad, but still pretty cool…
Old man’s law
Frogblog has footage of Nandor Tanczos blasting the Government’s anti-tagging legislation and noting that “Judith Collins would be screaming about the nanny state […]
The Standard Week – 13-20 June
Both major parties show-boated over getting tough on crime this week. The only difference being Labour actually had policy; National, just slogans. We generally steer […]
The definition of irony
When a band who sued after their work was famously plagiarised by a certain leader of the National Party is themselves sued for […]
ToryAid: Wastewatch (2)
Here’s the waste National has identified so far: 1) Embassy in Sweden – approx $3 million capital, $3 million operating 2) Badges about […]
How to harm your brand
Kiwibank, New Zealand’s supreme award winning Sunday Star-Times/CANNEX best value bank for the third year in row, the Socialist Bank of Jim Anderton, the one doomed […]
Act now to protect workers’ wages
Times are going to get harder for workers in the next few years. Unemployment is set […]
EFA lets voters know who bankrolls parties
National has announced that John Key donated $30,000 to the party this month. That’s all well and good; Helen Clark donates a similar […]
Oops
For everyone who says apostrophes don’t matter, try telling that to the Bioethics Council.
Key promises productivity magic
Key reckons he could bring down inflation by targeting ‘low quality’ government spending. How? To counter inflation, you need to increase productivity. Inflation […]
Creeping socialism in Australia
Kevin Rudd’s Labor government has begun the roll-back of John Howard’s unpopular WorkChoices legislation with ten new National Employment Standards aimed at providing […]
Slippery John’s “after-tax incomes” line
You’ll have noticed that Key only ever talks about increasing ‘after-tax incomes’. Even when he’s asked about wages for government employees, like doctors, […]
Hit and Run
I put a comment on one of Steve’s posts a few days ago and he suggested I put it up as a post […]
WhaleOil – Technically Challenged
I was just checking the links to the standard and I see that Whale is being his usual self. It looks like he […]
The 100 thing challenge
From Time magazine: Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can […]
Drinking Liberally email for the next event
“Hi all, Ok, we’re going to try to lock in a regular Drinking Liberally schedule now: first and third Thursdays of each month. […]
Not funny
Kiwiblog now has a cartoonist and it’s simply disgusting stuff. I’m not going to post the cartoon because I don’t want the image […]
Firefox download day
Sick of Internet Explorer for being slow and buggy and not open-source? Why not try out Firefox instead? It’s a free, open-source browser, […]
What went on at the ‘horn?
Reports have been circulating around Wellington for several weeks about a night on the town for John Key with a couple of senior […]
CFL FTW
And the winner is… the compact fluorescent lightbulb! Stuff reports that “from late next year, the old incandescent bulbs will be phased out as […]
Roger Awards open
Nominations have opened for this year’s Roger Awards, naming and shaming the worst transnational corporation operating in New Zealand in 2008. Previous winners […]
Petrol price hits parties in the polls
A reader sent us this graph. It plots President Bush’s approval rating and the price of petrol. (the price of petrol is upside-down, […]
Keeping it in the family
The ODT reports that Bill English’s brother, Conor English, has been picked as the new CEO of Federated Farmers. Once the press secretary […]
National ‘bereft of compassion’
That is the reported view of the secretary of the Sikh Council of New Zealand in response to some attention grabbing behaviour from […]
Fundrace
From The Huffington Post’s “Fundrace“ website: Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy […]
California to ban cell phone use for teen drivers
Apparently California is, on July 1, to become the 15th US state to ban cell phone use for teen drivers. In what looks […]
Facing up to peak oil
The Government’s independent report on petrol prices is bit of a sop to be the public, really. The world oil price is driving […]
Matt McCarten from the Herald on Sunday
Worth a read: Remember when George Bush’s administration promised the world that the invasion of Iraq would be over in a few weeks? […]
He would say that wouldn’t he
Stuff reports that National Party energy spokesman Gerry Brownlee has labelled the government’s inquiry into petrol pricing a cynical move that would not make […]
Kremlinology: National on ACC
In most countries, accident insurance is big business. Insurers and lawyers make billions off premiums, claims, and court cases but many people don’t […]
Key’s slippery promises on waste
National has staked it all on delivering bigger tax cuts than Labour. To remain credible, they need to deliver $20 a week on […]
The Standard Week – 06-13 June
Another week of shadow boxing, as National tried to keep its policy secret and hints leaked out. But it gave us the chance […]
Why is reported violent crime up?
As you know, crime is down in New Zealand, which is not surprising – crime is a symptom of social deprivation and we’ve […]
Political monogamy
Thought this might make a good followup to Steve/Trotter’s comments in the post below. It’s from the group TruthThroughAction.org – a group of […]