National policy vacuum becoming a joke
A reader just alerted us to this. When John Key went missing in action on Sunrise what did the “Allstars” suggest he was […]
How Obama did it
Time has a special report on how Obama “become the first Democratic insurgent in a generation… to knock off the party’s establishment front-runner”. Obama’s […]
Down Under Feminists’ Carnival
Hoyden About Town have just written to let us know that they’re hosting the first edition of the Down Under Feminists Carnival. They’re calling it […]
17-year-old disses Key on Bebo
The Taranaki Daily News reports: National Party leader John Key was at Waitara High School, where he pushed his party’s plan to spend […]
Into the void: examining National’s ‘policies’
National’s so-called policies are laughable. National says it has released ’14 policies’ (14! wow! anyone would think they were planning to run a scout […]
Many liberals, many drinks at Drinking Liberally
Drinking Liberally last night was another raging success. The crowd was about 80, lots of new faces and good fun had by all. […]
OCR unchanged
The Reserve Bank has left the Official Cash Rate unchanged; no-one expected a rate cut this early. It’s encouraging that Bollard has firmly […]
A World Environment Day Carol
Garth George surprised me today, and a welcome surprise it was. Here’s an extract from his article – I decided that in this […]
Drinking Liberally tonight
Just a reminder that Drinking Liberally is on again this evening. See youse there. WHAT Drinking Liberally WHEN From 5.30pm, Wednesday June 4th. […]
Obama clinches nomination
Thank God that’s over.
Food Police State fails to eventuate
Remember the tories and the Kiwiblog Right getting all flustered about the ‘Food Police’, when guidelines were announced to control junk food in […]
Ward sees sense
Good on Mike Ward for finally seeing sense and stepping aside, allowing Greens co-leader Russel Norman to enter Parliament replacing Nandor Tanczos. Norman […]
Scott McClellan on the Daily Show
Last night on the Daily Show Jon Stewart interviewed Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary who has come out and accused […]
How much did Key pay for his seat?
It’s funny the stories you hear when you’re out in the provinces. I was up in Auckland over the long weekend and came […]
Labour re-opens Botany
Brenden Sheehan, the high profile spokesperson for the Muliaga family has withdrawn as Labour’s candidate in Botany. A press release put out by […]
Foreign media owners slash journo numbers, again
The New Zealand Press Association, owned by APN and Fairfax, has announced it is slashing its journalists from 55 to 48. In election […]
Advice for future aides
Those interested in the political situation in the States will be wanting to read the new book written by Scott McClellan (former White House press […]
Treasury dreams of cheap oil
This is the graph of the oil price forecasts Treasury used to underpin its fiscal model for the Budget. It assumes that oil […]
Polling companies confirm reputations
Another pair of TV polls, another embarrassment for Colmar Brunton as their poll goes widely out of line with the others even as […]
Regrets? I’ve had a few
Is Don Brash trying to help or hinder John Key? A revealing couple of articles (a news story and a feature) in the […]
Bo Diddley RIP
Rock’n’roll pioneer Bo Diddley has died of heart failure, aged 79. Here’s a little something to remember him by (ignore the crazy Dutch […]
What’s National’s real assets policy?
Isn’t this the one issue where we truly know what National will do? Didn’t John Key say ‘there will be no asset sales […]
Greens challenge Fonterra
Good to see the Greens coming out with a relevant, populist message at the weekend’s conference by tackling the issue of food affordability. […]
PC scourge claims another victim
A recent newsletter from anti-PC campaigner Murray McCully led with this comment supporting the right of the Burmese people to decide for themselves […]
Cullen to speak at Drinking Liberally
Drinking Liberally’s Facebook group has just sent out the invitation to their second event. I don’t know how they’ve swung it, but they’ve […]
Butting out
The Government has announced that the percentage of kiwi adults who smoke has fallen to 19.9%. The number of daily smokers is down from […]
Ryall: disgraceful
National’s Tony Ryall has made a disgrace of himself, yet again. This time, by labelling a Government initiative to hasten improvements in the […]
Policy releases
On the perils of polls
We’re used to hearing that a poll has a margin of error but what does it mean? A margin of error of 3% […]
Free doco screening, 6pm tonight, Wellington
If you’re in Wellington, head along to the City Gallery tonight at 6pm to check out the free screening of a documentary on […]
Herald Digipoll
Another Herald Digipoll is out today, with a sample taken both before and directly after the Budget. The poll pretty much confirms what […]
Yet more government waste
Following a series of National Party questions to the house the Herald has discovered the Labour government has spent nearly $27K on sausage […]
Notional Policy: Kiwisaver
Tracy Watkins reported yesterday that National’s weakening of the employer contribution to Kiwisaver may take a different path to the one we envisaged. […]
Gosche to retire
Mark Gosche has announced he will retire from politics at the election. Gosche has represented the people of Maungakiekie for 12 years and, […]
Farrar’s company, Curia, polls for Family First
I’d thought at the time that it seemed a little odd for David Farrar to pass up a free hit regarding the Family […]
Why didn’t Kate know Nats’ Kiwisaver policy?
The most surprising thing to come of the National’s Kiwisaver fiasco is not that they want to undermine the scheme and get employers […]