Search Results » bill fear
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Bowker may be a dick but he has not breached the draft hate speech legislation
Troy Bowker has bowled out of Hurricanes Rugby but has claimed free speech martyrdom after the response to his well publicised criticism of the word “Aotearoa”. But his claims of martyrdom like his recent attacks on lefties would appear to be hopelessly overbaked.
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About the Hate Speech law changes
act, human rights, labour, making shit up, national, same old national, spin, United Nations, you couldn't make this shit upThe debate about the Government’s consultation on proposed changes to hate speech laws continues, with the level of heat increasing, but the level of actual understanding of what is being proposed in critical shortage.
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Social insurance, a premium not afforded to all.
One of the details announced in the budget was funding to explore a ‘social unemployment insurance’ scheme. This scheme has been pushed by the Council of Trade Unions and Business NZ, which will work with the Government in a newly set-up Tripartite Working Party. When we dig into it though, we realise it is no safety net. It’s a parachute that slows our drop, giving us time, before we hit that real net – down so far below.
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C’mon National!
Forlorn for now though they may be, this is the advice National MPs need right now.
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Branko Marcetic: Labour’s public sector pay freeze isn’t just a betrayal of frontline workers – it’s a rejection of mainstream economic thinking
Consistent with how they’ve governed so far, Ardern and Robertson are happy to demand workers sacrifice for the greater good — but asking the rich to do the same is a red line they simply won’t cross.
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About the public service pay freeze
A few of us on the left have issues with the public service wage freeze announced yesterday. By setting the salary level so low, at $60,000 per annum, the threat is that previous gains for teachers and nurses will be undermined.
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The Very, Very Lucky Country
While Australia is rightly branded The Lucky Country, it looks like we can reasonably be called the Very, Very Lucky Country.
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Reasons to abandon NZ’s Five-Eyed Folly
australian politics, China, Culture wars, defence, economy, Free Trade, john key, spin, Spying, surveillance, telecommunications, trade, uk politics, us politicsWayne Brown’s recent suggestion “Is it time to sell our seat on FiveEyes?” is from someone well placed by experience to form an educated opinion. “Trade sanctions of the type Australia is facing are a weapon used by both USA and China. So let’s have a debate on whether we need Five Eyes, or whether it’s time for us to trade on independently.”
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“You can’t vote that problem away”
Alexandria Oacasio-Cortez burns in the aftermath of the Capitol attacks, and the left in New Zealand seems content to ridicule our own people radicalising to the alt-right.
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Assisted dying law in New Zealand and the UK
There is now growing recognition internationally that the right to a dignified death is a fundamental human right. Assisted dying is not about reducing health care costs or pressuring those who are frail, old or disabled to end their life prematurely. It is about allowing those with a terminal illness the choice to die rather than face a period of significant physical decline and suffering before the end of their life.
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Its all just manure – mix it in and avoid the river.
There has been a rather patronising meme running in recent weeks that voters who previously voted National did so because they wanted to make sure Labour didn’t want the Greens to be in government. Just complete bullshit. As far as I can see most voters and their MPs vote for our collective future like I do and expect the political mixing to provide good outcomes for us all.
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Will consensus building paralyse Ardern?
capital gains, Economy, jacinda ardern, Judith Collins, labour, national, Politics, same old national, taxJacinda Ardern aims to bet both ways on our future – transforming Aotearoa to rid us of inequality and poverty, and building consensus. She has won a mandate with her historic, landslide victory but can she do both? My question is whether Labour are willing to do that because of her desire to maintain consensus and not rock the waka.
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Qanon is here
While a few in the media leapt at the opportunity to vilify a small evangelical community at the latest COVID 19 spread, the really big COVID 19-conspiracy story landed by the thousand this weekend. It’s overdue we woke up to QAnon here.
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Covid, the US President and the Evangelical churches
There has been disturbing local news that some members of a local evangelical church, influenced by American equivalents, refused to accept the threat posed by the virus. And in America a new book from Bob Woodward suggests strongly that Donald Trump knew how big a threat Covid would be but chose for political reasons to downplay the risk.
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Will Jacinda Ardern meet her promise to transform?
election 2017, election 2020, greens, jacinda ardern, john key, labour, nz first, political parties, Politics, poverty, tax, winston petersNeoliberalism has run its course and displayed its profound inability to address inequality issues. It makes the poor get ever poorer while the affluent top 10% ticks of society get bloated and increasingly insufferable on untaxed capital gains. In 2017 Jacinda Ardern set a goal of bringing all children out of poverty within six years. So how is that going? And what are the next steps?
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Hong Kong principles
afghanistan, China, democratic participation, exports, Free Trade, iraq, jacinda ardern, law and "order", Propaganda, socialism, Spying, surveillance, terrorism, us politics, war, winston petersAccording to our Prime Minister, today’s announcement that New Zealand is suspending extradition arrangements with Hong Kong is because of our principles. But it is not immediately clear what these principles are, other than falling into line with our Five Eyes spying partners. Some history is important.
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Will the last remaining National MP please not forget to turn off the caucus room lights
The Herald is reporting that Nikki Kaye will announce her retirement from politics today.
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National’s dilemma – business as usual is failing them.
Audrey Young’s take in Granny Herald was interesting. “No ordinary Labour speech by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern”. That is because the political ‘business as usual’ approach by the business orientation of National campaigning using the politics of fear and envy doesn’t work well in times of crisis. Business simply has too short a viewpoint to be acceptable in government at present – or increasingly in our uncertain future.
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Jacinda is not like Muldoon
health, health and safety, jacinda ardern, law, law and "order", national, same old national, Simon Bridges, uncategorizedNational has decided to play politics with Covid 19 and is opposing the Government’s attempt to pass legislation to secure level 2 arrangements. And has made the extraordinary claim that Jacinda Ardern is just like Rob Muldoon but with slogans.
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Parker gives Bridges a lesson in constitutional law
david parker, health, health and safety, law, law and "order", national, same old national, Simon Bridges, uncategorizedIn a Facebook Live event David Parker has schooled Simon Bridges on basic principles of constitutional law. And it appears that Bridges demand that legally privileged advice be handed over is heading to the Privileges Committee.
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A Response to ‘No Exit’.
In a recent post, Bill hit his straps with – “Either way, wind power won’t save us. Solar power won’t save us. Carbon capture and storage won’t save us. Your God won’t save us. Nothing but ourselves will save us.”
I felt miffed and more than a little grumpy at Bill’s flippant reference to God, and so sent through this long form response. ~ Adam.
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Running for cover
More 1% Americans are heading our way, according to Bloomberg. The Texas company building underground bunkers is getting more enquiries. They’re not running from the virus but fear the aftermath when the breadlines turn.
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From the inside out
I feel that many kiwis are quite unaware exactly how exceptional our plague performance has been so far. It is interesting reading the perspective published in the Washington Post by a recently returned kiwi. Less interesting was the mathematical illiteracy on the MP David Seymour who managed to ignore all medical facts while advising on how to bulk kill our citizens.
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The right is splintering on climate change
australian politics, climate change, Donald Trump, Environment, global warming, national, paula bennett, same old national, science, uncategorized, us politicsThe right appears to be splintering on climate change, with former Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull describing Donald Trump as the world’s leading climate change denier. And locally National MP Andrew Bayley has talked the profound effects of climate change on Antarctica’s ecosystems at the same time as Paula Bennett is attacking educational material designed to make children think about climate change.
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News Corp climate change denial attacked by (checks notes) James Murdoch …
climate change, disaster, Environment, Media, science, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorizedNews Corp has had a bad week in the media with many questioning its continued climate change denial and its support for politicians refusing to accept the reality of climate change. But the most surprising opposition has been expressed by Rupert Murdoch’s son and News Corp director James Murdoch.
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Why the Tories won the UK election?
Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s blog
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The freedom to lie during an election campaign
election 2020, electoral commission, electoral systems, labour, making shit up, national, same old national, Simon Bridges, spin, you couldn't make this shit upTwo recent National advertisements involving drastically inaccurate graphics have attracted attention. And at the same time National is opposing changes to the Electoral Law that would extend the time that it is an offence to publish a false and misleading advertisement during an election period.
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UK Elections: Parties positions on Brexit
Nick Kelly gives a summary of each major United Kingdom political party.
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Farage – thorn in the side of the UK Conservatives
Nick Kelly is a former NZ trade union leader and NZ Labour activist. He is a co director of Piko Consulting, and currently lives in London expanding Piko into the UK. The below was originally published on Nick Kelly’s blog
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Later climate change deniers
climate change, elections, Environment, global warming, local body elections, local government, Politics, scienceThe recent local government elections resulted in a number of people committed to addressing climate change being elected. And an apparent thinning of those who think that it is a hoax.
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5G flip flop
Six weeks after banning China’s leading tech firm Huawei from contracts with U.S. businesses, U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have reversed it after meeting China’s Premier Xi Jinping.
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Death tax fake news
Abuse of power, australian politics, Deep stuff, democracy under attack, facebook, interweb, journalism, making shit up, Media, Politics, tax, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, twitter, you couldn't make this shit upSocial media was responsible for the repeated broadcasting of the claim that Labor in Australia intended to bring in a death tax. What should happen when claims that are clearly wrong are made?
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US China trade talks and New Zealand
capitalism, China, Donald Trump, Economy, exports, International, socialism, tourism, trade, us politicsDonald Trump’s trade war with China is way, way bad for New Zealand.
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Letter From the United Kingdom
Jeremy Corbyn’s class performance has been driving the MSM, the Tories, and the Blairite remnants crazy -
Life and Death in Aotearoa – Debating Euthanasia
Abuse of power, david seymour, death with dignity, Deep stuff, discrimination, Parliament, Politics, Social issuesDavid Seymour’s Private Member’s Bill on euthanasia is back for debate in Parliament. Maggie looks at one of the great social issues of our time.
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Guest post: Epitaph for a species
In a guest post Tony Veitch [not etc.] imagines his last few days as the world dies …
