Author Archive
A time of trouble, a time for action
Written By: - Date published: 2:15 pm, October 25th, 2010 - 5 comments
The release of 400,000 classified documents on the Iraq war today highlights a much broader issue for New Zealand. As the world moves into uncertainty, some commentators call it a ‘new new world order’, New Zealand must establish itself definitively, cementing the values we wish to hold true for the coming century.
Tolley – the reverse Rumpelstiltskin
Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, October 25th, 2010 - 5 comments
Rumplestiltskin spun hay into gold. It stikes me Anne Tolley is quickly becoming a “reverse Rumplestiltskin”. Taking a very successful Early Childhood Education sector and stripping out millions, putting the primary sector through the national standards debacle, forcing secondary teachers to strike – Tolley is turning gold into hay.
I’ve had enough and I want my share
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, October 24th, 2010 - 10 comments
The Secretary for Education Karen Sewell has just had a minimum pay rise of $30,000p.a. Ironically the same 4% that teachers are after. Here is some maths for Mrs Sewell. Her 4% is 30,000 dollars. 4% of a teachers salary of around $65k is $2,600 dollars.
They do both start with P
Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, October 24th, 2010 - 8 comments
“They are blue – to match other uniforms in the justice sector such as police.” These words from the Police Minister are very difficult to misconstrue. The choice of colour was deliberate and in case everyone has forgotten, the uniforms were olive to make the clear distinction of Prison Officers from Police. The Government is blurring the distinction.
Time to Export More, At Higher Value
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 23rd, 2010 - 38 comments
There was a time when New Zealand gave overseas aid to developing countries like Singapore. But we stopped moving forwards after the neoliberal revolution. Today New Zealand is still reliant on low value added commodity trading for its sustenance. One which is struggling to pay its bills after a lengthy period of selling off its economic sovereignty.
Gordon Campbell: Central vs Local Government
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 21st, 2010 - 12 comments
Gordon Campbell on central government’s reaction to the local government elections. Campbell argues that National has a vested interest in the failure of both Len Brown in Auckland and Celia Wade-Brown in Wellington, and that voters have rejected the “1980s model of political leadership”.
Keith Ng: Nat bullshit on inflation and earnings
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 20th, 2010 - 44 comments
National have been running some fine lines of bullshit lately. Keith Ng’s recent post at Public Address calls them out on two of them. The first, National is trying to claim credit for low inflation. The Second, National is trying to claim that recent wage increases have been better than the previous 9 years. Keith takes the bullshit apart – dirty work, but someone has to do it.
What should National do?
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, October 14th, 2010 - 36 comments
What should Labour do? One of our regular commenters steps up and answers the question. What more can we add? And, my challenge to the right wingers, can you come up with a similarly broad, coherent and principled summary of what you think National stands for? What should National do?
The dark side of our society: Intoxication reigns supreme
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 14th, 2010 - 24 comments
The Sunday show last week featured the Prescription for Change campaign of Dr Albert Makary. Dr Makary has set out on a mission to drive social change surrounding the culture of binge drinking within our country. He hits his audience with hard facts, some disturbing trends, and presents everything in a way worth listening to.
Principals join Standards opposition
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, October 13th, 2010 - 9 comments
The New Zealand Principals’ Federation has launched their campaign against the Government’s National Standards. The weight of informed debate lies against the Standards achieving what they are purported to deliver. A growing number of education practitioners want the Government to go back to first principles and revisit the design of the Standards.
Exporting Dunedin
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, October 11th, 2010 - 50 comments
David Clark is the Labour Party’s new candidate for Dunedin North. He’s been talking to innovative local technology start-ups, and hearing about some of the barriers to success.
Tilly Solley
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, October 8th, 2010 - 3 comments
Hot on the heels of massive cuts to Early Childhood Education Tolley has formed a taskforce to ‘take a look at the provision of ECE services‘. That’s hot on the heels of a similar taskforce to have a gander at why the National Standards won’t work. Has the goose ever thought that maybe, just maybe, you should think before you act?
Team Anderton should remain confident
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, October 7th, 2010 - 51 comments
Bob Parker has milked the earthquake for maximum political gain. As a result, Jim Anderton is understandably the underdog in the mayoral race. No-one could blame him for losing in this situation but don’t rule him out just yet. People haven’t suddenly forgotten why they wanted rid of Parker or Anderton’s record of service.
What will future generations condemn us for?
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, October 2nd, 2010 - 19 comments
This question is something that has been on my mind for some time. In this article, Kwame Anthony Appiah, a philosophy professor at Princeton, sets out four examples of current policy that he believes those in the future will look back and say “What were people thinking?”
From Hounds to Foxes
Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, October 1st, 2010 - 31 comments
As you sit there reading this, think about how industrial action is growing across the country – Secondary teachers, Junior Doctors, Radiographers, State Servants, Actors. There is a lot more to come as National and business try to force wages down. Do you want to wait for them to come for you?
Time for a new approach
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, September 26th, 2010 - 11 comments
On Thursday, the 2010 Organised Crime Assessment for New Zealand was released to the public.
Essentially it told us what we already know; we have a problem, we know what the problem is, and we’re failing to solve it. It is time we approached the problem rationally and responsibly.
The bludger paradox
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, September 24th, 2010 - 89 comments
So. If you’re too poor to afford house insurance and you’re left homeless by an act of god, the government won’t help you.
But if you’re rich enough to own a farm, then one year you get hit by an act of god, the government will come running to your aid.
Amongst the rubble: a look at the Christchurch earthquake from the bottom up
Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, September 18th, 2010 - 16 comments
First posted on the excellent Beyond Resistance blog: While the dust settles and Christchurch recovers from the 7.1 earthquake, people have begun to pick up the pieces and get on with their lives. But for many working class people this is not so easy. Those most affected by ‘natural disasters’ are those already on the margins of despair.
Does National care about animal welfare?
Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, September 16th, 2010 - 21 comments
National will vote against a Sue Kedgley’s member’s bill, which could see factory farms phased out within 5 years. Despite support from the Greens, Labour, United Future and the Maori Party, without National or ACT’s support this bill won’t pass it’s first reading. There’s no good excuse. The government needs to be shamed on this.
Teachers strike tomorrow
Written By: - Date published: 1:42 pm, September 14th, 2010 - 13 comments
Here are the reasons for tomorrows strike from a member of the PPTA (Post Primary Teachers Association) in a guest post. The Ministry of Education has rejected them all.
You’d have to expect the spinners for the government to carefully ignore these issues in favour of their usual simplistic meaningless dogwhistling messages. That is the level they’d prefer that kids are educated to.
A Disastrous Culture
Written By: - Date published: 8:37 pm, September 9th, 2010 - 34 comments
The earthquake in Canterbury has presented us with politicians who are apparently firmly in charge and able to assess the situation, deploy troops and generally inform us, the general population, of what is going on.
Whatever could possibly be wrong with that?
An open letter to the Maori Party from Dayle Takitimu
Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, September 9th, 2010 - 14 comments
The unilateral opening up of our ancestral lands and seas to drilling and mining by this Government is the most significant threat to the survival of our peoples and our way of life we have experienced in this generation. The big question in light of this the struggle is where are the Maori Party?
‘Bureaucrat’ bites back
Written By: - Date published: 12:40 pm, September 8th, 2010 - 19 comments
A hell of a lot of those ‘back office bureaucrats’ that the Nats love to attack have been working their arses off on the Christchurch earthquake. You would think they’d get some respect from their political bosses. You would think wrong.
Democratic Social Economy Part 1
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 3rd, 2010 - 40 comments
Due to the discrepancies in the spread of knowledge the free-market is irrational but there is no doubt that we, collectively, have the needed information to make more rational decisions. The problem that occurs is that neither the knowledge nor the tools to help make rational decisions on that information are readily available. Is there a tech solution?
NZ’s biggest welfare beneficiary revealed in shock horror Herald exclusive expose’
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, September 2nd, 2010 - 22 comments
To find out who it is, click here.
Will this individual’s personal file be read out in Parliament by Paula Bennett?
Will this beneficiary’s sex life be investigated by WINZ as grounds for disqualification?
Oh, Cameron. Oh dear
Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, August 28th, 2010 - 27 comments
“Yes, I breached those orders, because they were bullshit, and should never have been made!” That’s what you could have – should have – said. That was the apparent basis for your whole seemingly-crazy crusade. But you denied the charges. Then refused to appear in the witness-box. You made it abundantly clear that the entire exercise was all about getting noticed.
Ramping up renewables
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, August 28th, 2010 - 7 comments
Bryan Walker at Hot Topic looks at the large scale renewable energy projects that are being developed in various countries around the world. The contrast with the dated approach to energy from Gerry Brownlee is quite striking. That has been described as “The Government’s energy strategy prioritises drilling and mining for more oil and coal, while providing virtually no stimulation for the development of renewable energy and clean technology. It … makes no attempt to set measurable emissions reduction targets.”
Death of a Working Class Hero
Written By: - Date published: 10:49 am, August 28th, 2010 - 14 comments
In a culture where the only heroes seem to be sports stars and comic book characters it’s important to remember those whose have fought for the rights of workers.
Earlier this month, one of these heroes, Jimmy Reid, died.
He is a man who passing should not go unmarked.
McCully does have vision..
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, August 24th, 2010 - 17 comments
There have been a lot of complaints that Murray McCully is useless as our offshore representative and shows a complete lack of vision. Stop complaining.
John Black shows you what the alternatives could be…
Principals’ principled stand for quality education
Written By: - Date published: 10:59 am, August 23rd, 2010 - 29 comments
National Standards have been slated by all of the education and assessment experts in New Zealand as being fundamentally flawed. Anne Tolley’s recent admission that she has failed to find a way to ensure that League Tables (the most educationally damaging aspect of the National Standards policy) will be avoided is the final straw for principals around the country.
When the science doesn’t suit, Right tries to shout it down
Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, August 22nd, 2010 - 87 comments
The other day, National Party pollster David Farrar had a rant against alcohol experts that boiled down to ‘who cares what the science says! We’re in charge now and booze barons are on our side. Go back to your books, dorks!’.
Big Dog responds:
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