Author Archive
Rhetoric vs reality
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 25 comments
With expectations about National’s tax cuts justifably very high (thanks to National talking them up for nine years), National is suddenly trying to change course. John Key, who has promoted tax cuts as the solution to doctors’ strikes, the wage gap, and petrol prices along with every other issue facing this country, is now saying […]
Reminder: Drinking Liberally Wgtn tonight
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, October 2nd, 2008 - 1 comment
Just a wee reminder for anyone in Wellington. Scoop.co.nz political editor and former Listener journo Gordon Campbell is at Drinking Liberally tonight to talk about ‘Covering the issues – how to escape from the who’s winning, who’s losing style of election coverage’. Gordon Campbell is one of the best journalists in the country and has […]
Speculators stuff up, put us all in peril
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, October 2nd, 2008 - 59 comments
The formula to determine the fair value of a share is pretty simple – take the expected future dividends,adjust them using the discount rate, and add them up, there’s your fair share price. Of course, expectations on future dividends and people’s discount rates vary but it should all be pretty simple. It isn’t though because the […]
Here’s an idea, ask the expert
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 am, October 2nd, 2008 - 33 comments
Don’t take it from me. Certainly don’t take it from a National hack, who despite being a professional statistician, is too dishonest to even adjust his stats for population growth. No, listen to the Assistant Police Commissioner explain (in a measured and charmingly earnest tone) the details and meaning of the latest crime stats here.
Insulting
Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 139 comments
David Farrar really is a disgusting person at times. He writes that we shouldn’t look at overall crime rates (although he made a big fuss when the overall recorded crime rate went up because of changes in recording practice in 2006). Instead we should just look at violent crime, after all “having 1,000 less [sic] […]
Great expectations
Written By: - Date published: 1:54 pm, October 1st, 2008 - 25 comments
John Key is being pretty evasive on his tax cut plan. He won’t say whether the famous ‘$50 a week for the average worker’ (note that’s not every worker, your income has to be $47K plus) is additional to Labour’s cuts, the first round of which came into effect today. Given the evasiveness, it’s safe to […]
Crime falls again
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, October 1st, 2008 - 26 comments
Crime fell 1% in the last year from 1025 recorded crimes per 10,000 people to 1014. This is part of a pattern that has continued since National was booted from power and living conditions for the poor started to improve. The only big increase after 2000 you see in this graph (05-06) is a result […]
Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign vs the facts
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 am, October 1st, 2008 - 69 comments
08wire produces some of the most well-thought out and best argued pieces on the blogosphere, as well as great videos. Well, I know what to do when I see gold – thief it. From 08wires’ post, here’s a table of arguments that comprise National’s ‘New Zealand sucks’ campaign and how they stack up against the facts: (sources) I […]
Between the lines: Nats’ RMA free-for-all
Written By: - Date published: 4:55 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 24 comments
The RMA is a quick and cheap process in the vast majority of cases, and it is regarded as a world-leading piece of legislation. Few consent applications are refused or appealed. Reforms of the RMA over the years have made it more efficient. The studies show that the delays that do happen in consents being […]
When did lying become OK?
Written By: - Date published: 2:40 pm, September 30th, 2008 - 43 comments
On Breakfast this morning, failed National party candidate Paul Henry and Guyon Espiner discussed the possibility of the Maori Party and National working together in a government. Henry: Do you get the feeling National would do anything for power, they would cut almost any deal at all with the Maori Party to get in? Espiner: […]
The Kingmaker but only one potential King
Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, September 30th, 2008 - 51 comments
Let’s get serious about the idea of the Maori Party working with National. Yes, they want to play up the possibility to enhance their bargaining position, just as the Greens were last month, but it’s not going to happen. National and the Maori Party voted together in only a third of votes in the last […]
More posters and leaflets on the Hub
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 10 comments
We’ve got a range new posters and leaflets up on the Campaign Hub and we’re keen to see more. Some people are printing off two different designs and making doubled-sided leaflets, which is a really good way to get two messages distributed in one go. Best to only do that with designs authorised by the same […]
Gordon Campbell at Drinking Liberally, Wlgtn
Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, September 29th, 2008 - Comments Off on Gordon Campbell at Drinking Liberally, Wlgtn
You probably already read him on Scoop Election ’08 and he’s a former Listener journalist too. The topic of his talk is: ‘Covering the issues – how to escape from the who’s winning, who’s losing style of election coverage’. His recent article Horse race political journalism might give you a taste of what to expect. […]
Take on Key
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, September 29th, 2008 - 6 comments
Greeenwoman has done it again, another brilliant video on Key using a classic music video:
What will you do with your tax cut?
Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, September 29th, 2008 - 46 comments
If your annual income is over $14,000, your tax will decrease by $12 to $28 a week from Wednesday. That’s a reduction of up to 26% on the income tax you pay. By 2011, people will be paying up to 31% less income tax (graphs here). With boosts to Working for Families, many people with […]
Still nothing personal
Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, September 29th, 2008 - 15 comments
National desperately wants to portray any criticism of John Key as a personal attack. Don’t be taken in. Look, PM is a powerful job. We need to have a thorough examination of anyone contesting for that role. As I’ve always said there are three legitimate questions that need to be answered what are their policies? […]
Expect the unexpected
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 44 comments
I’m probably going to be at odds with my fellow Standardistas in this but I support having debates featuring just Clark and Key. One of these two people will lead the country after the election and we deserve to see to them in a forum where they go head to head against each other, rather […]
Nats desperate to silence grassroots activists
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, September 28th, 2008 - 33 comments
An email from a reader: “A friend and I were putting up some Vote with Both Eyes Open posters on Lambton Quay the other night. We had just put some up around the intersection by Parliament and crossed the road when a senior National advisor came up to us with one of our recently pasted banners […]
The Standard Week: 19-26 September
Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, September 27th, 2008 - 20 comments
Slippery John does it again. Asked a clear question by a reporter, he lied to her face. It was only when Fran Mold revealed to Key that she knew he had owned another packet of Tranz Rail shares (purchased and sold while he was asking questions about Tranz Rail in his position as MP) that he […]
Obama wipes the floor with McCain
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, September 27th, 2008 - 33 comments
There’s not much more that needs to be said about the first presidental debate. McCain was stiff and boring. His framing was awful: he and Obama both said essentially the same thing on a number of issues but the reaction meter consistently showed that people reacted more positively to Obama than McCain. Post-debate polls show […]
Shallow recession this year but the future looks tough
Written By: - Date published: 12:03 pm, September 26th, 2008 - 42 comments
We all knew New Zealand was in recession in the first six months of this year. The official figures have confirmed this. The surprise though is on the upside. The consensus had been that the economy had shrunk 0.5% in the quarter. In fact, it was 0.2%. Remember that this figure occurred during the height of […]
Nats’ ‘NZ sucks’ campaign continues
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, September 26th, 2008 - 39 comments
I remember the first time I met Simon Power, when he had just come into Parliament. He struck me as a man who would be a future leader of National and an excellent one at that – articulate, informed, and moderate. Oh, what he has let himself become over 9 years in opposition – just […]
What a shame
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, September 25th, 2008 - 58 comments
Bob Clarkson chose not to speak during his valedictory speech. Instead, he just held up a sign saying ‘bye bye’ (in the same font as Peter’s famous ‘no’ sign). An opportunity for both hilarity and embarrassing revelations missed. After all, this was the man who thanked the Exclusive Brethren for all their help in winning […]
The hoax revealed?
Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, September 25th, 2008 - 23 comments
Incredibly, leading rightwingers including John Key, Maurice Williamson, Lockwood Smith, Rodney Hide, and Roger Kerr still don’t accept the overwhelming evidence for climate change. A cynic would say that’s just because it’s in their interests to engage in this wishful thinking. But maybe that’s too harsh, maybe they’ve just been suckered in by sophisicated marketing, like this: [hattip […]
Why National won’t win
Written By: - Date published: 6:43 am, September 25th, 2008 - 138 comments
National has four fatal problems that will prevent it from winning the election. Or, rather, it has two problems, both with two parts. – A large majority of New Zealanders don’t like the policies National wants to implement – they reject privatisation and cutting government spending. – People were sucked in by the shallow, vague […]
Right Court: charges don’t match the facts
Written By: - Date published: 5:51 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 33 comments
[more great work from 08wire]
Diversion tactics
Written By: - Date published: 1:28 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 87 comments
Key’s three defences on the share scandal are ‘no-one asked how many shares I had’, ‘it didn’t matter how many shares I had’, and ‘Labour is spending all their time researching me’. It’s classic distraction stuff. Let’s break it down. ‘No-one asked me how many shares I had’ – Yes, Fran Mold did on Monday […]
Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North
Written By: - Date published: 1:17 pm, September 24th, 2008 - 2 comments
The second Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North is on this Friday. Peter Falloon, NZUSA co-President is the guest speaker. I’m going to try to get up there too and harangue people into getting more active. So, if you like beer, politics, and encouragement get along. What: Drinking Liberally, Palmerston North When: 7:30pm, 26th of September Where: Zoe’s […]
Both Eyes Open shows activism alive and well
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, September 24th, 2008 - 36 comments
The Vote with Both Eyes Open posters had a star turn yesterday when Annette King presented them as evidence that activism is alive and well in New Zealand despite attacks from National that the Electoral Finance Act is scaring people off. Bill English didn’t look at all comfortable as King read from the poster about […]
Did you pay the tax, John?
Written By: - Date published: 6:38 am, September 24th, 2008 - 34 comments
Generally, when you buy capital and later sell it, there is no tax payable on any profit. Unless you buy with the propose of selling the capital for a profit. That being the case, your buying and selling of the capital is engaging in an activity to generate income and tax is payable. It is […]
John’s lying eyes
Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, September 23rd, 2008 - 18 comments
All it takes is Youtube, some video editing software, and imagination to make great vids, as this video we have just been sent from ‘johnnyfivestrive’ shows:
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