Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, April 21st, 2012 - 19 comments
There was a time when you expected higher standards from the senior ranks of the public service. Now, more and more, they are just like private sector CEOs. Elitists. The standards are slipping. This slap on the wrist for the Building and Housing CEO who manhandled a staffer just shows how pervasive the elitist private sector ‘one law for us, another for them’ mentality has become.
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, February 25th, 2012 - 74 comments
Directorships are the golden ticket in the world of the business elite. You attend maybe 10 meetings a year, sign whatever’s put in front of you, typically get paid $3-4K a pop, and do it over again half a dozen times or more for various companies. It’s a gravy train for managers past their use by date. But customers and shareholders have to trust what directors sign off on.
Written By: - Date published: 8:17 pm, October 8th, 2011 - 51 comments
Just flicked on TV1 to see what’s happening in the rugby. Host is a man who pushed his partner down the stairs. Kicked her as she lay. Broke her back in 4 places. Cause he’s ‘famous’ he got off with only 300 hours CS & a 10K fine. He bribed her to keep it out of the news. Tells me a lot that TVNZ thinksVeitch is an acceptable face of their station and of rugby. Then I switched off. [Fuck, Veitch is on Radiosport. It was Devlin on the TV. My point still applies to Radiosport]
Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, April 22nd, 2011 - 26 comments
The Herald asks: “Is Kate Middleton the best looking UK royal ever?“. I say: what about Mary of Orange? Phwoooar! Get a load of that! Seriously, who gives a fuck that some dickhead who might some day be the nominal boss of our figurehead vice-regent is marrying someone? Why are we meant to swoon like morons over this?
Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, March 24th, 2011 - 24 comments
So what are you gonna do with the 9K of tax cuts you got with your 400K pa job since October? Why not pay 7K to shack up with 65 of the elite and eat a 6 course meal from foreign chefs?… What do you mean you’re not on 400K, you haven’t pocketed 9K in the last 5 months, and price rises ate your ‘tax cut’? You need a real job.
Written By: - Date published: 11:20 pm, January 20th, 2011 - 31 comments
Overcrowding is a big problem that drives disease and prevents kids getting the best start in life. Normally, I would say that the solution to overcrowding is more state housing – eco-smart housing, which would also create jobs. But an interesting article in the Guardian recently by George Monbiot suggests another solution.
Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, January 20th, 2011 - 44 comments
Auckland Grammar School (that most private of public schools) has decided that NCEA isn’t good enough for them and that it doesn’t meet the needs of its community. When 300+ Primary Schools said the same about National Standards Minister Tolley threatened Boards of Trustees with the sack, threatened with extra visits by ERO and a cut in funding.
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, December 21st, 2010 - 25 comments
Mark Hotchin is expected to become a campaigner for beneficiaries if cleared of serious fraud allegations. His assets frozen, the SFO has given him a 1K a week allowance. Not enough for the basics: private school, hire car, mortgage on mansion. A family of 7 needs 360K a year, he says. Not being a hypocrite, he’ll be wanting more for beneficiary families too – eh?
Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, October 17th, 2010 - 50 comments
Here’s John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in the classic “An Understanding of Class”, a lovely commentary on one of the pillars of capitalism. Since the abandonment of class rhetoric by Labour a few decades ago, we no longer have a lot of class consciousness in New Zealand. Which is a bit ironic really, considering …
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