Archive for September, 2007

A hollow man

Written By: - Date published: 3:20 pm, September 25th, 2007 - 1 comment

Mark Blumsky’s crocodile tears about the tribal nature of Parliament leaves me absolutely gobsmacked. What planet did this cretin drop from? Before he agreed to stand as a candidate someone in the National Party should have explained to him that politics is a dog-eat-dog business, a sometimes torrid contest of ideas, where only the fit […]

a_y_b: MIA

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, September 25th, 2007 - Comments Off on a_y_b: MIA

Apologies for my silence, I’ve been having a Microsoft Word nightmare. When mail merge would work, the printer wouldn’t; when the printer would work, Excel wouldn’t, and so on… All sorted now… Clippy was an arse. Here he is trying to redeem himself:

John Key’s Porirua market adventure

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 pm, September 24th, 2007 - 9 comments

Presumably the Nats are packing themselves about the proposed extension of the campaign spending period and are trying to jam their costs into this year. Evidently, someone at National Party HQ (David Farrar?) thought it might be a good idea to send John Key to visit Porirua market recently with a TV production crew. Perhaps […]

What is this woman doing in Parliament?

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, September 24th, 2007 - 6 comments

Here’s a tip you can take to the bank: if you’re ever worried you’re no good at your job and need some cheering up, you can’t go too far wrong with Heather Roy’s Diary. Of all the dreadful, party-approved pap that streams out of Parliament on a Friday afternoon, Heather’s newsletter is surely the pick […]

McCarten on religion and politics

Written By: - Date published: 1:11 pm, September 23rd, 2007 - Comments Off on McCarten on religion and politics

God has spoken this week. It’s clear that he doesn’t want Gordon Copeland, Brian Tamaki or Taito Phillip Field representing him on Earth. Here’s the full piece from the Herald.

Trotter on the Electoral Finance Bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:37 pm, September 22nd, 2007 - 7 comments

For those who haven’t seen it yet, Chris Trotter had a great piece in yesterday’s Dom Post about the Electoral Finance Bill. In it, he takes issue with the narrow legal definition of freedom of expression taken up by the Human Rights commission in its submission on the bill, and in doing so reveals the […]

All Black is New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 3:32 pm, September 22nd, 2007 - 5 comments

Symbolism should never be underestimated in life, as it can’t be in sport and politics. Take the Rugby World Cup where the symbolism of the All Blacks has prompted many New Zealanders to scornfully view the French team’s sudden change of playing strip to dark blue. Sacrebleu, what’s going on? This means that, if the […]

Hillary Nutcracker

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, September 22nd, 2007 - Comments Off on Hillary Nutcracker

Here’s the product page (via Gizmodo)

Rickards charged with alleged misconduct

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, September 22nd, 2007 - 1 comment

Last week John Key was calling on the government to force Rickards to go – interfer in an onoing employment matter and essentially require the payout of a large golden-handshake. At the time the PM refered to his comments as “reckless”. PRESENTER: Alright, what would you be doing right now, if you were the Prime […]

Superannuation

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 am, September 22nd, 2007 - 1 comment

Brian Gaynor writes in the Herald about what he calls “the worst economic decision of the last 40 years” – National’s scrapping of Labour’s compulsory Super scheme in 1975. Had it been allowed to continue, today it would be worth over $240 billion. Muldoon claimed that the scheme should be opposed because it was “socialist” […]

More on Hollow Men play

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, September 22nd, 2007 - 1 comment

The Herald has a bit more info on the stage adaptation of The Hollow Men. Strange how close Brash and Foreman’s answers are. I wonder if they’re still in regular contact. No surprise the book is full of half-truths Dr Brash, after all it was based on your correspondence. Brash: “The book on which the […]

Answer this question and get FREE movie tickets

Written By: - Date published: 5:22 pm, September 21st, 2007 - 10 comments

The Labour Government is stuffing up. They can’t find the right words to describe John Key and the National Party. Because of that they are the architects of their own making with a clear sign that the electorate has become bored with Labour’s big words whilst not appreciating what National and John Key are all […]

The Hollow Men stage play

Written By: - Date published: 2:54 pm, September 21st, 2007 - 3 comments

Close Up last night did a quick preview of the stage adaptation of Nicky Hager’s The Hollow Men. I’ll write a review as soon as I’ve seen it. Don’s far from happy about his continued time in the spotlight and is sticking firmly to his story that his emails were “stolen” or “hacked” rather than […]

Congratulations Canada

Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, September 21st, 2007 - Comments Off on Congratulations Canada

TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian dollar reached parity with the U.S. dollar on Thursday for the first time since November 1976. Known as the loonie because of the bird pictured on the one-dollar coin, the Canadian dollar has been gaining ground on its American counterpart since hitting an all-time low of 61.79 U.S. cents on […]

CCDA to merge with National caucus

Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, September 21st, 2007 - 1 comment

Hi, my name’s Richard Worth and I’m a climate change denier.  I’ve been clean for one day – since yesterday when my Party endorsed the Labour government’s climate change policy – but today I’m back to my old ways. Hat-tip Idoit/Savant from No Right Turn.

Land of the free?

Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, September 21st, 2007 - 3 comments

WTF? I might be a bit behind the times on this one but I’ve just come across the tasering of US journalism student Andrew Meyer on youtube and I can’t believe what I’ve seen. For those of you who don’t know, Meyer asked a question about election theft during a Q&A with John Kerry at […]

Subway cheese conspiracy

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, September 21st, 2007 - 1 comment

Some of you might remember an incident at Subway in Dunedin earlier this year. A young woman who worked there was fired in after management accused her of stealing a free staff drink after she shared it with her friend. They had her arrested and charged with theft. The news traveled widely, there was a […]

Espiner and climate change policy up a tree…

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, September 21st, 2007 - Comments Off on Espiner and climate change policy up a tree…

Colin Espiner seems to think the government’s done ok with its climate change policy: While I can’t confess to yet having had time to read every line in the stacks of documents the Government dumped on reporters today (I’d like to see a carbon audit of how much energy was expended in printing it for […]

English agrees with Labour on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 6:09 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 12 comments

What the hell’s going on? This press release from Bill English today under the heading “Emissions Regime Proposal Looks Sound”: It goes on to say; “National Party Deputy Leader Bill English says the climate change framework announced by the Government today is in line with National’s proposals in this area”. Please, please, does anyone imagine […]

Fleshing out the aspirations

Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 2 comments

The big political news of the day was the government announcement of an emissions trading scheme. This scheme puts a price on carbon emissions and is intended to incentivise more efficient use of fuel and energy. The trading scheme’s the centrepiece of the climate change policy but there’s a lot around the edges. David Parker […]

Cameron least popular UK party leader

Written By: - Date published: 4:54 pm, September 20th, 2007 - Comments Off on Cameron least popular UK party leader

David Cameron is now Britain’s least popular party leader, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll published today. It suggests Mr Cameron’s efforts to revive Conservative fortunes are suffering in the face of recovering respect for Labour as a party of government. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come for John Key […]

The knives are out

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 1 comment

A reliable Wellington source tells me he had the pleasure of dining at a table next to Bill English and family a few weeks back. Once the kids were out of the way Bill dished up a smörgÃÂ¥sbord of tasty gossip, both personal and political. Apparently English made no bones about it, his leadership ambitions […]

My gran decides she quite likes the gold card

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, September 20th, 2007 - 2 comments

Garth George weighs in on the gold card today in the Herald. While the debate rages about the merits of Winston’s senior card and whether cheaper rinses and jetboat rides are worth all the fuss, I’m tempted to tell my gran what she’s been telling me for years: don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth […]

National MP Key on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, September 20th, 2007 - Comments Off on National MP Key on climate change

John Key was born in Auckland but moved to Christchurch when a child. He was educated at Burnside High School and then gained a B.Comm from the University of Canterbury. John launched his investment banking career in New Zealand in the mid 80s. After 10 years in the New Zealand market he headed offshore, working […]

National MP English on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, September 20th, 2007 - Comments Off on National MP English on climate change

Bill has been an MP since 1990 when he was elected to the former seat of Wallace in the rural heartland of the south of the South Island. Now renamed Clutha-Southland, the electorate is truly home to Bill English as it encompasses the town of Dipton where he was born in December 1961 and Winton […]

National MP Carter on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, September 20th, 2007 - Comments Off on National MP Carter on climate change

David was born in 1952, and attended St Bede’s College in Christchurch. He is one of six current Members of Parliament who attended St Bede’s College. He completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree at Lincoln University before embarking on a farming and business career. David currently farms a 2,500 stock unit farm on Banks […]

National MP Hayes on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, September 20th, 2007 - Comments Off on National MP Hayes on climate change

John has diverse experience of life and a successful career in the foreign service and business. He was concerned about the direction New Zealand was taking and decided to support Don Brash and the National team. He has been campaigning full time for National since October. After a period working as an economist John joined […]

National MP Connell on climate change

Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, September 20th, 2007 - 1 comment

Brian Connell, 46, is a farmer and former international business consultant. After graduating with a BA in History and Geography from Massey, and studying for a Diploma in Teaching, he became a primary, then a secondary school teacher for several years, following which he joined middle management in State Bank, in Victoria, Australia. Later he […]

Happy Suffrage Day!

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, September 19th, 2007 - 5 comments

Another of New Zealand’s proud firsts: we were the first to give women the vote in national elections. Clearly as a society we’ve made huge progress in the last 114 years – New Zealand’s even now got a Ministry dedicated to furthering Women’s issues to help ensure that they stay on the agenda. It’s a […]

Piratical confluence

Written By: - Date published: 1:06 pm, September 19th, 2007 - 2 comments

Arrrrg, the starrrrs must be aligned. Not only is it international talk like a pirate day and a day of significance to Pastafarians worldwide but it’s also the day before the government announces its carbon emission trading scheme. Having not yet seen the scheme the Nats don’t really know what to say as evidenced by […]

Confirmed: Copeland’s pants on fire

Written By: - Date published: 12:19 pm, September 19th, 2007 - Comments Off on Confirmed: Copeland’s pants on fire

Ten Commandments? Nope. Never heard of them. Mr Copeland had insisted on Monday that he did not know what was going to be announced at yesterday’s press conference called by Destiny Church head Brian Tamaki to confirm the new political party. He also insisted in an interview with The Dominion Post that his Future NZ […]

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