Archive for April, 2009
Memo: Re: Torture
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, April 21st, 2009 - 7 comments
“You know what is in room 101, Winston. Everyone knows what is in room 101” The release last week of four memos from the legal team of the George W Bush administration confirmed what many already knew. That they were using torture. Anyone who has read those memos cannot deny that and be taken seriously. […]
I (am) like Obama
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, April 21st, 2009 - 8 comments
Uncanny spoof of John Key. Has all of the mannerisms…
High quality government spending
Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, April 21st, 2009 - 4 comments
I suppose the Herald means for us to recoil in horror at the headline “$325,000 bill to save 57 jobs” but I’m fine with it. Look at the alternative – 57 families taking a major hit to their incomes, with all the consequences for health, education, crime, and family stability that we know unemployment brings. Think […]
Johnny plays general
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 23 comments
This morning on Breakfast, Key said we’ll send in troops to Fiji as part of a multi-national force if need be. At the same time, McCully was on National Radio refusing to countenance any such deployment. Key also said we’ll send more people to Afghanistan if there’s an exit strategy. While McCully no decision would be made until a review […]
Mt Albert date set
Written By: - Date published: 4:57 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 34 comments
From Newsroom: The bi-election for the Mt. Albert seat vacated by Helen Clark is set to be held on Saturday June 13, according to an announcement today by Prime Minister John Key. UPDATE: Key dates in the Govt release. Update 2: Isn’t it “by-election”, “bi-election”? Electoral Act says ‘yes’. Good one Newsroom.
Transparency
Written By: - Date published: 4:29 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 8 comments
The Government announced two nine day fortnights today. Interestingly, they’re refusing to tell us who one of them is. From the Government’s press release: Ms Bennett confirmed today that Oamaru-based Summit Wool Spinners and another manufacturing firm, which wishes to remain anonymous, had joined the scheme Now call me old-fashioned, but this strikes me as […]
When is the required referendum?
Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 19 comments
I agree with the title of the Herald’s editoral today: “Let citizens have say on Super City“. Unfortunately, the editoral itself is wishy-washy. Aucklanders do deserve to have a say on the super city proposal. They should get to vote yes or no on the supercity in referenda before anything is set in stone. In […]
Leaping into inaction
Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 12 comments
Cycling is a great way to travel, so it’s great that the government is going to back more cycleways around the country to make the experience safer and more enjoyable for cycle tourists. But the new plan will only see a national network completed in “10-20” years time. That’s not going to help the recession […]
How did we miss the sweet spot?
Written By: - Date published: 11:15 am, April 20th, 2009 - 19 comments
This fascinating article (with many links) describes some of the radical technologies America is considering to address the urgent problem of global warming. … global warming is so dire, the Obama administration is discussing radical technologies to cool Earth’s air … One such extreme option includes shooting pollution particles into the upper atmosphere to reflect […]
Vote Yes
Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, April 20th, 2009 - 33 comments
Why are the questions in citizens-initiated referenda always written by idiots? You want people to vote for your cause, right? So frame the question so people who agree with your position tick the ‘yes’ box. Simple? But they keep getting it backwards. Remember the first one? “Should the number of professional firefighters employed full time […]
Veitch saga shows it really is no longer OK
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 pm, April 19th, 2009 - 22 comments
I know it’s not The Standard’s style to follow the media in the disgusting practice of turning real people’s lives into soap opera but there is a political aspect of the Veitch saga that is worth commenting on. 30 years ago, a story like this would have been swept under the carpet. Family violence was a private […]
Recap: China syndrome
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, April 19th, 2009 - 8 comments
This post was originally published last year but it’s relevant in the light of the naive comments from McCully on Q+A today about China cooperating with New Zealand on aid to Fiji. _________________________________________ Liberal democracy (ie. democracy where there are truly competitive elections) is the dominant ideology of government of our time, having seen off […]
Workers stand up to exploitative bosses
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, April 19th, 2009 - 5 comments
Head of the Unite union, Matt McCarten, writes about the Synovate lockout and how foreign-owned businesses try to exploit New Zealand workers: [The] owners offer workers essentially nothing above the minimum wage then expect everyone to roll over and accept it. The normal threat is to close and go offshore. This is supposed to terrify […]
Elizabeth Warren on the bailouts
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, April 19th, 2009 - 14 comments
The best news source in America, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, interviews the woman responsible for making sure their bailout money is being spent well. Illuminating and a little scary. In the second part she puts this whole financial crisis in a historic and principled context. The crowd goes wild – they’ve never had the […]
Turning a blind eye
Written By: - Date published: 4:25 pm, April 18th, 2009 - 16 comments
Unlike some of the other Standard writers, I don’t usually find Fran O-Sullivan too bad but her reporting of Key’s trip to China has been disappointing. Here’s how she describes Key’s failure to stand up for human rights: “Key is also quite pragmatic on human rights. He did not seem bothered enough on China’s record […]
The sensible bits
Written By: - Date published: 10:56 am, April 18th, 2009 - 1 comment
Brian Rudman has a piece in the NZ Herald looking at the good side of the Auckland reorganisation. The potential for pooling resources. This was one of the reasons that there is widespread support for some kind of reorganization of Auckland into a single political structure. Just not with the proposal from Rodney Hide which […]
The fightback begins
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, April 18th, 2009 - 22 comments
This morning I picked up the local newspaper out of the mailbox – Harbour News. On the front page was this extraordinary editorial – “Who stole our Voice“. The editor of the Harbour News tears Rodney Hide and the NACT government a new excretory orifice. This is what is coming from the ground up all […]
One of these things is not like the other III
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, April 18th, 2009 - 20 comments
One of these things is not like the other… One of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one is not like the other… Can you tell me before I finish the game?
Wtf?
Written By: - Date published: 6:02 pm, April 17th, 2009 - 30 comments
A reader writes: $30 million for an expo pavillion? Sounds a bit steep. Why, John Key could could build you a cycleway 60% of the length of New Zealand for that price. Seriously though, Key’s going to spend 50% more on a pavillion than he’s prepared to spend on the 9-day fortnight scheme to save […]
More pain ahead
Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, April 17th, 2009 - 38 comments
The current financial crisis originated in America with a wave of defaults in “sub prime” mortgages. The excellent presentation found here covers a lot of data in a lot of detail (step through the slides), and shows why there is more pain ahead in the American mortgage and housing markets. The companies making crazy loans […]
What plan? Government incoherent
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, April 17th, 2009 - 39 comments
Peeking through the OECD policy brief there were some interesting issues when looking at the short-term economic issues over the next few years. As usual Granny Herald in their usual editorial policy of supporting NACT has it wrong. On their front page article they said… The economy is in for a long and deep recession, […]
So much for accountable government
Written By: - Date published: 9:13 am, April 17th, 2009 - 11 comments
Five months in office and ministers are already so aloof and out of touch that you can read things like this in the media almost without raising an eyebrow: The Government says it will listen to the wide range of concerns about its plans for a Super City in Auckland but whether it takes any notice is […]
Worth mired in corruption again
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 pm, April 16th, 2009 - 36 comments
(click the picture for the video) Why would Worth visit the Sandhu family to whom he was a stranger and who had nothing to do with his portfolio? What did he say to them? Why would he introduce himself as the Minister of Internal Affairs to the family? And why would he lie about that to the media? […]
Questions
Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, April 16th, 2009 - 27 comments
We should expect National as the political arm of business to surround itself with dirty money and conflicts of interest. As a self-proclaimed social democratic party Labour has no such excuse. So: – What is Labour’s education spokesperson Chris Carter doing accepting election donations from a private college? – Why is Shane Jones accepting money […]
Johnny’s next big idea
Written By: - Date published: 11:18 am, April 16th, 2009 - 13 comments
In two days, John Key will be bouncing from cloud to cloud on his way back home from China. With him on the plane will be a group of businessmen that Fran O’Sullivan (in shockingly bad taste) calls the ‘gang of seven’. These include: the guy who got a 93% pay increase to $3.1 million […]
Nats still involved in dodgy donations
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, April 16th, 2009 - 38 comments
The Herald covers some of the donations to parties and candidates before the election. One of the big donors was the Road Transport Forum, the trucking lobby, who were behind the famous ‘truck strike’. They’re getting value for money eh? National’s Transport Minister Steven Joyce has taken half a billion out of public transport and […]
NZ’s debt in perspective
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, April 15th, 2009 - 8 comments
Remember when John Key used to say “New Zealand has a growth problem, not a debt problem”? He doesn’t say that anymore, which is a pity because we do have a growth problem, not a debt problem, but the Government is acting like we’ve got a debt problem that needs to be tackled first. Yes, […]
Out of her depth II
Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, April 15th, 2009 - 29 comments
As if any more evidence was needed that National’s Paula Bennett is completely out of her depth as Minister of Social Development, it appears Work and Income is turning away the hungry while Paula can’t even get her lines straight: Despite a high court ruling in 2002 instructing WINZ to tell beneficiaries what their entitlements […]
As predicted
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, April 15th, 2009 - 8 comments
Last week, John Key was bouncing on a new cloud. The Australian Government had teamed up with banks to help stop homeowners defaulting on their mortgages. Key publicly mused that ‘his’ government could do the same here. We said it was only a matter of time until English quietly killed the idea. Sure enough: “The […]
Synovate lockout lifted
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, April 15th, 2009 - 18 comments
Indymedia reports that the lockout at research company Synovate has been lifted and a settlement has been reached: Late last night, union and company negotiators reached a settlement at the Department of Labour. Pay rises will be 50c now and 50c in 6 months. People will get paid for stat. holidays over the lock-out. And […]
- Where is she now? Wendy Frew
The search for Wendy Frew takes you to Pine Crescent Park, Rosedale, in Invercargill. “Possibly windswept and interesting” to quote a Billy Connolly-ism.It’s a setting that nurtured a remarkable deep-south sporting family dynasty – one fit to rival the Bracewells of the North.Among the eight children of Karen and Colin ...2 days ago - ‘The room went dead quiet’: Josh Thomson on his worst 7 Days moment
Summer reissue: Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators ...2 days ago - Final day for public feedback on Treaty Principles Bill
The legislation proposes to rewrite the treaty principles long-defined by the courts ...2 days ago - How you – yes, you! – can be a godsend to a new parent
Everyone can help lighten the load for a struggling new mum or dad. Here’s how. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. As I recently ...2 days ago
- Dame Tariana Turia to be laid to rest today
Dame Tariana died on Friday, aged 80. ...2 days ago
- ‘Man had eel in his bum’: Remembering the story that almost broke the Herald
Summer reissue: This year the Herald on Sunday celebrated a significant birthday. Hayden Donnell takes a look back at one of its most defining moments. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...2 days ago
- How Wellington became a cornucopia of Malaysian food
Summer reissue: Our capital is a far cry from hot, bustling Kuala Lumpur, so why is this freezing city full of excellent Malaysian cuisine? My dad once told me that there are more Malaysian restaurants in Wellington per square kilometres than there are back in Malaysia. He was completely ...2 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 January
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- Daily crossword, Tuesday 7 January
The post Daily crossword, Tuesday 7 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago
- Five Pacific region geopolitical ‘betrayals’ in 2024
COMMENTARY: By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report With the door now shut on 2024, many will heave a sigh of relief and hope for better things this year. Decolonisation issues involving the future of Kanaky New Caledonia and West Papua – and also in the Middle East with ...2 days ago - Labour should apologise to Dame Tariana Turia’s whānau – Willie Jackson at tangi
Willie Jackson was among politicians past and present paying respect to Dame Tariana today - and made the call for an apology over her treatment during the Foreshore and Seabed controversy. ...3 days ago
- ‘Ghost of Suharto’ marks Prabowo’s new phase in West Papua occupation
SPECIAL REPORT: By Paul Gregoire United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) provisional government interim president Benny Wenda has warned that since Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto took office in October, he has been proven right in having remarked, after the politician’s last February election, that his coming marks the return ...3 days ago
- Should I get a weighted vest to boost my fitness? And how heavy should it be?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University ZR10/Shutterstock Exercise training while wearing a weighted vest is undergoing somewhat of a renaissance. Social media posts and trainers are promoting them as a potential strategy for improving fitness and health. ...3 days ago
- Live: Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
The Prime Minister is visiting Whangaehu Marae to pay his respects. ...3 days ago
- How do mosquito repellents work? A chemistry expert explains
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Eldridge, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Swinburne University of Technology kamitana/Shutterstock It’s summertime, and for many of us that means plenty of time outside – and, unfortunately, mosquitoes. The combination of the increase in temperature and plenty of water is ideal ...3 days ago
- Even calm people can fly into a rage behind the wheel. Here’s how to curb your road rage – befor...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Senior Lecturer of Urban Risk & Resilience, UNSW Sydney Marian Weyo/Shutterstock If someone bumps into us on the footpath or in the mall, we’re generally quite forgiving. We instinctively apologise or step aside, and usually don’t scream at, stalk, ...3 days ago
- Relentless warming is driving the water cycle to new extremes, the 2024 global water report shows
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University EPA/MIGUEL ANGEL POLO Last year, Earth experienced its hottest year on record − for the fourth year in a row. Rising temperatures are changing ...3 days ago
- Continental drift: why the need for critical minerals might change the way we define Earth’s zones
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rupert Sutherland, Professor of tectonics and geophysics, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Office of Ocean Exploration and Research/NOAA, CC BY-SA Continents and oceans have scientific definitions that underpin international law. The idea of dividing the world into geographical ...3 days ago
- Do natural fabrics really keep us cooler in summer? Here’s the science
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nisa Salim, Senior Lecturer at the School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology Dasha Petrenko/Shutterstock The Bureau of Meteorology has warned Australia is facing one of the hottest summers on record. As the weather warms, many of us reach for light-coloured ...3 days ago
- 3 drugs that went from legal, to illegal, then back again
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philippa Martyr, Lecturer, Pharmacology, Women’s Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia Peruvian Syrup, containing cocaine, was used to ‘cure’ a range of diseases. Smithsonian Museum of American History/Flickr Cannabis, cocaine and heroin have interesting life stories and long ...3 days ago
- Dreading the school or daycare drop-off? How to handle it when your child doesn’t want you to go
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Ridder, Lecturer in Early Childhood Education, Murdoch University Kiefer Photography/Shutterstock You’re doing daycare or school drop-off, you’re already late for work, and your child’s lip starts to quiver. A tremble turns into a wail, a wail into heart-rending cries as ...3 days ago
- Perfectionist leaders can push their teams to meet high standards – but it can backfire and stifl...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gamze Koseoglu, Senior Lecturer, The University of Melbourne fizkes/Shutterstock Have you ever kept a brilliant idea to yourself, fearing your boss’s reaction? This hesitation is more common than you might think, especially when working under perfectionist leaders. Some of the most ...3 days ago
- 5 tips to ace a job interview – including how to prepare for the question they’ll definitely ask
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerry Brown, Professor of Employment and Industry, School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University Photo by Anna Shvets/Pexels If you’re back in the job market, or looking for your first position after graduating, you’ll need to think about how to ...3 days ago
- Why you should treat workplace friendships like your diet – aim for balance and variety
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images The list of organisations abandoning the option of fully remote work for employees has grown recently, with the likes of Amazon, IBM, JPMorgan and Meta ...3 days ago
- Sunglasses reflect more than the light: a brief history of shades, from Ancient Rome to Hollywood
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Maynard, Associate Professor, School of Communication and the Arts, The University of Queensland State Library Victoria Sunglasses, or dark glasses, have always guarded against strong sunlight, but is there more to “shades” than we think? The pupils of our ...3 days ago
- Inside the fast rise and faster collapse of the acclaimed K Road restaurant Cotto
Summer reissue: The Auckland eatery closed its doors with no warning in late 2023, prompting concerned customers to ask the simple question: what went wrong? Stewart Sowman-Lund finds out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...3 days ago
- Dunedin’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Summer reissue: Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...3 days ago
- Stanford braces herself for a year of cuts – and reform
“Next year is going to be a tough year for me, because I’m going to have to make some very, very difficult decisions,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.That means cuts. Or at least replacements.“This is the problem in education: we never stop doing things.”This leads to a disjointed system, where ...3 days ago
- Protecting our democracy by reforming Parliament
Opinion: Aotearoa New Zealand currently exists in an unstable world. Democracies are under challenge across the globe, and we are not immune.As the inhabitants of one of the world’s oldest democracies, New Zealanders are accustomed to electing their Members of Parliament every three years and we value the importance of ...3 days ago
- The Mars search for meaning
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is resolute in his determination to establish a self-sustaining human settlement on Mars and is actively developing technology to achieve his mission. It’s an intriguing prospect, and if achieved, humans would only be able to potentially survive in some kind of biodome, but it once again raises ...3 days ago
- Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
Dame Tariana Turia's advocacy for Māori rights was the inspiration behind the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, organiser says. ...3 days ago
- What I learned (and didn’t learn) from four years of home education
Summer reissue: For four years, Shanti Mathias learned at home, with her siblings as her only classmates. How did it affect her? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...3 days ago
- An insomniac’s guide to getting to sleep when it’s hot and muggy
Summer reissue: It is not easy, but it is possible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Ah, sleep. Those six to eight gorgeous ...3 days ago
- ‘I need to make you suffer’: My near decade of violent harassment by a man I barely know
Summer reissue: Zeni Gibson has been stalked and harassed for nearly nine years by a man she rejected when she was 17. This is her story. As told to Madeleine Holden. Cover Stories are longform journalism supported by Spinoff Members. Support this work here. Spinoff Cover Stories are now available ...3 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 6 January
The post Daily crossword, Monday 6 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 6 January
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- This past year saw policing get ‘back to basics’ – Minister Mark Mitchell
RNZ sat down with Police Minister and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell for a year in review, across his portfolios. ...4 days ago
- Tangi for Dame Tariana Turia welcomes figures from throughout the motu
Visitors and dignitaries from around the motu have been welcomed onto Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, as the tangihanga for the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori enters its second day. ...4 days ago
- Countering Foreign Interference Bill A Dramatic Attack On Free Speech And Rights
We know that the impact of this kind of legislation is to silence legitimate political activity. In particular this is likely to be the case where people are advocating for policies that are contrary to the position of the current government. ...4 days ago - Abducted Gaza doctor’s life in danger due to torture – call for immediate international interven...
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor The fate of Palestinian Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was “arrested” by Israeli forces last month after defiantly staying with his patients when his hospital was being attacked, featured strongly at yesterday’s medical professionals solidarity rally in Auckland. ...4 days ago
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