Archive for November, 2009
Open mike 24/11/09
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 24th, 2009 - 24 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Poll closes up in Britain
Written By: - Date published: 10:29 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 2 comments
The latest poll in Britain has Labour within 6 points of the Conservatives. A hung Parliament is in prospect. One poll is not a trend but maybe it is too early to shoo Cameron in.
Kevin Hague blasts Nats on ACC
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 11 comments
Good video from the Greens’ Kevin Hague. Gotta love the dirty mo:
We can do better
Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 59 comments
By and large the Right are refusing to defend their neoliberal monetary policy system. The currency is causing chaos, the housing bubble is back, and the Reserve Bank is in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ position as it tries to control inflation. But the Right treat the neoliberal doctrine like a […]
Lunch time quiz
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, November 23rd, 2009 - 23 comments
1) What the hell is John Key trying to say here? “Maori are not getting special preference, if you go back to those pre-1990 forests Maori are significant owners in that area, so is Ngai Tahu, those forests are all affected by the emissions trading scheme unless we can get a change at Copenhagen and […]
Key’s flagship policy now his joke
Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, November 23rd, 2009 - 27 comments
Anyone with a brain has always known Key’s cycleway is a joke. The sick thing is he’s now using it as a punchline himself: Barack Obama’s planned White House Job Summit struck a note with our own PM when he heard about it during the Singapore Apec meeting. “Maybe he’ll do a national cycleway,” John […]
It’s the seasons, stupid
Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, November 23rd, 2009 - 40 comments
Over the last week or so, I’ve heard John Key, Bill English, and Paula Bennett all make self-congratulatory references to the number of people receiving the unemployment benefit decreasing in October. That sounded weird to me. No-one seriously thinks unemployment has stopped increasing. MSD doesn’t regularly release the month by month data but I eventually managed […]
Another Key foot in mouth
Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, November 23rd, 2009 - 39 comments
John Key sure is a class act. Not. Latest example*: Stadium funds: We’re not Indian-givers, says Key Prime Minister John Key yesterday said the Government was unlikely to ask for its $15 million back if the Forsyth Barr Stadium is not finished in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. … The issue of whether […]
Open mike 23/11/09
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 23rd, 2009 - 66 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Goff gets it right, as Key goes off the rails
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, November 22nd, 2009 - 24 comments
Phil Goff has managed to defy the critics and make himself relevant. His speech on ACC and his criticisms of National’s backroom deals with the Maori Party got praise and draw a contrast between Labour and Key’s government, with Labour on the right side of popular opinion. It’s a nice piece of timing too. The […]
Big brother is yarning to your boss
Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, November 22nd, 2009 - 13 comments
The Sunday Star Times reports that police have been passing private information about staff members onto Air New Zealand via the official information act. According to the story a flight attendant was picked up over the legal limit on the way to work, went home and then called in to say she wouldn’t be at […]
The stench of corruption
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, November 22nd, 2009 - 6 comments
No, I haven’t abandoned my resolution to be less political on Sundays quite so soon. This post is about smells. Specifically, the effect of certain smells on behaviour. How’s this for fascinating: Clean Smells Promote Moral Behavior, Study Suggests People are unconsciously fairer and more generous when they are in clean-smelling environments, according to a […]
Key opens rich mates’ marina, slaps local Maori
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, November 22nd, 2009 - 45 comments
Unbelievable. John Key has opened the environmentally destructive Whangamata Marina. This was a battle between rich property developers, against the serious concerns of local Maori, surfers, and environmentalists. Key has come down firmly on the side of his rich mates. But not only that, he’s promised more marinas! The building of marinas along popular coastal areas […]
Open mike 22/11/09
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 22nd, 2009 - 183 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…
Trade trumps human rights for Key
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 pm, November 21st, 2009 - 15 comments
What a strange little editorial in the Herald today. It’s a typical spin piece that tries to frame John Key’s shoddy behaviour in not meeting the Dalai Lama, despite his promise that he would, as a good thing. The title shows just how willing, desperate even, some are to interpret everything Key does positively – “At […]
Oh dear, what a fizzer
Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, November 21st, 2009 - 57 comments
The pro-child assault lobby spent $500,000 trying to manufacture the biggest march in New Zealand history up Queen St today. The reports say fewer than 5,000 took part. Oh dear. What does that work out at? More than $100 per marcher? Gee, if you’d offered me that much I would have walked back down Queen St too. Update: a couple of pics. Looks […]
Watch Bolivia
Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, November 21st, 2009 - 52 comments
The world is full of natural experiments in different forms of government. Bolivia is one to watch: Bolivia re-invents democratic socialism… On December 6, Bolivia will hold a general election where Evo Morales, the first Indigenous President in South America will no doubt be re-elected. His party, the MAS, has recently released an election programme […]
Open mike 21/11/09
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 21st, 2009 - 23 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up…
What I did on my holidays – by [insert name here]
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 pm, November 20th, 2009 - 38 comments
Ohmigod, after Red Alert informed me that the National MPs had started a blog, I nearly died!!!!!!! And after I’d finished that and resurrected, I went and had a look at it. Yep, I was right. These buggers know nothing about what blogging is about. Some moronic PR flack somewhere (is that a parliamentary crest […]
Fighting for democracy?
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 20th, 2009 - 15 comments
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton is facing prison after speaking out at an anti-war rally. A British soldier was arrested on Monday for speaking out at an anti-war rally and refusing to return to fight in Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Joe Glenton has been charged not just with desertion, but with new charges under the Armed Forces […]
A whole lotta nothing
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, November 20th, 2009 - 14 comments
In a speech to National Party members yesterday John Key read out a list of everything the government has done in the last year. Talk about weak, when the public disgruntlement with this do-nothing govenment has reached a level where they’re resorting to ‘not even, we’ve done heaps’. Audrey Young reports the list ran to […]
On “keeping your powder dry”
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, November 20th, 2009 - 41 comments
Reproduced with permission from No Right Turn for a viewpoint on the process of policy formation. This morning, Labour leader Phil Goff announced that he was abandoning the NeoLiberal consensus on monetary policy, with the aim of getting a monetary policy that works for the many rather than the rich few. But specifics were few […]
Broken English
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, November 20th, 2009 - 24 comments
It looked like a duck. It walked like a duck. It quacked like a duck. Turns out it was a duck. The “Plain English” advertisements were effectively party political broadcasts on behalf of the National Party. (Hardly surprising, as they were coauthored by English and his people). Even TVNZ now admits they should never have […]
Monetary policy needs to change
Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, November 20th, 2009 - 66 comments
I’m really happy that Phil Goff has taken monetary policy up as an issue. The current system – a puritanical neoliberal model set in place twenty years ago – has never worked particularly well and has now become a major threat to this country’s ability to export competitively. Monetary policy is a big issue, as […]
How much astroturf can you buy for $500,000?
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 20th, 2009 - 77 comments
Tomorrow the Christian Right are holding a self-styled ‘March for Democracy’ that’s been bankrolled to the tune of $500,000 by Auckland property developer Colin Craig. I’m sure you’ll have seen the TV ads, the newpaper full-pagers and the slick PR campaign. They’re even paying for free buses to and from the event. With that kind […]
Open mike 20/11/09
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 20th, 2009 - 15 comments
Topics of interest, announcements, general discussion. The usual rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up…
Bludging farmers
Written By: - Date published: 3:51 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 55 comments
The Fed Farmers have used Goff’s speech on monetary policy to have another whinge about beneficiaries, who they reckon are somehow to blame for the high dollar that’s crippling our exporters. Weird, I know, but then that’s the Feds for you. The dogwhistle term they’re using is ‘government spending’, but thanks to a recent admission […]
Bikoi video
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - Comments Off on Bikoi video
Hat tip: Labour.
NZ should follow Norway’s example on oil
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 25 comments
National has released its petroleum strategy. It appears they plan to further lower our already low royalties to encourage foreign oil companies to come here, dig up our finite our reserves as fast as they can and make off with huge profits. Just about the dumbest attitude you can have to irreplaceable natural resources like […]
Cartoon: A brief history of corporate whining
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, November 19th, 2009 - 13 comments
Great cartoon from Barry Deutsch at Lefycartoons.com Lifted from Joe Hendren
970 words of hollow platitudes. How ambitious.
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, November 19th, 2009 - 18 comments
Classic, I was just saying yesterday that Key is probably concerned about focus testing turning up ‘do-nothing’, ‘weak’ and ‘visionless’ memes and today he’s got a little puff piece in the Dominion Post that purports to lay out his “vision”. Of course like every other missive from the great leader this one says exactly nothing. […]
- 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
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 7 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 days ago - 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
- The Wāhine Māori leading NZ’s largest education union
Ripeka Lessels (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa)Ripeka Lessels had been an educator for 20 years before she decided to become involved in NZEI Te Riu Roa’s Māori governance body, Te Reo Areare. It’s here she believed she could do the most good for tamariki Māori.As someone who had ...4 days ago
- Four myths of career breaks
Opinion: Why is it that whenever we meet someone new, we default to asking about their job?We could ask almost any question about their interests, background, or values, but still we ask “So, what do you do?”It turns out, this common, seemingly innocuous phrasing carries much deeper undertones of perceived ...4 days ago
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