Archive for April, 2010

Scott on crime stats

Written By: - Date published: 5:23 pm, April 6th, 2010 - 14 comments

I think they know full well what causes violent crime.

They just don’t care.

Kiwis report future less bright under National

Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, April 6th, 2010 - 58 comments

In 2008, John Key was promising us a brighter future. 18 months on, we’re in that future he was talking about and Kiwis are reporting their lives are worse than they were before he came to power. 83% of Kiwis surveyed by ShapeNZ rated their quality of life as ‘good’ or better, down from 89% in 2008 and 92% in 2007. Key has a responsibility to live up to his promises

Brownlee still spouting the same garbage on mining

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, April 6th, 2010 - 34 comments

The Government is trying to frame the mining issue as a debate between ’emotional’ environmentalists and ‘sensible’ people who want to build the economy. The reality, however, is that the Government has no clue what benefits mining on protected land could bring or the costs. How are we meant to rationally weigh the pros and cons when the Government doesn’t know what they are and has made no effort to find out? The Government just wants to dig and pray.

State enforced amnesia

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, April 6th, 2010 - 7 comments

John Key’s National government has, in its infinite wisdom, decided to subsume Archives New Zealand and the National Library within the Department of Internal Affairs. With typical ideological one-eyedness that necessitates a blithe disregard for constitutional values, the merger is likely to have some fairly dire consequences for anyone who considers it important that a […]

Will Maori Party stand firm on foreshore & seabed?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, April 6th, 2010 - 12 comments

The Maori Party was established to win the right for iwi to have what they believe are their rights to use the economic potential of the foreshore and seabed. National’s offer does not deliver on that. Will the Maori Party fold? Early indications are mixed. Hone Harawira will stand strong but a patsy question from rahui Katene last Thursday suggests the leadership might be willing to roll over.

Hide to speak at privatisation conference

Written By: - Date published: 8:42 am, April 6th, 2010 - 23 comments

Last year, Rodney Hide said that John Key is a ‘do nothing’ prime minister, and his fellow ministers were lazy and didn’t pay attention what his was up to. Well, they might like to pay attention now: Hide is keynote speaker at a conference on local government later this month where water privatisation is the highlight of the agenda. Does Key support Hide’s push for water privatisation?

Open mike 06/04/2010

Written By: - Date published: 2:40 am, April 6th, 2010 - 36 comments

Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Gung Ho

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 pm, April 5th, 2010 - 3 comments

This is eleven minutes of pure Patti Smith singing about Vietnam in her usual ambiguous poetical style. Came up on the playlist while coding, and I had to stop to listen to the sheer menace in her voice. I had a look for a video. A powerful song, and a powerful rendition by its creator.

Key’s promises on crime

Written By: - Date published: 6:53 am, April 5th, 2010 - 58 comments

John Key makes big promises and he doesn’t deliver. Tax cuts North of $50? Jobs summit? Close the gap with Australia? His rhetoric on crime is another example. Key promised to tackle violent crime. Key promised a war on P. Well, the first report card is in, and it isn’t good.

Open mike 05/04/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 5th, 2010 - 25 comments

Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Open Mike – 04/04/2010

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 4th, 2010 - 53 comments

Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes your fancy. The usual good behaviour rules apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Nats fail on crime

Written By: - Date published: 2:07 am, April 4th, 2010 - 45 comments

Regular readers of The Standard will know that a primary driver of crime is joblessness. It’s no surprise, therefore, to see that crime went up in the last year. Fewer jobs to go around = more crime. Crime is a symptom of socio-economic distress. It is not, primarily, ‘bad’ people behaving badly because they are […]

What the foreshore and seabed is really about

Written By: - Date published: 1:25 am, April 4th, 2010 - 41 comments

Iwi do not want legal recognition of some kind of fuzzy spirital connection with the foreshore and seabed. They want legal recognition of property rights, rights to use the economic potential of what they regard as their property. For Maori rights activists, National’s offer cannot be seen as anything other than a continued denial of the rights that the Maori Party was created to win back