Archive for January, 2012

Funding the puppets of denial

Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, January 25th, 2012 - 12 comments

There have been some interesting investigations going on into the funding of denier lobby groups. The reluctance of them to disclose their sources of income is becoming an issue. What can be seen is that they have  very publicity shy funding sources. Most likely it is those who stand to lose money if effective measures are taken to reduce the impact of climate changes. So they want transparency in science and hypocrisy on their own funding of their own ‘independent’ mouthpieces.

A brighter future for Maori?

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, January 25th, 2012 - 11 comments

Headline – PM to Ratana: National has made a difference

  • Maori unemployment under National: +15,300
  • Median Maori income under National: -$78 per week

Are Maori looking forward to another three years of Key’s ‘difference’?

In the frame

Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, January 25th, 2012 - 84 comments

Labour’s contrition is starting to look like weakness.

Rather than reinforcing their opponents’ framing of issues they need to articulate their own progressive values with authority.

If they fail to do this the momentum gained by their new leader will be lost.

National values

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, January 25th, 2012 - 94 comments

National is letting children go to school hungry to try to teach their parents a lesson. Every fool knows the basic requirement for learning is food in the tummy. No decent person would turn their back on a hungry child. But Mike Sabin wants 20 children in his electorate to starve pour encourager les autres. And Paula Bennett has just cut the money that was feeding them.

Open mike 25/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 25th, 2012 - 82 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Show me the money!

Written By: - Date published: 5:59 pm, January 24th, 2012 - 138 comments

Farrar, Slater and their POAL masters are getting all antsy about how much port workers get paid.

Maybe it’s time they came clean about their own rorting, eh?

ImperatorFish: Police Defend Bloody Kindergarten Raid

Written By: - Date published: 2:12 pm, January 24th, 2012 - 1 comment

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here

Police and Armed Offender units raided the Meriwether Community Kindergarten just after morning tea, but the raid turned violent when some of the children put up a fight.

Banks a fine ACT MP…

Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, January 24th, 2012 - 39 comments

There are a couple of nice pieces in the Herald today on upstanding ACT MP John Banks – on his advising arrested Kim Dotcom on residency and the Overseas Investment Commission, and on his “National” billboards…

Gould on protecting freedom of the press

Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, January 24th, 2012 - 46 comments

The high point of John Key’s popularity came about 3 weeks before the election. Then the tea tapes meant a spectacle that was meant to be a show of his power became a media storm with him at the centre. National lost 5% in those last few weeks of the campaign. Key blamed the media. Bryan Gould looks at the war he has been waging against the press ever since.

Open mike 24/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 24th, 2012 - 59 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

John Key and POAL

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, January 23rd, 2012 - 43 comments

With the house due to sit in a couple of weeks John Key’s people will be weighing up their response to the POAL dispute.

My guess is they’ll base their decision on what they can get away with politically.

Whatever they do it’ll be no good for the port workers and certainly no good for Key’s goal of closing the wage gap with Australia.

Open mike 23/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 23rd, 2012 - 82 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

So what’s going on in the National party?

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, January 22nd, 2012 - 124 comments

Labour’s internal politics is public property while National get a free pass on theirs.

This imbalance of transparency and accountability seems weird given National are the ones wielding the real power.

More to the point, what does it mean for our democracy?

Open mike 22/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 22nd, 2012 - 45 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Ports of Auckland vs 400,000 wharfies

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, January 21st, 2012 - 116 comments

Tony Gibson with his $750,000 salary and his senior managers on half a million each may have thought they had it easy beating up on some $27 an hour workers so that they could increase profits by cutting wages but they failed to calculate that those 330 workers are backed by 400,000 brothers and sisters around the world.

Open mike 21/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 21st, 2012 - 80 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Two Left Feet, or a Kick Ass Combo?

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 pm, January 20th, 2012 - 26 comments

ImperatorFish: Red Alert: The Best Is Yet To David Farrar

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 pm, January 20th, 2012 - 14 comments

Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here

Scott’s take on Red Alert’s cult of David Farrar.

Weekend social 20/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, January 20th, 2012 - 11 comments

Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?

Friday Economics Joke

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, January 20th, 2012 - 8 comments

Adapting to peak oil

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, January 20th, 2012 - 160 comments

As peak oil slowly grinds down our economy – meeting any hint of growth with sky-high petrol prices and making $2 a litre the ‘new normal’, we are actually, gradually,starting to react. Not at a governmental level, where action is most urgently needed, but in the decisions made by ordinary Kiwis every day.

Open mike 20/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 20th, 2012 - 73 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

US Congress gets a Darwin award

Written By: - Date published: 5:19 pm, January 19th, 2012 - 7 comments

Darwin awards goes dark

The idiots at the US Congress, after covering themselves with shame in 2011, have already started to try to surpass it this year with dumbarse legislation against online copyright piracy. Not only will it not prevent the crimes of its intended targets,  but it is also so badly drafted that almost anything can and probably will be deemed to be a copyright violation. Good choice for a Darwin award. The only problem is that most of them have already bred.

It’s not about Race or Age or Gender or Religion…it’s about Poverty

Written By: - Date published: 11:16 am, January 19th, 2012 - 16 comments

An insightful piece by Pat Brittenden. How can we fix our problems if we won’t acknowledge (and National wants to stop the media talking about) their cause?:
For a long time I have had a bit of an untested theory. I’ve come to a place where I don’t think the negative statistics in New Zealand are about race, age, gender or religion.  I think they’re about poverty and the by products of poverty.

Prepare for another delay on that brighter future

Written By: - Date published: 8:12 am, January 19th, 2012 - 89 comments

NZIER: economy flat-lining
Consumer confidence: down 11 points
Employment confidence: negative
International tourism: down another 3.3%
2012 growth in NZ: cut in half since Budget
World growth: slashed from 3.6% to 2.5%
Chance of NZ recession: 20% and rising
PM and Finance Minister: MIA

Open mike 19/01/2012

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 19th, 2012 - 81 comments

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

The Wealth Gap

Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, January 18th, 2012 - 23 comments

There’s a documentary on BBC World Service about the Wealth Gap – how the top 0.1% keep earning more and more. Looks worth a listen…

Nats built the poverty trap, let’s destroy it

Written By: - Date published: 11:59 am, January 18th, 2012 - 92 comments

A new study confirms that growing up in poverty means you’ll likely be impoverished as an adult. With the negative consequences for the individual and society. The Nats’ low-wage, high unemployment policies create the poverty trap. Poverty is a design feature of the rightwing economy. Hypocritical and useless to demand their victims save themselves from poverty. Change the policies, fix the problem.

Poverty begets poverty

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, January 18th, 2012 - 101 comments

A good article in the Herald today, not letting National’s attempt at censorship of the issue of Child Poverty get in their way.  It points to a lack of social mobility; where those who are poor don’t have equality of opportunity – let alone equity of outcome.

Setting up business: we’re prize winners

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, January 18th, 2012 - 35 comments

Yesterday I officially set myself up in business.  As a GST registered independent contractor. It took about half an hour. Both IRD and ACC’s websites were easy to navigate and understand. I do admit I got a little befuddled trying to figure out the correct ACC classification for what I do (enthusiastic nagging, recruitment and communications at […]

Nats to use censorship to keep public in the dark ahead of elections

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, January 18th, 2012 - 93 comments

National is quietly using its power to try to prevent programmes about important issues from being broadcast during election campaigns, after a documentary on childhood poverty upset them. When Key finally gets back from holiday, he’s got to explain why his party and government are trying to dictate what should be on TV during election campaigns.

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.