Archive for 2020

National’s Petition is Cynical Populism

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, April 9th, 2020 - 124 comments

National is trying to steal show political leadership and relevance by launching a petition.

Addendum added

National seeks delay to election

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, April 9th, 2020 - 120 comments

Hot on the news that National’s polling has plunged to 35% Paula Bennett has publicly suggested that the election should be delayed. I wonder if they are related?

Tourism is the elephant in the living room

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, April 9th, 2020 - 148 comments

Rather than saving an industry that has multiple sustainability and resiliency failures, how about we regenerate local economies and set them to serve our communities?

Open mike 09/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 9th, 2020 - 249 comments

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

Pandemics are no a time for inward-looking nationalism

Written By: - Date published: 4:37 am, April 9th, 2020 - 41 comments

Originally posted on Nick Kelly’s Blog

Trump is focused on the November US Presidential Election. His anti-Chinese, nationalist, America First rhetoric is his go-to response to keep his political base onside. He is placing his political ambition ahead of millions of lives both in the US and globally. Trump has placed electoral politics ahead of leadership that could save millions of lives.

From the inside out

Written By: - Date published: 10:32 am, April 8th, 2020 - 62 comments

I feel that many kiwis are quite unaware exactly how exceptional our plague performance has been so far. It is interesting reading the perspective published in the Washington Post by a recently returned kiwi. Less interesting was the mathematical illiteracy on the MP David Seymour who managed to ignore all medical facts while advising on how to bulk kill our citizens.

The end of partisan politics?

Written By: - Date published: 7:58 am, April 8th, 2020 - 71 comments

Throughout the world there is an increasing consensus emerging that the free market approach is failing and principled intelligent leadership from governments provide the optimum result.

Open mike 08/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 8th, 2020 - 304 comments

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

Depression looms as rapidly as Covid spreads

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, April 7th, 2020 - 93 comments

New Zealand, like many other nations, is hurtling towards economic depression faster than Covid-19 spreads. “We are going to have a depression”. “This is like an asteroid hit the global economy”. “We can print our way of this”. Reflections on what lies ahead by Simon Louisson, Bernard Hickey and others.

Clark’s calamity

Written By: - Date published: 7:48 am, April 7th, 2020 - 131 comments

Health Minister David Clark has been demoted but has kept his Health portfolio after he revealed that he had driven 20 kilometers with his family to visit a beach during the lock down.

Open mike 07/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 7th, 2020 - 163 comments

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

Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, April 6th, 2020 - 67 comments

Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential

Beyond mere rescue

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 am, April 6th, 2020 - 78 comments

It’s time to plan the re-launch the very idea of New Zealand.

Open mike 06/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 6th, 2020 - 239 comments

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

Bill Gates – lets prevent the next inevitable epidemic!

Written By: - Date published: 9:56 pm, April 5th, 2020 - 37 comments

Bill and Melinda Gates have been plowing wealth into mitigating and preventing epidemics over the last decade. Like the World Health Organisation and just about anyone with any sense of medical history, he predicted very accurately the type of epidemic we are now facing – a worldwide respiratory pandemic. He talks about the current pandemic, and how to prevent the next one.

Children: the pandemic has only just begun

Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, April 5th, 2020 - 113 comments

I’m always intrigued at the capacity of most humans to be self-delusional in the way that they favour to believe regardless of facts. Nothing else could explain the delusional idiots like David Farrar and his mischievous minions wanting to go back to their business as usual – their ministerial scalp collection. It’d be nice if such dimwits thought and established facts before they wrote.

What not to do in a pandemic

Written By: - Date published: 8:51 am, April 5th, 2020 - 100 comments

The Trump regime has this week plunged new depths in the handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the United States

Open mike 05/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 5th, 2020 - 231 comments

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

About Carrots and Sticks

Written By: - Date published: 2:41 pm, April 4th, 2020 - 119 comments

How can we improve motivation to stamp out this virus in New Zealand?

David Clark

Written By: - Date published: 12:16 pm, April 4th, 2020 - 152 comments

He should have been immediately fired.

Open mike 04/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 4th, 2020 - 100 comments

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

Bauer closures not unexpected. They were invisible

Written By: - Date published: 10:15 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 31 comments

As is typical these days, I heard about the Bauer magazine closures by a link in social media. My initial reaction was shock, but then I considered when the last time that I read them. No-one links to these publications. They were as invisible on the net as the NBR. Or as NZ Herald is starting to be. Realistically no real loss to the general debate.

It’s the end of main stream media as we know it …

Written By: - Date published: 8:57 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 63 comments

The Covid-19 lock down has and will tip media companies already struggling to survive into closure.

Open mike 03/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 261 comments

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

Quick Snippets

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 am, April 3rd, 2020 - 7 comments

The joys of bread rising far to fast through a warm autumn night is…this post.

The kind of imagination we’re going to need

Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, April 2nd, 2020 - 29 comments

More was achieved by and for Americas throughout the Franklin D. Roosevelt era than ever before or since in American history. This may provide us with a model for how we get things back on track.

No Right Turn: A new Ministry of Works

Written By: - Date published: 7:05 am, April 2nd, 2020 - 22 comments

Idiot/Savant writes: “While the economy is on pause under lockdown, the government is beginning to plan how to cope with the post-lockdown, post-tourism, post-export education world we will eventually find ourselves in”

Open mike 02/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 2nd, 2020 - 253 comments

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

Cabin Fever.

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, April 1st, 2020 - 38 comments

The Government did exactly the right thing, telling everyone they can take outdoor exercise locally within the necessary physical distancing rules.
Trusting people to be sensible about the possibilities of virus spread. To trust that most people will , given the information and criteria, will make the right decisions for themselves and others.

Not a good day for an April Fool’s joke

Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, April 1st, 2020 - 24 comments

David Farrar has shown that many of his commenters and followers do not understand satire.

Open mike 01/04/2020

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 1st, 2020 - 226 comments

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

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