Author Archive
Christchurch, keyisms and this state we’re in.
Written By: - Date published: 3:18 pm, February 24th, 2016 - 86 comments
There was a gathering in Cathedral Square in Christchurch on Sunday the 21st of February.
A one and a half hour recording of the event was put on youtube. Speaking begins at around 13min.
Corporate Saviours
Written By: - Date published: 12:37 pm, February 12th, 2016 - 66 comments
oh, hallelujah…
Hard Numbers to Remember.
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, December 8th, 2015 - 32 comments
This post is essentially a distillation of two presentations given by Kevin Anderson at the Earth 101 gathering in Iceland earlier this year. You can view them here and here I highly recommend that you do as they are packed with high quality, no nonsense information. For those who don’t know, Kevin Anderson was the director of the Tyndall Centre, the UK’s leading academic climate change research organization and is a professor of energy and climate change in the School of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester.
Human Rights, Psychos and Opposition
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, November 11th, 2015 - 92 comments
New Zealand’s bloody awful parliamentary debacle.
Finally Fighting for Democracy?
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 31st, 2015 - 31 comments
Boots on ground.
Portugal
Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, October 27th, 2015 - 38 comments
This is going to end well…
Have a Drink Hoss!
Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, October 21st, 2015 - 55 comments
So, by my understanding, in ‘three party’* Canada, the New Democratic Party sought the center and nosedived. Simultaneously, the Liberals moved left and soared. In ‘two party’ England and Wales, Labour sought the center and bumbled and scraped the ground looking for lift off. Meanwhile, in the very same election in ‘three party’ Scotland where […]
Climate and Trade
Written By: - Date published: 5:43 pm, October 10th, 2015 - 41 comments
The proposed TPP is a protection racket – not a trade deal.
Bashar al-Assad and other Bastards.
Written By: - Date published: 1:39 pm, October 3rd, 2015 - 130 comments
What proper journalistic coverage of Syria looks like.
An R-101 Post
Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, October 2nd, 2015 - 89 comments
Someone once made an art-work of a brick with some ‘guy ropes’ attached to represent the ill fated R-101 airship…
Diesel Bomb
Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, October 1st, 2015 - 37 comments
Last Friday I wrote a post on Volkwagen gaming NOx emissions. This is a follow up.
It Came From the North
Written By: - Date published: 4:41 pm, September 29th, 2015 - 54 comments
How Corbyn gets taken out.
NOx-ious shit all around.
Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, September 25th, 2015 - 109 comments
Been trying to get my head around the implications of Volkswagen’s rigged diesel performance tests. Predictably, and unlike most stories covering this, I couldn’t give a rat’s arse for the financial woes the company might be facing.
Making Like Private Frazer
Written By: - Date published: 1:20 pm, September 14th, 2015 - 20 comments
Political awakenings.
In Our Back Yard – Manus Island and Nauru
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, September 9th, 2015 - 12 comments
As the photo claims, refugees are human beings. We can tell this from general expressions of resignation, desperation and misery.
But what about our own expressions of humanity?
Lost the Plot
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, September 8th, 2015 - 92 comments
Winston’s solution to war and refugees.
Syria and Internationalism
Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, September 6th, 2015 - 90 comments
I wonder if the current public outpouring of sympathy for Syrian refugees is nought but a ‘fashion’, or whether it’s the beginnings of a renaissance for internationalism.
Regional Realities.
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, August 31st, 2015 - 133 comments
FYI. The most populous town in Clutha District is Balclutha, which lies 81km south of Dunedin by road. Balclutha’s population, by the 2006 census, was 4,062 (down from 4,137 in 1996). Other towns are Milton (pop. 1,887), Kaitangata (pop. 810), Tapanui (pop. 744), Lawrence (pop. 432), Owaka (pop. 327), Stirling (pop. 309), Clinton (pop. 291), Kaka Point (pop. 201), and Benhar (pop. 96). For a while in the 1980s Balclutha was New Zealand’s most wealthy town, per capita
Dead Hands
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, August 20th, 2015 - 11 comments
Time worn patterns and predictable decisions.
Zero by 50
Written By: - Date published: 5:34 pm, August 9th, 2015 - 139 comments
In Copenhagen, our government committed itself, and by extension, us “To hold the increase in global temperature below two degrees Celsius and to take actions to meet this objective, consistent with the science and on the basis of equity”
And yet…
Win or Lose: This is Labour
Written By: - Date published: 3:27 pm, August 7th, 2015 - 199 comments
Some people have suggested that the more progressive parliamentary elements of the left are done and dusted. I’m not so sure…
Labouring it.
Written By: - Date published: 6:13 pm, July 19th, 2015 - 179 comments
With overall confidence dropping and Labour being all over the headlines for the past week, Labour’s support…
Toil and Trouble.
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, July 5th, 2015 - 46 comments
In the hope of some informed comment…
Universal Basic Income Experiment
Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, June 26th, 2015 - 97 comments
Income in a world of climate change.
Pope Francis on Climate Change
Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, June 16th, 2015 - 66 comments
No beating about the bush.
Labour. Horse. Water.
Written By: - Date published: 5:45 pm, June 11th, 2015 - 97 comments
Sometimes…often…I just can’t get my head around people who make obvious and simple things kinda difficult and fraught.
In Praise of Key
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, May 27th, 2015 - 331 comments
Hardly a comprehensive take, but in the interest of stating some obvious stuff…
Fixed Term Parliaments
Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, May 26th, 2015 - 25 comments
An argument in favour of New Zealand adopting Fixed Term Parliaments Act legislation.
Dear NZ Labour. Listen up.
Written By: - Date published: 12:06 pm, May 12th, 2015 - 48 comments
For the sake of reference – Nye Bevan was a Labour mp and the architect of the British NHS. Michael Sheen’s speech was a defense of that institution, but the underpinning message is, well…
Fear, Loathing and Denial.
Written By: - Date published: 2:20 pm, May 10th, 2015 - 49 comments
There’s a major and rather obvious contributory factor to UK Labour’s failure in the UK general election that doesn’t seem to have drawn any comment. Until now…
The Whisky’s In.
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, May 7th, 2015 - 32 comments
Before the turgid post-election hell that the British Establishment will undoubtably unleash…
- Ōtaki highway tolls to reach vital services unfair – mayor
Ōtaki and surrounding communities could be split off from vital resources they depend on - or hit in the pocket - if a planned toll goes ahead on State Highway 1, a mayor says. ...2 weeks ago - The Secret Diary of .. Xmas songs
CHRIS HIPKINSIt was Christmas Eve, babeIn the Beehive bar.An old man said to me,“What’s your name, son?”And then he sank his glassOf cold clear Mountain Dew.I looked him in the eyeAnd sank a glass too.Had a quiet yearWithout a single care.I’ve got a feelingNext year’s much the same.So happy Christmas,Old ...2 weeks ago - Our report to you – Newsroom in 2024
We want to thank you for the support you’ve given us to continue delivering groundbreaking, robust and independent journalism of public importance. That support is through your subscriptions and donations – and critically, it’s also through you sharing and championing our work to friends, family and colleagues. We’re grateful.We owe it to you to ...2 weeks ago
- The Treaty principles bill – bad execution of a good idea?
Comment: To anyone genuinely interested in resolving the role of the Treaty of Waitangi in modern New Zealand, the arrival of the Treaty principles bill must be deeply disappointing.Part circus, part political stunt. Part farce, part tragedy.A ‘phantom’ bill that will never be enacted, Act and Te Pāti Māori politicking ...2 weeks ago
- This year’s sports superstars and triumphs – and who’ll be big in 2025
The Paris Olympics, a cricketing marvel, a shooting star in tennis and coaches who pulled off wonders: some of the LockerRoom highlights of a super year for NZ women’s sport.Best individual sports achievementKristy Havill: Lydia Ko’s Olympic gold followed quickly by her Women’s Open win at St Andrews a fortnight ...2 weeks ago
- The Weekend: The phrase of the year is ‘gingle malt’
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. This is my final weekend editorial for the year and I was struggling to think of how I could sum up the year in a clever, succinct way. At our Spinoff Year in Review event in Auckland on Wednesday, host Anna Rawhiti-Connell ...2 weeks ago - I see hundreds of ads for togs so why is it so hard to find a decent pair?
Togs, togs, everywhere and not a pair I want to wear. A few years ago, during another round of Cranium, my dad announced that as he only had a certain number of “good summers left”, he would not be spending them playing board games with his family. He has no ...2 weeks ago
- ‘I’m very happy about that’: Frankie Stevens on being the voice of Christmas
New Zealand’s ‘Godfather of Christmas’ looks back on his life in TV and music. When The Spinoff reaches Frankie Stevens, he’s in a festive mood. Christmas is barely two weeks away, and he’s riding the high of having emceed his local Waverley Summer Christmas Jam last Sunday while also looking ...2 weeks ago
- ‘A great song is one you can dance and cry to’: Elliott Dawson’s perfect weekend playlist
Art rock singer-songwriter Elliott Dawson shares his perfect weekend playlist. It’s nighttime in the world of Pōneke-based musician Elliott Dawson, the perfect period for introspection, stargazing and letting the singer serenade you in dim light. “I’m talking about that 20-30 minute period after the sun has gone below the horizon ...2 weeks ago
- Wasteland: A response to a university restructure
This essay is the joint winner of this year’s Landfall Essay Competition and was first published in Landfall 248: Spring 2024. “What is most distinctive, and perhaps distinctively valuable, about what universities do is precisely what cannot be captured by the metrics societies increasingly use to measure value.” – Stefan ...2 weeks ago
- A love letter to my five friends
After nearly 50 years of friendship, Venetia Sherson thanks her inner circle. Over a decade ago, when British anthropologist Robin Dunbar deduced humans typically have 150 friends, of whom just five are intimate, I did a head count. My inner circle aced the test. I have five close women friends ...2 weeks ago
- Report card shows some mental health services hit targets, others fall short
There is "still work to do" around getting people timely treatment when they go to ED for mental health. ...2 weeks ago
- No plans for scaling back of Whangārei’s hospital redevelopment
Health Minister Shane Reti says stage one is still on budget and on track to be completed by 2031. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s cuts to contractor and consultant spending ahead of schedule
The government says it is well ahead of its target to cut contractor and consultant spending. ...2 weeks ago
- Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill officially put on hold
The government has put legislation that would force tech giants to pay media companies for journalism on hold. ...2 weeks ago
- Health New Zealand cuts: 569 staff take voluntary redundancy
Almost 600 staff have taken voluntary redundancy in job cut proposals laid out to staff today, it has been confirmed. ...2 weeks ago
- New three-strikes regime passed into law
The Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill was among a raft of legislation debated under urgency on Thursday. ...2 weeks ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Cash register ding’ by Eliana Gray
A new poem by Eliana Gray. Cash register ding If the price of rigidity is fracture The price of flexibility is bent over backwards sleeping on couches seeding twice a day paracetamol The price of pressure to leave an imprint like the price of new mountains is the destruction of ...2 weeks ago
- The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending December 13
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) The little book that made ...2 weeks ago
- New laws to protect ground-based space infrastructure from foreign spies
Laws will be introduced to stop foreign military or intelligence interference in radar and other space infrastructure being built here. ...2 weeks ago
- Conan O’Brien just gave us the weirdest two minutes of Shortland Street ever
For the past three decades, there’s only been room for one Dr Love in Ferndale. Until now. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In its 32 glorious years, Shortland Street has given us a cornucopia of memorable celebrity cameos. We’ve had Ed Sheeran ...2 weeks ago
- NZ Young Labour Condemns Assoc Min Of Immigration Decision To Overturn Denial Of Entry To Far-right ...
Immigration New Zealand’s original decision, based on section 15(1)(f) of the Immigration Act following Owens’ denial of entry to Australia, was a lawful and necessary measure to safeguard Aotearoa’s values of inclusivity and manaakitanga. ...2 weeks ago - A gift guide for people who really don’t want to buy shit
Gifts can be a source of joy this Christmas even if you hate capitalism. It can get very tiring buying stuff and yet giving people gifts is also a joy and Christmas is a time when one is expected to do a lot of it. But while snazzy and expensive ...2 weeks ago
- The cost of being: A 30-something dad with a mortgage and a bike
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, an engineer with a toddler shares how he spends and saves. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Male. Age: 34. Ethnicity: Māori/European. Role: Engineer, husband and dad. ...2 weeks ago
- $115m public loan secured against a solar power illusion
Analysis: When NZGIF chair Cecilia Tarrant emerged from her Beehive ‘please explain’ meeting last week, she insisted the Govt green investment bank’s lending was “against the installation of equipment at customers homes”.The experienced business leader’s statement was intended to reassure ministers Nicola Willis and Simon Watts, and the taxpaying public ...2 weeks ago
- Rugby: Black Ferns Sevens win big at national awards
This article first appeared at rnz.co.nz and is republished with permission.The Black Ferns Sevens have swept the 2024 New Zealand Rugby Awards picking up team and individual accolades.Twenty-year-old Jorja Miller claimed the player of the year title, Black Ferns Sevens coach Cory Sweeney was named coach of the year and ...2 weeks ago
- The week in two minutes and 10 stories
Toby Manhire takes a whistlestop tour through a big week in the news. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. That sound you can hear is logs, logs upon logs upon logs, ...2 weeks ago
- Pouākai win with mum’s Cann-do attitude
It’s a decision most mums would stew over.But Mikhaela Cann had no qualms about bringing her three young daughters to live in New Zealand; to take care of them on her own, while she played professional basketball.It’s a decision the Mainland Pouākai point guard made earlier this year with her ...2 weeks ago
- All those recent political polls: a quick recap
ICYMI: that festive pileup of opinion polling, in one snapshot. It’s just like London buses. You wait for ages for a poll to arrive and then a rush of them arrive at once. In the blur of December you might well have missed them. What, you’re probably asking, is the ...2 weeks ago
- Ministers block Kāinga Ora bid to develop housing in Tauranga growth zone
No special treatment for Tauranga’s Western Corridor, but the city’s mayor says the Govt’s new tools might work better The post Ministers block Kāinga Ora bid to develop housing in Tauranga growth zone appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 weeks ago
- Ranking the Dunedin malls that are actually one mall
One mall to rule them all, one mall to find them, one mall to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them; in the Meridian where the shadows lie. This is the fifth and final instalment in our Malls of New Zealand ranking series. In order to answer the ...2 weeks ago
- The most memorable local television moments of 2024
From Chris Warner’s beard to Newshub’s tearful goodbye, here are the TV moments that gripped the nation this year. We’re not going to lie, it has been a tough year for television in Aotearoa. We’ve lost current affairs institutions that have been around for decades and likely seen the end ...2 weeks ago
- ‘Unprecedented’ fast-track ruling bulldozes past a tricky question
Speaker pushes past argument over the public v private benefits of a law fast-tracking 149 named projects The post ‘Unprecedented’ fast-track ruling bulldozes past a tricky question appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 weeks ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 13 December
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, Friday 13 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 weeks ago
- The year in Detail
Sharon Brettkelly is a serious journalist, formerly specialising in finance, who beavers away explaining the top news stories of the moment for The Detail.But her favourite episodes this year, she says, shows how shallow she really is.“Married at First Sight … that was a lot of fun … Shortland Street ...2 weeks ago
- Daily crossword, Friday 13 December
The post Daily crossword, Friday 13 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 weeks ago
- Two steps forward on pay gaps – let’s make it three
Opinion: Next step is for businesses to report their gender and ethnic pay gaps The post Two steps forward on pay gaps – let’s make it three appeared first on Newsroom. ...2 weeks ago
- The way NZ treats animals is a race to the bottom
Racing Minister Winston Peters’ decision to ban greyhound racing from 2026 was both courageous and evidence-led. It is a rare good news story for anyone who cares about the interests of animals, and warrants celebration. It was also astonishingly overdue, and successive governments’ delay in arriving at the only logical ...2 weeks ago
- The bestselling books at Xmas
We have given away oh probably like 40 books this year in our weekly contest published every Friday within the Nielsen BookScan bestseller chart. We have one final book up for grabs in 2024. Simply identify one book in this week’s chart – and get into the spirit of Xmas ...2 weeks ago
- Is the economy responding to interest rate cuts?
Opinion: There is a general expectation that cuts in interest rates will eventually pull the economy out of recession. The Official Cash Rate (OCR) has been slashed 125bps since August. It’s early days, but folk are starting to ask if we’re seeing a response.Below, we check in on some of ...2 weeks ago
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