Author Archive
PM announces plan to tackle graffiti
Written By: - Date published: 11:21 am, February 15th, 2008 - 25 comments
Helen Clark has just announced a range of measures aimed at cutting down on graffiti vandalism. Presumably the initiative will be supported by the Nats. Who knows about the Free Speech Coalition though – their position on free speech seems remarkably dependent on who’s doing the speaking. (From yesterday’s Southland Times)
Peters’ reply to the PM’s statement
Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, February 14th, 2008 - 29 comments
The Herald covers it pretty well: ‘He begins poetically – a narrator hooking an audience – with “furrowed brows in the dusty roads of countryside New Zealand, in the cowsheds, and woolshed and shearing sheds and the export works”. When even the Prime Minister has abandoned her paperwork to listen, he rewards her by making […]
Getting emotional about economics
Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, February 14th, 2008 - 65 comments
Michael Shermer of the LA Times asks: “Would you rather earn $50,000 a year while other people make $25,000, or would you rather earn $100,000 a year while other people get $250,000?” Somewhat surprisingly you might think, it turns out that most people chose the first option. They’d rather earn twice as much as others […]
Affordable housing
Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, February 14th, 2008 - 5 comments
Not in my back yard. Alright, maybe in my back yard but only if the state isn’t involved. UPDATE: No Right Turn has an interesting post on Key’s privatisation plans.
For use tomorrow
Written By: - Date published: 5:28 pm, February 13th, 2008 - 3 comments
Via Bureau of Communication.
Australia says sorry
Written By: - Date published: 4:48 pm, February 13th, 2008 - 24 comments
Howard couldn’t bring himself to do it, instead expressing “regret”. Today, Labor’s Kevin Rudd said sorry in a formal statement to the stolen generations of Aboriginal people of Australia. For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry. To the mothers and the […]
Is inequality closing down our concern for others?
Written By: - Date published: 4:31 pm, February 13th, 2008 - 1 comment
Jenny Russel of the Guardian writes, “As the middle classes feel the pain of comparison with the super-rich, we lose all enthusiasm for the common good”. The rise of the super-rich, and their capacity to outbid others in the competition for houses, schools, space and possessions, has produced a new definition of success. It is […]
Rich resignation a huge blow for the Nats
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, February 13th, 2008 - 39 comments
The Press reports that “Senior National front-bencher Katherine Rich has resigned her education portfolio and will quit politics altogether at the election…” Rich ran the “compassionate conservative” line hard during her time in parliament. She was the more acceptable face of the the Nats on social issues and the only Nat MP to support the […]
Every cloud
Written By: - Date published: 8:06 am, February 13th, 2008 - 14 comments
The latest in a long line of failed protests on the Electoral Finance Act has ended badly with Steven Franks taking legal action against 3M, the maker of Packfast packing tape. The Dominion Post reports today that: “Aspiring Wellington Central MP Stephen Franks was one of six demonstrators protesting against the Electoral Finance Act who […]
Key disappoints
Written By: - Date published: 4:42 pm, February 12th, 2008 - 42 comments
I’ve just listened to Key’s reply to the PM’s speech. I’m underwhelmed. Instead of using it to promote any sort of policy platform it was a rehash of tired old phrases from the National Party linebook. You’d think that having had the PM’s copy for over four hours that they’d be able to produce something […]
Roy Morgan
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, February 12th, 2008 - 7 comments
Roy Morgan’s latest poll is out. It shows a big drop of 6.5 for National and a corresponding swing to Labour and the Greens, up 3 and 2.5 respectively. Here’s a small version of their graph of the trends:
Congrats to the Conchords
Written By: - Date published: 4:02 pm, February 11th, 2008 - 3 comments
Stuff reports that Wellingtonians of the year, “Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, who play marginally talented folk singers struggling to make it in New York, picked up the best comedy album Grammy for The Distant Future.” While we wait for the second season we’ll have to tide ourselves over with Conchordian highlights from YouTube like […]
Push polling
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, February 8th, 2008 - 8 comments
Tony Milne responds to National Party blogger, David Farrar’s recent post on push polling. Tony points out that any push polling undertaken during the last election was most likely a three way affair between the National Party, the Exclusive Brethren and conservative political consultants Crosby and Texter. National have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from […]
Cullen puts tax cuts in context
Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, February 7th, 2008 - 53 comments
In a speech today to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce Cullen has further differentiated the role of tax cuts under National and Labour. What was interesting about Cullen’s speech is that it wasn’t really a speech about tax cuts. It was a speech about (much broader) economic sustainability. Essentially it pitted National’s vaporware ‘tax cuts’ […]
Unemployment at record low (again)
Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, February 7th, 2008 - 18 comments
From Stuff: Growing numbers of women in the workforce pushed New Zealand’s unemployment rate down to a new record of 3.4 per cent in the December quarter. The rate dropped 0.1 of a percentage point from the September quarter, which itself had been the lowest unemployment rate recorded since the Household Labour Force Survey started […]
So which is it Granny Herald?
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, February 5th, 2008 - 27 comments
Jordan Carter has a great post up on the confusion evident in the Herald’s simultaneous endorsement of Republican John McCain for US President – one of the chief sponsors of the American Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 – and their opposition to New Zealand’s recently enacted Electoral Finance Act, a piece of legislation with […]
Spot the difference
Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, February 5th, 2008 - 30 comments
I’ve just had a chance to read Key’s speech properly. Call me a nit-picker but I don’t reckon it was a “state of the nation” speech at all. Of 4788 words, 3185 were on youth issues – and of these, 2012 words were about youth crime and focussed almost exclusively on a subset of “1000 […]
Mobile democracy
Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, February 5th, 2008 - 5 comments
Another release on the state-owned telecommunications company Kordia from Murry McCully this morning which starts: Helen Clark’s claim that Kordia’s cellphone tower work for the repressive Government of Myanmar (Burma) somehow contributes to democracy in that country is fanciful, says National’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Murray McCully. An astute reader just sent us a great link […]
Good luck Winnie
Written By: - Date published: 12:42 pm, February 5th, 2008 - 13 comments
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to MP Luamanuvao Winnie Laban who has just revealed that she has breast cancer. The cancer was apparently discovered early by a routine mamogram and three cycles into the chemo she’s in good spirits. The cancer is apparently treatable – she says she’s positive about things and has […]
Dead rats
Written By: - Date published: 11:42 am, February 4th, 2008 - 45 comments
This cartoon from Moreu got me thinking… If interest free student loans, Kiwisaver and Kiwibank are dead rats for the Nats, what the f— are the live ones? The fact that they see these as ‘unpleasantries to be endured’ surely speaks volumes. UPDATE: Someone’s just suggested “Murry McCully” as a live rat. Evidently this is […]
SST: Nats call in secret donations
Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, February 4th, 2008 - 40 comments
The Sunday Star Times reported yesterday that “The National Party pulled in 11th-hour funding from its secret trusts and anonymous donors in a bid to escape new election campaign finance rules”. National Party blogger David Farrar dismisses this as “hardly surprising”. It’d be a shame to let transparency get in the way of a bit […]
Louis Theroux back on TV here tonight
Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, February 4th, 2008 - 10 comments
I used to love Weird Weekends – a BBC show that aired here late at night several years ago. It was hosted by Louis Theroux (pictured) and involved him documenting time spent with ‘fringe’ groups – UFO hunters, professional wrestlers, female bodybuilders and so on. I watched a more recent show of his a couple […]
MoveOn.org endorses Obama
Written By: - Date published: 4:19 pm, February 2nd, 2008 - 11 comments
MoveOn.org is a progressive political community, organised predominantly online, with over 3 million members. For the first time they’ve endorsed a Democratic candidate, lending their weight and organising skills to that person’s campaign. Obama took the endorsement over Clinton 70-30, with around 300,000 votes cast in total. Obama has said of the endorsement: “In just […]
Clare Curran takes Dunedin South
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, February 2nd, 2008 - 39 comments
News just in reports that Clare Curran has won the Labour nomination in Dunedin South over former cabinet minister David Benson-Pope, Don Pryde, president of the Engineers Union and Keith McFadyen of the PSA. More as it comes to hand.
George Bush’s favourite painting
Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, February 2nd, 2008 - 2 comments
What does President Bush’s favourite painting say about him? The Guardian trys to find out. Bush claims that the artwork, which hangs in his office, is a “beautiful painting of a horseman determinedly charging up what appears to be a steep and rough trail. This is us.” It turns out that the painting was first […]
National Party U-turn on student loans
Written By: - Date published: 4:18 pm, January 31st, 2008 - 84 comments
National have just backed down on their opposition to interest free student loans. Back in 2005 Key called this ‘a policy that tells young New Zealanders to go and borrow to the hilt What a cost to the country! What an unaffordable and irresponsible cost to the country! It is a sad day National members […]
Jacinda Ardern to lead IUSY
Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, January 31st, 2008 - 71 comments
Jacinda Ardern, former Young Labour president and political advisor, has just been elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth – a group encompassing socialist, social democratic and Labour Party youth organisations from more than 100 countries. IUSY is a massive organisiation and holds consultative status with the United Nations. This is a huge […]
How a blog works
Written By: - Date published: 3:45 pm, January 28th, 2008 - 47 comments
I’ve always wondered what happens after I hit ‘publish’ here on the blog. Wired’s goneAll information about free download free verizon ringtones samsung. and put together an infographic, so now I know – click to zoom and drag to pan. (Via BoingBoing)
The whalers are coming
Written By: - Date published: 5:08 pm, January 25th, 2008 - 15 comments
The Dom reports today that the Japanese whaling fleet has ben “spotted steaming towards the Ross Sea” – part of our territorial waters. They’re presumably coming here having had their activities in Australian waters declared illegal last week. The Greens have just just called for the government to get involved. Labour’s Steve Chadwick has said […]
An emerging threat to MMP?
Written By: - Date published: 5:36 pm, January 24th, 2008 - 100 comments
After Brash and the extreme right were exposed in The Hollow Men the Nats changed their leader hoping for a fresh start. What’s becoming apparent is that National’s shady backers haven’t changed. The policy and the cash are coming from the same people they always have – people like Peter Shirtcliffe who’s evidently now helping […]
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