Author Archive
Biofuel stars at Taupo (and we win)
Written By: - Date published: 1:43 pm, January 22nd, 2008 - 10 comments
Congratultions to Jonny Reid for his win in the Taupo A1GP sprint race on Sunday. He also managed to finish fourth in the feature race which gives the NZ team the series lead. What was also a world first is that all of the teams competing took to the track with 30% biofuel in their […]
Is Barack Obama dull?
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, January 22nd, 2008 - 31 comments
Armando Iannucci from The Observer wonders whether he’s the only person to find Barack Obama dull: Like Will Smith, who in the new film I Am Legend wakes up to find himself the last man alive in a world of zombies, am I now the only person left on the planet who finds Barack Obama […]
The Herald still campaigning for National
Written By: - Date published: 9:26 am, January 22nd, 2008 - 99 comments
Yesterday The Herald reported that: Demographia, an international survey business run by Hugh Pavletich of Christchurch and Wendell Cox of the United States, today issued its fourth annual report, showing New Zealand has slipped drastically on an international scale. Now quite aside from the shoddy methodology of the study to which the PM has already […]
Introducing the world’s cheapest car
Written By: - Date published: 11:57 am, January 18th, 2008 - 8 comments
From Time: A lot is riding on the the world’s cheapest car. In the words of Ratan Tata, chairman of the company behind the upstart econobox, India’s “People’s Car” will be a “safe, affordable, all weather vehicle for a family which is today traveling on a two wheeler.” The entry level model is ticketed at […]
More shoddy reporting from The Herald
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 25 comments
Move over Mediawatch. Thesproutandthebean have outed more biased reporting in Granny Herald: the abysmal attempt at rationalising the retention of a monarchy in this herald opinion piece was made interesting by what was omitted rather than included. the authors were Sean Palmer and Simon O’Connor and this was the declaration we got of their interests: […]
An expert opinion
Written By: - Date published: 3:22 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 41 comments
A reader just sent in this scan from the letters section of Today’s Herald.
Hone Tuwhare
Written By: - Date published: 3:01 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 19 comments
No Ordinary Sun Tree let your arms fall: raise them not sharply in supplication to the bright enhaloed cloud. Let your arms lack toughness and resilience for this is no mere axe to blunt nor fire to smother. Your sap shall not rise again to the moon’s pull. No more incline a deferential head to […]
Nandor’s not standing
Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, January 17th, 2008 - 14 comments
Green MP Nandor Tanczos announced today that he will not be putting his name forward as a candidate for this year’s election. Here’s the press release.
Happy New Year
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, January 1st, 2008 - 15 comments
Cyber-Santa came a little late to The Standard this year but we’re certainly not complaining – evidently we’ve got a New Year’s present instead. He and the techno-elves have moved us to a brand spanking new server cluster that should give us plenty of breathing room and make those pesky traffic congestion problems we were […]
Christmas wishes
Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, December 27th, 2007 - 5 comments
Well I didn’t get my pony but I hope everyone’s Christmas was as enjoyable as mine. I’m just finishing some peanut butter on toast, by my reckoning the first non turkey- or ham-based meal I’ve had in five days. I’m hoping that it won’t trigger some sort of auto immune rejection reaction. Things are likely […]
National has worst behaved MPs
Written By: - Date published: 12:28 pm, December 20th, 2007 - 18 comments
Trevor Mallard’s had all the press but it’s the National Party MPs who have been battling it out all year for top spot on the “worst behaved MP list”. NZPA reports on Peter Dunne’s annual list: Mr Henare was thrown out of the house five times for his behaviour and had to withdraw and apologise […]
McCready facing 51 fraud charges
Written By: - Date published: 12:17 pm, December 20th, 2007 - 4 comments
Yesterday NZPA reported that Graham McCready – the man who brought a private prosecution against Mallard over his fight with Tau Heare – was himself in court. He’s facing 51 fraud charges from the IRD.
Huckabee’s subliminal Christmas message
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, December 20th, 2007 - 10 comments
CNN reports that Republican Mike Huckabee poked fun at critics who said a bookshelf in his new Christmas-themed ad that appeared to highlight the shape of a cross was meant to send a subliminal message. If you’re reading this Santa, please get me an awesome Christmas present. All I’ve ever really wanted is a pony […]
Billboard shambles
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, December 20th, 2007 - 51 comments
Here’s some coverage from TV1 last night on what’s looking more and more like a PR disaster for National, Farrar and their wealthy backers. The PM, in good humour, commented: “You’ve got to laugh haven’t you. We have a country with the most amazing liberty and I will defend that to my last breathing moment… […]
Dom Post: “Kill the krill”
Written By: - Date published: 4:51 pm, December 19th, 2007 - 11 comments
Not content to let the media moguls over at The Herald have all the campaigning fun, it was great to finally see The Dom get in on the act this morning – and finally a newspaper campaign that I can get behind myself! This morning’s front page announces the launch of A Dominion Post campaign […]
Same old National
Written By: - Date published: 1:46 pm, December 19th, 2007 - 62 comments
The National Party have reverted to type. They’re back to stoking the politics of fear and division. Anyone who thought that things might be different under Key were today proved wrong when David Farrar, Kiwiblog author and National Party HQ staffer, launched a billboard campaign attacking Helen Clark, Winston Peters and Peter Dunne – likening […]
Electoral Finance Bill passes
Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, December 18th, 2007 - 17 comments
PS. If none of this is making sense try lolcats (Wikipedia) or lolnatz (Kiwiblogblog). Also worth noting that Dunne pulled his support at the last minute. His mealy-mouthed speech in which he vainly attempts to justify his fence-sitting is so nonsensical it’s almost worthy of a read.
Mallard pleads guilty to fighting charge
Written By: - Date published: 4:47 pm, December 18th, 2007 - 6 comments
The Dom reports that: Cabinet minister Trevor Mallard has escaped an assault charge over his altercation with National MP Tau Henare by pleading guilty to the lesser charge of fighting in a public place. Appearing in Wellington District Court this afternoon, the Environment Minister was convicted and agreed to pay $500 to a Salvation Army […]
Possible $1.5b in tax cuts in 2008
Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, December 18th, 2007 - 43 comments
From Stuff: Cullen said “uncertainties” still existed, but Treasury had “significantly” lifted its revenue forecasts which meant the $1.5b in tax cuts in addition to more spending could be factored in to the budget. “This figure is very soft as no decisions have been taken on the timing, size, shape or scope of our personal […]
CommitteeCaller.com
Written By: - Date published: 2:07 pm, December 18th, 2007 - Comments Off on CommitteeCaller.com
Here’s a cool idea. From the site: I’ve just finished building CommitteeCaller.com, a site that allows one person to target an entire congressional committee over the phone. The web application utilizes the open source Asterisk PBX system to connect you to every senator or house member on a particular committee. No more digging around the […]
Minimum wage rises good for workers
Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, December 18th, 2007 - 43 comments
Reports suggest that the government is set to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour. Coming toward the start of 2008, this would mark the ninth rise in as many years. When it comes to income, one trick ponies John Key and National would like you to believe that the only thing that counts […]
John Doerr on “Greentech”
Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, December 17th, 2007 - 21 comments
Another video from TED: “I don’t think we’re going to make it,” John Doerr proclaims, in an emotional talk about climate change and investment. Spurred on by his daughter, who demanded he fix the mess the world is heading for, he and his partners at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers embarked on a greentech world […]
Entitleme.com – tax comparisons
Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, December 17th, 2007 - 6 comments
From the site: “The only two universal truths. Death and Taxes. Entitleme is an effort to deduce an individuals effective tax rate. The difficulty in calculating an effective tax rate stems from defining what is or is not a tax. My current thinking is, “if you don’t pay it you go to jail” it is […]
Polls
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, December 17th, 2007 - 92 comments
From The Dom: A One News Colmar Brunton poll last night has National on 54 per cent, 19 points clear of Labour. A Three News TNS poll has National with a slimmer lead – 51 to 36 – but still well ahead. Well I doubt they enjoy being behind but this can hardly be a […]
Don’t panic
Written By: - Date published: 6:19 pm, December 15th, 2007 - 8 comments
A few readers have written in complaining they’re getting a strange message in their browser when they visit the site. Turns out that some versions of Internet Explorer don’t like the way one of our Google videos is embedded. Apparently it’s nothing to worry about (despite the sometimes stern message!) – I’ll see if I […]
You asked for it Auckland
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, December 14th, 2007 - 17 comments
From The Herald: The Auckland City Council has scrapped its plan to build affordable housing. The last council signed a contract with the New Zealand housing Trust to build 100 homes for lower income families. The contract was worth $9 million. Mayor John Banks says it was a pet-project with the last council and one […]
NZ leads the world on climate change in Bali
Written By: - Date published: 10:05 am, December 14th, 2007 - 28 comments
Here’s a clip that aired last night on TV3. It shows NZ leading the world in our response to climate change in Bali. To quote the reporter, New Zealand is “…putting words into action… [announcing] ambitious plans to go carbon neutral”. National on the other hand has no credibility on climate change. They don’t have […]
John Key DVD – Director’s cut
Written By: - Date published: 5:45 pm, December 13th, 2007 - 17 comments
John Key is the epitome of “style over substance” and his DVD showed us just how desperately he wants to be everything to everyone. This Production Shed.TV user-submitted video explores the man behind the mask.
Style over substance: no real answers
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, December 13th, 2007 - 58 comments
In a continuation of Key’s “style over substance” policy approach, his consultants have found him a new buzzword – “infrastructure”. “Australia’s been more productive because they’ve invested in infrastructure… they’ve made sure they’ve got private sector capital going in there as well as the public sector investing… we need to deliver that infrastructure“ he said […]
ODT on the Electoral Finance Bill
Written By: - Date published: 7:39 pm, December 12th, 2007 - 81 comments
Here’s an article from the ODT. It’s by Simon Cunliffe, “a senior Otago Daily Times journalist”. I’m loathe to reprint it in full but the ODT doesn’t provide full online access to articles. Perhaps the best I can do is to encourage you to subscribe to their digital edition if you enjoy the read. Electoral […]
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