Author Archive
Pick your own price for Radiohead album
Written By: - Date published: 2:49 pm, October 1st, 2007 - Comments Off on Pick your own price for Radiohead album
If you read yesterday’s post about music and copyright this might be of interest. If not, umm, well sorry. Radiohead are about to release their new album: In Rainbows. They’re pre-releasing it via their website where you can choose to purchase it as a special boxed set with vinyl and other goodies or as a […]
Weasel-words from Tony Ryall
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, October 1st, 2007 - Comments Off on Weasel-words from Tony Ryall
This almost defies belief. Just as I was thinking that Ryall couldn’t screw up the release of their health policy any further… He shows up on Agenda and by refusing to answer Espiner’s direct question only adds to the impression that National’s not being straight with the public on its plans to cut health spending. […]
The Herald lashes National
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, October 1st, 2007 - 1 comment
If you’re National you know you’re in trouble when even the Herald editorial comes out swinging. The National Party was doing very well until it started to announce policy… During the month it produced three policies: work for the dole, partial privatisation of state companies and its position on health. The last was a particular […]
Graphically speaking
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, October 1st, 2007 - Comments Off on Graphically speaking
(Via: Indexed)
Back to the future (again)
Written By: - Date published: 9:51 am, October 1st, 2007 - 4 comments
So John Key wants to sell our schools. The National caucus must be a strange place to be right now. Feeling kind of good to be ahead in the polls but knowing that every time you release any real policy you’re going to take a hit. What this latest admission shows is that National hasn’t […]
Liberal and conservative brains differ
Written By: - Date published: 7:26 pm, September 30th, 2007 - 5 comments
A recent neurobiology study suggests that liberals tolerate ambiguity and conflict better than conservatives. The result seems to be strongly tied to low-level brain activity and suggests that political orientation could be related to differences in how the brain processes information. The study asked paricipants to tap a keyboard when an M appeared on a […]
Good Copy, Bad Copy
Written By: - Date published: 12:36 pm, September 30th, 2007 - 1 comment
I just watched a fantastic Danish documentary, “Good Copy, Bad Copy”. The hour long film is about art, culture, copyright and freedom – itself available as a free download. The producers talk to musicians, artists and music industry officials from all around the world about copyright, its effects on artistic production, and the changes that […]
McCarten on privatisation
Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, September 30th, 2007 - Comments Off on McCarten on privatisation
McCarten’s column in the Herald today asks readers to get out and vote in local body elections – particularly for candidates opposed to privatisation. The National Party has shown its hand in testing the public mood for asset sales. A strong vote for all the centre-left candidates in the region will ensure that any secret […]
Tasers for every man, woman, child?
Written By: - Date published: 1:44 pm, September 29th, 2007 - 1 comment
Police Minister Annette King has sensibly decided to wait for a police report on their trial of the Taser stun gun before making any decisions about whether it should be added to their armoury. Predictably, NZ First MP, Ron “knee-jerk” Mark, has demanded that police immediately issue them to front line staff as a result […]
The Standard hearts Kiwiblogblog
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, September 29th, 2007 - 1 comment
We’ve just been introduced to a blog we think you might like to meet too: Kiwiblogblog <snip> Kiwiblog is a New Zealand blogging phenomenon. It’s hard to say why. It’s certainly not the most well-written blog in the Kiwi blogosphere. David’s posting style is a little too reflective of its author: short, unpretty, rushed posts […]
Hooten on climate change policy
Written By: - Date published: 4:48 pm, September 28th, 2007 - 2 comments
Here’s one for the books. Matthew Hooten on 9 to Noon this morning: PRESENTER: Ah, right, we better start with climate change policy announcement… How do you think it went, Matthew. HOOTON: Well, I have to say it was probably the most successful policy announcement by a government in a democracy that I’ve ever heard […]
Does recycling really work?
Written By: - Date published: 4:05 pm, September 28th, 2007 - Comments Off on Does recycling really work?
Here’s an interesting article from The Economist entitled “The truth about recycling”. It sets out to answer some of the big questions about the World’s renewed to push to use less and reuse more in the wake of climate change: Is recycling worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste just going into […]
George Bush: a “B” in ECON101
Written By: - Date published: 3:04 pm, September 28th, 2007 - Comments Off on George Bush: a “B” in ECON101
QUESTION: Do you think there’s a risk of a recession? How do you rate that? BUSH: You know, you need to talk to economists. I think I got a B in Econ 101. I got an A, however, in keeping taxes low and being fiscally responsible with the people’s money. Someone (Michael Roston) actually checked […]
Asset sales
Written By: - Date published: 2:52 pm, September 28th, 2007 - Comments Off on Asset sales
From the Herald:
More opposition to Nats’ health plans
Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, September 28th, 2007 - Comments Off on More opposition to Nats’ health plans
The Christchurch Press reports that Public health groups are angry at National Party plans to remove caps on doctors’ fees if it wins next year’s election. Union and Community Health, which has two Christchurch clinics catering to lower-income Pacific Islanders and Maori, said removing fee caps would be “catastrophic” and increase the “gap between the […]
Traveling green(er)
Written By: - Date published: 2:31 pm, September 28th, 2007 - Comments Off on Traveling green(er)
Yesterday the PM helped launch Cityhop – a rental car company who park their cars around the Auckland CBD. The cars can be hired by the hour with the swipe of a card. They call themselves a “self-service car share company”. The hope is that – as it seems to have worked elsewhere in the […]
Espiner on National’s health policy
Written By: - Date published: 5:46 pm, September 27th, 2007 - 2 comments
From Colin Espiner’s blog: The Government has been dying for National to make this kind of error for months, but when it came it was even better than it had hoped. Not only was National planning to let doctors charge what they liked, it was trying to pull the wool over the public’s eyes by […]
Biblical living
Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, September 27th, 2007 - Comments Off on Biblical living
ÂÂ In being ‘economical’ with the truth, Gordon Copeland struggled with what some would think was a pretty easy biblical edict – don’t lie. How hard would it be to follow say, 700 of the Bible’s rules? After A. J. Jacobs spent a year reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica for his book “The Know-It-All,” he […]
More on National’s privatisation agenda
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, September 27th, 2007 - Comments Off on More on National’s privatisation agenda
The Herald reports that Graham Stairmand, president of Grey Power has sent National a stern warning. He believes the Nats’ proposed partial privatisation of SOEs “will seal the fate of the National Party… Nobody will be naive enough to believe that this is not going to be a step to full privatisation.” Also in the […]
Iran really non-gay?
Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, September 27th, 2007 - Comments Off on Iran really non-gay?
At Columbia University on Monday, the President of Iran, Mr Ahmadinejad said homosexuality did not exist in his country: “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals”. His response was to a questioner who accused his government of executing gay people. A special report in the Guardian suggests an alternative explanation. Iran has between 15,000 and 20,000 […]
One Laptop Per Child project
Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, September 27th, 2007 - Comments Off on One Laptop Per Child project
Newsweek’s Steven Levy does a quick video preview of the OLPC laptop, writing that “The $100 (well, $200) laptop is ready to change the world, if people will buy it for the kids who need it.” From the OLPC foundation website – the people responsible for the machine – their mission is to “ensure that […]
National: The market will set doctors’ fees
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, September 27th, 2007 - 8 comments
There’s been a bit of debate on The Standard about what National actually stands for. Up until now there have been those who have bought the Nats’ “moderate” rebranding. Yesterday though, Key and Ryall let the cat out of the bag. They haven’t changed at all. They’re the same old National Party. In what marks […]
Mr Forgetful
Written By: - Date published: 12:40 am, September 27th, 2007 - 2 comments
First it was forgeting his view on the Springbok Tour (turned out he was “quietly pro”), then it was his place of residence for electoral purposes (the jury’s still out on that one), and now it’s the details of his health policy. The National Party and John Key today released a 45 page health policy […]
How many Earths do you need?
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 pm, September 26th, 2007 - 2 comments
Here’s an online game that aims to show you what the world would look like if everyone lived like you… The site asks you a series of questions about your lifestyle, and as you play, it will show you how many “Earths” of natural resources it would take to sustain all 6.6 billion humans. if […]
Free movie tickets (still)
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, September 26th, 2007 - Comments Off on Free movie tickets (still)
ZKM tells me that due to some people’s inability to correctly follow instructions there are still some free movie tickets available. Here’s the original post where you can answer a quick question and get your mitts on some.
David Brent on discrimination
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, September 26th, 2007 - Comments Off on David Brent on discrimination
Helen Simpson was asked by Christchurch Casino staff to cover her cleavage and feels that she has been discriminated against on account of the size of her breasts. The Human Rights Commission points out that while physical appearance & including breast size & is not a criterion for discrimination under the Human Rights Act, she’s […]
Emperor’s new clothes
Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, September 25th, 2007 - 3 comments
From Colin Espiner’s blog, his comments on English’s “gaffe” about privatisation: One of the problems of being a party without any policies is that when the leadership so much as raises a suggestion of what the party might do, it is scutinised within an inch of its life, as opponents and the media try to […]
Posable paper people
Written By: - Date published: 5:41 pm, September 25th, 2007 - 3 comments
John Key wants to be all things to all people. He’s always reminded me a little of one of those paper dressup dolls that I my sister played with when she was little. I was stoked to stumble accross this version of David Hasselhoff (PDF, 300K) today over at Random Good Stuff. I don’t have […]
Bill’s agenda
Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, September 25th, 2007 - 1 comment
On Agenda on Saturday English admitted that the Nats will consider selling parts of New Zealand’s state owned enterprises. In response, Clayton Cosgrove got stuck in first and the PM’s now in on the act too. This is the second big headache for the Nats that Bill has caused recently. First it was cuts to […]
a_y_b: MIA
Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, September 25th, 2007 - Comments Off on a_y_b: MIA
Apologies for my silence, I’ve been having a Microsoft Word nightmare. When mail merge would work, the printer wouldn’t; when the printer would work, Excel wouldn’t, and so on… All sorted now… Clippy was an arse. Here he is trying to redeem himself:
John Key’s Porirua market adventure
Written By: - Date published: 11:08 pm, September 24th, 2007 - 9 comments
Presumably the Nats are packing themselves about the proposed extension of the campaign spending period and are trying to jam their costs into this year. Evidently, someone at National Party HQ (David Farrar?) thought it might be a good idea to send John Key to visit Porirua market recently with a TV production crew. Perhaps […]
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