Author Archive
A candle in the wind
Written By: - Date published: 2:11 pm, September 13th, 2007 - 6 comments
He’s been thieving her policies and now he’s thieving her words. When will John Key say something original? Colin Espiner notes that while for days, Key has been baying for O’Connor’s blood, yesterday on Breakfast Key did an abrupt about-face. As if to signal what a massive change of direction it was, he even stole […]
Sicko
Written By: - Date published: 1:01 pm, September 13th, 2007 - 3 comments
A reader just sent me a link to a piece in The Guardian entitled: “First world results on a third world budget”. It’s an investigation of Michael Moore’s claim in his recent documentary, Sicko, that Cuba’s health system puts America’s to shame on just an annual per capita health expenditure of US$260 – less than […]
Freegan living
Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, September 12th, 2007 - Comments Off on Freegan living
The LA Times has a story today about Freegans – “a growing subculture of people who have reduced their spending habits and live off consumer waste”. I’m probably not quite ready to forage for my food just yet, but the article’s a good read. The picture is from the LA Times (photographer: Carolyn Cole) – […]
Q. What goes on tour…
Written By: - Date published: 10:48 pm, September 11th, 2007 - 3 comments
a) stays on tour? b) stays on tour until there’s political capital to be gained by raising it? Colin Espiner is worth a read: Sure, it wasn’t the smartest thing in the world to invite a suspended prison guard along on the trip… But it’s not a sacking offence. If these are the standards we’re […]
Inoculation, part one
Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, September 10th, 2007 - 4 comments
Twenty years ago this year, the fourth Labour government passed legislation that made New Zealand nuclear free. At the time, the legislation was controversial and was opposed by National. Jim Bolger ever called it “an exercise in futility”. In the intervening years, parties opposed to the legislation have tried to change it. Only two years […]
Map the candidates
Written By: - Date published: 12:10 pm, September 7th, 2007 - Comments Off on Map the candidates
Someone just sent me this. Pretty cool site which uses Google Maps to track the US presidential candidates. Map the Candidates is a nonpartisan site that tracks the presidential candidates’ campaign stops across the country. Utilizing public schedules provided by the campaigns, we publish an ongoing digest of where the candidates were, are, and will […]
Kiwiblog’s tomato disaster
Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, September 7th, 2007 - 2 comments
Go check it out. You know you want to. Via swissmiss
Fairer pay for youth workers
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, September 6th, 2007 - Comments Off on Fairer pay for youth workers
The Herald has the story: Workers aged 16 and 17 will earn the adult minimum wage once they have been in the job three months or worked 200 hours under a law change yesterday. Currently, those under 18 must be paid 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage. But that will change from April […]
GS-what?
Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, September 6th, 2007 - Comments Off on GS-what?
I’d nearly forgotten until I read this that the Nats forgot to pay slithered out of paying their GST for their broadcasting at the last election. Under the supposedly economically literate Don Brash, the Nats, you’ll remember were allocated $900,000 inclusive of GST by the Electoral Commission for advertising, but instead spent $900,000, plus GST […]
What else have the Nats got to hide?
Written By: - Date published: 11:43 am, September 6th, 2007 - 1 comment
The Herald ran an article yesterday detailing the Nat’s refusal to support legislation that would strengthen the Auditor-General’s powers to investigate MP’s lists of assets and interests. Cosgrove and Cullen both point out that this is a last minute u-turn, the Nats having supported the ammendment up until this final stage. This certainly shows their […]
130,000 people have enrolled with Kiwisaver
Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, September 6th, 2007 - Comments Off on 130,000 people have enrolled with Kiwisaver
Here’s the press release with a bit more detail.
Your mum was right – sharing’s good
Written By: - Date published: 5:04 pm, September 5th, 2007 - Comments Off on Your mum was right – sharing’s good
That’s why we’ve just installed “Share This” – a blog plugin that should make it easier for you to share our tasty content with your friends (and the world). As soon as we put up a contact form you’ll be able to tell us if it works for you (or not). In the meantime try […]
English plays the long game
Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, September 5th, 2007 - 1 comment
People the country over were puzzled by the odd choice of Key’s entrance music to the National Party annual conference last month. Originally we were told that Key was holding a competition to choose the song. Next it seemed that Kevin Taylor might be the man behind the strange choice. In a bizzare twist, rumour […]
Jordan Carter on electoral finance
Written By: - Date published: 3:52 pm, September 2nd, 2007 - Comments Off on Jordan Carter on electoral finance
Jordan Carter at Just Left injects some sense into the debate on the Electoral Finance Bill running at Kiwiblog: In 2005 National tried to steal the general election. It did so by hiding its links with a shadowy sect, the Exclusive Brethren, with whom it collaborated to run a million dollar campaign against the governing […]
A sudden end to the Schadenfreude
Written By: - Date published: 9:55 pm, August 31st, 2007 - 1 comment
From bFM yesterday – Mickey Havoc interviews John Key… Mickey Havoc: “But you wouldn’t compare her to Muldoon? That’s what I’m asking…” John Key: “No” Mickey Havoc: “Alright” powered by ODEO
Key: style over substance
Written By: - Date published: 6:58 pm, August 31st, 2007 - Comments Off on Key: style over substance
The Press ran a story today in which they claim that: Labour polling conducted by UMR Insight, excerpts of which were leaked to The Press, show that while National was ahead by a healthy margin, voters were increasingly critical of Key. Labour’s poll, which asked people their opinions of Key, showed 64 per cent of […]
Armstrong changes his mind?
Written By: - Date published: 5:15 pm, August 31st, 2007 - Comments Off on Armstrong changes his mind?
That clipping’s from the Herald on the 23rd of this month. Yesterday on RNZ John Armstrong appeared to backtrack over whether Labour holding John Key to account for his numerous inconsistencies really is a “personal attack”: Kevin: People have talked a lot about personal attacks and the policy of personal attacks. I’m just wondering whether […]
Mo(o)re on “personal attacks”
Written By: - Date published: 3:13 pm, August 31st, 2007 - Comments Off on Mo(o)re on “personal attacks”
Item on Stuff yesterday interviewing Barry Gustafson, the author of His Way, a biography of Robert Muldoon (Auckland University Press, 2000): Professor of politics Barry Gustafson said Miss Clark seldom indulged in personal politics and the attack was a bit unfair. “If anyone has been on the receiving end of some pretty nasty rumours and […]
Online polls
Written By: - Date published: 5:42 pm, August 30th, 2007 - Comments Off on Online polls
National Party blogger David Farrar writes: “The poll had Key leading Clark by 2:1 consistently all of Tuesday. Then a huge splurt of votes today with 85% of them being for Clark. The Herald should publish the IP addresses of any mass multiple voting.” What’s that? Stop the presses! “A huge splurt of votes”. That […]
Family-friendly facade
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 pm, August 29th, 2007 - 3 comments
Yet another policy inoculation today from the Nats, this time on paid parental leave. Judith Collins is now “generally not against it” and in typically decisive fasion John Key “thinks” he’s for it. What’s really astounding about this u-turn is how many of their MPs are on record as having vehemently opposed it since day […]
Behind the veneer
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, August 29th, 2007 - 1 comment
Russell Brown writes in Hard News: “It was always odds-on that Judith Collins MP would top her previous efforts at public nastiness – and already, she’s come though for the punters. 3 News ran a story on Friday night claiming controversy over the hiring of “prominent drag queen” Buckwheat, aka Edward Cowley, as a motivational […]
National: policy free zone
Written By: - Date published: 1:51 pm, August 29th, 2007 - Comments Off on National: policy free zone
From Morning Report (full audio) earlier today: Sean Plunket: Final question when do we get to see your party’s ah local government policy? John Key: Well we’ve, we’ve already ah, you know, made quite a lot of things clear. We’re going to release um a local government discussion document at some point but in the, […]
If you can’t take the heat…
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, August 27th, 2007 - 5 comments
The National Party have been complaining about the increasing scrutiny on John Key’s business dealings. First, his association with the “Earl of Auckland” property development firm that’s attempting to go into liquidation to avoid leaky building costs and second the nature of his involvement at Elders during the Equiticorp scandal of the 1980s – both […]
Same old National Party
Written By: - Date published: 4:31 pm, August 27th, 2007 - 1 comment
As the National Party concentrated on its own political health with yet another policy u-turn inoculation, this time on the need for an airforce combat wing, Health Minister Pete Hodgson had some good news for the health of under-sixes.
Hone “Sorting Hat” Harawira
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, August 27th, 2007 - Comments Off on Hone “Sorting Hat” Harawira
Hone Harawira hits the nail on the head in this interview on ‘Sunday’: “Well, you know, the strange this is that everybody calls her Auntie Helen but I can’t see anybody calling that fella Uncle John. He’s a smiling snake. That’s how I see John Key. He smiles a lot. He’s charasmatic. But none of […]
Key’s missing compass
Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, August 26th, 2007 - 3 comments
In the Weekend Herald today, Fran O’Sullivan opines: “By drawing out his opponents before they even noticed Key was using the type of classic defensive move that would be natural to a high stakes foreign exchange trader”. If she’s right she may have identified a superficial strength gleaned from his many years in the money […]
Fairer electoral funding
Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, August 25th, 2007 - Comments Off on Fairer electoral funding
Today in the Dom: Tracy Watkins gets National Party blogger David Farrar to coauthor share his views in an article on the Electoral Finance Bill. The Nats are campaigning hard against changes to the Act. You would too if you had as much to lose. The loopholes in it nearly allowed them to buy the […]
Parselmouth under pressure
Written By: - Date published: 2:57 pm, August 25th, 2007 - Comments Off on Parselmouth under pressure
Has anyone else noticed John Key’s tendency to drift into Parseltongue when he’s under pressure? From his Radio New Zealand interview on the 24th: “Um, in terms of the things where the companies were registered, my lawyer actually does those things and you know, he will have just obviously you know… clearly had the wrong […]
The Earl of Auckland’s a drip
Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, August 23rd, 2007 - Comments Off on The Earl of Auckland’s a drip
Exclusive Brethren: at it again
Written By: - Date published: 11:37 pm, August 22nd, 2007 - Comments Off on Exclusive Brethren: at it again
The thought of losing his seat must be making John Howard desperate. It’s been revealed that he’s recently met with senior Exclusive Brethren officials including one who is being investigated by Federal Police over the funding of pro-government advertising. For a group of people who don’t vote because they believe it interferes with God’s right […]
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