Author Archive
Truly sensible sentencing
Written By: - Date published: 3:17 pm, January 12th, 2009 - 16 comments
“I’m not one for ideological stances; I support what works”, said John Key in a speech to the Salvation Army in early 2007. Well now the challenge is on. Steve posted earlier today calling for a “truce on the sentencing bidding war”, echoing the recent sentiment of Kim Workman, director of the Rethinking Crime and Punishment project. […]
Internet campaigning
Written By: - Date published: 2:39 pm, January 12th, 2009 - 2 comments
There have been two interesting pieces from the Guardian recently on the way UK Labour are beginning to embrace the opportunities of the internet for political campaigning. The first is here and describes Labour’s spoof of an online meeting of the shadow Tory cabinet (pictured above). The second is here and details UK Labour’s new ‘broad […]
crashtheinauguration.com
Written By: - Date published: 10:42 am, January 10th, 2009 - 3 comments
Via SwissMiss: CrashTheInauguration.com, an online Inauguration guide created by AirBedAndBreakfast.com, is connecting last minute travelers with accommodations in Washington DC. Individuals or groups can easily rent an airbed, couch, private bedroom, or entire place for as little as $45/night. Already visitors from throughout the United States, and even European countries, are booking Inauguration accommodations directly online […]
War crime?
Written By: - Date published: 5:26 pm, January 9th, 2009 - 35 comments
Idiot/Savant seems to think so. DPF doesn’t. Robert Fisk does: What happened was not just shameful. It was a disgrace. Would war crime be too strong a description? For that is what we would call this atrocity if it had been committed by Hamas. So a war crime, I’m afraid, it was.
Streetview sleuthing
Written By: - Date published: 4:42 pm, January 9th, 2009 - 2 comments
Nikki Kaye might be right to fear Google’s watchful eye but police in Massachusetts have used streetview to solve the alleged kidnapping of a 9-year-old girl by her grandmother. A Massachusetts-based officer used the phone company’s GPS records to narrow his search then used Google’s streetview to take a guess at the likely hideout – a hotel, hundreds […]
Labour’s maiden speeches
Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, December 23rd, 2008 - 8 comments
Rather than decorating their tree, some committed Labour Party staffer seems still to be hard at work posting maiden speeches to YouTube. The Greens have theirs up too [link].
Obama in 1980
Written By: - Date published: 2:45 pm, December 19th, 2008 - 11 comments
From Time: In 1980, when Obama was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, he was approached by an aspiring photographer named Lisa Jack, who asked him if he would be willing to pose for some black and white photographs that she could use in her portfolio. She put the photos away until after […]
Estonians to vote by mobile phone
Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, December 15th, 2008 - 23 comments
Last Thursday, while our new government was making it easier for businesses to fire employees, politicans in Estonia were making it easier for people to vote. In Estonia’s 2011 parliamentary election people will be able to vote via mobile phone. The system apparently “requires that voters obtain free, authorized chips for their phones” which are used […]
From clean and green to grey and grubby
Written By: - Date published: 1:52 pm, December 15th, 2008 - 39 comments
Tourism New Zealand has recently launched its dedicated YouTube channel – Have Your Say – where tourists can post video messages about their experiences while visiting here via a mobile studio. Here’s what our new PM, Minister of Tourism, and veteran YouTube user John Key had to say. But while John’s out there on YouTube doing the hard […]
National’s abuse of Parliamentary process
Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, December 11th, 2008 - 7 comments
Audrey Young writes on her blog that National would do well to heed the opinion of the Human Rights Commission who have today spoken out against National’s decision to rush through a number of pieces of important legislation under urgency – denying them proper scrutiny. She points out that this is the very same Commission National […]
Courting the ethnic vote
Written By: - Date published: 5:58 pm, December 9th, 2008 - 31 comments
I’ve just watched the first part of the Address in Reply debate which included maiden speeches by two new National Party MPs – Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga and Melissa Lee. They were impressive. This in itself should provide some cause for concern for Labour but more ominous should be the signal that while this year’s election […]
Kia kaha
Written By: - Date published: 1:55 pm, December 9th, 2008 - 34 comments
The Greens have joined in opposing National’s “Fire at Will” Bill which they say puts “jobs and democracy at stake”. They’re calling on the Maori Party to stand strong in its previous opposition to the bill. Only two years ago Hone Harawira said when voting against it: [O]ur journey with this bill has not been an […]
Dear John
Written By: - Date published: 9:09 am, December 9th, 2008 - 3 comments
In case, like me, you tend to mainly read the news online, here’s what was stuck to the Dominion Post this morning:
Occupy, resist, produce
Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, December 8th, 2008 - 34 comments
Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis describe in the New Statesman how: [a]lmost entirely under the media radar, workers in Argentina have been responding to rampant unemployment and capital flight by taking over businesses that have gone bankrupt and reopening them under democratic worker management. Full article here.
Farrar back on the PS payroll?
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, December 6th, 2008 - 135 comments
A mate just pointed out that the metadata of David Farrar’s election analysis document suggests it was authored on a Parliamentary Service computer. With the document open in Microsoft Word go to the ‘File’ menu then down to ‘Properties’. You’ll see something like the image below: Of course you’ll notice that the document title looks […]
The moral high ground
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, December 5th, 2008 - 15 comments
Murray McCully has just used his recently acquired ministerial discretion to allow Fiji’s under-20 soccer team to enter New Zealand in transit on its way to a tournament in Tahiti. This is broadly at odds with the Labour government’s sanctions following the coup in 2006 (though they did grant the Fiji sevens team permission to […]
Merriam Webster word of the year: Bailout
Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, December 3rd, 2008 - 8 comments
It often provides an interesting take on what’s on people’s minds. The top ten was filled out by: Vet Socialism Maverick Bipartisan Trepidation Precipice Rogue Mysogeny Turmoil Here’s the link.
It’s 3am again
Written By: - Date published: 11:49 am, December 3rd, 2008 - 10 comments
Armstrong’s a little more charitable in relation to National’s dithering on the evacuation of Kiwis from Bangkok than I would have been. Yes, Key got there in the end but we had to endure yet more of the painful “there are a range of options that we’re considering” BS he’s so prone to. I’m sure […]
Obama launches weekly YouTube address
Written By: - Date published: 9:05 pm, November 17th, 2008 - 13 comments
Post traumatic Obama disorder
Written By: - Date published: 5:48 pm, November 14th, 2008 - 11 comments
While there have been reports here of distraught voters calling the police and helplines for assistance in dealing with the trauma of a National/Act government, spare a thought for the millions of Obama supporters around the world who, now victorious, find themselves with no purpose in life… (Via: Swiss Miss)
Unbelievably awesome
Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, November 13th, 2008 - 11 comments
Via Laughing Squid: This morning in NYC international pranksters The Yes Men recruited volunteers through the website Because We Want It to distribute thousands of copies of a fake version of the New York Times dated July 4, 2009 with the headline ‘Iraq War Ends’. Gawaker describes how the prank came together and here’s the reaction from the New York Times. There is also […]
The Nats on Iraq
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, November 5th, 2008 - 34 comments
The Nats have had two responses to English’s “pull the trigger” comments revealed last night: first the taping itself was branded a “dirty trick” and now we have Key claiming on Sunrise this morning that the comments may have been taken out of context. Well here’s a view of his own, straight from Hansard, with […]
English “worried” about Obama
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 pm, November 4th, 2008 - 97 comments
More from 3News tonight on the secret recordings taken at the Naitonal Party conference in August. This time it’s Bill English expressing concern over Barack Obama’s “moralistic” stance to international relations: I’m a bit worried about this whole Obama and Europe thing, just because there’s a limited effectiveness in being moralistic about international relations… and the […]
Synchronised presidential debating
Written By: - Date published: 7:36 pm, October 29th, 2008 - 2 comments
(Via: boingboing.net)
Lockwood vs Lockwood
Written By: - Date published: 2:42 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 5 comments
A different ‘story of two National party guys’ from 08wire:
Google “In Quotes”
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, October 23rd, 2008 - 1 comment
This is clever from Google labs – In Quotes. It allows you to compare people’s quotes on a variety of issues, having pulled them from online news. The default “speakers” are McCain and Obama but you can change them. I tried with Clark and Key but there isn’t really enough data by the looks of […]
Debtmonster
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, October 23rd, 2008 - 30 comments
UPDATE: The Pink Batts original is youtubed here.
CTU YouTube vid
Written By: - Date published: 10:38 pm, October 22nd, 2008 - 25 comments
Yep, that’s a pusy Roger Douglas zombie eye staring at you. Ew.
Live: Helen Clark launches Labour campaign
Written By: - Date published: 2:06 pm, October 12th, 2008 - 9 comments
Hooten shows his true colours
Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, October 12th, 2008 - 36 comments
The Herald reports that producers had to interrupt the filming of today’s Eye to Eye because Mathew Hooten called Winston Peters a “f***ing c***”. Apparently Hooton confirmed he used the phrase but was unrepentant. I think we all knew Hooten was a childish bully, it’s just kind of a shame he had to confirm it […]
In case you missed it
Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, October 10th, 2008 - 14 comments
Here’s the footage from 3News last night on the fresh National Party cocktail revelations. Bill English’s comments again serve to reinforce the message of The Hollow Men: this is a group of people who are about winning at all costs, principles be damned.
- 10 years after the Lacrosse building cladding fire, the defects and disasters continue
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Metropolitan Fire Brigade, CC BY Ten years ago, a late-night cigarette started a fire that spread rapidly up 13 storeys on the Lacrosse apartment building in Melbourne. The ...4 days ago - What is premenstrual dysphoric disorder? And how is it different to PMS?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eveline Mu, Research Fellow in Women’s Mental Health, Monash University Austin Guevara/Pexels Periods can feel like an unwanted guest for many women and gender diverse people who menstruate, bringing cramps, mood swings and exhaustion. But how do you know ...4 days ago
- Bill would ‘render the treaty worthless’ – world reacts to national Hīkoi
RNZ News International media coverage of Aotearoa New Zealand’s national Hīkoi to Parliament has largely focused on the historic size of the turnout in Wellington yesterday and the wider contention between Māori and the Crown. Some, including The New York Times, have also pointed out the recent swing right with ...4 days ago
- PPTA Urges Government To Act For Children In War Zones
Children are our future and have the right to access education wherever they live. We must do everything we can to uphold this fundamental human right. ...4 days ago - ‘I’ll try any synonym under the sun’: Jacqueline Bublitz’s crimes against language
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Jacqueline Bublitz, author of new crime novel Leave the Girls Behind. The book I wish I’d written I was so impressed by the big reveal in All the Colours ...4 days ago - Financial forms of family violence affect 1 in 7 New Zealanders – but the law is lagging
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ayesha Scott, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, AUT Business School, Auckland University of Technology and Senior Lecturer in Finance & Financial Planning, Griffith University Economic harm – restricting access to, sabotaging or exploiting another person’s financial resources, and impeding their economic autonomy – is ...4 days ago
- Who is the new Police Commissioner, Richard Chambers?
He is known to have long-held ambitions for the top job and is considered a favourite of frontline police. ...4 days ago - COP29 Ends In Promise To Send More Taxpayer Money Overseas
This decision proves how out-of-touch this tax more, spend more, ship more overseas Government is with New Zealand taxpayers. Fix your house first before you go fixing the neighbourhood. ...4 days ago
- Richard Chambers to be announced as new Police Commissioner, RNZ understands
RNZ understands Chambers will take over from Andrew Coster, who stepped down last week to head up the new Social Investment Agency. ...4 days ago
- New Zealand a very difficult place to be blind – advocate
Jonathan Mosen says New Zealand is the worst country in the Western world in which to be blind. ...4 days ago
- A beginner’s guide to yum cha
Let Jean Teng show you how to do yum cha right. All photos by Jin Fellet. Yum cha is ritualistic. Being absorbed into the cacophony of Sunday morning chaos at a Cantonese restaurant pretty much always feels the same, no matter which one it is. There’s the same families ...4 days ago
- Vietnam war vets’ financial support claims boosted by new ruling
Sir Wira Gardiner made a claim in 2021 to have his brain tumour treated as a defence service-related condition. ...4 days ago
- Taxpayer-funded Hīkoi Organiser Shows Parliament’s Budget A Political Slush Fund
Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said “Taxpayers’ money is not a political slush fund. MPs shouldn’t be able to hide how they’re wasting our money, and it’s long-past time their budgets were covered by the OIA.” ...4 days ago
- Public Comments By Auckland CCO Bosses Demonstrate Need For Duty Of Political Neutrality
"Dean Kimpton is the poster child of what an undemocratic CCO model has led to," says Jordan Williams, a Spokesman for the Ratepayers' Alliance. ...4 days ago
- Modern cars are surveillance devices on wheels with major privacy risks – new report
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law & Justice; Lead, UNSW Public Interest Law & Tech Initiative, UNSW Sydney Varavin/Shutterstock New research reveals serious privacy flaws in the data practices of new internet connected cars in Australia. It’s yet another reason ...4 days ago
- The world reacts to te Hīkoi mō te tiriti
International media seem to agree the Treaty Principles Bill and national hīkoi put New Zealand at a pivotal moment in history. ...4 days ago
- City Rail Link: Mayor Wayne Brown unsure it will get across the line in time
Auckland's mayor has lost confidence that the City Rail Link will be finished on time, despite assurances from officials. ...4 days ago
- Women are still being paid almost $30,000 a year less than men and the gap widens with age
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leonora Risse, Associate Professor in Economics, University of Canberra Kaewmanee jiangsihui/Shutterstock Australia’s gender pay gap has been shrinking year by year, but is still over 20% among Australia’s private companies, a new national report card shows. But that gender gap is ...4 days ago
- Listen: Christopher Luxon says ‘no need to meet’ with hīkoi at Parliament
The Prime Minister says organisers were "closely aligned" with Te Pāti Māori, but acknowledged it was "a significant day". ...4 days ago
- ‘Burnt out, tired, frustrated’: how hospital pressures harm doctors’ mental health
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Belinda Lunnay, Senior Research Fellow in Public Health, Torrens University Australia Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock Even before the COVID pandemic, which added significant pressure to the health-care workforce, Australian doctors experienced poor mental health at higher rates than the overall population. The ...5 days ago
- When picking schools, don’t get stuck on single-sex vs. co-ed. Instead ask – are all students su...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Keddie, Professor of Education, Deakin University If parents have a choice, the decision about where to send a child to school and what will be best for them can be a really difficult one. One question that comes up frequently ...5 days ago
- Michelle Visage is now hosting Drag Race Down Under. It’s a milestone for cis women in drag
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yves Rees, Senior Lecturer in History, La Trobe University Stan Drag Race Down Under is back for a fourth season, only this time something is different. The Australasian franchise is no longer helmed by the eponymous RuPaul. Instead, this season the ...5 days ago
- ‘Impossible’ to know effect of new gang laws on victimisation – Justice Minister
The gang patch ban comes into effect at midnight tonight. ...5 days ago
- Luxon didn’t meet the hīkoi, but he won’t be able to hide from what comes next
An undeniable show of opposition to the coalition painted the streets of Wellington red, white and black, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...5 days ago
- In a global nursing shortage, NZ’s reliance on overseas-trained staff is not sustainable
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Holloway, Associate Professor, Director of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Practice, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Olafur Seinar Gestsson/Getty Images The global shortage of trained nurses has been described as a health emergency by the ...5 days ago
- Deportations hampered by availability and cost of flights
A lack of flights is being blamed for the number of deportations being hundreds short of government targets. ...5 days ago
- Live: te Hīkoi mō te tiriti is over, but the debate isn’t
After the hīkoi: supporters are proud of the message sent, but a six month long process for the Treaty Principles Bill still lies ahead. ...5 days ago
- What now for the Treaty Principles Bill?
"Kill the bill" was the cry from the hīkoi - and that's likely to happen with National and NZ First saying they will not support the Treaty Principles Bill at its second reading, but it may not be as quickly as protestors would like. ...5 days ago
- The smack: How a family’s plea to Oranga Tamariki for help with their son unravelled
A family living in fear of their young son's increasingly dangerous behaviour asked for support. Instead, the agency turned its focus on his mum. ...5 days ago
- Was the hīkoi New Zealand’s largest-ever protest?
Media estimates of the crowd size ranged from 17,000 to 100,000+, but one thing we can say for sure — it was bloody massive. Thirty-five thousand people. That’s the crowd size police initially estimated for the final leg of the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, the nine-day march in protest of ...5 days ago
- How has Luxon’s position on the Treaty Principles Bill changed over time?
The prime minister has never supported David Seymour’s bill in principle, or beyond first reading in practice, but his language has certainly changed. The National Party has spent a large amount of time in this parliamentary term talking about a bill it doesn’t like. Which is not much fun. In ...5 days ago
- Has Netflix forgotten about New Zealand?
Following the opening of the Netflix ANZ office in Sydney and lacklustre commissioning of New Zealand content, the local industry has been left wondering where we fit in. Here at the bottom of the globe, we’re used to being overlooked. New Zealand has been left off the world map so ...5 days ago
- Homeowners move house sooner than you think: Why the average stay is shrinking
It turns out that the so called ‘seven year itch’ is more like five these days. The latest data from realestate.co.nz shows how long people hold onto their homes before they sell. And it’s shorter than you’d think.Kiwis keep their homes for an average of just five and a half ...5 days ago - Country calendar: woolsheds
Milking sheds, I know intimately; the headlights of a farmbike illuminating mysterious valleys in the darkness before dawn, herding the old moos, working the pumps, tuning the transistor to the Concert Programme to soothe yourself and the beasts, the whole place reeking of wet pooh and spilt milk; but of ...5 days ago
- Let’s not play into Seymour’s hands by talk of racist Treaty bill
Opinion: David Seymour is playing the long game, and we’d be dangerously foolish to count him out.As his Treaty Principles Bill passed its first reading in Parliament last week, there was no shortage of news coverage and analysis.Much of the commentary has focused on the ignorance of his interpretation of Te ...5 days ago
- Daily crossword, Wednesday 20 November
The post Daily crossword, Wednesday 20 November appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 20 November
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- Reserve Bank likely to cut key interest rate by 50bp next week
Reserve Bank has had Kiwi economy in a chokehold to kill inflation, and it now needs to loosen its grip, Kiwibank says The post Reserve Bank likely to cut key interest rate by 50bp next week appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Foodstuffs’ merger now hinges on narrow view of Commerce Act
Analysis: Foodstuffs and the Commerce Commission’s different interpretations of Commerce Act will be tested in court The post Foodstuffs’ merger now hinges on narrow view of Commerce Act appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- The Kiwi business leader giving exploited migrants a second chance
Indian immigration to New Zealand has been going on for more than 100 years, but in the past 25 it’s become synonymous with exploitation.The stories come thick and fast – dozens of Indian men living in squalid conditions, their promised jobs amounting to nothing; nurses training for and gaining Kiwi ...5 days ago
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