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Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, September 2nd, 2012 - Comments Off on Sunday Reading

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: Rinehart, freedom and procrastination.

Apple vs Samsung

Written By: - Date published: 2:38 pm, August 30th, 2012 - 93 comments

When businesses like Apple patent hand waving, obvious design, round corners, or software (which in a way is like patenting maths), we all lose.  I’m not pleased with Craig Foss’s “minor amendment” to our block on software patents, but I like this SMBC cartoon…

Alcohol distraction

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, August 30th, 2012 - 69 comments

Today MPs will have a conscience vote on the drinking age. But National won’t be moving on anything that will hurt the alcohol industry, even though action on price and advertising is what’s really needed to make a difference to New Zealand’s alcohol problem.

Update: And remain at 18 it is.

Marriage Equality and other bills

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 pm, August 29th, 2012 - 51 comments

It’s Members Night in Parliament and the Marriage Equality Bill has passed its first reading. Future Asset Sales have not been entrenched however and National are currently arguing against raising the minimum wage.

Asset Sales to pay for nearly 1.5 years of roads

Written By: - Date published: 4:06 pm, August 29th, 2012 - 8 comments

Gerry Brownlee has announced $12.3 billion of road spending over the next 3 years. Asset sales will pay for less than half of it. Does it really make sense to lose control of our strategic assets – with all the income they bring in – for just over 1 year’s worth of roads?

Sex National Standards

Written By: - Date published: 2:46 pm, August 29th, 2012 - 8 comments

Child Poverty to Increase; Key won’t care

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, August 29th, 2012 - 8 comments

The Children’s Commissioner’s expert group has recommended that things must be done about Child Poverty, and made very specific suggestions as to what should be done, including a universal child payment for under 6s.

John Key’s response to the indepth analysis of a bunch of our finest minds and Phil O’Reilly: “Dopey.”

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, August 26th, 2012 - 60 comments

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: Rape, US attitudes to inequality, and, idle or vulnerable?

What to sell?

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, August 22nd, 2012 - 24 comments

It makes no sense to sell the assets National want to sell. But the particular economic cases just keep getting worse. This week it appears things went disastrous. Now we wonder what’s left to sell? Or will it be a firesale against a back-drop of the courts? And why won’t they face the public over what’s happening?

$3 Billion

Written By: - Date published: 6:47 pm, July 31st, 2012 - 21 comments

The government have $3 billion for the Christchurch rebuild burning a hole in their pockets. But at the same time they’re claiming governmental poverty is why we need to sell our productive assets… And there’s 30,000 people nearby wanting proper houses to live in.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, July 29th, 2012 - 1 comment

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: hiding tax, growing up neo-liberal and Syria.

Nasty govt cont…

Written By: - Date published: 2:29 pm, July 26th, 2012 - 22 comments

Eddie got there before me, but yesterday seemed to be a day of nasty attacks, not just by Maggie Barry.

Banks gets off…

Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, July 26th, 2012 - 44 comments

Police were unable to establish that Mr Banks had the necessary knowledge that the donation had been recorded as anonymous in the return before he signed and submitted it. As No Right Turn puts it: “So basically they’re letting him off because he didn’t read the thing he signed and was legally responsible for. Its one law for finance company directors, and another for corrupt politicians.”

National’s new strategy

Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, July 22nd, 2012 - 57 comments

National have decided to lower the tone and just attack attack attack Labour and the Greens. They know they’re going down, and they’re trying to take the left down with them. It’s nasty, it’s negative and it will do our whole political system no good.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 am, July 22nd, 2012 - 6 comments

My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: The Olympics, some interesting science on inequality and performance pay, and what does history look like when it’s not the propaganda of the victor?

Paula Benefit Distractions

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 pm, July 21st, 2012 - 51 comments

Today’s big announcement from Paula Bennett at the National Party Conference was that those on the run from police will have their benefits stopped. But the question needs to be asked: how many people on the run are collecting the benefit?

“Free” market? No: Tournament

Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, July 18th, 2012 - 50 comments

Many modern companies are now operating markets of their own, but they’re not “free” as claimed. Rather there is only one possible purchaser of your labour, leading to a tournament of who is able to accept the lowest pay and conditions. This isn’t even capitalism, but we’re letting them get away with it.

Health & Safety

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, July 17th, 2012 - 12 comments

Right now 28 miners are stuck down a Waihi mine with a fire causing noxious gases.  15 people are being decontaminated at Tiwai Point after an ‘incident’.  At 3.30am the driver of a truck-trailer loaded pressurised cylinders died after crashing into Bulls RSA – probably asleep from the fatigue 24% of truck drivers suffer from […]

Alcohol to be banned

Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, July 15th, 2012 - 15 comments

The Government announced that it was withdrawing its Alcohol Reform Bill today and introducing prohibition after it realised that alcohol was used by the ‘Beast of Blenheim’ to stupefy young girls. “It’s what we’d do if it was any other drug, particularly as it’s associated with the ‘Beast of Blenheim’,” said Justice Minister Judith Collins.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, July 15th, 2012 - 5 comments

I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: the bread & butter line, bankers, racism and the corporate speak of John Key.

A confession

Written By: - Date published: 9:47 pm, July 14th, 2012 - 7 comments

I joined Mighty River Power today. They offered me $150 incentive payment, no contract and a cheap rate. But couldn’t help wondering – am I part of a push to up their user numbers in preparation for sale?  So the numbers look good on the books, even if people (like me) might not stay?  What will happen to the share price when lots of users leave after the Government’s flogged 49% off?

Police cuts

Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, July 14th, 2012 - 41 comments

So the plan to screw down police wages isn’t working, and National are having to keep going with their other approach.  But not everyone is taking death by 1000 cuts lying down.

Climate Change’s deadly twin

Written By: - Date published: 6:34 am, July 12th, 2012 - 57 comments

The oceans are doing their best to save us from climate change apparently… but just ending up dooming us in another way.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, July 8th, 2012 - 4 comments

I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: Work, American Lies and Science.

Positive Money & the Wizard of Oz

Written By: - Date published: 1:58 pm, July 7th, 2012 - 13 comments

In our current system, we give men like Bob Diamond the immense power to create money. Need it be so? The Positive Money movement wishes to change that, and give that power back to Government. The first Labour Government used the power to create a better NZ – we could do that again.

Kiwiblog: media getting savvy?

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, July 5th, 2012 - 28 comments

The media have generally just regurgitated David Farrar’s angled statistics, stories and lines. Now we finally see a story that looks behind: this is a blog from one of the National Party elite, so why is he running a story on Police pay? Are National looking to move on this?

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, July 1st, 2012 - 1 comment

I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: Feminism, capitalism & resource depletion.

Wrong headed _and_ incompentent

Written By: - Date published: 5:21 pm, June 29th, 2012 - 39 comments

So here is the story that will probably summarise this government in the history books.  The whole cabinet delegated responsibility to John Key and Bill English to achieve their promised land of surplus in 2014/15.  They defined themselves as the only party that could deliver this goal, they jettisoned all other goals in pursuit of a single number, and they can’t even achieve it…

I’m sorry, where was the plan?

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, June 26th, 2012 - 73 comments

“More than 20,000 unemployed people will be moved off the benefit within five years if the Government manages to meet its newly announced targets.”

Yes, but a target isn’t a plan.

Sunday Reading

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, June 24th, 2012 - 6 comments

I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring).  This week: Greece, Watergate and Tax avoidance.

Standing for nothing

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, June 19th, 2012 - 11 comments

National are shelving their plan to get out of deficit by 2014/15 – their only goal left, with the Brighter FutureTM shelved. No to stopping the exodus to Australia, stopping high unemployment, getting better public services, fixing our current account deficit, returning to growth, proper ECE funding (and Adult and Community Education at all), better training for teachers, keeping ACC fair, not cutting frontline staff, promises to not raise GST and more, all on the altar of surplus in 2014/15.
Now what do they stand for?