Author Archive

Democracy is bad at hard problems

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, December 8th, 2010 - 72 comments

Democracy can be very bad at dealing with hard problems.  Case in point, the Nats’ appalling handling of the issue of our ageing population.  The Nats are stuck, so the country is stuck, rabbit in the headlights, while the size of the problem continues to grow…

Fraud vs incompetence

Written By: - Date published: 7:10 pm, December 7th, 2010 - 28 comments

The Nats like to talk tough about “benefit fraud”.  But ONE News reports that simple incompetence in the Ministry of Social Development costs three times as much.  Perhaps cutting more public sector jobs, and putting the remaining workers under even more stress, will help fix the problem, do you think?

A smart speech from Goff

Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, December 7th, 2010 - 87 comments

Goff has given several excellent policy speeches this year, and the last one was no exception.  Squarely targeted at a middle New Zealand that saw little of National’s tax cuts and far more of their job losses and rising prices.  Pointing out the obvious, that National has failed to deliver on the economy, and has no viable plan to do so.  In short, a great platform for election year.

Te Atatu electorate letter

Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, December 6th, 2010 - 25 comments

Much to the delight of the right wing chattering class, the Te Atatu electorate has written a letter attacking Labour leadership.  Storm in a teacup. I don’t think there is any shock value to the public in further revelations about Chris Carter, just a bit of titillation for the blog fodder.

NZF poll is wrong

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, December 6th, 2010 - 77 comments

Great excitement in the Sunday papers over Winston Peters / NZF.  “Poll puts NZ First back in contention”!  “Peters the kingmaker again”!  Don’t believe a word of it.

When I’m 64

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, December 5th, 2010 - 14 comments

There seems to have been a reasonable breakthrough in research to reverse ageing.  Is it a good thing?  If you think the world has resource and environmental problems now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.  If you think we have social injustice and insane inequities in wealth now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Green China

Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, December 4th, 2010 - 26 comments

I confess that I am used to thinking of China as a polluter, not much concerned with environmental standards or green technology.  I am very pleased indeed to find that I am wrong.  Green technology is yet another area where China is drawing ahead of America and much of the West.

Only greed can save us

Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, December 3rd, 2010 - 63 comments

As a society we can’t seem to bring ourselves to take action on climate change.  We haven’t got the will to save ourselves.
The failure at Copenhagen, and the non event that is Cancun, are in the process of proving that.
It looks like only greed can save us.

The other welfare report

Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, December 2nd, 2010 - 12 comments

The recommendations of the Nats’ welfare working group are, predictably, good old fashioned Tory welfare bashing.  In contrast a report released last week by the Anglican Social Justice Commission shows just how misguided the ideology underlying this attack on welfare is.

ECE costs to skyrocket

Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, December 1st, 2010 - 54 comments

The Nats’ stupid slash and burn approach to early childhood education (ECE) is about to hammer families.  And once again Anne Tolley is in complete denial about it.

Who has “blood on their hands”?

Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, December 1st, 2010 - 22 comments

Amongst other angry and aggressive rhetoric, American politicians have accused the leakers of the diplomatic cables of having “blood on their hands”.  Will the leaked cables put lives at risk?  Perhaps, but I believe that many more lives would be made safe if the actions and attitudes of our governments, and the “intelligence” that they work with, were more open to the people.

Leaked cables window into Superpower

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, November 30th, 2010 - 49 comments

Wikileaks latest coup is the release of a database of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables between American embassies, up to and including the highest security level “Top Secret”.  The cables provide a full, detailed and explicit account of many of America’s diplomatic secrets and the attitudes behind them.  It is a good long look through a window in to the mind of a Superpower.

Don who?

Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, November 29th, 2010 - 20 comments

Don Brash has been blurting at Orewa again, in a speech which has been reported as attacking Maori, attacking Key, and opening up divisions within National.  But I don’t think anyone cares, or indeed anyone should care, about anything that this fading clown says…

Cancun: No will to save ourselves

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, November 27th, 2010 - 53 comments

On Monday the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference begins in Cancun, Mexico.  This is the successor to last year’s spectacularly failed Copenhagen Summit.  Nothing useful will be accomplished there. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that we lack the will to save ourselves.

Lost in Wiseacre Wood

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, November 26th, 2010 - 5 comments

Feel like some Friday fun?  Do you know a haycorn from a heffalump?  If you answered “yes” to both questions then I think you’re going to appreciate this piece of genius from Lyndon Hood.

The role of the media

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, November 25th, 2010 - 91 comments

Some of the journalists covering Pike River have resorted to extreme measures (even posing as victim support workers) to try and contact grieving families.  This is an example of all that is wrong with the media taken to the very worst of its extremes.  I can see the problem, but I can’t see the solution.  Are the light and dark sides of the media simply inseparable?

How much security?

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, November 24th, 2010 - 50 comments

9/11 seems to have driven America crazy.  Most Americans, I think, don’t realise how much their country has changed around them.  But one very visible manifestation of the brave new world is getting right in the public’s faces, that is the new generation of airport security scanners.  Dubbed “porno scanners” for the body images that they produce, they have finally provoked a reaction from the great American public.

Meet the new EFA same as the old EFA

Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, November 23rd, 2010 - 66 comments

In developing their replacement for the EFA the Nats have decided to limit what lobby groups can spend on election campaigning — despite strongly objecting to limits in 2008.  Interesting how the responsibilities of government mean that the Nats have to repudiate so much of their irresponsible opposition rhetoric!  But some of their spinsters are still stuck in the past…

Spirit Level author on Q+A

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, November 21st, 2010 - 11 comments

The Spirit Level is the book that the loony right of politics loves to hate.  Today, Sunday morning political analysis show Q+A features Emeritus Professor Richard Wilkinson, co-author of The Spirit Level (9am on One).  Should be an interesting programme…

Pike River fears grow

Written By: - Date published: 5:02 pm, November 20th, 2010 - 38 comments

The news coming out from the Pike River mine disaster is not sounding good. Spare a thought tonight for the miners and their families.

Rod Donald memorial lecture

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, November 20th, 2010 - 4 comments

Rod Donald died, so very young, five years ago this month.  Tomorrow there is a memorial lecture in Christchurch.  Jeanette Fitzsimons will speak on the topic “Democracy is New Zealand: Lost, Stolen or Just Misplaced?”.  A timely topic indeed.

Climategate anniversary

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, November 20th, 2010 - 102 comments

It has been a year since the CRU emails were stolen and the “climategate” “scandal” broke.  There’s an interesting summary at the ClimateSight blog.  Meanwhile the record temperatures keep rolling in, the ice keeps melting all over the world, and The Guardian asks “Is climate science disinformation a crime against humanity?”.

Rent a crowd

Written By: - Date published: 7:09 am, November 19th, 2010 - 34 comments

John Key tried to dismiss the activists who confronted him in Mana yesterday as “rent a crowd”.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Left wing political protests are grass roots movements.  It is the right wing of politics that needs to pay to get its “crowds”…

Savings based recovery nonsense

Written By: - Date published: 3:38 pm, November 18th, 2010 - 47 comments

Bill English is always busy trying to put lipstick on the pig of our moribund economy.  His latest attempt is to argue that we are experiencing a “savings based recovery”.  There’s no such thing.  He’s just making excuses for the fact that people have no money to spend, or are desperately trying to pay down debt in these uncertain times.  Enough with the lipstick.  Enough with the empty promises of jam tomorrow — National are never going to deliver.

Due diligence on Whanau Ora?

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, November 18th, 2010 - 10 comments

Back in April Marty G raised questions about the accountability of Whanau Ora providers.  The fiasco of the Taeaomanino Trust shows that those concerns were well founded.  Why has $1 million in funding been awarded to a Trust with an extremely chequered history, and that is the subject of an open Police investigation?  Is this an example of the kind of accountability that the government promised for Whanau Ora?

Finlayson losing it

Written By: - Date published: 7:08 am, November 17th, 2010 - 92 comments

Is the interminable tangled mess of the foreshore and seabed issue getting to Chris Finlayson?  Something certainly is, because he’s clearly losing it.  For the Treaty Negotiations Minister to tell a group of Maori protesters to “go to hell” is about as idiotic as it gets.

Maori seats for Auckland?

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, November 16th, 2010 - 8 comments

National’s handling of the Auckland SuperCity process was profoundly undemocratic in a multitude of ways.  Thank goodness, and the common sense of Aucklanders, that a “Labour Mayor from South Auckland” was elected to sort out at least some of the resulting mess.  Len Brown has pledged to hold talks on dedicated Maori seats on the Council.  It’s great to see that Brown is open to correcting National’s injustice on this matter.

Criminal procedure bill

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, November 16th, 2010 - 65 comments

Simon Power yesterday introduced the new “Criminal Procedure (Reform and Modernisation) Bill” to Parliament, touting it as “the biggest change to the criminal justice system in 50 years”.  It certainly is that.  It proposes doing away with trial by jury for a significant range of offences. It proposes allowing a trial to go ahead without the defendant present.  In other words, it looks like yet another attack on fundamental rights…

Hard core drunk drivers

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, November 15th, 2010 - 32 comments

The Key government doesn’t want to act on advice that would reduce deaths due to drunk drivers.  The latest tactic is an attempt to divert attention to the worst “hard core” offenders.  This is “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff” foolishness.  Why wait until we have problem drunk drivers and then try and pick up the pieces? Wouldn’t it be better to try and prevent people from becoming problem drivers in the first place?

Heroes: Aung San Suu Kyi

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, November 14th, 2010 - 9 comments

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese opposition politician. In 1990 her National League for Democracy won the general election, electing her Prime Minister.   The results were “nullified”, and the military refused to hand over power.  Despite being under house arrest for most of the subsequent years, Aung San Suu Kyi has remained a symbol and a leader for her people.  She has just been released…

Evidence vs. hysteria

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, November 13th, 2010 - 35 comments

The international evidence is all against national standards.  The government’s own expert advisor wants to scrap the system and is warning of disaster.  Other  experts agree, citing the probable harm to children.  Against the evidence and the experts there is only the fanaticism (Tolley) and propaganda (DPF) of those who are quite happy to damage children for political ends.  With the welfare of our children at stake, who do you really believe?

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