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discrimination (82)

Upcoming talk on Canadian student uprising

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 3:44 pm, January 11th, 2013 - 6 comments

This Sunday hip hop artist and political activist Darius Mirshahi will be speaking in Auckland about the political situation in Canada and how the left are organising to resist Neo-Liberalism. Later he will be performing material which has lead to attention from Glen Beck and the Canadian police.

Climate Change & Poverty

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:04 am, January 9th, 2013 - 54 comments

The wildfires in Australia are an immediate cause for concern. Such events will be more common as average temperatures rise. Joseph Stigliz warns of an urgent need for structural change to respond to economic decline, climate change, poverty and inequality.

Halting Dynamics and Shifting Inertias

Written By: Bill - Date published: 5:20 pm, January 7th, 2013 - 43 comments

Like many, I’ve been somewhat bemused and not a little angered that austerity is touted as a pathway to economic recovery. Like many, I’ve come to view both austerity and bail outs simply as means to put public monies and the control of public institutions into private hands – all the while diminishing the power of citizens on both an individual and collective basis.

But why consciously destroy or abandon real economic activity in a quest for power? Why not continue to build on whatever ‘real economy’ bases of power you posses? Idle speculation might suggest a lust for power, y’know… power for power’s sake. Or a reaction to, or recognition of impending peak resources in a world of growing population.

The unreported & off the cliff

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:58 am, January 2nd, 2013 - 12 comments

Over the last year some issues have been under-reported, some ignored: the climate/environment, subversive FBI activities, bankster rorts, decline of democracy, the need for new left & green politics. Some news has been overdramatised, some masks the real needs. And the “fiscal cliff”?

Politics & Pleasure: TV 2012

Written By: karol - Date published: 5:00 pm, December 31st, 2012 - 32 comments

We tend to rework reality, included political knowledge and understanding, into a basic (fictionalised) story structure, with villains, heroes, and values absorbed from pleasurable forms of fiction, including TV. This is a look at the political values embedded in some popular TV dramas.

New Year: Doing the honours

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:01 am, December 31st, 2012 - 72 comments

The New Year Honours have been announced. Some did service to the 1%, others to the 99%. People, unnamed and unnoticed in public who provided valuable services to their communities should also be honoured. Happy New Year!

Apocalypse Now

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:15 am, December 21st, 2012 - 56 comments

Humans have a paranoid fascination with our own demise, as seen in doomsday movies. They portray our fears, hopes, politics and delusions. Children of Men: the demise of capitalism; Day after Tomorrow: climate collapse. Is today a Mayan prediction of the end or a new beginning?

The spinmeister of Planet Key: Retrospective

Written By: karol - Date published: 10:07 am, December 18th, 2012 - 37 comments

On TV3 this morning, John Key was soothing and slick. All is well on Planet Key, and critics are delusional. He reeled of numbers and facts, but material realities of daily lives, and the suffering of people on low incomes aren’t mentioned. And asset sales?

A-G’s SkyCity report looming over Key

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 8:39 am, December 13th, 2012 - 16 comments

A typical Auditor-General report takes 3 months. “Larger and more complex” ones take 6. Metiria Turei’s complaint about the way SkyCity was chosen for an international convention centre in a ‘pokies-for-convention-centre’ deal has been going 8 months. Clearly, what they’ve found has non-trivial implications for the government and they’re making sure all their ‘t’s are crossed and ‘i’s dotted.

Merry Christmas Hillside

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:15 am, December 7th, 2012 - 72 comments

Another sad chapter in the ongoing collapse of manufacturing in NZ. A particularly bitter chapter, because it didn’t have to be this way.

Opposing TPP

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:50 pm, December 6th, 2012 - 10 comments

Away from the front pages of the MSM, there is information about opposition to the TPP. Aside from the secrecy, the TPP is looking far too complex and all-encompassing. There are some protest events coming up in the next few days.

Wheeler lies on bank profits

Written By: James Henderson - Date published: 10:05 am, December 5th, 2012 - 33 comments

Last month, new Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler told Parliament that our banks aren’t excessively profitable – middle of the pack internationally. He was lying.

NRT: Taking on our local tax cheats

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:37 am, November 30th, 2012 - 26 comments

I/S at No Right Turn asks why the government is letting rich multinational companies get away with exploiting tax loopholes. Here’s an idea – close the loopholes and spend the revenue on schools.

Goldman Sachs. Global Inc?

Written By: Bill - Date published: 10:33 am, November 29th, 2012 - 66 comments

What to make of yet another Goldman Sach’s appointee?

$50,000 per Hobbit job

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:43 am, November 28th, 2012 - 144 comments

Government has a central role in job creation. Just ask National. They’ll tell you it’s not true, and then proudly proclaim that they got The Hobbit made here, creating 3,000 temporary jobs. According to the New York Times, the total cost of our government’s subsidies for The Hobbit is NZD$150m – $50,000 per short-term job.

In other news, selling NZ: TPP, Hobbit rulz …

Written By: karol - Date published: 11:47 am, November 20th, 2012 - 57 comments

John Key is steaming ahead in selling NZ. He is Obama’s wing-man to extend the TPP into the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, the “Hobbit Law” is taking a heavy toll on many NZ actors. And there are claims that the Hobbit production has been harming animals.

There is a way forward – if we are wise enough to take it

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:15 pm, November 15th, 2012 - 29 comments

Unemployment at record highs, current account deficit in trouble, the economy is stagnant, exodus to Australia, National is failing by every performance measure that they set themselves. The completely frustrating thing is that there is a clear and rational way forward, if only we have the wisdom to take it.

High trust

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:01 am, November 6th, 2012 - 12 comments

National’s strategy around the Pike River report is to try to get the media story over in a day. But this won’t go away. For one, there’s Key’s claim that our safety standards were up to Aussie’s and our safety record was good. Then, there’s the larger question of the Government’s whole neoliberal approach that leads to such disasters.

All reward, no responsibility

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 7:18 am, November 5th, 2012 - 37 comments

The bosses justify their huge pay packets by saying they’re the elite, the wealth creators. They get the money because their genius makes sure things work. But, when it all goes to hell it’s the minions who get blamed. While the CEO gets a $100K bonus when she quits after 11 months! Nice work if you can get it, which is why the bosses congratulated themselves with a 10% pay rise this year.

Aotearoa to little America

Written By: Guest post - Date published: 11:00 am, November 1st, 2012 - 28 comments

As National cuts services, incomes, and pushes more Kiwi’s into the gutter, their real agenda it seems apart from creating an underclass is removing them from the Government tit, and after that supporting them with charity. Corporations see charity as tax free advertising, with the added bonus of being able to lobby & pressure the Government of the day.

The rhythms of life

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:10 am, October 28th, 2012 - 18 comments

On Planet Key natural body processes are ignored, and nature has been tamed into a golf course. It’s a place where mothers don’t lactate or have a heightened sensitivity to their babies’ cries; a place disconnected from the chaotic consequences of climate change.

Business NZ threatens members will violate human rights over PPL

Written By: Eddie - Date published: 9:39 am, October 25th, 2012 - 19 comments

Here’s Business NZ’s shill on extending paid parental leave: “Employers who have been forced to bear considerable replacement costs, or to find those amongst their other employees willing to provide cover, may well think hard before again employing a woman of child-bearing age”. 1) that makes no sense 2) it’s illegal under the Human Rights Act.

Adventures in the slave trade

Written By: karol - Date published: 9:50 am, October 22nd, 2012 - 74 comments

Slavery was abolished in the 19^th century, wasn’t it? From wage-slavery to human-trafficking, modern day forms of slavery have many faces, all in the interests of profits for the few. What are these different faces, and what impact do they have on the lives of ordinary people?

Sunday Reading

Written By: Bunji - Date published: 9:30 am, October 21st, 2012 - 5 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. This week: plutocrats, the New World Order, benefits and solving slavery and extinction.

Backwards to the future?

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:30 am, October 20th, 2012 - 50 comments

Labour Day celebrates, what was at the time, a cutting edge victory for working people – the 8 hour working day. But the struggles continue for men and women. Now is not the time to be going backwards on issues that impact on workers, people struggling on low incomes, or beneficiaries. Updated.

NRT: Imperial over-reach

Written By: notices and features - Date published: 10:55 am, October 15th, 2012 - 10 comments

Should have reposted this last week – NRT on a bizarre and scary US legal opinion. Thoughtcrime will be next…

Granny hugs the corpse of neoliberalism

Written By: Zetetic - Date published: 9:11 am, October 15th, 2012 - 59 comments

Here’s Granny Herald’s genius plan for economic development: if Meridian can get more money for its power elsewhere, it should let Tiwai Point close. 3,000 jobs would be lost. Invercargill and Bluff would effectively be killed. But, hey, market forces! Problem is, if Meridian only considers its narrow commercial interests, it ignores the cost to the country as a whole.

‘What crisis?’ Rudderless ship, stormy seas

Written By: karol - Date published: 8:03 am, October 14th, 2012 - 133 comments

There is ample evidence of a deep and lasting crisis, but in the delusional world of Planet Key it doesn’t exist. The EPMU Job Crisis Summit opened a much needed conversation. Russel Norman likened the New Zealand economy to a rudderless sailing ship In Stormy Seas. Will the summit be the start of a sea change for NZ?