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Xmas Eve whimsy: little yellow ducks

Written By: - Date published: 5:27 pm, December 24th, 2008 - 2 comments

The Guardian informs us that: Sailors, fishermen and cruise passengers should be on the alert. If anybody spots a yellow rubber duck bobbing on the ocean waves, Nasa would like to know.The US space agency has yet to find any trace of 90 bathtub toys that were dropped through holes in Greenland’s ice three months […]

Rod Oram: The global crisis is real

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, December 15th, 2008 - 5 comments

As usual an insightful analysis from Rod Oram on the need for our political and business sector leaders to better come to grips with what the international economic situation means domestically. He says: Every sector of this economy has its own set of structural challenges forced on it by global conditions. Yet, we’re hearing nothing […]

Arrogant and out of touch

Written By: - Date published: 6:25 pm, December 10th, 2008 - 55 comments

The Manawatu Standard has a good op-ed piece today on how National has squandered its honeymoon with its arrogant and out-of-touch behaviour on the fire at will bill. The National party rose to power on the back of, among other things, scathing accusations that a supremely arrogant Labour party had “lost touch” with the people. […]

Hanging up on Barack

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, December 7th, 2008 - 2 comments

According to the BBC: US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen thought she was being hoaxed when a man who sounded a lot like Barack Obama called her – so she hung up on him. In fact, the man at the other end of the line was indeed President-elect Obama himself. It took two further phone-calls before Ms […]

The ethical considerations of Christmas trees

Written By: - Date published: 4:20 pm, December 7th, 2008 - 12 comments

Christmas is coming. We want to feel like we’re part of the sustainable, clean and green in action movement. So what sort of Christmas tree should be twinkling? Leo Hickman of the Guardian asks these questions and more: Aren’t they just a colossal waste of money? Can such a decadent waste of resources be justified in our […]

Gordon Campbell: new Labour leadership

Written By: - Date published: 7:34 pm, November 12th, 2008 - 42 comments

As we’ve come to expect, a thought provoking piece from Gordon Campbell, who says …the public may one day come to rue the change they sought on Saturday. But if and when they do, there is no guarantee that a paternalistic Labour would be the only, or best source of relief. The Greens, now that […]

Fare thee well

Written By: - Date published: 10:54 pm, November 9th, 2008 - 37 comments

Firstly I must say congratulations to the winners on the night, and sympathies to those who did not succeed. We may not hold politicians in high regard but they put themselves on the line.  The voting public have had their say and that, if nothing else, we must celebrate and respect. But for Labour the […]

Arseneau: Election too close to call

Written By: - Date published: 1:26 pm, October 31st, 2008 - 64 comments

In her blog column Teresa Arseneau discusses the polls overall, and what happens if the largest party doesn’t form the government: Several of these polls suggest that while National is likely to “win” the election – receive both the most votes and seats – it may not govern….But in an MMP election it is important […]

The problem for National in fewer than 100 words

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, October 14th, 2008 - 14 comments

OK – they are not my words. I could do it – but then again I really liked what Gordon Campbell wrote: The financial meltdown poses a basic identity problem for National, the instinctive champion of de-regulation and market solutions. That’s a bit of a problem right now, given that Europe and the US are […]

Words to watch

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 pm, October 11th, 2008 - 2 comments

Two headings in today’s Herald caught my eye. One from John Armstrong (who I don’t always agree with but who is most often an obersver of skill) who says “Tax plan turns divide into ideological chasm”: After months of deliberately lying low on policy details, National has finally been obliged to put its head above […]

Costs of the Nats tax cuts – commentators’ views

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, October 9th, 2008 - 4 comments

Here’s a smattering of what some of the commentators are saying: Gordon Campbell: Putting tax cuts ahead of science and research neatly underlines the lack of vision, or sensible strategy for growth in the National package … The cutbacks on science and research will only send more scientists and high tech jobs offshore and rob New […]

Key’s leadership questioned again

Written By: - Date published: 11:26 am, October 2nd, 2008 - 27 comments

When a commentator like Jenni McManus raises questions over Key’s leadership ability in troubled global economic times you know National should be getting worried. In today’s Independent Financial Review she writes: Just as the United States House of Representatives this week rightly refused give a US$700 billion (NZ$1.04 trillion) blank cheque to Treasury Secretary Henry […]

Ashcroft dealings under spotlight again

Written By: - Date published: 4:58 pm, September 29th, 2008 - 19 comments

We’ve seen Mr Key look evasive on the topic of Lord Ashcroft, so when his name popped up in the British media over the weekend I had a closer look. It made me wonder exactly what Key and Ashcroft talked about recently – and whether there were any plans for companies to be set up in […]

National’s “major policy shift it talks about behind closed doors”

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, August 20th, 2008 - 30 comments

This revealing quote is buried in the middle of today’s Herald story by Fran O’Sullivan headed “All change on the gravy train”. It does make one wonder where the real journalists are in that paper. If the Herald knows there is a major policy shift being talked about by National behind closed doors, why isn’t […]

Academic, youse are paid too much

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, August 7th, 2008 - 42 comments

Professor John Gibson from Waikato University says public servants should be paid less because they get paid more than their private sector equivalents and they enjoy their work. First, I would be highly suspicious the methodology of any study that claims to compare like with like between the public and private sector. How many police […]

Common sense from the Herald – stop the press!

Written By: - Date published: 2:05 pm, July 30th, 2008 - 59 comments

Brian Rudman’s piece in today’s Herald is so far the most sensible comment on the Spencer Trust affair. He points out that funding of elections in New Zealand has for far too long been vulnerable to the cheque-books of the rich. While some may be philanthropists like Glenn, or occasional players like Jones, others such […]

Oram’s Ides of March

Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, July 20th, 2008 - 53 comments

Rod Oram can nearly always be relied upon for insightful analysis that takes debate a step further. In the SSTimes today he asks: “are we being realistic about the current state of the nation? Each person will have his or her own view. But if, as individuals and a society, we’re gloomier than the facts […]

PSA rips Bagrie report

Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, July 18th, 2008 - 7 comments

Good piece in the Herald yesterday (and the Dom Post the day before) from PSA national sec Richard Wagstaff critiquing ANZ National chief economist Cameron Bagrie’s woeful report on public sector ‘waste’. Wagstaff takes aim at the underlying assumptions of the report about ‘productive’ versus ‘non-productive’ public sector spending, then proceeds to rip through some […]

It’s not just the polls

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, July 15th, 2008 - 41 comments

Jordan Carter posted a month or so back (a little controversially) on how much easier life might be for some on the left if they didn’t believe it was necessary to give due moral regard to others – selfishness certainly seems simpler. New research suggests that Jordan may well be right. The study has concluded […]

Tearaway on election ’08

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, July 15th, 2008 - 37 comments

A reader just alerted us to the fact that Tearaway’s latest issue features a piece on election ’08. Gotta love the question about what each leader would do with a billion dollars. Damn, where are C/T when you need ’em…? (Click the image for a larger version)

Geek’s view

Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, June 28th, 2008 - 24 comments

On the odd occasion I have time to read outside of the confines of The Standard and its ever increasing brawl of entertaining comments. I noticed we don’t have a external reading list, and it is within the range of my writing skills, so here are my oddities for the slow weekends…. From quote of […]

Leadership: What’s nice got to do with it?

Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, June 25th, 2008 - 18 comments

An interesting article in the Washington Post poses the question: “You thought our presidential candidates were nice guys, regular guys, guys with whom you’d like to sit down and have a beer? Guess what, lots of people are now telling me: They aren’t. But why on Earth should anyone expect them to be? In its […]

The 100 thing challenge

Written By: - Date published: 4:46 pm, June 17th, 2008 - 20 comments

From Time magazine: Excess consumption is practically an American religion. But as anyone with a filled-to-the-gills closet knows, the things we accumulate can become oppressive. With all this stuff piling up and never quite getting put away, we’re no longer huddled masses yearning to breathe free; we’re huddled masses yearning to free up space on […]

Matt McCarten from the Herald on Sunday

Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, June 16th, 2008 - 15 comments

Worth a read: Remember when George Bush’s administration promised the world that the invasion of Iraq would be over in a few weeks? We were assured that the Iraqis would throw flowers at their liberators, the war would make a tidy profit and petrol prices would plummet. Next time you fill up your car think […]

The dark side of the Right

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, June 13th, 2008 - 118 comments

Trotter is on the money today: …[A]ll of you young, confident women of the 21st century urgently need to pause and reflect upon what is happening especially all you young, confident women thinking of voting for the National Party. Why? Because behind National, hidden by all those glossy placards depicting the handsome John Key, marches […]

The gods of greed

Written By: - Date published: 11:33 am, June 13th, 2008 - 19 comments

The Guardian has extracts from a new book by Larry Elliott and Dan Atkinson, The Gods That Failed: How Blind Faith in Markets Has Cost Us Our Future, in which they explain “how the reckless speculation of a super-rich elite has left us all the poorer”. They promised economic stability, order and prosperity. But instead the […]

Comparatively, gingers have it easy

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, June 13th, 2008 - 2 comments

Last month Mike Hucknall, lead singer of Simply Red, asserted that ‘ginger jibes’ were a form of racism. Opinion was divided. As you ponder that one, spare a thought for Tanzanian albinos. The New York Times reports that in the past year at least 19 albinos there have been killed and mutilated – victims of what Tanzanian […]

Who is the Listener listening to?

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, June 6th, 2008 - 7 comments

Here’s an interesting piece from Otago University student magazine, Critic – “Who is the Listener listening to”: Substance does not always equate to sales. [Editor] Stirling admits that during the 2005 election, their eight ‘political covers’ bombed. Yet there are perennial features that seem bigger sellers than others, and one of the Listener’s eternal stalwarts is […]

A World Environment Day Carol

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, June 5th, 2008 - 18 comments

Garth George surprised me today, and a welcome surprise it was. Here’s an extract from his article – I decided that in this week’s column I would have a bit of fun at the Greens’ expense in the wake of their annual meeting. But since the spartan media coverage given to that conference was insufficient […]

“pretty similar”

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, May 29th, 2008 - 60 comments

I noticed an interesting comment from Ferdinand in our Kiwisaver thread yesterday: I signed up to Kiwisaver based on the 4% employer contribution being rolled out. If National cap that at 1% then I’m out of pocket by about $75,000 in contributions alone. That got me thinking about that meaningless phrase John Key used to […]

Pumps are baulking at the price of gas too

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, May 27th, 2008 - 1 comment

As the price of our petrol continues to climb, having recently crossed the $2 a litre barrier, spare a thought for some US petrol retailers who have a whole other set of problems to contend with. As the Washington Times reports: Like a lot of small-scale entrepreneurs, Cathy Osborne worries that she’ll go out of […]

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