Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, February 28th, 2014 - 55 comments
In my experience, left politicians are a interesting mix of being either pretty damn technophobic or having an inept over-enthusiasm for it. But I get the impression that they’ve done some study and thinking on most tech areas I raise with them. However it’d be pretty clear to everyone who has followed 3D printing over the last decade that Maurice Williamson, National’s version of a techhead, appears to be clueless.
Written By: - Date published: 2:27 pm, February 16th, 2014 - 21 comments
Change becomes embedded when it emanates from and across many quarters and traditions.
Written By: - Date published: 12:05 pm, August 8th, 2013 - 10 comments
Brand Key – CEO of NZ Inc, speculator, gambler, spinmeister – epitomises the “neoliberal revolution”. Gambling & other consumerist addictions are blamed on the individual. A court case against SkyCity shows the contradictory links between gambling, smoking, corporate influence & “insatiable consumerism.”
Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, March 18th, 2013 - 48 comments
Apparently the government is concerned for the general health of people in New Zealand. Apparently, an expression of this concern is the roll out of policy initiatives that will result in New Zealand being smoke free by 2025.
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, February 10th, 2013 - 55 comments
In 2009 Key personally declared “War on P”. Predictably, it’s now clear that he lost. In this, as it seems in all matters, John Key is all promise, no deliver.
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 27th, 2012 - 124 comments
Plain packaging isn’t just an unproven idea, it’s pointless, illogical in the current circumstances, and seriously condescending.
Written By: - Date published: 11:02 am, August 29th, 2012 - 81 comments
Bennett (playing the distraction card) is pushing her drug testing policy again. I have a question for the supporters of this policy which remains unanswered…
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, July 17th, 2012 - 54 comments
A cynic might ask if Peter Dunne is out to eliminate the competition of his mates and (it is widely thought) donors in the alcohol and cigarette industries by setting ever higher barriers for other legal highs. And I’m that cynic. I’m not against anyone selling something for human consumption having to prove its safety. […]
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.
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, July 5th, 2012 - 197 comments
The Nats are going to terminate the benefits of those who fail or refuse drug tests. I have a question…
Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, June 29th, 2012 - 40 comments
We’re getting used to the Nats running bash the beneficiary /poor /Maori /unemployed /criminal /etc distractions but it’s getting pretty bad when Bill English gets in on the act. Weirdly his idea of drug-testing beneficiaries seems to have been picked up from a Daily Show piece on how it failed in Florida – costing money, not saving it, and proving beneficiaries use drugs less than the rest of the population.
Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, April 30th, 2012 - 96 comments
With pot related arrests down by half over the last eighteen years, the police have been accused of “decriminalisation by stealth”. It’s probably time to have the debate properly.
Written By: - Date published: 3:02 pm, October 14th, 2011 - 55 comments
Attentive readers may recall some time back, when talk about illegal police video surveillance was to the fore, that there was also mention of the existence of video surveillance of a politician having an affair with a P user. Now of course having an affair isn’t particularly dreadful by today’s standards, even if the person […]
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, October 2nd, 2011 - 14 comments
Don Brash has weaved his magic again. He’s going to have a minder now and everything he says will be vetted. But it’s too late. His cannabis speech brilliantly highlighted the disjunction between ACT’s values and those of the man they need to win Epsom. A major ACT donor calls John Banks a twerp, while Don Nicolson has, surprisingly, sided with Brash.
Written By: - Date published: 2:31 pm, September 28th, 2011 - 17 comments
Some day this country needs to have a proper debate about decriminalising marijuana. Don Brash’s politically ill-advised blurtings on the topic have damaged the prospects of such a debate.
Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, September 26th, 2011 - 66 comments
Decriminalising marijuana just makes sense. 400,000 people are regular users. Prohibition costs half a billion a year, is ineffective, and fuels the gangs. So good on Brash for raising the issue. It’s totally consistent with ACT’s values. Problem is, John Banks and Don Nicolson don’t share those values. Gonna be fun to watch Banks on this issue in Epsom.
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, July 7th, 2011 - 74 comments
An alert reader sent us this video of Wayne Mapp swaying, slurring and rambling his way through Question Time.
No Right Turn now has a post with some information saying that Mapp is not in the state what he appears to be in. Instead he is just being inept. We don’t know. Check it out yourself and make up your own mind.
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, June 30th, 2011 - 31 comments
Yesterday, Dakta Green was sentenced to 8 months prison on drugs charges arising from The Daktory cannabis ‘dispensary’ that operated openly for 2 years in West Auckland. But what harm was caused to justify denying a man his freedom at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars to the taxpayer? More harm than other small vices?
Written By: - Date published: 12:01 pm, June 17th, 2011 - 28 comments
The Global Commission on Drug Policy have just released their latest report on the global war on drugs. Its message is quite simple; the war has failed, and it is time to begin new dialogue on what has become the greatest social failure of the last fifty years.
Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, June 7th, 2011 - 48 comments
I’ve been thinking about the budget. Its economic vacuousness: borrowing and crossing fingers for strong growth, while keeping tax cuts for the rich. The bare-faced cheek of counting the asset sales in its projections and passing Kiwisaver cuts without getting a mandate. But also, the cuts to vital public services without a more imaginative and sensible solution: drug reform.
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 20th, 2011 - 33 comments
Rex Widerstrom has been a commentator and occassional guest poster here for a while. He has a unique point of view on the political process and its place in society. In this guest post he looks at the never ending “War on Drugs”.
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, December 3rd, 2010 - 33 comments
Lawmaking is serious business. It is how we as a community, through our elected representatives, set the bounds and frameworks for our behaviour, allowing our community to function. Laws shouldn’t be made, things shouldn’t be banned, for the hell of it. So why is Parliament passing a law that everyone, including the PM, thinks is pointless?
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 pm, November 10th, 2010 - 6 comments
It’s diplomacy time in the Asia-Pacific region. While Secretary Clinton came to New Zealand and Australia and President Obama to India and Indonesia, Prime Minister Cameron has gone to Beijing with a large delegation hoping to drum up business for Britain. Cameron’s pre-visit publicity was all about how he was going to lecture the Chinese […]
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, November 9th, 2010 - 17 comments
Do you remember when John Key declared War on P a year ago? The action has been… underwhelming. The Police have been getting on with quietly doing a good job, to be sure, but when you grandiosely declare “War” on something, you expect a bit more attention to have been paid to it.
Written By: - Date published: 12:52 pm, November 3rd, 2010 - 130 comments
The Maori Affairs select committee has released its report on smoking. It’s great to see politicians setting a really ambitious goal coupled with policies to achieve it. Labour and the Greens are on board, what about National? Well our Do Nothing PM, John ‘ambitious for New Zealand’ Key says it’s too hard. Guess we need a government with some balls.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 14th, 2010 - 24 comments
The Sunday show last week featured the Prescription for Change campaign of Dr Albert Makary. Dr Makary has set out on a mission to drive social change surrounding the culture of binge drinking within our country. He hits his audience with hard facts, some disturbing trends, and presents everything in a way worth listening to.
Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, September 26th, 2010 - 11 comments
On Thursday, the 2010 Organised Crime Assessment for New Zealand was released to the public.
Essentially it told us what we already know; we have a problem, we know what the problem is, and we’re failing to solve it. It is time we approached the problem rationally and responsibly.
Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, August 28th, 2010 - 40 comments
1) Did the PM declare his conflict of interest when the alcohol reforms were debated at Cabinet?
2) Aren’t these exactly the reforms you would expect from a guy who owns a high end winery? No extra excise. No controls on advertising. Demonise the kids.
3) Has National or any of its MPs recieved donations from alcohol sellers? Like Tony Astle, for example?
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, August 24th, 2010 - 49 comments
The government’s alcohol reforms are so typical of this government: criminalise someone to be seen to be doing something, while ignoring the root causes of the problem. This is a government that would rather make a criminal of a good parent who lets their son’s mate have a beer at a BBQ than make it harder for booze barons to hook kids into drinking.
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, August 4th, 2010 - 62 comments
A survey by ASH backs up one by UMR back in May showing that 60% of Kiwis back an end to commercial tobacco sales by 2020. I’m surprised by how strong the public mood for a ban is and not quite sure whether I agree.
Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, July 1st, 2010 - 103 comments
I was neutral in the debate on lowering the drinking age back in 1999. There were arguments on both sides. But ten years later it is clear that the experiment has failed. There have been several recent calls to raise the drinking age and take other effective action to restrict the damage that alcohol causes in NZ. Come on Key – show some leadership.
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