Search Results

  1. Tipping vs fair wages

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:46 am, May 24th, 2017 -  39 comments
    Categories: class war, paula bennett, wages
    Tags: , ,

    I don’t know of a single piece written in support of Bennett’s proposal. She has been in the bubble too long, and lost touch with the values of NZ.

  2. The UK elections – Has Labour got the big mo?

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:58 am, May 21st, 2017 -  66 comments
    Categories: campaigning, Deep stuff, elections, International, Jeremy Corbyn, Politics, uk politics
    Tags:

    And in the United Kingdom the election that was meant to be a foregone conclusion suddenly is suddenly tightening.

  3. New Zealand’s Neoliberal Drift

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:23 pm, May 20th, 2017 -  85 comments
    Categories: Economy
    Tags: , ,

    In New Zealand, neoliberal reforms have widened inequality and undermined the country’s self-image as an egalitarian paradise.

  4. Campbell on the TPP cargo cult

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 9:22 am, May 20th, 2017 -  17 comments
    Categories: bill english, capitalism, International, trade
    Tags: , ,

    Gordon Campbell: “The TPP has literally become a cargo cult ritual that’s being performed in the hope that someday, one day, the Americans will return, bearing gifts.”

  5. Four eyes and an arsehole

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 9:06 am, May 17th, 2017 -  40 comments
    Categories: International, us politics, war
    Tags: , , , ,

    NZ with its various operations around this end of the Pacific really doesn’t need its own intelligence gathering operations blown by the current incompetent blowhard of the White House. Nor does anyone else who shares information with the US. That is the problem with Trump childishly boasting about the intelligence gathered by others merely to boost his ego.

  6. Macron and Trudeau mean yes for Ardern

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:21 am, May 8th, 2017 -  96 comments
    Categories: election 2017, Europe, International, jacinda ardern, labour, Media, Politics
    Tags: ,

    The election of Trudeau in Canada and Macron in France suggest that the path to electoral success may be with younger fresh faced and untainted candidates.

  7. Stewart: “Dying days of democracy”?

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:11 pm, April 27th, 2017 -  59 comments
    Categories: democracy under attack, democratic participation
    Tags: , , , ,

    Probably not, but after 9 years of Brighter Future / Dirty Politics it certainly can feel that way.

  8. Duck and Cover

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:00 am, April 16th, 2017 -  89 comments
    Categories: afghanistan, International, us politics, war
    Tags: , , , ,

    Donald Trump is engaged in some over the top brinkmanship with North Korea which is increasing the prospects of at least a limited exchange of nuclear weapons.

  9. Craig wins rehearing in Williams defamation case

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 5:09 pm, April 12th, 2017 -  18 comments
    Categories: colin craig
    Tags:

    Colin Craig has had a major success in court with Justice Katz ordering a retrial on the basis that the award of damages by the Jury was excessive.

  10. Warnings on Auckland Housing

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:03 am, March 31st, 2017 -  60 comments
    Categories: housing
    Tags: , ,

    Warnings on the state of the Auckland housing market are coming thick and fast now. People who bought recently (at the peak of prices and low interest rates) are likely to get burned.

  11. China is in New Zealand to stay

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 1:06 pm, March 28th, 2017 -  39 comments
    Categories: China, Globalisation, International, us politics
    Tags:

    At a time when the United States is reducing its diplomatic capacity and its willingness to enter into International Treaties New Zealand’s willingness to deal with China places it in an almost unique position in the western world.

  12. Spinoff series – rent week

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:51 pm, March 27th, 2017 -  58 comments
    Categories: class war, housing, journalism
    Tags: , , , ,

    While much of the coverage of the housing crisis focuses on buyers, the situation facing renters is just as bad. Last week The Spinoff ran an excellent series on renting in NZ: “It’s getting desperate out there”.

  13. Nick Smith is a disgrace

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 1:00 pm, March 14th, 2017 -  32 comments
    Categories: Abuse of power, Environment, national, Parliament, Politics, same old national, sustainability, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags:

    In a functioning democracy Nick Smith’s handling of the Resource Management Bill should result in him losing his ministerial warrant.

  14. International Women’s Day, 47 years on, how far have we come?

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 7:22 pm, March 8th, 2017 -  50 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, feminism
    Tags:

    Test of a speech given by feminist icon Sandra Coney on the state of the feminist movement in 2017

  15. The gender pay gap – grandstanding but no action

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:10 am, March 8th, 2017 -  73 comments
    Categories: gender, human rights, paula bennett, sexism, wages
    Tags: , ,

    A new report has some really interesting findings on the gender pay gap. Paula Bennett engaged in a bit of grandstanding, but it rings completely hollow given National’s history on the issue.

    Happy International Women’s Day.

  16. Slightly smug about MMP

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 8:00 am, March 4th, 2017 -  22 comments
    Categories: accountability, Deep stuff, democratic participation, election 2017, International, MMP, Politics, uk politics, us politics
    Tags:

    2017 will be New Zealand’s eighth election under MMP, over 22 years. With very strong democratically elected governments appearing right across the world digging in for the long term, it’s useful to take a moment for MMP.

  17. Green Party Member’s Bill to protect freshwater

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 7:35 am, February 27th, 2017 -  16 comments
    Categories: Environment, farming, greens, water
    Tags:

    The Green Party has launched a member’s bill that will keep water from underground sources, called aquifers, safe from pollution and contamination.

  18. He Kawenata ki Waenga i Te Roopu MANA me Te Paati Māori

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 5:51 pm, February 20th, 2017 -  54 comments
    Categories: election 2017, elections, mana-party, Maori Issues, maori party, Maori seats, MMP, Politics
    Tags: ,

    The agreement between the Mana Movement and the Māori Party.

  19. Government will not support victims of domestic violence

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:33 am, February 14th, 2017 -  19 comments
    Categories: Abuse of power, greens, labour, maori party, national, peter dunne, same old national, united future
    Tags: , ,

    The Government is refusing to support Jan Logie’s bill aimed at helping the victims of domestic violence despite the bill receiving support from the ANZ and Business New Zealand supporting the bill going at least to select committee.

  20. Is this the impossibility turning point?

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 8:11 am, February 14th, 2017 -  49 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, democratic participation, Economy, Globalisation, labour, national, poverty, workers' rights
    Tags:

    There’s a wonderful fiction still propelling the world that the 21st century will bring an ever-expanding arc of freedom and prosperity to the vast majority of humanity but the reality seems to be anything but.

  21. Sad

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 8:30 am, February 9th, 2017 -  109 comments
    Categories: afghanistan, us politics, war
    Tags:

    Ad wonders how left wing Trump supporters are now feeling.

  22. Minimum wage increase doesn’t meet real costs (the CPI is broken)

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:02 am, January 25th, 2017 -  53 comments
    Categories: class war, cost of living, national, poverty, spin, wages
    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    Any increase in the minimum wage is better than nothing, but National’s increases have not kept pace with the real cost increases (notably housing) faced by low income earners. That is why we are seeing the rise of the working poor, and increases in homelessness and poverty.

  23. Pauline Hanson declares jihad on Vegemite

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 12:59 pm, December 27th, 2016 -  37 comments
    Categories: australian politics, International, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags: ,

    Pauline Hanson is upset that vegemite has achieved Halaal status.

  24. Israel threatens sanctions against New Zealand

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:31 am, December 27th, 2016 -  132 comments
    Categories: International, us politics
    Tags: , ,

    Israel has responded to New Zealand’s principled stand in seeking to uphold the rights of Palestinian citizens by threatening sanctions.

  25. Well done Murray McCully

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 7:48 pm, December 24th, 2016 -  287 comments
    Categories: national, national/act government, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
    Tags: , , , ,

    Murray McCully has had New Zealand co sponsor a successful Security Council resolution condemning Israel for violating International Law through its resettlement policy.

  26. Military assessment of climate change

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:44 pm, December 2nd, 2016 -  11 comments
    Categories: climate change, defence, disaster, global warming, war
    Tags: , , , ,

    Guardian: “Unchecked global warming is greatest threat to 21st-century security where mass migration could be ‘new normal’, say senior military”.

  27. Politik on Labour/ Greens

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 7:57 am, November 24th, 2016 -  18 comments
    Categories: act, greens, labour, mana, maori party, national, nz first, peter dunne, Politics, united future
    Tags: ,

    I was rather amused reading Politik’s “Despite the pact Shaw takes on Robertson“ and was struck by the strange way that some political commentators (and probably some politicians) view the world at the political coalface. They really need to start to think about political parties as being like any other organisation. Tactical compromises without a strategic focus will always kill any organisation – eventually.

  28. Beware of Spin Doctors and Spin Professors

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:01 am, November 13th, 2016 -  97 comments
    Categories: making shit up, Media, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, twitter, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags:

    On the same day that the pollsters in the world’s most advanced democracy were shown to have got things terribly wrong a Professor in New Zealand says that National will win next year because of polling data.

  29. Labour’s Auckland light rail announcement

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:38 am, October 31st, 2016 -  87 comments
    Categories: Andrew Little, infrastructure, labour, national, national/act government, same old national
    Tags: ,

    National is criticising Labour for releasing policy during an election campaign.

  30. Tax-cuts or… Education

    Written By:  Ben Clark -  Date published: 8:24 am, October 28th, 2016 -  6 comments
    Categories: education
    Tags:

    National’s dangling tax cuts, but there are far more important things to be spending public money on.  Today: Education.

  31. Darren Watson 2 John Key 0

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:03 am, October 21st, 2016 -  140 comments
    Categories: Abuse of power, brand key, election 2014, john key, Media, national, Politics, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags:

    The Court of Appeal has ruled that Darren Watson’s Planet Key song should not have been banned during the 2014 election campaign.