Search Results

  1. Even Treasury slammed SkyCity stitch up

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 7:43 am, July 18th, 2013 -  58 comments
    Categories: capitalism, corruption
    Tags: , ,

    Yesterday, National released hundreds of pages of documents on the SkyCity deal. They paint the picture of a government that locked itself politically into getting a deal and locked in SkyCity as the only option then was surprised when SkyCIty screwed them for everything it could get. Even the far from bleeding hearts at Treasury said it wasn’t worth the cost.

  2. Sick bastards

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:07 am, July 18th, 2013 -  69 comments
    Categories: benefits, class war, national, welfare
    Tags: , ,

    The Nats resent every cent spent on welfare. They want our consent to keep “culling” people off it as fast as they can. They hope that they can get our consent by re-framing New Zealand’s social safety-net as – quite literally – a dangerous addiction. It is a ludicrous framing, equivalent to blaming the bandage for the wound.

  3. Truth no longer matters

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 10:15 am, July 14th, 2013 -  168 comments
    Categories: david shearer, labour, making shit up, Media
    Tags: , , ,

    A significant proportion of the media is now heavily invested in the narrative that David Shearer is about to be rolled as Labour leader. As Matt McCarten puts it today “Truth no longer matters” and “civil society is poorer for it”.

  4. Sunday Reading

    Written By:  Bunji -  Date published: 9:30 am, July 14th, 2013 -  Comments Off on Sunday Reading
    Categories: interweb
    Tags:

    My semi-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. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere. This week: the problem with Gen Y, Big Data and surveillance, part-time work, happiness and pessimism and Australia’s political culture.

  5. Sky City deal – personal vote

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 11:52 am, July 10th, 2013 -  30 comments
    Categories: business, class war, Ethics, national
    Tags: , , ,

    Multiple reports on Twitter that Key’s grubby Sky City Bill will be a conscience personal vote. If true, I guess we get to see if any Nat MPs have a conscience.

  6. Do you like Pina Colada

    Written By:  Helen Kelly -  Date published: 12:19 pm, July 7th, 2013 -  62 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    Four stories this week in the MSM could be pulled together and used as a case study for a number of NZ’s economic and social failings in my view.

  7. Moral mandates

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:19 am, July 3rd, 2013 -  115 comments
    Categories: election 2014, elections, electoral systems, john key, MMP, national
    Tags: , ,

    Key is clearly getting nervous about the implosion of his possible electoral partners in 2014. He’s running the “largest party has a moral mandate to govern line” again. It’s destabilising, and it’s rubbish, here’s why…

  8. John Key’s disdain for democracy

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 9:02 am, July 3rd, 2013 -  43 comments
    Categories: accountability, capitalism, copyright, greens, john key, national/act government, russel norman, slippery, Spying, telecommunications, us politics
    Tags: , ,

    Norman criticises John Key for showing complete disdain for democracy at yesterday’s public hearing on the GCSB Bill.  Kim Dotcom is expected to provide a challenge today. Paul Buchanan is critical and argues for a full inquiry.  Gordon Campbell proposes some questions. [update]: TV3 Livestream 3.30 pm [update] Dotcom -Key knew about him prior to GCSB spying on him TV3.

  9. Awaiting Equal Pay Case Decision

    Written By:  John Ryall -  Date published: 6:55 pm, July 1st, 2013 -  13 comments
    Categories: Unions, workers' rights
    Tags:

    Over 30,000 aged care workers and tens of thousands of other low paid women workers are awaiting the decision of the Employment Court in relation to an Equal Pay Case heard this week. The Court was hearing a case brought by the Service and Food Workers Union, on behalf of $14.32 an hour senior caregiver […]

  10. National – idiots on education

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 11:45 am, July 1st, 2013 -  35 comments
    Categories: education, Hekia parata, jobs, national, tertiary education
    Tags: , , ,

    Hekia Parata seems to have noticed that we have a problem with trades education and apprenticeships in NZ. It’s a problem that is the making of National governments past and present, and they will need to completely rethink their blinkered approach to education in order to fix it.

  11. If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:34 am, June 26th, 2013 -  91 comments
    Categories: accountability, john key, national, Spying
    Tags: , ,

    Yesterday Key actually ran the classic justification for “police state” surveillance: if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. This argument is bollocks. Here’s why…

  12. Anemic recovery

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 7:49 am, June 24th, 2013 -  113 comments
    Categories: class war, economy, employment, national
    Tags: , ,

    Despite the heroic efforts of National’s spinsters the economic “recovery” remains anemic. We’re still behind 2007, and what recovery there is seems to be largely driven by another property bubble, and captured by a few. All National have managed is to hold us back for four years.

  13. Volunteers wanted!

    Written By:  Ben Clark -  Date published: 9:54 pm, June 22nd, 2013 -  6 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    As National Volunteer Week draws to a close, let us continue to celebrate the 1/3 of New Zealanders who regularly do volunteer work in our communities.

  14. DPF oops

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 10:02 am, June 13th, 2013 -  110 comments
    Categories: blogs, dpf
    Tags: , ,

    Bad day for National’s favourite blogger yesterday (plus journalist David Fisher on the Kiwiblog comments section).

  15. Nothing moderate about National’s employment changes

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 3:41 pm, June 11th, 2013 -  71 comments
    Categories: Unions, wages, workers' rights
    Tags: , ,

    There is nothing ‘moderate’ about pushing policy that increases the power of the powerful and reduces the power of those dependent on them for a living, says the EPMU’s Rachel Mackintosh.

    National’s employment changes will drive wages down and increase insecurity and poverty in this country.

  16. Whistleblowers and services to journalism

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 10:00 am, June 10th, 2013 -  57 comments
    Categories: internet, john key, news, same old national, slippery, spin, Spying, telecommunications, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, us politics
    Tags: , , , ,

    Two leakers (one a true whistleblower), are in the news right now, both focused on the US-led surveillance society, operating in the interests of corporate power.  And today, in relation to this, 2 journalists show the importance of the fourth estate to democracy. Kim Hill & Glenn Greenwald take a bow.

  17. Poverty Watch 34

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 1:01 pm, June 8th, 2013 -  5 comments
    Categories: national, poverty
    Tags:

    Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week we take a detailed look at the government’s response to the report on poverty from the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. The media reaction summarised last week is correct – the government response is a joke.

  18. Fairness and freedom

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:49 pm, June 4th, 2013 -  51 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, Ethics, labour
    Tags: , , ,

    If the left had to pick one word to describe the essence of its political philosophy, that word might be “fairness”. If the right had to do the same that word might be “freedom”. Labour MP David Clark considers the balance.

  19. The shameless Nick Smith

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 10:43 am, May 24th, 2013 -  31 comments
    Categories: ACC, accountability, auckland supercity, Conservation, greens, housing, john key, labour, Mining, same old national, slippery, sustainability
    Tags:

    Nick Smith has a long history of slippery dealings.  He apologises but accepts no blame, then is resurrected: contempt of court, a defamation case, the Pullar-ACC “conflict of interest”, bad faith negotiations with Auckland Council, the Denniston Plateau deal. Yesterday on RNZ, Smith exposed the government’s agenda on mining conservation land.

  20. Anatomy of another Key lie

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:32 am, May 22nd, 2013 -  37 comments
    Categories: accountability, energy, john key
    Tags: ,

    John Key has been caught in yet another lie, over his claim that Solid Energy asked for a $1 billion injection of taxpayer’s money.

  21. Labour on MMP “consultation”

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:30 am, May 16th, 2013 -  29 comments
    Categories: election 2014, Judith Collins, MMP, scoundrels
    Tags: , ,

    According to Labour: “Judith Collins has claimed that she ‘consulted’ with political parties but was unable to reach consensus. There was absolutely no consultation.”

  22. The cost of our clothes

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 9:35 am, May 9th, 2013 -  23 comments
    Categories: capitalism, class war, cost of living, International, news, poverty, workers' rights
    Tags: ,

    Big Western retailers provide us with relatively cheap clothing, through paying low wages in countries where industrial health and safety is poorly regulated. Last month a big garment factory in Bangladesh collapsed, killing over 700 800 people. Ultimately we are all damaged by the profiteering of the elites.

  23. Family first deregistered

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 11:46 am, May 6th, 2013 -  32 comments
    Categories: families
    Tags: ,

    Family First have been deregistered as a charity, and they are pushing the line that it is because of their “traditional view of marriage”.

  24. Why First NZ Capital wants you to keep paying too much for power

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 6:48 am, May 1st, 2013 -  35 comments
    Categories: assets, capitalism, energy
    Tags: , ,

    A couple of people have questioned this series of posts outing the financial interests of supposedly ‘independent’ commentators who are coming out against the Green/Labour plan to lower power prices. ‘Everyone has links to everyone in New Zealand’. Maybe so, but not everyone is paid by the people whose interests they’re protecting while pretending to be independent in the msm.

  25. Why Lewis Evans wants you to keep paying too much for power

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 7:22 am, April 30th, 2013 -  43 comments
    Categories: capitalism, energy
    Tags: , ,

    Lewis Evans had an op-ed in the Dompost yesterday. It attacked NZ Power in confused terms. Evans claimed, for instance, that all the savings from lower costs would come from lower dividends to the Government, when a moment’s thought shows you that’s not true and will be even less true after the asset sales. The disclosure statement at the end of Evans’ op-ed doesn’t mention Contact and Meridian pay him.

  26. Economic apocalypse – not

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:15 am, April 29th, 2013 -  15 comments
    Categories: energy, making shit up, spin
    Tags: , , , ,

    National and their proxies have claimed that Labour / Green NZ Power announcement has crashed the stock market and wiped out savings. Lies lies lies. Here’s the data.

  27. Massive changes to employment legislation announced today

    Written By:  Helen Kelly -  Date published: 12:15 pm, April 26th, 2013 -  139 comments
    Categories: business, employment, equality, jobs, minimum wage, Unions, wages, workers' rights
    Tags:

    The changes announced today to employment law represent the most serious attack on the rights of working people to a fair go since 1991. As I wrote on this blog that the Bill will reduce the Employment Relations Act to a farce and the result will be wages are driven down and employment agreements broken […]

  28. An honest man?

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 9:35 am, April 22nd, 2013 -  65 comments
    Categories: john key, making shit up
    Tags:

    John Key has promised live on television to never lie and to always do his best. Now, four-and-a-half years later we know that was his first lie, and it certainly wasn’t going to be his last. And these are only the ones we know about. In fact, as the litany of lies still spills from John Key, it must be asked: is the litany orchestrated? – BLiP’s extraordinary list of Key’s lies.

  29. ImperatorFish: Yes, Steven, this is just like North Korea

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:25 pm, April 19th, 2013 -  7 comments
    Categories: greens, labour, Steven Joyce
    Tags: ,

    Scott earnestly compares Labour & the Greens’ NZ Power to the North Korean model.

  30. Nat leadership speculation

    Written By:  Anthony R0bins -  Date published: 9:30 am, April 15th, 2013 -  107 comments
    Categories: john key, Judith Collins, leadership, national, Steven Joyce
    Tags: , ,

    I didn’t see Key’s Q+A interview on Sunday, but it seems to have been an interesting one. Speculation about the leadership of the Nats appears to be growing.

  31. Fletcher GCSB Change manager – and QLD

    Written By:  karol -  Date published: 10:38 am, April 5th, 2013 -  87 comments
    Categories: accountability, australian politics, corruption, john key, Spying
    Tags: , , , ,

    Key & a government source responded to Ferguson’s criticisms by attacking Labour & Ferguson.  They claimed Fletcher was the best person to “change manage” the GCSB. Yet, in Queensland Fletcher was publicly criticised for the management of his department. [Updated]

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