Search Results

  1. New rules

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 1:16 pm, May 12th, 2009 -  5 comments
    Categories: humour, youtube
    Tags:

    Makes you wish we had some good political satire here.

  2. Disconnect

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 10:43 pm, May 10th, 2009 -  47 comments
    Categories: auckland supercity, mt albert
    Tags:

    As Labour learned to its cost last year you can’t keep on insisting that something is true if the public’s opinion has hardened against it. Once the disconnect is in place, not only do you fail to bring people to your point of view, your efforts make you look aloof or unlistening, hurting your popularity. […]

  3. Blerta

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:29 pm, May 10th, 2009 -  2 comments
    Categories: youtube
    Tags:

    Di Mackey of Woman Wandering had this video in a post. Looks like someone had a lot of fun making the video to Blerta‘s Dance All Around the World. Hat-tip: indirectly from the hand-mirror

  4. When more is less

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 3:31 pm, May 8th, 2009 -  2 comments
    Categories: budget 2009, education, health
    Tags:

    Colin Espiner writes: “Another thing that’s being clearly signalled is that Labour’s previous spending promises in health and education won’t be honoured in the Budget. That $3.4 billion of spending Labour planned for 2009/2010… At the same time, Key and English are at pains to say that health and education spending will increase – and […]

  5. From the picket line

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 2:52 pm, May 8th, 2009 -  19 comments
    Categories: workers' rights
    Tags: ,

    A Zeal worker on the picket line in Wellington explains why she and her workmates are taking strike action at Air New Zealand: There’s also a report from the picket line at The Hand Mirror, photos from the pickets here and a timetable of when pickets are happening around the country here for those who […]

  6. Bad or not too bad?

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 11:52 am, May 7th, 2009 -  24 comments
    Categories: economy, employment, workers' rights
    Tags:

    The latest unemployment figures look better than expected but appearances may be deceptive. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is up to 5.0%, lower than expected, but the unadjusted number is 5.6%. There is a seasonal adjustment unemployment usually climbs in the March quarter, then falls later in the year, whether that will happen this year […]

  7. Lobby group wants motorways to drive over locals

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 5:58 am, May 6th, 2009 -  48 comments
    Categories: mt albert, transport
    Tags: , ,

    Owen McShane’s lobby group the Centre for Resource Management Studies has a set of questions up about the Waterview Tunnel option of SH20. Essentially they argue for ramming an above ground motorway through the Waterview houses and green belt for the benefit of the motorists, and that the pesky locals should be ignored. One of […]

  8. Seriously good fun

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 6:25 pm, April 30th, 2009 -  5 comments
    Categories: video
    Tags:

  9. Israel and Gaza on a Summer Mind

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 9:15 am, April 30th, 2009 -  11 comments
    Categories: International, racism
    Tags: ,

    I think I can safely credit Israeli foreign policy with ruining my summer. If you’re the empathetic type it’s hard to go to the beach and swim in the sun while, several thousand miles beneath your feet, people are being killed en masse by people who should know better about how not to treat people […]

  10. Jarring

    Written By:  Eddie -  Date published: 2:03 pm, April 29th, 2009 -  49 comments
    Categories: labour, national/act government, tax
    Tags:

    Today Phil Goff’s question to Key is: “Does he agree with the statements in the House by his Minister of Finance on 16 December 2008 that ‘Yes, I can confirm that National will not be going back on any of those promises, as we fully costed and funded them’?” His angle is obviously going to […]

  11. On that Trevett piece

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 12:37 pm, April 29th, 2009 -  23 comments
    Categories: Media
    Tags: ,

    Continuing with today’s media criticism theme, I’ve got to disagree with my comrade Eddie’s post this morning about the Claire Trevett piece in the Herald where she appears to celebrate John Key’s obfuscation over his position on the supercity rather than demanding answers herself. While it would be easy to attribute the style of the […]

  12. Gordon Campbell on the MoU

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 9:44 pm, April 28th, 2009 -  29 comments
    Categories: articles, greens
    Tags: , ,

    Gordon Campbell’s latest Scoop column takes a very critical view of the Greens’ Memorandum of Understanding with National. While the Greens’ strategy is based on the need to cooperate with what they see as a likely two-term National Government, Campbell argues their cooperation may help turn that likelihood into a certainty. Despite the genuine merits […]

  13. Oh no, not Sweden!

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 8:44 am, April 24th, 2009 -  12 comments
    Categories: economy, humour, International, public services, workers' rights, youtube
    Tags:

    If you’ve been watching your Fox News, you know that the US is turning socialist. It’s going to be Sweden any day apparently. The Daily Show went to Sweden to get a taste of the fate that awaits Americans.    The tunes they play while visiting Robyn’s apartment… They’re great songs but do they suddenly […]

  14. Govt’s refusal to listen sparks protests

    Written By:  all_your_base -  Date published: 12:45 pm, April 23rd, 2009 -  9 comments
    Categories: auckland supercity, democracy under attack, democratic participation, national/act government
    Tags: , , , ,

    The government’s refusal to listen on its fast-tracked Supercity plans is already resulting in protests. The unrest that’s building should hardly come as a surprise. I can certainly understand Aucklanders not wanting to be dictated to by Wellington – especially when the outcome is ACT running their city. I’m still at a loss as to […]

  15. Media finally getting it?

    Written By:  all_your_base -  Date published: 12:18 pm, April 23rd, 2009 -  18 comments
    Categories: national/act government
    Tags: , , ,

    On the impending job losses at the IRD, TVNZ reporter Catherine Loft ended her report with: “Anyone who once thought that they were safe working for our government really needs to think again”. I wonder how on earth they could have got that idea?

  16. Govt still refuses to act on youth smoking

    Written By:  all_your_base -  Date published: 1:53 pm, April 21st, 2009 -  42 comments
    Categories: health, john key, national
    Tags: , , , , ,

    A couple of months ago you may remember Tony Ryall rejecting a health select committee recommendation that cigarettes and tobacco be kept out of sight in shops to help make them less inviting. On Sunrise this morning Oliver Driver wanted to know, in the light of fresh evidence, why Key’s government is still intent on […]

  17. I (am) like Obama

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 8:34 am, April 21st, 2009 -  8 comments
    Categories: humour, video, youtube
    Tags:

    Uncanny spoof of John Key. Has all of the mannerisms…

  18. Elizabeth Warren on the bailouts

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 7:51 am, April 19th, 2009 -  14 comments
    Categories: economy
    Tags:

    The best news source in America, the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, interviews the woman responsible for making sure their bailout money is being spent well. Illuminating and a little scary. In the second part she puts this whole financial crisis in a historic and principled context. The crowd goes wild – they’ve never had the […]

  19. Out of her depth II

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 12:45 pm, April 15th, 2009 -  29 comments
    Categories: benefits, national/act government
    Tags: , , ,

    As if any more evidence was needed that National’s Paula Bennett is completely out of her depth as Minister of Social Development, it appears Work and Income is turning away the hungry while Paula can’t even get her lines straight: Despite a high court ruling in 2002 instructing WINZ to tell beneficiaries what their entitlements […]

  20. Teabagging fad sweeps US

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 8:11 am, April 15th, 2009 -  7 comments
    Categories: humour, International
    Tags:

    In 1773, a group of Bostonians who objected to being forced to pay a tax on tea by the British Parliament, which they didn’t get to elect, boarded a ship carrying tea and threw the cargo into Boston harbour. The Boston Tea Party became an iconic example of the principle of ‘no taxation without representation’, […]

  21. dick-o-meter

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 12:00 pm, April 12th, 2009 -  16 comments
    Categories: blogs, scoundrels
    Tags: , , ,

    Russel Brown at Media7 doing a light-hearted take on how pathetic Paul Henry has been over time. You really have to ask if this Henry has left early adolescence yet after watching this video. But he does have his supporters with similar attitudes. hat-tip: Brian Edwards who has started a blog. It is a bit […]

  22. Mana enhancement: Fail

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 12:00 pm, April 8th, 2009 -  30 comments
    Categories: maori party
    Tags: , ,

  23. Key paralytic as ice melts

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 11:45 am, April 7th, 2009 -  42 comments
    Categories: climate change
    Tags: , ,

    John Key’s government is at the climate change talks in Bonn avoiding doing their part in combating more climate change in the future (along with Russia and the Ukraine). Meanwhile the British Antarctic Survey is reporting that the Wilkins ice shelf is likely to disappear shortly. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on […]

  24. When are politicians like cats?

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 12:50 am, April 5th, 2009 -  6 comments
    Categories: youtube
    Tags: , , ,

    For some reason the convolutions in this video reminded me of the twin comedy act of Worth and Grosser this week. Not to mention Key doing a weak-kneed ‘bollocking’ in a direct contrast to his expectations of what Labour should have done last term. This video is one of the best (and earliest) funny cat […]

  25. DL Wellington next week

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 2:03 pm, April 3rd, 2009 -  2 comments
    Categories: drinking liberally
    Tags:

    Metiria Turei is at Drinking Liberally next week. Thursday, April 9, 5:30 at Southern Cross. Nice new logo too. Meanwhile, here’s Andrew Little from last week.

  26. Regurgitating rubbish

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 9:04 am, April 2nd, 2009 -  10 comments
    Categories: Media, national, spin, tax
    Tags:

    On his blog Colin Espiner rejects the argument that National’s tax cuts are “unfair because they give more to those who earn more” saying “I’m afraid that’s the nature of progressive taxation”. That’s what National politicians say too. It’s wrong. There are infinite tax cuts one could devise that don’t give more to the well off. Cut the […]

  27. A healthy dose of reality on prisons

    Written By:  all_your_base -  Date published: 12:37 pm, March 30th, 2009 -  10 comments
    Categories: crime, national/act government
    Tags: , , ,

    Peter Williams QC was on Breakfast this morning giving a refreshingly frank assessment of the problems with our prison and justice systems – specifically how *not* to solve them: Our prisons are a complete and absolute disgrace but they’re not going to be helped by privatisiation. Worth watching.

  28. Standing up

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 1:30 pm, March 28th, 2009 -  7 comments
    Categories: workers' rights
    Tags: ,

    This week Sealord confirmed it would lay off 130 staff to improve its already healthy return on capital. The other 400 have been threatened with the sack if they don’t accept pay cuts. The Service and Food Workers Union has put together a youtube clip about community resistance to corporate greed, focusing on the rally […]

  29. Sack Henry Now.

    Written By:  Tane -  Date published: 6:11 pm, March 27th, 2009 -  241 comments
    Categories: scoundrels
    Tags: ,

    When I first saw this clip of Paul Henry publicly ridiculing Greenpeace’s Stephanie Mills for (in his view) having a moustache I decided not to give it any more oxygen. But now that it’s on the Herald website I guess the horse has bolted. There’s nothing else to do now but call for his immediate […]

  30. Thanks, I guess

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 5:38 am, March 25th, 2009 -  25 comments
    Categories: tax
    Tags:

    Growing up I always knew the rich had it better than us. It’s only now that I’m one of the wealthy that I realise how much we’ve got it in our favour. Next week the government is giving me, for no reason I can work out, another $1110 a year in tax cuts. That goes […]

  31. Oh Johnkey Donkey!

    Written By:  Demeter -  Date published: 1:46 pm, March 24th, 2009 -  27 comments
    Categories: climate change, john key
    Tags: , , ,

    We’ve been outed! By none other than Thelma (or was it Louise?) A promotional video for climate action, voiced by Susan Sarandon for Greenpeace in the US, holds New Zealand up as a beacon of hope on a sickly earth praising the former Labour Government’s plan to ban energy inefficient bulbs by 2009. Unfortunately for […]

The server will be getting hardware changes this evening starting at 10pm NZDT.
The site will be off line for some hours.