Search Results

  1. Water and Money

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:26 am, April 7th, 2022 -  20 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, Environment, labour, Nanaia Mahuta, water
    Tags:

    If the 3 Waters reforms can survive its attacks and be implemented, a consequence will be that we are going to have a most enormous nationwide economic argument about the price of water and who pays for it all.

  2. Kia kaha Louisa Wall

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:25 pm, March 31st, 2022 -  10 comments
    Categories: gay rights, human rights, labour, Parliament
    Tags:

    Earlier this week Louisa Wall announced that she is retiring as a Member of Parliament.  History will confirm that she was one of our best Parliamentarians.

  3. Why Sweden is changing its gender transition policy for children and young people

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 8:15 am, March 18th, 2022 -  105 comments
    Categories: child welfare, gender, health
    Tags: , ,

    In the last couple of weeks, Sweden has joined a small, but growing number of countries that have changed their policies regarding medical gender transition for children.

  4. Pick a side

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:00 am, March 17th, 2022 -  351 comments
    Categories: climate change, Deep stuff, global warming, grant robertson, International, jacinda ardern, Russia, science, us politics
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    Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelinsky has made a direct appeal broadcast to the United States Congress. That will sort out the Putin supporters from the rest.  And with climate change beckoning it is time to pick a side.

  5. The latest poll

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:54 pm, March 10th, 2022 -  124 comments
    Categories: act, greens, labour, national, polls
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    National/Act (47%) would beat Labour/Greens (46%) if there were an election held tomorrow, according to the latest One News Kantar poll.

  6. The International Legion of Territorial Defence

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:30 am, March 7th, 2022 -  107 comments
    Categories: International, Russia, United Nations
    Tags:

    However much infighting there was on the Spanish Republican side between leftists, Communists, anarchists and others, you could be confident that the Nazis were on the other side.  In the Ukraine it is not so simple.

  7. Putin threatens Nuclear War

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:27 am, February 28th, 2022 -  254 comments
    Categories: Russia, war
    Tags:

    Vladimir Putin, obviously hurting because some of his personal ill gotten wealth has been frozen has upped the ante by raising the spectre of the use of Nuclear Weapons.

  8. Omicron is not mild

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:10 am, February 24th, 2022 -  76 comments
    Categories: covid-19, long covid
    Tags:

    More people in the US have died from Omicron than Delta. In New Zealand we, collectively, still have a choice about just how bad this is going to get. Not everyone is going to contract covid in this wave, and there is great value to individuals and society in slowing spread and avoiding getting covid where possible.

  9. Can this government get re-elected?

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 10:56 am, February 13th, 2022 -  34 comments
    Categories: climate change, covid-19, Economy, energy, health, housing, jacinda ardern, labour, polls, poverty, public transport, transport, uncategorized
    Tags:

    Where will the votes come from to get Labour a third term? 

  10. Big developments in Beijing

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 4:44 pm, February 7th, 2022 -  31 comments
    Categories: China, Iran, kremlinology, leadership, Peace, political alternatives, Russia, United Nations
    Tags:

    The meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping is likely to set the geopolitical direction for the 21st century. If ‘divide and rule’ was the mantra for the US’s hegemonic rule in the 20th century, ‘unite and share’ looks like setting the tone for the 21st. Co-operation rather than competition is the mantra, and “friendship between the two states has no limits.” A truly remarkable turnaround.

  11. And what have they done anyway?

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 7:41 am, February 2nd, 2022 -  107 comments
    Categories: climate change, covid-19, education, Environment, health, housing, jacinda ardern, labour, law and "order", poverty, uncategorized, Unions
    Tags:

    With Ardern getting a good-old media beat-down, remember here’s how to change a country for good like no one else but Labour can.

  12. Prisoners of the Narrative #1

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 4:30 pm, January 23rd, 2022 -  Comments Off on Prisoners of the Narrative #1
    Categories: boris johnson, kremlinology, military, Peace, Propaganda, uk politics, us politics
    Tags:

    Robert Ayson’s advocacy of a sanctions regime for New Zealand in case of a  Russian invasion of Ukraine is a bad idea based on poor intelligence.The “Russian invasion” narrative was always a beat-up, and there is no support from major players in Europe for sanctions such as removal from the SWIFT payment system. Russia’s claim for border security is reasonable and essential for peace.

  13. New Zealand’s Omicron options

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 2:31 pm, January 17th, 2022 -  101 comments
    Categories: covid-19, long covid, vaccines
    Tags:

    It will be a few days before we know if the omicron variant of Covid-19 is starting to spread in New Zealand. There are things we can be doing that will determine how that goes.

  14. What does Luxon do about Hipango?

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:31 am, January 11th, 2022 -  49 comments
    Categories: Christopher Luxon, covid-19, health, national, same old national
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    Harete Hipango is in the news again, this time for posing with a group of anti vaxxers and posting a photo and making some pretty way out there comments on social media.

  15. Let’s punch for peace

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 4:28 pm, December 30th, 2021 -  34 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    Today’s Herald editorial says New Zealand ‘wisely’ doesn’t punch above its weight in  military activities. That’s not true – I remember sailing around the nuclear-powered USS Truxtun as it entered harbour in a Wellington gale. It was just one of many flotillas campaigning against nuclear weapons and nuclear war that resulted in a knockout – New Zealand’s suspension from the ANZUS alliance on a point of principle.

  16. On the death of Joan Didion

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 6:58 am, December 29th, 2021 -  5 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, us politics
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    We need to remember Joan Didion, who died December 23rd, as perhaps the best defensive pessimist we’ve ever had. She nailed the feet of her times down to the floor to make sure it talked and wept all its pain out. It’s not enough to call Joan Didion just a pessimist, because she wrote hard […]

  17. The Standard’s 2021 political awards

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 7:34 am, December 28th, 2021 -  68 comments
    Categories: act, greens, jacinda ardern, julie anne genter, labour, michael wood, national, same old national
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    It is that time of year where nostalgia kicks in and the desire to review current events dims.  So much has happened this year.  It has truly been twelve months of the praiseworthy and the absolutely pitiful. And it is time to reflect on the personalities who made us smile, made us frown and made us raise our eyebrows to breaking point.

  18. The pandemic response is like driving a car

    Written By:  Incognito -  Date published: 3:58 pm, November 19th, 2021 -  11 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    Staying safe from Covid-19 this summer can be as simple as a few basic steps.

  19. Govt unprepared for transition when Queen dies

    Written By:  Simon Louisson -  Date published: 12:30 pm, November 4th, 2021 -  70 comments
    Categories: Maori Issues, Politics, republic
    Tags: , , ,

    “We will soon be required to face the question, ‘After Elizabeth — what next?’,” Peter Hamilton wrote in his just published memoir, New Moons for Sam. He says it would be completely inappropriate for Elizabeth’s son Charles or his heir, William, to become Aotearoa’s next head of state. A head of state elected by 2/3rds of Parliament perhaps?

  20. Greenpeace: More trains, less planes, mobility for all

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:10 am, October 28th, 2021 -  57 comments
    Categories: climate change
    Tags: ,

    Greenpeace International calls on Europe to shift from airflight to train travel. What would the New Zealand version look like?

  21. New misogyny same as the old misogyny

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 12:38 pm, October 17th, 2021 -  140 comments
    Categories: feminism, sexism, violence against women
    Tags: , , , , ,

    At the largest feminist conference in Europe, with a major focus on male violence against women, gender identity activists chose to protest with sexualised violent language and imagery.

  22. Highway to the Danger Zone

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 12:51 pm, September 29th, 2021 -  25 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, Donald Trump, International, military, Peace, uncategorized, war
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    I never thought I would see the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of the United States military essentially being a witness against the previous President of the United States. Yet here we are.

  23. Key’s baaaack

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:35 am, September 26th, 2021 -  273 comments
    Categories: brand key, covid-19, health, john key, Judith Collins, Media, national, same old national
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    John Key is back and has described New Zealand as a smug hermit kingdom for daring to so far achieve something no other western nation has been able to accomplish, holding back Covid and preventing thousands of deaths.

  24. Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:37 am, September 19th, 2021 -  78 comments
    Categories: culture, Deep stuff, Maori Issues
    Tags:

    Te Wiki o Te Reu Māori is coming to a close.  The past week’s events highlight the resurgence of and dependance on Te Ao Māori.  Nowadays most of us, at least in the circles that I move in, have a deep and growing respect for Te Ao Māori and realise that it is the best […]

  25. Fuck-knuckles, cock and piss, balls does not breach BSA guidelines

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:08 am, August 26th, 2021 -  14 comments
    Categories: human rights, Media, social media lolz, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorized
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    The Broadcasting Standards Authority have ruled that the use of the words “Fuck-knuckles, cock and piss, balls” by student radio station 95bfm does not breach standards of good taste and decency.

  26. The importance of Jacinda’s 1 pm press conferences

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 11:50 am, August 22nd, 2021 -  130 comments
    Categories: covid-19, health, jacinda ardern, Judith Collins, labour, Media, national, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorized
    Tags:

    Jacinda Ardern has resumed the 1 pm briefings where she communicates effectively the country’s current situation and what the plan is.  But National and some elements of the media are complaining, presumably that she is doing too good a job.

  27. The strange story about the fake news poll results

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:21 am, August 17th, 2021 -  52 comments
    Categories: act, greens, labour, national, political parties, polls
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    The Politik website’s inadvertant publishing of fake news of a drop in Labour’s support shows how fragile the system of relying on two sources for a story is.

  28. Down With Farmer Bashing

    Written By:  Guest post -  Date published: 6:05 am, August 13th, 2021 -  126 comments
    Categories: climate change, farming
    Tags: , , ,

    A Guest Post by DB Brown on how and why regenerative stock grazing matters ecologically, and where best to place our anger about climate change.

  29. What if saving the world meant life was tasty, beautiful and just long enough?

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 10:43 am, August 4th, 2021 -  22 comments
    Categories: climate change
    Tags: , , ,

    The nasty, brutish and short meme is a failure of the imagination. We can have less and still live good lives.

  30. Are we really ready to escalate to war with China over Taiwan?

    Written By:  Mike Smith -  Date published: 6:47 pm, July 29th, 2021 -  38 comments
    Categories: China, defence, Hong Kong, jacinda ardern, Pacific, Peace, us politics, war
    Tags:

    “What will the role of New Zealand be should China invade Taiwan?” was by far the  most popular question for Jacinda Ardern after she spoke at a NZIIA seminar last week. Promising to be benign, Ardern said we are “very predictable,” cited alleged human rights abuses in Hong Kong, and went on to say we […]