Archive for October, 2005

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  The Letter, on the wall, is wrong - by frog

  
  
  
  ACT claims in The Letter today: Rod Donald thinks that the office of the former ACT deputy leader is not nearly big enough and has ordered a wall knocked down to create him an office larger than Jeanette’s. For the record, Rod has no such plan, nor has it ever been suggested. The office is [...] read more
  October 31, 2005 5:15 pm - 7 Comments
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  Catch the cattle train - by frog

  
  
  
  *A declaration of interest – in my pond I am the top of the food chain, any flies come near me, I swallow them.* A while back I was travelling with a hard-core vegan. A hedgehog was on the road ahead and I swerved to avoid it. My passenger thanked me for my consideration, to [...] read more
  October 31, 2005 4:14 pm - 94 Comments
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  CTU on Green economics - by frog

  
  
  
  Following Sue B and Rod’s warm reception at their recent conference a couple of weeks back, the CTU has now taken a gander at Green economics. In the CTU Economic Bulletin today, Peter Conway writes: The Greens get a hard time from business about their policies – and Peters and Dunne made it a bottom [...] read more
  October 31, 2005 3:21 pm - No Comments
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  It’s the putting Right that counts - by frog

  
  
  
  Inquistor General Wayne Mapp must surely be giving some thought to the insideous effect of New Zealand’s PC road rules on Kiwis’ ability to ‘get ahead’. Why do we drive on the LEFT hand side of the road? Sounds like social (road) engineering to me. read more
  October 31, 2005 2:02 pm - 7 Comments
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  Don’t eat and drive - by frog

  
  
  
  Further to my post last night. In Saturday’s Press lead on food corporates targeting schools, McDonalds’ PR man Liam Jeory said: Police had approached McDonald’s for help with a seatbelt campaign because “hundreds of children” were dying on New Zealand roads each year. Well, he’s right there. According to the Child and Youth Mortality Review [...] read more
  October 31, 2005 12:28 pm - 8 Comments
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  Blair: Kyoto is not enough - by frog

  
  
  
  News for Don, Peter and all the rest who want to get New Zealand off the Kyoto bandwagon. In London’s The Observer today, British PM Tony Blair writes: We also have to recognise that while the Kyoto Protocol takes us in the right direction, it is not enough. We need to cut greenhouse gas emissions [...] read more
  October 31, 2005 12:01 am - 12 Comments
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  School is sweet as - by frog

  
  
  
  A postscript to my post last Wednesday on corporate food companies targeting kids. The lead story in yesterday’s Press titled Corporates target schools brings it all back to New Zealand. Most stand out point it reports: Lessons on sugar’s role in a healthy diet may come courtesy of Chelsea Sugar. Ain’t that sweet? read more
  October 30, 2005 11:13 pm - 11 Comments
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  PC Brother ain’t so Big - by frog

  
  
  
  The Waikato Times editorial today says: If Dr Brash was really serious about eradicating political correctness Wayne Mapp would be called the bloke in charge of banning bullshit. As you can see, the Times is hardly a hotbed of Helengrad liberals, but they make the point that: If Dr Mapp insists on coupling political correctness [...] read more
  October 29, 2005 2:18 pm - 7 Comments
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  Take me to the river - by frog

  
  
  
  Jim Anderton has today resurrected the Land Access issue, saying that he has no preconceived idea as to how it should be achieved, but that some sort of deal must be done. However, his options may be limited because the Government’s deal with UF(O) reportedly says only non-statutory solutions can be considered to resolve the [...] read more
  October 29, 2005 1:45 pm - 7 Comments
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  Interview: Sue B on the causes of youth gangs - by frog

  
  
  
  So here’s an interview with Sue B about what she sees as the causes behind the so-called ‘youth gang problem’ in South Auckland. (mp3, 1.2MB, 7:00 mins). Sue also put out a media release with Rev Mua Strickson-Pua, ahead of him representing the Greens at a meeting on the gang situation organised by the Mangere [...] read more
  October 28, 2005 4:25 pm - 22 Comments
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  Happy Frog Week - by frog

  
  
  
  BTW, DOC have declared this to be Frog Week!. From their media release: As Kermit would say, “It’s not easy being greenâ€?… Ain’t that the truth! …or in the case of New Zealand native frogs, it’s not easy being brown and green in a world full of disease, pesticides, predators and shrinking habitats. In common [...] read more
  October 28, 2005 12:26 pm - 2 Comments
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  A new blog on the block - by frog

  
  
  
  FYI, Wellington’s Wildcat Anarchist Collective has a new blog up titled SNAP! – A Cracking Good Read. While many people view the Greens as being at one end of the political spectrum, the Anarchist Movement is further out again as they view the Green Party as a bunch of sell-outs for participating in the electoral [...] read more
  October 28, 2005 10:23 am - 6 Comments
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  Pincer avoided - by frog

  
  
  
  Hmm, I just beat the Government to it. Just after my last post, Steve Maharey put out ‘National’s PC policy backfires’: National’s policy of ‘PC Eradication’ has already started to backfire horribly, says Steve Maharey. “Less than 24 hours after National’s Wayne Mapp launched his assault on political correctness, his own party has contradicted its [...] read more
  October 27, 2005 4:19 pm - 8 Comments
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  Access to a pincer move - by frog

  
  
  
  In a release put out this morning, National’s “Spokesman for Disability Issues” Dr Paul Hutchinson said: The Clark/Peters Government must act on the recommendations of a Human Rights Commission report and improve access to public transport for the disabled… Yet this morning on Morning Report and then on NZPA, “Spokesman for Political Correctness Eradication” Dr [...] read more
  October 27, 2005 3:13 pm - 3 Comments
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  One person’s freedom… - by frog

  
  
  
  The BBC reports this morning (NZ time) that the UK Cabinet has agreed on the parameters of smoke-free laws for England, and clubs and food-free pubs will be exempt. Also this morning our time, Reuters reports that a study published in a medical journal has found that any exposure at all to tobacco smoke can [...] read more
  October 27, 2005 10:50 am - 34 Comments
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  Spokespersibling for Minority Opinion Eradication - by frog

  
  
  
  So Wayne Mapp is to be National’s “Spokesman for Political Correctness Eradication”. Read Spokesperson (or Spokespersibling) for Minority Opinion Eradication . To dismantle what’s going on here I can’t go past Camille Guy’s Radio Review (!) PC Plod in this week’s Listener: The term PC, as former Act MP Stephen Franks pointed out, was once [...] read more
  October 26, 2005 5:05 pm - 26 Comments
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  The unbearable niceness of being Green - by frog

  
  
  
  A postscript to my post last Friday on The Greens’ new best friends. New Zealanders are generally pretty cynical about politicians and Parliamentary politics. In ‘the provinces’, this view seems to be amplified by people’s belief that they are more honest and ‘real world’ than venal Wellington and their actual disconnection from the metropolitan centres [...] read more
  October 26, 2005 4:55 pm - 4 Comments
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  McLabel - by frog

  
  
  
  McDonalds have announced that they are to start putting nutritional information on to their packaging, a victory of sorts for Sue K and all the other anti-obesity campaigners around the world who have pushed for such a move over many years. I have to generally welcome this development, seeing as it advances the cause of [...] read more
  October 26, 2005 2:10 pm - 7 Comments
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  Bill Gates works for the NBR! - by frog

  
  
  
  One of the many things that the Greens talk about which no one else around Parliament seems to notice is the issue of Open Source software. Nandor put out a number of releases (links below) on the subject and Metiria picked up the baton last week when she took over from him as IT Spokesperson. [...] read more
  October 26, 2005 1:14 am - 39 Comments
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  Interview: Rod on the Electoral Officer’s leaflet judgement - by frog

  
  
  
  Here’s an interview (0.8MB, 4:30 min) with Rod about the Chief Electoral Officer’s judgement on the Exclusive Brethren’s ‘Beware’ leaflet. read more
  October 25, 2005 5:02 pm - 4 Comments