Archive for January, 2006

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  A whale of a problem

  
  
  
  It seems Japan’s “scientific” whaling programme may have bitten off a little more than its country is willing to chew. An article in The Japan Times reveals that whale meat seems to be piling up and is only going to be getting bigger. Surely this makes Japan’s decision to double this season’s catch of Minke whales to [...] read more
  January 31, 2006 1:25 pm - 6 Comments
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  Thank goodness for Wayne Mapp

  
  
  
  I’m glad Wayne Mapp is National’s spokesman for the Eradication of Political Correctness – it really is an invaluable source of entertainment. This morning’s Dom Post has a short article about Mapp’s latest hobbyhorse – bilingual census forms – which leaves him looking like a complete wally. Not only does it contain this fabulous quote – [...] read more
  January 31, 2006 10:06 am - 4 Comments
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  Unhappy protesters settle into Happy Valley

  
  
  
  While most most of us are today returning to work after the weekend (or enjoying a holiday if we’re lucky enough to be in Auckland or Nelson), 75 protesters at Happy Valley are settling in for a long stay in the great outdoors as they begin an indefinite occupation to protest Solid Energy’s proposed open [...] read more
  January 30, 2006 12:22 pm - 4 Comments
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  Policy conference

  
  
  
  The Greens are away up north this weekend for their policy conference. Over the next few days Green members from all over the country will be gathering to talk about what the Greens think about all sorts of things – from organic food to international relationships and trade. Unfortunately Frogs don’t travel long distances well, so I [...] read more
  January 27, 2006 4:45 pm - 6 Comments
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  The biggest media arrives in the biggest country

  
  
  
  I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Google, after all it’s only seven years old and its guiding principle is “Don’t do evil”. But a couple of things have given me pause this week. Writing (offline) in The Listener, Russell Brown reports: By market capitalisation, the world’s biggest media company is Google. At the time of [...] read more
  January 26, 2006 10:52 am - 11 Comments
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  Limbo Land

  
  
  
  The plight of the West Papuan people has all but been ignored by New Zealand media, much as the situation in East Timor was till it became an internationally fashionable cause in the late 90s. Keith has just put out a press release asking the New Zealand Government to consider offering homes to some of the [...] read more
  January 26, 2006 9:23 am - 4 Comments
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  Smaller engines now mean more engines later

  
  
  
  Good to see the Transport Ministry is looking at the Greens’ feebate proposal. The Dom Post reports: …the Transport Ministry has confirmed it is investigating a Green Party proposal to link car registration charges with fuel efficiency as occurs in Europe. Such an initiative is used in France, where car taxes are graduated according to engine [...] read more
  January 25, 2006 9:36 am - 34 Comments
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  Super size her credibility

  
  
  
  Sue Bradford is putting her money where her mouth is by giving half of her back-dated MPs’ pay increase towards the youth rate campaign. Her release says: The $850 will go toward the SupersizeMyPay.Com action aimed at increasing the minimum wage to $12 an hour, achieve more secure hours of work and abolish youth [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 8:25 pm - 13 Comments
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  Maybe this shows the Greens shouldn’t shut up, even for a day

  
  
  
  NZPA reports: An international report rating New Zealand as leading the world in environmental performance vindicates the Government’s directions, Environment Minister David Benson-Pope said yesterday. Mr Benson-Pope was commenting on the 2006 Environmental Environment Index, a pilot nation-by-nation study jointly produced by Yale and Columbia Universities. Hm, “Environmental Environment Index”, I spot a typo. [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 5:17 pm - 10 Comments
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  Noise control for the planet

  
  
  
  In her State of the Planet speech on Sunday Jeanette said: These phenomena have led the atmospheric chemist James Lovelock to the view that the climate is past the point of no return and nothing can now be done to prevent the planet becoming uninhabitable. That is an extreme view, which I don’t share. Any [...] read more
  January 24, 2006 1:31 pm - 4 Comments