Archive for August, 2006

  • frog

    Photos from Taser protest at Parliament - by frog



    Keith (and Hone Harawera) spoke at a rally against the Taser trial, which begins tomorrow, at a rally outside Parliament today: Another Keith, Keith Ng, while drawing a different conclusion, links to some terrifying Taser-use videos from the US over at Public Address today. read more
    August 31, 2006 4:33 pm - 34 Comments
  • frog

    Government fleet full of gas guzzlers - by frog



    Jeanette put Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen on the back foot in the House today when she questioned him on the Government’s Ministerial fleet of chauffeured and self-drive vehicles. A Green Party Official Information Act request has revealed that the fleet is made up of primarily Ford Fairlanes and Ford LTDs, which use a staggering [...] read more
    August 31, 2006 3:12 pm - 17 Comments
  • frog

    Lambton Quay lighting letter - by frog



    Mike over at shoppingfix has posted about an extraordinary letter his Lambton Quay business received from a film company, asking every buisness on Lambton Quay to leave their lights on overnight for two nights while they film an ad, to give Wellington a “big city feel”. Not only is this incredibly wasteful of power (Mike [...] read more
    August 31, 2006 2:01 pm - 4 Comments
  • frog

    Back to the future - by frog



    Is this the air travel of the future? It looks surprisingly familiar… and may not be so suitable for Wellington! Hat-tip to BJ Chip for the link. read more
    August 30, 2006 12:38 pm - 8 Comments
  • frog

    Sanitary environmentalism - by frog



    Ladies, this one’s for you: the Guardian last week ran this scary story about how environmentally harmful sanitary products like pads and tampons are. That, in fact, is the worst thing about most of these products: they are an astonishing waste of resources and will lead to horrible amounts of rubbish. Take the Tampax Compak [...] read more
    August 29, 2006 5:23 pm - 20 Comments
  • frog

    Corporal punishment - by frog



    Lots of media coverage in the last couple of days about this release of Sue B’s, calling for the Ministry of Education to investigate allegations that some religious schools in New Zealand are practising corporal punishment against their students. As well as several news items, the NZ Herald has a page inviting public comment on [...] read more
    August 24, 2006 12:39 pm - 54 Comments
  • frog

    The hottest hoax around! - by frog



    Here’s a fun cartoon which will convince you (as if you need convincing!) that global warming is, like, such a hoax. read more
    August 22, 2006 11:45 am - 4 Comments
  • frog

    Norwegians going off whale too - by frog



    Apparently it’s not just Japanese consumers who aren’t interested in eating whale meat. In the 2006 season, Norwegian whalers only harpooned about half of their quota of Minke whales, despite that quota being lifted last year. The low take is being attributed to rough seas and high fuel costs, but anti-whaling groups are also arguing [...] read more
    August 22, 2006 8:56 am - 27 Comments
  • frog

    Student riots in Dunedin - by frog



    If you, like me, heard this morning about the several hundred drunk and disorderly students in Dunedin who were dispersed by riot police on Saturday night and were wondering what had gone on, this post by John Hartevelt on Dunedin student magazine Critic‘s blog sheds some much needed light on the events, and provides an [...] read more
    August 21, 2006 3:18 pm - 11 Comments
  • frog

    Food safety of imported produce - by frog



    Sue K had some good coverage over the weekend of this release calling for produce imported from China to be tested for pesticides and other harmful substances after tests conducted by Greenpeace China revealed high levels of contamination with illegal pesticides. New Zealand imports $84 million of food from China every year. The Chinese Government [...] read more
    August 21, 2006 1:28 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    Someone’s in the kitchen… - by frog



    I was amused this morning to see this New Zealand First press release suggesting that the Government hand over the Buy Kiwi-Made campaign to New Zealand First to look after: “This critical policy needs a champion that understands the true intent and value of promoting our own products, not who will send confused and muddled [...] read more
    August 16, 2006 2:26 pm - 25 Comments
  • frog

    Changes to the criminal justice system - by frog



    The Government announced a fairly comprehensive package of changes to the criminal justice system today, and it looks, encouragingly, like the some of the Greens’ messages are finally getting through, with enhanced rehabilitation programmes and new services to help prisoners after they are released featuring highly. However, Nandor has also expressed concern about some of [...] read more
    August 15, 2006 4:56 pm - 56 Comments
  • frog

    Kiwi-Made kafuffle - by frog



    Apologies for the lack of posts last week – fortunately there’s been excellent discussion on the Lebanon thread in my absence – thanks guys! It was annoying to see confusion develop over the Buy Kiwi-Made programme on Friday, with some media going, frankly, over the top. It’s hard to negotiate via the news media! Because [...] read more
    August 14, 2006 10:28 am - 28 Comments
  • frog

    Conservation Week events - by frog



    It’s Conservation Week and there are a number of worthwhile seminars / lectures / public meetings and debates going on. Here are details of WWF’s events being held at Te Papa, and here is what Wellington Cathedral of St Paul has planned, including a talk at lunchtime today by Anthony Dancer of the Anglican Church [...] read more
    August 8, 2006 11:39 am - 10 Comments
  • frog

    Peak Oil and the crisis in Lebanon - by frog



    On the face of it, it might seem like the looming threat of peak oil and the current bloodshed in Lebanon are two quite separate threats to global security, but a theory posited recently by the President of the Global Americana Institute, Juan Cole, on his blog Informed Comment, makes a compelling case that they [...] read more
    August 8, 2006 10:02 am - 119 Comments
  • frog

    Those photos just have to be bumped down - by frog



    Seeing them every time I bring up the blog is getting a little much. So, from something stomach-churning to something that could be really bad if it makes it into our stomachs, the issue of high-lysine corn, which was given a run in Parliament by Jeanette and Sue K a couple of months ago, is [...] read more
    August 7, 2006 9:18 am - 11 Comments
  • frog

    The photos are gross, and there are plenty more where they came from - by frog



    There’s a large photo of Metiria in this morning’s Dom Post holding up this photo in Parliament of a mangled dead albatross killed by a squid boat, obtained from an Official Information Request: She also displayed this unfortunate dead Hooker Sealion, the rarest sealion in the world: She was asking Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton whether [...] read more
    August 4, 2006 10:04 am - 30 Comments
  • frog

    Taito Phillip Field - by frog



    It seems time for a post on the whole messy Field affair. It’s been reported this morning that the Greens’ involvement is as a result of some kind of deal with Labour to shut the issue down, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Obviously, this isn’t a core issue for the Green Party, but [...] read more
    August 2, 2006 11:54 am - 24 Comments
  • frog

    Contributing to climate change – a sin? - by frog



    You may have seen over the weekend the news that the Anglican Church is urging Christians to view looking after the planet as a moral obligation. You can hear an interesting discussion on this issue between National Radio’s Jim Mora and the Anglican Church’s social justice commissioner Dr Anthony Dancer on yesterday’s afternoon show here. [...] read more
    August 1, 2006 2:45 pm - 29 Comments
  • frog

    Something I meant to mention on Friday… - by frog



    …is the news that (before taking mysteriously ill) Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters appointed New Zealand’s first ever Climate Change Ambassador. Adrian Macey, who has just returned from being Ambassador to France and the OECD, will represent New Zealand in future climate change negotiations. Britain also appointed a Climate Change Ambassador earlier this year – [...] read more
    August 1, 2006 2:23 pm - 2 Comments