Archive for April, 2008

  • frog

    Waihopai’s only got one ball - by frog



    Did anyone else see the photo below this morning and start humming this song? Hat tip/photo credit: The Standard read more
    April 30, 2008 4:07 pm - 84 Comments
  • frog

    When blogs get bored… - by frog



    …they post a clip from Stephen Colbert. This one is on biofuels: Hat tip:Ecorazzi read more
    April 30, 2008 2:10 pm - No Comments
  • frog

    Jeanette invests in stamps - by frog



    I’ve just spotted two letters in the papers today from a J Fitzsimons. First this one in the Independent Financial Review where she notes that her Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act which passed in 2000 is now saving 19 petajoules of energy each year: Then this one in The Press where she again clarifies that [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 1:39 pm - 6 Comments
  • frog

    Key puts another coin in the fuse box - by frog



    National Party leader John Key called yesterday for the scrapping or the delay of all the climate related fuel taxes on the agenda for the next year, citing rising fuel costs as the reason. At first glance there appears to be some logic in his argument, until you look at it fully. What he is [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 11:24 am - 48 Comments
  • frog

    NZ cows eat … palm oil? - by frog



    For those of you who have followed the farming practices in the USA, and in particular the stories about cattle that are made to eat feed supplements rather than their genetic preference for grass, may have taken some comfort that New Zealand cows are renowned for being grass fed. Except, as it turns out, they [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 10:51 am - 6 Comments
  • frog

    Kennedy Graham - by frog



    I see Kiwiblogblog readers are having a very affirmative discussion about one of the Greens’ up and coming new candidates. read more
    April 30, 2008 10:49 am - 1 Comment
  • frog

    ComCom vs Woolies court case continues - by frog



    As I hoped the Court of Appeal case between the Commerce Commission and Woolworths finally started to generate some comment about what was best for consumers rather than shareholders. Currently Woolworths and Foodstuffs own about 99 percent of New Zealand’s grocery market.  The Commerce Commission lawyers’ opening evidence was covered on Radio New Zealand this [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 10:16 am - No Comments
  • frog

    Fonterra goes to Chile - by frog



    Greens do tend to go on rather a lot about their criticisms of the whole ‘infinite growth in a finite world’ concept.  The reason they do this I think is frustration that the effects of continuing to grow when you have nowhere to grow into are so blindingly obvious.  It’s a baking soda and vinegar [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 9:33 am - 4 Comments
  • frog

    Budget choices - by frog



    John Armstrong is calling Cullen’s budget in a few weeks a potential circuit breaker to restore Labour’s fortunes after a string of bad polls. I think Labour probably has three strategic choices if it is going to break any circuits: It can entrench its legacy with a ‘steady as she goes’ lead in to the [...] read more
    April 30, 2008 9:00 am - 39 Comments
  • frog

    A Japanese bike stacking robot - by frog



    If only we had the need for one of these cool things in Parliament! Sadly there isn’t quite the demand for a multi-story bicycle stacking robot yet. Hat tip: George Darroch read more
    April 29, 2008 12:17 pm - 3 Comments
  • frog

    We’re selling more butter and buying more oil - by frog



    There are some fascinating statistics in our Overseas Merchandise Trade figures which came out today.  On the face of it things look good with our March 2008 exports up 3.7 percent from our March 2007 exports (from $3.3 billion to $3.4 billion).  However when those exports are broken down by commodity that increase of $100 [...] read more
    April 29, 2008 11:49 am - 16 Comments
  • frog

    GST on Food - by frog



    Taking GST off food is the topic de jour of the week, with both Labour and National now commenting on it. So let’s open up a discussion about it here too. My thoughts are that the benefits are: It is a simple, pragmatic response to a specific problem (rising food prices). It could possibly be [...] read more
    April 29, 2008 8:29 am - 31 Comments
  • frog

    Trade agreement with China – the right to change our mind - by frog



    Scoop’s Election 08 site has just posted a detailed analysis of the Annex 13 investment rules in New Zealand’s preferential trade agreement with China.  In it US Professor and international trade law expert, Matthew Porterfield, suggests New Zealand might gone too far in its efforts to protect the rights of foreign investors: “The language of [...] read more
    April 28, 2008 4:57 pm - No Comments
  • frog

    Reasons not to become a public figure… - by frog



    Wed 30 Apr – Jim Anderton, 11.00am PHOTO OP: defrosting of Colossal Squid. Te Papa storage facility, Tory St, Wellington. You can currently watch the squid defrosting live here. (Once Days of our Lives has finished obviously.) read more
    April 28, 2008 2:50 pm - 4 Comments
  • frog

    Supermarket duopoly goes to court today - by frog



    New Zealand’s supermarket merger case goes back to court today with Australian supermarket giant, Woolworths, and New Zealand equivalent, Foodstuffs, both seeking the right to buy the Warehouse. All of the media coverage is in the business pages and looks at what might be best for Woolworths, Foodstuffs and Warehouse shareholders. I haven’t seen any [...] read more
    April 28, 2008 2:03 pm - 21 Comments
  • frog

    Mike Moore on biofuels - by frog



    Mike Moore manages to evade lucidity again this morning with a Pro GE, pro WTO, pro big business solution to rising food prices. He also joins many others on the right by attacking biofuels: Filling a Range Rover with subsidised ethanol takes as much “grain” as would feed an African family for a year. Rich [...] read more
    April 28, 2008 12:10 pm - 20 Comments
  • frog

    To save, or not to save, that is the question - by frog



    To save, or not to save, that is the question; Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Dampness And to take arms against the low lake levels, And by going without, end them. A war of words has erupted between the Major Energy Users Group, or MEUG, and [...] read more
    April 26, 2008 2:46 pm - 52 Comments
  • frog

    A day for rememberance - by frog



    Anzac Day is the one day of the year set aside to remember those who have served in the armed forces around the world. I’d like to add kudos for those in the emergency services, the VSA and those who volunteer at home in places like the City Missions, feeding hungry kiwis. However, today is [...] read more
    April 25, 2008 2:24 pm - 32 Comments

  • Day of Action on Zimbabwe - by Nandor Tanczos



    Yesterday I met with Regis Mtutu of the Treatment Action Campaign. The T.A.C. is the coordination point for Zimbabwean refugees and their political organisation in South Africa although I think its primary focus is health promotion. He told me that the resolution of the emergency summit of civil society organisations held in Dar es Salaam, [...] read more
    April 25, 2008 1:58 am - 3 Comments
  • frog

    Some things are bigger than politics - by frog



    read more
    April 24, 2008 1:45 pm - 14 Comments
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