Archive for October, 2008

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  Banning - by frog

  
  
  
  Kiwiblog has helpfully taken its responsibility to informing electors about parties’ policy extremely seriously, with David Farrar reading every single Green Party policy and compiling this list of things that he reckons the Greens would ban. Even more helpfully toad has gone through and commented on each of these ‘bans’ pointing out which ones really [...] read more
  October 29, 2008 10:43 am - 19 Comments
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  Make your own billboards - by frog

  
  
  
  You can now create your own version of the award winning Green Party billboards here at www.voteforus.co.nz.  If you come up with any clever, funny or artistic ones let me know and I might post them here at frogblog. read more
  October 29, 2008 10:10 am - 10 Comments
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  The prison business - by frog

  
  
  
  Mr Key confirmed that National will allow competitive tendering for the management of prisons on a case-by-case basis. As Metiria notes: How is the free market the answer to the problems of running a prison system? The key to a successful business is repeat customers. That creates a perverse incentive. Yup, can you see Lock [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 4:54 pm - 40 Comments
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  An agreeable question with a disagreeable result - by frog

  
  
  
  It’s unsurprising that ONE News Colmar Brunton poll should find that, when asked ‘should the party with the most votes should get to lead the government’, nearly 80 percent of people agree.  It seems a reasonable sort of thing to suggest. I imagine you would get the same sort of support for the proposition that [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 4:13 pm - 17 Comments
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  Show me the money - by frog

  
  
  
  It’s time for another quick update on the electoral donation declarations.  It’s now just 11 days to the election and Labour, United Future, the Maori Party, New Zealand First and the Progressive Party are still yet to declare any donations of $20,000 or greater. National has declared only $60,000 so far while Act and the [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 3:07 pm - 23 Comments
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  Why would you change from grey to grey? - by frog

  
  
  
  The Press profile on the ‘energetic duo’ Russel and Jeanette ‘riding a wave of support‘ toward the election is an interesting look into the team relationship they have.  I liked Jeanette’s summary of the country’s mood for change: “There’s a lot of talk around about needing change after nine years, but no-one is very clear [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 2:28 pm - 47 Comments
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  Less than 2 percent - by frog

  
  
  
  The Emissions Trading Scheme will only reduce emissions by 2 percent.  So a reader writes asking a query about the following John Key statement: I told the group that while we must play our part in the fight against climate change, we shouldn’t be the world leader, because that will come at the expense of [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 1:42 pm - 9 Comments
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  Dangerous sea species - by frog

  
  
  
  As a follow up to the regular stories about the plastic gloop that is taking up a space in our oceans twice the size of the United States a reader just sent me a link to this European poster campaign: read more
  October 28, 2008 12:30 pm - 6 Comments
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  Eat the view - by frog

  
  
  
  It seems Michael Pollan was not alone in calling for the next US president to lead the way on self sufficient food production by growing his own food on the White House lawn. There is a whole movement at Eat the View focused on the fact that today American food travels an average of 1500 [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 12:19 pm - 12 Comments
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  Green Party Billboard Wins International Award - by frog

  
  
  
  The Green´s rangitoto girl billboard has won an award as best outdoor advertisement of the week on BestAdsonTv.com. This week’s guest judge was Alan Russell, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Canada, Vancouver,who said: First Choice goes to Green Party. It’s so damn simple I ask myself, as with all the best work, why didn’t someone think [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 11:45 am - 6 Comments
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  Multi-headed mosters – not so scary after all - by frog

  
  
  
  The Herald’s editor was in a lather over the weekend suggesting that a party with a minority of support had more right to govern than two parties with the majority of the popular vote: But it is clearly not what most voters want or believe should happen. Around 80 per cent of them vote National [...] read more
  October 28, 2008 11:40 am - 10 Comments
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  Daly and Suzuki on the folly of growth - by frog

  
  
  
  I am spending some of my holiday weekend wallowing in this month´s New Scientist special issue entitled ¨The folly of growth¨. (Both linked articles require a subscription to read, sorry. I bought a hard copy.) Economist Herman Daly talks about how economics has a blind spot that has put humanity and the the earth on [...] read more
  October 27, 2008 12:01 pm - 92 Comments
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  APN and the election - by frog

  
  
  
  Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I thought I’d present my own version of the cartoon in today’s edition of New Zealand’s most widely read Australian newspaper: read more
  October 27, 2008 10:59 am - 29 Comments
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  Dunne adds his head to the National monster - by frog

  
  
  
  United Future has followed the Greens in assessing the two old parties policy platforms and letting voters know before the election which one it will be supporting.  It’s a bit harder to tell from it’s media release exactly what policies it based  this decision on, but I guess we know from past practice one issue [...] read more
  October 27, 2008 9:17 am - 39 Comments
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  15% organic by 2015 - by frog

  
  
  
  One of the cornerstone policy points of the recently released Green Agriculture Policy is for New Zealand to be 15% organic by 2015. This may seem ambitious to some, but with the size of the world market, New Zealand´s entire national output could be organic and it would be a small player. So fears that [...] read more
  October 26, 2008 8:57 pm - 19 Comments
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  The Karate Kid campaign - by frog

  
  
  
  Audrey Young called the Greens’ election campaign ‘singularly boring‘ and John Armstrong ‘unspectacular‘.  And yet, as they note without scandal, threats or bluster the Greens are the success package on this year’s election trail. Part of it , is as Wendyl Nissen notes, that our time has come: The Green Party’s reason for being has [...] read more
  October 26, 2008 9:04 am - 70 Comments
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  What politicians dare not say. (Except the Greens) - by frog

  
  
  
  In the usual sequence of events, what was once Green heresy is now at least being openly discussed in the mainstream media. This month´s New Scientist has a series of articles about the limits to growth and our politician´s and economist´s obsession with growth – and how it is killing us and the planet that [...] read more
  October 25, 2008 5:05 pm - 136 Comments
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  U.K. Approves Animal-Human Embryo Testing - by frog

  
  
  
  I am purposely not going to state my opinion on this subject, as some more sensitive frogblog readers always assume that I am speaking on behalf of the Green Party. Instead, I would like to have a discussion around the merits  and risks of the UK decision, and compare those to the merits and risks [...] read more
  October 25, 2008 3:47 pm - 19 Comments
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  Buckle up John! - by frog

  
  
  
  I know it is petty but I just can´t help myself. Whenever I see that John Key television commercial with him in the front seat of the car, I don´t hear a word he is saying. I´m simply waiting for the driver to slam on the brakes and for the dear leader to go through [...] read more
  October 25, 2008 9:27 am - 18 Comments
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  Clark’s poor advice - by frog

  
  
  
  Even if voters’ choice were simply a Labour-led government or a National-led government Helen Clark’s ‘advice‘ yesterday would be patently false given the Greens’ preference announcement last week: When she was asked at a meeting with Foodstuffs workers if they should vote strategically to ensure a Labour coalition, she said the best way was to [...] read more
  October 25, 2008 8:17 am - 13 Comments