Archive for September, 2010

  • Keith Locke

    Freedom for Vanunu now - by Keith Locke



    Today, people around the globe will be putting the slogan ‘Freedom for Vanunu now’ on their Facebook page in response to a call from Israeli anti-nuclear campaigner Mordechai Vanunu. September 30 is the 24th anniversary of the Rome kidnapping in Vanunu for exposing the existence of an Israeli nuclear weapons programme. Vanunu spent 18 years [...] read more
    September 30, 2010 3:03 pm - 2 Comments
  • frog

    We’ve got it easy… - by frog



    Dear friends (and foes) A reminder in the MSM today as to how lucky we are.  Lucky to be able to engage in a battle of ideas without fear. Iranian-Canadian Hossein Derakhshan, nicknamed “the Blogfather” and credited with starting a blogging revolution in Iran, has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison….for co-operating [...] read more
    September 30, 2010 1:25 pm - 21 Comments
  • frog

    The OIA and your right to know - by frog



    The Law Commission has just put out a discussion paper on the Official Information Act and how it can be improved. They want your input by the 10th of December. While having the OIA has clearly been a good thing, it could work a whole lot better in terms of timeliness and making sure people [...] read more
    September 30, 2010 10:49 am - 4 Comments
  • frog

    Anne Tolley has another Merv Wellington moment - by frog



    Merv Wellington was Minister of Education under the Muldoon administration. In my opinion – at least until yesterday – Wellington was the worst Minister of Education New Zealand has ever seen. But the current Minister, Anne Tolley, seems to be having more and more “Merv Wellington moments”; where the ideology is more important than the evidence. read more
    September 28, 2010 6:47 pm - 113 Comments
  • frog

    More jobseekers + no more jobs = lower wages - by frog



    New Zealand’s labour force grew by around 43,000 yesterday. That is the approximate number of single parents receiving domestic purposes benefit whose youngest child is aged six or over.  As of yesterday, they all became part of the labour force; not necessarily because they all want to obtain paid employment but because Work and Income [...] read more
    September 28, 2010 1:31 pm - 76 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, September 28, 2010 - by frog



    read more
    September 28, 2010 8:44 am - 36 Comments
  • frog

    Podcast: Rock n Roll to the rescue? - by frog



    Can we make a lot of noise with a small footprint?  Can we mosh sustainably?  What can we do about the environmental effects of going to a big gig?  We also find out which Green MP is a Metallica fan and hear about a few favourite shows.   Click to play If you’re having problems [...] read more
    September 27, 2010 11:25 am - 1 Comment
  • Gareth Hughes

    New Lynn opens with new hope for Auckland - by Gareth Hughes



    I attended the opening of the New Lynn transport hub last Friday. I always enjoy attending the openings of great transport projects but this one was particularly fun. It wasn’t just a lot of boring speeches but included a troupe of dancing dragons, a Maori kapa haka group performed and Govenor General Anand Satyand, made [...] read more
    September 27, 2010 9:13 am - 6 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Rongotai and Labour’s highways - by Russel Norman



    On Thursday night I was selected as the Green candidate for Rongotai for the general election in 2011. Cool, it should be an interesting campaign in one of the greenest electorates in the country. Curiously the response from the sitting Labour MP, Annette King, was an attack criticising me for running in the Mt Albert by-election and [...] read more
    September 25, 2010 5:30 pm - 14 Comments
  • frog

    OIA laughs for a Friday afternoon - by frog



    I’ve been enjoying Idiot/Savant’s posts over at No Right Turn about his ongoing battles trying to get various Ministers in John Key’s Government to respond adequately to his OIA requests. I’ve had a couple of classics myself this week. read more
    September 24, 2010 2:54 pm - 6 Comments
  • frog

    10/10/10 climate change events in NZ - by frog



    Wow this took off under my radar a bit – the size of this global event has only just dawned on me. Over 3500 events are planned in 165 countries. As a snapshot, here are the events happening in Wellington… View Actions at 350.org … and Auckland View Actions at 350.org I really like the [...] read more
    September 24, 2010 9:56 am - 2 Comments
  • frog

    Monbiot on climate change and a new conversation starting - by frog



    I’m sure many of you are familiar with the writings of Monbiot – an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He’s just  delivered a rather dark assessment of the process of climate change mitigation politics. “The process is dead” he summarises. Climate change enlightenment was fun while it lasted. But now it’s [...] read more
    September 24, 2010 7:56 am - 18 Comments
  • frog

    Captioning the Rugby World Cup - by frog



    It was pleasing to discover yesterday, via a question from Catherine to Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman, that the seven Rugby World Cup matches screened live on TVNZ next year will include live captioning for the deaf community – after all, we promised the world a ‘stadium of 4 million people’, and this ought to include [...] read more
    September 23, 2010 2:25 pm - 2 Comments
  • Sue Kedgley

    MPs get to experience horror of sow crate - by Sue Kedgley



    It was great to attend a fantastic rally in Parliament yesterday, organised by James Barber and some local animal welfare activists, to protest the continuing use of sow crates in New Zealand. read more
    September 23, 2010 11:24 am - 26 Comments
  • Catherine Delahunty

    37,000 say no to National Standards - by Catherine Delahunty



    Yesterday the petition calling for a trial of National Standards was presented to the Education and Science Select Committee. It’s the first time the committee has had a serious discussion of National Standards because the original legislation never came to us. Like so many other crazy things, it was rushed through the House under urgency. [...] read more
    September 23, 2010 10:25 am - 132 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Dams – sustainable and permanent? - by Russel Norman



    In NZ we’ve often thought about dams as permanent sustainable ways to generate power and store irrigation water. But they’re not necessarily permanent as dams can become silted up and the structures deteriorate. And from the point of view of migratory fish species and flooded forests, there’s nothing sustainable about a dam. In the US they’ve had [...] read more
    September 23, 2010 9:27 am - 56 Comments
  • frog

    General debate, September 23, 2010 - by frog



    Have a happy vernal equinox. read more
    September 23, 2010 6:17 am - 9 Comments
  • frog

    2010 Arctic sea ice update - by frog



    As the northern hemisphere’s summer ends, the results of this seasons Arctic sea ice melt are in This video was made by http://climatecrocks.com/. Plenty more where that came from! read more
    September 23, 2010 6:05 am - 3 Comments
  • Russel Norman

    Climate and financial stability - by Russel Norman



    Moody’s report on the NZ banking system was an interesting read. Perhaps one of the surprising statements was that they thought one of the weaknesses of the NZ banking system was:  Large industry concentration in rural lending, which is susceptible to fluctuations in agricultural prices and climate conditions   So they seem to be saying [...] read more
    September 22, 2010 10:13 pm - 30 Comments
  • frog

    Imagine the freedom of carfree - by frog



    Today is the tenth world carfree day, so I hopped to work on this lovely sunny spring day in the capital. Actually, like most of the people in this office, I rarely use a car and when I do it’s a taxi or I’m sharing a lift with friends. This isn’t because I think I’m [...] read more
    September 22, 2010 5:58 pm - 6 Comments
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