Archive for January, 2011

• 

  It’s Green Campaign Conference weekend - by frog

  
  
  
  Blogging might be a bit slow here this weekend, as the Green Party’s Campaign Conference is underway. This is the start of the democratic process under which aspiring and current Green MPs get to present their credentials to the Party membership. After the Conference there will be an initial vote by STV ballot from electorate [...] read more
  January 28, 2011 7:12 pm - 32 Comments
• 

  Free film for jailed Iranian filmmaker - by frog

  
  
  
  If you’re in Wellington this Sunday night, there’s a free film showing at the Paramount in support of Jafar Panahi. The Iranian filmmaker was arrested in March 2010 for “plans” to make a film about the nationwide protests that followed the disputed 2009 presidential election in Iran. To the dismay of all who know his humane [...] read more
  January 27, 2011 4:12 pm - 11 Comments
• 

  Cool animated video of Auckland transport - by frog

  
  
  
  There’s a cool video doing the rounds on the blogosphere right now which shows the Auckland public transport network working over a 24 hour period. An animated map of Auckland’s public transport network from Chris McDowall on Vimeo. Watching it really highlights to me how radial the public transport network is. There are a lot of [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 1:53 pm - 20 Comments
• 

  0800NEWCOPS: Fail in every possible way - by frog

  
  
  
  I can scarcely believe this Police recruitment poster.  In fact, I initially thought it was a photoshopped spoof when I saw it over at LudditeJourno a couple of days ago.  But there’s a link to a NZ Herald story from a couple of weeks back that authenticates it. Cue in the “Clint Rickards wasn’t ever [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 12:27 pm - 46 Comments
• 

  Wikileaks gives impetus to Waihopai protest - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It was good to be part of the protest outside the Waihopai spybase on Saturday. It is a bit out of the way, so the numbers involved are never that large, but they do represent the concern of many New Zealanders that the presence of the base compromises the independence of New Zealand’s foreign policy. [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 8:54 am - 15 Comments
• 

  Protesting under the water - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  I’m still annoyed the Bluegreens, including the Conservation Minister, plan to cruise Akaroa Harbour this weekend so soon after they declined the local marine reserve application. How rude! Understandably there is going to be a local protest this weekend and whilst I can’t be there, today I staged what may be the first underwater protest [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 8:45 am - 4 Comments
• 

  The fair Wairoa needs some cleaning up - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  On a rainy Sunday I embarked on stage 3 of my Rivers Tour, on the Wairoa River in Clevedon (just east of Auckland). The Wairoa is threatened by agricultural runoff and poorly maintained septic tanks. Around three quarters of tests on the Wairoa show faecal contamination above safe levels for swimming or contact recreation. Disturbingly, [...] read more
  January 25, 2011 12:03 am - 3 Comments
• 

  Something stinks here, and it’s not just Lake Ellesmere - by frog

  
  
  
  In March last year, as part of his Dirty Rivers Tour, Russel Norman visited his first dirty lake – Lake Ellesmere, or Te Waihora. He found signs by the boatramp that said not to touch the water, as it’s a health hazard due to toxic algae. The Department of Conservation, along with Ngāi Tahu and [...] read more
  January 24, 2011 1:45 pm - 9 Comments
• 

  General debate, January 24, 2011 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  January 24, 2011 8:48 am - 181 Comments
• 

  Policy-making needs science - by frog

  
  
  
  A recent editorial in Science points out the importance of using evidence based policy. The Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Alberts writes: “It is … disturbing that so many lawmakers elected to the new U.S. Congress reject the overwhelming scientific consensus with respect to human-induced climate change. The question now facing the United States is not only how [...] read more
  January 21, 2011 10:33 am - 56 Comments
• 

  Gollum, and friends, save the Nevis, for now - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Yes, strange but true, the Gollum Galaxiid, is saving the Nevis River from being dammed. I rafted the Nevis River near Queenstown on stage two of my summer rivers tour on Tuesday. There is a species of Gollum, known as smeagol, that lives only in a series of tributaries of the Nevis River. And it [...] read more
  January 20, 2011 12:19 am - 25 Comments
• 

  Cyberwarfare a dangerous path - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  I see that “cybersecurity” one of the agenda items in this week’s tete-a-tete between Foreign Minister Murray McCully, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp and their UK counterparts William Hague and Liam Fox. The first question McCully and Mapp should ask the British ministers is “Are you going to challenge the United States on its resort to [...] read more
  January 19, 2011 3:00 pm - 12 Comments
• 

  What’s the matter with fractional reserve banking? - by frog

  
  
  
  A thread for those wishing to further explore the nature of the banking system. This video series highlighted by a reader provides a backgrounder on how the fractional reserve system developed and what the implications are. read more
  January 18, 2011 3:34 pm - 356 Comments
• 

  General debate, January 18, 2011 - by frog

  
  
  
  read more
  January 18, 2011 9:39 am - 65 Comments
• 

  Rubbing salt water in the wounds. - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  At the end of this month, the National Party’s Bluegreens are setting sail for a harbour cruise in Akaroa. It’s a bit insensitive if you ask me, considering Conservation Minister Kate Wilkinson last year set a damaging precedent by declining a long-standing marine reserve application in the harbour because it would impact recreational fishers. I’m [...] read more
  January 18, 2011 9:36 am - 15 Comments
• 

  Latest Pike River developments a further disaster for families - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I think that until now the Government has got most things right in its response to the Pike River tragedy. While they made mistakes, like excluding the workers’ union from the official party at the Memorial Service, they mostly managed an appropriate balance of compassion and prudence. Now the cracks are starting to show. The Royal Commission [...] read more
  January 14, 2011 9:43 pm - 29 Comments
• 

  Climate change, hottest years, floods and coal - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  So it turns out that 2010 was the hottest year on record, equal with 2005. The year 2010 has tied 2005 as the Earth’s warmest on record, according to an assessment by U.S. government scientists. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the combined global land and ocean annual surface temperature for [...] read more
  January 13, 2011 12:33 pm - 153 Comments
• 

  Capital gains tax – why it’s smart - by frog

  
  
  
  The Green Party crossed the capital gains tax Rubicon a while ago (exempting the family home), but both National and Labour lack the courage. If you haven’t checked out the 3 part series on capital gains tax running in the NZ Herald, you might want to. In it Chye-Ching Huang and Craig Elliffe, both from [...] read more
  January 13, 2011 11:11 am - 49 Comments
• 

  How many cupcakes would you need to sell to influence transport policy? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Often when talking about the Government’s uneconomic and frankly dumb transport policy to people a common response is ‘well, that’s because the Road Transport Forum donate so much to the National Party.’ Yesterday I ran a bake sale outside Britomart to help Auckland buy back the National Party from the road and truck lobby and [...] read more
  January 13, 2011 9:20 am - 24 Comments
• 

  Making origami whales to save the whales - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Yesterday I launched a nationwide sister cities whale tour in Wellington for ordinary people to do something about whaling, rather than leaving it up to the activists and international lawyers. We set up a stall where passers-by could sign a letter to Wellington’s sister city, Sakai, and then fold it in to an origami whale. [...] read more
  January 12, 2011 4:12 pm - 4 Comments