http://blog.greens.org.nz hopping along the corridors of power Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:13:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Despite four planned and payed for by-elections scheduled for September 8th, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is tipped to call a snap election this week as his minority government struggles to get any work done. This would infuriate the Greens, who have a realistic chance of picking up one of the ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/30/canadians-may-beat-us-to-the-polls/ There's a nice little interview here on Scoop where the RDU's Spanky talks to Russel about the polls, MMP, 'Sustainability' Labour, open source and free software and the need for tug of war at the 2012 London Olympics. Photo credit: Here be Dragons http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/30/russel-and-spanky-from-rdu-talk-tug-o-war/ Without knowing anything more about the circumstances than what has been reported, it was pretty disturbing to hear multi sport's Coast to Coast star Steve Gurney was involved in a car accident while cycling in Christchurch. However, it's a good reminder that there is only one day left to sign ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/30/cycle-safety/ "Well, that was an informative political investigation into the corrosive power of secret trusts and large private donations to politicians," she said brightly. "Who's next?" http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/29/secret-money/ Al Gore's at it again. After his call for America to go 100% renewable in 10 years, his organisation "We Can Solve It" is running a TV ad in the US demanding clean energy. But because even his big-bucks buddies can't compete with $850 million a year spent by ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/29/can-you-out-spend-the-oil-industry/ I wonder if the Prime Minister is looking back at the quiet issue-focused way the Greens have gone about getting their policy implemented over the last 3 years and is now ruing the choices she made putting together her governing arrangements back in 2005 with Winston Peters' NZ First Party ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/29/what-if/ http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/28/plastic-bag-silliness/ Mother Jones has an icky story about imported Chinese food in the USA involving contamination, salmonella, bateria and pesticides. At one [poultry] plant, inspectors had found paint from the ceiling "on the table used for edible product," while workers at another facility wiped down meat-handling areas with dirty cloths. Parts of ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/28/protecting-food-safety/ It's getting to be half week old news now. But, just to show the Greens are not into stopping all sporting tours, here's the Green spokesperson on sports, Keith calling for more cricket. Go Keith. "Pulling out [of the Champions Trophy in Pakistan] now would badly dent New Zealand's good reputation ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/28/well-have-to-find-something-else-to-watch-next-month/ While I'm on the topic, there were calls for an arms race in this morning's Dominion Post: Police Association president Greg O'Connor said police welcomed Tasers but were concerned they could be issued at the cost of firearms. "That can't happen," he said. "They must be 'as well as', not `instead of'." Why?  ... http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/08/28/%e2%80%98bzzt-bang%e2%80%99-or-%e2%80%98bang-bzzt%e2%80%99/