The Daily Blog Watch Monday 1 July

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Today’s Daily Blog Watch Round-Up of matters that have attracted the attention, assessments, and articulations of this country’s leading bloggers and on-line satirists…

NZ Left Blogosphere

Phillip Ure on Whoar blogs on issues ranging from intelligent companion animals that can understand more words and phrases than we realise – to how China is moving quarter of a billion people around.  And lots in between!

Don Franks writes on Redline about street beggars in Wellington, and offers  A sensible solution to Wellington street begging. I have to agree with Don – I’ve never – and I mean NEVER – encountered an agressive beggar in Wellington. Ever. Mostly they look pathetic, sitting, huddled, quietly on the footpath. So I find the nearest convenience store and buy them food and a drink.

That’s what you do for your fellow human being. It may not be much. But giving food to another person shows we’re still human and not animals or machines.

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

Also on Redline, Don comments on  Jami-Lee Ross MP, unions and scabs.

Some Frankly Speaking has Frank offering his Good luck to Phillipstown School! as they take the Ministry of Education to Court.

According to a notice on his blog, he’ll be posting something on The Daily Blog about Ross’s scab-enabling Bill.

On Public Address, Emma Hart insists that  Somebody Think of the Young Adults – referring to Ted Dawe’s Into the River, which is directed at young adults and loaded with ‘naughty bits. Evidently some folk are upset with the contents of the book, which according to Radio NZ, contains depictions of a threesome between young people.

Some think this is OTT. Too much sex. Too much gratuitous sex. Too much kinky sex.

The question taxing my mind is – young adults still read books?????

On the Green Party’s Frogblog,

Holly Walker comments on How NZ stacks up for students in reference to the OECD having just released its annual ‘Education at a Glance’ report, which takes a look at the state of education, and subsequent earnings,  around the world. Surprise, surprise, we’re not doing very well. Holly sez that National’s  cuts to student allowances and loans is not not helping matters.

Our current constitutional review  is a perfect opportunity to make Protecting the environment in our constitution a priority,  sez Eugenie Sage. That mightn’t be a bad idea, to protect our conservation lands and coastal waters from National’s rapacious mates.
Steffan Browning reports that Chemicals remain in our foods after the Environmental Protection Authority decided to continue permitted use of all organophosphate (OP) and pesticides currently used in New Zealand, although safer alternatives exist. With meat exports to Korea found to include traces of endosulfan, and Sri Lanka demanding testing of our milk powder for chemical residue – our “100% Pure” reutation is suffering serious undermining as National permits all manner of shonkey activities that are degrading our environment.

On Ideologically Impure, QoT offers that Your search terms are answered. She is referring to Search terms  that show up on the Admin Panel that every blogger has. This is one such example from one blog that shall remain nameless (having paid the prerequisite  “donation” to my  Make Me Rich Fund);

search terms

Sometimes these Search Terms can be quite icky and occassionally disturbing.

So QoT has a bit of fun with some of the more greebly search terms that’ve appeared on her Admin Panel. Such fun!

On Maui Street, Morgan Godfery gives a précis of the Ikaroa-Rawhiti breakdown – which he continues in full on The Daily Blog.

No Right Turn has a wide look at the issues of the day, with Idiot Savant scrutinising each one with his/her usual in-depth attention;

Nobody likes a snoop – much less European nations who have been spied on by the US’s NSA. Savant make the point that considering we’re part of the “Echelon” group, any trade/political fallout could impact on us as well.

It seems that the Nats are pulling a swifty on us, with  A solution in search of a problem. Their committment to the Auckland rail loop and other transport matters may have a nasty sting in the tail. Question is – will Aucklanders put up with it?

It’s  30 years of the OIA, writes Savant, and suggests that we all send in an OIA on something we’d like to know.  As Savant points out – they are bound by law to answer.

Heads must roll, demands Savant, explaining,

Last week we learned that the Henry Inquiry into the leak of the Kitteridge Report had tracked journalist Andrea Vance’s movements around Parliament. Over the weekend, we learned that the spying had gone further, and included not just information on Vance, but also Peter Dunne’s email metadata, identifying who he had been emailing and how often (something which seems to be common practice from the Key government). Both the Prime Minister and the Speaker of the House deny authorising this spying; apparently Parliamentary Services cooperated with Henry on their own initiative.

Savant makes a good case that Henry and Parliamentary Services may have breached Parliamentary privilege.

At any rate – this is why we must not allow our spy agencies to gain additional powers to surveil us. If MPs aren’t safe…!!!

Imperator Fish is giving the Civilian some stiff competition and The Monday Poll is an example of brilliant satire. Guaranteed to bring out a snigger/chortle/chuckle/guffaw in you, The Reader. Go read it – then send me money for the hat-tip.

On Saturday, Scott commented on the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election, with  So much to say and so few words allowed – because of laws surrounding what can/can’t be done on Election Day. But he makes up for it in his own inimitable way!

And just how long can Key’s popularity last for? Well, if  Imperator Fish Nation: the undying popularity of John Key is any indication, we’re in deep doo-doos….

On the Pundit,

After Ikaroa-Rawhiti – everyone has something to worry about – Josie Pagani writes,

Mana and the Maori party must now co-operate or perish. All parties, including Labour should be worried about the low turnout – where’s the mood for change? National is losing coalition partners at an alarming rate. But the big question – will the Maori Party survive? Does it deserve to?

And the winner of the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election is … Winston Peters? – Andrew Geddis writes,

The Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election result is bad news for the Maori Party. That’s good news for Winston Peters and New Zealand First.

Winston Peters this, Winston Peters that, John Key ate a dirty big rat… This is getting tedious. If Peters’ supports starts to drop it won’t be because of any of his MPs getting up to mischief or shonkey policies or cuddling up to the Tories… it’ll be because the entire country has had a gutsful of him.

Can we have Colin Craig back please? He’s funny.

But read Andrew’s and Jodies’s blogposts. Get educated.

Mickey Savage on Waitakere News has  Some thoughts on Julia Gillard, who writes,

But I could never understand the cause of the negativity about her.  She was well spoken, dedicated, and passionate about her country and her job.  She managed the extraordinarily difficult job of maintaining Parliamentary confidence in her minority Labour Government well.  In many respects she was comparable to Helen Clark.  But she had to put up with three years of sniping and undermining by Kevin Rudd who never forgave her for deposing him earlier.

Mickey points out that factionalism in the Aussie Labor (why leave out the ‘u’?) is holding them back. Here is NZ, the MMP system broke the Labour Party factions apart (for the most).  Perhaps that’s what Australia should consider?

The Civilian has a good go at everyone…

Nelson Mandela distressed by Twitter reports of his death

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is said to be growing increasingly distressed as he continues to stumble upon an ongoing series of false Twitter reports that he has died. The 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero has been hospitalized in Pretoria for nearly three weeks…

New evidence implicates Robin Bain in murder of Scott Guy

Investigators in the Scott Guy murder case claim to have uncovered what they say is “significant” evidence that suggests that Guy was not murdered by his brother-in-law Ewen Macdonald, but rather by father of the infamous Bain family Robin Bain…

Killer robot won’t stop killing itself

An autonomous killer robot being developed by South Korea is facing an unusual series of hurdles this week as its manufacturers struggle to figure out how to prevent it from killing itself…

Caucus gives David Shearer gold sticker for by-election win

The Labour Party caucus has awarded their leader David Shearer with a brand new gold sticker to put on his performance chart this morning, after he helped steer his candidate Meka Whaitiri to victory in the Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election over the weekend…

On matters satirical, Porcupinefarm has the latest dig at Key and a certain Christchurch City Council CEO… It’s an icky image (if you dislike cockroaches – do not click) on the Survivor!

On The Jackal,

Matthew Hooton – Asshole of the Week – Where the Jackal looks at Hooton’s remarks regarding Hone Harawira and the Mana Party, and find that our favourite little right wing commentator has been a bit ‘loose’ with the truth. Ah, the ole right wing; fibbing away like there’s no tomorrow and giving the Left opportunity after opportunity to set the story straight.

Rudd should revamp mining tax, sez Jackal – and with good reason. Royalties paid to the Aussie state is obscenely low, giving mining companies outrageous profits. It’s definitely time for a re-think on this issue – as it is here in New Zealand.

Open Parachute has the latest June ’13 – NZ blogs sitemeter ranking – so if you’re a blogger with a sitemeter, registered at OP – scoot over there now to see your ranking!

Also find out about The victim mentality of conspiracy theorists – including one Bob Carter, “one of the darlings of the local climate change deniers/contrarians/pseudosceptics“. This is what the Flat Earth Society used to look like a few hundred years ago.

Meanwhile, over at The Standard,

Congratulations Meka Whaitiri, writes

Your country needs you, writes ,

The political speculators, and left wing underminers are having a field day, while John Key spins his fiscal irresponsibility, and remakes a distorted version of of Len Brown’s popular Auckland transport policies, in his own road-worshiping image.  Railways for the post-Key future, to be paid for on the never-never: SkyCity, and Roads for the better off being funded and planned immediately. Meanwhile affordable housing for those on low incomes, and the dire need for more state houses, take back-seat to the concerns of middle-class first time home buyers.

Also on the issue, Key, Brownlee: Not Auckland’s friends, writes karol again,

There was a big fanfare about John Key’s u-turn embrace of the Auckland City Rail Link.  But, as usual with dear leader, it was all smoke, mirrors and sleight of hand stealth of the common good.

The construction of the Central Rail Link is so far in the future, Key will be long gone and won’t have to account for its funding; there’s more immediate funding and planning going into to work on the road system; and now the pressure starts for Auckland to sell its assets (first on the block most likely the Ports of Auckland).

John Ryall writes that over 30,000 aged care workers and tens of thousands of other low paid women workers are Awaiting an  Equal Pay Case Decision by the Employment Court in relation to an Equal Pay Case heard this week.

Terranova argued that because it paid its four male caregivers the same pay rates as its 100-plus female caregivers then it was complying with the Equal Pay Act and told the Court it was being picked on and being put to great expense for no reason. It’s lawyer even made the comment that some jobs have always been paid low rates and always would be, but that was not about gender discrimination, simply the market rate that these jobs attracted.

Nice to know that bosses treat exploitation of workers on an equal-opportunity basis…

What’s the holdup? asks Ben Clark, who writes,

Generation Zero are a youth-led organisation who see climate change as their problem. They see zero fossil fuel use as 100% Possible in a sustainable Aotearoa. So they’re holding a nationwide speaking tour about it – asking “What’s the holdup?” on climate change action.

National – idiots on education, writes

National governments always bungle education. So when sometimes they realise the mess that they’ve made, I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry…

Yes, why not scrap apprenticeships? What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like we’ll have a shortage of trained tradespeople or a massive earthquake that will level one of our major cities…

And voters still think the Nats are “fiscally prudent”…? Ye gods.

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From the Daily Blog

Are there conflicts of interest involving the Christchurch rebuild? –  James Dann  writes,

3.14.7 Pecuniary interest:No members may vote or take part in the discussion of any matter at any meeting where they, directly or indirectly, have any pecuniary interest as defined in law, other than an interest in common with the public.


The depoliticization of motherhood on Essential Mums
–  Martyn Bradbury writes,

Now fun for free isn’t always the way we roll. On $540 a week, any extras like more than $20 worth of petrol, often go on my credit card which is at $4000 and counting. That’s a potential for worrying for free, or strike that – worrying with interest accruing daily.

Clothes don’t come for free if they’re new, but they do if they are passed on from friends or from the op shop. The op shop my friends, is a faux fun for free place to hang. As is Video Ezy and their rent a weekly move for one dollar Mondays. That’s some quality fun for heck may as well be free right there. Other fun for free ideas include making up stories for the kids, making funny faces, and improving my parenting by reading Buddhism for Mothers – not free but available for around $20 on Fishpond.

On Julia, John, Judith and Joan Crawford –  Simon Prast writes,

A senior National MP, speaking to me on the grounds of anonymity, says that John Key has just two months to cobble together a credible coalition, come up with a single original idea that doesn’t involve the wholesale theft of opposition policy

ROFL!

The Privatization of Poverty – forcing the mentally unwell back to work – Martyn Bradbury writes,

While John Key looks straight down the barrel of the media and tells the country that he is center right, private contractors earning large large fees will be trying to force the mentally unwell back into the workforce.

Will the same manufactured disqualification regime used to cut benefits be employed here as well I wonder? Will the depressed and the anxious be urine tested for cannabis use and then expelled if they fail the test?

No Message: Ikaroa-Rawhiti falls short of by-elections past –  By Chris Trotter writes,

UNDERWHELMING – no other word fits. Though the opportunity for a major political upset was clearly present in the days preceding the Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election, when the moment came the voters declined to take it. Yes, the Maori Party was relegated to third place by a media star representing the Mana Party. But, Labour’s Meka Whaitiri was 1,762 votes ahead of him. And that’s the point. Although the electorate, taken as a whole, clearly preferred someone other than Labour’s candidate, there was insufficient political will to turn that potential anti-Labour majority into a real upset on the night.

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Blogpost of the Day #1

Heavyweight Sunday: Torchwood and arrives at the well-founded conclusion that the power and terror of the State can – and has – been used here in New Zealand. In Torchwood, it was black-armoured soldiers rounding up children from lower class families – here in New Zealand, it was black-armoured soldiers in Ruatoki.

The similarities of de-humanisation is chilling.Fiction and Fact blur…

Blogpost of the Day #2

Check out QoT’s blogpost, on Ideologically Impure, where she scrutinises  National Party economics: make $2 billion, spend 5. The Nats continue to make big spending promises, and sooner or later people are going to demand,where is the money coming from???

This is going to bring back a few memories on Key’s “punch-line” to Phil Goff during one of the Leader’s Debates in 2011.

SHOW ME THE MONEY JOHN KEY!

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Free Plug for the Day

Right. Time for you lot to start pulling your weight redux – Danyl on The Dim Post has just released his book. Check out the details of the launch party on this Friday, 5 July, in Wellington.

Danyl's book

This is your chance to mix it with a well known blogger; other bloggers who will be attending to drink Danyl’s booze present to support Danyl; and a lively evening to remember.

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Action of the Week#1

Tree planting day at Poets Park alongside the Hutt River / Hutt River Trail, 10am, Saturday 13 July until trees all planted.  All welcome.  Bring your gumboots and a spade if possible (but not essential as a few will be available).  Trees and equipment provided.  Planting for a couple of hours or so, followed by sausage sizzle, hot drink and mingle.  For further information contact George Butters, 027 632 1220.  Organised by Greater Wellington and Friends of the Hutt River.  Poets Park is first left after crossing the Moonshine bridge, see Google Map: Poets Park


Pat van Berkel
Friends of the Hutt River

0211 1459 789

Action of the Week#2

From Frogblog, Holly Walker writes about Electoral reform in the constitutional review;

This week the deadline for submissions on the Constitutional Conversation was extended by a month, so now we’ve got until July 31st to submit.

This is a great chance for all of us to have a say on how we want our country to be run, as well as to share our values and aspirations for Aotearoa New Zealand.

We’ve got a submission guide to help you have your say, which includes Green Party policy on some of the specific areas included in the terms of reference.

Two of the official areas under review that I’m really interested in are electoral matters and Māori representation, which include some pretty important issues like:

  • the size of parliament
  • the size and number of electorates
  • how long our parliamentary term should be
  • whether we should have a fixed election date
  • the Māori Electoral Option
  • Māori seats

I think it’s worth thinking about these issues in the context of our MMP system. MMP has brought fairness, diversity and proportionality to our parliament, and it’s important that these principles are reflected in any further changes to the way parliament and elections work.

Read more here.

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Thought for the Day

Herman Melville

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~ Joe Blogger,

“The Daily Blog Watch” Editor, Imbiber of Fine Sugary Drinks,  & moa tail-docker

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~oo~