The Daily Blog Watch Friday 28 June

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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

On The Pundit, Tim Watkin asks the fairly obvious question,  Is Shearer Gillard-esque? And if so, who’s our Rudd?

No points if you guess the answer – it’s pretty obvious. The real question is if and when the electoral maths could compell New Zealand Labour to follow the same path...”

Tim adds the coup de grâce,

Shearer has yet to show that level of mastery — of policy, of the media, of voter mood and the current Kiwi psyche. His party looks loose. The act of faith with Shearer was that he would grow into the job and be able to add political nous and steel to his likeability and down-to-earthness. We’ve yet to see it. 

!Ouchies!

TDB Recommends NewzEngine.com

The Other Tim – Tim Selwyn – on Tumeke lists three Miraculous reversals – all somehow connected with the Moon and Neptune being in Aquarius tonight. The starship Enterprise, meanwhile, is currently in the Romulan Neutral Zone where Kirk kis cruising for some alien tail… literally. Aliens with tails.

Tonight, the Jackal’s offerings…

Mighty River plummets – not good news for “mum and dad” investors…

Irradiated food labelling a joke – and as usual, it’s a joke on us, courtesy of the National government…

On the Dim Post, Danyl writes  Overnight,

I don’t follow Australian politics too closely, and I didn’t have a dog in the Rudd-Gillard fight (Rudd won). I think the object lesson here is that rolling a sitting Prime Minister is an absolute last resort, a nuclear option that you exercise when their political career is over, not something you do opportunistically when their polling dips after they try and implement core party policy, which is what happened when Gillard rolled Rudd. It left her with a wounded but very-much-alive mortal enemy – who possessed the cunning, vicious egotism you generally find in Prime Ministers – inside her own party, and it doomed her government from the beginning.  ”

And perhaps the most honest comment made thus far on the David Bain issue,

I’ve always thought that David Bain was guilty – mostly because the defense counter-factual in which Robin Bain killed his family, took off all his blood-stained clothes, put them in the wash, put on some different clothes then committed suicide – didn’t really make any sense. But now, after a privy court declaration of a mistrial, a re-trial with a not guilty verdict, the Binnie finding in favor of Bain and now forensic evidence suggesting Robin Bain fired a rifle, I have no idea what happened, and my inclination is that the taxpayer owes David Bain an enormous sum of money. ”

Makes a welcome change from the quasi-judicio-religious fruitcakes who dismiss new evidence; a three month trial; 180 witnesses in favour of – a hunch??? Armchair experts – wait til they get into a jury box deciding YOUR fate!

Porcupinefarm has the latest satirical meme, targetting Gerry Brownlee firmly on his well-padded backside;  Buggerise About With This, Munters

Check out Phil Twyford’s  Tunnel of love on Red Alert. Phil pokes the borax at National’s sudden U-Turn on the Auckland rail loop.

On Ideologically Impure, QoT reveals that  The Catholic extremists are coming: lock up your brains.  Family Life International are opening a “John Paul II Centre for Life” in Dunedin, raising  the number of anti-choice, anti-abortion  centres, to three. These centres  prey on vulnerable,  pregnant women to promote their pernicious god-bothering-based dogma.

Ain’t it funny, Jethro, that the god botherers never target men in the same way?

Yowzah!

Chris Trotter tells us about  Making Money on Bowalley Road, and suggests that the Green Party policy on “printing money” (Quantitative Easing) is actually no different to what banks are doing now. It’s a fascinating look at how our money supply has, effectively, been privatised.

Green MPs on Frogblog have been busy,

A fan girl letter to Wendy Davis & word of warning to NZ –  Jan Logie writes,

 “ Last night a US Senator made me more hopeful about ability of feminism to fight back against the regressive epidemic of conservative anti-woman/anti-people legislation in the US and around the world.

I’m not usually a fan of heralding individuals but there are some times when individuals do stand up for a group, as part of a group, in a way that is heroic. I think Wendy Davis did that last night standing up for women’s health and the integrity of women’s bodies in the face of attempts to close almost all the abortion clinics in Texas and outlaw abortion after 20 weeks, directly contradicting Roe vs. Wade.  ”

NZ Post must show more care for workers – Denise Roche writes,

I would very much like to see just how much money will be saved by cutting these mail sorting rooms and seeing workers who have given their whole lives to NZ Post facing the prospect of redundancy or leaving friends and family and moving cities.

NZ Post may have to make changes for the future but that should involve as little pain and disruption for workers, and those that rely on getting mail in the post, as possible .  So far this whole exercise has left me concerned that New Zealand Post is moving too fast too soon with little care for workers.  ”

And more from Eugenie Sage, Holly Walker, Steffan Browning, Mojo Mathers, et al…

On No Right Turn, Idiot Savant takes a look at,

How Embarrassing for National that the Auckland City Council has voted to oppose the Skycity deal…

No freedom of speech in the UK, writes Savant as racist American bloggers, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer who campaign against Muslims, have been banned from entering the UK. Savant sez that the answer to bigotry is not to ban them – but to counter with more free speech.  Hmmm, does that  work if the bigots are inciting individuals or crowds to violence and the odd lynching? Aye, there’s the rub…

Who authorised Spying on journalists, asks Savant, as   it transpires  that the Henry Inquiry spied on Fairfax journalist, Andrea Vance. As per usual,  Dear Leader  sez he didn’t authorise it. So who did? As Savant points out,

Because I can’t imagine Parliamentary Services handing out this information without someone telling them to.   ”

So this is what it comes down to? The State tracking individuals who have broken no law?? But hey, if you have nothing to fear…

It’s Just irrational, insists Savant that Joyce is refusing to release official advice on problem gambling and the shonkey Skycity deal. As Savant points out, with considerable justification,

…releasing the information only once the deal has been made, that is not how democracy is supposed to work. If this deal is made in our name, then we have a right to know the details and debate them fully before it is signed. Otherwise it cannot possibly be regarded as binding, and in fact should be immediately repudiated.

Freedom of information and requester privacy – an issue surrounding the State releasing the names of those requesting OIA information.

The only reason I could see for a Government to release the names of OIA requesters is to stifle the number of requests made by individual citizens. Because really, it sure as hell can’t be be cause the State believes in full transparency. That would deserve one almighty big TUI!

From Imperator Fish, Scott has been up to some satirical craziness…

And over on The Standard,

No one wants Key’s convention center writes,

Key’s grubby little deal on the Sky City convention center is about as popular as halitosis. Public opinion is against it, and so is the Auckland City Council. But Key will carry on regardless, because he is much too arrogant to back down.

A lost generation – industry training is failing –  writes,

If your child wants to be a teacher, a lawyer, a nurse, an artist, an actor, a writer, an engineer, an architect or a historian to give some examples, you go to University or Polytech and get the full training you need to at least be qualified.  However if they want to be a builder, a plumber, an electrician, an arborist, a plasterer, a mechanic, an upholsterer, a bus driver, a train driver, a bicycle mechanic or a welder then you have to hope like hell they fall into the training one way or another.”

“Women of Influence” awards: from the left or the right? – writes,

I tend to regard anything launched by the Fairfax Media with suspicion, especially when it’s partnered with Westpac.  However, I do think there’s something to be said for their last (Gillard-inspired?) initiative: their launch of the the Westpac-Fairfax Women of Influence NZ awards.  On average, women are in less powerful an highly paid jobs than men.  And the pay gap is stuck at women earning on average around 80% of that for men.  Many women (along with some men) do not receive social recognition for their valuable (often unpaid or underpaid) contributions to society. However, the Fairfax awards put too much focus on an individualist approach that foregrounds money, profits and business.

Dame Anne Salmond on NZ

Distinguished Professor, noted historian and author, and New Zealander of the Year Dame Anne Salmond had a powerful piece in The Herald yesterday. Here are some extracts, but you should go and read the full article…

Over the past thirty years, there has been an erosion of democratic rights and freedoms in New Zealand. At the same time our collective life has been re-imagined as a market, driven by the pursuit of short-term profit. These two trends have placed us in danger.

Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election round-up – 

I’ve been looking around at what the media are saying about the by-election.  Some are making claims about the impact on the Labour Party of a loss and/or low vote: from the left and the right.  Supporters of each of the main contenders are talking up heir chances.  Some candidates have made some important statements of policy.  All the left-leaning candidates have something to recommend them.

John Key re-announces Len’s plan rites,

So John Key has today re-announced the Auckland plan, albeit delayed.

So the Central Rail Link is on.  There’ll be a 2nd Harbour crossing that’s tunnels.

Combine it with Christchurch and Key’s spent about $10 billion this week.  Bill English will be having a heart attack… but then, it’s all spending in the distant future on the never-never.  They can promise what they like as they know there’ll be Labour-led government (be it 2014 or 2017) before they have to work out where the money comes from.”

 

 

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From the Daily Blog

Not news: Winston Peters will say anything for a headline – Queen Of Thorns writes,

The fact is that Winston Peters plays the media (and many voters) in this country like a cheap fiddle.  We all know he’s a “populist” in the sense of being someone who will say and do whatever it takes to get votes.  We know his track record in being a racist dickhead.  We know his fine flair for the dramatic. ”

Labour Party Coup Watch warning upgrade –  Martyn Bradbury  writes,

We need to move the Labour Party Coup Watch up from yellow to orange. There is now a high risk of a Labour Party Coup. ”

A State That Cannot Sin – Chris Trotter writes,

The questions I come back to over and over again are: “Why are these people so reluctant to believe in the possibility of David Bain’s innocence?” And, “Why is it so important to them that the original verdict should be allowed to stand?”

Big Brother Was Watching Me – The Nomad  writes,

You might be tempted to ask why I was targeted for investigation. But, if your assumption behind that question is that I must be guilty of breaking some law, then your question is a naïve one.

Because in the country I live in, the world of secret policing is not about catching criminals, it is not about preventing those who would break the law; it is about stopping the activities of those who work within the law, but in a way that those with power do not like.

It is not a tool to serve the common good; it is a force to benefit the powerful.”

Citizen A With Host Martyn Bradbury, Julie Fairey & Keith Locke

As Broadcast on FaceTV – “This week on Citizen A host Martyn Bradbury, Julie Fairey & Keith Locke debate whether this latest poll scare Labour’s caucus into reconsidering Shearer as leader? Would a NZ First backed GCSB bill be the worst outcome for New Zealand? What did Auckland mayor Len Brown give away to get the support of this National-led Government?”

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Blogpost of the Day

From Imperator Fish comes this wee beauty…

Patrick Gower put on notice by colleagues

3 News Political Editor Patrick Gower has been put on notice that his performance must improve if he is to keep his job.A member of 3 News’ political reporting team told 3 News yesterday that Gower had two months to improve his performance.

Questions have been raised about Gower’s leadership style ever since he took over as political editor from Duncan Garner.

Read the whole thing – it’s a gem!

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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

You are free...

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~ Joe Blogger,

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

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~oo~