“Free speech” – The Rules according to the Right
For the Right-wing, free speech is fine. It just depends on who’s doing the speaking.
Did anyone seriously believe even for a nanosecond that it would be otherwise?
Setting the Agenda
Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
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Working For Families: Keeping The Wheels Of Capitalism Turning
St John is scathing in her condemnation of the purveyors of what she regards as the “subsidy myth”. Matthew Hooton, Eric Crampton on the Right; Bryce Edwards on the Left; and “others”.
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What To Make Of Allegations John Bolton Is A Russian Spy
I have to say, the recent news that the Democratic Party is gunning for John Bolton as an alleged ‘Russian Spy’ … has me feeling seriously “confused”, to say the least.
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Myths that hurt children
Blaming WFF for low wages is a bit like pointing to our high rate of suicide and blaming it on the existence of the mental health services. The true cause of low wages is found in casualised hours, precarious employment, automation, globalised labour markets and falling wage share of output due to loss of union power.
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Dr Liz Gordon: Spring
At the justice summit, I passed two Māori participants discussing daffodils and clouds, and stopped dead. “Are you quoting Wordsworth?”…
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Game theory and NZ Coalition Politics : Agenda Setters, Co-operation, Triumph and Suckers
By applying Game theory, Nested games and the Prisoner’s Dilemma to current NZ politics, we can see that NZ First is playing the sharpest game; it’s triumphant in many policy and funding allocations. Meanwhile the Greens celebrate relatively small wins, with no real incentive to defect, playing the sucker in Labour and New Zealand First’s game.
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Gerry Brownlee, David Farrar, and Brett Hudson win Hypocrisy Awards
Ms Curran’s gaffs have sparked the usual and tedious pious pontification from the National Opposition benches. Former Christchurch Re-build Minister, and airline security hazard, Gerry Brownlee, climbed the rarified heights of Mount Moral Highground to demand Ms Curran’s sacking;
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Zionism – the stumbling block to peace
Some Zionists assert that there is no such thing as Palestine, going so far as to deny its culture and history.
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The Summit Of Folly: Why ‘Middle New Zealand” Will Have The Last Word On Crime And Punishment
If nothing else, the experience will have shown Little what he is up against. The anger and hurt of Maori. The radical programmes with which the latter propose to empty the prisons of their disproportionate ethnic muster. The anxious attempts of the various state institutions tasked with managing crime and punishment to generate outcomes that meet the often contradictory expectations of their political masters. And last – but by no means least – the inescapable reality of “Middle New Zealand’s” veto: it’s indisputable power and its implacable determination to have the final say.
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Dr Liz Gordon – Another cat rescued from dangerous tree
I did not really expect to enjoy the justice summit. Too many people, same old stories, probably not much more than a talkfest. But actually, I enjoyed it hugely and it gave me hope for the future. I believe in hope. It springs eternal. And it can move mountains. And maybe the mountains are ready to be moved.