Posts by Kumara Republic
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Speaking of the Daily (Hate) Mail, at least it's been a tabloid rag from the start. What's been happening at NZME is a more insidious case of a broadsheet devolving into a tabloid, and in danger of taking the Overton window with it.
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Is it a Privileges Committee offence to concoct an astroturf group on the hoof?
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"Bollocks" seems to work in any situation. And my Twitter feed was briefly reminded of that moment when Ron Mark mumbled the F-word, and the sign language interpreter translated it as a middle finger.
And even further back, Canada's Pierre Trudeau once told a group of striking truckies to "mangez de la merde".
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Sacha,
As someone pointed out, offering an online option while reducing school support funding for older disabled students suggests another group who may be 'encouraged' to opt for the former 'choice'.
Online learning is an adjunct to traditional learning, rather than a replacement for it. And there's the digital divide issue - would pupils be required or not to supply their own computer devices, which cost a whole lot more than a few pencils and sheets of paper?
For learners with pervasive developmental disorders like ADHD or autism, a highly immersive approach such as that of a trade apprenticeship likely fits them best. Computers in the home can't necessarily replicate that, if the ultra-high dropout rates for MOOCs are anything to go by.
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Polity: Hekia's waynebrave, in reply to Russell Brown,
And from experience, Eton-esque private schools are hotbeds of applied Social Darwinism where classmates tread on anyone perceived to be weak for the fun of it. My folks thought it was a good idea at the time.
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From 2013, still rings true. Big Farming in America remains a rentier racket, and it's a key reason why the TPPA can't be called a free trade agreement.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/8879488/A-fistful-of-dollars-for-US-farmers
What I find most bizarre is that US farmers, who have this image of being freedom lovers with a loathing for pinko-socialist bureaucrats in Washington, accept handouts from the state. It seems so . . . un-American! Aren't they embarrassed?
When the Business Roundtable was in its prime it used to bring out zealous American academics that were so right wing they made Ayn Rand look like a raving Marxist. They lectured New Zealand on the benefits of the free market and getting government out of our lives.
I used to like interviewing them as I would always ask them what they thought of the billions of dollars of government handouts doled out to US farmers. They would smile nervously and say of course they didn't agree with them but it was all politics and nothing much could be done about it. What hypocrites! I always felt they would have been more useful staying home and preaching to their own politicians and farmers.
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Polity: Hidden Costs, in reply to mpledger,
Too many industries think the govt should be importing immigrants to meed their labour needs rather than training their staff too.
Hair dressing as a skilled immigrant class is depressing.
In Britain, the "Polish plumber" stereotype has been attributed as a big factor in the Brexit vote. And Donald Trump has shamelessly cashed in on similar discontent in the States. In both cases, it's more about opportunistic divide-and-rule rather than any coherent plan to boost investment in skills.
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Hard News: Stop acting like the law is…, in reply to Tom Semmens,
But this is Little's view, and it seems an honestly held one, and so we know what we have to do convince him of to change his mind. Key is just a lying opportunist who can't sleep straight in bed at night.
What would Key and others like Peter Dunne have to lose from relaxing cannabis law? Large donations from Big Booze, Big Tobacco & Big Pharma, I'm guessing? Endorsements from the string-em-uppers?
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Further proof that "not our problem" is a feature and not a bug for the usual suspects:
RNZ Insight: Labour-Hire Companies - Exploitation or Opportunity?
Workplace Relations Minister Michael Woodhouse declined Insight's request for an interview about labour-hire companies.
A spokesperson from his office said the minister felt it wasn't appropriate to comment on the unfairness of unwanted long-term casual contracts because they were not illegal.
O RLY, Mr Woodhouse? Underarm bowling wasn't illegal in 1981, but it certainly wasn't in the spirit of the game.
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Up Front: Dear Dudebros, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Which goes to another real problem with NZ society. Bullying is an accepted, even encouraged behaviour. We’re doing something wrong as a society and the consequences are horrible.
It’s not just a physical thing. Anyone who’s abnormally psychopathic can be a bully, and that goes for hitting a family member with a hosepipe, just as much as it does for the Rupert Murdochs, Donald Trumps and Martin Shkrelis of this world who use big money to beat down those below them. Come to think of it, when the latter involve violence, it's probably when they outsource it to hired heavies.