Posts by Alfie
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Ian Dalziel,
...
Threatening
EstablishedOrder
And (hopefully)
Sinking
Incumbent
Neoliberal
Government
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to izogi,
It’s the shallow end of journalism... Patrick Gower’s brilliant at it...
Sure enough. Paddy's big story tonight was about the "first row" between the two parties. He asked Meteria Turei if the public "would get to see what a joint government would look like before the election?"
She said "Yes. New Zealanders want to know what a credible and progressive alternative government that's presented by Labour and the Greens, and possibly others, will be before the 2017 election."
Then he asked Andrew Little the same question.
He said "No. Because the people are entitled to have their say. The whole thing about democracy is that the voters speak, they decide who will get into parliament, who has (th.. th..) the numbers in the house and you work it out from there."
Little gave the impression that he probably had his fingers crossed behind his back when he signed the MOU yesterday, and that he'd have no problem renegging on the deal with the Greens if he found a better deal with Winnie.
It was a typical beatup by Gower. But FFS sake guys, how difficult is it to agree on the basics so you at least appear to be singing from the same songbook?
And has anyone in the Labour camp thought about getting Little some media training? He's fine when he's reading a statement. But when he's winging it, the constant ums and ahs make him sound indecisive.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to BenWilson,
Everyone knows they’re natural bedfellows anyway...
David Cunliffe admitted as much after losing the 2014 election.
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The Herald has more details which suggest Kerr was running a serious operation -- they found 32,000 BZP tabs and five pill-press machines.
They've also revealed that he was busted back in 2004 for operating a hydroponic setup with 450 plants.
The plants were inside shipping containers equipped with extraction fans, ultra-violet lighting and watering systems.
UV lights? I'll bet the plants were nicely tanned.
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The Weldon Effect is coming home to roost and MediaWorks profits have halved over the last 12 months. Radio is still performing well but the TV side of the business is more than a little sick.
[Acting CEO) Chalmers said MediaWorks would not be filing audited accounts to the Companies Office this year. He said the company had assurances from the Companies Office that such filing was not required.
Really? I thought that was a legal requirement for all registered companies. Has Steven Joyce had a quiet word with someone perhaps?
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Ian Dalziel,
...that man makes me so mad.
Is that because of his pompous demeanor, his redirection of the science budget to multinationals and friends of the National party, or the total disregard for democracy he shares with his cabinet colleagues?
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This morning Jeremy Kerr has pleaded guilty to five additional charges which had been suppressed during his blackmail trial. Four counts of possessing BZP for the purpose of supply and one of selling the drug.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Marc C,
Is it really the right time, when Labour have with recent changes of position (Auckland housing, dropping CGT, dropping GST exemption for certain foods, ambiguous talk about a UBI, and so forth), and a very unclear policy direction (no clear words on tax reform), and nobody really knowing that well about where the party stands on many issues
I think you've nailed it, Marc. The Greens have always been a party of principle with consistent policies, whereas for the last few years Labour have been all over the place.
Their refusal to cooperate with the Greens in 2014, dropping the CGT, teaming up with National during the last election to oust Hone Harawira, supporting the TPPA despite its evil investor/state dispute settlement process... at the moment it's hard to see our current Labour Party as anything other than National-lite.
It's not as if National are invulnerable. New Zealanders used to be defined by our egalitarianism and sense of fair play. There are numerous examples of the Nats often cruel application of neoliberal economics which should be anathema to the majority of kiwis. For instance...
* The sale of state assets, at a loss if necessary to satisfy ideology
* Sacrificing sovereignty to multinationals via the ISDS
* Privatising health -- how's that Compass deal going?
* Privatising education -- more charter schools, anyone?
* The continuing disposal of our social housing stock in the midst of the country's biggest housing crisis
* Complicity in providing financial shelter and money laundering services to the world's criminals
* The complete absence of principle which allowed Judith Collins back into cabinetThe iniquity of these policies should inspire revolution, but they're not.
As the principle opposition party, it's Labour's role to articulate to the masses this ongoing transfer of wealth from the public to the private sector with its subsequent catastrophic outcomes for the poor. But we're saddled with a weak opposition which seems unable to even verbalise National's game plan, let alone provide a viable alternative.
Sure, the game has become more difficult since the advent of Crosby/Textor manipulation and the weakening of our investigative media. But these things make the presense of a strong left wing voice even more important. Labour might look to Jeremy Corbyn in the UK and Bernie Sanders in the US for inspiration.
It's time for Labour to prioritise principle over power and take a hard look at what they really stand for.
</rant>
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Breaking news on the Herald. Labour has finally realised that we operate under an MMP system.
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Speaker: A simple strategy for Trump to…, in reply to Kirk Serpes,
What interesting is that Latinos are suddenly signing up to be citizens in very large numbers, just so they can vote against Trump.
Trump has just been ordered to hand over the Trump University records by a US court. In a nutshell, the "university" which was never a licensed educational establishment sold high-priced courses in entrepreneurship. How to make your fortune in real estate, just like the Don.
New York State has filed a $40m suit which alleges that Trump defrauded more than 5,000 individuals. The business is also facing two additional class action lawsuits for fraud and closed its doors a while back.
In an ironic twist, the judge hearing the case is Hispanic, and that didn't sit well with Trump. He stated that the judge “happens to be, we believe, Mexican” and called him a “hater of Donald Trump”. The trial is scheduled for November, before the Presidential elections.
Karma.