Archive for August, 2009
Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Interesting that Act MP John Boscawen wants to introduce legislation that will try to re-define what is or isn’t a permitted means, and level, of parental discipline. He belongs to the same party that opposes an exemption under the tax rules for GST on food, which would help to feed ...
Posted in Articles | 13 Comments »
Monday, August 24th, 2009
Diversion, as every parent knows, is a useful ploy in good parenting. You divert the angry child’s attention away – with a game, or another activity – from the thing that would otherwise lead to a violent confrontation. Basically, you change the subject. How ironic then that the entire ...
Posted in Articles | 80 Comments »
Friday, August 21st, 2009
Click to enlarge
Image from: Scoop Satire: Super-City Map
As Rodney Hide crawls out onto the ledge and threatens to resign all of his ministerial posts if the Auckland Supercity Council is allowed to include dedicated Maori seats, an anxious nation gathers in the street below with only one thought on its ...
Posted in Articles | 8 Comments »
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Defence Minister Wayne Mapp’s main contribution to the House debate yesterday on Afghanistan was that New Zealand would want to see an improvement in the security situation in 12 months. Fat chance. Mapp’s effort was a signal of just how token this SAS re-deployment really is.
No sane person is expecting ...
Posted in Articles | 19 Comments »
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
New Zealand has a special interest in the rape law that Hamid Karzai has reportedly sneaked into effect only days before the Afghan election on Thursday. The law will particularly affect the Hazara community that form the majority in Bamiyan province, where the bulk of New Zealand’s contribution to the ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Friday, August 14th, 2009
If the military regime in Fiji deserves smart sanctions against its officials, relatives, supporters and sports teams – and it does – then you’d think New Zealand would be zealously promoting a policy of absolute zero tolerance towards the military regime in Burma. You’d be wrong, though.
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Now that our SAS troops are heading back into combat in Afghanistan the key question becomes – who are they going to replace? The answer to that would say a lot about what the SAS will be doing and where, inside the country. Apparently, there will be 70 SAS troops ...
Posted in Articles | 3 Comments »
Friday, August 7th, 2009
Clearly, the first item on the review of ministerial expenses is going to be to create a clear definition of what constitutes ‘home’ – because judging by the performance of deputy Prime Minister Bill English, ‘home’ is a word that means what he chooses it to mean. And Dipton – ...
Posted in Articles | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009
In recent days, there has been an odd symmetry between Graham Henry’s response to the All Blacks defeat in Durban and John Key’s rationale for the equally lamentable hole his deputy Bill English has dug himself into with his ministerial housing expenses. In both cases, basic mistakes in handling have ...
Posted in Articles | 7 Comments »
Parliament Headlines
Headlines
Headlines
Headlines
Headlines
