Labour chooses to be fair to beneficiaries

No Right Turn says “Labour chooses to be cruel to beneficiaries“. So we must fisk. RNZ reports that WINZ is systematically racist and misogynist about debt, with Māori being forced deeper into debt, and women and Māori forced to repay at a higher rate than men and Pākehā. Here’s the elephant in the room: no one has…

When in a hole: Then and Now

Then: My Right has taken issue with my post yesterday and missed my point. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the Government’s tax policies, if you are in a financial hole you should stop digging. But nowadays, it’s all the fashion to argue that you should dig and dig and dig. I mean, are there really consequences…

Quote of the Day

From Idiot/Savant: Update: And according to the Herald, Henry has made the usual non-apology, “apologising” that “ome[sic] people have taken what I said in a way that I never intended”. In other words, its not his fault – its ours for being “hypersensitive”. What a prick. Tuck that one under your hat for the future……

A week is a long time on some blogs…

Funny how stories change. So, after a week of bad press, the Maori Party has had enough of Hone Harawira, and want him out. This seems a little disproportionate – Hone is a loose cannon and a dick, but his recent behaviour doesn’t seem to justify eviction from the party. So what else is going…

It must be to attack the poor!

Why would schools want to exclude people living in their area? A group of “elite” state secondary schools are asking the government to vary their zoning regulations to allow them to admit the children of past pupils, regardless of where they live. They’re spinning this as “maintaining tradition”, but there is one reason and one…

How useful is the nanny state?

No Right Turn attacks the opponents of the nanny state: Complaining about the “nanny state” has been a key theme of National’s campaign, even if they have to make up things to complain about. But here’s something which might want to make people think. Tomorrow night is Guy Fawkes night (yes, when we celebrate an…

Overhang

NRT talks about overhang Peter Dunne has launched an attack on the Maori seats today, saying that they “distort democracy” and “pervert the will of the voters”. Unlike Rodney Hide, he is at least making principled arguments based on proportionality, rather than simply appealing to naked racism. At the same time, it has to be…

We’ll respect your beliefs under our terms

Some people just don’t get it. …But worse, they object to a clause which imposes a positive duty on medical practioners to save the life of the mother by performaing abortions in an actual emergency, regardless of any belief they have to the contrary. According to the Catholic Church, women in these circumstances should simply…

More Public Transport Nonsense

NRT publishes this little chart from the Greens. “Orange and red all over the map – they don’t have decent trains or buses, and so are forced to take the car. As oil prices rise, life for people in those orange suburbs is going to become a lot more expensive.” Except that’s not true. The…

Losing the War – at the behest of the left

Sometimes one just has to shake one’s head. Last week’s massive operation by Nato forces to move a dam turbine 100 miles across Helmand was reportedly brought forward at Washington’s insistence to help John McCain’s candidacy. It cost some 300 Afghan lives. Every one of those lives invites revenge against that dam. Now, it’s potentially…