Do the makers of transport decisions on Auckland Council and Auckland Transport live in the real world? It would seem not. These are presumably highly paid individuals who sit at desks all day in a theoretical (make-believe) world rather than a practical (real) world. These people have power and they
Information Opinion Both National and Labour are beset by problems relating to bullying, which brings the party leaders very much into focus. Jacinda Ardern has the bigger problem on two fronts. Firstly, Chris Luxon is dealing with a person’s shameful behaviour occurring more than two decades ago – student behaviour
Information Opinion Hands up if you have done something stupid in your teenage years, something that in later years you’ve lived to regret. If that question was put to a live audience who replied honestly, there would be very few hands that wouldn’t go up. We’ve all
On August 8th Cam wrote an article entitled $137.5m to Get 36 Million Page Views. As Cam pointed out, that sounds impressive but The BFD got 33 million on their own last year. And the mind-blowing difference is, the mainstream media (MSM) got theirs at the taxpayers’ expense from
National’s policy of Welfare That Works announced by Christopher Luxon at the Party Conference has all the hallmarks of a well-thought-out approach. The initial reaction is mainly positive. It is certainly preferable to the current policy of doing nothing. Doing nothing is something which has manifested itself in all
In my article entitled ‘Next Election Don’t Cut Off Your Nose’ I said that I defy anyone to give me the name of a current politician, or someone thinking of putting their name forward, who would make a perfect leader. There isn’t one. My article received 81 comments
Information Opinion Once again I’m pleased to see my last article engendered some lively discussion with varying points of view being put forward. Isn’t this the beauty of the BFD!! Compare the BFD to the MSM where we are often fed the opposite of the headline to this
My last article, as I hoped it would, generated some healthy discussion. It was good to see a range of opinions. There were, predictably, comments from those who are unwilling to give their vote to National purely on the basis of its leader. At the risk of causing angst, I
I am going to start with a premise, one most of us here I think can agree upon. The premise is this: the centre-right will win next year’s election because Labour will lose it. I use the premise not just as something we can hopefully agree upon but to
One of the advantages of living on the outskirts of a metropolis is one is kept abreast of rural matters through various publications dropped in the letterbox. One that comes through my box is the Farmers Weekly which provides a very informative read on topics concerning the land. One headline
Almost all the media appear to be (perhaps under government financial guidance) still obsessed with something called Covid. Meanwhile, almost all of the population have moved on and are worrying about more immediate and pressing problems like inflation and the cost of living. The media are avoiding these topics as
Information Opinion Let’s start by defining the word democracy. the belief and freedom of equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves. The Cambridge Dictionary How do you think that
Over the weekend the newspapers provided some interesting reading, as did articles coming into my Inbox from overseas. Both sources, domestic and international showed there is a strong wind starting to blow. It is picking up speed and the possibility of a cyclone cannot be discounted. This wind is blowing
The Tauranga by-election was really about whether National’s majority reflected a return to near normality or could Labour prove its 2020 result was more than just a Covid one. The result reflected the former, as a 4% gap in 2020 was turned into a 42% gap last weekend. In
Perhaps the biggest surprise in this week’s rearranging of the deck chairs was the demise of Trevor Mallard. Who would have thought Ardern had her political gun aimed at her Lord Protector, the Speaker of the House? As someone not known as a straight shooter, Ardern had no option
In the Weekend Herald there was extensive coverage relating to revitalising the CBD, particularly Queen Street. I should say I rarely venture into Queen Street for two reasons: I have no need to and, perhaps more importantly, I have no desire to. This is a far cry from when I
