Reproduced with permission
No MP Is Above the Party
It is a simple, radical idea that parliament belongs not to parties, but to people. People who, when they stand to speak, do not check the party line, but remember the faces of those who sent them.
Out of Sight: Following the Money Trail
Despite the big outlays of money, it seems no group of officials kept tabs on the minors.
The Toppling of the Work Tipple
So here’s to the furtive half-pint in the car park, the emergency hip-flask at the Christmas do and the quiet rebellion of those who still believe work should occasionally feel like play. Bottoms up – while we’re still allowed.
‘December 7, 1941, a Date Which Will Live in Infamy!’
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
WA Pushes Ahead With Surrogacy Expansion
Amid a UN report condemning the harms of surrogacy to women and children, this new law is hardly a revolutionary reform.
New Brighton Mall Doesn’t Need a New Māori Name
And Auckland does not need spiritual mythmaking. It needs a transport system that works. Renaming everything in sight does not get a single train running on time.
A Discussion on the Irony of Relativism
Science embraces uncertainty. Scientists formulate theories to explain natural phenomena based on the available evidence. But they do not expect those theories to stand for all time.
When Only One Side Is Blamed
If this absence reflects the totality of MFAT’s internal work, then New Zealand foreign policy is operating with a blind spot large enough to distort the very concept of peace. For the sake of an informed national debate, that must change.
Is This a Curate’s Egg?
Could a politician be any more disingenuous? Could a politician be any more duplicitous? National may not even be in government in 2029. They may not even exist as a party the way they are going.
The Open Mind and the Closed University
Salmond calls for open minds. On this point she is right. But an open mind is not one that refuses to evaluate claims. It is one that is willing to have its own claims evaluated. It is not one that protects ideas from criticism, but one that welcomes criticism as the price of progress.
What Broke the Science?
Reforming this system requires more than ideological shifts or incremental adjustments. The policies governing scientific institutions must be restructured so they are not beholden to an administrative class.
New Laws That Will Have You Scratching Your Head
The laws range from silly to serious. In Alabama, it’s technically illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church. In Alaska, pushing a live moose out of an airplane is prohibited.
The Damage to NZ Students
Dr Oliver Hartwich of the NZ Initiative previously asserted that the solution to the issues created by NZ’s Ministry of Education involved a truckload of TNT. They haven’t changed under the new government.