Politics Archives - Page 6 of 7 - kiwiboomers

Written by boomers for boomers

Category archive: Politics

The Unholy Triad

I’ve always struggled to understand economics, which means I have a bit of cheek embarking on a view of the economics of the western world. Still, in my possibly naive view there are simple rules. Take Alzheimers for instance. By taking daily exercise, eating healthy food and maintaining mental and social stimulation, there is a good chance of avoiding Alzheimers. Similar rules apply for avoiding type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and probably many other diseases that swoop in when the rules are ignored.

By Scott Yorke

A poverty of thought

Here are some questions I would like answered about this begging bylaw business.

Isn’t poverty the cause of begging? So why not just ban poverty?

By Max Cryer

M’aidez or Mayday?

Max

From Max Cryer‘s book ‘Is It True?’

The distress call ‘mayday’ is English for the French term m’aidez.

Using the word ‘mayday’ dates from 1923, when a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport was asked to think of an easily understood word which could indicate distress.

By Paul Smith

Tax Haven? What – us?

Watching the Government defend the indefensible is often more comedy than drama. Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse tells Newshub that New Zealand has ‘a sound tax system on par with the rest of the world’; Health Minister Jonathan Coleman tastes woeful hospital fare at Dunedin hospital after a blizzard of complaints about its quality but only after barring media…. So for all we know, the good doctor might well have dined on caviar.

By Chris Horan

False Prophets

Donald_Trump_August_19,_2015_(cropped)

My brother, an Australian citizen, was once a strong trade unionist and Labour supporter.

When he retired he maintained his interest in politics and trade unions. In earlier days on the building sites he worked on, he rubbed shoulders with some of the young men who would later lead his union and other unions and eventually become public figures.

By Paul Smith

March miscellany

About to visit Auckland? Read on…

If you’re thinking about visiting Auckland anytime soon, think again. The place has been overrun by the Hi-Viz Brigade, men and women whose weapon of choice is the orange road cone. These little pointy heads narrow lanes everywhere, block them in some cases. They choke traffic just about everywhere you drive in central Auckland.

By Chris Horan

Three free years…

students in lecture room What a can of worms Labour has upended with its policy on tertiary education. It promises to turn the clock back to the conditions most of our current politicians enjoyed when they were students; a free university education.

But how will the thousands of student with huge debts feel about this proposed policy? Bitter, is my guess, and with just cause. On the other hand the parents of young, achieving teenagers will be relieved, possibly to the point of considering changing their vote at the next election.

By Paul Smith

Rangi Walker – visionary

In the protest decade of the 60s and 1970s, my reporting beat covered Auckland University where, being the Sixties, full-time students were also part-time protesters.

Their activism embraced everything from feminism and environmental issues to the most riveting of the time – the growing protests against the Vietnam War and Apartheid.

By Paul Smith

Waitangi’s ‘Pinkie’ flies around the world

(With apologies to that old song ‘a Gordon for me, a Gordon for me’ etc., here’s a Waitangi Day rendering about the flying pink phallus which hit Economic Development Minister Stephen Joyce):

A Dildo for thee

Was not meant to be,

A Dildo for Key

Was where it should be…