frogblog

Another year rolls around and we are once again reminded of the scourge that continues to gather pace across the globe. Despite a peak of new cases in 2005, NZ continues to struggle with 2+ new HIV cases per week. Complacency amongst middle aged men and the resurgence of bareback porn are both considered to […]

Rarely are so few asked to do so much with so little for the benefit of so many, who are ungrateful. That’s how I would describe Pharmac’s calling. Today’s Sunday Star Times spends an inordinate amount of column inches discussing the challenges Pharmac faces. Or does it?
The unattributed comment piece on A11, “Pharmac’s $635 million […]

There it was again this week, nestled into a little side bar on A3 of the Dom Post. “GE onion field test” Once again, while most of the media is busy watching the new masters of the Executive Wing, ERMA is quietly saying ‘yes’ to a GE future for New Zealand.
It can only end in […]

Another day, another coloured ribbon. Yesterday, many kiwis spent the day adorned with a white ribbon to show that they don’t condone violence against women. Raising awareness is a key objective of such days and I was disappointed that I did not see any particularly overt press on the subject.
For me, the most salient information […]

Don Elder waxed poetic about the prospects for NZ coal this week at Solid Energy’s maiden annual meeting in Auckland.
We have more coal resource energy per capita than Saudi Arabia has oil. In a world of increasing demand, and increasingly constrained supply of energy, New Zealand is now the lucky country.
Sorry, Don, but New Zealand […]

Georgina Downs, the UK’s longstanding pesticide campaigner, has won a landmark ruling in the High Court. The TimesOnline reports:
For years the Downs family had no idea what was ailing her. Symptoms initially included blisters inside her mouth and throat; in 1991 her legs gave way. “I was absolutely devastated. I didn’t know what was […]

Peter Kean, the Managing Director for Lion Nathan New Zealand gave a unique insight on Morning Report this morning into what happens when the need for financial growth detaches itself from social well being:
The beer market and the alcohol market have been very resilient. We’re not complacent about that but it is a positive trend. […]

Proving that everything has its place in our ecosystem (except perhaps landmines) is this Tanzanian story of rats cleaning up after one of our worst human actions:
If you’re looking for evidence of human shortsightedness, you might start with landmines. Popular as an inexpensive tool of warfare, landmines now render land uninhabitable and unusable in […]

The most interesting part of the Maori Party’s agreement with National (pdf) is the clause on collective responsibility:
The Maori Party agree to be bound by collective responsibility in relation to their Ministerial portfolios and their Associate Minister responsibilities. When the Maori Party Ministers speak about issues within their portfolios and Associate Minister responsibilities, they will […]

While I’m on the topic of cycling there’s a another survey here at Vorb, New Zealand’s most popular website for cyclists, Mountain Bike New Zealand posed a quick set of questions to all the political parties. As yet they have only received a response from Kevin Hague of the Greens. Given his background in both […]