It seems there is nothing some politicians will not stoop to, in order to retain power… #mbnov

I’m near to going to bed. What a day. #mbnov

Community housing, Wellington City Council.

Delighted that this has been fully renovated.

Cheap.

Government spends $20 million on Covid-19 advertising campaign delivered at ‘breakneck pace’ | Stuff.co.nz

The cost of people not receiving important information relating to Covid-19 was far greater than the cost of the advertising, he said.

NZ Bookshop Day - on Election Day!

Aotearoa New Zealand takes voting seriously. These are the voting locations in Wellington City, population 213,000. Voting is open for 2 weeks, plus postal voting.

Voted. #electionsnz

The latest Atlantic story about extreme militia groups preparing to contest the US election is deeply, deeply troubling:

wars don’t always start with a clear, decisive event—an attack, a coup, an invasion—and that you might not realize you’re in one until it’s under way. Civil conflict is gradual.

Has the US conflict already begun? What can be done to halt it?

Read more: Right-Wing Militias Are Bracing for Civil War - The Atlantic

James Suzman’s new book 📚 “Work - a history of how we spend out time” is a fascinating and thought-provoking review of the long run history of work and the impact of agriculture and industrialisation. It highlights the opportunity, in a world of increasing automation, to transform how we organise our lives and economies to support ourselves and each other. As John Maynard Keynes thought:

by 2030, capital accumulation, improvements in productivity and technological advances would have solved the “economic problem” and ushered in an age in which no one besides a few “purposive moneymakers” worked more than 15 hours in a week

We now have a chance to turn that prediction into reality.

Read more: The 300,000-year case for the 15-hour week – Finanz.dk

LibraryThing Entry

“Campaign” is part of NZ political folklore.

I remember the 1996 Wellington Central campaign and election vividly. I knew several of the candidates and the film maker from student politics.

A great write up on Spinoff:

thespinoff.co.nz/politics/…

 Shame, America, shame. ACLU Report: Detained Immigrant Children Subjected To Widespread Abuse By Officials : The Two-Way : NPR

Rereading Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America”. Because he warned America, but was not heard loudly enough. Fascism has come to the USA.

Fascinating: theconversation.com/five-type…

Hallelujah. Thank you Alabama. And especially Selma, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile. “We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream”

As the Mugabe era in Zimbabwe appears to be ending, its worth noting: - Unemployment is above 90 percent. - Up to a quarter of the population has voted with its feet by leaving the country.

www.theatlantic.com/internati…

Marriage Equality comes to Australia.

Exciting that RNZ is now producing original documentary content like this: thespinoff.co.nz/atea/26–1…

You know its not something to be ignored when people like Baroness Shriti Vadera, who is now chairwoman of Santander UK, said that “the underlying promise of western capitalist economies — that a rising tide lifts all boats — has been broken”. And when Carolyn Fairbairn, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, said that capitalism had taken a number of “wrong turnings”.

More: www.independent.co.uk/news/busi…

economics #policy

No matter your political views, tonight NZ has seen political drama of the highest order.

It seems that the Spanish government is doing all it can to ensure Catalan independence: twitter.com/CatalansF…

I’ve voted, before we head overseas next week. So get out there and do it! www.elections.org.nz

I just love that as part of the NZ election cammpaign there is so much discussion of detailed policy and useful analysis of the issues under debate: www.radionz.co.nz/programme…