Posts by Russell Brown
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Polity: Too much to swallow on the TPP, in reply to
They have known this all along. Longer patent periods mean more NZ Health funding going into big pharma’s pockets. That means less for everything else if government increases its subsidy, or higher user charges if it doesn’t.
Or new drugs don't get funded because the budget has been eroded by Pharmac's loss of access to generics.
Major case in point: the new anti-virals that could basically cure every case of Hepatitis C in New Zealand. That's 50,000 people condemned to chronic disease and death.
-
John Key now concedes that the TPP will increase the price of medicines to Pharmac, but it's okay because prescriptions will still only be $5 at the chemist.
I really hope this ludicrous spin doesn't get a free pass, because it makes no fucking sense whatsoever.
-
Speaker: Protesting private prisons, in reply to
Mike Hosking has been thinking hard about this issue – it’s actually a sign that private sector accountability is working
Just got around to watching this. It says:
1. These deaths, injuries and apparent attempts to defraud are a good thing, because they give the private system a chance to demonstrate its superior accountability.
2. Look over there at an unrelated and basically irrelevant thing that happened somewhere else in the public sector! (Reality check: Waikato Hospital had the fake psychologist supervised as a matter of course, the supervisor withdrew supervision and the faker – who allegedly stole the identity of a genuine psychiatrist in the US – is now in custody and facing criminal charges for fraud. Further, the Waikato DHB will undergo an external review of its actions. It’s a shit example if you’re trying to depict a lack of accountability.)
-
Speaker: Protesting private prisons, in reply to
Drug addiction is a mental illness, which requires a more therapeutic responce, according to the literature. Being subjected to extreme bullying is probably not going to help.
Let's upgrade that "probably" to a "definitely".
-
Polity: Too much to swallow on the TPP, in reply to
As I say, perhaps think about why you are getting no pickup on that allegation. Plenty of stronger cases right now to rally opposition to this disgusting agreement.
Indeed. Key's Bank of America shareholding may be a legacy of his former employment at Merrill Lynch (BoA acquired Merrill in 2008), but I don't see how it's any different to holding shares in any other listed company.
-
Meanwhile in Serco news: one English council has paid £10m to get itself out of a long-term Serco services contract, which will still represent a saving for council tax payers.
And a Novopay-like debacle in another county.
Meanwhile, Serco shares:
Serco was forced to issue four profit warnings last year and its business has been battered by a series of scandals, including overcharging UK taxpayers for tagging prisoners. As a result Serco was frozen out of new contracts for the UK government, its biggest customer.
The shares have plunged from a high of 674p in July 2013, when investors believed the company would cash in on government spending cuts, to a record low of 118p on Tuesday.
The shares rose a bit late last week, in part because it's squeezing costs out of operations in places like New Zealand and Australia.
-
When I read this, I couldn't not make a comparison with the well-funded change-the-flag roadshow. It really is about what those in power want discussed.
-
Kirsty Johnston has a follow-up story today, which raises some very serious questions about how this school was dealt with – and whether there was political pressure to make the charter school programme look better than it was.
This is significant stuff.
-
What happens if you tell a bogan they are a public intellectual?
-
Radio NZ's report has more of the same denial and parent-blaming.
Can you even imagine what Farrar and Slater would have to say about a conventional state school which constantly declared complaints were the parents' fault for just not understanding its methods?
Last ←Newer Page 1 … 300 301 302 303 304 … 2279 Older→ First