Posts by Angela Hart
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If academics were to set up their own peer review system, perhaps using an open source model, is there any reason more research could not be published online for all the world to see? The only benefits of the journals are peer review, grouping work in fields and prestige. They have many disadvantages including excluding people without access to research libraries.
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Surely whatever payroll Ede was on it is accepted that he had ready access to the PM's office in the beehive. His actions are no longer in dispute, except by JK who doesn't appear to know truth from fiction. His actions ought to merit some personal consequence even if they were sanctioned at a higher level.
If Ede and his paymasters have nothing to hide then why has he hidden for so long? -
Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to simon g,
Once the election is over, nothing matters. Repeat, with emphasis: it simply doesn't matter any more. Of course it should matter, very much. But now, investigations can reveal, surpluses can disappear, lies can be exposed - with no consequences for those in power. The votes have been cast and counted, and any shouts of "See! We told you" will be overtaken by new events, long before the next time the voters have their say. Heck, it'll probably be forgotten over summer. Or at least, ignored.
The lasting effect is to increase public contempt for their representatives, and further damage the fragile contract between the governed and their governors. Ultimately, to erode our hard-won democracy.
+1
I couldn't find the words but you did.I think we may now qualify for Banana Republic status, where those in power routinely use the machinery of government to achieve their desires.
I don't suppose Her Majesty, via the National appointed GG can get us out of this mess? She'll probably have trouble believing that nice Mr Key has such a nasty side. Does our machinery of state allow for this sort of thing? We seem to have little in the way of effective checks and balances (no pun intended).
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Hard News: News from home ..., in reply to Tom Semmens,
So you think we have democracy in New Zealand right now?
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Hard News: News from home ..., in reply to Tom Semmens,
If that's good politics, no wonder thousands of us are disgusted by the antics of politicians. Quality leadership requires the taking of some decisions because they are necessary in spite of their unpopularity. Quality leadership is open and honest in its methods, and does not resort to backdoor underhand methods or lying to the populace. Quality leadership engenders trust and thereby takes the electorate along, even with unpopular policies.
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Sorry, I forgot to put the slavery link in -oops
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/259584/hundreds-'live-as-slaves'-in-nz -
Access: Some aspects of New Zealand’s…, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Agreed, I have found that I need to move in to the hospital when my daughter is unwell. MOH funding does not cover carer support when a person is in hospital, they call it double dipping as they seem to think that the hospital staff can always provide adequate support. That's a crazy stance to take as staffing ratios are always based on caring for particular classes of health issue and NEVER take account of additional support needed for disability (in my experience :-).
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Here's another piece from the news that got me thinking about our disability services. It talks about slavery and exploitation, without clearly defining them, but we have government sanctioned exploitation of family caregivers providing many hours of care to our most disabled people and living on one of the lowest benefits available, the married couple supported living payment.
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Here's one of the major current problems we have in our health system, brought up in a genuine consultation process by some of the people affected:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/259586/disabled-services-'left-out'-of-dhb-plan
Some health boards do have managers with responsibility for services for people with disabilities, but actual change at the nursing stations is extremely slow and not reliable. This article suggests that the hospital should provide sufficient support so that any disabled person admitted does not have to bring their own caregiver(s). I don't agree with that as an across the board solution as it doesn't work for the most severely disabled, and for some of those with specialised communication. But the point is that in general, hospitals do not cater for unwell people who happen to also have a disability, and they should. -
Speaker: David Fisher: The OIA arms race, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
yup, standard time for any OIA request is 20 days minimum, unless you get the VIP treatment accorded to friends of the National Party.