University education is a privilege, not a right, and if we treated it that way we might just get better results
Read MoreRobbing the regions -- and rail's rejuvinating power
The regions are being chipped away at... so here's an idea for a serious shot in the arm
Read MoreThe Cost of Demanding More Health Care
As times goes on the government will spend more on healthcare. That means higher taxes. Is there an alternative?
Read MoreMr Mayor, tear down those rates
A revolt is in the air in Auckland, as ratepayers ask whether councillors are looking hard enough at the city budget and whether Len Brown needs his wings clipped
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday November 7
Libya's supreme court dissolves parliament; possible meeting between Chinese and Japanese PMs explored; Aung San Suu Kyi warns Burma's political reforms have stalled; Obama seeks $6 billion to fight ebola; and more
Read MoreWhat is the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
Every year around 600 New Zealanders are born with a horrible condition because their mothers drank while they were pregnant.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday November 6
Republicans take over US Congress; China hopes to 'set road map' for Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific at APEC summit; Indian finance minister commits to further economic reforms; Christian couple beaten to death in Pakistan; ebola treatment centre to open in Sierra Leone; Latin America's first high-speed train to be built in Mexico; and more
Read MoreRepublicans see Iran in their sights
The Iran nuclear deal is within grasp but those tasked with finalizing it better hurry in order to avoid its unravelling at the trigger happy hands within the victorious Republican party which now holds both houses of Congress.
Read MoreOn War, restraint & Trojan horses
National's decision to stand alongside our allies but not to 'go to war' strengthens our narrative as a small country with its own mind, but beware mission creep
Read MoreConservation's changing climate
With world leaders failing and New Zealand ranked in the bottom five of the world's worst emitters for climate policy response, conservation campaigners have to think differently about ways to help nature weather the coming storm
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday November 5
Rebel elections threaten Ukraine-Russia ceasefire; South Korea and the Netherlands sign a $23 million deal to upgrade Dutch nuclear reactor; Japan's Nikkei index rises to seven-year high; EU cuts growth forecast; minimum wage rises 15 percent in Venezuela; and more
Read MoreFighting modern day fascism, New Zealand’s fight too
The Left rejects it’s historic commitment to international solidarity and protecting the innocent when it embraces a growing neo-isolationism. It’s all very well to say ‘not our fight’ in the face of ISIS terror, but the opposite on intervention isn’t peace.
Stare at that for a moment.
Most people exist, that is all
I think we've found the way to make electoral law interesting to people. Get some sports stars to break it.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday November 4
Pro-Russian separatists declare new leader for Eastern Ukraine; China to form anti-corruption bureau; US, Australia and Japan to meet during G20 to dicuss security and economic ties; suicide bomb kills dozens in Pakistan; pilot error cited in Virgin Galactic crash; and more
Read MoreWhen is an asset sale not an asset sale? & other questions about the Social Housing shambles
National is trying to the 'nothing to see here' line when it comes to its social housing policy, but the truth is it's in a tangle and has no mandate for sale
Read MorePenalising the Poor
Sloppy analysis is dividing us into the deserving and undeserving
Read MoreThe problem with our economy is too many tea breaks?
The labour reforms this week reveal a government that has given up on any hope for a competitive economy and is willing to engage in class warfare on behalf of its 'Judith Collins wing'
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday October 31
Israeli activist shot and wounded in Jerusalem; Beijing eases restrictions on foreign credit cards; Burmese political and ethnic leaders to meet to discuss cease-fire; ISIS releases Kurdish children; NATO raises concerns over 'unusual' Russian flights; and more
Read MoreGot a mystery? Just ask John!
I'm not saying that John Key is an incurable gossip ... but he sure seems to get told a lot of stuff by random people.
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Seabed mining: drums in the deep
The Environmental Protection Agency hearing into seabed mining for phosphate on the Chatham Rise is exposing questions about uncertainty - many big unknowns, including whether the applicant has done its job. If environment groups win this battle, what does it mean for the wider war?
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