I’m not the Jack Yan running for mayor of Toronto

  As far as coincidences go, this was unexpected. To readers from Toronto, and anyone else emailing me about this, I’m not the guy running for mayor there. I realize I’m way more likely to come up in searches for my name and for my name with mayor or mayoral candidate, since my namesake doesn’t […]

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To Scotland with love

Danjaq LLC/United Artists Time for another podcast, this time with a Scottish theme. I touch upon how fortunate we are here in Aotearoa to be able to go to the ballet or expos, and, of course, on the US elections (thanks to those who checked out my last podcast entry, which had a record 31 […]

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Endorsing Laurie Foon for Southern Ward

While I no longer live in the Southern Ward in Wellington, I know whom I would vote for if I still did. It’s after a lot of thought, given how strong the candidates are—I count several of them as my friends. One stands out.    I have known Laurie Foon for 20 years this year […]

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The political caricatures of old have taken human form, but they’re still nothing like us

That’s another British General Election done and dusted. I haven’t followed one this closely since the 1997 campaign, where I was backing John Major.    Shock, horror! Hang on, Jack. Haven’t the media all said you are a leftie? Didn’t you stand for a left-wing party?    Therein lies a fallacy about left- and right […]

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About Labour, I was nearly on the money in May

In May, I wrote (in the wake of the Oravida scandal): The problem with all of this is: where’s Labour, in the midst of the greatest gift an opposition has been given for years?    One friend of a friend noted that maybe Labour shouldn’t be attacking, because we Kiwis don’t like whingers. It is […]

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When the parties uploaded their opening statements to their YouTube accounts

This is when each political party uploaded their opening broadcasts to their official YouTube accounts. Ideally, they should have gone up on Saturday night, when they were broadcast on television, as that was when those of us online were hunting for them. (TVNZ did not have these up on demand on the night, either, but […]

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‘Planet Key’ is good old-fashioned Kiwi satire

Fed up with the Electoral Commission barring Darren Watson from expressing his valid view with his satirical song ‘Planet Key’, I made a spoken-word version of it for my Tumblr a week ago, with copyright clearance over the lyrics. I wrote: Since the Electoral Commission has imposed a ban on Darren Watson’s ‘Planet Key’—in fact, […]

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I thought political division got you nowhere in New Zealand

A week and a half ago, I appeared on Back Benches to talk about Winston Peters MP’s “two Wongs” joke, and confined my comments to that.    My response, ‘There are still people who enjoy watching Rolf Harris, just as there are still people out there who enjoy listening to Winston Peters.’ And, ‘We have […]

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Being answerable to your public (or, if you can’t engage now, can we expect you to in office?)

One of my supporters Tweeted to say I was the only candidate at Vote.co.nz who has bothered to reply to citizens’ questions. It’s good for me, but sad to see my opponents so disengaged. I was also surprised to see that only three of us have bothered to register for the website this time, despite […]

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Wellington isn’t ‘dying’, but we’re going to have to prove our mettle

That didn’t take long, John.    I know, the economic statistics aren’t pleasant.    Wellington’s economy is stagnant and our population growth lags behind Auckland’s and Christchurch’s. I did predict this in 2010.    The difference is that I don’t give up on us quite so quickly.    I don’t think political leaders should.   […]

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