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Following the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, US public opinion guru Frank Luntz provided some good advice on Twitter: “If you praise Fidel Castro, don’t expect anyone to take your criticism of Donald Trump seriously.” If only Frank Luntz had more Twitter followers. Though proverbs remind us not to speak ill of the dead, there is no need to wax lyrical about them either. Read more

Anyone who has tried to teach their parents how to use a new technology must have empathised with Uber New Zealand general manager Richard Menzies last week. Appearing before Parliament’s Transport Committee, Menzies was trying to make the case that outdated taxi regulations need not apply to Uber. Read more

Like everyone else in Wellington, our family woke early that Monday morning to earthquakes. We had been through it before, in Christchurch, and I did not like it. Read more

“Regulation above all else” is exactly what ridesharing wunderkind Uber must feel as it faces up to select committee hearings in Wellington this month. Despite promises of a new regulatory framework that recognises the role of global technology in improving safety and consumer protection, the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Transport have fallen well short. Read more

It was an odd sense of déjà vu this week as someone who lived in Christchurch until recently. The earthquake was hugely destructive and distressing for many. Read more

The government ran roughshod over property rights in the Christchurch rebuild. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission’s report urging the government to include property rights in the Bill of Rights now seems especially timely. Read more