Earlier this week I saw that the violent misogyny website Return of Kings were planning global meetups. There were set locations, narrow time windows and even a password, straight out of a corny sixties spy movie. I laughed and told my wife. How ridiculous are…
Last week a panel of UN experts issued warnings on the TPP: UN experts voice concern over adverse impact of free trade and investment agreements on human rights A number of free trade and investment agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic…
Today the Government will sign the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement at Sky City in Auckland. They know the agreement is very unpopular. They could have signed it overseas or down in Queenstown or next week but instead they chose to sign it at Sky City two days…
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When a government prepares to surrender a share of its sovereignty, you would expect a compelling reason for doing so. No country would accept limits on its law-making power without an equal trade-off, surely? Well, no country except New Zealand. The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA),…
From I/S at No Right Turn... 28,000 unemployed under National The Labour Market Statistics were released today, showing that unemployment has dropped to 5.3%. But while its (finally) a move in the right direction, there are still 133,000 unemployed - 28,000 more than when National…
Yes citizens, that is the conclusion drawn by the anonymous author of YADHE (Yet Another Disgraceful Herald Editorial) - An expensive fix which has little purpose The economy is strong in large part because public spending is under control. Expensive proposals that waste money purely…
Key's badly dented "political antennae" took another solid beating yesterday, with his second high-profile bungle involving a waitress. This time, thankfully, the waitress was only hypothetical: John Key draws flak after questioning why waitresses' taxes should fund students Prime Minister John Key has drawn a…
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Honestly, this is amateur hour stuff: Confirmed: Wrong colour on potential new flag flying on Auckland Harbour Bridge Officials have confirmed the potential new flag waving atop the Auckland Harbour Bridge is the wrong colour and will be replaced. ... "The fabric weight and printing…
[r0b: image removed] Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …
The Presidential Primary race is up and running with results from Iowa trickling in. Live feeds are available from the Des Moines Register or Nate Silver's 538 website. At the time of writing Clinton is just ahead of of Saunders and on the Republican side…
Duncan Garner does good work sometimes, but he is also capable of pure bollocks. Yesterday's ill informed rant pushing the TPP was a shocker. (Garner spent the rest of the day re-tweeting anyone who said something nice about it - ouch.) TPP or die -…
So the start to the political year has been completed, the speeches have been delivered and the commentators have commentated. So who won, who lost and what will the repercussions be? John Key delivered an interesting speech. His major announcement was said to be the…
Bryce Edwards has an interesting summary of reaction to Labour's bombshell tertiary education policy: Labour's return to radicalism "Radicalism"? Tertiary education was free in NZ up until 1992 - didn't seem radical then. Tertiary education is free in many European and some other countries round…
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The truth is out there! No, really, it is. We all have access to the truth. And that's the truth. Happily there's now a mathematical formula to show just how long a genuine conspiracy can be kept secret. And it's not good news for chemtrail…
Reposted from No Right Turn That's what Fran O'Sullivan seems to be arguing in her bitter little rant in Saturday's Herald against Labour's opposition to the TPP: The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) is too important to New Zealand's economic future for Andrew Little to turn…
Those reading The Standard will know that I am less than impressed with Little's announcement yesterday of 3 years free tertiary education. A valid comeback is - so what would you do differently? Anthony Robins quite correctly stated that: ...one thing that (Labour) have done…
3 News is dead (nasty autoplay video), from the ashes rises Newshub. On day 1 the Newshub website looks good. There's a distinct absence of the clickbait trash that makes up 80% of the offerings of NZ Herald and Stuff sites these days. Hope they…
For background see this recent post on voluntary euthanasia. The end of today is the last chance to make a submission on "the Petition of Hon Maryan Street and 8,974 others" with respect to "medically-assisted dying in the event of a terminal illness or an…
Labour has had its ups and downs since 2008. But one thing that they have done consistently is roll out big bold policies. KiwiBuild. NZ Power. Capital gains tax. Each of these seized the agenda and helped shaped the national debate on important topics. Labour…
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