The Standard

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Judith gets her marching orders

Written By: - Date published: 4:04 pm, October 24th, 2025 - 90 comments

Lauded at the CIA and lectured at the Department of War, Judith Collins last week got her marching orders – prepare New Zealanders to join the next US war against China.

The Department of War

Written By: - Date published: 5:34 pm, October 2nd, 2025 - 60 comments

The United States Department of Defense has been renamed as the Department of War. Nobody can be under any illusions anymore. More war is coming.

Corbyn still draws a crowd – what’s new?

Written By: - Date published: 6:15 pm, July 30th, 2025 - 17 comments

Zarah Sultana for one – she’s a star. Gaza for another – anti-zionism/semitism won’t work this time. 500,000 signed up in a week for a new party is impressive.

Gerrymander alert – Government running scared

Written By: - Date published: 3:49 pm, July 25th, 2025 - 9 comments

You know a government is in trouble when it has to resort to gerrymander to boost its prospects. The coalition government’s decision to restrict voter enrolment is disgraceful.

Corporate profit and Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, July 11th, 2025 - 27 comments

UN Special rapporteur on Gaza Francesca Albanese’s latest report highlights the corporate role in enabling genocide in Gaza. Utterly predictably, she has been sanctioned by the United States.

Weasel Winston’s FiveEyes fudge

Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, June 25th, 2025 - 22 comments

Winston Peters’ Ministerial statement in Parliament yesterday was a disgrace. Echoing other FiveEyes leaders such as Keir Starmer, unable to distinguish evil from good, he accused those who can of “moral posturing.”

SNAP ACTION – Stop U.S. Aggression

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, June 23rd, 2025 - 8 comments

Snap action outside Ministry of Defence tomorrow 24th 1230. All welcome

Was the Cook Islands leak a FiveEyes operation?

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 pm, June 19th, 2025 - 16 comments

The leak appeared in the Cook Islands media, not New Zealand’s. On the day before Christopher Luxon was due to meet Xi Jinping. One has to ask “cui bono?”

Vale David Parker MP

Written By: - Date published: 2:08 pm, May 8th, 2025 - 20 comments

David Parker’s Deputy Leader ‘s speech in 2014 at the Wellington Labour Party Conference was the best I ever heard from a Labour Leader. Vision matched values in intensity and scope. Parliament now loses one of its very best.

On Gallipoli and Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 pm, April 27th, 2025 - 11 comments

Gallipoli was then. Gaza is now. Gallipoli was a disaster, driven by arrogance and incompetence. Gaza is an atrocity, driven by unconscionable evil.

Poking the dragon

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 pm, April 24th, 2025 - 36 comments

Seven cross-party New Zealand politicians have just paid a “private” visit to Taiwan. They were received publicly by the Taiwanese government, who paid for the trip. In the current geopolitical environment, it was extraordinarily foolish.

Good as gold

Written By: - Date published: 3:44 pm, February 22nd, 2025 - 19 comments

A fascinating expose from Michael Hudson on the causes and implications of the recent rise in the price of gold. When Nixon took the US dollar off the standard in 1971 you could get an ounce for $35. Not now; Hudson explains why.

“As long as it takes”

Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, February 13th, 2025 - 159 comments

Well it didn’t take that long: from one SecDef to another in a matter of a month. It’s time for a rethink on Ukraine and much else.
Update: Hegseth’s speech video

Is Luxon on a roll?

Written By: - Date published: 10:12 pm, December 18th, 2024 - 24 comments

Or about to be rolled? Word has it that Chris Bishop is waiting in the wings, as Luxon’s favourability rating drops below Hipkins.

Police private trip to China – who to believe?

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 pm, December 16th, 2024 - 15 comments

The Police say it was a private trip to learn about Chinese culture, presumably because it would help their work here. Andrew Little and Anne-Marie Brady without any evidence gave it a sinister cast.

Maire Leadbeater “The Enemy Within”

Written By: - Date published: 4:13 pm, December 7th, 2024 - 9 comments

With extensive use of internal documents, Maire Leadbeater’s excellent exposition of the various iterations of the security intelligence services tells a story of constant make-work in search of an adversary defined only by ideology.

Anti-Muslim, anti-black, pro-Zionist: UK Labour goes for purge

Written By: - Date published: 4:44 am, June 2nd, 2024 - 10 comments

I attended Faiza Shaheen’s impressive candidate launch in Chingford four years ago. She aimed to take on IDS and she dented his majority. Reselected two years ago by the local Labour Party, four days ago she was deselected by a 3-person kangaroo court from the party’s National Executive Committee.
Update: Faiza Shaheen to stand as an independent in Chingford.

Bonnie Jenkins: US ignores China proposal for no-first-use of nukes

Written By: - Date published: 5:47 am, May 19th, 2024 - Comments Off on Bonnie Jenkins: US ignores China proposal for no-first-use of nukes

Questioned by Senator Van Hollen re US response to China’s February 2024 offer of no-first-use, Assistant Secretary Bonnie Jenkins told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee they would have to think about it, but at this point had no intention of changing to a no-first use policy.

Uber Drivers in Court of Appeal

Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, March 19th, 2024 - 3 comments

Uber Drivers are in the Court of Appeal today. Uber is appealing against Employment Court decision they they are employees with worker rights. Its a no-brainer, so they are and should have them.

“Deliberate nuclear use

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, March 9th, 2024 - 18 comments

in a war over Taiwan” is the title of an Atlantic Council paper produced last September. They mean nuclear weapons. These are serious people; Undersecretary Bonnie Jenkins addressed them last year about AUKUS.

USUKAs

Written By: - Date published: 8:21 pm, March 3rd, 2024 - 32 comments

US Undersecretary of State Bonnie Jenkins is in Wellington this week with a hard sell for us on AUKUS Pillar 2 wunderwaffen maybes. We should say tai hoa.

Where Oz goes, we go? To war with China?

Written By: - Date published: 9:28 pm, February 17th, 2024 - 38 comments

Testifying to the Defence Select Committee last week, Air Marshal Short said Australia was “reshaping” its Defence Force for “a singular threat from a singular direction.” This was described as being an obvious reference to China.

A sad lament from the serial left

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 pm, February 13th, 2024 - 103 comments

Attacking leftists attempts to expose the Atlas Network of right-wing think tanks, Chris Trotter offers this gem “Morally speaking, is taking money from oil companies really all that distinguishable from giving money to oil companies every time we fill up our petrol tank?”

Ratana and The Treaty of Waitangi

Written By: - Date published: 5:25 pm, February 6th, 2024 - 10 comments

“My understanding is a guy came out as a prophet of his own religious movement in the 1870s. And politicians feel a strange obligation to be there every year. I’ve never felt that.” David Seymour is shallow as a birdbath.

Which party are “we” bringing food to, Judith?

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, February 2nd, 2024 - 27 comments

War with China? Or cocktails with the Colonels? I haven’t got the invitations, but I’m a no for both.

Operation Poseidon Archer

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, January 25th, 2024 - 31 comments

CNN reports that the US has named the ongoing operation against Houthi in Yemen “Operation Poseidon Archer, suggesting a more organized and potentially long-term approach.” New Zealand has joined it – cue the slippery slope.

Not all Americans are Neocons

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 pm, January 13th, 2024 - 14 comments

But the ones that run US foreign policy are. Matthew Hooton in a typical smear wants to label Helen Clark as anti-American because she warned that involving us in attacking Houthis was a ”slippery slope.” She’s not and he’s wrong.

Genocide in Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 8:49 pm, January 7th, 2024 - 57 comments

South Africa has taken a case that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza to the International Court of Justice. A group of prominent New Zealand lawyers have asked the New Zealand Government to join South Africa in support of their application. I think we should.

Luxon’s values on show re Zelensky

Written By: - Date published: 9:35 pm, December 22nd, 2023 - 32 comments

Three NZ prime ministers talking to Zelensky

It is not clear exactly who persuaded Luxon to put Zelensky on his Xmas calling list. It might have been Albo or MFAT, no doubt on orders from the US, who are desperate to keep the illusion of victory alive until after the US Presidential election.

Political comeback – Getting the sequencing right

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 pm, December 14th, 2023 - 40 comments

A notably different approach to sequencing political comeback was on show at the VUW post-election seminar last week. Luxon put rebuilding the party first, Hipkins put it last. On policy Luxon was bottom-up and early, Hipkins was top-down and late.

Radio garbage on Gaza

Written By: - Date published: 12:35 pm, November 20th, 2023 - 19 comments

RNZ’s flagship Morning Report was particularly bad today, especially in this 8-minute item, titled on its website “UN expert on Palestinian rights cries for children killed.”