The political honeymoon that keeps on ending
Media pundits are claiming on the evidence offered by one poll that the Government’s political honeymoon is over. But the same claim was made four months ago.
Media
spin
Dear Judith burning Oil and Gas is the worst thing for the climate
National now seems to adopt the position that climate change is real and has to be addressed. But it is refusing to accept that to address the problem New Zealand is going to have to give up its reliance on oil and gas.
Homeless families are living in cars … and tents
Remember how early on during his reign as National leader John Key talked about the underclass and how they were a blight on New Zealand society? Well over the past year WINZ has been giving grants to homeless families to live in tents.
Is New Zealand really as ‘racist as fuck’?
I am inclined to believe that there are at least some New Zealanders who are as “racist as fuck”.
Mike Hosking reckons: Minimum wage increase will be terrible for everyone
Mike Hosking reckons that an increase in the minimum wage will increase housing unaffordability and cause job losses and business closures.
Regrets, John Key’s had a few *
or more accurately one. A failed vanity flag referendum.
National’s strong economic management …
Between the crisis facing Middlemore Hospital’s buildings and the farce surrounding the cost of repairs of repairs of the Canterbury rebuild, National’s claim that it is a party of strong economic management looks at least misguided.
This is extremely dangerous to our democracy
Make of this what you will.
Evidence-based foreign policy
In the second stage of a false flag attack, facts go out the window and the sole issue becomes “are you for us or against us.” Our media and National Party politicians are well into this stage in the Skripal affair. But as questions mount and skeptics proliferate from all sides, Jacinda Ardern and Winston Peters may well be wiser than media advisers by not following blindly the western herd. 26 countries is not the whole world. Update: Porton Down unable to establish Novichok of Russian origin.
The manufacturing of a narrative
The past week has seen the Herald focus on issues concerning Clare Curran to the almost exclusion of anything else, including the perilous state of our Health system and Kim Dotcom’s successful appeal against the last Government’s breach of his rights of privacy.
Joyce may have been right about the Fiscal hole
Steven Joyce’s prediction of a $11.7 billion deficit in the Government’s finances may be true. But this is because the last Government has underfunded health and hidden problems.
Kiwibuild kicks off
The first big Kiwibuild announcement, 3 to 4,000 houses in Mt Albert has been made. And National has responded that it was all their idea and they did not want to announce it because it would be seen as pork barrelling.
Naughty Nick’s Parliamentary Porkie
Nick Smith has been caught out by Trevor Mallard telling a porkie in Parliament.
Facebook is in trouble
A whistleblower, Christopher Wyllie, has explained how Cambridge Analytica managed to secure the data of 50 million Americans and how it was used in the last US Presidential election.
Du Plessis-Allan jumps the shark
Heather Du Plessis-Allan has suggested that there is a power struggle happening in the Labour Party. Without the benefit of things normally considered to be important elements of an argument, those things being facts.
Doofus of the week – March 17, 2018
is awarded this week to Lisa Prager who is convinced that construction of cycleways in Auckland is part of a global conspiracy to take away our rights and whose sledge hammering technique is not optimal.
Russian to Judgment
The possible poisoning of Sergei Skripal and the consequent hysteria have all the signs of another false flag operation, as we saw before the second American invasion of Iraq. The chain of circumstantial evidence has more holes in it than a swiss cheese, and while attempted murder (if that is what it is) is a criminal act Winston Peters and Jeremy Corbyn are sane voices calling for evidence before any attribution still less action.
Collins: No one cares about National’s abject failure over housing
Judith Collins thinks that no one cares that National oversaw the creation of a significant housing crisis.
Housing needs a builder not a crusher
Phil Twyford has the perfect response to National’s claim that Judith Collins’ appointment as Housing Spokesperson would cause him to lose sleep.
Doofus of the week March 10, 2018
An occasional post where we celebrate the extremely banal or bad taste or idiotic behaviour in politics.
Justice for the family carer claimants
National’s constitutionally outrageous attempt to stifle the claims of family carers for compensation for discrimination should be repealed and a just settlement reached with the caregivers.
Steven Joyce threatens to sue Matthew Hooton and the NBR
Matthew Hooton has been sacked as a contributor to the NBR and Steven Joyce has threatened to sue him and the NBR over claims that Joyce is not popular in caucus and should be sacked.
Simon Bridges’ not very good first week
In this very important first week Simon Bridges has committed two major blunders. He has claimed he was environmentally friendly when any view of his Ministerial history would confirm that this is not the case. And he forgot his Government oversaw the stripping of democratic rights from all prisoners, and adjusted his position when his error was pointed out.
Doofus of the week – March 3, 2018
David Seymour has created history by being the first person to win two doofuses of the week awards for blatant misogyny and disrespecting young kiwis who this week won olympic medals.
Some Trash.
Being anti-plastic is all the rage these days. How might business respond?
Right wing activists are not happy Bridges is leader
The initial response from right wingers online to the news that National’s new leader is Simon Bridges is a big meh.
Joyce stands down as National struggles to find new leader *
* in Australia.
Arm me with
Teachers in America have responded to Donald Trump’s proposal to arm teachers in response to the Parkland School massacre with a request that they be armed with anything but guns.
National’s meh leadership contest
National’s leadership contest is one week old. The latest is a central edict that all candidates have to be nice to each other and a claim that candidates are not offering senior positions to MPs in exchange for their support.
The strange case of the Judith Collins support website
A Back Judith Collins website has been established. And Collins is denying involvement.
Mueller v Russia
Robert Mueller has laid an indictment alleging that thirteen Russians and three Russian entities illegally interfered with the 2016 American Election campaign.
Strong and decisive
Judith Collins has picked on the campaign term strong and decisive for behaviour better described as brutal and obdurate.
Seymour is dancing with the stars
David Seymour has indicated his commitment to improving ACT’s plight by enrolling for Dancing with the Stars.
Beetrooted
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s future in politics is on the line as he responds to allegations of infidelity, hypocrisy and misuse of Government resources.
Was the political hit on Chris Bishop an inside job?
The disclosure of Chris Bishop’s snapchat engagement with young teenage females raises the question of who leaked the information to the media and why.
The problem with Charter Schools
The Government is moving to stop the creation of new charter schools and require existing charter schools to integrate with the public system.