Another National MP accused of bullying
The Herald has reported this morning on allegations of bullying being made by staff against Nati0nal MP Maggie Barry.
Media
the praiseworthy and the pitiful
No sense, nonsense and a dearth of common sense.
We wouldn’t tie a rope to a heavy load and then push on the rope with the expectation of achieving anything, right? So why is the Guardian’s Environment Editor entreating that we do just that? Is he merely stupid? Or is there something more cynical at play?
The strange case of the missing text from Bridges’ speech
National’s social media team have sent out a tweet with a quote from Simon Bridges that does not appear in the speech that he gave.
Bridges believes fictional character is definitely a male
Simon Bridges is going for the under 10 misogynist vote by claiming that Santa Claus is definitely a man.
Bridges Billion dollar bungle
Simon Bridges has claimed that Labour’s Kiwisaver fund is $18 billion short of the amount needed to meet the Government’s goals of constructing ten thousand Kiwibuild houses a year. The claim has as much credibility as National’s claim that Labour’s budget figures had an $11.5 billion hole in them.
Another day and more Simon Bridges f*&k ups
Simon Bridges has in the last 24 hours blamed Labour law changes for increasing rentals but has forgotten which ones, and has disagreed that an apology is owed to the families of the Pike River miners on the 8th anniversary of the disaster.
We’re All Penguins Now.
To jump or not to jump? Is “not jumping” about to mean “left behind”?
Auckland’s got a Bridge.
London’s bridges were closing down.
Will Andrew Little be responsible if the Pike River mine gets hit by a meteor?
Stacy Kirk has made the outlandish claim that Andrew Little is prepared to risk someone’s life in his desire to have the Pike River mine properly investigated.
Alaska or New Zealand?
That’s the big question ‘big’ people are asking these days.
All that is wrong with America’s democracy
In Georgia, despite the Repbublican candidate who oversaw the election process engaging in the mass disenfranchisement of Democrat voters, the removal of voting machines to make voting in Democrat areas more difficult and baseless smearing of the Democrat candidate, the result is on a knife edge and a second vote is a possibility.
Disestablish the establishment.
Politics can be soap, or politics can be real. This post comments on some of the soap and offers an example of something that’s real
Simon’s sure fire way to deal with difficult questions
Simon’s strategy is that cunning you could be tempted to pin a tail on it and call it a weasel.
Morongate
In America a young 20 year old Trump supporter has been branded with the hashtag morongate for the most inept dark op smear you could ever imagine happening.
Lime Sour
Lime scooters are this year’s finger spinner. The problem is that unlike last year’s must have toy, e-scooters are a public menace.
TVNZ Colmar Brunton Poll
National slump in the latest poll; Judith Collins is up in the preferred PM race.
Everything is awesome
National is trying to say that everything is fine with Simon Bridges’ leadership, that he has handled the Jami-Lee Ross crisis well and that his leadership is assured. I beg to differ.
Jami-Lee Ross: But Wait, There’s More!
Jami-Lee Ross has twisted the knife a little further into Simon Bridge’s back this arvo, releasing a second tape and announcing he won’t be quitting Parliament. Turns out he may need the income to fund a divorce.
Khashoggi
A counter to the “heroic dissident” narrative.
Mutually assured destruction
Paula Bennett has broken the understanding that MPs do not refer to each other’s private lives. And Jami-Lee Ross has alleged that a $100,000 donation was split so that it did not have to be declared and it has been confirmed that National then nominated the donor for a Queen’s Birthday Honour.
National’s caucus meeting today – nothing to see here
All eyes will be on National’s caucus meeting today. And Simon Bridges will need to explain what Jami-Lee Ross meant when he said that he had recorded a conversation where he was asked by Bridges to break the law.
For a Better New Zealand?
A new political party has emerged with what could be loosely described as a stunning website.
A Bigger Better Budget!
An odd detail or change was buried within the IPCC report that came out last week.
Reprehensible People.
“Kavanaugh” – the name lends itself to being enunciated with a certain pluminess, don’t you think?
Simon Bridges is totes relaxed about his leak inquiry
After spending over a hundred thousand dollars on the inquiry into who leaked his travel information Simon Bridges now claims that he is no longer worried about who leaked his travel expense information.
The leak inquiries
Trevor Mallard has shut down one possible conclusion of National’s leak inquiry by conducting his own inquiry into his office which has concluded that the leak of Bridges’ travel information did not come from there.
Grant Robertson is a financial genius
Remember the $11.5 billion hole that Stephen Joyce and National said Labour was going to leave the country with? Well the 2017/18 financial books have been completed and released and the Government’s surplus was $2.4 billion greater than forecast.
Do we have cheaper fuel or do we trash the planet?
On the day that the IPCC has confirmed that the world is running out of time to do something to try and preserve what we have National and associated entities have complained that fuel prices are too high.
It’s America Again
It would fit the karma of a leftie universe if the United States was now suffering from its political choices. But it’s the reverse: the United States economy is roaring and President Trump is starting to be rewarded for delivering what he promised.
Meanwhile in America …
America has had an interesting week with Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court all but confirmed, Donald Trump’s finances being the subject of an intensive review by the New York Times and Trump being filmed boarding Air Force One with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his shoe.
National’s leak inquiry blows up
Newshub has been leaked a copy of an email from Paula Bennett sent to National Party staffers advising that the inquiry into who leaked Simon Bridges’s travel expense information now includes them.
The Taxpayers’ Union’s identity problem
David Fisher in the Herald has reported that the Taxpayer’s Union has used numerous fictitious identities to make Official Information Act requests.
Failed Estate – the ABC of Trust
In Australia this week the Liberal Government has become embroiled in a scandal relating to political pressure being brought to sack the head of the ABC and one of its most senior reporters. Failed estate has the details.
Pretty legal
National has another potential copyright problem involving the use of music without permission.
National is now barking at Tahrs
National has launched an online petition against the culling of Tahrs, an animal that has been culled for years pursuant to a plan that was finalised by National in 1993.
Simon says the weirdest things – shoplifting fines
In one interview Simon Bridges shows that he cannot do basic maths in his head and does not know a core feature of a law change he wants to support.