1938 15
A Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here.
Social issues
Why I electorate vote Cunliffe: op ed
I wasn’t going to express my opinion on the upcoming Labour leadership selection process. However, the usual right leaning MSM hacks seem to have been following the current Labour caucus leadership in naming Robertson as the frontrunner. This is my op ed testimony for my frontrunner, the MP for my electorate: Cunliffe.
No time for experiments
We all knew David Shearer was a good guy and he’s just proved how good – and noble – a man he is […]
Big announcement at 1:30 … Shearer stands down as leader
It is confirmed that David Shearer has announced that he will stand down as Labour’s leader after a new leader is selected. The leadership will now be decided under the Party’s constitution.
High jump and higher education – the fallacy of continuous improvement
They set targets and you meet those targets, so they raise the targets. You meet them again, so they raise them again. If those targets were high jump bars, everyone watching would know you are going to miss the target at some point. That is not a failure. That is just something that is eventually beyond the very limits of your ability. However, if you are a tertiary education teacher we pretend there is no limit.
Shame!
So the Key-Dunne spying Bill is now law. The privacy of your electronic communications now depends on the favour of an untrustworthy PM, and the best efforts of a legal system (much derided by said PM) in interpreting a confused mess of a law / Hansard record / letter to The Herald.
Shame shame shame on all those MPs who ignored the concerns of the people who elected them and passed this travesty.
If lawyers don’t understand the law…
Then it’s a bad law. Who does John Key think is going to interpret the GCSB law other than lawyers from the Law Commission, the Human Rights Tribunal, the Privacy Commissioner etc?
Bad law making – GCSB Bill
Grant Robertson & David Cunliffe explain how the GCSB Bill is bad law (especially section 8 & related sections). It doesn’t provide adequate oversight or safeguards against the wholesale spying on New Zealanders. A clarifying statement from the PM is not good law. Andrea Vance demystifies the Bill.
RIP Groklaw
Groklaw has been an inspirational blog for many with an interest in geekery or the law. I read it daily during the years of the SCO trial. PJ and her team were and are amazing. But now it’s over. Killed by the death of privacy, and the world that the Key-Dunne spying bill is bringing ever closer to NZ.
When fear tactics backfire 2 – and GCSB roundup
John Key (the PM who has on multiple occasions overspent the budget on his own protection staff) really dug himself a hole when he accused opposition leaders of wanting to “run for the hills” in case of a terrorist attack. Not only did David Shearer get to remind him of the occasions that he has been under fire – and run to help – but now some other voices have chimed in too.
When fear tactics backfire
John Key’s fear tactics backfired badly when he tried to smear David Shearer…
GCSB- Questions?
John Key has been twisting himself out of shape answering questions about spying on New Zelanders by the GCSB under the GCSB amendment Bill that is currently before the House. [Update] Video Qu One & Three [Update] Qu 1 transcript.
Big gay rainbow
Would you trust this politician?
As inspired by Toby Manhire…
Happy Marriage Equality Day
Open mike 19/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Paula Bennett plans legislative witch hunt
Paula Bennett’s latest idea is to remove the rights of natural justice for state employees who do not take the proposed child abuser vetting test, even though the test has not even been designed. Even for Paula the stupidity of this idea is extreme …
1938 14
A Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here.
Cheap and nasty
Having been burned by the cheapest tender and the leaky building fiasco, the Nats say that they have now worked out that the cheapest tender is not necessarily the best. (Brilliant eh?) If only it was true that they had really learned the lesson…
John Key – GCSB fool (or liar)
On Campbell Live, and on other occasions, John Key has claimed that critics of the GCSB spying bill were all wrong. The Human Rights Commission – wrong. The Law Society – wrong. The Privacy Commissioner – wrong. Dame Anne Salmond – wrong. Everyone else wrong – only he – John Key – and his secret advisors were right, and we the sheeple have nothing to fear.
Now in a stunning embarrassment it is Key that has had to admit that he was wrong. Or a liar.
Key vs Campbell: the transcript
The interview of John Key by John Campbell last night on Campbell Live (on the GCSB Bill), showed what a formidable spin merchant Key can be. It is important to understand Key’s MO. This is a work in progress – transcript of the first 10.44 12.27 mins. completed.
Tech Liberty on GCSB Bill
Thomas Beagle at Tech Liberty has done a great job at presenting the technicalities of the Key-Dunne GCSB spying bill – see for example: “Does the new GCSB Bill give them the power to spy on New Zealanders?”. (Spoiler Alert! The answer is Yes.)
Paula is abusing Child Abuse Prevention Orders
Paula Bennett has recently announced for the second time, although with a new name, the Government proposal for the introduction of Child Abuse Prevention Orders. These could result in people who have been acquitted of serious criminal allegations nevertheless being under effective house arrest for an extended period. How can a party that supposedly believes in the Rule of Law trash the Bill of Rights?
Child abuse
Statistic of the Day
World incarceration rate: ~130 per 100,000
NZ incarceration rate: 197 per 100,000
Another diversion – “suspected” abusers
Time for another law-and-order-tough-on-crime distraction! Look! Over there!!
Nat housing policy panned
Labour and The Greens are clearly setting the agenda with a strong focus on housing affordability. National are struggling to catch up. But their new policy has been met with a chorus of criticism. They are going to have to do a lot better than this.
John Key – in contempt
John Key shows contempt for New Zealanders and democracy in refusing to talk about the GCSB Bill and saying New Zealanders care more about snapper quotas. Campbell Live discovers some Kiwis are well informed and have views on the GCSB Bill.
National’s “housing policy” is to reverse its previous cuts
Selling your privacy
Good piece by David Fisher on selling your privacy. Don’t worry citizens consumers, it’s nothing personal. It’s just business.
This is/is not democracy
The Nats’ PR-managed conference stifled democratic debate & bright ideas, and diverted from significant issues. Armstrong attempts to talk it up, while exposing Key’s win-at-all-costs ruthlessness. Meanwhile: speakers announced for democratic meeting to Kill the GCSB Bill [Updated – Hagar also speaking]. [Update: Gordon Campbell – ‘Nanny National‘]
Shearer slams Key on Edwards parole release (not)
That’s a headline that you won’t see. Because politicising the crimes committed by those released on parole is low politics indeed. Isn’t that right, Mr Key?
Nats’ affordable housing policy: for the 70-80th percentiles
So, let me see if I have this right: National’s big announcement on affordable housing was the increase the income and house price limits for getting the Kiwisaver First Home Deposit Subsidy. In other words, pour more money into the over-heated housing market. And do that by giving cash to people previously considered too well-off for the subsidy.
1938 13
A Sunday feature – each week a random section scanned from a copy of The Standard, September 15th, 1938. Find out more here.
Work – its precarious
The Governments attack on workers pay seems even more nasty given the stats released this week that show wages stagnating as prices increase […]
Labour supports Plunket
Another good policy announcement from David Shearer.