The media in 2015
Some random musings on what happened in New Zealand’s media this year.
Social issues
John Key – the White Ribbon Ambassador
A comprehensive run through of behaviours and attitudes associated with a White Ribbon ambassador.
Banksy on Christmas
Merry Christmas …
Treachery and silly season political snippets
There’s still a few MPs “on duty”. Their function is to maintain the semblance of active government and to roll out a bunch of announcements they hope will escape full scrutiny.
A letter of thanks from Nicky Hager
“On 2 October last year the police raided our home and I had the hugely encouraging experience of watching hundreds of you coming to my aid on Givealittle: giving money and, just as important, sending kind messages and giving moral support. The financial support made it easy for us to decide to launch legal action…”
Rachel Stewart eviscerates John Key
Rachel Stewart has penned an opinion piece highlighting John Key’s avoidance of serious media in preference to engaging in rude, crude and highly unattractive stunts on commercial radio.
Child poverty has been monitored – now what?
A guest post from McFlock on what we might do about poverty when the talking’s done.
Police raid on Hager ruled illegal
“Wellington High Court judge Justice Clifford issued his judgement today on the legality of the police search of Nicky Hager’s home on 2 October 2014.
The judge found that the search was illegal.”…
Key – too far even for his fans
While there is a certain amusement value in having a performing monkey for a PM, his participation in the great rape jape yesterday was too far even for his fans.
Christmas and Freedom
Part two of Ad’s series where he asks if Christianity is actually a liberation theology and maybe Jesus was a leftie after all.
Obesity is a structural problem
Structural problems need structural solutions. Progress on this major public health issue has been set back by a decade because we elected a useless National government.
Supply side Jesus
Ad proposes the theory that Jesus was actually a right winger.
Protection of National Security Information
At the heart of the project is the tension between national interests and individual rights. Questions about how to balance these interests are not new, but they have been brought into sharp focus by recent international events.
This Year
2015’s just about up. Here’s my quick summary of the year here at the Standard. Thanks y’all!
John Key is relaxed about COP21
The Government has responded to the COP21 convention agreement with the suggestion that little will need to change. And John Key has put the likely annual cost of fulfilling our pledge at less than a tenth of the figure that Tim Groser has used.
COP21 – More than we expected, less that we needed
The dust is settling on COP21. After some initial optimism based on early reports, it’s clear that we didn’t get what we needed from Paris.
On Shooting the Messenger
Over the past decade we have seen sophisticated attacks against academics and NGOs who challenge government or industry. These attacks often appear organic in nature, but many times are in fact concerted efforts by the powerful.
The mantra of ‘Poor Choices’
It is that time of year when poor people realise just how poor they really are – the season for giving, the season […]
Education mess
Details of a mess in tertiary education published yesterday. On top of the mess in charter schools. National aren’t very good at this.
Flag observations
The current result (black and blue fern) is preliminary and may still change when the final vote is announced on Tuesday. Other observations from Twitter last night…
Flagpole Sitta
John Key’s $26 million dollar flag flop bores it’s way to the halfway line tonight. The first referendum closes at 7 PM, first results at around 8.30. $26 million … that’s a lot of cancer drugs, child care centres and elder care we won’t be getting because the PM wants a signature legacy his dreary leadership doesn’t actually deserve.
Political interference in the OIA
Yesterday saw the release of the Obmudsman’s review of the operation of the OIA. I think it makes clear an unacceptable level of political interference in the process – albeit not at the level that was rampant in Dirty Politics.
John Key’s hedge fund mate behind Teach First (NZ)
Julian Robertston, a US billionaire who made his money with hedge fund Tiger Management, Merryl Lynch’s largest customer when John Key was working there, is the man behind privatisation trojan horse Teach First (NZ).
Judge scammed by a legal idiot and his pet pest
Thank the deity of your choice for that. Judge Harrison has found and courageously, in a timely manner, corrected his mistake of granting an interim court order under s18 of the incredibly badly written Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. The problem for a judge being requested to give any injunctive order is that they only hear one side of the argument – that of the plaintiff. And in this case the plaintiff and his associates seemed to have deliberately lied to the judge.
Donald Trump does not like muslims
Donald J Trump may have reached peak craziness or peak political opportunism with his call to ban all Muslims from entering America.
Collins and the “monster” board
Idiot turn of phrase or deliberately inflammatory? You be the judge.
Use of Teach First (NZ) illegal
To date, TeachFirst(NZ) has received more than $6.4 million dollars of public money and, as a result, has infested 18 schools with dozens of so-called “teachers”.
Left Internationalism
Hilary Benn and Maria Eagle have invoked “Labour’s proud internationalism” to support their votes for bombing ISIL in Syria to keep Britain safe! As Michael Chessum points out in the LRB, this view of Labour’s internationalism is statist rather than socialist. We can be proud that Kirk, Lange and Clark have all shown a different version of left internationalism that is much more genuinely “labour’s answer to capital’s global power.”
Offending comment was made from Giltrap!
The court order obtained by the internet pest Marc Spring against the YourNZ blog and Pete George to remove references about Spring AND his employer the Giltrap Group, was obtained using a comment made from the place of work of Marc Spring. It was probably made by Marc Spring in a deliberate perversion of the course of justice.
Daily Review 04/12/2015
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 …
As we bind ourselves with the TPP, so other countries will fill the need
Reeling from tough produce sanctions, Russia will pursue a strategy as the world’s largest supplier of ‘ecologically clean’ food. And where is NZ?
National Ltd™’s Sam Lotu-Iiga tries to pull the wool over our eyes
It was suggested in Parliament that SERCO’s first place position on the Prison Performance Table had been the result of Lotu-Iiga and his department having had the wool pulled over their eyes.
The great future tide of homelessness
The Salvation Army, and not the Government, has pointed out some very worrying trends relating to home ownership in New Zealand.
Mopping up the fossil fuels subsidy shame
McClay said he could not answer the specific question because he had “been advised” no such data exists.
How convenient.
Deportee
Standard Exclusive:
Te Reo Putake interviews one of the first batch of deportees from Australia under the Liberal Government’s hardline approach to Kiwis who serve jail time in the lucky country.
Our man in Paris
Some time today, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, will be wandering around the hallways of his Paris hotel in his underpants. Or maybe his swimming togs.