Shortly after Jim Anderton published a press release saying that he was adding his signature to our petition asking John Key to apologise for claiming the the war in Iraq was over we received the following email from the National Party. I guess when you're…
Nicky Hager's book, The Hollow Men in many respects contains no great revelation to those who have witnessed National Party politicians' behaviour over the years. The major differentiator between Labour and National has always been that Labour is an inclusive party with fundamental values based…
Bill Ralston writes in his his column in the Herald today, "Okay, I know sometimes I don't open all my emails, such as ones headed "PM Unveils New Electorate Office for Steve Maharey", "Arbitration Amendment Bill Passed By Parliament" and "Free Viagra". But, then, I'm…
The New York Times reports that game maker Electronic Arts and energy company BP have collaborated in designing the latest version of E.A.'s SimCity computer game. The game focuses on building and managing a virtual metropolis. Environmental concerns have always been an element of the…
Wouldn't be a weekend on The Standard without a post on free culture now would it? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that the issue of copyright in the digital age has the potential to become The…
I know the Nats are leaking all over the place, but this is getting ridiculous. From our homies over at Kiwiblogblog, here's a sneak peak of National's draft leaflets for 2008: Click the image for a larger version.
This years' Ig Nobel awards have just been presented. The awards recognise achievements that "first make people laugh, then make them think". Pictured is Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner Dan Meyer punctuating his and Brian Witcombe's joint one-minute-long acceptance speech for their prize in the…
Gore shared the Nobel prize with the UN climate panel for their for their international work to promote the importance of addressing global warming. This won't come as good news to the climate change deniers out there, one of whom recently challenged the accuracy of…
On the morning of October the 12th 1917 845 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in a failed attack on Bellvue Spur during the Battle of Passchendaele. At commemorations held in Flanders yesterday, Peter Kennedy, The New Zealand Ambassador to Belgium reffered to the attack…
A week or so ago President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children's health insurance in the US. He claimed the bill was too costly, took the program too far from its original intent of helping the poor, and would entice…
It's Friday. Maybe you need a break. Don't say we never think of you. Here's a site I used to love but had forgotten: FOUND Magazine. Here's how they describe themselves: "We collect found stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs,…
Reading Hager's observations in his select committee testimony got me thinking. That big business lobby which used to sit behind Dr Brash now sits behind Mr Key. I'm sure McCully has explained to those monied types that National has to be careful about how to…
I want to clarify the major difference between the Brethren spending money to elect National and the union's spending money to elect Labour. The Brethren spent $1.2million and National didn't have to account for it. Whatever the unions spent on Labour came under Labour's spending…
More parseltongue from Key, this time on the Farming Show yesterday. It's just getting tiring to listen to. Put Bill on, at least he can sometimes give a straight answer - even if by doing so he can only attract 20% of the vote. PRESENTER:…
Here's the clip that aired on One News during the 2005 election campaign. It was produced after it became apparent that the Brethren were covertly involved but before the full extent of National's lies were subsequently revealed. There's a great shot of John Key meeting…
There's a lot of talk on the right about the surplus being evidence of 'overtaxation'. But where exactly is the Government's huge tax grab? According to Treasury, tax as a percentage of GDP has barely moved since 1998 - when we had no Working for…
Articles like this - particularly in international media - must worry Key and National. How do you even begin to challenge a leader like Clark? We can see from Keenan's email to Brash (p131) from The Hollow Men that National's strategy at the last election…
For people visiting www.thewariniraqisnotover.com, I am tempted to add another requirement for those feeling genuinely outraged at John Key's statement on the war in Iraq. Make a donation to the Save the Children Fund and demonstrate some practical support for the bad state of affairs…
No surprise to hear Key in the House yesterday relying on his research unit - Fran O'Sullivan - to try and weasel his way out of his "the war in Iraq is over" comment. As posted previously here on The Standard, ministers' comments made back…
Outragous Fortune's heading to the US. ABC has signed a deal with South Pacific Pictures to turn the show into an American series. This is great news considering that Britain's ITV has already commissioned a six-part series based on the show, due out next year.…
And so it begins. First we have Winston saying he could work with the Nats "if its policy was [thrown out] adjusted" and most recently it's the Greens extending the leafy hand of friendship. I would have thought that all the Nats' recent talk of…
There I was just reading this when I notice DPF doing a post on the same thing. Stuff reports that under Clark's leadership "New Zealand is working with other countries to put a resolution to the United Nations seeking the abolition of the death penalty…
Like many listeners, we were stunned to hear this from a man who wants to lead New Zealand. Key has since claimed both that he is technically right and that his comment has been taken out of context. But we're not buying his excuses. We…
Further to our release this morning of Hager's testimony (PDF, 120K) refuting Brash and Key's claim not to have planned their 2005 election campaign in cahoots with the Exclusive Brethren, we thought it might be nice to drop in some holiday shots of John and…
History tells us the Nats will use any excuse they can to undermine people's work rights, but this is low even for them. Desperate for an angle to oppose the extension of minimum wage rights to disabled workers, National hit on an idea: argue that…
Good news for Wellingtonians. It looks like Dean Parker's play The Hollow Men (based on Nicky Hager's Don-downing book) has got a new season at Circa 2 for almost 3 weeks in early November. More details when we have them. Good news too for National…
From the Nats' press release: National MP Brian Connell has indicated he does not intend seeking selection for the Selwyn seat at the next election and will leave Parliament at the end of this parliamentary term, says National Party Leader John Key. Connell was a…