Of course it could be that John Key announced the election yesterday to divert attention from the press release from Treasury today. The deficit was $637 million dollars bigger than expected. In fact it was more than double the expected size. Why? Well mostly because of…
Rob Salmond at Polity has a look at why National surprisingly announced the election date yesterday. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that it was a deflection from something. Rob thinks that National was worried about where a look at donations to National's campaign…
Just at present I'm particularly interested in adding union sites with RSS feeds to our feeds. But it is somewhat irritating. Many of the sites don't have a RSS feed. They should have one. RSS (Rich Site Summary); originally RDF Site Summary; often dubbed Really Simple Syndication, uses a…
This is a re-post from here at No Right Turn NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden gave evidence to the European Parliament last week about the NSA and mass-surveillance. The most interesting revelation? The NSA's use of lawyers to subvert other countries limits on surveillance - including our own:…
‘ALLO, ALLO, ALLO, ALLO’ -By Senior Reporter Susan Nact STARRING CAMERON SLATER AS RENE AND JUDITH COLLINS AS EDITH. In this preview we bring you Episode Two of the new tv drama show “allo, allo, allo allo”, based on the TV series “Allo, Allo” from…
I’ll keep this short and simple. There is an independence referendum in Scotland on September the 18th. After that date, there may be a change to the Union Jack of 1801. The reason there may be a change is that the flag is seen by…
Just over three years ago, on February 2 to be precise, John Key announced that the date of the 2011 election would be November 26, 2011. At the time he said: "I believe it is in the country's best interests to know the date of…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
John Key has just announced the election date: September 20. Quite early, but the media has been being primed for the last 6 weeks, so won't see this as National being scared of dipping support, no claims of instability or going back to voters 'too…
So, it’s emerging that the snipers who shot and killed 94 people in Kiev immediately prior to Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the Ukraine, may have been hired by elements within the Maidan movement. (Both police and protesters, it is being claimed, were shot by the same…
David Cunliffe announced yesterday Labour's intention to introduce a digital bill of rights which will establish four basic rights for people. There were four aspects mentioned: Guaranteed access to the internet by New Zealand citizens. The right to protection from mass surveillance and the digital…
Truth to Power: serving the public interest A 4th Estate media should be, in Hagar's terms, serving the public interest, informing the public on crucial issues. This often means speaking truth to power on behalf of the less powerful section of the public. There are…
Sheila Holt, in the UK, is in a coma for 2 months. She has also just been invited to "intensive job-focused activity" by the Dept of Work & Pensions. She's suffered severe bipolar disorder since childhood and hasn't been in paid employment since 16. Despite her…
My brother has posted across at Red Alert on Steven Joyce’s bungling oversight of AgResearch’s current $100 million restructure. The Crown Research Institute is New Zealand’s largest, and a recipient of generous Government support. Andy West, the former head of AgResearch stands to gain as…
Is David Cunliffe really that much of an enigma? I guess one of the problems for the right/ media about banging on with questions about "who is David Cunliffe" and the ‘enigma’ of Cunliffe is that you might actually get an answer to your question.…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
Last week when Patrick Gower went on about David Cunliffe last year failing to declare a personal trust in time while he awaited the official opinion on whether he had to (along with a number of other unmentioned MPs), I thought things were getting a…
The reason we know about John Key's Antoine's dinner donations was that they were grouped into a single donation that had to be declared. Not that we know who all the individual donors are: they're hidden behind the dinner loophole. But what about all the…
The recent distractions over funding and trusts etc are just that, filibusters. Key/National are working very hard to emphasise this sideshow stuff. If they can just keeeep talking until the election they figure they'll have the election in the bag. They will do absolutely anything…
Our export-led economy is a rock-star according to those on the right. Australia kept us going, and now, despite the EU still spluttering, we can fly because China will buy all our milk powder. Which we can keep making more of without destroying our 'clean…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
This post was originally posted at Local Bodies by bspout. It is a pretty good summary of National's spins away from reality. This National led Government has seriously mismanaged things and is desperate to hide the true effects of its governance over the last five…
David Cunliffe had a trust set up for campaign donations. The structure kept donors anonymous and was within electoral rules, but was a bad look. He named three of the donors and paid the other two back. Total donations equaled $17,800 with $8,300 of that…
The original of this post is here. Universities are back in session, and in staff rooms around the country faculty are again trying to design classes that meet the government’s mandatory minimum pass rates. If Universities (and Polytechs, Waananga, and others) do not meet a…
The official theme of International Women's Day this year is "Inspiring Change". It's a little vague, a little aspirational, not too confrontational - fairly typical for this kind of awareness-raising exercise. But it is 2014, and it's an election year, and the way we talk…
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike ...
If you want to donate money to someone extraordinarily wealthy who wants to suppress freedom of speech and bully opposition MPs into silence here is your chance. What else can I say ... Update: It has been pointed out to me that the wording on…
Tony Holman's op ed piece in the NZ Herald today adds an important perspective on the Auckland Council CCOs currently under review. He is concerned that the CCOs are a trojan horse that is part of a 2 step movement toward privatisation of Auckland assets.…