And to round off an appalling day for right wing parties on both sides of the Tasman Malcolm Turnbull is goneburger. https://twitter.com/TurnbullMalcolm/status/1032802397691596800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1032802397691596800&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nzherald.co.nz%2Fworld%2Fnews%2Farticle.cfm%3Fc_id%3D2%26objectid%3D12112943 There is an interesting historical similarity. He served for the same time as Labor PM in the 1970s Gough Whitlam. It is there…
All those right wingers who claimed with some vehemence that Labour and/or Trevor Mallard leaked Simon Bridges' expenses information have rather large amounts of egg on their faces. And National MPs must be questioning Simon Bridges' judgment. Because it has been stated this morning that…
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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 …
It's all turned to custard for Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Despite winning a leadership ballot earlier in the week, the vultures of the hard right kept circling and this morning several Cabinet Ministers announced that they had changed their minds and now believed Turnbull…
Over 600 facebook pages have been removed at the behest of some self appointed gatekeepers going by the name of FireEye. FireEye is headed up by a guy called Kevin Mendia (that's him in the picture) whose former roles include being a computer security officer…
Back in 2001 I can vividly recall being at a public meeting that the Titirangi Labour Party organised. Helen Clark was our speaker and was going to talk about international events. At the time there was an Australian election occurring. During the campaign period Liberal…
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 …
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 …
Donald Trump must be getting the presidential pardon power ready to exercise but who for will be an interesting question. And these events happened almost simultaneously. Paul Manafort has been convicted on eight counts. From the New York Times: Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign…
As a practising Catholic I have been waiting for Pope Francis to properly address the longstanding sexual crimes by Priests. Here is the full text of his letter addressed yesterday to all Catholic believers on the matter. As you’d expect, there’s an awful lot of…
This is getting to be a habit. Judith Collins has again been caught tweeting fake news in an attempt to embarrass Jacinda Ardern. This is exhibit A: https://twitter.com/judithcollinsmp/status/1030188103577653248 It was debunked by Neale Jones: https://twitter.com/nealejones/status/1030234460002738176 But then exhibit B appeared: https://twitter.com/JudithCollinsMP/status/1031670053735817216 It seems that Judith…
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 …
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 …
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has put a number of bills up that have so little chance of happening they are better viewed as policy think-pieces. Shifting corporate governance in the United States will remain really, really hard while corporations have the Supreme Court right to…
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The Green Party held their annual conference in Palmerston North over the weekend. I'm told it was actually a pretty upbeat affair and the expected ructions around caucus support for NZ First's 'waka jumping' bill were muted. That's good, for a couple of reasons. Firstly,…
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 …
Jacinda Ardern has announced a freeze of MP's salaries while a review of the salary setting system is carried out. This is a good decision and smart politics. No Government ever was hurt by deciding not to increase MP's salaries. From the Herald: Prime Minister…
Talk about walking the walk. Julie Anne Genter outdid Jacinda Ardern's trip to hospital in her private car by riding to hospital to be induced on her bike. From Radio New Zealand: The Minister for Women and Associate Minister for both Health and Transport announced…
And over the ditch Australia readies itself for a possible change of Prime Minister. From the Sydney Morning Herald: Supporters of Peter Dutton say the Home Affairs Minister is leaning towards challenging Malcolm Turnbull for the prime ministership and has the numbers to win, amid…
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Morgan Godfery is the writer of the excellent Maui Street blog which gave a real inside view into Maori politics. He has resurrected the blog and made it subscriber based. For the modest amount of $60 per year his analysis will go straight to your…
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Most people will know that Labour MP Dame Hodge called Jeremy Corbyn a "fucking antisemite and racist" to his face. Most people will also know that the Labour Party dropped disciplinary proceedings against her, and will also know that the Labour Party is under an…
Tracy Watkins at Stuff has provided an interesting review on Simon Bridges' handling of the leaked information about his travel and work expenses. It has been a weird story to dominate politics this week and you have to wonder about National's handling of it. I…
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Graphic borrowed from @LabourMemes. 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 …
Can’t see this Waimea Dam proceeding. This is the last dam project still going with state funding support, since it was underway when the government changed last year. Crown Irrigation Investments Ltd has lent it over $22m via Tasman District Council. They are also offering…
Soul diva Aretha Franklin has died aged 76. Amongst the many takes about her life and about her death Barack Obama possibly had the best. From the Guardian: “American history wells up when Aretha sings,” former US president Barack Obama said of her performance of…
