Luxon’s utu
Christopher Luxon is extracting utu on Chris Bishop for his pre Christmas attempted coup by making Bishop eat humble pie on his plans to allow intensification in Auckland’s inner suburbs.
Open Mike 17/01/2026
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Iran in the vortex – what’s really going on?
To understand what’s going on in Iran, abandon what the Persians invented centuries ago: Manichaeism, black-and-white, political framing.
Our Quiet Tyranny
The attack on the NZ Reserve Bank is lock step with Trump.
Open Mike 16/01/2026
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MCERT V MAF V MBIE V Treasury
The merger of many functions of the central public sector concerned with cities, the environment, housing and urban development, and transport, was announced in the week before Christmas and is now underway. There’s plenty of good on the face of it.
Peters attacks Reserve Bank Governor
Winston Peters has attacked the REserve Bank Governor Anna Bremen for publicly expressing concern about politically inspired Department of Justice attacks on US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Open Mike 15/01/2026
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Open Mike 14/01/2026
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Open Mike 13/01/2026
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The C Word
Mountain Tūī Opinion and Analysis on New Zealand’s “C” word
Open Mike 12/01/2026
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Open Mike 11/01/2026
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Simeon Brown & Van Velden VERSUS NZ Firefighters
Brooke Van Velden, responsible for refusing a firefighters’ levy increase in 2024, piled on to firefighters who have been struggling for over a year to be heard – leading to catastrophic losses & risk
The death of truth
The competing social media takes based on video that clearly shows that the shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good was totally unjustified shows how dominant social discord is now considered to be more important than truth.
A Radical Gets Real Power and Runs Something Big
Tim Shadbolt’s passing shows what it’s like when a bona fide radical activist gets into power for long enough to make a permanent difference.
Open Mike 10/01/2026
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Affordability is not about prices – it is about extraction
The real affordability crisis lies in the systematic extraction of income from households.
Open Mike 09/01/2026
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Open Mike 08/01/2026
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Some random and unusual responses to the US invasion of Venezuela
Among a significant number of leaders claiming they are actively monitoring the situation in Venezuela after the US invasion and the kidnapping of President Maduro are some pointed and very relevant comments from some unusual sources.
Open Mike 07/01/2026
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Simeon Brown sidesteps key issues in “catastrophic” Manage My Health breach
The company has been accused of using outdated encryption protocols, and has been slow to respond to community concerns. And importantly, has National put our other public health data at risk too?
Open Mike 06/01/2026
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Open Mike 05/01/2026
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Open Mike 04/01/2026
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What David Seymour did during the holidays
David Seymour has spent some of his holidays meeting Argentine leader Javier Milei and praising Milei’s far right inspired destruction of local Government institutions.
Open Mike 03/01/2026
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Some random predictions for 2026 …
What will election year 2026 bring to Aotearoa?
Open Mike 02/01/2026
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Israel only country in history to ban Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontière)
Israel bans 37 NGOs from Gaza including the world renowned medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontière)
Happy New Year from The Standard
Happy New Year to all the readers, commenters, and fellow authors/mods at The Standard
Open Mike 01/01/2026
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Politician of the year?
Chris Bishop is thought by some to be the politician of the year, mainly for drafting a couple of bills plaigarised from the work of David Parker and untested promises to build hugely expensive roads of National significance. But they are ignoring the most extraordinary performance by an opposition leader in recent decades.
Open Mike 31/12/2025
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Open Mike 30/12/2025
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