No consensus – more talks
Vance: “Now not committing to the end of the week”
China and New Zealand
Is it time for New Zealand to align itself with China rather than the United States?
“Reporters”.
“Once upon a time, in a world far away” we had these people called “reporters”.
An honourable profession, who considered it their job to keep the public accurately and completely informed.
Wellington Political Theatre’s Waiting for Godot – a review
Beckett’s classic Waiting for Godot by the city’s oldest company, the Wellington Political Theatre, is a triumph.
Open Mike 17/10/2017
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Daily Review 16/10/2017
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 …
Poor reporters
Spare a thought for our poor political reporters today.
Austria and Europe
Europe is showing a worrying trend to the right as anti immigration parties are voted into office. Austria provides the latest example.
This is the day *
* but delays are possible.
Facebook and democracy
A long and interesting read in The Atlantic. “The very roots of the electoral system had been destabilized.”
The first 100 days of a Labour led government
Maybe Peters learned from history and is not doomed to repeat it. If we get a Labour led government, what should be its top priorities in the first 100 days?
Open Mike 16/10/2017
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Nats – lousy at government – “brilliant” at opposition
Peters has the opportunity to put an end to this useless government (and turn National into “the opposition from hell”). I think he’s going to ’96 us, but I’d be happy to be proved wrong
Open Mike 15/10/2017
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Helen Kelly – one year
Helen Kelly died a year ago today. She is missed.
Happy Oompa Loompas?
Dunedin hosts a celebratory graduation ceremony for discarded labour.
IMF: higher taxes for rich will cut inequality and won’t hurt growth
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it now favours higher taxes on the rich and has demolished the myth this might adversely affect […]
Into the Vortex of Confirmation Bias: why we won’t be able to figure out which way Winston will go…
Every morning, as the waiting for Winston to decide continues to fray my fragile psyche, I can look at myself in the mirror, contemplate my own frenzied speculative hopes for an Ardern Prime Ministership, and immediately think of a host of strong social-methodological reasons why all such speculation is futile.
Lefties on The Standard #3
Another post on The Standard providing a discussion space for left-wing and progressive people only.
Sean Plunket resigns from Broadcasting Standards Authority
Anyone feeling for Sean Plunket?
Open Mike 14/10/2017
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Weekend social 13/10/2017
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
The Nobel Peace Prize
Last week, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). This is a […]
Another term of Nats bad news for democracy
It’s starting to feel a lot like 1996 all over again. Another term of the Nats would be bad news for the institutions of democracy. We’ve had recent warnings on the state of the justice system, press freedom, and the public service.
Open Mike 13/10/2017
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Daily Review 12/10/2017
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Passchendaele and Pyongyang
The massive artillery barrage at Passchendaele was supposed to cut the German wire and make advance easy. All it did was churn up the mud though which so many doomed New Zealanders slogged and died. A monument to military incompetence and political disaster. These days they prefer bombs, which are equally deadly and equally futile. Its time we said no more.
First Past the Post nostalgia
A timely reminder that we replaced FPP for very good reasons.
Every body wants to rule the world
D day approaches. What will happen? Will we have a decaying toothless National Government moderated by coalition with New Zealand First or will we have something more exciting?
Last day of talks
It’s the last day of coalition talks (probably). Peters has certainly created big expectations of “change”, but what they will mean in practice is still anyone’s guess.
Green options
If the Greens prioritise change over power, then the whole ‘they have no leverage’ rhetoric becomes less important than the fact that the Greens are necessary to form government but still have choices in how they participate in that.
Anatomy of a plonker
“Anyone else feeling for Harvey Weinstein?” – Sean Plunket
Open Mike 12/10/2017
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Daily Review 11/10/2017
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Guest post: Deconstructing yet another National has moral right to govern argument
A guest post by Swordfish on the implausibility of the claims by Dr Claire Robinson’s odd claim that the 2017 election result was a win for the status quo.
Industrial dairying and blue babies
When you run an economy that sees harm to babies as acceptable risks that can be mitigated, then you are approaching society’s end game.