The Standard

Daily Review 20/03/2018

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Date published: 5:30 pm, March 20th, 2018 - 37 comments

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 …

Remember President Obama?

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Date published: 10:24 am, March 20th, 2018 - 79 comments

The world has changed dramatically since Barak Obama was President of the United States.

Ardern suggests that oil exploration may cease

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Date published: 8:39 am, March 20th, 2018 - 83 comments

The Government is reconsidering the future of New Zealand’s block offer process which releases exploration permits to the oil industry for exploratory drilling.

Open Mike 20/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 20th, 2018 - 154 comments

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 19/03/2018

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Date published: 5:31 pm, March 19th, 2018 - 45 comments

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 …

Democracy, Faux Democracy and Terror.

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Date published: 11:27 am, March 19th, 2018 - 37 comments

Facebook, Putin, poisoning and Ghouta have all given fairly extensive media coverage of late. Nothing much on Afrin. Afrin has just fallen to terrorists backed by Turkey.

Update: the photo used for this post is of the The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA), who are part of the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces fighting in Syria.

Green Party statements on giving their parliamentary Questions to the Opposition

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Date published: 11:03 am, March 19th, 2018 - 49 comments

“As Greens, we’ve always stood for modernising our democracy, making MPs more accountable and giving the public better access to the levers of power.”

Greens give National their primary questions for oral answer

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Date published: 9:48 am, March 19th, 2018 - 268 comments

The Greens have offered National their Primary Questions for oral answer in Parliament without conditions.

The Incredible Silence of John Key V2.0

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Date published: 6:30 am, March 19th, 2018 - 41 comments

Update: Bridges finds his voice. And apologises.

Open Mike 19/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 19th, 2018 - 104 comments

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 …

Sanctions. Weapons of War.

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Date published: 11:50 am, March 18th, 2018 - 53 comments

When elite’s tussle, shouldn’t we look after us and ours?

Du Plessis-Allan jumps the shark

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Date published: 9:59 am, March 18th, 2018 - 87 comments

Heather Du Plessis-Allan has suggested that there is a power struggle happening in the Labour Party.  Without the benefit of things normally considered to be important elements of an argument, those things being facts.

Tell the Health Committee: Make our cannabis law fair for those in pain

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Date published: 6:05 am, March 18th, 2018 - 10 comments

“The Health Select Committee is about to consider the government’s changes to medicinal cannabis law. This is your chance to tell politicians they have not gone far enough.” 

The Greens have a handy online submission form that you can send as is or add your own thoughts. Submissions close on Wednesday.

Open Mike 18/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 18th, 2018 - 254 comments

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 …

Doofus of the week – March 17, 2018

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Date published: 12:48 pm, March 17th, 2018 - 37 comments

is awarded this week to Lisa Prager who is convinced that construction of cycleways in Auckland is part of a global conspiracy to take away our rights and whose sledge hammering technique is not optimal.

Open Mike 17/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 17th, 2018 - 127 comments

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For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

Russian to Judgment

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Date published: 5:55 pm, March 16th, 2018 - 517 comments

The possible poisoning of Sergei Skripal and the consequent  hysteria have all the signs of another false flag operation, as we saw before the second American invasion of Iraq. The chain of circumstantial evidence has more holes in it than a swiss cheese, and while  attempted murder (if that is what it is) is a criminal act Winston Peters and Jeremy Corbyn are sane voices calling for evidence before any attribution still less action.

Daily Review 16/03/2018

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Date published: 5:30 pm, March 16th, 2018 - 13 comments

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 …

Some neigbourly advice for Kirikiriroa from a concerned JAFA

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Date published: 1:21 pm, March 16th, 2018 - 27 comments

Hamilton or Kirikiriroa? I don’t even know why this is a question. Well, I do, it’s a question because white people are stupid, but I mean there’s no question in my mind which name I prefer. Kneejerk reactions to this sort of suggested change are a bit odd when you think about it. Everything in […]

Collins: No one cares about National’s abject failure over housing

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Date published: 10:42 am, March 16th, 2018 - 111 comments

Judith Collins thinks that no one cares that National oversaw the creation of a significant housing crisis.

Where is our economic leadership?

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Date published: 10:06 am, March 16th, 2018 - 38 comments

This government has not yet developed an economic strategy.

Open Mike 16/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 16th, 2018 - 191 comments

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 15/03/2018

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Date published: 5:30 pm, March 15th, 2018 - 34 comments

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 …

Corporate media: Blame it on the alcohol

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Date published: 8:30 am, March 15th, 2018 - 87 comments

A row of at least fourteen beer cans, stacked two-high

Do we have a sexual assault problem in New Zealand, or an alcohol problem? The media has decided for you. (Content warning: Sexual assault, rape culture, discussion of problematic news coverage thereof)

#MeToo

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Date published: 8:30 am, March 15th, 2018 - 13 comments

It’s been awesome to see feminist activists in New Zealand enable a new and fast liberation occur.  It’s worth reflecting on the success of #MeToo  and all its new forms.

What should NZ prioritise in international climate change negotiations later this year?

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Date published: 6:05 am, March 15th, 2018 - 48 comments

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is seeking submissions to inform their negotiations for the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP24) in December 2018.

Open Mike 15/03/2018

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Date published: 6:00 am, March 15th, 2018 - 272 comments

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 14/03/2018

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Date published: 5:30 pm, March 14th, 2018 - 34 comments

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 …

Inevitably the crazy old morons remain

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Date published: 9:10 am, March 14th, 2018 - 164 comments

In his usual dignified way, Donald Trump announced that he was sacking Rex Tillerson, the American Secretary of State in a tweet. And so the round of musical chairs that marks the White House’s descent into even more incompetence continues. Meanwhile the farce of the Russian election proceeds in their background of state operated terrorism in the UK. But there is some light

Productivity

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Date published: 9:00 am, March 14th, 2018 - 32 comments

A more productive economy – and society – has been an elusive goal for many of New Zealand’s previous governments.  The last National Government failed.  What will Labour do to succeed?

Food security in New Zealand

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Date published: 6:12 am, March 14th, 2018 - 28 comments

The Standard regular commenter Macro takes a look at the state of food security in NZ