Eagle vs. Trump
Xero doesn’t like being on the receiving end
Xero used to fund hate for hire blog Whaleoil via advertising, because “we like to support the sunlight of good challenging discussions”. But when they became the targets of attack they didn’t like being on the receiving end.
CORTEX Trojan horse?
The government plans to roll out a new “cyber security action plan”. Given their record of secrecy, lies, and misuse of surveillance, I think we the people would be naive to believe this will be anything less than another escalation of the surveillance of New Zealanders.
New Zealand wins fossil of the day award – again
For a small country New Zealand is certainly punching above its weight. It has been awarded a second fossil of the day award by the Climate Action Network.
Open mike 11/12/2015
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Daily Review 10/12/2015
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“Jihadi brides” and Peter Dunne
Like a stopped watch, Peter Dunne sometimes gets it right.
Le Pen, Trump, dark times
As the world meets in Paris, in desperate need of sanity and unity, the tides of political madness seem to be rising everywhere.
By the Twelfth Day of Christmas National Gave To Us
Sing along as we count our gifts . . .
Open mike 10/12/2015
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Daily Review 09/12/2015
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Sayonara Serco
Serco’s contract to run the Mt Eden Corrections Facility will not be renewed when it expires next year.
Political interference in the OIA
Yesterday saw the release of the Obmudsman’s review of the operation of the OIA. I think it makes clear an unacceptable level of political interference in the process – albeit not at the level that was rampant in Dirty Politics.
John Key’s hedge fund mate behind Teach First (NZ)
Julian Robertston, a US billionaire who made his money with hedge fund Tiger Management, Merryl Lynch’s largest customer when John Key was working there, is the man behind privatisation trojan horse Teach First (NZ).
Open mike 09/12/2015
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Judge scammed by a legal idiot and his pet pest
Thank the deity of your choice for that. Judge Harrison has found and courageously, in a timely manner, corrected his mistake of granting an interim court order under s18 of the incredibly badly written Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015. The problem for a judge being requested to give any injunctive order is that they only hear one side of the argument – that of the plaintiff. And in this case the plaintiff and his associates seemed to have deliberately lied to the judge.
Daily Review 08/12/2015
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Donald Trump does not like muslims
Donald J Trump may have reached peak craziness or peak political opportunism with his call to ban all Muslims from entering America.
Paula Bennett, Climate Change Minister?
Despite having no scientific background, no relevant experience and no related portfolios Paula Bennett is the new Minister in charge of Climate Change Issues.
Hey Tracy Watkins – Judith Collins was not “cleared” of dirty politics
No, Judith Collins was never investigated, let alone “cleared”, of the serious issues raised by Dirty Politics. After a token year off Key is happy to have her back because he has precisely as many principles as she does.
Hard Numbers to Remember.
This post is essentially a distillation of two presentations given by Kevin Anderson at the Earth 101 gathering in Iceland earlier this year. You can view them here and here I highly recommend that you do as they are packed with high quality, no nonsense information. For those who don’t know, Kevin Anderson was the director of the Tyndall Centre, the UK’s leading academic climate change research organization and is a professor of energy and climate change in the School of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester.
Open mike 08/12/2015
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Daily Review 07/12/2015
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 …
Carter’s last fan
How fitting that Audrey Young is Speaker David Carter’s very last fan in the world.
Collins and the “monster” board
Idiot turn of phrase or deliberately inflammatory? You be the judge.
The Anthropocene
Heavy flooding in Chennai and the North of England is the latest in a long line of recent extreme weather events. Welcome to the Anthropocene.
Use of Teach First (NZ) illegal
To date, TeachFirst(NZ) has received more than $6.4 million dollars of public money and, as a result, has infested 18 schools with dozens of so-called “teachers”.
Key’s Xmas Reshuffle; UPDATE + bonus Winston Peters zinger!
John Key has announced that there will be a minor cabinet re-shuffle. Could this mark the return of Judith Collins? If so, what does this tell us about how the post-Key National Party will look?
Open mike 07/12/2015
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Rabblerave: New Zealand’s Next Top Model Politician
Invisiphilia analyses events of last week where environmental collective responsibility is finally gaining control over neo-liberalist philosophy and the old notion of an environmentalist being a sandal wearing, mong bean eaters has finally been given a decent burial.
Key should apologise to Tania Billingsley and Slater should be ashamed
The disputed facts case involving Tania Billingsley’s complaint against the Malaysian Diplomat suggests the diplomat was engaged in some bizarre drug induced behaviour and completely exonerates Ms Billingsley. John Ken will have to reconsider his petty refusal to apologise to her. And Murray McCully’s actions will be closely monitored as soon as the completed report into the invocation of diplomatic immunity is released.
Open mike 06/12/2015
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Left Internationalism
Hilary Benn and Maria Eagle have invoked “Labour’s proud internationalism” to support their votes for bombing ISIL in Syria to keep Britain safe! As Michael Chessum points out in the LRB, this view of Labour’s internationalism is statist rather than socialist. We can be proud that Kirk, Lange and Clark have all shown a different version of left internationalism that is much more genuinely “labour’s answer to capital’s global power.”
Offending comment was made from Giltrap!
The court order obtained by the internet pest Marc Spring against the YourNZ blog and Pete George to remove references about Spring AND his employer the Giltrap Group, was obtained using a comment made from the place of work of Marc Spring. It was probably made by Marc Spring in a deliberate perversion of the course of justice.
Collision course Syria
Russia is backing anti-Islamist Kurds in Northern Syria to control their own territory, and acting directly against the interests of the jihadist groups that Turkey, a NATO member, is supporting. The temperature will only rise from here.
TiSA reduces COP21 to a charade
That National Ltd™ is currently in the process of giving away New Zealand’s sovereignty in areas such as energy resources and related regulations, explains its contempt for the environment and the talking down of expectations regarding climate change.