The price of crude oil has nearly halved in the past six months and is causing massive repercussions throughout the world with both the Russian economy and the American Shale Oil industry under threat. The geopolitical implications are complex.
National are not responsible for the eventual recovery, they are responsible for delaying it.
I was born in June 1959. In October the following year, the United States put an embargo against Cuba, and it has remained in place ever since. Today it appears as if President Obama in the USA is intending to lift the substantive parts of the embargo. About time.
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Scott examines Bill’s likely excuses for failing to deliver something National have promised since 2011
The Meatworkers Union today launch a campaign for Jobs That Count – to try to get better conditions for these marginalised workers who face it all – seasonal work, dangerous jobs, casual and zero hours contracts and anti-union pressure.
Condolences feel pretty meaningless in cases like this, but they are all that one can offer.
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
The Nats are going to miss the only target they ever cared about hitting – the mythical surplus. Seven wasted years and counting…
Would John Key be making reference to terror attacks if Haron Monis was not from the Middle East? Our PM has a track record of jumping the gun on sensitive international issues…
In a land far away from here and behind a curtain of iron, it was said that to understand anything, it was necessary to first of all discount the fictions that were being presented as truth.
people are reporting that they have been unable to access emergency grants for food, simply because that are unable to reach WINZ staff to apply for one.
As anticipated, the Sydney cafe siege was caused by a lone nutter with a dubious history. He committed suicide by cop apparently after killing a hostage. Meanwhile we have had opportunistic jerkoffs like National MP Mark Mitchell displaying their paranoid fantasies (probably as urine dribbles down their leg) to justify recent poorly written and rushed legislation.
The Sydney siege has now finished. Three people including the gunman are dead. And it is clear that the siege was caused by a lone person rather than a terrorist group.
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Up to 20 civilian hostages are being held in a Sydney chocolate shop in a developing hostage situation.
Update: The siege is over, reports suggest two dead and three injured.
Well worth a look. A straight talker, with a sense of humour, freshness and vigour.
The Nats have finished focus-grouping their attack line on Andrew Little and are moving in to deployment. As narrated by Twitter this morning…
John Key’s only formal apology this year was to serial privacy breacher Cameron Slater for breaching his privacy. Not to any of the victims of dirty politics or to any of the victims of this Government’s policies. Why is it that National is continuing to allow Slater to undermine the Prime Minister’s position so effectively?
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Inequality has been very much in the news recently. Friday saw the publication of two really excellent pieces that between them provide a comprehensive, if depressing overview.
While I have come to expect nothing from the annual climate change talks, this years’ failure is particularly galling because of the active role that NZ played in it.
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Two New Zealands will shortly celebrate Christmas, the poor and the rich. Here’s a crazy thought…
Herald journo John Drinnan seems all excited about Freed. That’s the dirty politics model that you’re celebrating John. You really want journalists to become pawns to paid attack politics? WTF?
The last Roy Morgan poll for the year provides Andrew Little and Labour with welcome news.
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
On RNZ this morning PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff criticised Bill English for his misleading rhetoric about rises in “average wages”. NZ’s income and wealth gaps have increased in recent decades. The lowest income remain low; the top earners get big salary increases.
Message to today’s anonymous Herald editorialist – competition doesn’t close the inequality gap, it widens it. In other news, black is black not white, and water is wet. How can you write such drivel?
Open mike is your post. The Standard is not a conspiracy – just a welcome outlet for the expression of views. Leaders that command respect will not be undermined by this. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
New author Mandy Hager joins us with some reflections on having become a grandmother: “So that’s why I’m speaking out now, every opportunity I get. Not because I like the exposure (shudder), but because I love this tiny little person and I will fight for his future, come what may. It’s the right thing to do. …”
Andrew Little has wasted no time in making his mark, not just on the Labour Party but on New Zealand politics. What is […]
finally, we have the release of the report that documents interrogation techniques carried out by the CIA. it’s pretty awful stuff.
