Then there were three
Andrew Little has formally announced that he is also seeking the Labour Party leadership.
Hager defense fund approaching $35K – Make that 40K
The legal defense fund for Nicky Hager is approaching $20,000 $25,000 $35,000 $40,000. Why not help it over the line?
The terrorism card
Terrorism is whatever John Key wants it to be.
Open mike 09/10/2014
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 …
NRT: We don’t need new laws to fight terrorism
John Key has been busy lying about the need for yet more ‘anti-terrorism’ laws. How many do the police and security forces need? As NRT points out, are they just too lazy to use the ones they already have? Or is this just because John Key wants to get his own plastic sword? Surely we pay him enough to buy his own?
Aussie police raid – plastic sword discovered!
Last month the Australian covered “the biggest anti-terrorism raid in Australia’s history” extensively, complete with picture of sword “that police claim they were planning to use” according to Channel 10. Yesterday it turned out that the sword was plastic. Oz Police had a lot to say about the raid, but are staying quiet on the sword.
Hager defense fund about to hit 20K – make that 25K
The legal defense fund for Nicky Hager is about to hit $20,000 $25,000. Why not give a little?
John Key’s police poodles
The search of Nicky Hager in response to a complaint by Cameron Slater contrasts strongly with the lackadaisical investigation of a similar complaint by Matthew Blomfield against Cameron Slater. I guess the police take things seriously if you are a friend of John Key, just as they did in 2011 with the teapot tape saga. How far has John Key corrupted the police?
Cause of poverty and inequality found!
Good news citizens! The National government has revealed unto us today the cause of poverty and inequality.
Open mike 08/10/2014
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 …
NRT: A surprise policy
Remember National’s social housing policy? The one they campaigned on? The one that talked about how much money they were spending and was all about upgrading and investing in state houses? Somehow, post-election, its transmogrified into selling off a third of the state housing stock. John Key lying to voters as usual eh?
Defend Nicky Hager
We can contribute to his defence fund here. It’s one way to help – this is going to be a long fight.
Labour Day essay competition (Southern)
“Labour Day is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Monday of every October. What important events, conflicts and values in history does Labour Day signify? What lessons from that are especially relevant to young New Zealanders working and studying today?”
Jason Ede located
How far will the harassment of Hager go?
Hager has said that he will go to prison rather than reveal the identity of the Rawshark / Whaledump hacker.
Two tier strategy on spying
Key ditching responsibility for the GCSB and SIS, and adopting the newly created title of Minister for National Security and Intelligence, is another example of the dirty politics two tier strategy.
Open mike 07/10/2014
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 …
About those other police complaints …
Police action in obtaining a warrant to search Nicky Hager’s home in politically charged circumstances raises issues why in other politically charged incidents no similar action has been undertaken.
Police raid Hager
Breaking news, police raid Nicky Hager.
On Navel Gazing and Looking Out.
As the NZ Labour Party stands on the cusp of some soul searching, it might want to note that there are alternatives to pointless navel gazing.
Auckland power outages
Well the power just went out at work at 1315. Looks like the Auckland is getting the rolling outages as they repair the […]
Polity: National’s new ministry: Key fires himself!
Key has basically fired himself from most of his Security and Intelligence responsibilities. This is a big change.
The long reach of “5 Eyes”: re-post
With Chris Finlayson just announced as minister in charge of GCSB & SIS, I thought it appropriate to re-post something I published on The Standard back in July 2013: links 5 Eyes’ attorney generals, cyber-security, Dotcom, etc.
Mediawatch on the media orgy
RNZ’s Mediawatch is a bright spot in the media wilderness! This weekend’s episode examined the media’s orgy of hyperbole and spin on the Labour leadership contest. Well worth a listen.
Starving the universities
NZ’s universities are falling down the world rankings. This should come as no surprise, because National have systematically cut funding to the tertiary sector. How stupid do you have to be to deliberately run down our universities?
Open mike 06/10/2014
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up […]
A Little Goes A Long Way
Finally confirmed as a Labour List MP, Andrew Little is mulling over a tilt at the leadership. This is good news for the party. Cunliffe is a busted flush and Robertson is too bland to win voters back. Labour needs a circuit breaker. A Little may go a long way.
Boots Theory: Numbers are meaningless when families are living in cars
There’s something obscene about the way the economic story gets framed: the figures on a page, the points on an index, the number of dollars someone can swap for a number of different-coloured dollars, when people are suffering.
Taxpayers support Mr “Small Government”
If ACT were made up for a show like “The Thick of It”, or “Veep”, they would be dismissed as too ridiculous and extreme for the audience to swallow…
Open mike 05/10/2014
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 …
Answering climate change myths
I ran across this youtube video “Thirteen misconceptions about global warming” handling the basic myths used by our climate change dummies. Perhaps they should watch it before I and others have to waste too much of our time rubbishing their inane ideas.
National lose majority
The final results are out – National lose a seat (and their majority), Greens gain a seat, Andrew Little is safe.
Unaffordable housing & the culture of greed
Rental housing remains unaffordable for many. The problem is the greed of investors & speculators, supported by a culture in which housing investment is seen as a way to individual prosperity.
Final election results due out today
The final election results are expected to be announced today and I would not be surprised if there is a change in the makeup of Parliament.
Feed the kids
Hone Harawira said “farewell” to Parliament yesterday, in a well attended event. He left behind him a challenge…
Open mike 04/10/2014
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 …