Open mike 25/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Fukushima
Meanwhile back in the real world, the nuclear disaster at Fukushima is creeping back in to the headlines, for all the wrong reasons.
Our Jen on the Nation
Standard author and all around good leftie Jenny Michie will be appearing on the Nation this morning to discuss the Labour leadership.
Update: the interview’s not on the web until tomorrow but there are a couple of grabs from it in this story
Poverty Watch 45
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, Auckland’s beggar ban. What sort of country are we?
Deal or no deal?
There’s a lot of speculation about whether a deal is being put together to find a single ticket for the Labour leadership, but I don’t think that’s likely at all.
Open mike 24/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Eligibility to vote in Labour’s leadership election process
Has your Labour Party membership lapsed because you forgot to pay your membership fee or were upset? Do not despair. You may still be able to rejoin and have a vote in the leadership election process if you meet the criteria.
Congrats to Kristine Bartlett & SFWU
The Employment Court has issued a preliminary ruling on caregivers pay – saying that their pay should be compared to what it would […]
Weekend social 23/08/2013
Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no […]
A contest
There seems to be a desire from political correspondents for a Labour stitch-up. Vernon Small wonders whether this might cause a revolt from members – and fair enough too, we want our say!
Why I electorate vote Cunliffe: op ed
I wasn’t going to express my opinion on the upcoming Labour leadership selection process. However, the usual right leaning MSM hacks seem to have been following the current Labour caucus leadership in naming Robertson as the frontrunner. This is my op ed testimony for my frontrunner, the MP for my electorate: Cunliffe.
Losing your job
David Shearer is not the only one to lose his job this month. It’s quite a list, when you add it up…
Choose wisely
I’m sure we’ll be doing comparisons between the candidates for the Labour leadership in the coming days. Any of the really contenders would at least be credible and a credible PM is the thing Labour has been lacking. What I would caution against is listening to Espiner/Garner/Gower fantasy candidate – Jones. Those same guys said ‘choose Shearer’ and Labour listened.
GCSB & TICS
There will be plenty of coverage of the Labour leadership process here on The Standard, I don’t feel any need to contribute. There are too many other important matters that mustn’t fall under the radar. You thought the GCSB spying Bill was bad? The TICS bill is worse.
Open mike 23/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Time to renew – by midnight
The word is that the NZ Council decided tonight when they will cut off the memberships which are current for voting in the membership vote on the leadership primaries.
The deadline is at midnight tonight.
Unity and democracy
With a new leadership race there’s now a real chance to bring the Labour party together to fight the good fight against the right.
No time for experiments
We all knew David Shearer was a good guy and he’s just proved how good – and noble – a man he is […]
Big announcement at 1:30 … Shearer stands down as leader
It is confirmed that David Shearer has announced that he will stand down as Labour’s leader after a new leader is selected. The leadership will now be decided under the Party’s constitution.
Collins & Key go head to head over Henry Inquiry
Judith Collins is making a play for support among her fellow National ministers and trying to turn them against Key following Key’s contemptuous attitude to their privacy in the Henry Inquiry. At the Privileges Committee hearing into the Henry Inquiry yesterday, Collins and sidekick Anne Tolley asked why Henry thought he could look at their emails without their permission. Why indeed.
David Bennett’s successor?
Rumour has it that David Bennett has decided to retire at the next election. It’s been made clear to him that he’ll never be allowed anywhere near a ministerial portfolio. Who will take on his role? Well, how about this guy – Mark Sabin – who yesterday told Parliament that, thanks to St Key, New Zealand has the highest growth rate on Earth, when it’s actually 117th?
Disgusting
Chris Finalyson’s contribution to the GCSB debate yesterday was a strong reminder that the job description for National MPs includes a requirement that they be rude and arrogant and a belief that they are somehow superior to the rest of us.
Hypocrite
“New Zealanders will not have
confidence in [a …] bill rammed through
by a slender majority without public support
and with the backing of only the bare minimum
of parties necessary to get it through Parliament.”
— John Key, 2007.
(ht Toby Manhire)
High jump and higher education – the fallacy of continuous improvement
They set targets and you meet those targets, so they raise the targets. You meet them again, so they raise them again. If those targets were high jump bars, everyone watching would know you are going to miss the target at some point. That is not a failure. That is just something that is eventually beyond the very limits of your ability. However, if you are a tertiary education teacher we pretend there is no limit.
Open mike 22/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Shame!
So the Key-Dunne spying Bill is now law. The privacy of your electronic communications now depends on the favour of an untrustworthy PM, and the best efforts of a legal system (much derided by said PM) in interpreting a confused mess of a law / Hansard record / letter to The Herald.
Shame shame shame on all those MPs who ignored the concerns of the people who elected them and passed this travesty.
If lawyers don’t understand the law…
Then it’s a bad law. Who does John Key think is going to interpret the GCSB law other than lawyers from the Law Commission, the Human Rights Tribunal, the Privacy Commissioner etc?
Bad law making – GCSB Bill
Grant Robertson & David Cunliffe explain how the GCSB Bill is bad law (especially section 8 & related sections). It doesn’t provide adequate oversight or safeguards against the wholesale spying on New Zealanders. A clarifying statement from the PM is not good law. Andrea Vance demystifies the Bill.
RIP Groklaw
Groklaw has been an inspirational blog for many with an interest in geekery or the law. I read it daily during the years of the SCO trial. PJ and her team were and are amazing. But now it’s over. Killed by the death of privacy, and the world that the Key-Dunne spying bill is bringing ever closer to NZ.
The innocent have nothing to fear?
It’s not just journos who should watch out if the GCSB Bill goes through. David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was detained by British police yesterday while in transit through London. All his electronic equipment was confiscated. After the nine hour limit was up this “terrorist” was released into Britain! All because his partner has been the journalist who wrote about Snowden’s revelations about internet surveillance by GCHQ, NSA, and GCSB.
When fear tactics backfire 2 – and GCSB roundup
John Key (the PM who has on multiple occasions overspent the budget on his own protection staff) really dug himself a hole when he accused opposition leaders of wanting to “run for the hills” in case of a terrorist attack. Not only did David Shearer get to remind him of the occasions that he has been under fire – and run to help – but now some other voices have chimed in too.
Cross the floor
Check out crossthefloor.co.nz (#crossthefloor) for a resource to send email or tweets to a shortlist of government MPS who just might discover their conscience, cross the floor, and kill the spying bill…
Key adds another $40m to the asset sales bill
We know that only 2.5% of Kiwis bought shares in Mighty River Power. English now talks of ‘tens of thousands’ buying Meridian shares. This ain’t no widespread ownership – it’s the few buying and the many losing ownership. So far, we’ve paid at least $100m for these sales. Yesterday, Key added $40m in interest-free loans to Meridian buyers.
Open mike 21/08/2013
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Mighty Big Gamble on Mighty Big Gift
Hey John, how much public money are you going to pay the wealthy to “buy” our assets? (And how just desperate are you…?)
When fear tactics backfire
John Key’s fear tactics backfired badly when he tried to smear David Shearer…