Congrats Danyl
We’d been missing the Dimpost lately but it seems there was good reason for Danyl abandoning his blog – as of Sunday he’s a […]
Key’s secret emailer unmasked
Key says an anonymous emailer told him that S&P said a Labour Government would make a downgrade more likely (more likely than ‘actually, already happened?’). S&P categorically denies saying any such thing. We can now reveal the identity of the anonymous emailer.
Key’s Katrina
One of the turning points of Bush’s presidency was the failed non-response to Hurricane Katrina. It’s starting to look now very much as if the wreck of the Rena is John Key’s Katrina moment.
Open mike 13/10/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Not PC on John Key’s lies
Trenchant criticism of the beleaguered PM today from an unusual source. Well worth clicking through to read the whole post, here’s the main points…
Nats drag feet on Rena response
In a depressingly familiar pattern, National is more interested in avoiding responsibility than fixing the Rena disaster. They left it to Maritime NZ. Who left it to the shipping company. Now, the oil’s coming ashore. The promised soldiers didn’t show up yesterday. All the Nats can do is criticise locals for acting on their own.
NoRightTurn: SAS prisoners tortured?
When an armed force takes prisoners in a war, they have a responsibility to ensure that the prisoners are treated according to international law – eg they aren’t tortured. Are the prisoners our SAS takes being tortured? The Defence Minister says ‘dunno’. Not good enough. If our soldiers are delivering prisoners to torturers, that’s a war-crime.
Muddling through makes problems worse
We’re witnessing, once again, the results of a government whose disaster management is focused on keeping blame off itself, rather than acting. It bears remarkable resemblance to their approach to economic management. National didn’t cause the natural and economic disasters it faces but its handling of them has inevitably made them worse.
#keylines
There was some great fun on twitter yesterday with the hashtag #keylines. Here’s some samples.
NoRightTurn: Nats veto last ocean
Remember when New Zealand used to lead the world on the environment? Yeah, well not under the Key Government. Now, New Zealand is preparing to veto making the Ross Sea a marine protected area. Why are we alone in blocking this last pristine sea from protection? For the sake of a $18m fishery, probably fished by slave ships.
Bad week for Key
3News has him caught out lying, The Standard has his office caught lying, and his government’s failed to act on the worst environmental disaster New Zealand has had.
Not to mention the crisis at first five-eighth.
Open mike 12/10/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
What the Commission said – Key on RadioLive
Key’s staff spun to media that his Radio Live show was ok if he didn’t discuss politics, saying the station had received advice from the Electoral Commission that “political content’ could breach rules. That didn’t sound right to me, so I asked the Commission what they actually said.
Lower the voting age?
Mana has proposed lowering the voting age. I’m in favour.
Average Joe: Don Brash withdraws from Treaty debate…why?
Dr. Don Brash has pulled out of a debate on Treaty issues to be held on TV3’s ‘The Nation’. Which is curious considering Act’s ‘one law for all’ policy is directly concerned with treaty issues. Average Joe points out his take on why Act isn’t there. Plaudits to The Nation for having the debate, brickbats to Act for avoiding the debate – at least send along the person who knows the policy….
Election flyers: Wage drop
Can we afford 3 more years of falling real wages under Key?
Famous liars
No wonder politicians get such a bad rep.
Let the courts decide
The threat of invoking defamation is a standard tactic to intimidate those who can’t afford the legals bills to shut their mouths. Such […]
Open mike 11/10/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Mr Muddle gets a credibility downgrade
John Key’s economic credibility was shattered by the double downgrade. Now, his personal credibility has been lost after he claimed that Standard & Poor’s said a Labour government would lead to another downgrade. S&P could not have been more blunt: “At no stage have we said that a rating downgrade was more likely if there were a change of Government”.
S&P outs Key on two more downgrade lies
The lies keep flowing as National desperately tries to limit the damage from the double downgrade. First, it was ‘doesn’t matter’ – Treasury says it does. Then, “hey, it’s just private debt” – the agencies’ reports say otherwise. Then it was just an international problem – less 1/4 of the OECD has been downgraded. Then, somehow, it was all Labour’s fault and would be worse under Labour – S&P says they’re lying on that too.
PM Moonbeam afraid to debate
Buried in Friday’s Herald’s media section was a big political story. After John “Moonbeam” Key had his hour of talking about his cat while the country was being downgraded, Radio Live responded to the complaints of this blatant and illegal political favouritism by offering to host a Leaders’ debate. It was canned, though, when Moonbeam was to afraid to front up.
Censoring criticism of Key
Martyn “Bomber” Bradbury has been banned from appearing on RNZ after strongly criticising Key’s behaviour in the throat slitting incident (video). Rumour now has it that Key is intending to sue Bradbury for defamation. Listen to the audio and judge for yourselves.
Key misleads the house
Looks like John Key has been caught in yet another lie.
Who’s walking the talk on economic sovereignty?
Who said this on the double downgrade: “We have this ongoing challenge of a negative investment balance – the profits and dividends that go back to the foreign owners of New Zealand assets. We need to generate the kind of savings that will help New Zealand buy back those assets. A good example would be the Z petrol stations that were bought off Shell (by The Cullen Fund and Infratil).”?
Open mike 10/10/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
ABs vs Argentina
The ABs play Argentina tonight, 8:30 pm at Eden Park.
The denial machine
It’s scary ‘coz it’s true.
Chart o’ the day: failed gambit
Banned for criticising Key
John “throat slitter” Key behaved disgracefully in Parliament this week. But apparently criticising him for it will get you banned from RNZ.
Laissez-faire disaster management
National’s handling of the Rena oil spill is fitting into the same depressing pattern as Pike River and Christchurch – hands off, leave it to the private sector, ministers trotting out excuses rather than leading. We’re even getting the mandatory Key photo-op today, doubtless accompanied by a hollow promise.
Unfortunate names for bands
The music for the morning….
Open mike 09/10/2011
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Rugby
Just flicked on TV1 to see what’s happening in the rugby. Host is a man who pushed his partner down the stairs. Kicked her as she lay. Broke her back in 4 places. Cause he’s ‘famous’ he got off with only 300 hours CS & a 10K fine. He bribed her to keep it out of the news. Tells me a lot that TVNZ thinksVeitch is an acceptable face of their station and of rugby. Then I switched off. [Fuck, Veitch is on Radiosport. It was Devlin on the TV. My point still applies to Radiosport]
Farrar poll sounds ACT’s death knell
National Party pollster David Farrar has been polling in Epsom and the results are not good for the Right. Epsomites are pissed off with their seats being used as a backdoor for ACT into Parliament. They don’t like the gall of the Nats taking out Hide, slotting in Banks and expecting nothing to change. They don’t like dopey Brash.
National: Building a blighted future
Since the nutters on the right at the sewer (otherwise known as the kiwiblog comments) seem to have a thing about billboards (probably because they can’t handle actual politics or actual policy). So to keep them entertained and running around like headless chickens rather than doing any actual political action – here is another billboard to keep everyone amused watching them.