National’s New Plymouth candidate quits
National Party’s New Plymouth candidate Clem Coxhead has reportedly wanted to be in politics since he was nine years old. Earlier this year […]
Video: The Century of the Self
Hager’s Crosby/Textor revelations and the ensuing debate reminded me of this four party BBC documentary by Adam Curtis: The Century of the Self. Embedded […]
The making of some (commercial) magic
As usual we’ve been running the hot political stories this week but I, for one, need a breather. And what better way to […]
The Standard Week: June 27-July 4
A big week in politics. The rail system is back in public ownership as KiwiRail, Nicky Hager exposed Brand Key as a Crosby […]
Geek’s View – Papers Plus
One of the links to The Standard this week was from Reading the Maps on the topic of Playing the history card. The […]
On Freedom
It is time for the Left to take back the language of freedom. At its heart freedom, power for the ordinary person, is what […]
Report shows incomes up, inequality down
The MSD’s Incomes Report provides a wealth of information. For instance, here’s how the mean and median household incomes have moved since 1982. […]
Buying trains gets noticed in Britain
The buy back of rail has been put in a British context in this article from the Guardian. Here are some excerpts: “New […]
Reviewing the ‘truck strike’
As a piece of political theatre it’s good and people who walk to work, including myself, enjoyed the unusual sight and gave them […]
Poverty falls, more to be done
13% of people are living in poverty in New Zealand (defined as less than 60% of the median income, less than $40K a […]
Government slashes ‘waste’
The Government’s new core benefit will see all beneficiaries given the same treatment and the same assistance to get into work if they […]
Mr Key, where is your ‘positive, ambitious campaign’?
In four separate interviews this week, John Key used more or less exactly the same line to divert from questions on his use of Crosby/Textor: […]
Road spike
The truck companies are going to blockade our motorways tomorrow morning to protest being forced to pay a levy to cover the damage their […]
Did Clark endorse push-polling?
Some of the more excitable righties on the blogosphere and John Key have taken a throw-away comment in Audrey Young’s blog to mean […]
Who’s driving the ‘truck strike’?
So, let’s get this straight the Government has increased road user charges for diesel vehicles by half the amount recommended by the Ministry […]
Drinking Liberally reminder
Don’t forget Drinking Liberally tonight. The weather’s crap but the good people at Southern Cross have provided their function room, so you won’t […]
Question
Howcome when capital goes on strike over political issues it’s seen as a legitimate part of democracy, but if workers tried the same […]
Time to front up on ACC
Some excellent journalism by Vernon Small has revealed that Australian insurers expect National to privatise the ACC scheme and they see $200 million […]
One door closes, another opens
A shame to hear that our mates at blogblog have called it quits for now but a delight to see that our friends […]
Taumarunui no longer on Main-trunk line, had Key had his way
A day into the renewed public ownership of our railway system and it has emerged that not only did John Key help sell […]
Real John vs Brand Key
Let’s go back to the heart of this story: it is not about push-polling or whatever, this is about how Brand Key has […]
Greens discover Nats full of hot air
A classic ‘cake and eat it’ from Crosby/Textor National has been their approach to climate change – stating they support tackling this issue […]
Merrill Lynch: Nats will privatise ACC
It’s refreshing to see some proper investigative journalism in this morning’s Dominion Post, with a revelation from Vernon Small that while National continues […]
TVNZ7 ad
TVNZ7 have some great content. Looks like some serious effort’s going into their advertising as well. Here’s one that caught my attention the […]
What’s the future for Brand Key?
Crosby/Textor, an outfit renowned for its anti-democratic, secretive practices, has built the public image of John Key (Brand Key) from the ground up. […]
National releases 3 more lines of policy – Scoop
A classic headline that says it all. Here’s the three lines: ‘Give schools additional resources over time to ensure more students can take […]
Crosby/Textor Spin Bingo
John Key has his round of five interviews tomorrow morning (Breakfast, Sunrise, ZB, KiwiFM, bFM) and will undoubtedly face questions on his use […]
Reminder: Drinking Liberally Auckland
Remember that Drinking Liberally Auckland is having its inaugural session tomorrow with David Slack. Note it in your schedules and tell your left-leaning […]
Crosby Textor spin the use of Crosby Textor
I wish some journo would ask Key whether Crosby/Textor helped him with lines on how to handle questions about his using them – […]
Mr Key’s real concerns
While more questions will no doubt be asked about Mr Key’s choice of hiring infamous Aussie spin-stars, Crosby/Textor, (no doubt some more of them will […]
All aboard KiwiRail
Today marks the launch of KiwiRail. It’s great to have rail back in Kiwi hands, after a decade of asset-stripping. Now comes the […]
Fairfax milks the cash cow
It was bound to happen. The Herald did it about a year ago and now Fairfax is following suit. Getting rid of subeditors […]
Same old National. Same old spin.
Former National Party MP Marilyn Waring wrote in the introduction to The Hollow Men: I must admit to a sense of anticipated despair […]
Hager to speak at Drinking Liberally – Wellington
This is one not to be missed. Nicky Hager will be speaking at Drinking Liberally – Wellington this coming Thursday. Hager, author of The […]
Brand Key shows a contempt for ordinary Kiwis
It comes as no surprise that Brand Key has been a Crosby/Textor project from Day 1. The hit and run, the bait and […]
John does a Don
Remember Noelle McCarthy’s 95bFM interview with Brash in which she got him to admit to knowledge of the Brethren pamphlets? Student radio has done it […]