NSW Liberals want an Electoral Finance Act
In an ironic twist, the Sydney Morning Herald reports today that the New South Wales Liberal Party has called for reform of campaign […]
International
Fidel calls it a day
The BBC reports that Fidel Castro has retired as Cuban leader. Castro has survived a US-backed invasion, numerous assassination attempts and the fall […]
Karl Rove on John McCain
Australia says sorry
Howard couldn’t bring himself to do it, instead expressing “regret”. Today, Labor’s Kevin Rudd said sorry in a formal statement to the stolen […]
Swan to build surplus as economic stabiliser
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced that he intends to lift the target for the budget surplus, so that fiscal policy can help […]
When politics and music video collide
From CNN earlier in the week – Jeanne Moos presents her very own Super Tuesday Political Video Awards. A good summary of some […]
MoveOn.org endorses Obama
MoveOn.org is a progressive political community, organised predominantly online, with over 3 million members. For the first time they’ve endorsed a Democratic candidate, […]
Jacinda Ardern to lead IUSY
Jacinda Ardern, former Young Labour president and political advisor, has just been elected president of the International Union of Socialist Youth – a […]
The whalers are coming
The Dom reports today that the Japanese whaling fleet has ben “spotted steaming towards the Ross Sea” – part of our territorial waters. […]
Daily Show on financial news
Jon Stewart had a good piece last night on why we shouldn’t just trust the economic and financial “experts”. People deserve better from […]
Is Barack Obama dull?
Armando Iannucci from The Observer wonders whether he’s the only person to find Barack Obama dull: Like Will Smith, who in the new […]
Discussing “constituency matters” with the Brethren
Today’s Age gives a few insights into “constituency matters” the Brethren discussed with John Howard from 2003 to 2006, the last about the […]
Introducing the world’s cheapest car
From Time: A lot is riding on the the world’s cheapest car. In the words of Ratan Tata, chairman of the company behind […]
What you can do with this gadget is up to you
Spotted in the NY Times (6 Jan 2008) this new gadget looks like it takes the concept of open source one step further […]
The Politics of New Hampshire
For those of you following the presidential primaries this opinion piece by Dan Balz in the Washington Post (9 Jan) provides some interesting […]
Spain bans parents from smacking children
Yesterday we saw a report from Police Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope saying claims that the repeal of section 59 would lead to the […]
Leadership style & Clinton v Obama
Leadership is a quality that everyone can recognise but a whole suite of academic debate has emerged over its definition. For an example […]
What is the price of believing?
Oprah is a global brand, so when she went public with her campaign to support Barack Obama it was part of our news […]
Republican AdStravanganza
Talking Points Memo have put together a great compilation of Republican presidential candidates’ campaign ads stripped back to nothing but key lines. It’s […]
Argentina gets first elected female president
We’ve been writing about Jenny Shipley and Helen Clark (btw – yesterday was the 8th anniversary of signing Ministerial warrants for the first […]
Rap battle: Howard vs Rudd
Somehow I missed this when it was originally posted. In case you did too…
A chat and a cuppa
From Scoop: “Clark first in Rudd queue” Kevin Rudd has pledged to broaden relations with New Zealand after a flying visit by Helen […]
Candidate match game
This is very cool. USA Today’s put together a candidate match game to help voters work out which US presidential hopefuls best share […]
Huckabee and Obama lead Iowa
USA Today reports that Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are the leaders for their respective parties in Iowa with the caucuses now only […]
Lowlight reel: Republican YouTube debate
Watch this clip from yesterday’s Republican YouTube debate and spare a thought for our progressive mates in the USA. I like the idea […]
Fox Attacks: Iran
This looks interesting. Fox Attacks: Iran is a new short film from Robert Greenwald, director of the excellent Outfoxed. The film focuses on […]
YouTube Republican debate
Should be on around 2pm our time. Time has a good background piece. The YouTube debate site has currently received around 5000 user-submitted […]
Labor set to win in Australia
After 11 years of conservative rule, it looks like Kevin Rudd has led the Australian Labour Party to victory in Australia’s elections. All […]
Libs’ dirty tricks in Oz
The husband of retiring Liberal MP Jackie Kelly and a state Liberal official have been caught distributing fake pamphlets in Western Sydney. The bogus […]
Giving thanks for turducken
We at The Standard would like to wish our US counterparts a very happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Of course we’d hate to think that […]
International flip-floppery
Thought that we had a worldwide monopoly here in NZ on right wing flip-floppers with Don Brash, John Key et al? Think again. […]
Jon Stewart on torture
Via onegoodmove
Kerik indictment likely to tarnish Guiliani
Bloomberg reports that Bernard Kerik, the former police commissioner under New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani who withdrew his nomination to head the […]
The power of the web
All election addicts are casting their eyes to what is happening in other countries & especially over in Australia and in the States. […]
Reclaiming the high ground of morality and economics
Evan Thornley is a member of the Upper House of the Victorian State Labor govt. He spoke recently at the NZ Labour Party […]
UK cannabis reclassification causes decline in use
The Guardian reports that: Cannabis use among young people has fallen significantly since its controversial reclassification in 2004, according to the latest British […]