The Standard

John Key’s emergency descent

lprent — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:22:29 +0000

A great graphic from the Sunday Star Times as John Key starts dropping towards a hard landing in the personal popularity stakes. And in the great tradition of journalists everywhere, the rest of the article is about how he is still preferred by rubber fetishists.

Key’s legacy

Anthony R0bins — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 21:20:47 +0000

Authors here have been saying for a while that Key may well quit during this second term. Even John Armstrong can see the writing on the wall. So what will Key's legacy be?

Open mike 12/02/2012

The Standard — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:00:44 +0000

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

The circling vultures

James Henderson — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:59:48 +0000

People are waking up to National's plan to remove the democratically-elected Christchurch City Council and replace it with its own hand-picked commissioners, who will then give a green light to Brownlee's developer mates and the sale of council assets. You can already see the vultures circling - waiting for the chance to seize more public wealth for themselves.

Open mike 11/02/2012

The Standard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:00:28 +0000

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

Weekend social 10/02/2012

The Standard — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever. No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?

National standards fail in America

Anthony R0bins — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:49:08 +0000

New Zealand schools achieve excellent results and are very cost effective. The Nats are determined to break this great system via the introduction of national standards. They're ignoring the advice of their own experts, and all the international evidence. But will they be able to ignore the now self-evident failure of standards based testing in America, as Obama pulls the plug on No Child Left Behind?

Dictatorshipwatch: Christchurch City Council

James Henderson — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:15:43 +0000

When National decided to seize control of Canterbury Regional Council to remove roadblocks for unsustainable irrigation by their mates in the dairy industry, they didn't do it overnight. They spent months creating a crisis. The same thing's happening in Christchurch. Brownlee's building a 'crisis in the council' to justify replacing the councilors with commissioners. The only question is when.

Doctor, heal thyself

Rupert the Beer — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:04:30 +0000

Does it strike anyone else as strange that National bloggers are full of 'great' advice for the Labour caucus about how they can use Red Alert more effectively, when their own party has a pretty pathetic online presence? I guess they could make the same suggestions for the National MPs blog, but given no one reads it, it would be pretty redundant.

Armed police storm Key mansion

Zetetic — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:24 +0000

Armed Police assisted by the Eagle helicopter, the counter-terrorism unit, customs officials, and the police launch towed on its trailer have raided Prime Minister John Key's Parnell mansion, executing warrants relating to the illegal 'DJ Key' election ad. Simultaneously, a joint Police-SAS taskforce has stormed RadioLive, deploying teargas and tasering all present.

Open mike 10/02/2012

The Standard — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:49 +0000

Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to Policy in the banner). Step right up to the mike…

PM’s office cuts Radio Dead

Mike Smith — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:16:04 +0000

An internal memo in the PM's office after they received the Electoral Commission's advice on the Radio Live's PM Hour broadcast says: "So the Electoral Commission has replied, and basically said they can't make a judgment on a radio show without seeing a transcript. But they have been pretty clear about putting the responsibility on the broadcaster, which is useful." Key's office knew they were skating close to the wind but were happy to cut Radio Live loose. Lesson here for media.

Electoral Commission, Radio Live, Key and the BSA

Mike Smith — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 04:40:01 +0000

Radio Live and the Prime Minister pushed the boat out in the PM's hour programme. Radio Live sought Electoral Commission's advice two days before broadcast, though they had been planning it for months. When Key's office got the Commission's warning to be careful, an internal memo said "the Electoral Commission have been pretty clear about putting the responsibility on the broadcaster, which is useful". The Electoral Commission has now sunk Radio Live's argument that it was ok if it didn't discuss politics.

Dotcom

Eddie — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:51:34 +0000

There's a few interesting threads to the Kim Dotcom saga. Should merely providing a tool that can be used for piracy be a crime? Did the alleged offences justify a 70-strong armed police raid or was this more heavy-handed showing off by the cops? And, if Dotcom really is such a bad guy, why did National let him come to live in New Zealand in the first place?

Opposition parties hammer Key on asset sales

Zetetic — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:11:42 +0000

Yesterday, the opposition parties worked together to hammer John Key on asset sales. He faced questions from four parties during one question; the breadth of opposition showed, and Key was stumbling. Some say Shearer should be taking a more leading role but, for mine, this was far more effective than Goff uselessly slogging out a primary and half a dozen sups without landing a blow. How's that anti-asset sales coalition coming?