Archive for April, 2015
A culture of intimidation
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, April 16th, 2015 - 61 comments
National is leading by example in creating a culture of intimidation and fear. The latest case, a threat to withdraw funding a rape prevention group for speaking out.
The media bloodbath
Written By: - Date published: 7:03 am, April 16th, 2015 - 52 comments
On Alastair Thompson’s “Media Bloodbath” piece and more. Privately owned media will not in the future have a hope of delivering quality news services in this country. If we think that matters, then a strong publicly funded media presence is the only way forward.
Open mike 16/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 16th, 2015 - 104 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily post 15/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, April 15th, 2015 - 29 comments
This is an experimental post to see how a second open mike type post would work. Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
Key the “statesman” strikes again
Written By: - Date published: 3:37 pm, April 15th, 2015 - 71 comments
Trident
Written By: - Date published: 2:21 pm, April 15th, 2015 - 20 comments
Nothing will shift the main UK parties’ attitude on nuclear weapons. Right?
Kiwirail looking to dump electric trains for diesel
Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, April 15th, 2015 - 57 comments
There is more information and a petition here
Key’s pre-budget falls flat
Written By: - Date published: 8:29 am, April 15th, 2015 - 8 comments
Key’s attempts to drum up enthusiasm for this year’s upcoming budget have fallen absolutely flat. And as usual, promised funding actually represents an ongoing cut in real terms.
Burn the Cabinet Manual
Written By: - Date published: 7:27 am, April 15th, 2015 - 54 comments
Key won’t take any action over Simon Bridges’ clear breach (excellent work by Rob Salmond at Polity) of the Cabinet Manual. So, might as well burn the thing, at least for the remainder of this government’s term. Key has no intention of being held to account, or holding his ministers to account, by or for anything at all.
Open mike 15/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 15th, 2015 - 184 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily post 14/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, April 14th, 2015 - 32 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
Michael Woodhouse: a fool or a liar?
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 14th, 2015 - 88 comments
When the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety doesn’t know the first thing about his portfolio, there’s only one option left: he’s lying.
The difference between a surplus and landing a 747 on a pinhead
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, April 14th, 2015 - 16 comments
John Key’s latest pronouncement is that achieving a budget surplus is as difficult as landing a 747 on a pinhead. Michael Cullen must be a super airline pilot if this is the case.
Destination – Next Progressive Majority
Written By: - Date published: 11:00 am, April 14th, 2015 - 7 comments
At a Fabian Society event on Saturday April 18 in Owen Glenn Building, Auckland University speakers Michael Cullen, Peter Harris, Sarah Helm, Anne Martin, Richard Harman, & Annie Newman will offer their thoughts on what will be needed for political strategy, economic policy, government formation under MMP, political communication and organisation if we are to reach the destination.
Plenty of room for discussion and chat afterwards. All interested welcome; please register here.
Cameron Slater has a idiot for a lawyer
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, April 14th, 2015 - 42 comments
Instead of taking the shot granted by the High Court of simply making an appeal, some incompetent legal dunderhead made the idiotic move of not filing. Then they took the much harder step of belatedly attempting to get the Court of Appeal to allow them to appeal. Complete stupidity. But this is a lawyer with Cameron Slater for a client..
Key’s surplus excuses
Written By: - Date published: 7:23 am, April 14th, 2015 - 69 comments
Apparently this budget surplus that the Nats have been going on about for the last 6 years is an “artificial” target that is “like trying to land a 747 on a pin head”.
Open mike 14/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 14th, 2015 - 116 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Daily review 13/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, April 13th, 2015 - 21 comments
This is an experimental post to see how a second open mike type post would work.
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standarnistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other.
I want that left wing bastard gone
Written By: - Date published: 4:01 pm, April 13th, 2015 - 279 comments
Joe Trinder at Mana News claims Key’s direct involvement in the attack on Campbell Live.
RSA oppose flag change
Written By: - Date published: 12:55 pm, April 13th, 2015 - 63 comments
Key’s proposal to change the flag is an expensive and unnecessary circus, and this should be the end of it.
Clinton running for president
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, April 13th, 2015 - 38 comments
As expected, Hillary Clinton has announced her candidacy in next year’s presidential election.
Who is Miranda Devine?
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, April 13th, 2015 - 46 comments
Miranda Devine is the person who recently wrote a really obsequious article on John Key in the Daily Telegraph where she described him as one of the best Conservative Prime Ministers in the world. But a reading of her other published material suggests that caution should be applied before applying too much weight to her opinions.
Open mike 13/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 13th, 2015 - 67 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
Which Deficit?
Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, April 12th, 2015 - 64 comments
So, the much-touted and long-awaited government surplus looks unlikely to arrive this year. Is that a surprise? No. Does it matter? Not much. The only reason for sparing much time on the failure to eliminate the government deficit is that it relates to a target that the government itself identified as the crucial test of […]
James Shaw responds to Rodney Hide’s Herald column on the Greens leadership
Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, April 12th, 2015 - 41 comments
Rodney Hide suggested in the Herald this morning that if James Shaw was leader of the Greens there would be a greater chance they could go into coalition with National. James Shaw does not think so.
UK Labour to crack down on tax cheats
Written By: - Date published: 11:34 am, April 12th, 2015 - 21 comments
UK Labour have promised “all-out war on tax avoidance and evasion”. NZ Labour should follow suit.
A police investigation – Part One
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, April 12th, 2015 - 84 comments
There’s nothing particularly wrong with Bryce Edwards’ article except that it ignores how National Ltd™ Police Ministers have successively sat by and done nothing in response to the on-going police failings.
Open mike 12/04/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 12th, 2015 - 142 comments
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Step up to the mike …
NZ emissions disaster in The Herald!
Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, April 11th, 2015 - 112 comments
Well knock me over with a feather. The disaster that is NZ’s greenhouse gas emissions has broken out of the ghetto of Twitter and Parliament TV, and made it on the front page of the (digital) Herald.
Caption competition
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, April 11th, 2015 - 86 comments
Head of Mediaworks Mark Weldon and his mate John. Be nice about it …
The magical disappearing surplus
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, April 11th, 2015 - 67 comments
John Key and National have staked a huge amount of their credibility on returning the country’s books to surplus this financial year. Looks like they are going to fail.
- Why you should treat workplace friendships like your diet – aim for balance and variety
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Korber, Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images The list of organisations abandoning the option of fully remote work for employees has grown recently, with the likes of Amazon, IBM, JPMorgan and Meta ...4 days ago - Sunglasses reflect more than the light: a brief history of shades, from Ancient Rome to Hollywood
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Maynard, Associate Professor, School of Communication and the Arts, The University of Queensland State Library Victoria Sunglasses, or dark glasses, have always guarded against strong sunlight, but is there more to “shades” than we think? The pupils of our ...4 days ago
- Inside the fast rise and faster collapse of the acclaimed K Road restaurant Cotto
Summer reissue: The Auckland eatery closed its doors with no warning in late 2023, prompting concerned customers to ask the simple question: what went wrong? Stewart Sowman-Lund finds out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...4 days ago - Dunedin’s secondhand bookshops, ranked and reviewed
Summer reissue: Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member ...4 days ago
- Stanford braces herself for a year of cuts – and reform
“Next year is going to be a tough year for me, because I’m going to have to make some very, very difficult decisions,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says.That means cuts. Or at least replacements.“This is the problem in education: we never stop doing things.”This leads to a disjointed system, where ...4 days ago - Protecting our democracy by reforming Parliament
Opinion: Aotearoa New Zealand currently exists in an unstable world. Democracies are under challenge across the globe, and we are not immune.As the inhabitants of one of the world’s oldest democracies, New Zealanders are accustomed to electing their Members of Parliament every three years and we value the importance of ...4 days ago
- The Mars search for meaning
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is resolute in his determination to establish a self-sustaining human settlement on Mars and is actively developing technology to achieve his mission. It’s an intriguing prospect, and if achieved, humans would only be able to potentially survive in some kind of biodome, but it once again raises ...4 days ago
- Hīkoi mō te Tiriti supporters invited to honour Dame Tariana Turia at tangi
Dame Tariana Turia's advocacy for Māori rights was the inspiration behind the Hīkoi mō te Tiriti, organiser says. ...4 days ago - What I learned (and didn’t learn) from four years of home education
Summer reissue: For four years, Shanti Mathias learned at home, with her siblings as her only classmates. How did it affect her? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...4 days ago
- An insomniac’s guide to getting to sleep when it’s hot and muggy
Summer reissue: It is not easy, but it is possible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. Ah, sleep. Those six to eight gorgeous ...4 days ago
- ‘I need to make you suffer’: My near decade of violent harassment by a man I barely know
Summer reissue: Zeni Gibson has been stalked and harassed for nearly nine years by a man she rejected when she was 17. This is her story. As told to Madeleine Holden. Cover Stories are longform journalism supported by Spinoff Members. Support this work here. Spinoff Cover Stories are now available ...4 days ago
- Daily crossword, Monday 6 January
The post Daily crossword, Monday 6 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 6 January
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions. .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-title { font-size: 1.2em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles .entry-meta { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; align-items: center; margin-top: 0.5em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .entry-meta { font-size: 0.8em; } .wp-block-newspack-blocks-homepage-articles article .avatar { height: 25px; width: ...4 days ago
- This past year saw policing get ‘back to basics’ – Minister Mark Mitchell
RNZ sat down with Police Minister and Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell for a year in review, across his portfolios. ...4 days ago
- Tangi for Dame Tariana Turia welcomes figures from throughout the motu
Visitors and dignitaries from around the motu have been welcomed onto Whangaehu Marae, near Whanganui, as the tangihanga for the co-founder of Te Pāti Māori enters its second day. ...4 days ago
- Countering Foreign Interference Bill A Dramatic Attack On Free Speech And Rights
We know that the impact of this kind of legislation is to silence legitimate political activity. In particular this is likely to be the case where people are advocating for policies that are contrary to the position of the current government. ...4 days ago - Abducted Gaza doctor’s life in danger due to torture – call for immediate international interven...
Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor The fate of Palestinian Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was “arrested” by Israeli forces last month after defiantly staying with his patients when his hospital was being attacked, featured strongly at yesterday’s medical professionals solidarity rally in Auckland. ...4 days ago
- The Wāhine Māori leading NZ’s largest education union
Ripeka Lessels (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa)Ripeka Lessels had been an educator for 20 years before she decided to become involved in NZEI Te Riu Roa’s Māori governance body, Te Reo Areare. It’s here she believed she could do the most good for tamariki Māori.As someone who had ...5 days ago
- Four myths of career breaks
Opinion: Why is it that whenever we meet someone new, we default to asking about their job?We could ask almost any question about their interests, background, or values, but still we ask “So, what do you do?”It turns out, this common, seemingly innocuous phrasing carries much deeper undertones of perceived ...5 days ago
- When the flood came for South Dunedin, this time it was ready
Summer reissue: Flat and surrounded by hills and rising tides, it’s no surprise that South Dunedin is at risk of flooding. But nine years of preparation meant last week’s deluge wasn’t as bad as it could have been – and a future here still seems possible. The Spinoff needs to ...5 days ago
- The most miserable and fucked-up children’s authors, rated
Summer reissue: You don’t have to live a haunting life of unparalleled grief and sorrow to be a great children’s author, but it helps. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign ...5 days ago
- ‘Primary school LOTR’: The principal giving Peter Jackson a run for his money
Summer reissue: Alex Casey meets the Southland principal who wrote and directed a feature length fantasy epic starring the whole school. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...5 days ago
- The Sunday Essay: Will I hurt my baby?
Summer reissue: Madeleine Holden writes about her agonising first year of motherhood. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. This essay contains descriptions of violence ...5 days ago
- What’s behind the rise in smaller iwi?
Summer reissue: Increasing numbers of Māori are affiliating with tribal groups of under 1,000 members. What does it mean for Māoridom? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...5 days ago
- Daily crossword, Sunday 5 January
The post Daily crossword, Sunday 5 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Sunday 5 January
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- Fiji police charge man with rape and sexual assault of Virgin Australia crew member
Fijivillage News A man has been charged with the rape and sexual assault of one of the Virgin Australia crew members in the early hours of New Year’s Day, near a nightclub in Martintar, Nadi. Police confirm he has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count ...5 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan: what do these Sierra Leone developmen...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...5 days ago
- Israel orders patients, staff to ‘evacuate’ last two hospitals in northern Gaza siege
Asia Pacific Report Israel is forcing two hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate under threat of attack as its ethnic cleansing campaign continues. Israeli forces have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital, where many staff and patients sought shelter after nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was destroyed in an Israeli raid last week, ...5 days ago
- Pacific 2025: Vanuatu quake, Tongan and Kanaky shakeups, Trump questions set tone for coming year
Navigating the shared challenges of climate change, geostrategic tensions, political upheaval, disaster recovery and decolonisation plus a 50th birthday party, reports a BenarNews contributor’s analysis. COMMENTARY: By Tess Newton Cain Vanuatu’s devastating earthquake and dramatic political developments in Tonga and New Caledonia at the end of 2024 set the tone ...5 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan: what do these Sierra Leone developmen...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...6 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan: what two Sierra Leone developments a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...6 days ago
- ‘You’ll love it, but you’ll hate it’: Christian Cullen on becoming CTI’s most unlikely sta...
Summer reissue: Former All Black and recent Celebrity Treasure Island castaway Christian Cullen looks back on his life in TV. First published October 12, 2024. Every season of Celebrity Treasure Island brings with it a surprise breakout star, and often it’s the person you know the least about or have ...6 days ago
- Mike Johnson elected speaker of US House as Trump’s Republicans unite behind him
Two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after more than half an hour of negotiations. ...6 days ago
- My emotion is my strength – Karen Chhour
“People comment a lot on how emotional I am.”The children’s minister says she’s always been an emotional person. It’s her way of coping with trauma.“Because if you bottle that up it turns into something quite nasty, right? It turns into anger, it turns into frustration, and you start to look ...6 days ago
- Anne Salmond: Hunger Games in the Beehive
Comment: There are times when fiction anticipates life, and dystopian nightmares become real.Who would have thought that in New Zealand, a relatively wealthy country that was once proudly egalitarian, a version of The Hunger Games would play out?That a government would cut thousands of jobs, deny desperate families emergency food ...6 days ago
- The Secret Diary of .. New Year’s Resolutions
Christopher LuxonWell, what I’d say to you about my New Year’s resolutions is that this year is going to be better than the last, probably, I mean I should think there’s a good chance of that happening, an even chance, there’s a narrow window, the odds are against us but ...6 days ago
- ‘Grossly misleading to me and to the country’: the Lange-Douglas letters, unearthed
Summer reissue: The meltdown in the relationship between the key players in the fourth Labour government can be charted in an extraordinary exchange of correspondence. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...6 days ago
- How many goddamn words should I be saying to my baby?
Summer reissue: I read yet another study about toddlers, screen time and language development, and it sent me off the deep end. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...6 days ago
- What it takes to be an Olympian, and why you don’t have it
Summer reissue: This year Tori Peeters competed at the Paris Olympics in the javelin. Ten years ago, Madeleine Chapman thought she might be in the same position. She talks to Peeters about what it takes to go all the way – and mulls her own life decisions in the process. ...6 days ago
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