Archive for November, 2015
Last day to support Scoop
Written By: - Date published: 10:27 am, November 16th, 2015 - 9 comments
It is the last day of Scoop’s fundraising campaign at PledgeMe, and they are less than $1,000 from their goal. Why not help them over the line?…
Paris 3 – common sense from Democrats
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, November 16th, 2015 - 161 comments
The fallout from the Paris attacks continues. The American political reaction is as important as it is predicable.
Open mike 16/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 16th, 2015 - 75 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 …
The Tide is High
Written By: - Date published: 6:39 pm, November 15th, 2015 - 91 comments
I’m pleased about the Roy Morgan result. The last RWC was worth 2-3% in the polls to National. This RWC … nothing. And in the days since that poll, John Key has overseen an astonishing attack on the women of Parliament. I think we’ve reached Peak Key.
Scoop’s second Hager document release
Written By: - Date published: 10:25 am, November 15th, 2015 - 98 comments
Scoop has released a second collection of documents from the Hager v Attorney General case. Among them is comment by a former Police Commissioner expressing surprise at the amount of resources put into the case and the involvement of a senior member of the Police Executive.
Slack on our craven human rights record
Written By: - Date published: 10:22 am, November 15th, 2015 - 24 comments
David Slack is on fire this morning with his take on our craven human rights record – in the form of imagined NCEA questions.
Paris 2
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, November 15th, 2015 - 203 comments
From Hollande’s reaction it seems likely that the terrorists will accomplish their goal.
Open mike 15/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 15th, 2015 - 45 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 …
Roy Morgan says…National governs alone, again.
Written By: - Date published: 2:17 pm, November 14th, 2015 - 199 comments
National on 49%, GR + LAB 41.5%. Government confidence rating up 9.5 to 131.5.
Paris
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, November 14th, 2015 - 246 comments
Hopefully not ushering the beginning of the end for the European public’s recent empathy for refugees.
A government of spin
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 14th, 2015 - 52 comments
Two recent articles suggest that this Government is more interested in spin and PR than in achieving good. And one of the articles previously posted in the Herald has mysteriously disappeared.
NZ Herald: Damning report rewritten after ‘war-room’ meeting
Written By: - Date published: 7:53 am, November 14th, 2015 - 17 comments
The Herald seems to have accidentally deleted the online version of yesterday’s big story from Kirsty Johnson on how the government manipulates media perceptions. However could that have happened?
Open mike 14/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 14th, 2015 - 62 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 13/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 13th, 2015 - 17 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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 …
Power Corruption and Lies
Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, November 13th, 2015 - 78 comments
A National List MP has been snapped trying to heavy the Housing Ministry into funding a lift in her personal profile. Remember John Key’s ‘higher standards in Government’? Nick Smith’s Ministerial office apparently doesn’t care too much about about such trifles. Worse, the Housing Ministry has been caught trying to cover up for the Tories by redacting an OIA request. Here’s your Brighter Future, folks. Enjoy.
Petition: It’s Not OK Prime Minister
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, November 13th, 2015 - 46 comments
This petition at ActionStation is closing in on 5,000 signatures.
Groser flips the bird to the Judiciary and NZ Laws
Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, November 13th, 2015 - 13 comments
The Law? That’s not for Cabinet Members, the Law is for the lazy malcontents who don’t want to work hard.
TPPA national day of action
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 13th, 2015 - 26 comments
Saturday November 14 is a national day of action against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. Details of all protests are set out in the post.
New Zealanders who may have committed horrendous crimes, such as murder and sex offences – I’ve still been standing up for them and getting them a better deal.
Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, November 13th, 2015 - 39 comments
You won’t believe this Herald hack’s hilarious homophobia!
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, November 13th, 2015 - 87 comments
Really Fran?
Open mike 13/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 13th, 2015 - 47 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 …
Making the Opposition the Enemy –
Written By: - Date published: 1:00 am, November 13th, 2015 - 18 comments
It takes fortitude to admit you are wrong. That’s right, not weakness but, strength, courage, resilience, grit, determination, endurance, guts, and staying power. When you won’t admit you are wrong you end up having to justify wrong decisions. That takes time and energy (and money) away from what actually needs to be done for the greater good. John Key won’t admit he is wrong. Because of this he has to keep going down several paths of “wrongness”, and because he is Prime MInister, he is taking us all with him. Some people think he does admit he made mistakes. But when you examine the few instances closer (if you can find them), it looks like something else.
Daily Review 12/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 12th, 2015 - 18 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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 …
Social media disasters – Paula Bennett tweets
Written By: - Date published: 2:30 pm, November 12th, 2015 - 27 comments
The first of what may be an ongoing series of posts where social media interaction by Politicians ends in disaster.
When survivors speak out
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 12th, 2015 - 45 comments
Previously posted at Boots Theory. Content note: discussion of sexual violence and the experience of survivors. Yesterday I did a round-up of the women’s voices on Twitter talking about recent events in Parliament, where women MPs from the Opposition, many of them survivors of sexual violence, were thrown out of the House for taking exception […]
EPA to be gutted – for doing its job
Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, November 12th, 2015 - 24 comments
Looks like National is planning to take over the Environmental Protection Agency.
Who would James Bond vote for?
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, November 12th, 2015 - 28 comments
Ad poses the theoretical question of which political party the current James Bond would support.
There are no kiwi rapists on Christmas Island
Written By: - Date published: 8:23 am, November 12th, 2015 - 169 comments
John Key’s claim that Labour and Greens support the rapists on Christmas Island has struck a snag. There are none. And the brave action of progressive women MPs talking publicly about the sexual abuse they have suffered has shown how morally bankrupt Key’s politics are.
International shame – again
Written By: - Date published: 7:34 am, November 12th, 2015 - 64 comments
Key and Carter have brought NZ international shame yet again. Males in a position of power using rape as a cheap political tactic and then punishing women for speaking up. Brighter Future.
Open mike 12/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 12th, 2015 - 143 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 11/11/2015
Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, November 11th, 2015 - 85 comments
Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas 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 …
- 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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