Archive for March, 2017

English a shambles

Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, March 7th, 2017 - 43 comments

English isn’t going to be very happy when he opens the papers this morning.

Five ways Donald Trump is wrong about Islam

Written By: - Date published: 7:37 am, March 7th, 2017 - 20 comments

Donald Trump’s recently announced replacement policy in immigration is wrong.  And this is why.

Open Mike 07/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 7th, 2017 - 52 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 06/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, March 6th, 2017 - 1 comment

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 …

English proposes raising age of super to 67 (eventually)

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, March 6th, 2017 - 123 comments

In what seems to have been a panicked reaction to a disastrous series of interviews, English has just announced that the age of eligibility for super will rise from 65 to 67, phased in from 2037.

NRT: The banality of evil

Written By: - Date published: 2:48 pm, March 6th, 2017 - 3 comments

I/S at No Right Turn: “This is where National’s cuts and austerity have taken us: to a place where Corrections tortures and abuses people because it is the “cheapest” way of managing them.”

Bowron on English’s ‘useless druggies’ smear

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, March 6th, 2017 - 33 comments

Bowron: “Prime Minister Bill English’s reputation as a safe pair of blands taking the reins after the mysterious disappearance of John Key took a dive last week when he ruthlessly and cynically turned on Kiwi youth.”

National accuses John Key of shying away from the hard issues

Written By: - Date published: 8:35 am, March 6th, 2017 - 61 comments

Shambolic scenes as Bill English’s twitter account tweets criticism of John Key not taking the hard decisions regarding superannuation eligibility, then the tweet gets deleted. And Bill did not know the tweet had been sent out.

White Man Behind a Desk – Indigenous Rights

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, March 6th, 2017 - 6 comments

We no longer need the Waitangi Tribunal because everything’s fine now. Right?

Open Mike 06/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 6th, 2017 - 146 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 …

Future state abuse victims

Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, March 5th, 2017 - 9 comments

What to do with the helpless anger generated by such a statement?

Images of the week

Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, March 5th, 2017 - 6 comments

Just a selection of images that sum up the week in politics (courtesy of the twitter).

Swimmable standards that aren’t for all of our rivers except most of them

Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, March 5th, 2017 - 21 comments

Swimmable standards that aren’t, for all of our rivers except most of them, sometime maybe not now. Nat policy at its finest.

Open Mike 05/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 5th, 2017 - 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 …

Social investment meets the surveillance state

Written By: - Date published: 11:14 pm, March 4th, 2017 - 47 comments

First they came for the budgeting services. Now we know that every social service agency  has to provide clients’ private personal data to the Ministry of Social Development or get no funding. Apparently it’s  essential to Bill English’s much-touted and little understood “social investment” strategy, which is sounding more like something out of Orwell’s 1984. […]

English puts super back on the line

Written By: - Date published: 1:41 pm, March 4th, 2017 - 93 comments

In what was apparently a pretty dire interview on The Nation this morning, Bill English dropped one bombshell, possible changes in superannuation. For the record I think English is right on this. For a change.

A social media primer for progressive candidates

Written By: - Date published: 8:36 am, March 4th, 2017 - 15 comments

Labour Party General Secretary Andrew Kirton recently sent out a message to Labour Candidates which of itself was a lesson on all things social media …

There are no fascists in New Zealand…

Written By: - Date published: 8:34 am, March 4th, 2017 - 69 comments

A confluence of circumstantial evidence is all you ever get when you’re dealing with cryptofascists.

Slightly smug about MMP

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, March 4th, 2017 - 22 comments

2017 will be New Zealand’s eighth election under MMP, over 22 years. With very strong democratically elected governments appearing right across the world digging in for the long term, it’s useful to take a moment for MMP.

The social damage wrought by homes as commoditites

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, March 4th, 2017 - 82 comments

A recent UN report highlights the waste of treating homes as commodities. It should sound awfully familiar in the NZ context.

Open Mike 04/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 4th, 2017 - 11 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 03/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:49 pm, March 3rd, 2017 - 5 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 …

Encouraging Signs

Written By: - Date published: 1:32 pm, March 3rd, 2017 - 25 comments

A refreshing shift in NZ’s political environment.

Trump’s confidence: The kiss of death?

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 39 comments

Watching Steve Brannon and his alter ego Donald Trump operate from a long way away is almost amusing. Total confidence == Jeff Sessions needs to recuse himself from the enquiry into unlawful contacts with the Russians..

Thanks Annette

Written By: - Date published: 11:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 9 comments

I well remember going to see new Minister of Employment Annette King in 1989 to ask for support for group apprenticeship in the motor industry. “Seems like a good idea, we’ll put up $50,000.” she said. I nearly fell off my chair. It was not the usual response from Ministers in those days, but is Annette King to a T – positive, decisive, and supportive.

Coalition building – deft politics from Little

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 87 comments

Helen Clark wrote the book on MMP coalition government, shoring up alliances on the left and the right. Looks like Andrew Little has read the book. Labour + Green + NZF = government.

Labour: Greens are the first cab off the rank

Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 19 comments

Andrew Little has confirmed that the Green Party will be first party Labour looks to for a coalition deal after the election.

English reckons the collapse of NZ’s housing is “a good problem to have”

Written By: - Date published: 7:18 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 36 comments

In every case a failure to plan, a failure to deliver, and a glib attempt to fob off the victims of his government’s failure.

Open Mike 03/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 3rd, 2017 - 53 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 02/03/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, March 2nd, 2017 - 41 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 …

Free speech vs hate speech

Written By: - Date published: 11:58 am, March 2nd, 2017 - 154 comments

Auckland Uni is in a difficult position – a classic dilemma with two important principles at stake.