Looks like John Key might be a little less “self-made” and a little more “taxpayer-made” than he’d have us believe… click the image for a larger version.
So National are using as disreputable company as Crosby/Textor and getting the taxpayer to pay for it. Assuming that they were aware they might get caught, what were they thinking?
Are they so sure they’re going to win that they’re willing to take this kind of risk in an attempt to get an outright majority?
Do they think they are entitled? That somehow being on the opposition benches entitles them to cheat?
Are they so used to the greys of politics that they have lost sight of moral black and white? Well, except as can be used to their PR advantage.
Are they so confident of their ability to spin that they were sure they could cloud the issue?
Finally, why use their PS allocation for this? What’re the spending the rest of their money on? What not run invoices as controversial as this through the party?
Maybe they are keeping party funds back for legal challenges/snap election expenses next year – y’know just in case things don’t turn out how they expect. Again.
Anita: “Assuming that they were aware they might get caught, what were they thinking?”
That the electorate might not care. This does seem a bit overconfident, but so far the electorate doesn’t seem to care.
“That somehow being on the opposition benches entitles them to cheat?”
It’s not a sport governed by a sportsmanlike code of honour. It’s just not cricket. It’s not even beach cricket!
“Are they so confident of their ability to spin that they were sure they could cloud the issue?”
I reckon so.
“Finally, why use their PS allocation for this? What’re the spending the rest of their money on?”
Can’t answer this. I can only answer what they seem to not be spending their money on, and that’s policy.
Raises an interesting issue, though: since the Auditor-General ruled that Parliamentary Services money (specifically from the leader’s budget) couldn’t be spent on electioneering, National clearly consider the employment of Crosby/Textor to not be electioneering. At this stage I’d agree it isn’t – but the campaign is yet at a simmer. I wonder if this is a possible avenue for challenge – either in the courts or in the court of public opinion?
Well it worked pretty well for them last election, so why change? Spend the money early on something with no tangible product to be challenged, avoid any audit associated with the months before the election, then get stuck in to any other party that spends their PS money on any kind of communication with the electorate.
It’s an option available only to a party with plenty of private money to spend. Shut down the other voices any way you can. Brilliant in a way, if you care only about winning, and nothing about democracy.
Heres the thing. I don’t care. I don’t really think much of National but I will vote for them at the next election because I absolutely loathe Labour and the Greens. For me, the tipping point was the ludicrous anti-smacking bollix. I don’t need the government to tell me how to raise my children. Then theres all the anti-smoking bullshit. Not only that, but Labours hidden agendas such as civil unions and legalised whoredom have turned me against them as well. They had no mandate from the people for any of this liberal rubbish. Come November they will be gone, because the election is now Nationals to lose. Goodbye to Labour and the awful Helen Clark. Into the dustbin of history you go, theres a good socialist.
[lprent: Look – another stamped out of the mould troll – but this one is better educated – it can use capitals. I like trolls. Mostly I like banning them for idiotic behavior.]
I wonder if police will be investigating the venting system at Parliament to see if Nicky Harger might have been able to sneak in (like in Mission Impossible) and pay the invoices without National knowing. After all he can hack impenetrable government computers.
So anybody who disagrees with you is a troll? Is that how it works? As for voting for a party whose policies I support, well, unfortunately there isn’t one.
[lprent: Nope, there are a lot of people on here who disagree with both me and the party I support. Some of them write posts, some comment, and some moderate. Hell – I disagree with almost everyone including the people that I agree with.
What we do tend to agree on is that people who cannot argue a point, don’t have a sense of humour, and just throw up the same old tired lines over and over again – can be called Trolls. What I have determined (after a long and careful investigation) is that I don’t like mindless trolls. My rule of thumb is that if I could build a program to replicate a persons comments with a phrase dictionary and a randomisation function – then I treat them as a troll.
To date you’ve thrown up an opinion rant which I’ve seen many times before with no backing evidence or argument about why these things are wrong or even if they are correct.
So as you can see, the solution for you is simple. Write something that convinces me you aren’t a bad program that needs substantial debugging. Show me that there is some intelligence there somewhere. Otherwise your life span here gets very short.]
[lprent: It looked more like an opinion for whales blog. Have a look around here and you’ll find the ‘standard’ is higher (chortle – now I wonder who is going to argue about that statement).]
LabourSucks. Anyone is welcome to comment if they make intelligent comments but three things tend to wreck threads
– commentators who hurl mindless abuse
– commentators ranting or repeating slogans without any thoughtful argument
– commentators who get all egotistical
If you want to comment in one of those styles, please take it to kiwiblog.
By clamping down on it here, we get much better threads and that encourages more people to participate who would stay silent if the thread was full of the above.
“Nat’s spending your money to build brand Key.”
Great title for the thread lads.
In light of todays revelations about this blog we can rest easy in the knowledge that “Labour is spending your money to destroy brand Key.’
Unless DPF and WhaleOil are lying of course.
bill brown, they have written some fairly comprehensive posts today outing some of the posters here as paid bloggers and it appears some of them are funded by the tax payer. They are fairly serious allegations and probably deserve a response.
That may well be the case steve (or whatever your name is [it’s Clinton Smith]) But can you answer this question?
Are you or any of your fellow posters employed by parliamentary services? If yes, is it okay for any of you to be blogging on publicly owned equipment while drawing a taxpayer funded salary?
[Tane: No, we receive no taxpayer funding or assistance. This blog is run voluntarily by activists in their own time and our opinions are our own.]
Here is a list of things about which I do not care.
I do not care that National utilise C/T and have done so for many years.
I do not care if the Standard is or isn’t manned by public servants and in cahoots with Labour. (It’s a blog lighten up people)
I do not care if the posters and commenters on this site blog on occasion during work time (- so do I – a bit of a break every now and then is quite pleasant).
Tane, you are being slippery. The question I asked was are any of your posters employed by parliamentary services? In light of the title of this post I believe the question is on topic and germane to the argument.
LabourSucks. I’m opposed to crap speech – we want to provide a forum for intelligent debate from all angles and views. we don’t have to provide a forum for insults, mindless slogans etc if we don’t want to, and we don’t.
barsnelybill. We’re not going to go through every name or organisation you can list. We are not funded by the taxpayer or any organisation, nor are we directed or controlled by any other organisation. we are individuals writing as individuals and that’s that.
Are you or any of your fellow posters employed by parliamentary services? If yes, is it okay for any of you to be blogging on publicly owned equipment while drawing a taxpayer funded salary?
That is such a weak attack barnsley. Why should parliamentary services employees using publicly owned equipment drawing a taxpayer funded salary be any more culpable than someone doing the same thing for a privately owned company?
Yes, it’s ok. So long as they’re still doing their jobs to a reasonable standard I couldn’t give a damn. You might claim they’re not doing them as well as they could if they gave them their undivided attention, but the same is true of every person who checks out some auctions on trademe while at work. The secratary at Price Waterhouse playing solitaire is increasing the cost of your accounting services just as much as a public services employee writing on a weblog is increasing your tax spend.
If they’re underperforming they’ll get fired, and if they’re not then you’ve got no basis for complaint. Unless their job description and recognised role is “political blogger” then it’s irrelevant where and for whom they work.
—
Good job with the name there ‘Labour Sucks’. Did you think that up all by yourself or did your dog help you?
Steve, you wrote; “we want to provide a forum for intelligent debate from all angles and views. we don’t have to provide a forum for insults, mindless slogans etc if we don’t want to, and we don’t.”
Good for you, we agree on that point at least. I tired of the vitriol quite some time ago (unless it is aimed at roger nome).
However, you guys are constantly having a crack at DPF for his self confessed links to national but remain hidden in the shadows. Today’s revelations about the employment status of some of your posters is relevant to this post and deserves a response.
Surely you can see you lay yourselves open to accusations of hypocrisy if indeed you have parliamentary services staffers posting anonymously and constantly attacking John key?
Mr Pierson is it not coincidence that many of “individuals” who write for Standard also work in ministers office and for union office? If you say that then you say that exclusive brethren people were just “individuals” businessmen and just coincidence they are exclusive brethrens.
Funeral earlier today – tends to put things in perspective.
As Lynn says on occasion rightie and leftie is all a bit misleading I think most people fall into each camp dependent on the specific areas under discussion (I do anyway).
T-Rex.. You wrote;
“That is such a weak attack barnsley. Why should parliamentary services employees using publicly owned equipment drawing a taxpayer funded salary be any more culpable than someone doing the same thing for a privately owned company?
Yes, it’s ok. So long as they’re still doing their jobs to a reasonable standard I couldn’t give a damn. You might claim they’re not doing them as well as they could if they gave them their undivided attention, but the same is true of every person who checks out some auctions on trademe while at work. The secratary at Price Waterhouse playing solitaire is increasing the cost of your accounting services just as much as a public services employee writing on a weblog is increasing your tax spend.”
But they are not bidding on dildo’s on trademe or playing solitaire are they?
If they are parliamentary services staffers then they should say so. They are posting on an extreme left wing attack site in the course of their daily activities. Bit of a difference between trade me and the standard. I am sure they are doing their jobs to a very reasonable standard, however posting anonymously at the behest of their titular employer is an inference that is hard to avoid.
Pardon me Mr Pierson I do not read where it say Standard has writings from people who work in prime minister office or union office on your website, this seems very important if you do write from prime minister office and people have right to know. I also ask earlier how many commenter people banned so far from standard Mr Pierson.
But they are not bidding on dildo’s on trademe or playing solitaire are they?
They might be – it’s a free country!
Get your hand off it, this is not “an extreme attack site”.
The conflict of interest that would exist for a public services staff member posting on a political blog is no greater than that of a private enterprise staffer doing the same.
Like HS says, it’s a freaking blog. As long as they’re not getting paid to do it, and I don’t mean “vague association of interests” paid, I mean “boss asking how the blog posting is coming along and whether there’s been any progress, taken into consideration come salary review” paid, then they’ve got no obligation to disclose anything to you, and are commiting no offence under the EFA.
It’s. A. Blog.
If you don’t like how what gets said here makes you feel it might be a sign you should reconsider your own views. Protesting that it’s being said is just pathetic. Especially for someone who claims to value free speech so highly.
funny. I get emails every other day accusing us of not being leftwing enough.
“however posting anonymously at the behest of their titular employer is an inference that is hard to avoid”
and since that inference is entirely incorrect, you can see another reason why we don’t divulge names and occupations. No writer of The Standard writes on behalf of their employer or as a member of any organisation..
Mr Pierson you do not let people make up own minds about inference because you hide it just like exclusive brethren said they are just six businessmen independent of church.
You have to hand it to some of these right wing nut jobs. They can’t debate the points, they can’t debate the policies, they can’t debate the data. But they sure are persistent in their personal attacks on the creators of The Standard.
Bill – go water your flowers. Dilip – Steve is not obliged to answer your questions. You both are guests here. Get a life. And while you’re at it, read the about page: http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?page_id=2
Ah Dilip – exactly WHY do you have a RIGHT to know anything about this blog? Show me the legislation? Show me the common law? Show me the InternetNZ requirements? Hell show me any reason I should listen to you on this subject.
Whale’s ‘evidence’ is just pathetic. You could have equally shown that people here were employees of the “Daily Show” on exactly the same basis.
It seems to me that the writers are on the right line targeting the C/T links – The Nat’s lack of policy and Key. They must be worrying someone.
Mr Prent please don’t be angry I just say the electral finance law say a blog is exempt if written by individual on non-commercial bases. Standard is not exempt from law. This is law Standard defend. Your argument say nobody has right to know who give money to political party or who campaign, but that was what elecral finance law fix. If there is blog from right winger group not individual who campaign from National Party office that is not exempt either and should register. I think maybe easier if Standard just honest about work in prime minister office and union office.
Sigh… How you decant “personal attacks” from politely worded questioning is beyond me. Have a look at the title of this post and then google “irony” guys.
And as far as IPRENT’s asking “what right do any of us have to ask”..
I completely agree. Your blog, your rules.
I look forward to the conclusion of play at the end of November. Irrespective of the score at full time I hope that we can all get together, have a beer and shoot the 5hit about stuff other than politics.
Dilip: This blog has posts written by individuals on a non-commercial basis. Who their employer is, is just not relevant, as they write on their own behalf and on their own time.
There is some question about multi-author blogs under the EFA. That is still being looked at by the electoral commission after a number of complaints against this and other sites.
It will affect a number of sites if the EC’s decision is different from what I expect. If it is then I’ll adjust the site to conform with the ruling – probably more on the lines of Hardtalk. Depends on the decision.
But all of that is moot since the cost of the site is just the cost of the server – now sitting at $160/month + the domain costs. This is paid by me. This also falls well below the $12k/year in the EFA. So it doesn’t have to even be declared under the EFA.
I look forward to the conclusion of play at the end of November. Irrespective of the score at full time I hope that we can all get together, have a beer and shoot the 5hit about stuff other than politics.
Maybe. But I’d still expect that most of the posters will still be anonymous as the site carries on. I’m old enough and skilled enough that it doesn’t really affect me what I wrote on a blog 20 years ago. But for the younger bods (which I infer from their writing) who do write here it is more of a consideration.
I suspect the politics will carry on post election, but probably with more room for other things.
Besides – politely worded? I had a look at DPF’s comment section. It looks like a list of every defective dickhead I’ve ever booted from here.
With regard to the “politely worded” comment, I was referring to myself rather than the lot who have all bought rope and booked lamp posts for the ninth floor staffers IP.
Mr Prent that is interesting and I hope electoral commission make decision soon because good to know what decision is. But there are other cost of blog as well not just host cost also cost of author time if they write from prime minister office for a lot of hours or union office for a lot of hours, could be more than twelve thousand dollar.
“This blog has posts written by individuals on a non-commercial basis. Who their employer is, is just not relevant, as they write on their own behalf and on their own time.”
substitute pamphlet for blog………..and religion for employer and waddaya got………..tada ” chinless scarf wearers.”
Mr Prent if I am not wrong this post is about spin from National spend money on secret tool to make John Key look better, how is discussion of spin from labour spend money on secret tool to make John Key look bad from Standard? You want to know who is behind John Key and National because you think important to have accountability then why not make Standard accountable also and tell who secret spin machine writing Standard for labour party?
The problem with the Excluive Brethern was that they and National had coordinated their campaigns to cirumvent National’s spending cap and tried to keep that relationship secret. There is no such arrangment between The Standard and any political party or other organisation.
Dilip. Writers write in their own time. Myself, I write in the morning or evening, and at lunchtime if something comes up. I do a few comments through the day but that’s nothing unusual, it’s just the same as you and most commentators are doing at work.
why not make Standard accountable also and tell who secret spin machine writing Standard for labour party?
Becaues we don’t write spin, or anything, for the Labour Party. Many of us, including myself, don’t even vote for them. In fact, I find it quite insulting to be accused of writing spin for Labour given they’re so bloody dreadful at it.
I know it’s hard for many on the right to understand, but we express our own individual opinions here and we do it because we believe in social democratic principles, not in pursuit of a pay cheque or on someone’s orders.
Sure we have the odd contact here and there in politics and the media, but we certainly don’t have a line to Helen Clark or anyone even remotely close – I’d be surprised if she even knows who we are.
All I can chalk this up to is another attempt from the right to shut down a blog they can’t match themselves.
I think people, including most journalists, do misunderstand what the problem with the EB was (just as they misunderstand what the problem with C/T is).
The National-EB alliance was a secret alliance to circumvent National’s spending imits with a massive secret campaign. It doesn’t matter that it was the EB, it could have been the Rotary Club or the Herald – it was the secret conspiracy to circumvent the law and democratic process, not the actors that mattered.
We have no secret alliance with anyone, we’re not out to circumvent electoral law (in fact, I strongly support it) and we believe in democratising the democratic process.
It must drive them nuts that they can hire C/T and spend millions on focus groups and rebranding and they still get ripped to sh*t by people messing around in their spare time.
I can just imagine the boardroom scene in Sydney…
They’re using humour against us! Those BASTARDS! Drag a bunch of people in off the street and run some focus groups to find out what’s funny these days, we’ll show those damn hippies!
Actually that’s probably where Liarbore came from.
“independent initiative”, well that’s the issue isn’t it?
Why not in the interests of transparency and openness confirm that independence. Because rather than your reactionary diatribe, David Farrars analysis seems to point to a more co ordinated collusion between the ninth floor and the EPMU comms staff.
This blog supported a flawed and anti democratic bill under the pretence that covert and dishonest forces were manipulating opinion in New Zealand.
This Key attack blog (and that really all this so called initiative amounts to), has been less than honest about it’s authors and how much it costs to runs and when these people run it.
I say again, in the interests of transparency, practice what you preach.
Also…name one person I have smeared on Clint Heine and Friends?
[lprent: You posted that you were moderated here because of your opinions. In reality it was because of your language matching some parameters in the anti-spam file. Your response to my pointing that out was interesting. I wouldn’t call it a smear – more of an idiot expressing themselves.
We have been quite clear on exactly how much this blog costs. Currently $160 per month after the last upgrade.]
Mr Pierson thank you for reply. How come evidence say photos on standard website were made by engineers union office for standard author who is not from engineers union office? How come other photo like cosmopolitician is made by antony rhodes in judith tizard’ office if that is not collusion. Maybe if Standard is honest about collusions maybe people accept it as labour party spin but if you are not honest about it then people will know it as labour party spins and think you are not honest also.
dilip: This post is about National spending public money to finance public relations consultants. How exactly why the public purse should be paying for it is an interesting question.
But it doesn’t relate to this site – I pay for that. Labour doesn’t pay me for anything, but I have been known to give them donations. I’ve been a labour party member for a long time.
Tane: Helen does know about the site. I’ve told her what I’ve been doing in my spare time. She was concerned that it didn’t take too much of my volunteer time away from the election campaign. I think she’d be concerned if she knew how much time I actually spend on it!
I’ve told or shown the site to quite a lot of people as I’m always interested in increasing our readership.
CH aka BTP: exactly how many friends write on your blog? I see you are still as much of a prat as always. Are you interested in the EC decision as well?
Prat – Well I just went and read through your site to find something that was actually written by you.
The first post I ran into had you smearing Sue Bradford.
The second you were smearing anyone who supported Labour.
The third you were smearing Winston Peters.
If it’s any consolation, you don’t seem to be as bad as your mate Heine. Honestly, your blog is god-awful. I’d rather read kiwiblog, and I never read kiwiblog. I can’t imagine it’s much better than Whaleoil. Seriously, you posted a link to porn-for-the-blind? Jesus wept, Rodney must be proud to have you on side!
—
As to your complaint – They are practising what they preach. They supported the EFA, and now they’re abiding by it. If you think they’re not, quite being a whiny little toryboy and go lay a formal complaint.
If I was one of the authors I probably wouldn’t tell you my real name either.
Dilip: What Whale actually said was that some photos were done using the same instance of software as had also been done to produce pictures for the engineers site.
Now if he’d bothered to look at our About, he’d have found that we are proud of our union links. I’m pretty sure we have people writing here who are involved with unions.
Now Whale is a technical moron as I’ve discussed previously. But surely even he has heard of laptops. You know like the one I’m typing this on now. The one that goes with me from home to work every day. The one that I code stuff on for both paid work and voluntary work.
This is Whale’s proof? That the same software was used to produce things for different sites and therefore they were both used in working hours? He is even more of technical illiterate than I’d realized. That appears to be about as much proof as a fuckwit requires.
Hell I should write another post on exactly how an technical illiterate thinks…..
Oops – forgot to mention that this laptop is owned by me… The work one is at work collecting data.
BoomTownPrat:
You really are a prat aren’t you. Read our About. Hell – we boast about having involvement in the unions and the ‘left’.
However the only money spent on this site comes from my credit card each month. I’d presume you do the same?
We’re as transparent as you are. Probably more so because we actually give our general affiliations. Besides this is a blog which is (gasp) specifically excluded from the EFA.
Not that matters anyway because we’re not affiliated with a party and don’t advise people on how to vote. The writers do spend time pointing out problems with party policy and tactics including my favorite party (damn them). The cost is massively less than would be required for me to have to register under the EFA because the net is so cheap!
So in my opinion, you are just being a pompous dickhead.
BTW: Just added you to my moderation queue so I can personally attend to your points. I feel generous with my time today.
1) You implied Sue was responsible for child abuse (hall of shame)
2) You implied, through the “mushy” anecdote, that liberal arts majors were generally small minded pushovers who were sheltered from the real world and just wanted to be free to wring their hands while collecting art and drinking wine.
3) You called peters a worthless asswipe (or something along those lines, i’m not going back to read it again).
It doesn’t REMOTELY pretend to be impartial, it just refuses to make any unnecessary disclosures to nagging weirdos.
Sorry it took me a while to respond, I was busy learning how to do 3-d modeling so I can contribute more effectively to the anonymous crusade for all that is right and good in the world.
I was going to say that I would be highly surprised if she didn’t know about it. JK will as well and for the same reason – it’s another link into the publics thinking. I’d be highly surprised if they aren’t getting a summary of the more active threads at least.
You know Lynn, you’re really going to have to start looking at a defamation case or similar. Sad I know but these righties just don’t seem to listen unless you slap them around with a lawsuit or 3.
This thread is a good example of the attacks from the right derailing a thread – another misdirection?
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When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
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Now this is going to be interesting. Can’t wait to see where it leads…
Captcha: Account Police – sounds like they could be needed 8)
Ah, this just gets better and better. LOL
So National are using as disreputable company as Crosby/Textor and getting the taxpayer to pay for it. Assuming that they were aware they might get caught, what were they thinking?
Are they so sure they’re going to win that they’re willing to take this kind of risk in an attempt to get an outright majority?
Do they think they are entitled? That somehow being on the opposition benches entitles them to cheat?
Are they so used to the greys of politics that they have lost sight of moral black and white? Well, except as can be used to their PR advantage.
Are they so confident of their ability to spin that they were sure they could cloud the issue?
Finally, why use their PS allocation for this? What’re the spending the rest of their money on? What not run invoices as controversial as this through the party?
Maybe they are keeping party funds back for legal challenges/snap election expenses next year – y’know just in case things don’t turn out how they expect. Again.
Hey, you’re stealing their policies!
flip flop!
Anita: “Assuming that they were aware they might get caught, what were they thinking?”
That the electorate might not care. This does seem a bit overconfident, but so far the electorate doesn’t seem to care.
“That somehow being on the opposition benches entitles them to cheat?”
It’s not a sport governed by a sportsmanlike code of honour. It’s just not cricket. It’s not even beach cricket!
“Are they so confident of their ability to spin that they were sure they could cloud the issue?”
I reckon so.
“Finally, why use their PS allocation for this? What’re the spending the rest of their money on?”
Can’t answer this. I can only answer what they seem to not be spending their money on, and that’s policy.
Raises an interesting issue, though: since the Auditor-General ruled that Parliamentary Services money (specifically from the leader’s budget) couldn’t be spent on electioneering, National clearly consider the employment of Crosby/Textor to not be electioneering. At this stage I’d agree it isn’t – but the campaign is yet at a simmer. I wonder if this is a possible avenue for challenge – either in the courts or in the court of public opinion?
L
[lprent: Banned I believe..
Finally, why use their PS allocation for this?
Well it worked pretty well for them last election, so why change? Spend the money early on something with no tangible product to be challenged, avoid any audit associated with the months before the election, then get stuck in to any other party that spends their PS money on any kind of communication with the electorate.
It’s an option available only to a party with plenty of private money to spend. Shut down the other voices any way you can. Brilliant in a way, if you care only about winning, and nothing about democracy.
Hey – now Whale really has something to sink his teeth into. He seems to really dislike parties rorting public monies.
I think I’ll watch his blog for a few days to ask him when the big story of the election starts… Unless of course he doesn’t really mean what he says?
For that matter – DPF?
Heres the thing. I don’t care. I don’t really think much of National but I will vote for them at the next election because I absolutely loathe Labour and the Greens. For me, the tipping point was the ludicrous anti-smacking bollix. I don’t need the government to tell me how to raise my children. Then theres all the anti-smoking bullshit. Not only that, but Labours hidden agendas such as civil unions and legalised whoredom have turned me against them as well. They had no mandate from the people for any of this liberal rubbish. Come November they will be gone, because the election is now Nationals to lose. Goodbye to Labour and the awful Helen Clark. Into the dustbin of history you go, theres a good socialist.
[lprent: Look – another stamped out of the mould troll – but this one is better educated – it can use capitals. I like trolls. Mostly I like banning them for idiotic behavior.]
For me, the tipping point was the ludicrous anti-smacking bollix.
Bad news sweetheart, National voted for that too!
Why not vote for a party whose policies you actually support? Sounds like the Kiwi Party is right up your alley.
I wonder if police will be investigating the venting system at Parliament to see if Nicky Harger might have been able to sneak in (like in Mission Impossible) and pay the invoices without National knowing. After all he can hack impenetrable government computers.
So anybody who disagrees with you is a troll? Is that how it works? As for voting for a party whose policies I support, well, unfortunately there isn’t one.
[lprent: Nope, there are a lot of people on here who disagree with both me and the party I support. Some of them write posts, some comment, and some moderate. Hell – I disagree with almost everyone including the people that I agree with.
What we do tend to agree on is that people who cannot argue a point, don’t have a sense of humour, and just throw up the same old tired lines over and over again – can be called Trolls. What I have determined (after a long and careful investigation) is that I don’t like mindless trolls. My rule of thumb is that if I could build a program to replicate a persons comments with a phrase dictionary and a randomisation function – then I treat them as a troll.
To date you’ve thrown up an opinion rant which I’ve seen many times before with no backing evidence or argument about why these things are wrong or even if they are correct.
So as you can see, the solution for you is simple. Write something that convinces me you aren’t a bad program that needs substantial debugging. Show me that there is some intelligence there somewhere. Otherwise your life span here gets very short.]
Well, it was just my own opinion, thats all.
[lprent: It looked more like an opinion for whales blog. Have a look around here and you’ll find the ‘standard’ is higher (chortle – now I wonder who is going to argue about that statement).]
Haha, a bit thin skinned aren’t ya mate?
LabourSucks. Anyone is welcome to comment if they make intelligent comments but three things tend to wreck threads
– commentators who hurl mindless abuse
– commentators ranting or repeating slogans without any thoughtful argument
– commentators who get all egotistical
If you want to comment in one of those styles, please take it to kiwiblog.
By clamping down on it here, we get much better threads and that encourages more people to participate who would stay silent if the thread was full of the above.
“Nat’s spending your money to build brand Key.”
Great title for the thread lads.
In light of todays revelations about this blog we can rest easy in the knowledge that “Labour is spending your money to destroy brand Key.’
Unless DPF and WhaleOil are lying of course.
Well I know who I’m more likely to trust (and it isn’t a pornographer and his mate).
We receive no funding from Labour or any organisation. The only cost is the $160 a month Lynn pays for the server.
Word is, Lynn once stole a leprechaun’s gold and pays for the server out of that.
bill brown, they have written some fairly comprehensive posts today outing some of the posters here as paid bloggers and it appears some of them are funded by the tax payer. They are fairly serious allegations and probably deserve a response.
So basically you are recommending posting at kiwiblog because… you are opposed to free speech. Ok then.
That may well be the case steve (or whatever your name is [it’s Clinton Smith]) But can you answer this question?
Are you or any of your fellow posters employed by parliamentary services? If yes, is it okay for any of you to be blogging on publicly owned equipment while drawing a taxpayer funded salary?
[Tane: No, we receive no taxpayer funding or assistance. This blog is run voluntarily by activists in their own time and our opinions are our own.]
How many people have the standard banned now lprent?
Here is a list of things about which I do not care.
I do not care that National utilise C/T and have done so for many years.
I do not care if the Standard is or isn’t manned by public servants and in cahoots with Labour. (It’s a blog lighten up people)
I do not care if the posters and commenters on this site blog on occasion during work time (- so do I – a bit of a break every now and then is quite pleasant).
Tane, you are being slippery. The question I asked was are any of your posters employed by parliamentary services? In light of the title of this post I believe the question is on topic and germane to the argument.
LabourSucks. I’m opposed to crap speech – we want to provide a forum for intelligent debate from all angles and views. we don’t have to provide a forum for insults, mindless slogans etc if we don’t want to, and we don’t.
barsnelybill. We’re not going to go through every name or organisation you can list. We are not funded by the taxpayer or any organisation, nor are we directed or controlled by any other organisation. we are individuals writing as individuals and that’s that.
Are you or any of your fellow posters employed by parliamentary services? If yes, is it okay for any of you to be blogging on publicly owned equipment while drawing a taxpayer funded salary?
That is such a weak attack barnsley. Why should parliamentary services employees using publicly owned equipment drawing a taxpayer funded salary be any more culpable than someone doing the same thing for a privately owned company?
Yes, it’s ok. So long as they’re still doing their jobs to a reasonable standard I couldn’t give a damn. You might claim they’re not doing them as well as they could if they gave them their undivided attention, but the same is true of every person who checks out some auctions on trademe while at work. The secratary at Price Waterhouse playing solitaire is increasing the cost of your accounting services just as much as a public services employee writing on a weblog is increasing your tax spend.
If they’re underperforming they’ll get fired, and if they’re not then you’ve got no basis for complaint. Unless their job description and recognised role is “political blogger” then it’s irrelevant where and for whom they work.
—
Good job with the name there ‘Labour Sucks’. Did you think that up all by yourself or did your dog help you?
Steve, you wrote; “we want to provide a forum for intelligent debate from all angles and views. we don’t have to provide a forum for insults, mindless slogans etc if we don’t want to, and we don’t.”
Good for you, we agree on that point at least. I tired of the vitriol quite some time ago (unless it is aimed at roger nome).
However, you guys are constantly having a crack at DPF for his self confessed links to national but remain hidden in the shadows. Today’s revelations about the employment status of some of your posters is relevant to this post and deserves a response.
Surely you can see you lay yourselves open to accusations of hypocrisy if indeed you have parliamentary services staffers posting anonymously and constantly attacking John key?
Mr Pierson is it not coincidence that many of “individuals” who write for Standard also work in ministers office and for union office? If you say that then you say that exclusive brethren people were just “individuals” businessmen and just coincidence they are exclusive brethrens.
[lprent: Have you read the About page?]
higherstandard – we probably don’t have these moments all that often, but nevertheless…
high five
Yeah HS, I’ve given you a fair amount of stick, but well said.
( Apart the bit about c/t. That matters dammit 😉 )
You are better sort of rightie than most in the blogosphere. Do you hang about at many RW blogs?
Dilip etc http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?page_id=2#who_are_you
TR and PB
Funeral earlier today – tends to put things in perspective.
As Lynn says on occasion rightie and leftie is all a bit misleading I think most people fall into each camp dependent on the specific areas under discussion (I do anyway).
T-Rex.. You wrote;
“That is such a weak attack barnsley. Why should parliamentary services employees using publicly owned equipment drawing a taxpayer funded salary be any more culpable than someone doing the same thing for a privately owned company?
Yes, it’s ok. So long as they’re still doing their jobs to a reasonable standard I couldn’t give a damn. You might claim they’re not doing them as well as they could if they gave them their undivided attention, but the same is true of every person who checks out some auctions on trademe while at work. The secratary at Price Waterhouse playing solitaire is increasing the cost of your accounting services just as much as a public services employee writing on a weblog is increasing your tax spend.”
But they are not bidding on dildo’s on trademe or playing solitaire are they?
If they are parliamentary services staffers then they should say so. They are posting on an extreme left wing attack site in the course of their daily activities. Bit of a difference between trade me and the standard. I am sure they are doing their jobs to a very reasonable standard, however posting anonymously at the behest of their titular employer is an inference that is hard to avoid.
Pardon me Mr Pierson I do not read where it say Standard has writings from people who work in prime minister office or union office on your website, this seems very important if you do write from prime minister office and people have right to know. I also ask earlier how many commenter people banned so far from standard Mr Pierson.
But they are not bidding on dildo’s on trademe or playing solitaire are they?
They might be – it’s a free country!
Get your hand off it, this is not “an extreme attack site”.
The conflict of interest that would exist for a public services staff member posting on a political blog is no greater than that of a private enterprise staffer doing the same.
Like HS says, it’s a freaking blog. As long as they’re not getting paid to do it, and I don’t mean “vague association of interests” paid, I mean “boss asking how the blog posting is coming along and whether there’s been any progress, taken into consideration come salary review” paid, then they’ve got no obligation to disclose anything to you, and are commiting no offence under the EFA.
It’s. A. Blog.
If you don’t like how what gets said here makes you feel it might be a sign you should reconsider your own views. Protesting that it’s being said is just pathetic. Especially for someone who claims to value free speech so highly.
funny. I get emails every other day accusing us of not being leftwing enough.
“however posting anonymously at the behest of their titular employer is an inference that is hard to avoid”
and since that inference is entirely incorrect, you can see another reason why we don’t divulge names and occupations. No writer of The Standard writes on behalf of their employer or as a member of any organisation..
Mr Pierson you do not let people make up own minds about inference because you hide it just like exclusive brethren said they are just six businessmen independent of church.
You have to hand it to some of these right wing nut jobs. They can’t debate the points, they can’t debate the policies, they can’t debate the data. But they sure are persistent in their personal attacks on the creators of The Standard.
Bill – go water your flowers. Dilip – Steve is not obliged to answer your questions. You both are guests here. Get a life. And while you’re at it, read the about page:
http://www.thestandard.org.nz/?page_id=2
I thank you. Goodnight.
Ah Dilip – exactly WHY do you have a RIGHT to know anything about this blog? Show me the legislation? Show me the common law? Show me the InternetNZ requirements? Hell show me any reason I should listen to you on this subject.
Whale’s ‘evidence’ is just pathetic. You could have equally shown that people here were employees of the “Daily Show” on exactly the same basis.
It seems to me that the writers are on the right line targeting the C/T links – The Nat’s lack of policy and Key. They must be worrying someone.
Mr Prent please don’t be angry I just say the electral finance law say a blog is exempt if written by individual on non-commercial bases. Standard is not exempt from law. This is law Standard defend. Your argument say nobody has right to know who give money to political party or who campaign, but that was what elecral finance law fix. If there is blog from right winger group not individual who campaign from National Party office that is not exempt either and should register. I think maybe easier if Standard just honest about work in prime minister office and union office.
Yeah, how many attempts have we had now? I’ve kind of lost count.
Yeah, how many attempts have we had now? I’ve kind of lost count.
This is at least the third major wave of it that I remember. I’m not involved at all and I’m still heartily sick of it.
Must be a sign that The Standard is doing good work I say. Onwards!
” however posting anonymously at the behest of their titular employer is an inference that is hard to avoid.”
Hard to arrive at more like.
And if you think this site is ‘extreme left’ you don’t know what either word means.
And if this is an ‘attack site’ I guess Whaleoil’s little shothole must be a fully operational blog fncking death star.
Sigh… How you decant “personal attacks” from politely worded questioning is beyond me. Have a look at the title of this post and then google “irony” guys.
And as far as IPRENT’s asking “what right do any of us have to ask”..
I completely agree. Your blog, your rules.
I look forward to the conclusion of play at the end of November. Irrespective of the score at full time I hope that we can all get together, have a beer and shoot the 5hit about stuff other than politics.
Dilip: This blog has posts written by individuals on a non-commercial basis. Who their employer is, is just not relevant, as they write on their own behalf and on their own time.
There is some question about multi-author blogs under the EFA. That is still being looked at by the electoral commission after a number of complaints against this and other sites.
It will affect a number of sites if the EC’s decision is different from what I expect. If it is then I’ll adjust the site to conform with the ruling – probably more on the lines of Hardtalk. Depends on the decision.
But all of that is moot since the cost of the site is just the cost of the server – now sitting at $160/month + the domain costs. This is paid by me. This also falls well below the $12k/year in the EFA. So it doesn’t have to even be declared under the EFA.
So what are you talking about??
bb:
Maybe. But I’d still expect that most of the posters will still be anonymous as the site carries on. I’m old enough and skilled enough that it doesn’t really affect me what I wrote on a blog 20 years ago. But for the younger bods (which I infer from their writing) who do write here it is more of a consideration.
I suspect the politics will carry on post election, but probably with more room for other things.
Besides – politely worded? I had a look at DPF’s comment section. It looks like a list of every defective dickhead I’ve ever booted from here.
With regard to the “politely worded” comment, I was referring to myself rather than the lot who have all bought rope and booked lamp posts for the ninth floor staffers IP.
Mr Prent that is interesting and I hope electoral commission make decision soon because good to know what decision is. But there are other cost of blog as well not just host cost also cost of author time if they write from prime minister office for a lot of hours or union office for a lot of hours, could be more than twelve thousand dollar.
lprent said
“This blog has posts written by individuals on a non-commercial basis. Who their employer is, is just not relevant, as they write on their own behalf and on their own time.”
substitute pamphlet for blog………..and religion for employer and waddaya got………..tada ” chinless scarf wearers.”
Hollow, Hollow, Hypocrites
Mr Prent if I am not wrong this post is about spin from National spend money on secret tool to make John Key look better, how is discussion of spin from labour spend money on secret tool to make John Key look bad from Standard? You want to know who is behind John Key and National because you think important to have accountability then why not make Standard accountable also and tell who secret spin machine writing Standard for labour party?
BoomTownBrat.
The problem with the Excluive Brethern was that they and National had coordinated their campaigns to cirumvent National’s spending cap and tried to keep that relationship secret. There is no such arrangment between The Standard and any political party or other organisation.
Dilip. Writers write in their own time. Myself, I write in the morning or evening, and at lunchtime if something comes up. I do a few comments through the day but that’s nothing unusual, it’s just the same as you and most commentators are doing at work.
Hey Prat,
Substitue blog for pamphlet… yup. Then substitute employer for religion… umm… if you say so.
Then we should probably substitute ‘independent initiative’ for ‘direct and repeated collusion’.
Would probably be fair to also substitute “essentially nothing” for “several hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
Oh yeah, and while we’re at it we should substitute “bunch of guys” for “avowed politically independent cult”.
Fair bit of substitution really…
Maybe you should go back to posting your pathetically desperate smear on your own godawful site like usual.
why not make Standard accountable also and tell who secret spin machine writing Standard for labour party?
Becaues we don’t write spin, or anything, for the Labour Party. Many of us, including myself, don’t even vote for them. In fact, I find it quite insulting to be accused of writing spin for Labour given they’re so bloody dreadful at it.
I know it’s hard for many on the right to understand, but we express our own individual opinions here and we do it because we believe in social democratic principles, not in pursuit of a pay cheque or on someone’s orders.
Sure we have the odd contact here and there in politics and the media, but we certainly don’t have a line to Helen Clark or anyone even remotely close – I’d be surprised if she even knows who we are.
All I can chalk this up to is another attempt from the right to shut down a blog they can’t match themselves.
I think people, including most journalists, do misunderstand what the problem with the EB was (just as they misunderstand what the problem with C/T is).
The National-EB alliance was a secret alliance to circumvent National’s spending imits with a massive secret campaign. It doesn’t matter that it was the EB, it could have been the Rotary Club or the Herald – it was the secret conspiracy to circumvent the law and democratic process, not the actors that mattered.
We have no secret alliance with anyone, we’re not out to circumvent electoral law (in fact, I strongly support it) and we believe in democratising the democratic process.
Tane – your last sentence is it I think.
It must drive them nuts that they can hire C/T and spend millions on focus groups and rebranding and they still get ripped to sh*t by people messing around in their spare time.
I can just imagine the boardroom scene in Sydney…
They’re using humour against us! Those BASTARDS! Drag a bunch of people in off the street and run some focus groups to find out what’s funny these days, we’ll show those damn hippies!
Actually that’s probably where Liarbore came from.
T-Rex,
“independent initiative”, well that’s the issue isn’t it?
Why not in the interests of transparency and openness confirm that independence. Because rather than your reactionary diatribe, David Farrars analysis seems to point to a more co ordinated collusion between the ninth floor and the EPMU comms staff.
This blog supported a flawed and anti democratic bill under the pretence that covert and dishonest forces were manipulating opinion in New Zealand.
This Key attack blog (and that really all this so called initiative amounts to), has been less than honest about it’s authors and how much it costs to runs and when these people run it.
I say again, in the interests of transparency, practice what you preach.
Also…name one person I have smeared on Clint Heine and Friends?
[lprent: You posted that you were moderated here because of your opinions. In reality it was because of your language matching some parameters in the anti-spam file. Your response to my pointing that out was interesting. I wouldn’t call it a smear – more of an idiot expressing themselves.
We have been quite clear on exactly how much this blog costs. Currently $160 per month after the last upgrade.]
Mr Pierson thank you for reply. How come evidence say photos on standard website were made by engineers union office for standard author who is not from engineers union office? How come other photo like cosmopolitician is made by antony rhodes in judith tizard’ office if that is not collusion. Maybe if Standard is honest about collusions maybe people accept it as labour party spin but if you are not honest about it then people will know it as labour party spins and think you are not honest also.
Ah – I see the illiterates have descended…
dilip: This post is about National spending public money to finance public relations consultants. How exactly why the public purse should be paying for it is an interesting question.
But it doesn’t relate to this site – I pay for that. Labour doesn’t pay me for anything, but I have been known to give them donations. I’ve been a labour party member for a long time.
Tane: Helen does know about the site. I’ve told her what I’ve been doing in my spare time. She was concerned that it didn’t take too much of my volunteer time away from the election campaign. I think she’d be concerned if she knew how much time I actually spend on it!
I’ve told or shown the site to quite a lot of people as I’m always interested in increasing our readership.
CH aka BTP: exactly how many friends write on your blog? I see you are still as much of a prat as always. Are you interested in the EC decision as well?
Prat – Well I just went and read through your site to find something that was actually written by you.
The first post I ran into had you smearing Sue Bradford.
The second you were smearing anyone who supported Labour.
The third you were smearing Winston Peters.
If it’s any consolation, you don’t seem to be as bad as your mate Heine. Honestly, your blog is god-awful. I’d rather read kiwiblog, and I never read kiwiblog. I can’t imagine it’s much better than Whaleoil. Seriously, you posted a link to porn-for-the-blind? Jesus wept, Rodney must be proud to have you on side!
—
As to your complaint – They are practising what they preach. They supported the EFA, and now they’re abiding by it. If you think they’re not, quite being a whiny little toryboy and go lay a formal complaint.
If I was one of the authors I probably wouldn’t tell you my real name either.
Dilip: What Whale actually said was that some photos were done using the same instance of software as had also been done to produce pictures for the engineers site.
Now if he’d bothered to look at our About, he’d have found that we are proud of our union links. I’m pretty sure we have people writing here who are involved with unions.
Now Whale is a technical moron as I’ve discussed previously. But surely even he has heard of laptops. You know like the one I’m typing this on now. The one that goes with me from home to work every day. The one that I code stuff on for both paid work and voluntary work.
This is Whale’s proof? That the same software was used to produce things for different sites and therefore they were both used in working hours? He is even more of technical illiterate than I’d realized. That appears to be about as much proof as a fuckwit requires.
Hell I should write another post on exactly how an technical illiterate thinks…..
Oops – forgot to mention that this laptop is owned by me… The work one is at work collecting data.
Really T-Rex, what was the smear there?
and……unlike you, many of our readers don’t have Mary Whitehouse prudish sensibilities.
Bottom line is this.
Labour (and its sister Key attack blog) argued for transparency and accountability in New Zealand politics.
This blog does neither.
It pretends to be independent, were it is clear that its genesis and its maintenance are on the books of the NZ Labour Party and the EPMU.
BoomTownPrat:
You really are a prat aren’t you. Read our About. Hell – we boast about having involvement in the unions and the ‘left’.
However the only money spent on this site comes from my credit card each month. I’d presume you do the same?
We’re as transparent as you are. Probably more so because we actually give our general affiliations. Besides this is a blog which is (gasp) specifically excluded from the EFA.
Not that matters anyway because we’re not affiliated with a party and don’t advise people on how to vote. The writers do spend time pointing out problems with party policy and tactics including my favorite party (damn them). The cost is massively less than would be required for me to have to register under the EFA because the net is so cheap!
So in my opinion, you are just being a pompous dickhead.
BTW: Just added you to my moderation queue so I can personally attend to your points. I feel generous with my time today.
Charade she is 😉
Anyway:
1) You implied Sue was responsible for child abuse (hall of shame)
2) You implied, through the “mushy” anecdote, that liberal arts majors were generally small minded pushovers who were sheltered from the real world and just wanted to be free to wring their hands while collecting art and drinking wine.
3) You called peters a worthless asswipe (or something along those lines, i’m not going back to read it again).
It doesn’t REMOTELY pretend to be impartial, it just refuses to make any unnecessary disclosures to nagging weirdos.
Sorry it took me a while to respond, I was busy learning how to do 3-d modeling so I can contribute more effectively to the anonymous crusade for all that is right and good in the world.
Haha 🙂
I was going to say that I would be highly surprised if she didn’t know about it. JK will as well and for the same reason – it’s another link into the publics thinking. I’d be highly surprised if they aren’t getting a summary of the more active threads at least.
You know Lynn, you’re really going to have to start looking at a defamation case or similar. Sad I know but these righties just don’t seem to listen unless you slap them around with a lawsuit or 3.
This thread is a good example of the attacks from the right derailing a thread – another misdirection?