Author Archive

Today is a win-win with Winston

Written By: - Date published: 8:48 am, October 19th, 2017 - 103 comments

It appears that Winston is about to announce the decision of the NZ First party about their coalition partner today. For those who seem to think that coalitions should be formed with rapidity, they simply shouldn’t. That is the path to making stupid decisions, and I am yet to hear a single good reason to do it.

Another day

Written By: - Date published: 5:03 pm, October 17th, 2017 - 34 comments

Just watched the “waiting for Winston Peters”  live feed from Stuff. It sounds like the NZ First board know what they want and now there will be a bit more negotiation with both major parties to get closer to what the NZF board were after. They are heading back home leaving the politicians to finish up.
Updated: Winston in one-on-one talks with Bill and Jacinda last night. Looks like it is getting serious.

ETS is useless, scrap it

Written By: - Date published: 9:11 am, October 4th, 2017 - 25 comments

I suspect that ETS has become a political football in the next parliament, but probably not part of a coalition agreement with either National or Labour. My guess is that both NZ First and the Greens will want it off the table unless it is agreed that it will go. That leaves them able to vote against further stupid patches being added to it.

Consider the people of New Zealand First

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, September 24th, 2017 - 55 comments

The political reputation of NZ First as being a one man band. It isn’t. It is a real political party with the classic volatile mixture of members, supporters, candidates and MPs, plus undercurrents of factionalism. They will take some time to negotiate how they should negotiate and with whom.

National rules itself out of coalitions with cynical BillShit.

Written By: - Date published: 11:48 pm, September 22nd, 2017 - 4 comments

National do a last ditch dirty politics effort. A few hours before it becomes impossible for anyone to refute this, Tracey Watkins publishes an opinion piece which sounds like the usual National BillShit. Another cynical lie designed to stop the horses from thinking rationally when they vote. This time it is a lie about things that the Greens can’t do – not without going to members. Who aren’t going to go for it.

 

Federated Farmers need to cut the crap

Written By: - Date published: 1:09 pm, September 20th, 2017 - 98 comments

Federated Farmers continued their fear campaign today in a Herald editorial. Their anonymous demand is that “Farmers should know they are still appreciated”. It is hard to have respect looking at bills that urban dwellers and businesses pay tofix their environment, while Federated Farmers bullshit about the environmental impacts of farming and how they don’t like paying to fix them.

Women readers of the site

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 pm, September 18th, 2017 - 49 comments

Apart from the usual election year rise of the readership, the demographics on this site have been moving a lot earlier this election. The most noticeable statistic in the recent months has been to do with gender. Most of it appears to me to have been associated with female interest in Metiria Turei. There is a lot more interest by women in this election than in 2014.

David Farrar has no idea about business nor apparently the role of government for business.

Written By: - Date published: 1:38 pm, September 18th, 2017 - 44 comments

I see that David Farrar, the National parties favourite paid polling poodle, is trying to spin up the old line about politicians not being business people. He sounds like a blithering idiot. He also obviously knows bugger all about real business and I’m not sure that he really understands what government is about for businesses. Perhaps he should get some training in running a business?

Roy Morgan – shows the Nats have been targeting the wrong place

Written By: - Date published: 10:59 pm, September 15th, 2017 - 98 comments

With the usual inane commentary from our aussie cousins, we get the final Roy Morgan poll. It shows Labour + Greens at 60 seats and with choice of partners to take them over 60 seats. It shows National at 50 seats and requiring NZ First + the Maori Party and Nationals servile parties to get […]

US presidential campaign heats up along with the hurricanes

Written By: - Date published: 4:00 pm, September 12th, 2017 - 9 comments

The first contender has declared, albeit so far in a humorous manner. Less humorous has been the hurricanes that have been hitting southern states this season. You can understand why the oil industries anti-scientist Scott Pruitt that Trump put in charge of the EPA doesn’t want to talk about it.

I’m off to vote today

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, September 11th, 2017 - 75 comments

Voting has opened for advance votes and the expectation is that it will be pretty heavy prior to polling day over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be out there voting today for Jacinda Arden as my local MP, and for the Greens as my party vote.

Stupid myths on immigrant construction workers

Written By: - Date published: 9:16 am, September 8th, 2017 - 31 comments

One of the dafter myths about the current burgeoning immigration industry is that we need skilled immigrants for the construction industry. As usual the talkback idiots are wrong. We don’t get many. We need more. We need to get rid of the migrant dross to get them. A Kiwibuild quota is a good idea.

Why is Farrar smearing the superannuation shit?

Written By: - Date published: 7:59 am, September 1st, 2017 - 38 comments

A lot of politics and political blogging is all about the details. This includes National’s pollster David Farrar who falsely asserted yesterday that Winston would have received 7 annual letters about his superannuation status. So why is National trying to irritate their only possible coalition partner?

A personal view of a decade of The Standard 2.0

Written By: - Date published: 8:18 am, August 25th, 2017 - 43 comments

With the distraction of the a looming election, one that is likely to ditch the dead hand of National’s cronyism on our economy and society, I missed that we’d managed to make this site survive and thrive for a decade. I think that deserves some recognition …

It is National’s time for the brown trousers

Written By: - Date published: 11:26 pm, August 9th, 2017 - 92 comments

If you want to know why the right is farting so much personal smoke, take a look at the poll trends 2011, 2014, 2017. It’s not a pretty picture for the Nats.

Ok, I’m pissed off with the Labour caucus again. Time to switch

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, August 1st, 2017 - 126 comments

I think that Andrew Little standing down was a mistake. I can’t think of anyone in the Labour caucus capable of doing anything much between now and the election. Labour should have just stayed the course and worked harder to get rid of National out of government.

Transport in Auckland and National’s deliberate incompetence

Written By: - Date published: 6:58 am, July 25th, 2017 - 35 comments

National appear to be completely uninterested in spending Aucklander’s transport taxes on Auckland. Instead they want to put in roads that have no economic measurable benefits for Auckland except to increase the road congesting trucks on our roads. Why do National hate Auckland?

 

National again subsidises their land banking contributors from taxpayer funds.

Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, July 24th, 2017 - 25 comments

The announcement that National were granting infrastructure funds to develop housing projects in the far north and south of Auckland caused me some amusement.  Wisely Auckland council resisted this boondongle that only benefits land bankers, speculators and their political party (National) for some time. To the point where National used taxpayer funds instead.

Why is Whaleoil being pathetic or paid on Toddy?

Written By: - Date published: 11:19 am, June 21st, 2017 - 32 comments

We may never know if Todd Barclay was one of the Simon Lusk / Cameron Slater Dirty Politics ‘clients’. However if you read the Whaleoil today, he has finally received instructions (umm) figured out the spin line … Whatever…

Offline this morning for a short time

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, June 6th, 2017 - 9 comments

Updated: The server will be shifted when its network link gets shunted to a new location. That will happen sometime Wednesday. So the site will be offline when it does as I have to physically pick up the server and reconnect at the new location.

Completed

Sitemeter is broken – no Open Parachute stats.

Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, May 20th, 2017 - 6 comments

Over months, the readings from Statcounter had gotten increasingly inaccurate. Since the other public site stats packages have significiant other flaws on highish volume sites, we stopped running any. That means that the blog rankings for this site at Open Parachute stopped. Bomber can claim a empty position because he can’t check his statistics.

Four eyes and an arsehole

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, May 17th, 2017 - 40 comments

NZ with its various operations around this end of the Pacific really doesn’t need its own intelligence gathering operations blown by the current incompetent blowhard of the White House. Nor does anyone else who shares information with the US. That is the problem with Trump childishly boasting about the intelligence gathered by others merely to boost his ego.

New ambassador will represent Trump well.

Written By: - Date published: 8:55 am, April 21st, 2017 - 58 comments

Trump has nominated a failed senator Scott Brown to be the ambassador to New Zealand. As a Fox presenter of alt-facts and a supporter of waterboarding to produce them, he sounds like a ignorant dickhead. A worthy representative of the Donald.

Stormy weather in the North

Written By: - Date published: 12:08 pm, April 13th, 2017 - 65 comments

You’d have to say that an Easter cyclone is one of those truly awful scenarios for Auckland. Forget the water. What happens when the Harbour Bridge and the Airport probably close? It is going to be a hell of an Easter on the roads and travelling. More extreme weather brought to you from climate change.

Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style – part 3

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 am, April 7th, 2017 - 25 comments

No further information from either Netsafe or the complainant. I can’t proceed any further apart from writing explicit site HDCA instructions. The Daily Blog has had the samehappen, with an attempt to gag any public debate on their actions by Netsafe. Amy Adams has hurriedly issued a press release saying how wonderful the HDCA is… I guess she doesn’t like debate.

Pity the RWNJ (for they are going to be spinning in pain)

Written By: - Date published: 6:04 pm, April 3rd, 2017 - 60 comments

If you are one of the right wing nut jobs that read this site, then Horizon puts out some truly scary polls. But if you aren’t an idiot and actually take the time to read material before criticizing it (unlike Hooton on ‘Hit and Run’) then this points to a tight election as is usual under MMP. But with all of the swing in the direction of a Labour led coalition. But I am sure the simpleton spinners will have another explanation.

Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style – part 2

Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, March 31st, 2017 - 40 comments

Ok. Round 2. Still no more relevant information from Netsafe.

I’m getting somewhat irritated with them. When exactly are they going to get off their arses and provide the information that we need to make a decision?

Dirty Politics done in the Netsafe style.

Written By: - Date published: 9:29 am, March 30th, 2017 - 47 comments

I just got sent a notice of complaint from Netsafe under the HDCA (Harmful Digital Communications Act). It appears to me that Netsafe still either hasn’t read the act or that they are cooperating with the perpetrators of Dirty Politics. Either way, I don’t have time to deal with people who don’t put in the information required by the act for me and the unknown author to make a decision. Updated

What is the story?

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, March 24th, 2017 - 47 comments

I’m finding that the way that stories are reported rather interesting and full of hidden bias. Looking at the London attack and the “Hit and Run” stories, you have to ask about what editors and some journalists choose to focus on in stories. They often seem to miss the point about why things happen and what the consequences are.

Dear Izzy

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, March 15th, 2017 - 27 comments

Married couple, increase after tax $8.36 a fortnight each or $4.18 each a week!!!!! Disposable Income, 0.5971428 each a day !!!! Goes up on April 1st, how the hell did they arrive at this sum?

I find out.

National’s flawed RMA ripoff still failing

Written By: - Date published: 7:22 am, March 15th, 2017 - 13 comments

Maori Party Co-Leader, Marama Fox, is playing hardball over Nick Smith latest attempts to weasel out of commitments on the deeply flawed RMA changes that National has spent the last few years trying to find any support for in Parliament. The bill is crap. The Maori party should just drop it regardless how many baubles they think they will get from it.

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