Author Archive
National on free speech
Written By: - Date published: 11:52 am, October 15th, 2007 - 127 comments
Shortly after Jim Anderton published a press release saying that he was adding his signature to our petition asking John Key to apologise for claiming the the war in Iraq was over we received the following email from the National Party. I guess when you’re so heavily reliant on style over substance, these are just […]
Email excuses
Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, October 14th, 2007 - 21 comments
Bill Ralston writes in his his column in the Herald today, “Okay, I know sometimes I don’t open all my emails, such as ones headed “PM Unveils New Electorate Office for Steve Maharey”, “Arbitration Amendment Bill Passed By Parliament” and “Free Viagra”. But, then, I’m not running the country.” He goes on to suggest that […]
Fighting virtual climate change
Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, October 14th, 2007 - 6 comments
The New York Times reports that game maker Electronic Arts and energy company BP have collaborated in designing the latest version of E.A.’s SimCity computer game. The game focuses on building and managing a virtual metropolis. Environmental concerns have always been an element of the game play but they’re taken to a new level in […]
Left brain or right brain?
Written By: - Date published: 6:51 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 12 comments
Apparently most people see the dancer spinning counter-clockwise. If you see her going clockwise you’re possibly right-brain dominant.
Free culture. Amen.
Written By: - Date published: 1:53 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 2 comments
Wouldn’t be a weekend on The Standard without a post on free culture now would it? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that I think that the issue of copyright in the digital age has the potential to become The Next Big Thingâ„¢. The NYT has a good article on […]
Ig Nobel awards
Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 1 comment
This years’ Ig Nobel awards have just been presented. The awards recognise achievements that “first make people laugh, then make them think”. Pictured is Ig Nobel Medicine Prize winner Dan Meyer punctuating his and Brian Witcombe’s joint one-minute-long acceptance speech for their prize in the medicine category. Their paper was entitled: “Sword Swallowing and Its […]
Gore wins Nobel Peace Prize
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, October 13th, 2007 - 5 comments
Gore shared the Nobel prize with the UN climate panel for their for their international work to promote the importance of addressing global warming. This won’t come as good news to the climate change deniers out there, one of whom recently challenged the accuracy of the film in court following the UK government’s decision to […]
From the Uttermost Ends of the Earth
Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, October 13th, 2007 - 1 comment
On the morning of October the 12th 1917 845 New Zealand soldiers lost their lives in a failed attack on Bellvue Spur during the Battle of Passchendaele. At commemorations held in Flanders yesterday, Peter Kennedy, The New Zealand Ambassador to Belgium reffered to the attack of that morning “the greatest disaster in New Zealand’s history, […]
US right vs 12-year-old
Written By: - Date published: 11:11 am, October 13th, 2007 - 14 comments
A week or so ago President Bush vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have dramatically expanded children’s health insurance in the US. He claimed the bill was too costly, took the program too far from its original intent of helping the poor, and would entice people now covered in the private sector to switch to […]
Found
Written By: - Date published: 4:32 pm, October 12th, 2007 - Comments Off on Found
It’s Friday. Maybe you need a break. Don’t say we never think of you. Here’s a site I used to love but had forgotten: FOUND Magazine. Here’s how they describe themselves: “We collect found stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, doodles – anything that gives a glimpse […]
Fence-sitting on the Farming Show
Written By: - Date published: 2:35 pm, October 12th, 2007 - 16 comments
More parseltongue from Key, this time on the Farming Show yesterday. It’s just getting tiring to listen to. Put Bill on, at least he can sometimes give a straight answer – even if by doing so he can only attract 20% of the vote. PRESENTER: If you get the Treasury benches, have you crunched the […]
Video: John Key meets Brethren
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 12th, 2007 - 8 comments
Here’s the clip that aired on One News during the 2005 election campaign. It was produced after it became apparent that the Brethren were covertly involved but before the full extent of National’s lies were subsequently revealed. There’s a great shot of John Key meeting two of the (pixelated) Brethren and them asking that the […]
Trans Tasman on Clark
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, October 12th, 2007 - 5 comments
Articles like this – particularly in international media – must worry Key and National. How do you even begin to challenge a leader like Clark? We can see from Keenan’s email to Brash (p131) from The Hollow Men that National’s strategy at the last election was the Rovian “attack your opponent’s strengths” – this explains […]
Key doesn’t deserve the moral high ground
Written By: - Date published: 11:13 am, October 11th, 2007 - 10 comments
No surprise to hear Key in the House yesterday relying on his research unit – Fran O’Sullivan – to try and weasel his way out of his “the war in Iraq is over” comment. As posted previously here on The Standard, ministers’ comments made back in 2003 were made in a very different context – […]
Outrageous Fortune
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, October 11th, 2007 - 1 comment
Outragous Fortune’s heading to the US. ABC has signed a deal with South Pacific Pictures to turn the show into an American series. This is great news considering that Britain’s ITV has already commissioned a six-part series based on the show, due out next year. Don’t know about you but I’m just hopeful the show’s […]
Political positioning
Written By: - Date published: 10:18 am, October 11th, 2007 - 19 comments
And so it begins. First we have Winston saying he could work with the Nats “if its policy was [thrown out] adjusted” and most recently it’s the Greens extending the leafy hand of friendship. I would have thought that all the Nats’ recent talk of selling off state assests would have seriously put the brakes […]
DPF: Death Penalty Facts
Written By: - Date published: 10:13 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 2 comments
There I was just reading this when I notice DPF doing a post on the same thing. Stuff reports that under Clark’s leadership “New Zealand is working with other countries to put a resolution to the United Nations seeking the abolition of the death penalty world wide”. Of course National Party blogger and HQ staff […]
Petition: John Key should apologise
Written By: - Date published: 4:09 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 15 comments
Like many listeners, we were stunned to hear this from a man who wants to lead New Zealand. Key has since claimed both that he is technically right and that his comment has been taken out of context. But we’re not buying his excuses. We believe that he should unreservedly apologise to the people of […]
What good’s a story without any pictures?
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, October 10th, 2007 - 48 comments
Further to our release this morning of Hager’s testimony (PDF, 120K) refuting Brash and Key’s claim not to have planned their 2005 election campaign in cahoots with the Exclusive Brethren, we thought it might be nice to drop in some holiday shots of John and his reclusive mates. Click the thumbnails for larger views.
Connell’s history
Written By: - Date published: 11:45 am, October 10th, 2007 - Comments Off on Connell’s history
From the Nats’ press release: National MP Brian Connell has indicated he does not intend seeking selection for the Selwyn seat at the next election and will leave Parliament at the end of this parliamentary term, says National Party Leader John Key. Connell was a perpetual pain in the arse for them. No wonder he’s […]
More from the Hollow Men
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, October 10th, 2007 - 8 comments
National doesn’t want you to see this. If you read five pages today, read these. It’s the transcript of Nicky Hager’s submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee on the Electoral Finance Bill. Gems include: “…Don Brash, John Key, Murray McCully, Gerry Brownlee were all able to use the secrecy of the situation to […]
KiwiSaver: 200,000 enrolled
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, October 9th, 2007 - 5 comments
From Stuff: Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said Inland Revenue reported 212,794 enrolments by October 5, a 64 percent increased since the end of August. Sounds like a pretty good start for me. Now Mr Key, would KiwiSaver be safe under National? Are you supporting KiwiSaver or not? Oh, that’s right, […]
Che
Written By: - Date published: 11:06 am, October 9th, 2007 - 4 comments
Today is the 40th anniversary of Che Guevara’s death. The BBC has a piece up titled “Che: the icon and the ad” tracing the history of the famous Guevara image. “There is no other image like it. What other image has been sustained in this way?” asks Trisha Ziff, the curator of a touring exhibition […]
UK police allow anti-war march to Parliament
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, October 9th, 2007 - Comments Off on UK police allow anti-war march to Parliament
Great photo of Tony Benn and Brian Haw from the anti-war march held in today in London (via The Guardian). Fantastic that a compromise between police and protesters was reached and the march was able to end in Parliament Square. Pictures below from Reuters.
Know your asshole footprint
Written By: - Date published: 6:10 pm, October 8th, 2007 - 3 comments
From Vanity Fair: Regrettably, some [people] are simply not aware of how large an asshole footprint they leave on the planet. Here, Vanity Fair offers a questionnaire that will help such individuals determine the size and breadth of their footprint. If you answer “yes” to four or more of the questions for your age group, […]
Thousands expected at UK anti-war march
Written By: - Date published: 1:47 pm, October 8th, 2007 - Comments Off on Thousands expected at UK anti-war march
Sounds like John Key’s good news hasn’t filtered through to the UK yet. The Guardian reports that “Thousands of anti-war protesters will mount a peaceful challenge to a ban on marches outside parliament today, unless there is a last-minute compromise with the police”. The organisers at the Stop the War Coalition were originally told by […]
Measuring the death-toll in Iraq
Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, October 8th, 2007 - 2 comments
Perhaps spurred on by General Petraeus’ claim to Congress last month that civilian deaths in Iraq were down 45% since December last year, the debate about the official civilian death toll in Iraq seems to have intensified. Several groups – including MoveOn.org who recently ran the ad pictured – have accused the military of publishing […]
RNZ – Key on Iraq, the remix
Written By: - Date published: 11:05 am, October 8th, 2007 - 3 comments
A few people have been asking to hear this again. Your wish is our command. powered by ODEO
Are you biased?
Written By: - Date published: 9:43 am, October 8th, 2007 - 4 comments
And would you even know if you were? A team of researchers have set up an online test that can help to uncover your subconscious biases. It’s called the Implicit Association Test (IAT), and it’s designed to detect your hidden biases in categories like race, gender and age. The test’s part of a larger research […]
May the best team win
Written By: - Date published: 4:15 pm, October 7th, 2007 - 1 comment
I’m aware that I run the risk of being called a bad loser with this post but I’m going to do it anyway 🙂 It’s always struck me as a bit odd that in many games, soccer, rugby, tennis and so on, the outcome of a championship is often decided by a single game – […]
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