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Edwards on politics and the media
Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, June 20th, 2015 - 21 comments
It won’t come as a surprise to any Standardista, but it’s good to see Brent Edwards being up front about some of the systemic problems in politics and the media.
Is this progress?
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, June 10th, 2015 - 259 comments
Richard Harman has broken a story about the formation of a Blairite third way think tank within the Labour Party. Those involved include Stuart Nash, Phil Quin, Josie Pagani and Nick Legget.
Coup Coup Ca Choo!
Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, May 30th, 2015 - 58 comments
So why was Maurice dancing with ACT? Why was Borrows bullshitting about bikes? Does Judith Collins sleep with a copy of the Art of War under her pillow? I don’t know, but I think we should be told.
The unusual case of the disappearing blog
Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, May 12th, 2015 - 308 comments
Giovanni Tiso has discovered that Cactus Kate’s blog is slowly disappearing from the Internet.
Trends in America
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, April 6th, 2015 - 29 comments
Here’s some slow Monday reading to ponder, on political trends in America.
National wants to take away our right to silence
Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, March 20th, 2015 - 109 comments
A bill designed by Mike Sabin has resurfaced this week. The intention is to take away the right to silence by allowing a Court to draw an adverse inference if someone choses to say nothing when facing certain charges. This proposal needs debate.
Defining the truth
Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, March 17th, 2015 - 12 comments
Changes being considered at Google have far reaching implications. Who gets to decide what is true?
Key’s credibility and the Snowden leaks
Written By: - Date published: 9:03 am, March 8th, 2015 - 71 comments
The Sunday Star Times has reported on the set up and reach of the Waihopai Spy Base. Key’s statement that the GCSB does not have the physical capability to conduct mass surveillance appears to be not true.
NZ spies on its Pacific neighbours
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, March 5th, 2015 - 170 comments
Nicky Hager and the Herald have reported that the GCSB has been collecting data en masse from New Zealand’s pacific neighbours and handed it over to the Americans for inclusion in xkeystore.
The War Club Family
Written By: - Date published: 7:35 pm, February 8th, 2015 - 73 comments
There’s a fascinating article in the latest New Statesman titled “An Empire that speaks English: the right’s dream of a new world order.” Suddenly UK Foreign Minister Philip Hammond’s recent visit here makes sense. So does John Key’s references to sending troops to Iraq on behalf of the “club” or the “family” – he’s at the heart of the Empire.
Tino Rangatiratanga
Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, February 8th, 2015 - 309 comments
It has been claimed that Andrew Little has advocated for Maori to have law making powers. What he has done is reflect on a recent Waitangi Tribunal decision which concluded that Maori never ceded sovereignty to the Crown and properly concluded that this is an issue that needs to be considered.
Dirty Politics in 2015
Written By: - Date published: 8:53 am, January 13th, 2015 - 81 comments
Political Scientists Bronwyn Hayward and Mark Boyd were interviewed on Radio New Zealand yesterday on New Zealand politics in 2014 and what happened during the election. They talked extensively on dirty politics, on the role of the media and how things can be improved in 2015.
Summer rerun: Deserted cities
Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, January 11th, 2015 - 50 comments
I think it is a pity that the currently dominant country / culture in the world, America, has had such a short history.
The difference between the left and the right
Written By: - Date published: 8:10 am, January 10th, 2015 - 250 comments
The recent handling of Charlie Hebdo by the Standard and by Kiwiblog provides a startling contrast. And neatly underlies the reality that the left wing blogs are in no way just the same as the right wing blogs despite what John Key may say.
The Government wishes Andrea Vance a very merry Christmas
Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, December 25th, 2014 - 25 comments
On the eve of Christmas in a cynical attempt to avoid political damage the Government has apologised to Andrea Vance for breaching her rights of privacy in 2013 after requiring Parliamentary Services to hand over her metadata and attempting to cover up the exercise.
Lowly science
Written By: - Date published: 5:42 pm, October 30th, 2014 - 15 comments
I’m sure it’s true, but…
The Election That Left One Third of Us Behind
Written By: - Date published: 5:32 pm, September 23rd, 2014 - 171 comments
No one should begrudge John Key and the National party the right to celebrate an impressive election victory. It is little consolation to those who opposed them that the win is very much a personal triumph for the Prime Minister rather than for the party and government he leads. As the tumult and the shouting […]
John Key planned our mass surveillance
Written By: - Date published: 8:07 am, September 15th, 2014 - 65 comments
John Key and National let the GCSB spend 12 months on plans to conduct our mass surveillance. Without telling us. And he intends to release the details now only for political considerations. Without Glenn Greenwald’s presence we probably would never have learned about this.
VRWC rises from the grave
Written By: - Date published: 8:35 pm, September 14th, 2014 - 29 comments
They’re at it again. David Farrar has a guest post from fellow VRWC member Charles Finny about FiveEyes, arguing that it’s kept us safe in foreign wars and Labour did it too. Which of course is not the point of the current debate about massive government surveillance of innocent citizens. Farrar then gets himself tangled in knots – if Dotcom is right Labour did it too – but he’s not of course says Farrar.
Giovanni Tiso on Dirty Politics
Written By: - Date published: 3:53 pm, September 11th, 2014 - 48 comments
In a series of tweets Giovanni Tiso has highlighted important issues concerning the relationship between the media and National as disclosed by Dirty Politics.
“VRWC” exposes rift at top of National
Written By: - Date published: 11:48 am, August 30th, 2014 - 18 comments
There is a self-appointed “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” in New Zealand. Odgers and Slater are key members. Search VRWC on Slater’s website and you’ll find their activities. After Pansy Wong’s forced resignation from Cabinet for misuse of her travel perk the VRWC thought the National Cabinet needed “some serious steel going forward.” You can read the minutes of their virtual white-board session on post-it cards – the rifts at the top are deep and nasty.
What do you value?
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 pm, January 30th, 2014 - 54 comments
Tim Watkins has written a piece on Labour’s Best Start policy.
Down in the comments were the most incredible remarks I have read in support of the policies.
Reminder – 2013 Bruce Jesson Lecture tonight
Written By: - Date published: 1:18 pm, October 30th, 2013 - 25 comments
The speaker; Rt Hon Sir Edmund Thomas, a Distinguished Fellow at the Law School at The University of Auckland, argues that the gross inequality in income and wealth which besets New Zealand is the outcome of the neo-liberal economic measures of the mid-1980s and early 1990s and the culture of liberal individualism and unfettered free market ideology which it spawned.
GCSB Bill opposition heats up
Written By: - Date published: 10:21 am, July 26th, 2013 - 123 comments
The stop the GCSB Bill meeting in Auckland last night was well attended and had a series of high quality presentations made. A series of protests are planned for this weekend. Momentum is building …
Fairness and freedom
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, June 4th, 2013 - 51 comments
If the left had to pick one word to describe the essence of its political philosophy, that word might be “fairness”. If the right had to do the same that word might be “freedom”. Labour MP David Clark considers the balance.
The worst thing about the Right
Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, March 19th, 2013 - 189 comments
So, some Republican Senator has become the first of his ilk to, um, come out in favour of marriage equality after he learned his son is gay. Apparently, this is just lovely. The man wrestled with his prejudices and his Christian love and tolerance won. Yay! Bullshit. This just shows that the black hole where the heart of the Right should be is their inability to empathise.
Species of Kiwi
Written By: - Date published: 7:24 pm, February 16th, 2013 - 67 comments
There have been various Kiwi taxonomies – attempts to label and describe social types in NZ. In comments Ad proposed this interesting one, highlighting the tensions created by inequality. Thanks for permission to post it…
Lange: Old Faiths New World
Written By: - Date published: 9:35 am, January 1st, 2013 - 32 comments
In the slow summer break, here’s a slow, thoughtful speech to ponder. David Lange’s last public appearance, “Old Faiths New World”, delivered at the University of Otago on 5th August 2004.
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