blogs
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- David Farrar (95)
- dpf (194)
A Sunday treat for everyone except Fran O’Sullivan
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, October 7th, 2012 - 27 comments
Parasitic blogger takes on Very Important Columnist who does Real Journalism Work to bring to her readers Informed and Insightful Commentary on The Issues That Really Matter.
‘Children of the Poor’ 1934 – 2012: Social Security for the Future?
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, September 30th, 2012 - 176 comments
Split Enz once sang, “History Never Repeats”… Or does it? Destructive prejudices separating ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have been around a very long time. When the likes of Paula Bennett pander to such ill-informed vindictiveness with punitive social welfare reforms, they will damage large numbers of children – our future citizens.
Go read Gordon Campbell
Written By: - Date published: 1:40 pm, September 18th, 2012 - 35 comments
Yesterday the ‘sphere was all a-twitter with reaction to John Armstrong’s rant at “parasitical bloggers”. On this and many other topics, do yourself a favour, go read Gordon Campbell.
My 2 cents
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, September 17th, 2012 - 49 comments
It must be pretty sweet when your full-time job is to write 4 500-word columns of opinion a week. It’s even sweeter when you can use those 500 words to have a whinge at your critics rather than write about things that your audience, you know, gives a crap about. The weird thing about Armstrong’s article is it first attempts to refute the critics and then provides excuses. But, in truth, it’s a personal tirade. And the place for that isn’t a national newspaper column: it’s a blog.
Messenger shoot-out
Written By: - Date published: 3:14 pm, September 15th, 2012 - 53 comments
It must be the Herald’s new tabloid format. Or perhaps Steven Joyce talking about the death of print news. On Friday John Drinnan highlighted APN-internal media spats speaking of “Frenemies”; today John Armstrong launches forth at so-called bloggers Gordan Campbell and Bryce Edwards. Citizen journalism and the web are undoubtedly offering a challenge to the old hands. Some are coping better than others.
Evolving online media in NZ
Written By: - Date published: 11:31 am, August 26th, 2012 - 13 comments
NZ is well served in the range of online offerings that are exploring beyond the fringes of the mainstream media. Welcome to a new player, Bernard Hickey’s JOURNALISM.ORG.NZ.
CV replies to Whaleoil
Written By: - Date published: 9:33 am, August 18th, 2012 - 143 comments
Guest poster Colonial Viper replies to some typically loopy accusations from Whaleoil.
Frankly Speaking: “John Banks: condition deteriorating”
Written By: - Date published: 3:05 pm, August 15th, 2012 - 18 comments
Frank Macskasy over at Frankly Speaking writes some very long posts that are often full of interesting information. This one does a good analysis of the recommendations from the Electoral Commission and various party positions on it. On the way through he has a good swipe at John Banks, who it would be safe to say, he considers to be political cabbage.
The wrong conversation
Written By: - Date published: 9:57 am, August 15th, 2012 - 78 comments
There has been a lot of discussion on the direction Labour is heading and the direction it should go. There have been some very valuable contributions by Mike Smith, Rob Salmond, Jordan Carter and Josie Pagani. I don’t have much to add to this other than, I think, they are having the wrong conversation. There […]
Sunday Reading
Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, July 15th, 2012 - 5 comments
I’m going to try and put up a piece each Sunday of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. Those stimulating links you wanted to share, but just didn’t fit in anywhere (no linkwhoring). This week: the bread & butter line, bankers, racism and the corporate speak of John Key.
Kiwiblog: media getting savvy?
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, July 5th, 2012 - 28 comments
The media have generally just regurgitated David Farrar’s angled statistics, stories and lines. Now we finally see a story that looks behind: this is a blog from one of the National Party elite, so why is he running a story on Police pay? Are National looking to move on this?
ImperatorFish: Love, People, Love!
Written By: - Date published: 2:24 pm, June 22nd, 2012 - 3 comments
Scott exhorts us all to just get along. If we could just love each other and the Dear Leader, wouldn’t things be better?
All the news that’s fit to print – Rupert & Gina’s way
Written By: - Date published: 12:23 pm, June 22nd, 2012 - 23 comments
Major changes in the media in Oz will have their impact here – some already have. Interesting times ahead for all, including the Standard.
The smell of corruption
Written By: - Date published: 11:23 pm, May 16th, 2012 - 32 comments
The Jackal raised the issue of corruption in relation to John Banks in a comment here and has written more about it on his blog. It appears on the evidence of DotCom’s lieutenant that when he was a Member of Parliament Banks was offering to accept a financial consideration in respect of any act to be done by him in his capacity as a member of Parliament. This makes Philip Field look like a Good Samaritan. Banks has to go.
New political blog
Written By: - Date published: 11:40 am, April 20th, 2012 - 5 comments
Welcome to the twistedhive. A new political blog in the NZ ‘sphere.
Some interesting posts including some insightful commentary on the choices for Labour’s chief of staff and one about getting around the government’s plan to veto paid parental leave.
400,000 comments (almost)
Written By: - Date published: 12:18 pm, April 19th, 2012 - 53 comments
By one standard we have now passed 400 thousand comments. But I’m not a bullshitter with numbers like Bill English or Whaleoil. By my standards, we haven’t quite hit it yet. We will in a couple of weeks. I’m starting to get a bit worried about how we’re going to handle the rapidly increasing rate that people are arguing with each other here…
Come back, we were just measuring GDP wrong!
Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, March 28th, 2012 - 10 comments
100 jobs a day were lost in January and 1000 people a week left New Zealand for Australia last year but it turns out it was all a mistake! David Farrar has discovered that we measure GDP slightly differently from Australia and if we use their measure then the purchasing power parity-adjusted difference in GDP per capita is close to zero. Hooray!
Tales from Christchurch
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, February 23rd, 2012 - 4 comments
As a followup to the “big media” coverage of Christchurch yesterday, there are plenty of people posting on their experiences of life in the quake-ridden city. One that I follow is the blog of award winning Kiwi author Helen Lowe.
ImperatorFish: Shock As Labour Discovers David Farrar Is Not The PM
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, February 2nd, 2012 - 12 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
Labour Party MPs are said to be red-faced, after discovering that prominent blogger David Farrar is not the Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Shut it down
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, January 31st, 2012 - 38 comments
The same day as we learn that Labour won’t be allowing press gallery journos free access to their wing of Parliament as previously (apparently a desperate attempt at message control by keeping off message MPs and journos apart: someone better tell Fran Mold what a cellphone is), Labour’s bizarre cult of David Farrar has performed its first human sacrifice.
Comment Privacy and fools
Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, December 19th, 2011 - 94 comments
Cameron Slater is a technological idiot. Well he has just proven it again. A comment on our site referred to IP/e-mail matching at another site. In his own guilt about privacy abuses Slater immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.
I’d advise people to never put comments on sites that lack a privacy policy that is explicit about what information may be used for. But we ensure your privacy here.
ImperatorFish: Phil and Carmel’s Greatest Hits
Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, December 13th, 2011 - 3 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
Holding the blogosphere to account: how did dpf, Trotter and WhaleOil do on their predictions for Phil Twyford and Carmel Sepuloni after Carmel won the Waitakere nomination…
ImperatorFish: Not Irony #2
Written By: - Date published: 2:48 pm, December 8th, 2011 - 38 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
David Farrar is running National’s line that anything the teachers don’t want must be good for the education of our children…
ImperatorFish: Not Irony #1
Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, December 8th, 2011 - 28 comments
Scott at Imperator Fish has kindly given us permission to syndicate posts from his blog – the original of this post is here
David Farrar applies some wonky logic in order to blame everything bad the Nats do on the left. If any group of voters is to blame for the National/ACT deal, it’s those voters who gave National their party vote and/or John Banks their electorate vote.
Rugby World Cup cramps politics
Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, December 2nd, 2011 - 35 comments
One of the more interesting observations about this election campaign has been the effect of having the rugby world cup on the political process and therefore on our political blog stats. They were really crammed into the last two months and disrupted by big games.
“Blog king” no more
Written By: - Date published: 9:38 am, December 2nd, 2011 - 80 comments
Well we have just moved out of the election month, and we’re now getting the gradual fall back of readership and posts. About the only growth around NZ at present is in political blogging.
I’m happy to say that we now appear to consistently be either level pegging with Kiwiblog or exceeding their totals for a number of months. Since we have been ‘advised’ many times that this would never happen, I’m finding that it is rather more satisfying than I expected.
Parker withdrawing
Written By: - Date published: 5:20 pm, December 1st, 2011 - 314 comments
David Parker has withdrawn from the leadership race of the Labour party according to Stuff. Predictably Kiwiblog, Stuff, and probably the other right-wing media fools are using this as an opportunity to hype up David Shearer as an easier opponent for John Key. It is not for nothing that David Farrar has “Fomenting Happy Mischief […]
Victim tales of the right
Written By: - Date published: 3:40 pm, November 29th, 2011 - 26 comments
Nationals yapping poodles here were doing it during the election by calling Labour “nasty” in violation of any level of common sense. John Key and teabags. In the US similar supporters are calling Obama nasty for pointing out a lying political ad by Mitt Romney.
Don’t ya know the right are always the poor victims… I just tend to find them to be whining dickheads. But I am actually trying to be nasty.
Taking out the trash
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, November 22nd, 2011 - 18 comments
Michael Laws has been calling for listeners to shoot journalists. He’s a disturbed individual who should never be on the air again. Wouldn’t be nice to take the trash out of political commentary?
Penguin: Key lies to help us
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, November 8th, 2011 - 30 comments
Yes, that’s an actual quote [sans ‘serfs’] from David Farrar lying about his master John Key’s lies about not raising GST.
hattip: frank macskasy
DPF – deliberately missing the point
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 20th, 2011 - 101 comments
DPF is stirring the sewer again with ridiculous smears about a Labour candidate. Does he resort to mud-flinging due to a lack of National policy that stacks up?
- You won’t believe what happened on Shortland Street on 9/11
In the midst of the most shocking news event of the 21st century, Shortland Street was trying out one of its most bizarre and ambitious storylines ever. There’s a psychological phenomenon around 9/11, where tonnes of people have misremembered where they were when they first heard that a plane hit ...1 week ago - How can everyone be part of the AI revolution?
AI technology is an increasingly common part of many people’s working lives – but not everyone has the opportunity to benefit equally. Dr Jade Brooks tells Alice Webb Liddall about her research into how workplaces can bridge the digital divide. The vision “that all of us have what we need ...1 week ago
- Is it possible to keep your voice and your soul while writing for an international market?
Sascha Stronach (Kāi Tahu), author of The Dawnhounds and The Sunforge, on fighting US editors on matters of New Zealand slang. I had two knockdown dragout fights with my US publisher: they wanted to call me “a bold and important voice in Māori fiction”; they thought “moggy” sounded like ...1 week ago
- The stories that defined The Spinoff
An incomplete collection of memorable Spinoff articles. In 10 years (and one day) The Spinoff has published 28,691 stories. Features, opinion, satire, profiles, experiential stunts and anything else you can think of. There really is no way to define our work but here is a futile attempt to track The ...1 week ago
- The human face of the electricity crisis
The closure of two mills near Ohakune will mean the loss of 230 jobs, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in your inbox every weekday morning, sign up here. ...1 week ago
- What is supplier diversity, why does it matter and why should I care?
It’s playing a key role in the growth of indigenous and minority businesses around the world. In Aotearoa, the journey is just beginning. Most New Zealanders are likely unfamiliar with the term “supplier diversity”. However, in the business world, ensuring a diverse supply chain is quickly becoming essential – and ...1 week ago
- Sending money overseas can be expensive. Who does it hurt the most?
There are lots of services promising to make international money transfer more affordable, without adding on the fees that banks charge. But people in New Zealand regularly sending money to Pacific countries have limited options. Every day, people with New Zealand bank accounts transfer millions of dollars to other countries. ...1 week ago
- Bees buzzing for worlds after late start to sailing
Not long after Sandra Bees took up competitive sailing at the age of 52, her doctor asked her a question that completely floored her.“At the end of my check-up, he said ‘Is everything okay at home?’” Bees recalls. “I was like, ‘Yeah, why do you ask?’“The doctor said, ‘Well, you ...1 week ago - Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 11 September
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 11 September appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Daily crossword, Wednesday 11 September
The post Daily crossword, Wednesday 11 September appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- PNG calls in Sir Jerry Mateparae for Bougainville independence talks
The former governor-general has been chosen to help resolve the impasse over the future of the Bougainville autonomous region The post PNG calls in Sir Jerry Mateparae for Bougainville independence talks appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Health commissioner ousts chief financial officer after big deficits
Te Whatu Ora is believed to be paying nearly $1 million more in senior executive salaries since Lester Levy was parachuted in to cut costs. An attempt to quietly excise the CFO has turned septic. The post Health commissioner ousts chief financial officer after big deficits appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Kay and Karl, the old team
My Catullus poems, which have come and gone at intervals over the past half century, have never been translations from the Latin, though some have borrowed; and never ‘confessional poems’, though how close to ‘truth’ and how far from it has always been unclear. How ‘real’ was my Clodia, who ...1 week ago
- Like the Treaty itself, Treaty principles bill is drafted to mislead
Opinion: Given Act’s Treaty Principles Bill is not going to proceed, inviting submissions would be a mistake The post Like the Treaty itself, Treaty principles bill is drafted to mislead appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Looking up, from a deeper hole
Opinion: Over the past few weeks we’ve watched most of the July economic news roll in.The good news is that, in nearly all cases, July readings improved from frankly terrible June results. The less good news is that, despite this, most of these indicators remain at subpar levels indicative of ...1 week ago
- Decision time on Auckland’s shorelines
There’s no sugar coating, no preparation for a soft landing. The message is blunt and to the point, for good reason.“We can’t do nothing. Change can be hard and it can be expensive. But we are already facing environmental change, we must adapt, we must act.”That’s Lara Clarke, speaking to ...1 week ago
- Luxon’s India hustle hits a hurdle
Comment: The PM’s bid to ink a free trade deal with India suffers its first public setback The post Luxon’s India hustle hits a hurdle appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Govt rules out subsidies for offshore wind
The first permits under a new offshore energy regime could be issued as soon as 2026, with wind farms operating in a decade The post Govt rules out subsidies for offshore wind appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- ‘I fucking forgot how the song goes’: A review of Fur Patrol in 2024
On Saturday night, almost a quarter century after the release of their hit single, a reunited Fur Patrol played to a packed out Double Whammy. Did they still have it? I had homework to do. I opened up Spotify, typed in Fur Patrol. There was ‘Lydia’ at the number one ...1 week ago
- Are New Zealanders ‘sick and tired’ of spending on cycleways? Not according to this surv...
Analysis - The transport minister's claim is not backed up by the facts, a survey shows. ...1 week ago - The mystery of the killer bike lane
A chain of three cafes closed down and the owner blamed cycleways. But none of the cafes were anywhere near one. What is happening? Joel MacManus investigates. Last week, the people of Wellington reacted with shock to the news that Pandoro Panetteria would be closing its three cafe and bakery ...1 week ago
- Rewriting history: how the Treaty ‘principles’ evolved and why they don’t stand up to scrutiny
Analysis: The debate has exposed deep ignorance, among political leaders and others about te Tiriti. ...1 week ago
- Takeout Kids: Phitcha
Takeout Kids returns for season two. Meet Phitcha, of Akaroa’s La Thai Restaurant. Building on the success of its 2022 launch, Takeout Kids returns for a second season, following five tamariki and rangatahi growing up in the small businesses owned by their immigrant families. The latest season features ...1 week ago
- Phitcha | Takeout Kids | The Spinoff
“I don’t know where I’m from… What do I put on there?” | Watch the full series: https://thespinoff.co.nz/videos/takeout-kids ✏️ Phitcha and her friends share shrimp noodles dropped off to school from her family’s Thai restaurant in Akaroa, where she also works at the weekend. Between video calls back home to ...1 week ago
- Revealed: What The Spinoff looked like the day it launched
Alex Casey looks back at the first day of The Spinoff, 10 years ago today. September 10 2014 was a huge day for headlines in Aotearoa. ‘Gummy bear penis shock’’ detailed the outrage in Dunedin around “a gummy baby with a penis” that had infiltrated a mixed lolly bag. A ...1 week ago
- How an award-winning director went from carpenter to filmmaker
When you decide to follow your dreams, it helps to have some experts in your corner. In the first of a series talking to people who’ve retrained in a new career through Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, director Tom Webster tells Jihee Junn how tutors helped turn his cinematic vision ...1 week ago
- The cost of being: A self-employed, home-schooling mum who splurges on the outdoors
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a mother of three who owns her own business explains her DIY approach to almost everything. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here. Gender: Female Age: 32 Ethnicity: NZ ...1 week ago
- ‘Man had eel in his bum’: Remembering the story that almost broke the Herald
The Herald on Sunday is about to celebrate a significant birthday. Hayden Donnell takes a look back at one of its most defining moments. When the Herald on Sunday turns 20 next month, current and former staff will gather at their usual haunt, the Shakespeare, to reminisce. They might talk ...1 week ago
- The epic, thrilling, ridiculous story of The Spinoff’s first 10 years
Told in one crucial moment from every year, by The Spinoff’s founder Duncan Greive. The Spinoff Cover Story is our premier long-form feature offering, made with the generous support of our members. Read our other cover stories here. 2014: An accidental birth, in a corporate boardroom The Spinoff was never meant ...1 week ago
- Power market is ugly and asymmetrical
Analysis: Your oven doesn’t care where the electrons came from – so customers with power plants on their roof and batteries in their homes need to be able to compete fairly with large generators The post Power market is ugly and asymmetrical appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Mike Joy’s grave new world
On a recent Tuesday afternoon at Victoria University, I watched freshwater ecologist and longtime environmental champion Mike Joy tell an undergraduate class that their world was headed off a cliff. He was being generous; the way he sees things, the cliff has well and truly been run over. He told ...1 week ago
- The light at the end of the Home Show
“Doing it hard.”“Struggling.”“An incredibly tough year.”These were the words used to describe many people’s experiences in 2024, but particularly that of those in the construction industry.Building and related trades have certainly been in the doldrums: work has dropped off, trades shops are nearly empty, builders are working on their own ...1 week ago
- Uber required to meet national employment law standards
Opinion: Gig economy companies such as Uber seek to enhance their profits by avoiding national regulation and by shifting their costs onto drivers The post Uber required to meet national employment law standards appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- PM still hasn’t seen draft Treaty Principles Bill
Comment: The Prime Minister has a long-held position on the Treaty Principles Bill: he doesn’t like it, he won’t support it beyond the select committee stage, but this is “MMP in action”.As David Seymour’s controversial bill continues to steal the oxygen, Christopher Luxon is making no secret of the fact ...1 week ago
- Youth vaping is bad policy and bad politics
Opinion: Government’s vape policy is far broader than is necessary The post Youth vaping is bad policy and bad politics appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 10 September
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- Daily crossword, Tuesday 10 September
The post Daily crossword, Tuesday 10 September appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Govt resolute in allowing 10yos to be treated as criminals
If the Government is serious about lowering youth offending, it’ll raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14, Chief Children’s Commissioner says The post Govt resolute in allowing 10yos to be treated as criminals appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- East Coast can’t fell the forest for the trees
Ngāti Porou is among forestry businesses ‘bleeding money’ as slash rules force them to stop harvesting pine forests worth tens of millions of dollars The post East Coast can’t fell the forest for the trees appeared first on Newsroom. ...1 week ago
- Jesus’s vision fulfilled: David Seymour restores unity to the church
The Christian church has had quite a few dust-ups with itself over the last 20 centuries. This week, the Act Party brought it together. Since Jesus prayed that his followers may all be one (John 17:20-21), Christians have barely stopped fighting. Yes, they’ve occasionally broken off to slaughter people in ...2 weeks ago
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