spin

Categories under spin

We need to ACT on the innumeracy of MPs

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, June 6th, 2015 - 113 comments

After a mere 5 years, some numerically and legally challenged current and ex-MP have been demonstrating their inability to understand their Three Strikes stupidity. They seem to think that people who have probably been in court or banged up in prison for violent offences have had time to go to court three times. FFS: these dickheads need mandatory remedial maths.

Colmar Brunton poll

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, June 2nd, 2015 - 53 comments

I’ll cautiously call the previous Roy Morgan, which caused so much angst, an outlier.

Sheepgate

Written By: - Date published: 8:54 am, May 28th, 2015 - 103 comments

It has emerged that the New Zealand Government has paid money to a Saudi businessman allegedly to settle a legal dispute that does not exist but more probably to persuade the Saudi Government to enter into a free trade agreement.  Update – and maybe there was a threat of legal action but because of the actions of National, not Labour.

Crosby ‘most successful propogandist since Goebbels’ – Ken Livingston

Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, May 27th, 2015 - 57 comments

Ken Livingston talks about Lynton Crosby and neoliberalism.

Mortgagee sales

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, May 25th, 2015 - 21 comments

A marked drop in mortgagee sales recently. Good news?

The media and two child poverty policy releases

Written By: - Date published: 9:24 am, May 24th, 2015 - 60 comments

The media’s handling of Labours Best Start policy announcement in January of last year and its handling of National’s recent budget announcement of a $25 a week increase for beneficiary families provides an interesting contrast.

Owning the news agenda

Written By: - Date published: 8:20 am, May 24th, 2015 - 47 comments

He who pays the piper calls the tune. The killing of Campbell Live is just the latest example.

Young Labour and sex change ops

Written By: - Date published: 10:04 am, May 20th, 2015 - 274 comments

Young Labour has proposed that there is public funding for hormone replacement therapy and gender reassignment.  Jonathan Coleman described the proposal as “absolutely nuts” but it then emerged that there is already some public funding for this treatment.  And the media tried to suggest that some off the cuff comments by Labour MPs is evidence of division.

Climate “consultation” – Fix Our Future

Written By: - Date published: 8:16 am, May 19th, 2015 - 13 comments

The government is “consulting” we the people on New Zealand’s climate change target. You can use Generation Zero’s Fix Our Future site to make a submission. Do it!

Burning issues of the day

Written By: - Date published: 12:32 pm, May 18th, 2015 - 9 comments

flag-meeting

Are the left really angry?

Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, May 17th, 2015 - 52 comments

The latest attacks on the left involves the right claiming that left activists are too angry and hurting labour’s chances in the UK as well as New Zealand.

Calling people names

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, May 14th, 2015 - 24 comments

Pulling ponytails and calling people names – I guess it’s true, the PM is 11 years old.

Angry Andy, Creepy Key

Written By: - Date published: 4:09 pm, May 13th, 2015 - 54 comments

Today’s social media lolz. There’s a difference between obvious attempts to astroturf a nickname and ones that have gone viral naturally.

UK media and the election

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, May 6th, 2015 - 42 comments

UK-media1

Polity: Hide / Farrar / Hooton: “Hey, look over there!

Written By: - Date published: 3:25 pm, May 4th, 2015 - 51 comments

“The shrillness of the “hey look over there!” narrative coming from the right-hand-side shows just how deep the embarrassment within National is at the Northland campaign and result.”

Numerical illiteracy at the Herald

Written By: - Date published: 1:21 pm, April 29th, 2015 - 46 comments

Today, we see a Herald ‘editor’ demonstrating exactly how useless they are at interpreting polls. They are saying that a poll where almost all of the sample was taken before the Ponygate story broke, indicates that it doesn’t matter much. To rub home just how stupid and out of touch the Herald editors were last week, it then whines about nasty social media. What can one say of these cloistered monks of  ‘journalism’… Plenty.

A Friend first, and a Boss second, probably an Entertainer third.

Written By: - Date published: 1:56 pm, April 26th, 2015 - 44 comments

“I’m a friendly guy that likes to interact with the public. I do like to have a bit of a laugh and I’m probably the most casual Prime Minister New Zealand has had.”

John Key’s week has turned from drama to farce. David Brent looks good next to this clown.

Caption Competition

Written By: - Date published: 1:00 pm, April 24th, 2015 - 114 comments

Keep it seemly!

Ten Bridges Too Far

Written By: - Date published: 7:15 am, April 17th, 2015 - 18 comments

With Crosby Textor by his side, John Key has since learned to employ all manner of specialist PR techniques including ad homs, blame-shifting, distraction,  use of Dirty Politics proxies to defuse the situation, and false equivalence, all woven together in an intricately performed semantic shuffle designed to  provide wiggle room for when he does get caught.

Our Iraq war policy explained

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, April 16th, 2015 - 32 comments

The government is doing a poor job at explaining our Iraq war policy, but never fear, we have the answers.

Geddis spanks Farrar

Written By: - Date published: 10:40 am, April 16th, 2015 - 30 comments

Andrew Geddis at Pundit on National’s spin on Bridges. Includes a pretty sticky moment for Nat spinster David Farrar. You will need to disinfect your brain.

Who is Miranda Devine?

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, April 13th, 2015 - 46 comments

Miranda Devine is the person who recently wrote a really obsequious article on John Key in the Daily Telegraph where she described him as one of the best Conservative Prime Ministers in the world.  But a reading of her other published material suggests that caution should be applied before applying too much weight to her opinions.

James Shaw responds to Rodney Hide’s Herald column on the Greens leadership

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, April 12th, 2015 - 41 comments

Rodney Hide suggested in the Herald this morning that if James Shaw was leader of the Greens there would be a greater chance they could go into coalition with National.  James Shaw does not think so.

The magical disappearing surplus

Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, April 11th, 2015 - 67 comments

John Key and National have staked a huge amount of their credibility on returning the country’s books to surplus this financial year.  Looks like they are going to fail.

Blogger on breaching name suppression charges gets name suppression

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, April 10th, 2015 - 67 comments

A blogger charged with breaching suppression orders protecting the names of others has obtained interim name suppression.  This is not a joke …

GCSB spied on foreign communications to help Groser’s WTO bid

Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, March 23rd, 2015 - 133 comments

More embarrassment for the Government as it is revealed that the GCSB spied on internet communications involving diplomats competing with Tim Groser in his bid to be elected as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation.

The rich want to hide their wealth because of kidnap threats

Written By: - Date published: 9:30 am, March 22nd, 2015 - 173 comments

The Liberal National Party Coalition in Australia want to overturn a requirement for corporations with a turnover of $100 million to disclose tax information on the grounds that kidnapping will occur even though the rich’s ostentatiousness is plain to see without the information being published. And in America it has been estimated that Wall Street’s bonus pool is twice the amount paid to full time American employees living on the minimum wage.

Key: I Apologise for Not Being a Man

Written By: - Date published: 12:04 pm, March 10th, 2015 - 61 comments

It’s hammer time! Prime Minister John Key apologises for not being a man …

A little case study of media misrepresentation

Written By: - Date published: 4:54 pm, March 9th, 2015 - 42 comments

A short case study of the kind of mainstream media reporting that drives me nuts!

National has to win Northland (plus Armstrong’s amazing U-turn)

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, March 8th, 2015 - 153 comments

In which John Key denies the bleeding obvious, and John Armstrong risks whiplash with the speed of his U-turn.

Politician salary rises and the minimum wage increase

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, February 27th, 2015 - 106 comments

John Key has yet again asked the Remuneration Authority to limit the increase in MPs pay.  And yet again they have said that the law required them to make the decision they did.  So MPs get a hefty raise at the same time that the minimum wage is raised slightly.  And the media report Key’s comments sympathetically.  He is the Prime Minister.  If anyone can change the law he is the person best placed.

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