you couldn’t make this shit up
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IT doESN’t aDD up
Written By: - Date published: 7:49 am, August 10th, 2020 - 57 comments
For a few days now Gerry Brownlee has been peddling this dog whistle conspiracy campaign that the Government is hiding bad news about Covid and we should all be really concerned.
National’s Auckland Central problem
Written By: - Date published: 8:27 am, August 3rd, 2020 - 45 comments
National is facing another PR disaster with reports of an increasingly hostile Auckland Central candidate selection process and with allegations that National’s head office has misapplied the party’s constitution.
The Heron Report
Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, July 31st, 2020 - 35 comments
The Heron Report has been released and reinforces the public perception that this was a cynical misuse of confidential information by National for political purposes and a clusterfuck of epic proportions.
National’s Internal Polling Leaked
Written By: - Date published: 6:46 pm, July 28th, 2020 - 40 comments
Yet another leak from Judith Collins’ Strong Team™. This time it’s their own polling … and it’s grim news.
How do you tell when Judith is saying something that is not true?
Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, July 28th, 2020 - 56 comments
Judith Collins has backed away from telling a mistruth about escape statistics during her time as Minister of Corrections by claiming that her eyebrow was raised and this is evidence that what she was saying was a joke.
Winston Peters Names Alleged Super Leaker
Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, July 22nd, 2020 - 87 comments
Winston Peters has named the person he says leaked his super details. Has ACT joined National in doing Dirty Politics?
Strong team?
Written By: - Date published: 7:32 am, July 21st, 2020 - 267 comments
Earlier this year National boasted that it had a strong team. But this was before two coups and the loss of seven MPs in the past few weeks, the latest for sending indecent material to a teenager which the leader initially described as a case involving mental health concerns.
Of course it’s dirty politics
Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, July 13th, 2020 - 39 comments
National’s latest attempted spin is to try and suggest that last week’s clusterfuck of rolling events did not involve in any way the slightest trace of dirty politics. How wrong they are.
Did any National MP not receive confidential information from Michelle Boag?
Written By: - Date published: 10:07 am, July 10th, 2020 - 128 comments
Michael Woodhouse has admitted that he received confidential information from Michelle Boag a couple of weeks before he said that it was “unconscionable and unacceptable” that the leaks were happening.
Some Random impertinent questions about Michelle Boag’s access to confidential medical information
Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, July 9th, 2020 - 81 comments
Westpac Helicopter Trust’s claim that it had not breached privacy rights of Covid sufferers raises some serious questions about why Michelle Boag was provided with sensitive information. And who she has provided it to.
The many and varied Covid reckons of Mike Hosking
Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, June 30th, 2020 - 49 comments
A review of recent opinion pieces by Mike Hosking shows that he has adopted a series of contradictory positions with the one common feature that they are critical of the Government’s actions.
Paora Goldsmith in fake news scandal
Written By: - Date published: 8:41 am, June 29th, 2020 - 33 comments
Paora Goldsmith has shown either that he is lacking in basic numeracy and literacy skills or that he is prepared to tell porkies for political advantage.
Protesters, Anarchists, Agitators and Lowlifes
Written By: - Date published: 8:13 am, June 21st, 2020 - 96 comments
Donald Trump has planned to hold a political rally on the day used to celebrate the abolition of slavery at a place where one of the worst examples of white brutality on black people using advertising material containing nazi symbols. All in the middle of a global pandemic.
Todd Muller and the strange tale of the Leader’s Safe
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 am, June 19th, 2020 - 22 comments
The Herald has reported that Todd Muller’s staff used a safe cracker to open up a safe previously used by Simon Bridges, even though they had the access codes.
Todd’s Odd Distress Signal
Written By: - Date published: 5:39 pm, June 14th, 2020 - 64 comments
How odd of Todd! A condescending gesture turns into a cry for help.
More Skripal bullshit
Written By: - Date published: 10:03 pm, June 9th, 2020 - 37 comments
Skripal’s relatives don’t believe it, Jacinda Ardern doesn’t believe it, Paul Buchanan doesn’t believe it, and I never believed it. But a story planted in the UK Sunday Times that the Skripals are here lets our media rerun the assassination attempt that failed, even though the most deadliest poison in the world was involved. Stuff website has a British Minister from Theresa May’s time rerunning the old lies,as does the NZ Herald. Fits in nicely with the SIS anti-Russian history.
Bunker boy Trump finally builds that wall
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, June 5th, 2020 - 23 comments
This week Donald Trump has hid in a bunker, used tear gas to move protestors away from a church so that he could have a photo opportunity with a bible, and has started to build his much vaunted wall. Although it is around the White House and not on the Mexican border.
New leadership same old tactics
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, May 27th, 2020 - 24 comments
National has released a social media ad suggesting that New Zealand’s per head of population Government debt figure will be worse than Greece’s by 2014. But the data used presumes the effects of Covid 19 in New Zealand’s figure but no effects of Covid 19 in Greece’s figure.
Ko Paora Goldsmith tenei
Written By: - Date published: 9:11 pm, May 26th, 2020 - 33 comments
National’s new brains trust has not had a great day today. They responded to claims that their front bench looked awfully white and had no Tangata Whenua by claiming that Paora Goldsmith was from Ngāti Porou. The only trouble was that he wasn’t.
Two Tier. Bull. Shit.
Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, May 25th, 2020 - 217 comments
I thought we were “in this together” or some such?
Nat Vote: And the Loser Is ….
Written By: - Date published: 11:50 am, May 22nd, 2020 - 197 comments
The Nation holds its breath as the dullest political leadership race in a generation snores to a close. Who will win by losing? Who will lose by winning? Who cares?
UPDATE: It’s Mullertime!
UPDATE: Bennett dumped!
This is exactly why the MSM should be scrutinised as much as the government
Written By: - Date published: 2:22 pm, May 20th, 2020 - 37 comments
The Herald’s misleading, clickbait sound-biting of Labour MP Tamati Coffey isn’t even close to what we need in reporting from the Epidemic Response Committee.
When Bridges’ social media goes wrong
Written By: - Date published: 8:09 am, April 21st, 2020 - 77 comments
Simon Bridges’s Facebook post criticising the extension of lockdown level 4 has been met with overwhelming opposition, including from people who are clearly National Party supporters.
Two Bubbles Bridges’ Big Day Out
Written By: - Date published: 6:05 pm, April 6th, 2020 - 67 comments
Simon ‘Two Bubbles’ Bridges feels he’s entitled to flaunt the rules because he’s, ahem, essential.
M.I.A. Joe
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, March 22nd, 2020 - 19 comments
America has a question.
Bridges thinks the solution to Covid 19 is tax cuts
Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, March 5th, 2020 - 64 comments
Simon Bridges thinks that tax cuts are the best way to address financial stress caused by businesses by the Covid 19 epidemic. Even though businesses under financial stress will be paying little if any tax and a tax cut would have little if any effect.
The Herald creates a panic and Trump says Coronavirus is a hoax
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, March 1st, 2020 - 65 comments
If a society ever wanted to set out how to handle a pandemic the Herald’s media response and Donald Trump’s handling of the situation provide perfect examples of what not to do.
National’s new conservation policy was previously announced in 2014
Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, February 29th, 2020 - 12 comments
National has announced a “new” policy that it previously announced in 2014. And that has already been implemented.
BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges Calls on Simon Bridges to Stand Down
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 pm, February 18th, 2020 - 5 comments
BREAKING NEWS: Simon Bridges calls on the leader of the opposition to stand down while the SFO case is before the courts.
Bridges’ many and varied positions on coalition with NZ First
Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, February 12th, 2020 - 18 comments
In the past 10 days Simon Bridges has said that National will not go into coalition with NZ First after the next election, to it could consider coalition in the future, to there is no way it will ever go into coalition with NZ First.
How low will Bridges go?
Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, January 28th, 2020 - 23 comments
Simon Bridges has wondered out loud if anti semitism stopped the Government from sending a senior representative to a Holocaust memorial in Israel.
- Nuclear Ukraine: Budapest Memorandum – what it says and is it relevant?
Russian President Boris Yeltsin, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, and British Prime Minister John Major signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in ... 3 weeks ago - A Palate Cleanser
Edit: The original story said “Palette Cleanser” in both the story, and the headline. I am never, ever going to live this down. Chain me up, throw me into the pit.Hi,With the world burning — literally and figuratively — I felt like Webworm needed a little palate cleanser at the ...3 weeks ago - Do Americans really want urban sprawl?
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler (Image credit: Antonio Huerta) Growing up in suburban Ohio, I was used to seeing farmland and woods disappear to make room for new subdivisions, strip malls, and big box stores. I didn’t usually welcome the changes, but I assumed others ...3 weeks ago - The Hardest Word
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Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...3 weeks ago
- Trump’s ‘declaration of economic independence’ spells global chaos
The US president’s sweeping programme of global tariffs will hit every country abroad, including New Zealand, and dramatically raise prices at home. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. In a dramatic, flag-draped address from the White ...3 days ago - The documentary capturing the ‘ripple effect’ of kindness following March 15
Alex Casey talks to Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi, the couple who launched a project to change 51 lives in honour of those lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks. When Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi walked into Naeem’s house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, they knew immediately that he needed their help. ...3 days ago
- US tariffs will upend global trade. This is how Australia can respond
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor of Trade Law, Taxation and Climate Change, Queensland University of Technology US President Donald Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on all products entering the US market, with Australian exports set to face a 10% tariff, effective April ...3 days ago - Trump highlights Australian beef in ‘Liberation Day’ trade crackdown
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...3 days ago
- Scientists worked with Walpiri to track down bilby poo – and uncover clues to help conserve these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...3 days ago
- Trade Minister Todd McClay confirms NZ to face 10% tariff on all goods to United States
Trade Minister Todd McClay has confirmed New Zealand exporters will face a 10 percent tariff on all goods to the United States, from this weekend. ...3 days ago - Australian beef highlighted by Donald Trump in ‘Liberation Day’ trade crackdown
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...3 days ago
- Why do women get ‘reassurance scans’ during pregnancy? And how can you spot a dodgy provider?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock Recent media coverage in the Nine newspapers highlights a surge in non-medical ultrasound providers offering “reassurance ultrasounds” to expectant parents. The service has resulted in serious harms, such as misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and ...3 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori’s stand-off with the Privileges Committee, explained
The three MPs whose rule-breaking haka caught the world’s attention didn’t attend their scheduled hearing yesterday. Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis has the rundown of what happened, why, and what’s likely to come next. I see Te Pāti Māori and the privileges committee are in some sort of stand-off – ...3 days ago
- New research reveals chemical secrets of Earth’s crust 4.5 billion years ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Turner, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland. Nido Huebl/Shutterstock Earth is the only known planet which has plate tectonics today. The constant movement of these giant slabs of ...3 days ago
- Australian beef targeted by Donald Trump in ‘Liberation Day’ trade crackdown
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...3 days ago
- What happens to taonga Māori in the age of AI?
Meta has stolen millions of books to train its AI, including books by kaituhi Māori. What does that mean for mātauranga and its status as taonga? New Zealand authors are among the millions whose books have been pirated and scraped by Meta to train its AI. The New Zealand Society of ...3 days ago
- NZ markets thud, not bounce on tariff reveal
Some hoped the open of the New Zealand markets would open with a bounce as certain tariffs fell short of the worst-case scenario, but investors were met with a deflated thud.The New Zealand market fell immediately as stock market darling Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s shares were punished, with no update ...3 days ago - Echo Chamber: Nelson hospital scandal puts Luxon and Brown on the back foot
Healthcare dominated the debate in an unusually sober and serious question time. “Hey David!” a group of high school students in the public gallery called out as Act leader David Seymour entered the debating chamber. Standing in the middle of the floor, before any other MPs had arrived, he happily ...3 days ago
- Access to new drugs to speed up if approval given by some countries
Cabinet has approved a streamlined pathway in which some medicines will be approved in less than 30 days. ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter) China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham Netflix television series Adolescence follows a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of his female classmate. It touches upon incel online hate groups, toxic influencers and the misogynistic online ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Tucker, Professor of History, Wesleyan University A portrait of President Donald Trump in the ‘America’s Presidents’ exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery. Win McNamee/Getty Images I teach history in Connecticut, but I grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas, where ...3 days ago
- Help Me Hera: Nobody is ever good enough for me
I don’t want my neuroses about someone being ‘good enough’ to keep me from finding love. But choosing to be with someone who isn’t quite right seems like a death sentence. Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera, I’m a straight single woman in my late 20s ...3 days ago
- About a quarter of people feel more safe than a year ago – poll
The RNZ-Reid Research Poll reveals over a quarter feel safer, while about 38 percent have not had any safety concerns. ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Reyes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Pavel Gabzdyl / Shutterstock The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Clune, Honorary Associate, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney The five-week election campaign is now in full swing throughout the nation. Amid the flurry of photo opportunities and press conferences, candidates campaign in specific areas for a reason: to shore ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Whittle, ANZMUSC Practitioner Fellow, Monash University Marinesea/Shutterstock More than 500 million people around the world live with osteoarthritis. The knee is affected more often than any other joint, with symptoms (such as pain, stiffness and reduced movement) affecting work, sleep, ...3 days ago
- Invisible losses: thousands of plant species are missing from places they could thrive – and huma...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cornelia Sattler, Research Fellow in Ecology, Macquarie University Samantha Terrell/Shutterstock If you go walking in the wild, you might expect that what you’re seeing is natural. All around you are trees, shrubs and grasses growing in their natural habitat. But there’s ...3 days ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Johnston, Director of Learning and Teaching at Excelsia University College and Research Affiliate, University of Sydney As Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young waved a decapitated salmon dripping with blood in parliament last week, you could feel the election coming. Hanson-Young ...3 days ago
- One more reason Trump won’t be raising a glass to celebrate his tariff triumph
Bottles of wine signed by Trump and his vintner son are in a discount bin; NZ winemakers pray he won’t put the whole industry there The post One more reason Trump won’t be raising a glass to celebrate his tariff triumph appeared first on Newsroom. ...3 days ago
- How multinational dairy companies convinced ministers to back away from new rules for baby formula
Tougher guidelines were 11 years in the making. But for multinational dairy companies, profits were at stake. ...3 days ago
- Girl wrongly injected with drugs highlights need for law change, Mental Health Foundation says
The head of the Mental Health Foundation says he is not confident there will not be a repeat of a mistake that saw an 11-year-old girl wrongly identified as an adult mental health patient. ...3 days ago
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Staff at Kāinga Ora face restructuring, with a Green MP claiming another 500 jobs are set to go and staff are worried front line housing services will suffer. ...3 days ago
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The government is scheduled to announce reforms to fast-track new drugs based on prior overseas approvals, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Quicker drug approvals on their way The government is expected to unveil reforms today that ...3 days ago
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Comment: The Consumer Data Right is now part of New Zealand law. The CDR is intended to give customers (including consumers and business customers) greater control over the data that certain service providers hold about them.The introduction of the CDR was confirmed by the enactment of the Customer and Product ...3 days ago
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HealthNZ was only aware of one of the cases of patients becoming sicker during delays at the hospital before media reports surfaced. ...3 days ago
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The President’s guest list in the Rose Garden includes steel workers, autoworkers, oil and gas workers, steam fitters, truck drivers, and hardworking Americans from a variety of trades, the White House says Donald Trump wants to punish countries for national drug-buying schemes like Pharmac, by imposing tariffs on pharmaceuticals imported ...4 days ago
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A legal bid to stop Rotorua Lakes Council’s controversial sewerage pipeline near Lake Rotokākahi has failed, with the Environment Court saying the project is in the public’s interest. But opponents call it a desecration and are not giving up. The Environment Court has dismissed a legal bid to stop Rotorua ...4 days ago
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From ‘general rudeness and condescension’ to leaving a sexual harassment victim stranded and another wheelchair user concussed, a litany of complaints has led to Wellington’s public transport provider promising to revamp its staff training. Metlink has pledged to revamp its staff accessibility awareness training following numerous complaints from disabled passengers, ...4 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 3 April
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- Declarations might improve water quality, environment group says
Improving the health of waterways and ecosystems is a useful purpose for declarations being sought in the High Court, an environmental group says.South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu has taken the Attorney-General to court, seeking a series of declarations with the aim of overhauling the freshwater management regime, in partnership with ...4 days ago
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