Search Results

  1. Doofus of the week – May 27, 2018

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:54 am, May 27th, 2018 -  28 comments
    Categories: doofus of the week, Gerry Brownlee, Judith Collins, national, paula bennett, same old national, Simon Bridges, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uncategorized, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags:

    Lots of competition this week with Katie Hopkins preferring to be called a racist to being described as being on drugs, Judith Collins for fronting the most naff scandals in the last decade, and Simon Bridges for going on tour to strange places.  But the real contest was between Paula Bennett and Gerry Brownlee …

  2. Yulia wants to go home.

    Written By:  Bill -  Date published: 10:55 am, May 25th, 2018 -  59 comments
    Categories: International, Propaganda, Russia, uk politics
    Tags: , , , ,

    Oops. Was this desire meant to be in the script?

  3. Algorithms are threatening our democracy

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 9:00 am, May 9th, 2018 -  36 comments
    Categories: China, community democracy, Deep stuff, democracy under attack, democratic participation, facebook, internet, interweb, Politics, twitter
    Tags:

    Algorithms are a form of fascism – yet a fascism from data manipulation rather than from the state. Are they a threat to our democracy?

  4. The Schnews.

    Written By:  Bill -  Date published: 1:16 pm, April 28th, 2018 -  7 comments
    Categories: Media, news, Propaganda, radio, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
    Tags: ,

    Apologies to the Schnews that was actually a pretty good wee publication that came out of Brighton, England.

  5. Bottom feeding fish

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:35 am, April 24th, 2018 -  99 comments
    Categories: clickbait, Dirty Politics, making shit up, Media, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags: ,

    Yesterday the Herald said something stupid about Clarke Gayford, reported his response and then reported at how the country was divided by the article.

  6. The right to free speech

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:05 am, April 20th, 2018 -  105 comments
    Categories: Deep stuff, democracy under attack, journalism, Media, news, Propaganda, racism, sexism, social media lolz, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags: , , ,

    This week has seen a number of examples where right wing and religious men have said stupid things and then had their statements defended on the basis that free speech should be protected.

  7. Homeless families are living in cars … and tents

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:00 am, April 13th, 2018 -  84 comments
    Categories: housing, john key, national, national/act government, phil twyford, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
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    Remember how early on during his reign as National leader John Key talked about the underclass and how they were a blight on New Zealand society?  Well over the past year WINZ has been giving grants to homeless families to live in tents.

  8. Is this a new cold war?

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 4:10 pm, April 11th, 2018 -  17 comments
    Categories: China, Europe, Globalisation, International, uk politics, us politics, war
    Tags:

    It’s really easy to get cranky right now and believe the world is retreating into to a sad Cold War binary in which Russia and its allies are always in high tension with the United States and its allies. A new Cold War.

  9. Ardern was right to hold back on Russia

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 9:30 am, April 7th, 2018 -  88 comments
    Categories: Europe, International, Russia, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, uk politics
    Tags:

    Remember two weeks ago when Jacinda Ardern’s handling of the Russian poisoning scandal was considered to be a major misstep?  Well with the benefit of hindsight it appears to have been a very balanced nuanced response to an incident that is not as clear cut as it was presented.

  10. Doofus of the week Easter 2018 edition

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 12:24 pm, April 1st, 2018 -  55 comments
    Categories: health
    Tags:

    This week the award goes to a Fairfax reporter for writing as fawning a review of a political career as you can imagine.

  11. Who cares about personal privacy? Not Facebook

    Written By:  tracey -  Date published: 1:30 pm, March 28th, 2018 -  42 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    Not the National Party and 3 of its most senior MPs.

  12. US Trade Tariffs against China

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 2:14 pm, March 23rd, 2018 -  66 comments
    Categories: capitalism, China, Donald Trump, trade, us politics
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    Make no mistake: this is the single biggest anti-trade act the world has seen since the Iranian revolution’s nationalisation program from 1979.

  13. Tell the Health Committee: Make our cannabis law fair for those in pain

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 6:05 am, March 18th, 2018 -  10 comments
    Categories: disability, drugs, greens, health, human rights, Social issues
    Tags: , , ,

    “The Health Select Committee is about to consider the government’s changes to medicinal cannabis law. This is your chance to tell politicians they have not gone far enough.” 

    The Greens have a handy online submission form that you can send as is or add your own thoughts. Submissions close on Wednesday.

  14. Inevitably the crazy old morons remain

    Written By:  lprent -  Date published: 9:10 am, March 14th, 2018 -  164 comments
    Categories: Donald Trump, humour, International, Satire, us politics, winston peters
    Tags: , , , ,

    In his usual dignified way, Donald Trump announced that he was sacking Rex Tillerson, the American Secretary of State in a tweet. And so the round of musical chairs that marks the White House’s descent into even more incompetence continues. Meanwhile the farce of the Russian election proceeds in their background of state operated terrorism in the UK. But there is some light

  15. TPPA rally at parliament today

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 6:10 am, March 8th, 2018 -  10 comments
    Categories: capitalism, democracy under attack, Economy, Free Trade, trade
    Tags: , ,

    Protestors will gather outside Parliament at midday on Thursday 8 March to hear from a range of speakers in opposition to the TPPA signing ceremony in Chile

  16. We need more ministers like Steven Joyce

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 11:45 am, March 7th, 2018 -  123 comments
    Categories: labour, national, phil twyford, Steven Joyce
    Tags:

    Rare praise for Steven Joyce from someone on the left.

  17. Our Reserve Bank

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 8:30 am, February 28th, 2018 -  97 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    There is a case for the Reserve Bank to be eradicated, or at least major changes made to its structure.

  18. Arctic monkey wrenching

    Written By:  weka -  Date published: 6:15 am, February 28th, 2018 -  121 comments
    Categories: climate change, disaster, Environment, science
    Tags: , ,

    “This is more than just a temperature anomaly. It is an off-the-scale event. Why is the Arctic meltdown not headline news in every paper?” – George Monbiot

    If someone said hey, your house is going to burn down, we don’t know if it’s in the next hour or next week, what would you do?

  19. Damien Grant thinks National is stuffed

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:00 am, February 26th, 2018 -  44 comments
    Categories: Amy Adams, Judith Collins, national, Politics, same old national, Simon Bridges
    Tags:

    Damien Grant thinks that National is a relic and should fracture into libertarian and conservative parties.

  20. Doofus of the week – David Seymour

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 1:00 pm, February 24th, 2018 -  21 comments
    Categories: act, david seymour, doofus of the week, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
    Tags:

    Hot on the heels on the news that he is going to spend valuable time dancing with the stars David Seymour has engaged in a good old fashioned piece of fat shaming. From Anna Bracewell-Worrall at Stuff: ACT party politician David Seymour has openly fat-shamed politicians, saying journalists should use a wide-angle lense to figure […]

  21. National’s meh leadership contest

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 4:27 pm, February 22nd, 2018 -  76 comments
    Categories: journalism, Media, national, newspapers, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags: , ,

    National’s leadership contest is one week old.  The latest is a central edict that all candidates have to be nice to each other and a claim that candidates are not offering senior positions to MPs in exchange for their support.

  22. Poll Watch: Colmar Brunton Poll 2018-2-19

    Written By:  Matthew Whitehead -  Date published: 8:30 am, February 20th, 2018 -  47 comments
    Categories: greens, labour, national, nz first, polls
    Tags: , , , , , , ,

    In this second edition of Pollwatch, we note the impact of Jacinda Ardern at the height of her powers, track the likelyhood of current government support partners of clearing our high Party Vote threshold, and note the small likelyhood that English’s eventual successor will have of sneaking into the Beehive even if we held a snap election right now.

  23. US kids fight back: you are either with us or against us

    Written By:  notices and features -  Date published: 12:57 pm, February 19th, 2018 -  44 comments
    Categories: International, us politics
    Tags: , , , , , , , ,

    Four days after surviving a shooting massacre at her school, student Emma Gonzalez gave this stunning speech at an anti-gun rally in Florida. Other students are organising the National School Walkout and March for Our Lives.

  24. Strong and decisive

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 8:54 am, February 18th, 2018 -  154 comments
    Categories: Amy Adams, Judith Collins, national, same old national, Simon Bridges, spin, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up
    Tags:

    Judith Collins has picked on the campaign term strong and decisive for behaviour better described as brutal and obdurate.

  25. Hey Stuart Nash Maui’s Dolphins are approaching extinction

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 2:16 pm, February 15th, 2018 -  74 comments
    Categories: Conservation, Environment, sustainability
    Tags: , ,

    Stuart Nash is considering cancelling the roll out of monitoring cameras on fishing boats. For the sake of Maui’s Dolphin I hope he changes his mind.

  26. National can win the next election

    Written By:  advantage -  Date published: 12:00 pm, February 5th, 2018 -  75 comments
    Categories: uncategorized
    Tags:

    There is a simple strategy for National to follow which may gain them victory in the next General Election.

  27. Ideological issues more than leadership are Nat’s problem

    Written By:  Simon Louisson -  Date published: 8:19 am, February 4th, 2018 -  108 comments
    Categories: election 2017, MMP, national, Politics, same old national
    Tags:

    Changing National’s leadership will not help the conservatives regain power if they fail to address questions of why they lost the 2017 election. National may be the biggest single party but it is unlikely to stay that. And they have no remaining parliamentary partners.You can’t form a MMP government from that…

  28. National’s drug conscience

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 7:06 am, January 31st, 2018 -  35 comments
    Categories: greens, labour, national, Nikki Kaye, nz first, Politics, same old national, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
    Tags: , ,

    Helen Kelly championed the liberalisation of drug law to allow those suffering from significant ill health to have access to cannabis for medicinal purposes. National is still struggling with the concept despite it having overwhelming public support.

  29. Plastic Fantastic

    Written By:  Bill -  Date published: 9:33 am, January 26th, 2018 -  55 comments
    Categories: capitalism, disaster, Economy, economy, Environment, International, the praiseworthy and the pitiful
    Tags: , ,

    Billions of disease laden pieces of plastic killing reefs. No effective solution offered.

  30. Shock horror right wing think tank thinks NZ not very democratic

    Written By:  mickysavage -  Date published: 10:04 am, January 18th, 2018 -  74 comments
    Categories: accountability, australian politics, blogs, David Farrar, Deep stuff, democracy under attack, democratic participation, dpf, Globalisation, International, Politics, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, us politics
    Tags:

    National’s cheerleaders are pushing an international report which suggests that New Zealand’s democratic system is only slightly better than average in world terms.  But the organisation behind the report and the methodology used need some checking.

  31. Nuclear Options.

    Written By:  Bill -  Date published: 12:13 pm, January 17th, 2018 -  54 comments
    Categories: identity, liberalism, quality of life, Social issues
    Tags: , ,

    What could possibly be wrong in opting for a nuclear option?!