Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Setting a narrative: ‘aggressive’ ‘hostile’ ‘antagonistic’ ‘tabloid’ media
Fairly carefully thought-out impromptu comments? … Lost that loving feeling? John Key interviewed by Leighton Smith on his perceptions of change in attitude by ‘the media’. Immediately reported as: and this:
Oops. ‘Secret’ document published, then declassified.
From Secrecy News… Great title for a secret report: Maybe You Had to Be There: The SIGINT on Thirteen Soviet Shootdowns of U.S. Reconnaissance Aircraft. Who knew cryptologists had such a sense of humor? NSA Declassifies Secret Document After Publishing It May 14th, 2012 by Steven Aftergood The National Security Agency last week invoked a […]
Simon Lusk in the headlines again!
Well, well. Just a few weeks after my mild curiosity-fueled questions about Simon Lusk (see ‘So, who is Simon Lusk?‘) he’s in the news. Again. TV3 News reports in ‘Secret minutes reveal split in National’s ranks‘: Leaked minutes of a National Party board meeting in March show major concerns over a party member who is […]
‘That politician got amnesia again’
I finally got around to listening to this, following the NZ Herald carrying it yesterday. It’s catchy! Listen here [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (or 3.5MB mp3 file for non-flash browsers). – P
Teapot tape saga sputters out with withdrawal of ‘costs’ action against cameraman
For the record: Teapot costs bid dropped By Cherie Howie Herald on Sunday May 6, 2012 The Attorney-General has ditched plans to demand nearly $14,000 in court costs from freelance photographer Bradley Ambrose over the long-running “teapot tape” saga. Ambrose was embroiled in controversy and faced criminal investigation after he taped a conversation between Prime […]
John assures John he’s complied with electoral law
Yesterday, Labour leader David Shearer called for Prime Minister John Key to stand Banks down from his ministerial portfolios. A spokeswoman for the prime minister said Banks had assured him he had complied with local body electoral law.— NZ Herald 29 April 2012 Like this?: “The Long Adios,” a Walmart detective story “Are you lying, […]
‘No compromise’ extremism damages a political system
I mentioned Tea Party pin up boy Rep. Allen West’s Joe McCarthy-esque very specific but fact-free assertion that “78 to 81” Democrats in Congress are “members of the Communist Party” recently as an example of political actors telling bare-faced lies with such regularity that it’s almost become unremarkable now (see An obituary for Facts). The […]
Young ACTOIDS are revolting.
(‘Civil war’ or simple Generation Gap?) (1) Is ACT entering a Winter of Discontent? (2) Does anyone care? (Zero percent, remember.) Joan of Arc oops, Cactus Kate seems to think so … apparently exasperated that John Banks isn’t adhering to the ‘principles’ of the ACT Party. (Well, we sort of agree about that, then. But […]
ACT: ‘Zero backing. Zilch, nil, nothing at all.’
John Armstrong attended the ACT Party conference over the weekend, with “80 or so party members present” … introducing his wrap up piece in the NZ Herald this morning like this: Act kicked off its annual conference on Saturday having just been kicked in the teeth. Delegates woke up to the news that the previous […]
Ouch
Negative attack is one way to diminish your rivals, but it’s not building a vision … “You have to campaign to govern, not just to win,” [Gov. Mitch] Daniels told Matthew Tully of The Indianapolis Star. “Spend the precious time and dollars explaining what’s at stake and a constructive program to make life better. And […]
Romney faces a ‘Vast Left Wing Conspiracy’. OMG!
Highlights from Kevin Liptak’s CNN post: Romney cites ‘vast left wing conspiracy’ Romney was making an appearance on Breitbart TV [Comment: surprise!] and was asked by host Larry O’Connor whether he was ready to take on “the media and these nonprofits groups that are working together.” “There will be an effort by the quote vast […]
Of bloggers, dogs and fleas. The Ports of Auckland’s ‘ethical and legal breaches’
Now that the Ports of Auckland has admitted it, I haven’t got much to add to my earlier ‘Lie down with dogs get up with fleas’ comment in ‘Garner: “@whaleoil lies again.” Surprise me‘ about the Ports company leaking their personnel records to a sympathetic (at best case) blogger. Today’s Yesterday’s NZ Herald editorial: Port’s […]
Always try to be the one to write the contract
Those in the news media undertaking scrutiny of the New Zealand coalition government’s unpopular* state-owned asset sales/partial privatisation (your choice) programme will, naturally, look for ‘fish hooks and broken glass’ and clauses like this … and write headlines like Vernon Small’s Loophole allows sale of over 49pc A democracy depends on it. *I say ‘unpopular’ […]
Danger of dogma
Following our protracted discussion on conservatism and liberalism (for want of better labels)— and differing levels of willingness by adherents to validate the values of ‘The Other’ … by coincidence, here’s William F Buckley on what Andrew Sullivan calls ‘the Danger of Political Dogma’. From a brilliant article What William F. Buckley Would Think of […]
