Quite. It's an entirely different situation.

Mike Williams said on Radio NZ's "Focus on Politics" the week before last that he'd done similar with at least two of the current Labour caucus. It's not unseemly when it's politicians, because good political leaders should always be on the…

Helen Clark liar nz
About 375,000 results (0.14 seconds)

Bearing in mind the vociferous hatred the right had for "9 Long Years" and beyond and the fact that she has been an MP since 1981 whereas John Key has been playing…

For his convenience, this still does not support the rationale for breaking then changing the law to suit; it really is just a bullshit excuse. Key, it seems to me, sees everything in his realm, the conduct…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUtwR4XM9ao

Yeah, but things don't need to leave the lab in order to be known and dangerous.

One would hope that the testing procedures for putative pesticides would have moved on since 1950s Britain. There's a very substantial approval process (including animal testing – shock horror) to go through before the EPA would let anything out of the lab.

Except that synthesised chemicals that are toxic to insects tend to be unavoidably toxic to humans. Scientists didn't particularly go looking for the likes of V-series nerve agents, they found…

But I don't believe these are the terrorists they're looking for.

ETA: a point made already by Matthew.

I'd expect that if they came across an unknown toxic chemical suitable for weapons use, it would be quite likely to have already been discovered secretly (probably in Russia or…

No. In this context dual-use is stuff like chemical-engineering process control systems, and high-grade metal alloys that can be used in processes that require non-reactive vessels and piping.

When you consider that pretty much every significant chemical weapon currently ‘in use’ is a…

;- )

Or cellphones.

And in general, a commercial grade crystal (such as you can order from RS, Element14, Digikey and the like) could be used in a missile or other aerospace application without problem. Much of the difference with military grade parts isn't the design, it's the paperwork…

During 2011/12, the NZSIS contributed to an assessment on the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction threat to New Zealand which was agreed and issued formally by the
National Assessments Committee. Key judgements included:
• while WMD are highly unlikely to be directly used…

and for the benefit of foreign citizens, not us. Hmm, didn't he say that would be verboten?

That's a point. Rakon make RF receiver crystals that can be used in missiles.

I think he is one of those guys.

I am depressed to think they may be talking about the Bruce Simpson DIY Cruise Missile, that could be stopped by pretty much any basic countermeasures.

I hope what they would be talking about is attempts to use a NZ subsidiary of a global defense…

What kind of WMDs exactly? The Paul Holmes CD album?

That's how it's pronounced.

Try this one

Indeedy.
Our* leaders*are not so much squirming as engaging in desperate distortion & distraction tactics...

Soon, soon, may this selfish lot be shot over the moon – of sanity & a…

Obviously we need a Top Secret Agency With Special Powers to protect us against petty vandalism to websites and the like. Stupid of me to think that we'd actually be better off…

This is…

I suspect somewhere in there is an answer along the lines of…

They are. Over the last week there have been several stories in the Dutch news media about Chinese people buying up large amounts of formula from supermarket shelves over there and…

I doubt that will happen. I've worked for a supermarket firm, and while NZ supermarkets ostensibly don't supply non-retail customers, in practice supermarket owners (as in New World/Pak…

"They can go off to the police. It's another political stunt," Mr Key told media in China, where he is leading a business delegation.

"They probably get an issue a week from the Greens. We might just have…

And you wonder why there are strict rules on advertising formula here.

We do have a major major moral dilemma…

All of the above. The dairy companies are really aggressive in marketing their product – and corrupt, paying off hospital stafff to get names and numbers of expectant…

I'd assume the factories can make as much as they can sell. I suspect the only reason to restrict supply is that Fonterra don't want to undermine their Chinese partners, the sale of bulk milk powder…

"If you were a Chinese tourist and you went into a New Zealand…

It isn't an act of war, despite…

Doing away with any external intelligence function speaks to a firm belief in a very, very benign threat environment. It completely excludes, for example, the belief that corporate espionage is in any way a risk to NZ.
As another example, we'd be utterly…

This would have numerous advantages:

– there would be a clear demarcation between action against criminality and military threats. (The Defence Act requires that assistance by the Defence Force is authorized…

You don't agree that it's been regular? Or that it's been necessary. Kitteridge's report suggests this "service" has been available to and used by other agencies for considerably longer than the 2003 Act has existed.…

Yes – but "they" don't feel they can't get along without "it".

The situation, as it has evolved, is that the Prime Minister can, for the purpose of retaining office or other ill, use the spy services to keep tabs on people,…

http://www.3news.co.nz/Whole-system-is-corrupt---Norman/tabid/370/articleID/293674/Default.aspx?ref=vid_2012-11-22

The assistance to to ehr agencies is a smokescreen -…

Looking at Hansard to determine the limits of a law restraining the Crown is, uh, close to being constitutionally bankrupt.

I don't have a well-informed opinion yet. Imagine the complexity will be conveyed as this unfolds.

Indeed. It seems that the interpretation is somewhat misused when it suits them.

I read it differently to you and it seems plain enough that they are to (provide) advice, assistance, and protection to departments of State and other instruments of the Executive…

I don't think Bletchley Park had much involvement in actual government communications (provided in those days by…

Why not? That is just stupid, what the hell are they for then?.
"Government Communications Security Bureau, We are here to do nothing of the sort"

It is responsible for advising…

That's because there isn't one. It's a joke, and anyone who's paid attention knows it. I mean if they create one, because I know that right now it's the Intelligence Minister who chairs the Intelligence Select Committee, and the…

This Hansard stuff is extremely dangerous. Who allowed this to happen? Surely, if people want to know what is spoken in Parliament they should turn up and watch.

We can’t have this stuff dug out…

Seriously – Read Sacha's Link which takes you to the No Right Turn.

That people are even considering as a solution Key and his like being able to spy on NZers at a whim is troubling – and that the solution is reported in…

That is the other option. I’m sure Keith Locke would be completely supportive of that course of action. But in the absence of a decision in that vein (which would, I suspect, have us skating mighty close to…

(Also, there's a perfectly good reason we don't let the GCSB spy on us even if it would be more efficient, and it's because they are the external spies: no monolith, as a le Carre character would say.)

s – 14 – Interceptions not to target domestic communications
Neither the Director, nor an employee of the Bureau, nor a person acting on behalf of the Bureau may authorise or take any action for the purpose of intercepting the communications of a…

As I observed above, if we don't make it…

Why aren't…

Neither the Director, nor an employee of the Bureau, nor a person acting on behalf of the Bureau may authorise or take any action for the purpose of intercepting the communications of a person (not being a foreign organisation or…

In hindsight, yes, though Kitteridge is still equivocal in her conclusion. She hasn't announced that the law is crystal clear. The situation is far from certain.

The excuses paraded in all manner of places are coming out as labour and national are likely equally bent.

Perhaps Key should be seeking Keith Locke's input.

Shearer's views on this that an inquiry is needed before any reform is something I support.

The…

From the report it does seem that Wolfensohn…

The hurdle in the track of your certainty is that it appears from the report that the institutional understanding within GCSB was that if they were assisting NZSIS…

You think he knew who Thatcher was? She was PM in another country when he was at uni. Like 'The Tour', I figure he probably can't recall who she was or what she did.

My bad was editing down a longer post re "Fletcher's denial".

Operating outside the law was standard operating procedure – my view is that Key, Fletcher & even Ferguson would be in the know.

The Kim Dot Com saga has been precipitous.

To rebuild…

Your appalling abuse of innocent apostrophes aside, there’s no suggestion that Fletcher presided over any other illegal activity. Given…

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876344

Although Key can't remember anything – should…

Compared to Russia, Canada, America, China, Brazil and the like, yes. Compared to many, many of the world's countries, no.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area

I know I'm being pedantic, but NZ is bigger than the UK. It's not a small country, there's just not many people.

And totally agree…

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10876297

Goes some way to explaining the brain fade – perpetual short-term memory loss – a dope head in a suit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIVPwLn_KsY

Quite. The whole "Key…

I suspect China, although it has plenty of spare young men, will be working to preserve peace and stability. Too much invested in globalised trade, too many memories…

Elvis Costello has also said that "Oliver's Army" has a similar premise, but…

concise summary

Not me! I specifically mentioned it in the original post. As I said, Clark did herself no credit…

See, that's the great advantage of megatonne weapons on a 1km grid. No survivors, the place uninhabitable for many years and hence no need or possibility for reconstruction.

An apology a few years down the track, and you're home and hosed.

That's kinda what I thought it would…

Remember "corn gate" or this when describing her interviewer
"a sanctimonious little creep" who forgot she would only…

On the "Oh Grow up" side of things – goings on in the house yesterday were telling:

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/audio/1303/parliament_today_270313.mp3

Bleah – John Key – infantile – David Carter – dense.

The management of the economy and the country as a "whole"(or should that be "hole it is about…

But what can’t be denied is that this whole affair indicates further that when he is questioned about his actions, the first instinct of Prime Minister John Key is to dissemble, divert and develop amnesia. This isn’t good enough.

It really is not. Key has made a…

Both. I agree it seems Key has had his talking to already.

Are you talking about Kim Jong-un or John Key, I can't tell. But based on the way John Key moved away from his initial comments after meeting Xi Jinping I assumed the…

Not a new issue either...

__"Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were…

But that's a job for poor (usually brown) people. The Parnell latte set don't have offspring in the military. It's just not the done thing.

Unlikely. There is no reason for the US to use Nukes. Far better for them to obliterate all manufacturing and military capacity using high precision conventional weapons. This demonstrates the superiority of the US weapons manufacturers thus guaranteeing significant upturn in sales.

The consequence of…

Could that “story” have been beaten up any further? My opinion of Key is hardly any secret, but I just cannot read his reported words and muster outrage. It’s not even really speaking out of turn, given that the US…

The impression I get is that North…

And I very much doubt things will play out as you say – you think China, South Korea and Japan want all that fallout floating around?* Little Kim might be crazy, but…

By the time the Army have painted the LAVs the right colour, found the key to the ammo store and fixed the boat's engine, NK will have fired off one nuke against Seoul and been consequently reduced to a radioactive desert.

Sorry – needed to get that off my chest.…

For me this is the issue. I don't expect the person behind the counter and the local council office to be 100% correct, it simply is OK for them to make mistakes, especially if when we work out a mistake has been made they apologise (see Emma's rules…

A wonderful comment on Your Views yesterday summed it up pretty well. Supposedly from Key’s trader days, it was said of him "Great radar, poor compass."

I think this is exactly John Key’s problem. He sees himself as CEO of…

Indeed. And even though they're not the entirety of the Opposition,…

Or the British Virgin Isles. Nicky Hager helped in this very exposé.

my what a durable line that one's proving to be.

Because in the absence of a smoking gun that Key lied and knew it, they don't want to open that can of worms for future sessions. Members of the present Opposition will be ministers in a future government, and they want…

Now that I’ve laid it all out like that I don’t really know what to make of it. This reminds me (a) of that season of Lost – I think it’s Season 4 – in which all…

Is it what. Hungary is no longer a democracy, declares the New Statesman, and it's hard to argue with the conclusion based on the evidence.

I never thought I would hear myself say: "Bring back Lockwood......"

A real life Mrs Scum what don't like darkies.

The "power" of the Majority Makers: Danish Peoples Party

Jesus. With a couple of exceptions....where have I heard this before? Oh yes...Act 1 & First scene. The…

The headline is particularly apt, drawing attention to the point as for Clinton that the lie in attempted…

Love it Islander +1

I was confused when I saw your comment last night, Islander, but this morning I think I see what you were referring to. I think it's clear from her comments on the hongi and waiata that, among many other things, she really needs to grow up.…

Is John Key so sure of himself and his popularity that he goes out of his way to make life difficult, just to spice things up?

His previous life as an international trader was all high stakes and adrenaline surges during the…

John Key: "I'll…

And 'knucklehead' is basically just 'nitpicker' for the smartphone age.

knew I'd seen a rollcall somewhere

Tracy Watkins doesn't mince words about this (and I've bolded the most significant word out of Key's mouth):

When he was asked if he had had any contact with Mr Fletcher since his school days Mr Key said he could not…

In the Knucklehead tape, (to coin a phrase), Key is at pains to explain that he only had 16 seconds, and that he can't be expected to remember all of the damn things, and that he gets up very early…