EMBARASSING QUESTIONS LOOM FOR HELEN CLARK ON IRAQ:
Investigate magazine will be releasing a major story in its latest issue, officially instore tomorrow although in the hands of many subscribers today. We will be posting a news release on this here later today, along with a statement from the state-owned enterprise concerned confirming the veracity of our story and that the Government was formally advised in advance of the enterprise entering into the contracts described in the magazine. That should leave Prime Minister Helen Clark facing some interesting questions in the next 48 hours, especially given last week's attack on National leader John Key for his stand on the Iraq war.
US WARNED BY TOP OFFICIAL: 'REMEMBER THE FALL OF ROME"
The US federal Comptroller-General has issued a bleak warning to the world, saying problems internationally and domestically bear a "striking" resemblance to the cocktail that led to the fall of Rome. It's a message that I of course am already articulating in Eve's Bite, but the US Comptroller General puts it pretty succinctly himself: "Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities” between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central government”.
STATISTICALLY IMPROBABLE:
Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen has appointed a former Labour Party apparatchik to head the Tertiary Education Commission. David Shand was a Labour city councillor in Wellington who stood for Wellington Central in the 1975 General Election under the Rowling banner, but lost. His Labour background is mysteriously absent from the Cullen news release announcing the appointment last night. Shand takes over from a social liberal change agent, former Labour Education Minister Russell Marshall (in the Lange administration). Isn't it odd (some might say statistically improbable) how many senior state positions end up going to party people instead of Joe or Josephine Bloggs who may have better credentials?
RATE MY UNIVERSITY COURSE:
Meanwhile, Shand could end up having his tertiary courses peer-reviewed and graded by a new website. Auckland University engineering major Bowen Pan has set up www.ratemycourses.co.nz , where students nationwide can praise or diss the courses they're taking, thus allowing other prospective students to get more informed feedback.
ISLAM AWARENESS WEEK:
The Labour Government is once again pushing its Alliance of Civilisations agenda, and seeing as we are now halfway through Islam Awareness Week what better way to celebrate than catch up with the activities of the Religion of Peace in America. Frontpage magazine documents a new form of jihad in the West, using lawyers to intimidate critics of radical Islam into silence, and it also carries the story of just such a case, where an alleged 'civil liberties' group is trying to sue a whistleblowing academic, Robert Spencer, to prevent him highlighting the excesses of radicals.
THE SECRET POLICEMEN'S OTHER BALLS-UPS:
For those who missed them the first time around, our June lead story about Dunedin police corruption has just been uploaded in full to InvestigateMagazine.TV. And if you remember the controversy, where Police Minister Annette King used National Radio and TV3 to attack the credibility of one of our sources, you'll also appreciate our July lead story, which skewered King, Broad and a bunch of others dead to rights and has now resulted in a Police Complaints Authority investigation. The second story is a humdinger, because all the evidence was carefully documented and not one mainstream media outlet (save the SST) picked it up. This, after they had all been baying for "more evidence" from Investigate.
DVD GIVEAWAY COMPETITION:
TBR.cc has a copy of Paul Henry's new DVD of his documentary series, "Ends Of The Earth", to give away courtesy of Roadshow New Zealand. To enter for the prize draw this week, simply visit the Roadshow website and then email us here with the name of one other DVD on that site that you'd also like to see. The team at Roadshow are waiting with interest to see what kind of obscure interests TBR readers have. All correct entries will go in the draw to win this free copy of Paul Henry's highly entertaining DVD, and we'll make the draw after 7pm on Sunday with the winner announced Monday. You can also read our very politically incorrect interview with Henry in the latest Investigate, out tomorrow.
1. So Labour was involved in some war profiteering? After the super fund investment, I'm not surprised.
2. Are Paul Henry's DVDs cheaper to buy than solvents for sniffing? Because I really want my brain to dribble out my ears as inexpensively as possible.
Posted by: Ryan Sproull | August 15, 2007 at 11:05 AM