Busted!
There is a blog called The Standard who state that they are all independent bloggers and value their anonymity. They also attack John Key quite a bit. One of the bloggers, "Steve Pierson", is Clinton Smith, whom I’ve met. Until now the others have remained anonymous but are believed to have been working in on the 9th Floor and at the EPMU. Helen Clark has denied knowledge of The Standard even though ministerial staff actually write it.
Today others were named as Chris Elder, communications staffer ninth floor, Andrew Kirton, communications staffer for Winnie Laban, and Antony Rhodes, who works in Judith Tizard’s office. The others are Neale Jones and Rob Egan, both communications advisors for the EPMU.
Another blog No8wire is run by Rob Salmond . He used to work in the PMs office and is now working at the University of Michigan. He has just written an article called Enforcing Ethical Standards in Election Campaigns for the Michigan Journal of Political Science , yet he supports the Electoral Finance Act. According to WhaleOil, he posts under the name of rOb at The Standard, yet on The Standard he has denied setting up the 08wire blog.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with 08wire and I have no idea who they are)WhaleOil says
ROb = Rob Salmond = former DPMC staffer and credited by his own mouth as the founder of The Standard. He was previously an MFAT officer, posted to the UN in New York, then worked in the PM’s office and is now an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan
So, rOb says he is no way associated with 08wire; but Rob Salmond is. Someone is either fibbing or making untrue allegations…
David Farrar says
Rob Salmond has posted a comment admitting he worked last year for the PMs Office and is behind 08wire and that he does not produce all the material himself but receives it from others….what is not denied is that material for all three anonymous sites is produced by parliamentary staffers.Why should taxpayers fund people to write blogs in work time – including writing posts for overseas blogs. First Labour gets a photo of a family from Washington for their glossy brochures, now they are getting a person in Michigan to campaign via the blogosphere.
I posted a short comment on The Standard regarding the above. They banned my comment - but didn't deny it was true - and replaced it with this
Dave... As someone who purports to be a journalist I'd have thought you would know better than to take Farrar/Whale's 'research' at face value.I don`t "purport" to be a journalist. And I have done my own checks on this and have had no denials. Sure I have been a journalist in the past, but I am not currently working as one. And when someone sends you an email its not "research", research is information gathering, not checking of e-mails.
UPDATEThe Standard has responded in comments confirming this post is factual.
Labels: EPMU, helen clark, Labour, The Standard
8 Comments:
The Standard is an informative, thoughtful blog.
I've read the bits and pieces that deal with who may be whom, but never worried about it too much. They mostly play the ball and not the man, unlike WhaleOil and similarly demented blogs.
They have said they aren't Labour party members....and they may well not be. One or two have said they post during their lunch or similar....and I'm not fussed.
Some blogs are up front about who they are. Mine is. Others aren't.
As far as blogs go, I let their words define them....and the Standard doesn't have much, if anything, to be ashamed of.
r0b is not Rob Salmond. I've run across r0b a few times and talked to him via e-mail. Rob Salmond I'd never heard of or talked to before this little display of Whales inadequacies.
This is just Whale being his usual dickhead self and bouncing names around for the hell of it. He is technically incompetent and pretty useless as an investigator.
As for Rob Salmond, perhaps someone writing on enforcing ethical standards in election campaigns has a reason to support the EFA. The Nat's certainly don't appear to believe in it after looking at their record in the 2005 campaign.
You also conveniently forgot to mention that Rod Salmond (as he said at kiwiblog) only worked for the PMs office for a few months in 2007. http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2008/07/why_is_labour_so_hypocritical_on_transparency.html#comment-461706
He was involved with the keepleftnz site in 2005. It kind of makes a mockery of Whales arsertions that it is run from the 9th floor.
As a really minor point, but going to the credibility of your accuracy. I've blogged at The Standard - which means that your statement:
"One of the bloggers, 'Steve Pierson', is Clinton Smith, whom I’ve met. Until now the others have remained anonymous..."
is also inaccurate.
"Someone is either fibbing or making untrue allegations…"
Yep - Whale is both fibbing and making untrue allegations. Start from that base and work outwards.
"They banned my comment - but didn't deny it was true"
We don't allow speculation about our posters on the site that is true. We do not say who our posters are. If they want to stay anonymous then that is how they will stay. The reasons are listed in our About.
There is more crap in your post but I'm tired of this dinky editor...
Lynn
Hi Lyn, thanks for clarifyng ROb is not Rob Salmond. I never said he was, although other did. So know I know that its an untrue allegation, which I suspected.
I was not linking Rob Salmond to The Standard even if others were and it is wrong to assume that I was - if you in fact do.
Also, you're not a blogger, you are a tech who happens to write comments. Bloggers blog, regularly. Perhaps you have made one or two posts, I don't know.
They banned my comment - but didn't deny it was true"
We don't allow speculation about our posters on the site that is true.
Thanks for the confirmation that my blog post is factual. Next time you discuss " credibility of accuracy" you`d be better to point out where in my blog I was inaccurate. Then you're own comment will have more credibility.
Thanks for the confirmation that my blog post is factual.
I suspect there was meant to be a comma in Lyn's statement, i.e. it was probably meant to read, "We don't allow speculation about our posters on the site, that is true."
To read it as meaning they delete accurate speculation, is rathe obtuse, as it would then be prefectly easy to work out which theories were accurate, and which weren't, by monitoring which one were deleted. The construction, if intended as posted, is also very clumsy, which strengthens the liklihood of your interpretation being inaccurate.
She also missed out an apostrophe in her comment: "the PMs office" should have read "the PM's office " What is the world coming to?
So I think you are reading a bit too much into her comment. Still, go ahead
What's the fuss about?
This is classic disinformation.
or
Push pull in a media stream.
What else do you expect from our fuhrer?
She's down and out and packed for the UN Human Rights/Global warming committee's.
Just keep exposing them to the light.
Hell at least they didn't get burned like the painting!
MikeNZ
Lurgee, Lynn has two n's - and she is a male. And don't worry about the apostrophes - even you had missed some in your attempt to proof Lynn's comment.
The army should be concerned with this serious threat. Recently an associated press newspaper reported on July 19 and 20th 2007 that a Korean spy Mr. Park was caught in a new jersey restaurant and was charged on July 20, 2007 with lying to the FBI and spying in Federal District Court in NYC. The restaurant may have been the same NJ restaurant which is owed by Robert Egan, but even if it is not the same restaurant there is still a grave security issue that needs to be addressed. Robert Egan a confirmed n Korean representative and self professed advocate with ties to n Korea per Newsweek magazine article by m. Hirsh 0ctber 2006 called we are a nuclear power. Robert Egan is associated with a Fort Dix New Jersey National Guard Jag officer LTC Mark Winkler. Mark Winkler has a law practice in Franklin lakes NJ and is a personal friend and attorney for Robert Egan. LTC Mark Winkler was probed by the FBI and Military Intel on Fort DIx for potential espionage issues with N. Korea and for failing to report on his past security clearance applications contact with a representative of a foregn government. This was also confirmed by the 1079th GSU Commander who had a meeting with the FBI, MI Officer Omar Bolotok in 2007 but fort dix officials prefer to ignore the threat to avoid media attention and embarrassment. LTC Winkler was most likely never held accountable for the last 12 years he placed the NJ army national guard and fort dix and united states at risk with failing to disclose this information and the JAG corp on fort dix are supporting LTC Winker out of fear that his exposure will mean they failed to report this incident and risk timely. Please contact the appropriate authorities to make sure the potential threat is investigated and not covered up. Thousands of soldiers lives are at risk behind this incident and LTC Winkler had access to troop movements, locations of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, IED risks, and military protective instructions as well as locations of our Nuclear power plants in the US and transportation safety issues. Your help is needed, please write to your congressman and report this on to your commander if you are in the military. click on this link to hear Robert Egan’s Radio Interview http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6665732
I humbly ask you to please delete the comment posted by anonymous on September 1, 2008 11:25 AM It may create a risk to US Military personnel named and identified in the posting.
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