Labour Loves Political Animal Blog

Should I be paranoid for speaking my mind?

Will my rubbish bin searched?

Am I going to get caught on secret tape from a Labour Party stooge connected to The Standard Blog, saying something controversial like Hello?

Is a toilet bowl cam on their list?

Are agents 2.01 and 006.5 on my tail?

Well I might be forgiven for being just a little paranoid. Since I started talking about Labour Party's Blog, The Standard yesterday, I had a visitor from the Labour Party almost straight away, checking out the interesting points that I had to make about their covert operation at the National Party Conference last weekend.

They have now been on the site for over 17 hrs:

Number of Entries: Entry Page Time: Visit Length: Browser OS Resolution

5 6th August 2008 18:25:10 17 hours 18 mins 33 secs MSIE 6.0 Windows XP 1024x768

Returning Visits: Location: Hostname: Entry Page: Exit Page: Referring URL:

0 Wellington New Zealand pspc18-241.parliament.govt.nz (202.22.18.241) [Label IP Address] darrenrickard.blogspot.com/2008/08/sub-standard-political-attack-backfires.html darrenrickard.blogspot.com/2008/08/who-is-deep-throat.html www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=2685

Apart from the fact that they are wasting my taxpayer money on surfing the internet, instead of working, it is curious as to the connection between the Labour person on Political Animal all day today and those Labour Party supporters who run the Labour Party Blog, The Standard.

Even looking at hermaphrodite porn all day would be more productive than trolling my weighty opinions looking for reasons to come knocking on my door.

My readers can join the dots, I'm sure Barry Sopher, who knows the exact names of the group connected to The Standard, who did the bugging, will hold on tight to his sources. He has standards and principles.

It is a shame those connected to Labourgate clearly don't.

Related Political Animal reading

Four tape leak suspects
Political Animal gets a visit from the Labour Party
Those behind Labour's Blogsite behind Labourgate affair
Sub-Standard Political attack backfires
Who is the deep throat?
Dirty, Filthy Politicians

c Political Animal 2008

Political Animal gets a visit from the Labour Party

How the staffers at the Labour Party Blog The Standard look in my imagination. They wont identify themselves, so this will have to do until they get the testicular fortitude to do so.


Although someone from Parliament or the Labour Party "rainbow youth" visits this site on the odd occasion , they were quick off the mark after the publishing of the connection between the Labour Party Blog, The Standard, and the bugging of the National Party Conference last weekend.

*Please note that the visitor from Parliament went through the Labour Party Blog to get to mine.

Number of Entries: Entry Page Time: Visit Length: Browser OS Resolution

2 6th August 2008 18:25:10 2 hours 4 mins 37 secs MSIE 6.0 Windows XP unknown

Returning Visits: Location: Hostname: Entry Page: Exit Page: Referring URL:

0 Wellington New Zealand pspc18-241.parliament.govt.nz (202.22.18.241) [Label IP Address] darrenrickard.blogspot.com/2008/08/sub-standard-political-attack-backfires.html darrenrickard.blogspot.com/2008/07/winston-peters-gets-donations-from-owen.html www.thestandard.org.nz/?p=2685

The connections between The Standard and Labour are clearly in evidence here. Tipped off by a stooge at the Blog, a Labour minion visited not long after.

They spent over 2 hours here too, clearly they loved it!

Related Political Animal reading

Those behind Labour's Blogsite behind Labourgate affair
Sub-Standard Political attack backfires
Who is the deep throat?
Dirty, Filthy Politicians

c Political Animal 2008

Those behind Labour's Blogsite behind Labourgate affair

Who are the people behind the taxpayer funded Labour Party Blog, The Standard who were behind the bugging of the National Party Conference in Christchurch over the weekend?

Do a whois and you find:

www.thestandard.org.nz is hosted on a server at 202.74.226.119
A WHOIS on that IP address gives us:

inetnum: 202.74.226.112 - 202.74.226.127netname:
LABOURPARTY1-2DAY-NZdescr:
New Zealand Labour Partycountry: NZ

From Kiwi Blog an incriminating email:

From: xxxxxxx xxxxxxxDate: 11 June 2008 12:24:42 PMTo: labourmembersofparliament@parliament.govt.nzCc: pm@ministers.govt.nz, mike.williams@labour.org.nz Subject: The Standard Blog

Dear all

I have a serious issue to raise with you all. It has come to my attention that two Ministerial staffers - Chris Elder and Andrew Kirton, both political employees - are blogging anonymously at the Labour-hosted, anti-John Key blog the Standard, www.thestandard.org.nz.

Given that a large number of these posts (most notably those by Chris Elder or all_your_base, a communications staffer on the ninth floor) occur during office hours, do you all believe it is appropriate that political employees are spending their time blogging anonymously? Is this approved behaviour?
Kind regards
xxxxxxx xxxxxx

This email is from a parliamentary staffer, reports KiwiBlog and also goes on to say that other posters and managers of thestandard.org.nz are either Labour party insiders, employees or union members.

The Standard claims:

We’re The Standard - a collective who saw a gap in the New Zealand political blogosphere and decided that we should have a go at filling it. We write here in our personal capacities and the opinions that are expressed on the blog are individual.

We come from a variety of backgrounds and our political views don’t always match up but it’d be fair to say that all of us share a commitment to the values and principles that underpin the broad labour movement and we hope that perspective will come through strongly as you read the blog.

They also claim that the "Labour Movement" funds them.

All bizarre claims when one considers their involvement over the bugging of the National Party conference, their connections to the Labour Party and the funding of the blog from the taxpayer.

I loath everything Labour stand for but don't support National.

My blog is free to host, I am an individual, I am funded by nobody, am a member of no political party and never have been, and unlike those at The Standard can speak freely.

They wouldn't post this blog of mine on their comments section because they don't like dissenting opinion from another point of view, unlike this site which clearly trumpets free speech.

Those connected with the bugging of the National party conference are being sneaky, slippery and don't have the balls to stand up and say who they are.

I can, they are those connected with The Standard and are knee deep in this Labourgate scandal.

You are free to comment Steve Pierson from The Standard. Be a man and admit your organistion's involvement.


Related Political Animal reading

Sub-Standard Political attack backfires
Who is the deep throat?
Dirty, Filthy Politicians

c Political Animal 2008