0 "Mana" Cartoon of the Day - 31 May 2014

We spotted this pictorial commentary of political events this week, and it was too good not to publish:

Hone may have his manna, but we know his price now. He is a political prostitute. And although we despise Sue Bradford's politics, she has walked away from Mana with mana. For that she should be commended.

0 Dom-Post on the doomed MegaMana marriage

The Dominion-Post editorial this morning predictably touches on the "marriage of convenience" between Kim Dotcom and Hone Harawira and their parties. And it's not a positive editorial; under the headline Marriage unlikely to last the editorial begins:

So the Maori radical and the German squillionaire have spawned their odd little party. No surprise there. The deal suits both partners. The Internet Party now has a chance of getting into Parliament whereas before it had none. And Mana wins a chance of finding more supporters among the geeks and the worshippers of Kim Dotcom.
Radicals like Mana's John Minto reject Sue Bradford's charge that they have sold out to the wealthy German. Bradford, staunch and true to her ideals as usual, has predictably stormed out. But, in a sense, Minto is right. He has not abandoned his support for progressive taxes and soaking the rich. He has not had to swallow a dead rat.
The real objection to this political marriage is that it is unlikely to last or breed many successes. The two sides will be able to agree on a few things. They will want to spread more of the benefits of the internet to the poor. They will want to hobble the GCSB and put it under much tougher scrutiny. They will band together in an attempt to defeat John Key and his party.
But even these agreed goals will be very hard to reach. Perhaps the pair will score minor victories over internet speeds and cellphone fees. They will get nowhere with the GCSB unless they can persuade Labour to join them, which is doubtful. The GCSB needs much tougher accountability but Labour has traditionally been weak on this. It is a status quo party when it comes to intelligence. And National is still riding high.
The marriage of convenience is likely to become hollow even if a couple of MPs make it into the House. On the hard issues of economics – tax rates on the wealthy, for instance – it is difficult to believe Mana and the Internet Party will agree. They will have to have a big "agree to disagree" policy clause. So they will make little difference. 

The Dom-Post's leader writer is dead right. Issues like the GCSB and internet speeds/access are not the issues that change governments. On economic issues, how can a party with a billionaire who flaunts his wealth possibly combine credibly with a party that purports to resent rich people like Kim Dotcom?

The editorial continues, with a condemnation of the rules that make this ill-fated union possible:

The merger of the two shows up, once again, a bad flaw in the MMP system. The system gives far too much power to single constituency-seat parties, because they can avoid the 5 per cent parliamentary threshold. This has allowed self-serving deals that have given non-entity parties such as ACT and UnitedFuture too much power in coalition governments.
And nobody knows why this silly provision ever became part of MMP. The members of the royal commission that recommended the system now say the "Epsom clause" was a mistake.
The only question now is: will this political oddity, bred on the wrong side of the bed, have any appeal to the voters? Its best hope is to win about 2 per cent of the party vote – double what Mana got last time – and bring the still-unnamed leader of the Internet Party in on the list. If Annette Sykes won Waiariki, that would be a big dollop of cream on the cake. 
Maybe the geeks and the radical Maori and Pakeha can persuade enough voters to back their odd little band. It's also perfectly possible that Harawira will lose his seat to Labour and Sykes will fail in Waiariki. That would sink the Internet Party, which will certainly not pass the 5 per cent barrier by itself. The whole strange experiment could easily collapse.  

We'll certainly be cheering for Kelvin Davis to win the seat of Te Tai Tokerau, and for Te Ururoa Flavell to retain Waiariki, because we strongly doubt MegaMana's ability to get to 5% of the vote. Wouldn't it be funny if Harawira was unseated, and all Dotcom's money went down the river?

0 Harawira and Dotcom to marry

Gimme a hug Big Fella!

Stand by for an engagement announcement at 11am this morning; Audrey Young from the Herald reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira is this morning expected to announce a formal deal with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party to jointly contest the September election.
The marriage of convenience is designed to maximise the chances of both parties gaining MPs in the next Parliament.
It is likely to involve the creation of an umbrella alliance - with both the "Mana" and "Internet" names in the title.
It will be registered with the Electoral Commission, enabling both parties to present a single combined list in the same way the Alliance did in the 1990s with various component parties, including the Greens, NewLabour and Mana Motuhake.
Mr Harawira is the sole Mana MP and holding on to his seat is critical.
If he retains his Te Tai Tokerau seat on September 20, the new alliance will be able to claim its percentage of the party vote even if it falls under 5 per cent.

If the Internet Party were not tied to an electorate seat, it would have to get 5 per cent of the party vote on its own before getting seats in Parliament.
For its part, the Mana Party will almost certainly get a lot more profile than it otherwise would during the campaign.
The Internet Party is likely to stump up with a bigger war chest than Mana could though the extent of joint campaigning has yet to be announced.
The Electoral Commission donation declarations yesterday revealed that Mr Dotcom, an internet mogul, gave the Internet Party $250,000 on May 14.

Audrey Young is dead right to call this a "marriage of convenience". It is a cynical manipulation of electoral laws designed to give a voice to a party which at this point has no leader, no candidates, and the only noticeable policy being preventing Kim Dotcom from being extradited to the USA.

The next round of donations declarations will be interesting.  A donation of $250,000 from Kim Dotcom to the Internet Party was declared yesterday, but no donations seem to have been declared to date by Harawira's party. That is something to be followed with interest in coming months, because we're sure that there will be a dowry paid in this "marriage of convenience"

During his speech in the Budget Debate, Hone Harawira said this:

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. 

It's really ironic that Harawira seems to have decided that if you can't beat the 1%, you join them. What say you this morning Sue Bradford?

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

MORE INCOME INEQUALITY between the rich and the poor, with National’s policies creating an environment where the richest 1% of NZers own 16% of the country’s wealth while 50% of NZers own less than 5%, and where the income of the top 1% has risen nearly 10 times faster than that of the bottom 10%. - See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/05/16/hone-harawiras-budget-speech-last-night/#sthash.Ystne9bn.dpuf

0 Tweet of the Day - 26 May 2014

Duncan Garner raises an interesting hypothetical question:

In our ever-humble opinion, not; it's not OK. By and large, MP's and Ministers work hard, and we wouldn't have their job for any money. Their homes are the one place where they should be able to go and spend time with their families, leaving the world of politics for a few hours. We oppose the notion of protests at ANY MPs' homes.

FOOTNOTE: We've just been alerted to another tweet by Duncan Garner, and you won't believe this one:

Oh dear; the Mana Party doesn't like Chinese immigrants, but it's happy for the Chinese to manufacture its promotional material; such irony...

0 Is Shane Jones the new Winston?

We've often said, semi-seriously, that Shane Jones would be a natural to replace Winston Peters as the leader of Winston First. But could that be closer to the mark than we think? Check out this morning's Herald:

Even before he gave his farewell speech in Parliament last week, renegade former Labour MP Shane Jones was already in a conversation about his return to politics with Mana's Hone Harawira, who in turn indicated he is considering leaving.
Ahead of his valedictory speech in Parliament on Thursday, Mr Jones was given a lapel microphone to wear by TVNZ's Marae programme. Yesterday Marae reported fragments of a conversation before the speech between Mr Jones and Mr Harawira who was unaware of the live microphone.
"If you come back in 2017 with Winston, I'll f****** hang round mate. Otherwise I'm out of here", Mr Harawira said.
Mr Jones who was rumoured to be considering throwing in his lot with Mr Peters' NZ First yesterday denied he was contemplating a return in 2017.
"My whole focus is te Moana Nui a Kiwa (the Pacific)."
Mr Jones left Parliament to take up a newly created role as a roving economic ambassador across the Pacific.

He said he had no idea what lay behind Mr Harawira's comment.
"You've got to go and ask Hone that."
Mr Harawira did not respond to requests for comment.

This is a fascinating insight into the mind of Hone Harawira. While all this is going on, the negotiations between his party and the Dotcom Internet Party, still without a leader or any candidates, continue; read on:

Mr Harawira's suggestion to Mr Jones he also considering leaving Parliament comes as his party closes in on a deal with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
Mana Party secretary Gerard Hehir yesterday confirmed the party had finalised a draft agreement with the Internet Party over the weekend.
That agreement now required final approval from within each party which was expected this week.

We're yet to be convinced that the Internet Party has any future. Kim Dotcom's extradition hearing is set to begin on 7 July, and Dotcom himself suffered a major setback when the courts ruled against him on Friday. 

Shane Jones is probably the only person who could revive Winston First though, once Father Time takes care of Peters once and for all. The survival of the party in September becomes all the more critical, but the polls last night suggest that's by no means a given.

We're in for a few interesting months.

0 So Dotcom is a racist too

We've just been alerted to this Stuff "entertainment" story about our old friend, the Large German Gentleman:

Kim Dotcom took part in "racist day" and referred to his American crew as "my little n......" - giving them gollywogs while recording his album Good Times.
The Mana Party has said that Dotcom may help it win the Maori seat of Waiariki at the next election. However, the Internet Party founder failed to show on Saturday at a media opportunity in Rotorua where Annette Sykes was confirmed as Mana's Waiariki candidate.
Christchurch musician Aaron Tokona, who played guitar on Dotcom's album, said German-born Kim Schmitz, also known as Kim Tim Jim Vestor or Kimble, took part in "racist day" during the recording of his album last year at Auckland's Roundhead Studios.
"On racist day you were allowed to speak freely, make racist jokes and it was OK apparently," Tokona said yesterday.
"He could be called an evil Nazi and given the Hitler salute and he would call people ‘his little n......'."
Dotcom also had two gollywog dolls made for the American producers, including the musical director of the Black Eyed Peas, Printz Board, who worked on the album, Tokona said.
"He decided to play a prank so had two gollywog dolls made in their likeness and left them in the studio. A video was made of their reactions to walking into the studio and finding the gollywogs," Tokona said.
In a statement released to The Press by the Internet Party, Kim Dotcom said: "There was never any personal offence meant nor taken. It actually went to show that race wasn't an issue for any of us." 

We wonder if this is the "family matter" which kept Dotcom away from a kapa haka festival in Rotorua at the weekend. Whatever must Hone Harawira and Annette Sykes (and John Minto and Sue Bradford) be thinking.

In the meantime, we will wait for the usual suspects to ride to Dotcom's rescue, saying it was all a bit of harmless fun. We don't buy that; his rape jokes weren't funny either.

Is MegaMana dead in the water?

0 Tweet of the Day - 7 May 2014

We just spotted this on Twitter:

Is this actually legal? Is it OK for a political party to pay a salary to aspiring candidates?

More to the point perhaps, does Kim Dotcom actually have the money to pay these salaries, or are people going to give up good jobs then find that there's no money to pay them in their new gig?

We have just two more questions. It sounds as though the Mana-Internet Party merger is going ahead; is this the price the Herr Dotcom is prepared to pay Hone Harawira for his party to be in Parliament? And if so, what do the Greens think about that, principled as they are?

So many questions; this seems very, very odd.

0 Hide on an unlikely "bromance"

Rodney Hide is scathing towards the bromance between new besties Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom. Under the headline Bromance of convenience Hide opines:

The intricate Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom dance is proving every bit as exciting as the royal tour. What makes the Hone-Dotcom tie-up exciting is its incongruity. It's the sheer implausibility of the marriage that commands attention.
The Mana Party represents Northland's poor and dispossessed. And here's Dotcom arriving at their conference with a cavalcade of late model European SUVs.
Dotcom drove up more like an African potentate than a suitor for the hearts and minds of Te Tai Tokerau.
Harawira believes "white motherf****** have been raping our lands and ripping us off for centuries". Dotcom is as white as white. The party that shouts the loudest about indigenous rights and Maori sovereignty is hooking up with a party led by a German self-styled "visionary". Dotcom is not even a New Zealand European but a European European.
Harawira says he would be uncomfortable if one of his seven children dated a Pakeha. But here he is hopping into bed with one.

Historical injustice hangs heavy over Harawira. He knows through political activism the power of potent symbols. Yet he dismisses Dotcom's signed copy of Mein Kampf as equivalent to owning a book signed by President George Bush. Even by Hone logic that's a stretch.

"Hone logic"; now there's an interesting concept. It actually explains much of what Harawira is about; if he can justify something to himself, regardless of how bizarre or perverse it may seem to others, then it's all ka pai. That's the only realistic explanation for the enormous disconnect between the Mana Party and Dotcom.

Hide then traces Dotcom's never-ending journey across the political landscape:

Dotcom has traversed the political spectrum. He started with John Banks. He famously donated to Banks' mayoral campaign. And when Banks became a minister Dotcom attempted to lavish gifts upon him. Former Dotcom staffer Alex Mardikian has spoken of Banks resolutely rebuffing them.
Mardikian says he now believes Dotcom was attempting to stitch Banks up. "No one rides for free with Kim."
Banks refused the gifts. When Dotcom was banged up in jail, Banks simply had his electorate staff check on him. That's what would be done for any constituent who rang. The donations and proffered gifts bought no special favours, which is exactly as it should be.
Because he received no special treatment, I believe Dotcom set out to destroy Banks.
Since being disappointed by Banks, Dotcom has played pied piper, persuading a who's who of political luminaries to make pilgrimages to his Coatesville mansion, often multiple times.
He has travelled across the political spectrum to settle upon the most unlikely of them all.

We have no doubt at all that there is a strong desire for payback from Dotcom in the John Banks donation case. The manner in which the allegations against Banks found their way into the media two years ago suggest a deliberate campaign to punish Banks for refusing to accept Dotcom's largesse once he had been returned to Parliament, and for refusing to intervene when Dotcom was remanded in custody.

Since the of course, there has been an unceasing procession of politicians through the gates of Dotcom's rental property at Coatesville. Winston Peters, Russel Norman, Clare Curran; they've all stopped by for a cup of tea with far more sinister overtones than the infamous Dilmah English Breakfast shared by Banks and John Key just before the 2011 General Election. And Hide is dead right; who would have ever suspected that Harawira would fall into the Large German Gentleman's arms?

Hide closes, declaring this an impending marriage of convenience:

Hone and Dotcom are dating and look set to tie the knot. It is a marriage of convenience. Harawira is desperate for political oomph and momentum.
Dotcom is desperate to have a Minister of Justice block his extradition to the United States.
There's no political principle at work. There's only naked self-interest. And Mana must take care. The Banks' experience shows "no one rides for free with Kim".
Unlike the royal tour, this bit of excitement is only just beginning.

We can't help but wonder what the bottom lines being discussed are. And if Hone Harawira has any sense at all he'll sign a pre-nuptial agreement, because this marriage of convenience is guaranteed to end in tears.

0 Listen to your wife Hone

We don't usually like to involve MPs' families in reporting their goings-on. But Hilda Halkyard-Harawira wears the label of "veteran activist" with pride, and is no shrinking violet.

And we'd suggest there's some raruraru in the Harawira whare at the moment; the Dom-Post reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira's wife, veteran activist Hilda Halkyard-Harawira, is among party members concerned about a likely alliance with the Internet Party.
Halkyard-Harawira raised her concerns about the alliance in a closed session yesterday at the party's conference in Rotorua, with Harawira confirming she remained wary of it.
An alliance looks almost certain after the movement voted to support ongoing negotiations with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
While all seven of the Mana branches supported the move, there is still significant dissent within the party.
"She's wary of the deal and understandably so. She sees it from not just a perspective of a Mana member or the wife of the Mana leader but from a long history of involvement in politics and activism," Harawira said. 

Ms Halkyard-Harawira is right to be concerned. She is clearly looking at the bigger picture, and isn't dazzled by the fleet of black SUV's, the dollar signs, and the cult of personality that surrounds Dotcom.

The Dom-Post continues:

He said his wife, who declined to comment, shared the concerns of others about the potential watering down of what the movement stood for. She told members yesterday she was worried about the mana of the movement being diminished by relationships with other parties.
Protecting that was important and the leaders needed to be wary of guarding that credibility, Harawira said.
"The funny thing for me is that I can convince the whole of the movement but if she says no, it's probably no."
He said one of his senior staff shared the same concerns but he needed to balance that against the fact it was an election year and the party had an opportunity which could hugely benefit it.

We've got this advice for Hone; benefits are a very fleeting thing, even moreso where a certain Large German Gentleman is concerned. It sounds as though Hone Harawira has been blinded by the smoke and mirrors that surround Dotcom, whereas Hilda can see past the bluster and bulldust.

She Who Must Be Obeyed has a wee saying. She will tell people that we may be the head of our household but that she is the neck. And there's another mantra we go by; happy wife, happy life. Hone Harawira would do well to contemplate these this morning as he heads off to Wellington for his week at Parliament. Listening to what his own SWMBO says may lead to a far more peaceful Easter weekend.

0 Song of the Day - 14 April 2014

Curly Sue sent us an e-mail last night. And this is perhaps her/his best effort to date. Sing along, to the tune of the Eagles' iconic song Hotel California:

The joke called Dotcom-Mana

Roto-vegas state highway, ill wind blowing near
Warm smell of sulphur, rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw an SUV’s lights
It was a convoy carrying German Kim
Were there no available flights?
There he filled up the doorway
Talking on his cell
And I was thinking he’s so fat,
"Giving this man a hongi could be hell"
The he took to the lectern, Sue Bradford ran away
There were voices down the corridor,
I thought I heard them say...

Welcome to the joke called Dotcom-Mana
The election race (The election race)
Will be our disgrace
Plenty of room at the joke called Dotcom-Mana
Well there has to be (there has to be)
A money guarantee

His mind is certainly-twisted, he got the Mercedes bends
He said a lot about poverty and called us ‘friends’
Internet for the homeboys, it will all be ‘no sweat’.
And the size of his cheque book, will make us forget
So he called up to Hone,
he said "please where do I sign?"
He said, "When I get my money here you’ll think you’re stuck on cloud nine"
And hear the creditors calling from far away,
Woke Kim up in the middle of the night
Just to hear him say...

Your money is stuck in the joke called Dotcom - Mana
Rorting MMP (Rorting MMP)
Easy as 1-2-3
Kim’s livin' it up with the joke called Dotcom-Mana
Time for Annette Sykes (Now for Annette Sykes)
To talk alibis

All this wheeling and dealing,
The champagne is on ice
Hone said "We are all just socialists here, change comes with a price "
And in the meeting hall kitchen,
We gathered for a feast
Lamingtons and plastic knives,
And the feeling we’ve been fleeced

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
Asking Hone to take us back
To the party we were before
"Relax, " said the fat man,
"My money’s what you’ll receive.
You can kid yourself all you like,
But no one rides for free! "

This is an outstanding piece of work from Curly Sue, whoever (s)he is. We are especially pleased that Curly Sue managed to fit in that immortal line for last week that "no one rides for free" with Dotcom, because that's exactly how it is. 

Hone Harawira will be waking to that revelation this morning.

0 Photo of the Day - 14 April 2014

Is this what the future holds for Hone Harawira. As the Mana Party implodes around him, is he facing a life of having to pay for his own travel, or thumbing rides?

This isn't a Caption Contest per se, but if you feel the urge to offer a comment that meets the usual Caption Contest rules, we'll be pleased to publish it. 

Hone's brazening it out at the moment, but the tide is about to turn against him, and all those perks will be stripped away. Oh dear; how sad; never mind.

0 The Mana implosion begins

A week is said to be a long time in politics. But the last 24 hours have seen plenty happen within the Mana Party; the Herald on Sunday reports:

Sue Bradford and other leading Mana Party figures have walked out of the party's AGM over its decision to continue negotiations towards an alliance with Kim Dotcom's Internet Party.
After discussions which went into the night at Mataikotare Marae near Rotorua yesterday, Mana's branches "unanimously'' agreed to move forward with the negotiations.
The party has given its leaders a month to negotiate, before they put any proposed alliance out to the party's local branches for consultation.
However, Mana President Annette Sykes this morning said : "Our movement, I was concerned that it may be fragile and some of our membership - I don't know whether some have chosen not to come back today.''
"There's quite a number. We're not talking hundreds, but we're talking people who I think are leaders young and old and they are principled people who I have respect for. They've gone back to reflect with their branches.''

Ms Bradford this morning confirmed she was among those who had walked out.
"We left us last night so she perhaps includes us among those people because there was deep debate, deep dissension and resistance to the idea of going into an alliance with the Internet Party.''
"Some of us, both Maori and Pakeha, are really disturbed by the idea of going into an alliance with a neo-liberal billionaire.''

Kudos to Sue Bradford and the other members of Mana who can hold their heads high. They have put principles ahead of dirty deals, and Kim Dotcom's tainted money.

What is left of the Mana Party is a joke. Principles have been abandoned, and instead, the promise of clutching the hem of Dotcom's rather ample garment is now what drives the party. And don't get us started on Hone Harawira; in terms of venal behaviour, he makes Winston Peters look like Mother Teresa.

The implosion of the Mana Party has begun. We warned several weeks ago that this would end in tears, and that now seems almost a certainty. 

And in the meantime, Cameron Slater has pointed out a huge disconnect between what Dotcom told Mana members yesterday, and previously published details about his upbringing. Like David Cunliffe, Dotcom brings different messages to different audiences.

Haere ra Mana Party. Don't say we didn't warn you.

0 Haere ra Mana Party

It's the beginning of the end of the Mana Party, and they can't say they weren't warned; the Herald on Sunday reports:

Hone Harawira and Kim Dotcom have taken the next step in their slow dance, after Mana Party members agreed late last night to move forward in negotiations with the Internet Party.
The Mana Party has given its leaders a month to negotiate, before they put any proposed alliance out to the party's local branches for consultation.
Dotcom put his case to about 200 Mana members gathered for their annual meeting at Rotorua's lakeside Mataikotare Marae yesterday.
The internet tycoon and his entourage arrived at the Mana annual meeting in large Porsche and Mercedes SUVs but he pulled out all the stops to convince Mana of his working-class credentials.
He had spent the journey down from his Coatesville mansion being briefed by a Ngati Whatua kaumatua on marae protocol and the Treaty of Waitangi.
The German millionaire and alleged internet pirate spoke of his impoverished terror-stricken childhood as the son of an alcoholic father.

Having grown up poor he was committed to Mana's core principles of tackling poverty.
"I'm all for the betterment of Maori, I'm all for social justice. Just because I live in a big flash house doesn't mean I don't care about people who are disadvantaged."
Dotcom also laid out his vision of how technology could help the Mana Party engage with voters and could alleviate poverty.
"I was in a low social situation. Technology has helped me to become an entrepreneur and to become successful so why shouldn't that be replicated for young people in New Zealand who are not living in the big cities and are disadvantaged right now?"
Mana Party leader Hone Harawira told reporters Dotcom "did extremely well".

Kim Dotcom is full of it. He didn't "care about people who are disadvantaged" when he left creditors and staff unpaid for two years. Some of those staff remain unpaid, and Dotcom is now being sued by them. He didn't "care about people who are disadvantaged" when he conspired to rip off the creators of original content by paying people to steal it then upload it to his "data storage locker".

Hone Harawira and some of his Mana Party colleagues can't see past the dollar signs in their eyes. Dotcom brings the kind of wealth and privilege they could only dream about, or so they think. They need to ponder Alex Mardikian's warning; "no one rides for free with Kim".

If the Mana Party goes ahead with its alliance with Dotcom, it will have abandoned the "principles" on which the party was formed. It is heading for dog tucker territory. 

0 Quote of the Day - 12 April 2014

We knew Kim Dotcom was a big bloke. But we didn't realise he was quite THIS big; Stuff reports (with our emphasis added):

Internet Party founder Kim Dotcom believes a deal between his party and the Mana movement is likely to go ahead following a speech this morning in which he appeared to make a strong impression on members.
Dotcom, who arrived in three black SUVs, spoke to the Mana movement at their conference near Rotorua this morning and was subjected to a 20 minute question and answer session afterwards. 

Which part of Herr Dotcom arrived in which black SUV? And did they travel in convoy, or did they arrive separately and reassemble the Large German Gentleman when they got there?

The mind truly boggles!!

0 We can't help but wonder...

Kim Dotcom is doing a sales pitch to the Mana Party today. After that the party faithful will vote on whether to move forward into some sort of unprincipled alliance with Dotcom and his Internet party which as yet has no candidates, no policy and no hope.

So we can't help but wonder; laying aside the issue of Dotcom's wealth, his poor treatment of staff, and the fact that he's facing criminal charges in the USA, will Mana embrace him. And we also can't help but wonder how the likes of Annette Sykes, Sue Bradford, Missy Harrison, Angeline Greensill, Val Irwin and Sharon Stevens, all Mana candidates in 2011 will feel about jumping into political bed with a man who is alleged to have run this website:

Is the Mana Party a party of principle, or a party of convenience provided the price is right? It's judgment day folks.