"Labour Leader Helen Clark's credibility has been dealt a major blow with
defamation proceedings against her over her claims about surgery at Ascot
Hospital," Health Minister Wyatt Creech said today.

"Helen Clark's credibility is on the line.

"Her attempts to turn a patient case at Auckland's Ascot Hospital into criticism
of private hospital care have backfired.

"It is unusual for politicians to be sued. It is rare for a leader of a major
political party to be sued. That is not what leadership is about.

"She has irresponsibly levelled very serious accusations without checking the
facts.

"This is nothing but an attempt to score cheap political points. New Zealanders
have the right to expect much more than that from our political leaders."

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>