Have just got the book 33 revolutions a minute from the library, and we are using it to do a quick research project on one song a week. Music, history and social conscience – what more could you ask for in a lesson plan?
One of the points that was brought up during discussions, was that in those lynching photos you could very easily cut images out that indicated an entirely different occasion to what was going on.
Many people smiling, laughing and socialising while human beings were tortured.
We also discussed the importance of recognising this disconnect today, even if it presents in a less visceral way.
Plenty of people got burned to death in Indochina, but it’s apparently OK if the napalm is launched from a gun or from the air. It’s barbaric to do it up close and personal. This is the same attitude that the seppos had 150 years ago, where they said Mexicans were cowards who used knives. While they stood 20 yards apart and tried to hit each other with Colt Peacemakers. Except that apparently most victims got shot in the back. The American national myth allows them to keep killing, while our own myth of peaceful colonisation allows us to keep denying Maori.
“..Burning Victims to Death: Still a Common Practice..”
..The most immediate consequence of drone strikes is of course – death and injury to those targeted or near a strike.
The missiles fired from drones kill or injure in several ways – including through incineration[3] – shrapnel – and the release of powerful blast waves capable of crushing internal organs.
Those who do survive drone strikes often suffer disfiguring burns and shrapnel wounds – limb amputations – as well as vision and hearing loss. . . .
In addition – because the Hellfire missiles fired from drones often incinerate the victims’ bodies – and leave them in pieces and unidentifiable –
– traditional burial processes are rendered impossible.
‘..These missiles are very powerful.
They destroy human beings . . .
There is nobody left – and small pieces left behind.
Pieces.
Whatever is left is just little pieces of bodies and cloth’.
A doctor who has treated drone victims described how ‘[s]kin is burned so that you can’t tell cattle from human’..”
A UK court vindicated Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing on Friday by ruling that the secrecy surrounding one of the programs he exposed was, in fact, illegal. The decision is more evidence that not only were the Snowden revelations necessary and justified, but are also slowly forcing changes in both US and UK, even as both governments fiercely resist.
In a stunning ruling, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) – which oversees (and usually rubber stamps) Britain’s spy agencies – declared that the intelligence-sharing rules between the NSA and GCHQ (Britain’s NSA equivalent and partner-in-crime) governing their mass surveillance program violated UK human rights laws because they were kept secret for so long.
I have been wondering about Karol’s absence too, Rosie. I have only had time to skim TS most days recently, but her absence jumped out. It seems her last comment was on Jan 14.
She is having a timeout after some backend disagreements about some political points between some authors and probably exacerbated by author/commenting fatigue. The former is inevitable when we have strong-willed writing from different standpoints. The latter is just a fact of life, I’ve had several bouts of it over the last seven years myself.
I’m hoping it isn’t permanent but it could be.
It is a major effort for an author and even commenters to keep writing. Eventually you wind up saying all you have to say. You are also progressively naturally less able to tolerate the eternal repetitive disagreements that arise in comments or between authors (anyone who reads my comments is aware that I suffer from that a lot). That or work / family balances are the main reasons why authors drop out of writing.
It is a natural progression, and why we have so many ex-authors.
I try to keep the environment as friendly to authors as I can without making it too prescriptive and constraining the argument between different view points. Sometimes it doesn’t work, especially when I get busy at my paid employment.
Indeed. But I have learnt over the years that when authors decide to stop or go, then they seldom do it lightly. I don’t try to talk them out of it. I just accept that is what they feel they have to do. Usually the first I know about is when they write a post and I read it in draft or when it posts.
One of the things about putting in an authors discussion area is that they tend to do it there now.
Thanks for taking the time to let us know where karol is at, Lynn.
I always appreciated her on -the- ground – looking- upwards way of viewing things. She came across as community centred rather than pure politics, party and parliamentary.
I also appreciate that authors are taking precious time out of their private lives, and that sometimes author time could cross over into work time. Considerable thought and analysis seems to go into author posts. I don’t know where folks get the energy from, I battle with so much fatigue some days and can’t even think to write anything coherent let alone get involved in a tiring conversation.
It’s a real labour of love from TS authors and readers here and overseas benefit from such effort and service, so thank you all (graceful bow) for all you do. What would we do without you?
And keep up “the strong willed writing from different standpoints” 🙂 It helps keep readers alert to different ways of viewing an issue.
I hope Labour and Green politicians are listening to this morning’s “Media Watch” – in particular Ruth Harley’s view on NZoA/funding et al. It’s taken her 25 years to come to her senses but I’m glad she has, and she has the experience to state that view. Link not up atm/yet
Our whole PSB needs a fucking big shakeup, and something more ambitious than the CBB advocates (though don’t get me wrong – I support them)
I agree, and over the years I’ve become sick to death of the old excuse “we don’t have a big enough population….blah blah blah” ….. We do, and its just a question of how we choose to fund it. (CBB and its predecessor Save TVNZ7 provide SOME options – and VicUni’s Peter Thompson could give the pollies a quick primer).
We also don’t need huge overpaid bureaucracies to do it as though it needs to be a ‘commercial enterprise’. As I say, I’m glad Ruth H has come to her senses – I know people who’ve been telling her what she now preaches for 20 years – but she’s the perfect person to continue to advocate.
Disregard the cost, it’s essential given the bias owned nature of all MSM today if we want to be informed without spin or corporate influence.
Look at how Murdoch has Abbott attacking the ABC via budget cuts and appointing mates as ABC and SBS show up the rest for what they are, owned entities with agendas not aligned to the Aussie fair go battler ethos.
It quite cheap if you carve up TVNZ with TV2 taking the high rating commercial material and funding TV1 which goes into PBS mode, plenty of talent around to staff it once you purge the ego cult exemplified by rawdon, mikey and all the highly paid auto cue readers.
I don’t disagree @tc. But to the Natzis, there’s something fundamentally wrong with having a commercial arm ‘subsidising’ PSB – even tho’ they’re quite happy with PSB funded intellectual property subsidising private enterprise (the Sky monopoly….Heartland, etc., etc., etc.)
And as for RNZ … the problem there is pretty much the same thing that’s afflicting the BBC, AND the current Abbotabad gubbamint’s ABC/SBS intentions: ideological tory managerialism.
Oh btw …. don’t blame WallArse … despite the Fiji-colonial background, his romantic notions of a past, disabilities and hip pain, etc. [IS Frank REALLY that bad? …. etc. : yes he ekshully IS!] – as well as Esmeralda’s and Pete George beige-suited lookalikes in their twilight years semi-functioning on the Kepty Coast aside; OR the Christies (2 of – Damian and Rawdyrawdy) and Beckbenchas et al. They’ve done more good than bad. There’s a few others as well. It’s more to do with the environment they work in; the corporate culture they’re immersed in; the ‘in crowd’ they have to associate with – all that kaka. I’m happy to just let it all play out in some ways but for the fact I’m running out of life. In death tho’ I can see the inevitable and it ain’t pretty.
Part of the responsibility for the joke rests with us. It is alarmingly easy for us to get preoccupied with the latest events and sideshows while losing our critical faculties and our immediate memories where the media is concerned. An outstanding difference from the general fluff that passes for information was Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint . While it was on , many of us expressed our appreciation of his unflinching analyses that were a huge departure from the norm and often connected dots with a amazing clarity on an astonishing diversity of subjects. Two weeks ago I raised a concern that , unless he is unwell or on holiday, he has been quietly canned. I say ” quietly” because no one else appears to have noticed the Orwellian dissolve . There was no announcement last year that he would not be returning and nothing mentioned about his disappearance in his usual Sunday slot when the programme returned three Sundays ago.
+1
I’ve been wondering why the absence too. I was going to ask RNZ (via a back door) – he may just be doing other things, but nothing would surprise me given the ‘trend’
I have since called an RNZ insider of my acquaintance who confirmed that Brittenden has indeed been canned . It would seem that certain embassies were unhappy with his content even though they have never been able to challenge its well researched accuracy . His work on the TPPA apparently upset some in high places ….. Interesting that the NY Times earlier this month published a feature by Professor Stiglitz that brought out the very same points about the TPPA that Brittenden gave us very much earlier. How sad that our public broadcaster is more squeamish than the NY Times! My informant told me that Brittenden’s programme was rated highly by listeners , but not , it seems, by certain well-placed people who would rather see him silenced. Ditto for a lightweight presenter who often found himself out of his intellectual depth.
yep well – not surprising ….. se above: re ideological tory managerialism.
Cowards really when it comes down to it. But ….. swing low sweat chariot – the pendulum swings and the harder to the right – the more momentum it has when it reaches its limit and begins its swing left again.
Who to blame? Well those that wind up the mechanism. Lessons never seem to get ‘learned’ do they?! OR as they say (Bridges et al) …. “learnings” – which in itself is an attempt at manipulation.
People continue to tolerate, but only because they have mortgages to pay and lifestyles to maintain. Trouble is those lifestyles and mortgages are getting harder for the 99% (soon to become 99.9% plebians). I already smell the fear …. but tuff shit – I’ll waste my sympathy on the more deserving.
Hopefully you’ll get my meaning
Another pro Medpot blog post, this time about a woman with CRPS, (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) widely regarded as the worst pain disorder in existence. The R in CRPS for regional could be subtracted in her case….
Prime Minister John Key has set out his case for changing the flag at his annual Waitangi Day breakfast address this morning – and admitted to a touch of envy over the ease with which Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has made the same decision.” jeez i missed that one! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11397526
“For that reason, it may serve Iraq better if the international community diverted its support into helping Abadi establish good governance. And in that holistic area, New Zealand has strengths. ”
Except that we don’t have strengths in that area any more. As shown by Dirty Politics, FJK’s lies, and the stone arachnid saga, our governance is incredibly weak.
“In a conflict that has absorbed 10 years and $250bn of US time and money I’m not sure what it is that we are expected to contribute,” – Labour’s Andrew Little.
It appears that Andrew Little needs to get better advisors:
FYI folks – here is a link to the ‘Open Letter /OIA request that i sent to the Local Government Commissioners on 4 February 2015, which should help TORPEDO their ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’, and help STOP the Wellington ‘Supercity’?
(This has already been sent to all Mayors and Councillors in the Greater Wellington Region, all MPs and most ‘mainstream’ media).
____________________________________________________________________________________
URGENT ‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to Local Government Commissioners re: Draft Greater Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
Dear Local Government Commissioners,
Basil Morrison Chairman
Anne Carter Commissioner
Janie Annear Commissioner
Over the Christmas break, I have studied numerous documents pertaining to the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
The following is my considered opinion:
1) There should be NO further amalgamations of Councils anywhere in New Zealand, until there is a full, thorough and independent audit of the Auckland ‘Supercity’, (based upon FACTS and EVIDENCE) which confirms how ‘cost-effective’ it has really been for the majority of Auckland Council citizens and ratepayers.
I note that in the ‘Application for Local Government Reorganisation – PROPOSAL FOR A UNITARY AUTHORITY WITH LOCAL BOARDS FOR THE WELLINGTON REGION’ – it is stated on page 47:
“The Auckland Council experience and overseas examples strongly suggest that there should be a reasonable expectation of efficiency savings from the creation of a combined Wellington Council.
Opportunities would likely come from the following areas:
* Common administrative and support functions (human resources, procurement, ICT, finance, property management, corporate and executive services)
* Common data management systems and processes
* Common regulatory functions, activities and processes (building consents, resource consents,liquor licensing, dog permits,
and other permits and licensing)
* Streamlined planning processes for resource management, transport planning as well as plans required under the Local
Government Act
* Single ownership of assets and a comprehensive asset management approach
* Services that are delivered at both a regional and local level (economic development and tourism marketing)
* Combined contract for services, for example rubbish collection and road management.
….”
______________________________________________________________________________________
OIA REQUEST 1:
PLEASE PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE UPON WHICH YOU LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONERS ARE RELYING / HAVE RELIED UPON IN ORDER TO BE ‘SATISFIED’ WITH THAT THIS ABOVE-MENTIONED STATEMENT IS FACTUALLY ACCURATE:
______________________________________________________________________________________
2) In my considered opinion, this ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’ is fundamentally flawed, and this process should cease forthwith, because the public are not being given detailed FACTS or INFORMATION showing exactly where Councils in the Greater Wellington region are currently spending citizens and ratepayers public monies on Council services and regulatory functions.
This information is needed in order to establish a factual datum, upon which to measure current or future ‘cost-effectiveness’ in the provision of Council services and regulatory functions. There is no information of this type in the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal, so the public simply cannot make an ‘informed’ submission.
Please be reminded of your statutory duties arising from the Local Government Act 2002, regarding your ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’:
(Please note that the underlining of particular sections of this legislation is mine).
(a)to enable democratic local decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities; and
(b)to meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.
(2)In this Act, good-quality, in relation to local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions, means infrastructure, services, and performance that are—
(a)efficient; and
(b)effective; and
(c)appropriate to present and anticipated future circumstances.
There are some hours of (unpaid) work that have gone into this document, which contains research that, to my knowledge, no one else has done.
Having carefully checked the websites for each of the nine Councils which make up the Greater Wellington Region, I have compiled a total of 146 possible Council services and Regulatory Functions, and have provided a ‘Transparency Template’ so that a ‘snapshot’ can be taken of which are currently provided ‘in-house’, by Councils Controlled Organisations (CCOs), or have been ‘contracted out’ to the private sector.
Next, are a series of questions which are to confirm, on an individual Council service or Regulatory Function basis, how the current costs can be quantified, and compared across the Greater Wellington Region, comparing ‘apples with apples’ – as it were.
eg: How is the current Council service of ‘Dog Control’ being applied over the Greater Wellington Region?
How is ‘Dog Control’ carried out in the Kapiti District Council? Carterton District Council? Wellington City Council?
Who exactly is providing this service? How is it being provided? How much is it costing? What are the charges?
Given that the purported purpose of these Council ‘amalgamations’ is supposed to be to provide more ‘cost-effective’ solutions – how on earth can that be established if you don’t know exactly what the are the CURRENT costs for providing these Council services and Regulatory Functions?
These ‘Transparency Templates’ which I have provided, and full credit to my friend and fellow ‘anti-corruption whistle-blower’ colleague Grace Haden who helped with the formatting, will help citizens and ratepayers find out EXACTLY where rates monies are being spent.
The question is – why is it that that this information is not already available for public scrutiny – given the current legislative requirements for ‘open, transparent. and democratically accountable’ local government.
Some Sunday weeding for felix updated from the April 29 2011 undesirable plant catalogue.
2015 Political Weeds
Sabinus Sabine, or Northland Knockweed, came late to the government’s attention as a potential hazard to be eradicated. It is such a pest that even its home nursery disowns it, and the common garden slater eschews it. Signs of it are still to be seen in its northern habitat, and the blue-clad pest eradicators are yet to arrest its development though they are strongly rumoured to have advised the government of its errant proclivities which they are currently investigating.
Natio Diversionalis is at times planted by the PM and was last seen on Waitangi Day when it was flown (sorry,grown!) on the Marae. It resembles a Flag Iris when in full bloom and usually accompanies militaristic displays of nationalism. it is likely to replace the white feather given to shirkers such as those who oppose the transmission of troops overseas.
Smithus Smithus var Stuartus (to distinguish from the Nelson cultivar var. Nickus), known in the Kaikoura region as the Marlborough Doosy, is another new weed in the political landscape. It seeks to be a companion plant for grape vines but its pre-selection promises of removing costs to the wine industry have shown little value despite self-promoting displays and an outwardly pleasant appearance..
Smithus Smithus var. Nickus is a plant of florid appearance which has had a singularly poor performance in cleaning up New Zealand’s waterways. A recent outbreak of paralysis causing organisms in Tory Channel has Smithus Nickus in a twist.
Smithus var. Nickus has been responsible for the gradual degrading of a once popular and widespread plant, very useful in providing shelter. Domusdomesticus Socialis is now being progressively sold off by the government which hopes that 5000 kiwis currently sheltering under its canopy will move on to other habitat. These could include under bridges, bus shelters, and garages.
The government has a dualistic view of this 70,000 strong planting. It used to be grown in clumps, then was spread like grains from a pepperpot, and now is being offered to religious groups to tend, with donations of additional fertiliser from the government.
This government says on one hand that there is no problem with its growth and spread and on the other hand wishes to enact regulations to allow its selective spread only by known corporative propagators and friends.
Much of the Kiwis’ former habitat is now prized by invasive species such as Unus Percentus and similar free-loading off-shore varieties. Coastal, mountain, lake and artificial waterways and other locations of prime value are to be denied to native kiwis species by the newly changed RMA, or Render unto Mammon Act.
Instead, unus percents, banksia australis and refugees from the spread of overseas feared Climatus Morphusglobalis and its attendant Holocaustus species are to be allowed unfettered planting rights such as are available now in Hawaii and other Friendly Society Island groups.
Holocaustus species which arise in the ashes of nuclear, environmental or other largely man-made catastrophes are definitely on the upwards growth, powered by rising global temperatures and peculiar conditions such as are found in the Ukraine (holocaustus var. putiniensis), China (var. pollutionis which can reach densities of 650 plants per square metre and are easily seen in the air producing choking and breathing problems), and the Middle East (var. Isis Obamatremens which grows best under a crescent moon).
Unus Percentus, which itself caused a global catastrophe in 2008 and by cutbacks afterwards in other species, greatly fears a severe pruning, and even removal of excess nutrient-accumulation by leaf stripping as promised in Greece, Spain and other under-irrigated areas.
Examination of overseas-held seed banks and occupation of land by rogue unus percentus sub-species such as Mafia Muscova, Donus Sicilianus, red or yellow flowering three petalled Gangtze Chinensis, and tea-leafed Capitalis Americanus in New Zealand is also a possibility in the red-dawned future. However, current NZ government-encouraged growing conditions, abetted by local nutrient-robbing weeds, precludes this for at least two more summers of discontent.
Do the Jews in Germany have the Right to defend themselves?
Imagine a U.S. spokesperson, in 1938, asked to comment on the events of Kristallnacht, saying to a Jewish journalist: “There is violence and back and forth.” Something like that happened at the grotesque and surreal Theatre of the Absurd known as the White House Daily Press Briefing on July 8, 2014….
JEN PSAKI: Israel have the right to defend themselves. REPORTER: Do you think that the Palestinians in Gaza have the right to defend themselves? JEN PSAKI: Errrrr, I think—I— I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Said. REPORTER: I am asking you: Do they have the right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression? JEN PSAKI: What are you specifically referring to? Is there a specific event or a specific occurrence? REPORTER: Do they have the right to respond to Israeli rocketing and bombing their homes, their houses, their areas, their schools?”
“The strong difference between rocket attacks and Israel s air raids ” is that the rockets are sent buy the poor and dispossessed and the rockets come from the, to the palestinians eyes invaders.
Said needs an award for bravery.
I think it’s more the case that the other reporters, who carefully maintained blank expressions and left him isolated, need to be presented with an award for cowardice. A white feather perhaps?
If you’d walked into scores and scores and scores of thousands of New Zealand homes in August 2014, the occasion of the last biennial shooting-fish-in-a-barrel exercise by NatziYahoo and the IDF against Gaza, you’d have seen this: hundreds of thousands of thick slobs and aresholes sitting on their tatty sofas, watching TVOne/TV3News reporting about the “militants” of Gaza. You watch……the picture will be no less gross in two years or less hence.
You’d have seen also these same thick slobs and arseholes sagely remarking through mouthsful of semi-masticated ‘pork’ sausage and mash, “Well, if they’d stop firing those rockets…….”.
That is what a vast number of New Zealanders have become…….unempathetic, reflexively cruel bastards. A Palestinian mother and father whose 4 children under 12 have just been wasted when their apartment exploded under fire from a US made fighter jet…….”well, if only they’d stop firing those rockets.”
Score in the August 2014 firing of rockets from Gaza – 6 civilians if that.
Score in the August 2014 biennial shooting-fish-in-a-barrel exercise by Zionist Israel – well over 1,500 civilians, 500 plus of them children.
Ask yourselves you ‘pork’ sausage waisted, minded, moralled, bastards ! For whom we can read White House spokesperson Jen Psaki. Whose employer the US of A pays to NatziYahoo an annual $US3,000,000,000 – three thousand million US dollars – in military aid. Hope you and Mr Obama are satisfied you’re getting good bang for your buck there Psaki…….
That is what a vast number of New Zealanders have become……. unempathetic, reflexively cruel bastards. A Palestinian mother and father whose 4 children under 12 have just been wasted when their apartment exploded under fire from a US made fighter jet…….”well, if only they’d stop firing those rockets.”
Actually, North, I don’t believe most people are that cruel. I have not met many people at all that endorse the mass slaughter that we all witnessed last July. Even politicians like Phil Goff, who feel compelled to say with a straight face that the aggressors and mass murderers “have the right to defend themselves” will not keep up that absurd line if they are challenged. That’s not the case, however, with the small gang of moral cowards, illiterates and nincompoops that dominate the media; on television, radio and in the Op-Ed pages of the major papers, morality is as non-existent as professionalism or fairness and balance.
And yes, any number of “thick slobs” do indeed reflexively repeat what they’ve heard the likes of Larry “Lackwit” Williams and his cast of grotesques on NewstalkZB saying—but that’s not serious thinking, and it disappears whenever a reasonable person is (politely and respectfully) challenged.
I’m not entirely convinced Morrissey. Have a look at Facebook during the ‘sport’ seen in August 2014. It hasn’t gone quite as far as death threats but I’ve had promises of GBH from total strangers via FB message. This from mullet-coiffed, ‘good-decent-tell-it-like-it-is-joker’ pork munchers. Oh yes one fascist disporting himself as an associate-professor-of-business as well. You’d be a goner Morrissey !
I know what you mean, my friend. Israel’s most rabid backers, from Dame Lesley Max to the unhinged Waikato professor Dov Bing, are ruthless in the extreme. But they are definitely a tiny rabid fringe. Most people are not like them, even if they are often too afraid to contradict them.
And please be careful out there North—it’s not worth endangering yourself in the face of someone who will not listen or think.
Overheard observation from a mature member of a group of people resident but not born in New Zealand – “Dat Mitta Gee……I tink heese a pit of a kirl……” – the reporting of which is completely silly of course and should raise hackles……but bloody funny to hear !
On TV the other night saw the dork mincing his way down a catwalk clad in Rugby World Cup volunteers’ gear from a few years ago. Well !
I cannot help but applaud the mature member of a group of people resident but not born in New Zealand for his powers of observation !
TheSodKey at BGO – “But we’ve turned that around. I voted for gay marriage”. Weird phrasing Johnny but that aside, isn’t he lying AGAIN…….or was it the so-called anti-smacking bill or civil union he semi-floated he’d not voted for, during the BBVG (BigBullshitVoteGrease) in South Auckland, accompanied by a rather embarrassed looking PesetaSamBoy ?
Whatever, the bastard can’t help himself ! Poor Bronagh…….limo’ drops him off in Parnell after a long week of telling lies down in Wellington……”Hello John Key, I’ve missed you so much !” – “WTF are you on about woman……my name’s Barack Churchill…….don’t touch me !”
Today my partner and I decided to go on a Sunday drive, walk the dog. My partner suggested taking a fishing rod as she was sick of the bait in the freezer. I checked the Maori fishing calander which said excellent day with bite time 3.30-5.30 pm. off we went to a place not too far only 10 minutes drive. There is a jetty close to the channel and the road is quiet to walk a excitable young King of toys dog. There were a 3 elderly folks fishing and a dozen kids jumping off the jetty swimming. Spoke to the people fishing who had caught one keeper early on before the kids had arrived. So we took the dog for a walk for an hour. About 3pm the kids buggered off so set up fishing. The fish were nibbling pretty much straight away, we all hooked up and landed a few just under the 30cm limit, sadly some released floated to the surface. Which seems such a waste. You would think you could keep them if they die, I would far rather have a size limit on big fish as their the breeding stock. My partner gave up bored and headed to the car, I said I’m nearly out of bait and wouldnt be long. With my last bit of squid I baited my 2 hooks and cast, bang got a good strike, reeling in I landed 2 pan size snapper measuring 42 and 50 cm. I bagged them walked to the car jumped in and said its never over till the baits gone. 🙂 baked snapper for dinner which is ready now.
Sorry it was a haste post as I was being eye balled about over cooking the fish, which since I’m the head cook was silly, it was baked to perfection.
It has a political theme, my point is the raising of legal size of fish you can keep, especially for land/surfcasting 30 cm is silly, I mean I saw 4 fish just under 30 cm and over the old size of 27cm die today. Boat fishing I can understand but land based no, its hard work and the fish get knocked about so its harder for them to survive.
I’m serious I feel the same way for plants the way you feel for animals. I worry for my plants on a really hot day knowing their wilting in the hot sun.
Plant have feelings too ya know.
That’s actually a question which rests on several assumptions.
I suppose the most relevant answer in this instance, temporarily granting as fact all the assumptions in your question, is “because it’s more fun than tofu”.
How I envy you Skinny both in the catching and the eating, two in the one cast. You must have a larger than usual size pans. Those are good sized schnapper !
Which makes what I’m about to ply you with pretty tasteless behaviour on my part but I’d already done the Right/Click/Copy exercise so might as well.
Sarah Palin re the “liberal” Pope and Sarah Palin re Christie’s waste line – wonder what the worked gargoyle would’ve said about FDR.
An American friend of mine and his Kiribati wife introduced me to the deliciousness of Kiribati style raw tuna fish marinated in salt and vinegar, then washed, squeezed and prepared with a few other choice ingredients. Amazing taste. This dish and its preparation is quite different from the raw fish dish of other pacific islands. The dish tastes and feels like the fish is well cooked! Actually, it is in a way, being chemically cooked in salt+vinegar! This works very well with some other firm fish too, including snapper.
If you are keen to know how exactly to do this, reply here and I will be happy to describe the recipe and method.
Ok, Here is the way my friends who are an American-Kiribati couple and I do raw fish. I describe it as chemically cooked fish (CC Fish; See See Fish) rather than raw for the squeamish!
A MUST try delicacy!
First, I will now name this highly recommended recipe….Ta da…
RAWKIRI-CLEMPIN-FISHDISH :
* Definitely Serves 5 to15 depending upon how much one serves on one’s plate!
* or usable for several little meals/snacks for a day or two or three, if refrigerated.
* Good for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or as a healthy mid-night or any time snack!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE : The measurements are approximate and variable up or down as convenient.
* FISH : 2 kg
Preferably firm fish such as
Tuna, Snapper, Tarakihi, Kahawai, Kingfish,
Salmon, Groper, Gurnard, Halibut, Warehou, John Dory etc
[P.S : I have tried the first five only]
* SALT : About 1/4 Kg
Don’t panic! We will remove all or most of the salt later during preparation.
* WHITE VINEGAR : About 1/2 to 1 litre , enough to cover cut fish pieces in a bowl.
Again, Don’t panic! We will remove most of the vinegar later during preparation!
* COCONUT CREAM : 2 or 3 or may be even 4 cans or about 1 litre.
You’ll need to judge later by eyeballing/taste test in step 7 of procedure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INGREDIENTS LIST 2 :
NOTE :
The following items should all together make up ABOUT half or slightly less than half the quantity of fish. Max 750g or1 kg in this case as fish used here is about 2 Kgs. Do not avoid the first three items marked with two stars **
** CUCUMBER : 1/4 or more of (telegraph) cucumber or 1 cup,
cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Judge quantity per taste later, but must have item!
** RIPE RED TOMATOES : 2 medium size or 1 cup
cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. May need 3 if small. Judge later.
** ONION : 1 medium size or 1 cup. Definitely red onion if possible.
Cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Use 2 if small. Again, do taste test later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
* CAPSICUM : (OPTIONAL), 1/2 to 1 cup, cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Green and/or yellow adds colour to dish.
* CARROT : (OPTIONAL), 1/2 cup grated or cut tiny 1/4 or 1/2 cm.
* CHIVES or PARSLEY or LETTUCE : (Any one, but OPTIONAL), 2 TABLE spoons, cut small 1/4 or 1/2 cm.
* LIME ZEST (OPTIONAL), thin green outer layer of lime peel, 2 tea spoons, grated
* LIME or LEMON : 1 (You may or may not need this as per taste later)
~~~~~~~~~~~
PROCEDURE :
STEP 1 :
Wash your hands well in soap. Rinse the fish. Remove skin of fish and fish bones and cut into 1 cm sized cubes. While cutting, keep putting the pieces into a bowl. When a layer of fish forms in the bowl, scatter a handful of salt over it. Repeat this for several layers until the fish is finished. Mix the fish pieces and salt a little to ensure all pieces are well covered in salt. I use my hands for this. Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes. Have a cuppa or a beer or make love or whatever. (Optional)
STEP 2 :
Pour vinegar into the bowl to cover the fish pieces. Give it a mix with a spoon or your clean hands. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Good to leave it up to 5 hours to cook well chemically in salt and vinegar.
STEP 3 :
While the fish is marinading and getting mysteriously cooked, prepare the cleaning and cutting of the ingredients (those that you will be using) from list 2 above.
STEP 4 : [Important step]
(a) After the 2 to 5 hours, drain the liquid from the fish bowl. I do this either by using a colander or by simply covering the bowl with a plate and draining the liquid into the sink.
(b) Now WASH the fish pieces with your hands using cold running water from the tap.
(c) Drain the water again as before. Squeeze a handful of fish and place it in another bowl. Do this until you have squeezed handfuls and transferred all the
fish into this new bowl.
(d) REPEAT this washing, draining, squeezing (WDS, unlike the WMDs) routine at least THREE times. FIVE times will be better. The idea is to remove MOST of the salt and vinegar and also to make the fish nice and soft to eat. Do a taste test : Take a piece of fish and eat it. It should not be TOO salty or TOO sour. If it is, repeat the WDS routine 1 or 2 more times. If it is a little salty and sour, do not worry too much because when we add the other stuff, the taste and composition will come right.
STEP 5 :
Add a can or two of coconut cream into the bowl of fish to cover the pieces well.
STEP 6 :
Add all the cut ingredients of list 2 that you prepared in step 3, into the fish bowl.
STEP 7:
(a) Give it a good mix using a spoon.
(b) Add more coconut cream if it is not covering the contents in the bowl well.
(c) Make and add more of ingredients from list 3 (except lime) if you feel you must.
(d) Do a taste test and see if you think you may need to add more salt or lime juice. Do NOT add salt or lime just yet.
(e) Cover and keep the bowl in fridge for half an hour. 1 to 2 hours is better.
(f) Do another taste test. This time, if you fancy more salt or lime, feel free to add but very tiny amounts each time. Keep tasting and adding tiny amounts until the dish tastes yummy and you are happy.
STEP 8 :
Serve cold. Normally, as an special extra course or as a side dish.
STEP 9 :
Cover any left over with glad wrap and refrigerate. Will keep good for at least three days in the fridge.
STEP 10:
Enjoy and share or Share and enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~
‘Make and add more of ingredients from list 2 (except lime) if you feel you must’ [Not list 3 ]
————
And sorry, I could not post the recipe earlier in the evening as I was away and busy. Then it took me considerable time to write this recipe from scratch! It made me realise it isn’t as easy as it seems!
Please let me know if I have made any more errors or if my description is not clear.
I agree that it would be better to have an upper size limit, maybe something like 5kg. They start to be valuable breeders at about 2kg, as far as I know. They get more valuable as they get older. I’ve caught the best fish of the day a few times on the last bait.
I agree a 25+ year old fish is far better too be left as breeding stock, they are not as good to eat 20 pound upwards they become flakey.
Catching 2 on my last cast is a first for me, gave me a good buzz, as some wisecrack fellow watching said looks like its fish & chips for ya dinner on the way home as I said last go. Less then 60 seconds later I hauled in my catch. I winked at him walking off with my booty.
Going to go back on dusk during the week, the recent storm has stirred up the food chain and the swell is up too, and cloud cover is good.
Liar No. 46 Julia Gillard: “I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….” http://thestandard.org.nz/ope-mike-08022015/#comment-965394
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11112014/#comment-924196
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09102014/#comment-907232
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The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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“..The Fiery Cage and the Lynching Tree – Brutality’s Never Far Away..
‘..there it was: the charred corpse of a young black man –
– tied to a blistered tree in the heart of the Texas Bible Belt.
Next to the burned body young white men can be seen smiling and grinning –
– seemingly jubilant at their front-row seats in a carnival of death.
One of them sent a picture postcard home:
‘This is the barbeque we had last night’.
Here is the photograph.
Take a good look at Jesse Washington’s stiffened body tied to the tree.
He had been sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman.
No witnesses saw the crime; he allegedly confessed but the truth of the allegations would never be tested.
The grand jury took just four minutes to return a guilty verdict – but there was no appeal – no review – no prison time.
Instead – a courtroom mob dragged him outside – pinned him to the ground – and cut off his testicles.
A bonfire was quickly built and lit.
For two hours Jesse Washington — alive — was raised and lowered over the flames.
Again and again and again.
City officials and police stood by – approvingly.
According to some estimates – the crowd grew to as many as 15,000.
There were taunts – cheers – and laughter.
Reporters described hearing ‘shouts of delight’.
When the flames died away – Washington’s body was torn apart – and the pieces were sold as souvenirs.
The party was over..”
(cont..)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40914.htm
.. strikes a coincidental chime for me, phil…
Have just got the book 33 revolutions a minute from the library, and we are using it to do a quick research project on one song a week. Music, history and social conscience – what more could you ask for in a lesson plan?
This week it was Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday.
One of the points that was brought up during discussions, was that in those lynching photos you could very easily cut images out that indicated an entirely different occasion to what was going on.
Many people smiling, laughing and socialising while human beings were tortured.
We also discussed the importance of recognising this disconnect today, even if it presents in a less visceral way.
Plenty of people got burned to death in Indochina, but it’s apparently OK if the napalm is launched from a gun or from the air. It’s barbaric to do it up close and personal. This is the same attitude that the seppos had 150 years ago, where they said Mexicans were cowards who used knives. While they stood 20 yards apart and tried to hit each other with Colt Peacemakers. Except that apparently most victims got shot in the back. The American national myth allows them to keep killing, while our own myth of peaceful colonisation allows us to keep denying Maori.
“..Burning Victims to Death: Still a Common Practice..”
..The most immediate consequence of drone strikes is of course – death and injury to those targeted or near a strike.
The missiles fired from drones kill or injure in several ways – including through incineration[3] – shrapnel – and the release of powerful blast waves capable of crushing internal organs.
Those who do survive drone strikes often suffer disfiguring burns and shrapnel wounds – limb amputations – as well as vision and hearing loss. . . .
In addition – because the Hellfire missiles fired from drones often incinerate the victims’ bodies – and leave them in pieces and unidentifiable –
– traditional burial processes are rendered impossible.
‘..These missiles are very powerful.
They destroy human beings . . .
There is nobody left – and small pieces left behind.
Pieces.
Whatever is left is just little pieces of bodies and cloth’.
A doctor who has treated drone victims described how ‘[s]kin is burned so that you can’t tell cattle from human’..”
(cont..)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40895.htm
(n.b..john key has admitted that we ‘help target’ these drones strikes..
..this is what is being done in our names…
..to some of the poorest/most desperate people on the planet..
..and now he wants boots on the ground..
..he wants to throw our soldiers into this hellhole..
..um..!..aren’t we already doing ‘more than enough’..?..)
A UK court vindicated Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing on Friday by ruling that the secrecy surrounding one of the programs he exposed was, in fact, illegal. The decision is more evidence that not only were the Snowden revelations necessary and justified, but are also slowly forcing changes in both US and UK, even as both governments fiercely resist.
In a stunning ruling, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) – which oversees (and usually rubber stamps) Britain’s spy agencies – declared that the intelligence-sharing rules between the NSA and GCHQ (Britain’s NSA equivalent and partner-in-crime) governing their mass surveillance program violated UK human rights laws because they were kept secret for so long.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/07/gchq-court-surveillance-ruling-complicit-press-tell-the-truth
So Sad, How These International Gangsters Get Away with One Crime after Another
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2015/02/03/so-sad-how-these-international-gangsters-get-away-with-one-crime-after-another/
Is karol still around?
I have been wondering about Karol’s absence too, Rosie. I have only had time to skim TS most days recently, but her absence jumped out. It seems her last comment was on Jan 14.
Hope everything is OK with her, but she is still tweeting https://twitter.com/KarolScribe
Hi VV. Thanks for that. I hope she’s ok too. Good to see she is still tweeting though 🙂
She is having a timeout after some backend disagreements about some political points between some authors and probably exacerbated by author/commenting fatigue. The former is inevitable when we have strong-willed writing from different standpoints. The latter is just a fact of life, I’ve had several bouts of it over the last seven years myself.
I’m hoping it isn’t permanent but it could be.
It is a major effort for an author and even commenters to keep writing. Eventually you wind up saying all you have to say. You are also progressively naturally less able to tolerate the eternal repetitive disagreements that arise in comments or between authors (anyone who reads my comments is aware that I suffer from that a lot). That or work / family balances are the main reasons why authors drop out of writing.
It is a natural progression, and why we have so many ex-authors.
I try to keep the environment as friendly to authors as I can without making it too prescriptive and constraining the argument between different view points. Sometimes it doesn’t work, especially when I get busy at my paid employment.
I hope it isn’t permanent too. The clarity of her vision was always refreshing to read.
Indeed. But I have learnt over the years that when authors decide to stop or go, then they seldom do it lightly. I don’t try to talk them out of it. I just accept that is what they feel they have to do. Usually the first I know about is when they write a post and I read it in draft or when it posts.
One of the things about putting in an authors discussion area is that they tend to do it there now.
Karol seems to be commenting to On the Left.
Thanks for taking the time to let us know where karol is at, Lynn.
I always appreciated her on -the- ground – looking- upwards way of viewing things. She came across as community centred rather than pure politics, party and parliamentary.
I also appreciate that authors are taking precious time out of their private lives, and that sometimes author time could cross over into work time. Considerable thought and analysis seems to go into author posts. I don’t know where folks get the energy from, I battle with so much fatigue some days and can’t even think to write anything coherent let alone get involved in a tiring conversation.
It’s a real labour of love from TS authors and readers here and overseas benefit from such effort and service, so thank you all (graceful bow) for all you do. What would we do without you?
And keep up “the strong willed writing from different standpoints” 🙂 It helps keep readers alert to different ways of viewing an issue.
plus 100% rosie … and Karol ? hope you will return sometime please …
I hope Labour and Green politicians are listening to this morning’s “Media Watch” – in particular Ruth Harley’s view on NZoA/funding et al. It’s taken her 25 years to come to her senses but I’m glad she has, and she has the experience to state that view. Link not up atm/yet
Our whole PSB needs a fucking big shakeup, and something more ambitious than the CBB advocates (though don’t get me wrong – I support them)
We need one based on the oz model where acts enshrine the funding and independance so any tinkering has to go through parliament.
There is no public broadcasting in nz, RNZ is a joke, TVNZ an even bigger one.
I agree, and over the years I’ve become sick to death of the old excuse “we don’t have a big enough population….blah blah blah” ….. We do, and its just a question of how we choose to fund it. (CBB and its predecessor Save TVNZ7 provide SOME options – and VicUni’s Peter Thompson could give the pollies a quick primer).
We also don’t need huge overpaid bureaucracies to do it as though it needs to be a ‘commercial enterprise’. As I say, I’m glad Ruth H has come to her senses – I know people who’ve been telling her what she now preaches for 20 years – but she’s the perfect person to continue to advocate.
Disregard the cost, it’s essential given the bias owned nature of all MSM today if we want to be informed without spin or corporate influence.
Look at how Murdoch has Abbott attacking the ABC via budget cuts and appointing mates as ABC and SBS show up the rest for what they are, owned entities with agendas not aligned to the Aussie fair go battler ethos.
It quite cheap if you carve up TVNZ with TV2 taking the high rating commercial material and funding TV1 which goes into PBS mode, plenty of talent around to staff it once you purge the ego cult exemplified by rawdon, mikey and all the highly paid auto cue readers.
I don’t disagree @tc. But to the Natzis, there’s something fundamentally wrong with having a commercial arm ‘subsidising’ PSB – even tho’ they’re quite happy with PSB funded intellectual property subsidising private enterprise (the Sky monopoly….Heartland, etc., etc., etc.)
And as for RNZ … the problem there is pretty much the same thing that’s afflicting the BBC, AND the current Abbotabad gubbamint’s ABC/SBS intentions: ideological tory managerialism.
Oh btw …. don’t blame WallArse … despite the Fiji-colonial background, his romantic notions of a past, disabilities and hip pain, etc. [IS Frank REALLY that bad? …. etc. : yes he ekshully IS!] – as well as Esmeralda’s and Pete George beige-suited lookalikes in their twilight years semi-functioning on the Kepty Coast aside; OR the Christies (2 of – Damian and Rawdyrawdy) and Beckbenchas et al. They’ve done more good than bad. There’s a few others as well. It’s more to do with the environment they work in; the corporate culture they’re immersed in; the ‘in crowd’ they have to associate with – all that kaka. I’m happy to just let it all play out in some ways but for the fact I’m running out of life. In death tho’ I can see the inevitable and it ain’t pretty.
Part of the responsibility for the joke rests with us. It is alarmingly easy for us to get preoccupied with the latest events and sideshows while losing our critical faculties and our immediate memories where the media is concerned. An outstanding difference from the general fluff that passes for information was Wayne Brittenden’s Counterpoint . While it was on , many of us expressed our appreciation of his unflinching analyses that were a huge departure from the norm and often connected dots with a amazing clarity on an astonishing diversity of subjects. Two weeks ago I raised a concern that , unless he is unwell or on holiday, he has been quietly canned. I say ” quietly” because no one else appears to have noticed the Orwellian dissolve . There was no announcement last year that he would not be returning and nothing mentioned about his disappearance in his usual Sunday slot when the programme returned three Sundays ago.
+1
I’ve been wondering why the absence too. I was going to ask RNZ (via a back door) – he may just be doing other things, but nothing would surprise me given the ‘trend’
I have since called an RNZ insider of my acquaintance who confirmed that Brittenden has indeed been canned . It would seem that certain embassies were unhappy with his content even though they have never been able to challenge its well researched accuracy . His work on the TPPA apparently upset some in high places ….. Interesting that the NY Times earlier this month published a feature by Professor Stiglitz that brought out the very same points about the TPPA that Brittenden gave us very much earlier. How sad that our public broadcaster is more squeamish than the NY Times! My informant told me that Brittenden’s programme was rated highly by listeners , but not , it seems, by certain well-placed people who would rather see him silenced. Ditto for a lightweight presenter who often found himself out of his intellectual depth.
yep well – not surprising ….. se above: re ideological tory managerialism.
Cowards really when it comes down to it. But ….. swing low sweat chariot – the pendulum swings and the harder to the right – the more momentum it has when it reaches its limit and begins its swing left again.
Who to blame? Well those that wind up the mechanism. Lessons never seem to get ‘learned’ do they?! OR as they say (Bridges et al) …. “learnings” – which in itself is an attempt at manipulation.
People continue to tolerate, but only because they have mortgages to pay and lifestyles to maintain. Trouble is those lifestyles and mortgages are getting harder for the 99% (soon to become 99.9% plebians). I already smell the fear …. but tuff shit – I’ll waste my sympathy on the more deserving.
Hopefully you’ll get my meaning
They aren’t squeamish they are controlled indirectly based on CT advice through Nat ministers then onto griffin etc.
It’s how gluon gets the gig, Bradbury gets turfed and hooten, farrar etc all get to plug their agenda without critique.
Another pro Medpot blog post, this time about a woman with CRPS, (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) widely regarded as the worst pain disorder in existence. The R in CRPS for regional could be subtracted in her case….
http://yournz.org/2015/02/08/complex-regional-pain-syndrome-another-case-for-medicinal-cannabis/
Alternate address
https://mmj4chronicpain.wordpress.com/2015/02/08/complex-regional-pain-syndrome-another-case-for-medicinal-cannabis/
hi shane – thanks for the alt link 🙂
“John Key restates case for flag change
Prime Minister John Key has set out his case for changing the flag at his annual Waitangi Day breakfast address this morning – and admitted to a touch of envy over the ease with which Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has made the same decision.” jeez i missed that one! http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11397526
& also rodney hyde is critical of john key from a right wing libertarian viewpoint & seemingly blaming everyone but some short clear points. comments are especially anti-nats. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11398277
Three cheers for Andrea Vance and this bright and brave, unexpected opinion …. even challenging Key that it was not debated prior to the election …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/65916914/andrea-vance-think-twice-before-joining-new-iraq-war
meant to add she also gives serious gravitas to Andrew Little’s opinions on the issues.
(lprent .. would not let me edit even within one minute of posting ?)
“For that reason, it may serve Iraq better if the international community diverted its support into helping Abadi establish good governance. And in that holistic area, New Zealand has strengths. ”
Except that we don’t have strengths in that area any more. As shown by Dirty Politics, FJK’s lies, and the stone arachnid saga, our governance is incredibly weak.
It appears that Andrew Little needs to get better advisors:
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-iraq-war-by-numbers-2014-6
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/14/us-iraq-war-anniversary-idUSBRE92D0PG20130314
Apparently, the US/Iraq war has already cost 1.7 trillion.
FYI folks – here is a link to the ‘Open Letter /OIA request that i sent to the Local Government Commissioners on 4 February 2015, which should help TORPEDO their ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’, and help STOP the Wellington ‘Supercity’?
(This has already been sent to all Mayors and Councillors in the Greater Wellington Region, all MPs and most ‘mainstream’ media).
____________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/open-letteroia-to-local-government-commissioners-stop-the-wellington-supercity/
4 February 2015
URGENT ‘Open Letter’ /OIA request to Local Government Commissioners re: Draft Greater Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
Dear Local Government Commissioners,
Basil Morrison Chairman
Anne Carter Commissioner
Janie Annear Commissioner
Over the Christmas break, I have studied numerous documents pertaining to the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal.
The following is my considered opinion:
1) There should be NO further amalgamations of Councils anywhere in New Zealand, until there is a full, thorough and independent audit of the Auckland ‘Supercity’, (based upon FACTS and EVIDENCE) which confirms how ‘cost-effective’ it has really been for the majority of Auckland Council citizens and ratepayers.
I note that in the ‘Application for Local Government Reorganisation – PROPOSAL FOR A UNITARY AUTHORITY WITH LOCAL BOARDS FOR THE WELLINGTON REGION’ – it is stated on page 47:
“The Auckland Council experience and overseas examples strongly suggest that there should be a reasonable expectation of efficiency savings from the creation of a combined Wellington Council.
Opportunities would likely come from the following areas:
* Common administrative and support functions (human resources, procurement, ICT, finance, property management, corporate and executive services)
* Common data management systems and processes
* Common regulatory functions, activities and processes (building consents, resource consents,liquor licensing, dog permits,
and other permits and licensing)
* Streamlined planning processes for resource management, transport planning as well as plans required under the Local
Government Act
* Single ownership of assets and a comprehensive asset management approach
* Services that are delivered at both a regional and local level (economic development and tourism marketing)
* Combined contract for services, for example rubbish collection and road management.
….”
______________________________________________________________________________________
OIA REQUEST 1:
PLEASE PROVIDE THE EVIDENCE UPON WHICH YOU LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONERS ARE RELYING / HAVE RELIED UPON IN ORDER TO BE ‘SATISFIED’ WITH THAT THIS ABOVE-MENTIONED STATEMENT IS FACTUALLY ACCURATE:
______________________________________________________________________________________
2) In my considered opinion, this ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’ is fundamentally flawed, and this process should cease forthwith, because the public are not being given detailed FACTS or INFORMATION showing exactly where Councils in the Greater Wellington region are currently spending citizens and ratepayers public monies on Council services and regulatory functions.
This information is needed in order to establish a factual datum, upon which to measure current or future ‘cost-effectiveness’ in the provision of Council services and regulatory functions. There is no information of this type in the Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal, so the public simply cannot make an ‘informed’ submission.
Please be reminded of your statutory duties arising from the Local Government Act 2002, regarding your ‘Draft Wellington Reorganisation Proposal’:
(Please note that the underlining of particular sections of this legislation is mine).
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2002/0084/latest/DLM171803.html
Subpart 1—Purpose of local government
10Purpose of local government
(1)The purpose of local government is—
(a)to enable democratic local decision-making and action by, and on behalf of, communities; and
(b)to meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses.
(2)In this Act, good-quality, in relation to local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions, means infrastructure, services, and performance that are—
(a)efficient; and
(b)effective; and
(c)appropriate to present and anticipated future circumstances.
………………………..
______________________________________________________________________________________
(That’s just the start ……… )
There are some hours of (unpaid) work that have gone into this document, which contains research that, to my knowledge, no one else has done.
Having carefully checked the websites for each of the nine Councils which make up the Greater Wellington Region, I have compiled a total of 146 possible Council services and Regulatory Functions, and have provided a ‘Transparency Template’ so that a ‘snapshot’ can be taken of which are currently provided ‘in-house’, by Councils Controlled Organisations (CCOs), or have been ‘contracted out’ to the private sector.
Next, are a series of questions which are to confirm, on an individual Council service or Regulatory Function basis, how the current costs can be quantified, and compared across the Greater Wellington Region, comparing ‘apples with apples’ – as it were.
eg: How is the current Council service of ‘Dog Control’ being applied over the Greater Wellington Region?
How is ‘Dog Control’ carried out in the Kapiti District Council? Carterton District Council? Wellington City Council?
Who exactly is providing this service? How is it being provided? How much is it costing? What are the charges?
Given that the purported purpose of these Council ‘amalgamations’ is supposed to be to provide more ‘cost-effective’ solutions – how on earth can that be established if you don’t know exactly what the are the CURRENT costs for providing these Council services and Regulatory Functions?
These ‘Transparency Templates’ which I have provided, and full credit to my friend and fellow ‘anti-corruption whistle-blower’ colleague Grace Haden who helped with the formatting, will help citizens and ratepayers find out EXACTLY where rates monies are being spent.
The question is – why is it that that this information is not already available for public scrutiny – given the current legislative requirements for ‘open, transparent. and democratically accountable’ local government.
Be interested in your feedback.
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz
Some Sunday weeding for felix updated from the April 29 2011 undesirable plant catalogue.
2015 Political Weeds
Sabinus Sabine, or Northland Knockweed, came late to the government’s attention as a potential hazard to be eradicated. It is such a pest that even its home nursery disowns it, and the common garden slater eschews it. Signs of it are still to be seen in its northern habitat, and the blue-clad pest eradicators are yet to arrest its development though they are strongly rumoured to have advised the government of its errant proclivities which they are currently investigating.
Natio Diversionalis is at times planted by the PM and was last seen on Waitangi Day when it was flown (sorry,grown!) on the Marae. It resembles a Flag Iris when in full bloom and usually accompanies militaristic displays of nationalism. it is likely to replace the white feather given to shirkers such as those who oppose the transmission of troops overseas.
Smithus Smithus var Stuartus (to distinguish from the Nelson cultivar var. Nickus), known in the Kaikoura region as the Marlborough Doosy, is another new weed in the political landscape. It seeks to be a companion plant for grape vines but its pre-selection promises of removing costs to the wine industry have shown little value despite self-promoting displays and an outwardly pleasant appearance..
Smithus Smithus var. Nickus is a plant of florid appearance which has had a singularly poor performance in cleaning up New Zealand’s waterways. A recent outbreak of paralysis causing organisms in Tory Channel has Smithus Nickus in a twist.
Smithus var. Nickus has been responsible for the gradual degrading of a once popular and widespread plant, very useful in providing shelter. Domusdomesticus Socialis is now being progressively sold off by the government which hopes that 5000 kiwis currently sheltering under its canopy will move on to other habitat. These could include under bridges, bus shelters, and garages.
The government has a dualistic view of this 70,000 strong planting. It used to be grown in clumps, then was spread like grains from a pepperpot, and now is being offered to religious groups to tend, with donations of additional fertiliser from the government.
This government says on one hand that there is no problem with its growth and spread and on the other hand wishes to enact regulations to allow its selective spread only by known corporative propagators and friends.
Much of the Kiwis’ former habitat is now prized by invasive species such as Unus Percentus and similar free-loading off-shore varieties. Coastal, mountain, lake and artificial waterways and other locations of prime value are to be denied to native kiwis species by the newly changed RMA, or Render unto Mammon Act.
Instead, unus percents, banksia australis and refugees from the spread of overseas feared Climatus Morphusglobalis and its attendant Holocaustus species are to be allowed unfettered planting rights such as are available now in Hawaii and other Friendly Society Island groups.
Holocaustus species which arise in the ashes of nuclear, environmental or other largely man-made catastrophes are definitely on the upwards growth, powered by rising global temperatures and peculiar conditions such as are found in the Ukraine (holocaustus var. putiniensis), China (var. pollutionis which can reach densities of 650 plants per square metre and are easily seen in the air producing choking and breathing problems), and the Middle East (var. Isis Obamatremens which grows best under a crescent moon).
Unus Percentus, which itself caused a global catastrophe in 2008 and by cutbacks afterwards in other species, greatly fears a severe pruning, and even removal of excess nutrient-accumulation by leaf stripping as promised in Greece, Spain and other under-irrigated areas.
Examination of overseas-held seed banks and occupation of land by rogue unus percentus sub-species such as Mafia Muscova, Donus Sicilianus, red or yellow flowering three petalled Gangtze Chinensis, and tea-leafed Capitalis Americanus in New Zealand is also a possibility in the red-dawned future. However, current NZ government-encouraged growing conditions, abetted by local nutrient-robbing weeds, precludes this for at least two more summers of discontent.
Excellent, Macrophage-1
Great analysis Mac1!
Do the Jews in Germany have the Right to defend themselves?
Imagine a U.S. spokesperson, in 1938, asked to comment on the events of Kristallnacht, saying to a Jewish journalist: “There is violence and back and forth.” Something like that happened at the grotesque and surreal Theatre of the Absurd known as the White House Daily Press Briefing on July 8, 2014….
JEN PSAKI: Israel have the right to defend themselves.
REPORTER: Do you think that the Palestinians in Gaza have the right to defend themselves?
JEN PSAKI: Errrrr, I think—I— I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Said.
REPORTER: I am asking you: Do they have the right to defend themselves against Israeli aggression?
JEN PSAKI: What are you specifically referring to? Is there a specific event or a specific occurrence?
REPORTER: Do they have the right to respond to Israeli rocketing and bombing their homes, their houses, their areas, their schools?”
……..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZI3UfatCyo
“The strong difference between rocket attacks and Israel s air raids ” is that the rockets are sent buy the poor and dispossessed and the rockets come from the, to the palestinians eyes invaders.
Said needs an award for bravery.
Said needs an award for bravery.
I think it’s more the case that the other reporters, who carefully maintained blank expressions and left him isolated, need to be presented with an award for cowardice. A white feather perhaps?
Meanwhile, the lightweights of the American media continue to insult the intelligence of their viewers….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vII4e99ugbc
If you’d walked into scores and scores and scores of thousands of New Zealand homes in August 2014, the occasion of the last biennial shooting-fish-in-a-barrel exercise by NatziYahoo and the IDF against Gaza, you’d have seen this: hundreds of thousands of thick slobs and aresholes sitting on their tatty sofas, watching TVOne/TV3News reporting about the “militants” of Gaza. You watch……the picture will be no less gross in two years or less hence.
You’d have seen also these same thick slobs and arseholes sagely remarking through mouthsful of semi-masticated ‘pork’ sausage and mash, “Well, if they’d stop firing those rockets…….”.
That is what a vast number of New Zealanders have become…….unempathetic, reflexively cruel bastards. A Palestinian mother and father whose 4 children under 12 have just been wasted when their apartment exploded under fire from a US made fighter jet…….”well, if only they’d stop firing those rockets.”
Score in the August 2014 firing of rockets from Gaza – 6 civilians if that.
Score in the August 2014 biennial shooting-fish-in-a-barrel exercise by Zionist Israel – well over 1,500 civilians, 500 plus of them children.
Ask yourselves you ‘pork’ sausage waisted, minded, moralled, bastards ! For whom we can read White House spokesperson Jen Psaki. Whose employer the US of A pays to NatziYahoo an annual $US3,000,000,000 – three thousand million US dollars – in military aid. Hope you and Mr Obama are satisfied you’re getting good bang for your buck there Psaki…….
That is what a vast number of New Zealanders have become……. unempathetic, reflexively cruel bastards. A Palestinian mother and father whose 4 children under 12 have just been wasted when their apartment exploded under fire from a US made fighter jet…….”well, if only they’d stop firing those rockets.”
Actually, North, I don’t believe most people are that cruel. I have not met many people at all that endorse the mass slaughter that we all witnessed last July. Even politicians like Phil Goff, who feel compelled to say with a straight face that the aggressors and mass murderers “have the right to defend themselves” will not keep up that absurd line if they are challenged. That’s not the case, however, with the small gang of moral cowards, illiterates and nincompoops that dominate the media; on television, radio and in the Op-Ed pages of the major papers, morality is as non-existent as professionalism or fairness and balance.
And yes, any number of “thick slobs” do indeed reflexively repeat what they’ve heard the likes of Larry “Lackwit” Williams and his cast of grotesques on NewstalkZB saying—but that’s not serious thinking, and it disappears whenever a reasonable person is (politely and respectfully) challenged.
I’m not entirely convinced Morrissey. Have a look at Facebook during the ‘sport’ seen in August 2014. It hasn’t gone quite as far as death threats but I’ve had promises of GBH from total strangers via FB message. This from mullet-coiffed, ‘good-decent-tell-it-like-it-is-joker’ pork munchers. Oh yes one fascist disporting himself as an associate-professor-of-business as well. You’d be a goner Morrissey !
I know what you mean, my friend. Israel’s most rabid backers, from Dame Lesley Max to the unhinged Waikato professor Dov Bing, are ruthless in the extreme. But they are definitely a tiny rabid fringe. Most people are not like them, even if they are often too afraid to contradict them.
And please be careful out there North—it’s not worth endangering yourself in the face of someone who will not listen or think.
John Key booed at the Big Gay Out. Good!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/65921438/mixed-reception-for-prime-minister-john-key-at-aucklands-big-gay-out
awwww.
poor widdle tory needed an MC to defend him.
Overheard observation from a mature member of a group of people resident but not born in New Zealand – “Dat Mitta Gee……I tink heese a pit of a kirl……” – the reporting of which is completely silly of course and should raise hackles……but bloody funny to hear !
On TV the other night saw the dork mincing his way down a catwalk clad in Rugby World Cup volunteers’ gear from a few years ago. Well !
I cannot help but applaud the mature member of a group of people resident but not born in New Zealand for his powers of observation !
TheSodKey at BGO – “But we’ve turned that around. I voted for gay marriage”. Weird phrasing Johnny but that aside, isn’t he lying AGAIN…….or was it the so-called anti-smacking bill or civil union he semi-floated he’d not voted for, during the BBVG (BigBullshitVoteGrease) in South Auckland, accompanied by a rather embarrassed looking PesetaSamBoy ?
Whatever, the bastard can’t help himself ! Poor Bronagh…….limo’ drops him off in Parnell after a long week of telling lies down in Wellington……”Hello John Key, I’ve missed you so much !” – “WTF are you on about woman……my name’s Barack Churchill…….don’t touch me !”
And in the I didn’t think National could get any more creepy department, the striking difference between National and Labour at the BGO.
https://twitter.com/CraigTRobertson/status/564267037363810305
Very revealing. They are actually in love with the creep.
Would love to see some FJK badges.
Today my partner and I decided to go on a Sunday drive, walk the dog. My partner suggested taking a fishing rod as she was sick of the bait in the freezer. I checked the Maori fishing calander which said excellent day with bite time 3.30-5.30 pm. off we went to a place not too far only 10 minutes drive. There is a jetty close to the channel and the road is quiet to walk a excitable young King of toys dog. There were a 3 elderly folks fishing and a dozen kids jumping off the jetty swimming. Spoke to the people fishing who had caught one keeper early on before the kids had arrived. So we took the dog for a walk for an hour. About 3pm the kids buggered off so set up fishing. The fish were nibbling pretty much straight away, we all hooked up and landed a few just under the 30cm limit, sadly some released floated to the surface. Which seems such a waste. You would think you could keep them if they die, I would far rather have a size limit on big fish as their the breeding stock. My partner gave up bored and headed to the car, I said I’m nearly out of bait and wouldnt be long. With my last bit of squid I baited my 2 hooks and cast, bang got a good strike, reeling in I landed 2 pan size snapper measuring 42 and 50 cm. I bagged them walked to the car jumped in and said its never over till the baits gone. 🙂 baked snapper for dinner which is ready now.
Nice to read story Skinny but should have been on Weekend Social. 🙂
Sorry it was a haste post as I was being eye balled about over cooking the fish, which since I’m the head cook was silly, it was baked to perfection.
It has a political theme, my point is the raising of legal size of fish you can keep, especially for land/surfcasting 30 cm is silly, I mean I saw 4 fish just under 30 cm and over the old size of 27cm die today. Boat fishing I can understand but land based no, its hard work and the fish get knocked about so its harder for them to survive.
interesting fact is that fish have central nervous systems very similar to humans..
..so if you can imagine a hook going thru yr cheek..
..and then being dragged by that hook..thru the water..
..then to be dragged out of the water..to either suffocate..
..or to have yr skull bashed in..
..you’ll get/have some idea of the amount of pain the fish suffer..
..but i guess meat/fish-eaters know how much pain/suffering they cause..
..just to get that ‘tastes good’..eh..?
..so i guess it just doesn’t bother them in the slightest…
..and it is such a nice day out..isn’t it..?..
..(except for the fish..of course..eh..?..)
It’s never pleasant having to do the hunter gatherer thing Phil. I feel guilty taking a knife to garden veggies, you can almost here them scream.
really..?
..the screaming-vegetables carnivore-cliche/excuse is all you’ve got..?
..it is pretty defenceless tho..eh..?
..if you think about it for more than a nano-second..
..and of course with pigs and the like..
..they really do scream..eh..?
..not just pretend-vegetable scream..eh..?
..and i guess if fish could scream..
..you wd definitely hear that as you pulled them out of their world..
..eh..?
..wot with that hook in/thru their mouth..and all..eh..?
..lucky they only gasp..eh..?
..screams wd mar that ‘nice day out’ so..eh..?
I’m serious I feel the same way for plants the way you feel for animals. I worry for my plants on a really hot day knowing their wilting in the hot sun.
Plant have feelings too ya know.
“..having to do the hunter gatherer thing..’
..what a pile of fresh steaming hose-shit that is..eh..?
no wonder they flap about a bit..eh..?
..the fish…
..i guess you wd too..
..if that was done to you..
..eh..?
Yeah, but I’m sure that, when eaten, both Skinny and the fish would produce less bile and indigestion than you.
got anything else..?
..or is that it..?
..wd b nice if it made some sense..eh..?
..more just an inarticulate-snarl..eh..?
stop flapping.
so no real countering-arguments or anything..eh..?
..well..there aren’t any really..are there..
..so i guess ad-homs r all you’ve got..eh..?
..what’s next..?
..are we gonna escalate to nyah..!..nyah..!..?
countering-argument surely implies an argument to respond to?
here’s the argument..
..why do you hurt animals..?
..when you don’t need to..
..(i’ll leave you with that thought..)
That’s actually a question which rests on several assumptions.
I suppose the most relevant answer in this instance, temporarily granting as fact all the assumptions in your question, is “because it’s more fun than tofu”.
Look what you have done to me now! I just finished writing and posting a raw fish recipe! You have made me think a lot now! Oh, dear!
“..You have made me think a lot now! Oh, dear!..”
..that’s good..that’s what i am trying to do…
..many reading that wd still believe the myth that ‘fish don’t feel pain’..
..and the thing is with knowledge/awareness..
..once you have it..you may ignore it..
..but it still sits there..nagging away..
..(a bit like me..really..)
How I envy you Skinny both in the catching and the eating, two in the one cast. You must have a larger than usual size pans. Those are good sized schnapper !
Which makes what I’m about to ply you with pretty tasteless behaviour on my part but I’d already done the Right/Click/Copy exercise so might as well.
Sarah Palin re the “liberal” Pope and Sarah Palin re Christie’s waste line – wonder what the worked gargoyle would’ve said about FDR.
Poor Amerika !
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/#r/archive/segment/52839899fe34444ea5000206?cps=gravity_3831_-1162663177255025467
Good life!
An American friend of mine and his Kiribati wife introduced me to the deliciousness of Kiribati style raw tuna fish marinated in salt and vinegar, then washed, squeezed and prepared with a few other choice ingredients. Amazing taste. This dish and its preparation is quite different from the raw fish dish of other pacific islands. The dish tastes and feels like the fish is well cooked! Actually, it is in a way, being chemically cooked in salt+vinegar! This works very well with some other firm fish too, including snapper.
If you are keen to know how exactly to do this, reply here and I will be happy to describe the recipe and method.
Yes please Clem you have my taste buds going, quiet day on open mike anyways lol.
My as well talk food.
Ok, Here is the way my friends who are an American-Kiribati couple and I do raw fish. I describe it as chemically cooked fish (CC Fish; See See Fish) rather than raw for the squeamish!
A MUST try delicacy!
First, I will now name this highly recommended recipe….Ta da…
RAWKIRI-CLEMPIN-FISHDISH :
* Definitely Serves 5 to15 depending upon how much one serves on one’s plate!
* or usable for several little meals/snacks for a day or two or three, if refrigerated.
* Good for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner or as a healthy mid-night or any time snack!
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YOU WILL NEED:
Fish, Coconut cream, Salt, White vinegar, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Onion -mainly.
Optional : Capsicum, Carrrot, Chives/Parsley/Lettuce, Lime/Lemon.
INGREDIENTS LIST 1 :
NOTE : The measurements are approximate and variable up or down as convenient.
* FISH : 2 kg
Preferably firm fish such as
Tuna, Snapper, Tarakihi, Kahawai, Kingfish,
Salmon, Groper, Gurnard, Halibut, Warehou, John Dory etc
[P.S : I have tried the first five only]
* SALT : About 1/4 Kg
Don’t panic! We will remove all or most of the salt later during preparation.
* WHITE VINEGAR : About 1/2 to 1 litre , enough to cover cut fish pieces in a bowl.
Again, Don’t panic! We will remove most of the vinegar later during preparation!
* COCONUT CREAM : 2 or 3 or may be even 4 cans or about 1 litre.
You’ll need to judge later by eyeballing/taste test in step 7 of procedure.
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INGREDIENTS LIST 2 :
NOTE :
The following items should all together make up ABOUT half or slightly less than half the quantity of fish. Max 750g or1 kg in this case as fish used here is about 2 Kgs. Do not avoid the first three items marked with two stars **
** CUCUMBER : 1/4 or more of (telegraph) cucumber or 1 cup,
cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Judge quantity per taste later, but must have item!
** RIPE RED TOMATOES : 2 medium size or 1 cup
cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. May need 3 if small. Judge later.
** ONION : 1 medium size or 1 cup. Definitely red onion if possible.
Cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Use 2 if small. Again, do taste test later.
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* CAPSICUM : (OPTIONAL), 1/2 to 1 cup, cut in small 1/2 cm cubes. Green and/or yellow adds colour to dish.
* CARROT : (OPTIONAL), 1/2 cup grated or cut tiny 1/4 or 1/2 cm.
* CHIVES or PARSLEY or LETTUCE : (Any one, but OPTIONAL), 2 TABLE spoons, cut small 1/4 or 1/2 cm.
* LIME ZEST (OPTIONAL), thin green outer layer of lime peel, 2 tea spoons, grated
* LIME or LEMON : 1 (You may or may not need this as per taste later)
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PROCEDURE :
STEP 1 :
Wash your hands well in soap. Rinse the fish. Remove skin of fish and fish bones and cut into 1 cm sized cubes. While cutting, keep putting the pieces into a bowl. When a layer of fish forms in the bowl, scatter a handful of salt over it. Repeat this for several layers until the fish is finished. Mix the fish pieces and salt a little to ensure all pieces are well covered in salt. I use my hands for this. Leave it for 5 to 10 minutes. Have a cuppa or a beer or make love or whatever. (Optional)
STEP 2 :
Pour vinegar into the bowl to cover the fish pieces. Give it a mix with a spoon or your clean hands. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Good to leave it up to 5 hours to cook well chemically in salt and vinegar.
STEP 3 :
While the fish is marinading and getting mysteriously cooked, prepare the cleaning and cutting of the ingredients (those that you will be using) from list 2 above.
STEP 4 : [Important step]
(a) After the 2 to 5 hours, drain the liquid from the fish bowl. I do this either by using a colander or by simply covering the bowl with a plate and draining the liquid into the sink.
(b) Now WASH the fish pieces with your hands using cold running water from the tap.
(c) Drain the water again as before. Squeeze a handful of fish and place it in another bowl. Do this until you have squeezed handfuls and transferred all the
fish into this new bowl.
(d) REPEAT this washing, draining, squeezing (WDS, unlike the WMDs) routine at least THREE times. FIVE times will be better. The idea is to remove MOST of the salt and vinegar and also to make the fish nice and soft to eat. Do a taste test : Take a piece of fish and eat it. It should not be TOO salty or TOO sour. If it is, repeat the WDS routine 1 or 2 more times. If it is a little salty and sour, do not worry too much because when we add the other stuff, the taste and composition will come right.
STEP 5 :
Add a can or two of coconut cream into the bowl of fish to cover the pieces well.
STEP 6 :
Add all the cut ingredients of list 2 that you prepared in step 3, into the fish bowl.
STEP 7:
(a) Give it a good mix using a spoon.
(b) Add more coconut cream if it is not covering the contents in the bowl well.
(c) Make and add more of ingredients from list 3 (except lime) if you feel you must.
(d) Do a taste test and see if you think you may need to add more salt or lime juice. Do NOT add salt or lime just yet.
(e) Cover and keep the bowl in fridge for half an hour. 1 to 2 hours is better.
(f) Do another taste test. This time, if you fancy more salt or lime, feel free to add but very tiny amounts each time. Keep tasting and adding tiny amounts until the dish tastes yummy and you are happy.
STEP 8 :
Serve cold. Normally, as an special extra course or as a side dish.
STEP 9 :
Cover any left over with glad wrap and refrigerate. Will keep good for at least three days in the fridge.
STEP 10:
Enjoy and share or Share and enjoy!
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CORRECTION :
7 (c) should read,
‘Make and add more of ingredients from list 2 (except lime) if you feel you must’ [Not list 3 ]
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And sorry, I could not post the recipe earlier in the evening as I was away and busy. Then it took me considerable time to write this recipe from scratch! It made me realise it isn’t as easy as it seems!
Please let me know if I have made any more errors or if my description is not clear.
Cheers Clem looks delicious have saved recipe thanks cobbah much apreiated dude!
I agree that it would be better to have an upper size limit, maybe something like 5kg. They start to be valuable breeders at about 2kg, as far as I know. They get more valuable as they get older. I’ve caught the best fish of the day a few times on the last bait.
I agree a 25+ year old fish is far better too be left as breeding stock, they are not as good to eat 20 pound upwards they become flakey.
Catching 2 on my last cast is a first for me, gave me a good buzz, as some wisecrack fellow watching said looks like its fish & chips for ya dinner on the way home as I said last go. Less then 60 seconds later I hauled in my catch. I winked at him walking off with my booty.
Going to go back on dusk during the week, the recent storm has stirred up the food chain and the swell is up too, and cloud cover is good.
Don’t the corporate and rich dude created callous river pollution contaminate the fish?
Liars of Our Time
No. 46: JULIA GILLARD
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—JULIA GILLARD, straight-faced, vile on ABC Television, 14 March 2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1q9eqhT5UM
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11112014/#comment-924196
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09102014/#comment-907232
Liars of Our Time
No. 48: JIM MORA
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The studio fills with the sound of Tony Doe singing his new single “How Do You Embrace the Earth?”
JIM MORA: Well DONE.
TONY DOE: [modestly] So yeah. Pleased to be able to get it out to a wider audience.
JIM MORA: Fantastic! I’ll have a listen to the full version after The Panel.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—JIM MORA, The Panel, Radio NZ National, 3:35 p.m., Wednesday 18 February 2015
Liar No.47 Simon Mercep: ““Coming up in a few minutes, The Panel. …. Whoever they are, quality broadcasting will ensue.”
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18022015/#comment-970927
Liar No. 46 Julia Gillard: “I have got a lot of respect for people who whistle-blow, ummm….” http://thestandard.org.nz/ope-mike-08022015/#comment-965394
Liar No. 45 Zara Potts: “Sir Bob Geldof has assembled the best of modern musicians for this year’s record, including Ed Sheeran and One Direction.” http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11112014/#comment-924196
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09102014/#comment-907232