I keep seeing reports in the MSM about Kiwi successes in the Paralympics. Yet none of the games seem to be shown on FTA TV….. is it on somewhere/time I’ve missed?
It might have been different if the Paralympics was before the Olympics, ie part of the buildup, rather than an afterthought. Or if Sky didn’t have such an unassailable monopoly on live sport in general.
Stuff is indulging in a bit of a Hillz love fest this morning, as Hillary gets a photo op with some patriotic US nuns (I guess the US-ians really are the chosen people!), and everyone dances lightly around the central issue of the China-US tension within the Pacific:
China doesn’t seem to have a problem with it http://goo.gl/HSLis
I’m not sure why you have a problem with it Lanthanide, are you offended on behalf of China? It would be presumptuous if you are.
In simplistic terms, the Washington Declaration signaled to the Chinese that DC has New Zealand in its pocket. The FBI raid on Megaupload.com boss Kim Dotcom’s residence, on New Zealand soil, underscored that fact, as has this successful move by the US to scuttle the Pacific Fibre venture.
Tell you what unbalanced view, it would help to link to the right page, this tends to give you more credibility. You have linked to Educational inequality page 4. You want page 2.
The link takes me directly to the comment I quoted.
Just trying to fond out what specific numbers the labour banner was referring to.
On the face of it – the banner looks incorrect.
Well you must have mystical powers because it does not when I click on it. You are aware of the difference between a “2” and a “4” don’t you?
And it probably is a waste of time to talk to you about multi year budget allocations and how a nominal increase may actually represent a cut.
And BTW that $35 million extra to private schools that occurred at the same time that well regarded professional training for primary teachers was cut was a particularly silly idea.
Try using the last link I posted – it directs accurately to the specific comment I copied and pasted.
I’m not sure how or why you would want to defend the banner when it seems so clearly wrong. I came here to see if anyone could explain the sense in it – seems no-one can.
Have you ever heard of “multi year appropriations”?
If you have then check out what will happen in future years and then understand there is indeed a cut.
And while you are at it how about you comment on that $35 million extra to private schools that occurred at the same time that well regarded professional training for primary teachers was cut.
My first link correctly links to a page that the banner I referred to is on.
Perhaps next time I should just spell it out to save you the difficulty of being so confused.
Ahh – so it’s a play on words – there is actually NO cut from previous spending – just a cut from proposed increased spending.
So as I understand it, National has increased education spending by 24% since the last Labour government, yet Nanaia Mahuta and David Shearer post a banner claiming it’s been cut. At the very least this is misleading. I think it’s dishonest.
Does anyone know the annual public cost per student at private schools, and how that relates to those at public schools?
You cherry pick data. At a time where many talented young people stay on at university and rolls are at an all time high more is being spent. What a surprise.
How about you go and get the 2008 projected figures and compare them to the latest budget’s figures and we then have an argument.
This is a really silly proposition. Put up all the figures and show the reductions and we can then have an argument.
The data that was posted showed increases across early childhood, primary, and secondary.
No mention of tertiary.
And now you want to compare a projected figure against an actual? I would call that sowing confusion.
Just in case you were beginning to think rich people were deeply misunderstood and that they feel the pain of those who are less fortunate, here’s the world’s wealthiest woman, Australian mining tycoon Gina Rinehart, with some helpful advice. – LA Times
It’s a pity most of those memes attack her appearance. Her true ugliness is her attitude and behaviour. That said -I am totally stealing one – let them eat bread, I ate the cake will be perfect for a picture of Key I have.
The uglinees of her attitude and behavior is surpassed only by the ugliness of her poetry. Translated of course from the original Vogon, her first language:
Our Future
The globe is sadly groaning with debt, poverty and strife
And billions now are pleading to enjoy a better life
Their hope lies with resources buried deep within the earth
And the enterprise and capital which give each project worth
Is our future threatened with massive debts run up by political hacks
Who dig themselves out by unleashing rampant tax
The end result is sending Australian investment, growth and jobs offshore
This type of direction is harmful to our core
Some envious unthinking people have been conned
To think prosperity is created by waving a magic wand
Through such unfortunate ignorance, too much abuse is hurled
Against miners, workers and related industries who strive to build the world
Develop North Australia, embrace multiculturalism and welcome short term foreign workers to our shores
To benefit from the export of our minerals and ores
The world’s poor need our resources: do not leave them to their fate
Our nation needs special economic zones and wiser government, before it is too late
The woman is an idiot. She lectures the poor on how their state is because they do not work hard enough or have the odd beer yet she inherited her wealth.
She is wealthy only through luck, not through any merit.
She is the classic example of why there should be estate taxes.
“That complaining and moaning about others success doesn’t generate any of your own”
That’s an interesting interpretation. I don’t think she intended to be so benign.
She was saying more than the problem was “complaining & moaning”. She was saying that those who complain and moan were feckless, indolent wastrels.
She then went on to infer that there was a cause and effect process.
Hard work + investment leads to wealth. Not so simple.
Then add to that the hypocrisy of her own position and history.
Lots of people work hard and are enterprising and yet don’t get the hourly return she does.
She didn’t have to work hard to get the capital that gave her an advantage.
A shit load of money can breed a shit load more.
It opens up investment and capital injections the likes of which an SME owner can only dream of.
Beside, what’s her day like? How much socialising, drinking, and smoking does she do. I bet she doesn’t rise early to open the shop, schlep for supplies, serve customers, manage staff, take deliveries – only to return home to spend the evening processing the invoices, PAYE & GST, payroll, rates, bank accounts. Then start again in the morning. All the time wondering if you will lose your house if you can’t make enough to pay the mortgage you took out to start the business.
Most likely her job requires her to socialise, eat, drink and be merry and get paid for at the same time!
She talks about anti-government policies yet she gets to extract resources from the land for a song and then complains when other Australians want to tax her for plundering their non-renewable resources.
She talks about creating jobs and yet she is the one who wants to import cheaper foreign workers. Create jobs, yeah for who?
“Lower taxes” and “cut wages” are the regurgitated mantra of the right – yet when they happen we don’t get the promised results.
We are told by this class of people that their businesses would thrive if only we could reduce government “interference”. Yet, NZ is, according to the OECD, the third easiest country in the world in which to do business.
So….they can’t make their business thrive in that environment? Perhaps there are other reasons? Perhaps they need to look to themselves.
Or are they just regurgitating the group-think-education they got at the last business leaders dinner?
Forgot to mention – on the subject of creating jobs. The mining industry is already moving to automating and remotely controlling the mining process. Creating jobs? Yeah, Right!
The vehicle should be confiscated, his license cancelled permanently. He can ride a push bike the rest of his life – the exercise would do him good, he’s a skinny looking runt.
Then like all those useless good for nothings he plays the “I’m a parent raising a child” card. Too bad he has bred, imagine what a drop kick that kid will turn out to be with parenting like that.
Graham should be in the slammer, his wealth confiscated.
Yeah I read that one in the NZHerald this morning.
But who knows what the altercation was about? I’ve crossed a few super jerks in my time and if they had stood in front of my car and started vandalising it…
“What we’re looking at is more capacity for take-down orders.”
Fair enough.
“She recently described New Zealand as “small, nasty and vindictive,” which sparked a vicious onslaught on Twitter.”
So she can dish it out, but runs into the corner and cries when she gets it back. 🙄
“Melbourne’s Monash University suspended staff member Tanya Heti who tweeted Dawson, saying “on behalf of NZ we would like you to please go hang yourself”.”
Oh oh looks like someone’s in big trouble now.
I’ve lost count the number of times online I’ve been told to go do something harmful or sexually bizarre to myself. I didn’t cry about it.
“make it an offence to incite a person to commit suicide and to legislate against obscene or menacing comments on the internet or in emails or text messages.”
So she can dish it out, but runs into the corner and cries when she gets it back.
I suspect that you fail to understand the concept of scale. She said one line and got back thousands over the period of hours. Sure, she shouldn’t have said it but that doesn’t excuse the behaviour of the thousands of people who attacked her.
That’s a bit extreme isn’t it?
Nope, it’s been that way for the telephone for decades and threatening people is a criminal offence and it shouldn’t matter how it’s delivered.
It seems rather self defeating for New Zealanders (whom I assume it must be) to punish someone for saying that NZ is “small, nasty and vindictive” by barraging them with small, nasty and vindictive messages.
As someone who suffers from depression, a friends of many, and having work in the community support for people far worse off than me, I find it offensive the tone of your comment
Had to be carted off to the funny farm.
She wasn’t. She was taken to hospital after a supposed suicide attempt.
Dawson has publicly discussed her struggle with depression and suicide. For someone (this Melbourne person) to knowingly send those tweets shows just how ugly those people could be.
Add to that there were those who didn’t even know who she was as there was an organised effort on one of the Chans.
So a shit storm descended on someone who was vulnerable and for whom that very vulnerability compelled her to respond when she should have left it alone.
I’ve lost count the number of times online I’ve been told to go do something harmful or sexually bizarre
You know, what we really need to be able to do with these boards that do stupid things (like closing rail lines) is be able to fire them for incompetence.
BTW, the spelling mistake came from a copy/paste from the ZB website.
In terms of weekly equivalised expenditure, the Low economic resource households spent $A10 a week on alcoholic beverages (1.9 per cent of their total spending) whereas the rest of the population spent $A21 a week on alcoholic beverages (2.4 per cent of their budget).
When it comes to this academic discipline, it seems that if you are a specialist in public sector food-poisoning surveillance or possess a zoology doctorate on sexual selection in pheasants, editors will seek your contrarian views more avidly than if you have qualifications in climate science and a lifetime’s professional expertise. The press is further littered with climate “heretics” almost all of whom have academic backgrounds in history, literature, and the classics with a diploma in media studies. (All these examples are true.) One botanist trying to argue that glaciers were advancing took his data (described as simply false by the World Glacier Monitoring Service) from a former architect.
And that is reasonably true. Why else does Lord Monckton or the Climate Science Coalition get air time about climate change? None of them are climatologists.
The Anti-Empire Report
September 1st, 2012
by WILLIAM BLUM
Louis XVI needed a revolution, Napoleon needed two historic military defeats, the Spanish Empire in the New World needed multiple revolutions, the Russian Czar needed a communist revolution, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires needed World War I, the Third Reich needed World War II, the Land of the Rising Sun needed two atomic bombs, the Portuguese Empire in Africa needed a military coup at home. What will the American Empire need?
Perhaps losing the long-held admiration and support of one group of people after another, one country after another, as the empire’s wars, bombings, occupations, torture, and lies eat away at the facade of a beloved and legendary “America”; an empire unlike any other in history, that has intervened seriously and grievously, in war and in peace, in most countries on the planet, as it preached to the world that the American Way of Life was a shining example for all humanity and that America above all was needed to lead the world.
The Wikileaks documents and videos have provided one humiliation after another … lies exposed, political manipulations revealed, gross hypocrisies, murders in cold blood, … followed by the torture of Bradley Manning and the persecution of Julian Assange. Washington calls the revelations “threats to national security”, but the world can well see it’s simply plain old embarrassment. Manning’s defense attorneys have asked the military court on several occasions to specify the exact harm done to national security. The court has never given an answer. If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, consider an empire embarrassed.
And we now have the international soap opera, L’Affaire Assange, starring Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ecuador, and Julian Assange. The United States’ neo-colonies of Sweden (an active warring member of NATO in all but name) and the United Kingdom (with its “special relationship” to the United States) know what is expected of them to earn a pat on the head from their Washington uncle. We can infer that Sweden has no legitimate reason to demand the extradition of Julian Assange from London from the fact that it has repeatedly refused offers to question Assange in the UK and repeatedly refused to explain why it has refused to do so.
The Brits, under “immense pressure from the Obama administration”, as reported to former British ambassador Craig Murray by the UK Foreign Office,2 threatened, in a letter to the Ecuadoran government….
We built it
God
Obamacare
A personal story of a “hard working father made good”
Back on track
Steer this country…
Lies
The next President of the United States_________ [must finish beer – for your own good]
Chanting
Mitt saved the Winter Olympics
Birth Certificate
Tax cuts
Moment of silence/praise for military/public service
Ronald Reagan
Or you see:
Flag lapel pin
Funny hats
Fake smile
A family
Someone in the audience who looks as though they relate to the topic
A black face in the crowd
Ronald Reagan [you have had too many drinks]
What a great movie that would make. In order to save the planet and the human race a group of idealistic Zombie fighters gatecrash a Republican convention to end the rise of the living dead. Blood everywhere as ice picks are put through skulls and decaying heads are separated from shoulders!
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
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 ...
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, ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
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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As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
Asia Pacific Report Two of the global Freedom Flotilla ships are being prepared in Turkey and almost ready for the upcoming humanitarian mission to Gaza. It is expected that the flotilla will include a New Zealand medical team. Kia Ora Gaza is a member of the international Freedom Flotilla Coalition ...
I keep seeing reports in the MSM about Kiwi successes in the Paralympics. Yet none of the games seem to be shown on FTA TV….. is it on somewhere/time I’ve missed?
Sadly, there doesn’t even seem to be a highlights programme on non-Sky Tv, Carol. I guess a few seconds on the news is the most we are going to get.
Thanks, TRP. And UNBELIEVABLE! But I guess that’s the influence of corporatised pay TV for you?
It might have been different if the Paralympics was before the Olympics, ie part of the buildup, rather than an afterthought. Or if Sky didn’t have such an unassailable monopoly on live sport in general.
Or if the mainstream public even gave a damn about it
Stuff is indulging in a bit of a Hillz love fest this morning, as Hillary gets a photo op with some patriotic US nuns (I guess the US-ians really are the chosen people!), and everyone dances lightly around the central issue of the China-US tension within the Pacific:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7593279/Hillary-Clinton-touches-down-for-Pacific-Forum
And the rest of us in the Sth Pacific just seem like pawns in their game.
That’s all anybody else is to empires as they work to pump wealth from other countries to them.
Funny was just gonna link to my two cents worth!
lepta
I bet Key would never say that the US had “growing tentacles” around the world. Yet he obviously didn’t have a problem saying it about China.
China doesn’t seem to have a problem with it http://goo.gl/HSLis
I’m not sure why you have a problem with it Lanthanide, are you offended on behalf of China? It would be presumptuous if you are.
Oh, Beryl, you take the Chinese statement at face value? Really? Given the current US-China tensions in the Asia-Pacific region?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/clinton-in-south-pacific-with-china-in-mind-at-start-of-6-nation-asia-tour/2012/08/31/f1da456e-f3d0-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/mrs-clintons-asia-mission.html
And you expect the Chinese spokesman to say explicitly that they are p**sed off with Key and Clinton?
Sold by the banker.
Selwyn Manning; The Pacific Fibre Issue – Has The US Gone Too Far?
In simplistic terms, the Washington Declaration signaled to the Chinese that DC has New Zealand in its pocket. The FBI raid on Megaupload.com boss Kim Dotcom’s residence, on New Zealand soil, underscored that fact, as has this successful move by the US to scuttle the Pacific Fibre venture.
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/08/31/education-inequality-4/#comments
Truth or lies?
“Balanced View” – Truth or lie?
Its on red alert so its safe to assume its a lie.
No, it’s safe to assume that it’s correct.
“2008/09 Budget (Labour’s last)
Early Childhood Education: $897.5m
Primary Education: $2,342.2m
Secondary Education: $1,811.4m
2012/13 Budget (National’s most recent)
Early Childhood Education: $1,378.9m
Primary Education: $2,814.4m
Secondary Education: $2,066.3m
Inflation from Q2 2008 to Q2 2012: 10.1%
National has not cut the schools budget.”
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/08/29/education-inequality-2/comment-page-1/#comment-292943
Gawd one of Cameron’s disciples.
Tell you what unbalanced view, it would help to link to the right page, this tends to give you more credibility. You have linked to Educational inequality page 4. You want page 2.
The link takes me directly to the comment I quoted.
Just trying to fond out what specific numbers the labour banner was referring to.
On the face of it – the banner looks incorrect.
Well you must have mystical powers because it does not when I click on it. You are aware of the difference between a “2” and a “4” don’t you?
And it probably is a waste of time to talk to you about multi year budget allocations and how a nominal increase may actually represent a cut.
And BTW that $35 million extra to private schools that occurred at the same time that well regarded professional training for primary teachers was cut was a particularly silly idea.
Try using the last link I posted – it directs accurately to the specific comment I copied and pasted.
I’m not sure how or why you would want to defend the banner when it seems so clearly wrong. I came here to see if anyone could explain the sense in it – seems no-one can.
OK so your first link was wrong.
Have you ever heard of “multi year appropriations”?
If you have then check out what will happen in future years and then understand there is indeed a cut.
And while you are at it how about you comment on that $35 million extra to private schools that occurred at the same time that well regarded professional training for primary teachers was cut.
My first link correctly links to a page that the banner I referred to is on.
Perhaps next time I should just spell it out to save you the difficulty of being so confused.
Ahh – so it’s a play on words – there is actually NO cut from previous spending – just a cut from proposed increased spending.
So as I understand it, National has increased education spending by 24% since the last Labour government, yet Nanaia Mahuta and David Shearer post a banner claiming it’s been cut. At the very least this is misleading. I think it’s dishonest.
Does anyone know the annual public cost per student at private schools, and how that relates to those at public schools?
You cherry pick data. At a time where many talented young people stay on at university and rolls are at an all time high more is being spent. What a surprise.
How about you go and get the 2008 projected figures and compare them to the latest budget’s figures and we then have an argument.
This is a really silly proposition. Put up all the figures and show the reductions and we can then have an argument.
Unless of course you want to sow confusion.
The data that was posted showed increases across early childhood, primary, and secondary.
No mention of tertiary.
And now you want to compare a projected figure against an actual? I would call that sowing confusion.
Ooh my mistake, one each. Obviously too many wines on a Saturday night.
So have you learned about “multi year appropriations” yet?
Please do and then come back.
She’s already becoming a meme – link
There is an element of truth in what she says though isn’t there
Really? What truth would that be?
It’s a pity most of those memes attack her appearance. Her true ugliness is her attitude and behaviour. That said -I am totally stealing one – let them eat bread, I ate the cake will be perfect for a picture of Key I have.
The uglinees of her attitude and behavior is surpassed only by the ugliness of her poetry. Translated of course from the original Vogon, her first language:
That complaining and moaning about others success doesn’t generate any of your own
The woman is an idiot. She lectures the poor on how their state is because they do not work hard enough or have the odd beer yet she inherited her wealth.
She is wealthy only through luck, not through any merit.
She is the classic example of why there should be estate taxes.
“That complaining and moaning about others success doesn’t generate any of your own”
That’s an interesting interpretation. I don’t think she intended to be so benign.
She was saying more than the problem was “complaining & moaning”. She was saying that those who complain and moan were feckless, indolent wastrels.
She then went on to infer that there was a cause and effect process.
Hard work + investment leads to wealth. Not so simple.
Then add to that the hypocrisy of her own position and history.
Lots of people work hard and are enterprising and yet don’t get the hourly return she does.
She didn’t have to work hard to get the capital that gave her an advantage.
A shit load of money can breed a shit load more.
It opens up investment and capital injections the likes of which an SME owner can only dream of.
Beside, what’s her day like? How much socialising, drinking, and smoking does she do. I bet she doesn’t rise early to open the shop, schlep for supplies, serve customers, manage staff, take deliveries – only to return home to spend the evening processing the invoices, PAYE & GST, payroll, rates, bank accounts. Then start again in the morning. All the time wondering if you will lose your house if you can’t make enough to pay the mortgage you took out to start the business.
Most likely her job requires her to socialise, eat, drink and be merry and get paid for at the same time!
She talks about anti-government policies yet she gets to extract resources from the land for a song and then complains when other Australians want to tax her for plundering their non-renewable resources.
She talks about creating jobs and yet she is the one who wants to import cheaper foreign workers. Create jobs, yeah for who?
“Lower taxes” and “cut wages” are the regurgitated mantra of the right – yet when they happen we don’t get the promised results.
We are told by this class of people that their businesses would thrive if only we could reduce government “interference”. Yet, NZ is, according to the OECD, the third easiest country in the world in which to do business.
So….they can’t make their business thrive in that environment? Perhaps there are other reasons? Perhaps they need to look to themselves.
Or are they just regurgitating the group-think-education they got at the last business leaders dinner?
As difficult as it is, try not to let the messenger cloud the message.
He didn’t.
As difficult as it may be for you, try to understand the criticism.
Forgot to mention – on the subject of creating jobs. The mining industry is already moving to automating and remotely controlling the mining process. Creating jobs? Yeah, Right!
Just ANYTHING could contain än ” element of truth”, so does this make a bad thing alright?
Another disconnect in the Justice system
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10830976
breakers owes $93,000 in fines, has served 760 hours’ community work and once got ticketed six times in one day.
Compared to
Sir Douglas Graham, he was given 300 hours’ community service for his part in a $125 million fraud.”
(Sir Douglas, a former Cabinet minister, was also ordered to pay reparations of $100,000.)
Would it have been too hard for the NZH journo to ask the man why his car was unregistered and unlicenced?
Apparently. Although, looking at the picture it appears to be red stickered which tells us that it’s not up to standard and probably never will be.
The vehicle should be confiscated, his license cancelled permanently. He can ride a push bike the rest of his life – the exercise would do him good, he’s a skinny looking runt.
Then like all those useless good for nothings he plays the “I’m a parent raising a child” card. Too bad he has bred, imagine what a drop kick that kid will turn out to be with parenting like that.
Graham should be in the slammer, his wealth confiscated.
The double standards of our justice system are intolerable.
Yeah I read that one in the NZHerald this morning.
But who knows what the altercation was about? I’ve crossed a few super jerks in my time and if they had stood in front of my car and started vandalising it…
.. you would have driven away from them.
But check this shit* out: A guy with a lot of parking tickets makes you fly into a rage and want to take him off the road forever.
But the guy who runs someone over on purpose you empathise with.
* that’s you btw.
Backing the car away might have been an option, rather than driving forward.
Clark and Dawe on the mining boom
Some small time tv celebrity broke after “”eight hours of unrelenting abuse” on Twit Book. Had to be carted off to the funny farm.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10830997
“What we’re looking at is more capacity for take-down orders.”
Fair enough.
“She recently described New Zealand as “small, nasty and vindictive,” which sparked a vicious onslaught on Twitter.”
So she can dish it out, but runs into the corner and cries when she gets it back. 🙄
“Melbourne’s Monash University suspended staff member Tanya Heti who tweeted Dawson, saying “on behalf of NZ we would like you to please go hang yourself”.”
Oh oh looks like someone’s in big trouble now.
I’ve lost count the number of times online I’ve been told to go do something harmful or sexually bizarre to myself. I didn’t cry about it.
“make it an offence to incite a person to commit suicide and to legislate against obscene or menacing comments on the internet or in emails or text messages.”
That’s a bit extreme isn’t it?
“Had to be carted off to the funny farm….So she can dish it out, but runs into the corner and cries when she gets it back.”
Classy…I hope that comment makes you feel better about yourself?
I suspect that you fail to understand the concept of scale. She said one line and got back thousands over the period of hours. Sure, she shouldn’t have said it but that doesn’t excuse the behaviour of the thousands of people who attacked her.
Nope, it’s been that way for the telephone for decades and threatening people is a criminal offence and it shouldn’t matter how it’s delivered.
It seems rather self defeating for New Zealanders (whom I assume it must be) to punish someone for saying that NZ is “small, nasty and vindictive” by barraging them with small, nasty and vindictive messages.
It did tend to prove her point, didnt it.
As someone who suffers from depression, a friends of many, and having work in the community support for people far worse off than me, I find it offensive the tone of your comment
She wasn’t. She was taken to hospital after a supposed suicide attempt.
Dawson has publicly discussed her struggle with depression and suicide. For someone (this Melbourne person) to knowingly send those tweets shows just how ugly those people could be.
Add to that there were those who didn’t even know who she was as there was an organised effort on one of the Chans.
So a shit storm descended on someone who was vulnerable and for whom that very vulnerability compelled her to respond when she should have left it alone.
After reading your comment I can see why.
Seconded. I couldn’t care less about her ‘celebrity’, but no one deserves the abuse she got. Depression is serious!
Apple lawsuits destroy the Starship Enterprise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAtje5weAU0
Nice , like it.
(From my ipad.)
I also liked the cartoon?, where India was claiming half the returns from the digital world for inventing the 0
Cool. Voices could have been better…
Green Party critisise rail line closure
You know, what we really need to be able to do with these boards that do stupid things (like closing rail lines) is be able to fire them for incompetence.
BTW, the spelling mistake came from a copy/paste from the ZB website.
And what do Labour have to say on the matter?
Why are you asking him? Draco really isn’t that interested in Labour except in the most abstract of ways.
I’d suggest looking at http://labour.org.nz
It was more of a rhetorical question 😉
Drew Hutton’s cautionary tale about the fracking industry in Australia is one worth listening to. http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/lock-gate-in-south.html
Sure, it’s Australian but I doubt the stats are that much different:
Beneficiaries will spend even less.
Don’t give climate change heretics an easy ride
And that is reasonably true. Why else does Lord Monckton or the Climate Science Coalition get air time about climate change? None of them are climatologists.
http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer108.html
The Anti-Empire Report
September 1st, 2012
by WILLIAM BLUM
Louis XVI needed a revolution, Napoleon needed two historic military defeats, the Spanish Empire in the New World needed multiple revolutions, the Russian Czar needed a communist revolution, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires needed World War I, the Third Reich needed World War II, the Land of the Rising Sun needed two atomic bombs, the Portuguese Empire in Africa needed a military coup at home. What will the American Empire need?
Perhaps losing the long-held admiration and support of one group of people after another, one country after another, as the empire’s wars, bombings, occupations, torture, and lies eat away at the facade of a beloved and legendary “America”; an empire unlike any other in history, that has intervened seriously and grievously, in war and in peace, in most countries on the planet, as it preached to the world that the American Way of Life was a shining example for all humanity and that America above all was needed to lead the world.
The Wikileaks documents and videos have provided one humiliation after another … lies exposed, political manipulations revealed, gross hypocrisies, murders in cold blood, … followed by the torture of Bradley Manning and the persecution of Julian Assange. Washington calls the revelations “threats to national security”, but the world can well see it’s simply plain old embarrassment. Manning’s defense attorneys have asked the military court on several occasions to specify the exact harm done to national security. The court has never given an answer. If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, consider an empire embarrassed.
And we now have the international soap opera, L’Affaire Assange, starring Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ecuador, and Julian Assange. The United States’ neo-colonies of Sweden (an active warring member of NATO in all but name) and the United Kingdom (with its “special relationship” to the United States) know what is expected of them to earn a pat on the head from their Washington uncle. We can infer that Sweden has no legitimate reason to demand the extradition of Julian Assange from London from the fact that it has repeatedly refused offers to question Assange in the UK and repeatedly refused to explain why it has refused to do so.
The Brits, under “immense pressure from the Obama administration”, as reported to former British ambassador Craig Murray by the UK Foreign Office,2 threatened, in a letter to the Ecuadoran government….
Read more….
http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer108.html
Something to while away the evening.
Republican National Convention
Drinking Game
You have to have a drink when….
You hear:
We built it
God
Obamacare
A personal story of a “hard working father made good”
Back on track
Steer this country…
Lies
The next President of the United States_________ [must finish beer – for your own good]
Chanting
Mitt saved the Winter Olympics
Birth Certificate
Tax cuts
Moment of silence/praise for military/public service
Ronald Reagan
Or you see:
Flag lapel pin
Funny hats
Fake smile
A family
Someone in the audience who looks as though they relate to the topic
A black face in the crowd
Ronald Reagan [you have had too many drinks]
You also have to have a drink if you hear one of these words used in a pejorative way:
“Liberal”
“Government”
“Immigration”
or if you see one of these waving a Romney/Ryan banner:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VYdRmczF_5Y/T-jdAu9KoTI/AAAAAAAAALU/hSiAa9UYk14/s1600/1065fc177537243433de6d91e1a72304-d4hjx9a.jpg
What a great movie that would make. In order to save the planet and the human race a group of idealistic Zombie fighters gatecrash a Republican convention to end the rise of the living dead. Blood everywhere as ice picks are put through skulls and decaying heads are separated from shoulders!
Actually, just to be serious for a moment, that is exactly what might have to happen. Eastwood looked like he’d just been dug up from the grave.
I wonder how much PAC money that old rat received for the second-most dismal role of his career.
Thanks for that Morrissey. Huge room for thought!