And it looks like they will be fielding a candidate in Dunedin South this time around. Whoops that’s 500 less electorate votes for Clare, in a finger click. Only 3,400 left to go.
Talking to an agent who deals with that end of the market recently and they commented that the current political situation in USA and UK, with the Clinton / Trump choice and Brexit, was stunningly good for business….
Just reading this scary article makes you want to demand a banking transaction tax (and why the UK has capital gains taxes, stamp duties, taxes on taxes, but zero financial transaction taxes). This is the world that John Key made his money in. No wonder there is this .01% mentality and inability to change during the GFC from the banks.
“Top graduates missing out on banking jobs for lacking ‘polish”
That’s happening more and more across all industries. Getting a job is now more about socialisation than about being able to do the job. And the preferred socialisation is being exactly the same as the person hiring you.
We’re seeing the rise of conformity and the conformity is to be a psychopath just like your boss.
Social mobility for the lower and middle classes has stalled. Upper class has not changed, nor will it, by the looks of things in this article. Not really what you expect in 21st century of supposedly classless society. We are going backwards to Victorian times.
If the comments on yahoo’s linked Facebok page is anything to go by, it doesn’t look like the Nats are going to get the kind of vote winning reaction they thought they will get…
Azaelia Mackereth There is no low this shitty government will go to, people with mental illness struggle enough just to get out of bed and function with life as it is, forcing them into a dead end job will just make them worse and then that vicious cycle starts all over again! People without mental health problems like this stupid tart never understand
38 · 23 hrs
5 Replies · 9 hrs
Debbie Jane Lomas oh and another point…mental health patients had plenty of support until you idiots wiped out virtually all the mental health agencies around the country…you are a disgrace….
20 · 16 hrs
Brian McFarland $3.2 million to find jobs for 1,000 people. So the government is going to pay a contractor $3,200 per person to find them a job? Sounds like they have budgeted inefficiencies nicely into the program. Better to just give $3,200 grants to those thousand people to improve their standard of living for a little while.
2 · 10 hrs
Arthur C. Charlton HOW. I may ask. Imported trash is draining the country’s overseas funds and ruining manufacturing jobs. Good luck with that. Please note a real job is not part time. 40 hours please.
13 · Yesterday at 13:50
Atra Dash Bunch of cunts. Bad enough people with mental health problems have issues and these fuckers want them to go back to work. This government needs to go and it needs to go quick smart.
3 · 15 hrs
3 Replies · 3 hrs
Carolyne Moran Once again National a going to Strip Kiwis from help and force them into jobs that have no guaranteed hours which is just what someone with mental health issues need.
5 · 22 hrs
1 Reply
Raumahoe Rose Williams aparently this stupid women has never worked with those with mental health..you cannot expect someone with this unwellness who is drugged to the eyeballs to be able to hold a decent job let alone a mundane one..they can only focus for a few minute at a time…so go tell that to yourself ..selfish twit…
7 · 22 hrs
2 Replies · 9 hrs
Deb Hartigan surely there must be some people that can be helped into work……….not saying everyone with the illness, but there would be some that with some help would love to get back into some type of work………..as a person said earlier in this thread it took him 3 years to find a job……..this may help shorten that time……….if one person out of 100 can be helped out then thats great isn’t it………….
2 · 22 hrs · Edited
9 Replies · 11 hrs
Estella Kingi So sick of the government right now. Tired of words being spoken by Aotearoa but never heard by ignorance. Hand enough, roll on elections, can’t come any faster or can it? Wishful thinking or is it?…..
14 hrs · Edited
Robin Aldridge Actually it’s hard to convince employers to take on people if they have been unwell. I know I have been an employment consultant looking for jobs for people with mental health issues. There is so much discrimination out there. And that adds more stress…See more
3 · 21 hrs
Lorraine Sami silly cow anne tolley try getting unemployed into work but noooooooooooo you want to bring in migrants who rort the immigration system, dumb down our society, allow employers to lower wage rates disingenuous cow
3 · 20 hrs
1 Reply
Danielle Pike Yes. Sounds bloody perfect. Instead of reinstating the help these people have lost because of the government over the years, they’re going to force them all to work whether they’re ready or not. Sounds like a plan. A really stupid fucked up plan.
1 · 10 hrs
Greg Giles It took me three years to find work, and I had to move from Hamilton to Auckland, any absence from work after an illness, or accident takes a lot to fit back in. Work is a necessary evil, and even more so with coping with unrealistic expectations. Being self employed should be considered and funded.
4 · Yesterday at 14:04
1 Reply
Charlie Boy Batt What a total load of crap. Have had ongoing vacancys listed with Winz work brokers for the last two years. Be lucky if they have referred two people. Both only lasted a week and were never seen again.
21 hrs
Jeanne Hill The problem is there needs to be jobs for them this is the government being oh so choosy.
17 hrs
Madonna Meikle if those without m-h probs cant find work how will those with m-h probs find work
9 · Yesterday at 14:03
1 Reply
Leonie Jones How the hell can they do that when most normal people themselves cannot find work. Pull the other one please 😛
7 · 23 hrs
Invoker’s Better Half Some are just unemployable and needs to be left alone just like permanent injury via acc need to be left alone !!
7 · Yesterday at 14:27
Rae Adams I got a degree and experience and still cant find a job. Maybe they should help us older workers as well.
2 · 9 hrs
Derek-Kim Hickling In small towns especially, jobs are limited. Makes it hard for everyone…thats why many jump the ditch to OZ.
3 · 23 hrs
Ramari Te Rupe Wiringi Stupid politicians…too much money not enough brain matter.
2 · 19 hrs
Graeme Trask Employers looking for cheap labour no doubt. Another wave of exploitation.
1 · 14 hrs
Joyce Marina OMG WTF what’s this stupid government thinking of.Next they’ll be wanting the elderly to find work
1 · 9 hrs
Jay Belmont Whatever. What about the non-mentally impaired that are unemployed, homeless??? Yeah….right!!!
1 · 12 hrs
Taruke Mafi Oh come on WTH THIS GOVERNMENT sux our Mental Health now but that doesnt surprise me the government will try anything
1 · 18 hrs
Deborah Smitheram I am so surprized no ones shot one of these fukwits already if anyone deserves a bullet they do
3 · 22 hrs
Jill Riggs This is already happening sad to see all the negative comments lots of people with mental health issues hold down jobs
1 · 15 hrs
1 Reply
Roberta Tau Get them into work, bossess will take advantage of them, they’ll be fired then can’t get back in assistance 🙁
15 hrs
David Simmonds Looks like that face above has been attacked by a pit bull,ug ug ug bloody ugly to say the least.Looks like it had just kissed G Brownlee
10 hrs
Glenys Epiha Toa Of all the dumbest things you’ve done..this takes it.
14 hrs
Cat Lamb And I hope they are serious about “helping ” and not just BULLYING
16 hrs
Horomona Kingi and what does she think they can do? most jobs now are taken up by immigrants
10 hrs
Debbie Jane Lomas just a way to kick the disabled off their benefits..
7 · 23 hrs
Lui Ikenasio What bloody jobs??
6 · Yesterday at 14:11
Garry Craig She should watch out. More competition for her job.
5 · Yesterday at 13:42
Brian Stowe more money wasted .
4 · Yesterday at 14:04
Nell Smith-Hughes More sheltered workshops!
Why were so many closed??
1 · 17 hrs
1 Reply
Karenza Mcleod Able bodied people need to get a job
2 · 19 hrs
Sharon Solomon What work? and where is it?
2 · 16 hrs
Christine Williams Arent that the truth Atra Dash.
3 hrs
Christine Williams You are right Azaelia Mackereth. When i saw this article i suddenly felt anxious and thought what the hell are they playing at now. You are right, people who don’t suffer from mental illness will never understand and us that suffer from the illness have to suffer more because of their stupidity .
3 hrs
Ray Harrison I have a feeling not many will be “opting in”
19 hrs
Damos Reddington Fkn idiot. It seems reality has leftthe building
2 hrs
Kath Garrity Another stupid intiative..
12 hrs
Louise Gordon You lot are a joke
17 hrs
Carl Zijlstra That’s an old old line
13 hrs
Jill Riggs What do they think we’re doing now…
15 hrs
Lee Anne Wikaira there definition of help is forced
11 hrs
Strangely enough, on the current (Open Mike) page, I’m seeing your usual gravatar / identicon, as well as CV’s, Draco’s, and ianmac’s, but everyone else (including my good self) are rendered as anonymous white figures against a grey background. What makes you 4 so special ??? – Bloody Teacher’s Pets !!!
The gravatars and identicons are effectively generated remotely at gravatar, stored locally on my system after generation because gravatar were slowing down the page load too much, and then cached on a CDN (content distribution system) in Sydney.
Because I just shifted this site to https and especially http2, if something doesn’t arrive in time you get the default.
In this case it looks like you are seeing a bug. I’ll remove a layer and see what happens.
Edit: Ok, setting it to “monster”, clearing the cache, then reverting to identicons, and clearing the cache appear to have fixed it. I’ll have a look to see if I get widespread reversion to default icons.
CV, Draco, ian and myself have all configured non-default gravatars.
If you are using the default one, then it generates an icon based on your email address (and also username?). It was the default geometric thing that wasn’t working properly.
The Http/2 is really dealing with the gravatars well without the local cache. I had to shift to that a few years ago as they were slowing the page loads so much after getting a few hundred people on a comments page.
I’ve just been looking at pages with 300 comments from way back and getting no page load lag. I also see a massive amount of parallelism off to gravatar.
I really like HTTP2. It beats the hell out of SPDY and I don’t have to compromise the site setup.
Maybe Trump will nuke em, if they don’t pay for the wall.
Of course more “civilised” US policy does this behind closed doors, and uses torture and rendition by friendly intermediaries towards people they don’t like and wars to countries they don’t like.
In this context maybe a wall to try to keep the outside world out, is better than trying to infiltrate and control the outside world under current US foreign policy.
Our planet is not looking in good shape and nor is equality or democracy under US control.
The Donald is probably like most people contributing on this site.
Not being able to speak Spanish he might have tried to interpret it as if what the words sounded like in English was the translation.
The last sentence therefore came out as “Mexico jamas (hm. jumps at?) pagaria(paying) for a wall.
Not that speaking Spanish seems to make much difference of course. Both George W and brother Jeb were fluent in the language.
Yes, they were. It was a pity about their inability to express themselves clearly in English.
Mind you the Donald seems to spend his time repeatably saying “I am a pretentious loudmouth narcissistic dickhead” in whatever language he is trying to grunt at the time. Has anyone ever seen him talk about anything apart directly or indirectly referring to himself and what he is gonna do?
It’s extraordinary isn’t it…….I know what Alwyn would say if Trump dropped his trou’ and defecated on the stage at a huge rally…….
While almost drowned out by the cheers of a very ugly thousands – Alwyn (maybe CV too) – “Ummh…….Err Err Err……you know……you must consider that The Donald was never potty trained……..you know…….to be fair.”
Love Friday nights. Such fun. Good feed. Coro’ Street. Loving family of 6. Warm. In the people-mover in the park. Alwyn.
We really do live in the 8th happiest country in the world aye Alwyn ? …….respectful nod to the National Party Cabinet (Club). 10th without you and me though aye Alwyn…….?
Last I heard it was 2.3 billion a year.The cut is expected to be a small part – $5 million – of the U.S.’s roughly $2.3 billion aid package to Mexico to combat the drug cartels, according to the Washington Post. The money covers such things as helicopters, border sensors and training programs, the Post said.” Plus ifyou use mexican labour it wont cost as much. :-0
Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion since 2008 for equipment such as helicopters and border sensors as well as training programs for thousands of Mexican officials.
This site is being inundated by less than savoury attacks on various commenters by one commenter in particular. His (can’t imagine a ‘she’ stooping to such puerile language) level of debate is often personal and comes across as deliberate stalking of selected individuals. Likely to be putting off readers from coming here.
His latest example:
Ooh! Another Labour-can-do-no-wronger! Thought you might’ve been, you little piece of poo… It’s fuckwits like you who’re responsible for fucking this country. No analysis, no critical faculty. Just blind support for a neo-liberal opposition that fucks our democracy. I suggest it’s you who should fuck off to the sewer where you belong. Hey, you might even meet Leftie there. You two could snuggle up, keep warm, hope you’re not eaten.
[lprent: I have been noticing his (feels like a dickhead) comments. To date, he seems to have been reacting to others blowing their volcanoes. I tend to not moderate against reactions unless they get too consistently inflammatory and look like someone trying to ignite a flamewar.
I’m always ready to give people time to learn to hang themselves – it is better for the training of all observers. 😈 ]
@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!
“@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!”
Agree with you there Bearded Git, and I know it’s wrong to feed the trolls, but they make themselves very hard to ignore. Hitting back with logic and facts seem to fuel them into a tizz and then they get even more abusive.
“@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!”
Agree with you there Bearded Git, and I know it’s wrong to feed the trolls, but they make themselves very hard to ignore. Hitting back with logic and facts seem to fuel them into a tizz and then they get even more abusive.
I do not however, believe that Anne’s post was sexist in any way. We all know who she is talking about after all.
For sure Anne, there is no doubt about it, he stalks/trolls to abuse. Some comments don’t even necessitate such abuse either, which can and do come out of the blue as well.
It was difficult to tell given the early/late comments, to whom that comment was directed. It did seem to be in lock with mine responding to a “deluded Helen” comment catatonically issued by someone else. It just occurred to me that unlike Key Helen never got on global television and giggled about a murderer/child rapist being on the run from justice…….
Chris ain’t no prob’. I love his/her waste of energy.
If you regard my tongue in cheek comment as ‘sexist’ then you are being overly sensitive. It’s normal in my world for the genders to joust with one another. No sexism involved.
“When I refuse to eat animals, I refuse to indulge in a system that profits off objectification. When I associate with my diet only ethical standards, and not guidelines on how to be the most ‘feminine’ according to patriarchal benchmarks on the slenderness of a woman’s physique; I reclaim my body. I nourish it for reasons beyond weight loss and dieting. I cater not for the gaze of toxic masculinity, but for the well-being of women and animals alike. Rather than eating for the eyes of my oppressor – he who too oppresses animals – a vegan lifestyle provides me revenge in solidarity. In my nourishment, I quietly protest.
Whilst the system’s prime concern is in ensuring masculinity is content and pleased, neither gender equality or animal equality will ever exist.”
disclaimer : I am vegetarian for 36 years, never been vegan.
Personally I have always thought the relationship and correlation between meat eating and violence in society was a bit of a no brainer. The objectification argument makes sense to me.
It is true that you don’t like vegans who push their philosophy though isn’t it? My reading of your comments on vegans is that you don’t really think much of them, their choices, or philosophy. Perhaps I’m wrong though.
Objectification of animals and womens bodies seems on a continuum to me and profiting off either is not something I’d endorse.
“My reading of your comments on vegans is that you don’t really think much of them, their choices, or philosophy.”
I like people that make thoughtful ethical choices about what they eat (vegans, vegetarians, locavores, slow foodies etc). I don’t like fundamentalists. Much of my arguments about veganism on ts centre around arguing with fundamentalists.
I also don’t like people misuing facts in one area to push underlying agendas eg Cowspiracy trying to say that it’s saving the planet while the underlying message is that everyone should be vegan. Animal rights ethics and environmental ethics are not a neat overlap and it does piss me off when they get conflated.
That’s me and vegans in general. I don’t know anything about the woman who wrote the article.
Perhaps I could have framed my response differently. Something like, there are similarities between objectificaiton of women, animals, the land and ecosystems, she appears to be focussing on two of them, and because some fundamentalist vegans pick and choose their ethics around objectification I wonder if she does too.
In terms of the article overall, I didn’t like the stuff about women’s tactics to not be seen as ‘appetising’ or prey. I don’t think most women frame themselves as meat, so her argument seemed off there to me. There are really obvious parallels in terms of oppression of women and animals, and how the dominant culture enforces and sanctions that, but she seemed to be falling into the thing she was objecting to by the way she framed her argument.
If you don’t want to eat for whatever reason that’s fine but to say “I don’t eat meat because I’m a feminist” is drawing one helluva line in the sand don’t you think (does that mean if you do eat meat then you’re not what she considers a “real” feminist?)
How about the gross generalisations contained within, for example I work in a male dominated, very macho industry yet I haven’t had any conversations at all long the lines of being a leg or breast man or anything remotely similar
“Men (particularly white men) have historically felt entitled to the land and bodies of “others”;
Really, particularly white men? So the mongol hordes were white, how about the (but not limited to) tribes of Zulu, how about the Barbary slave trade, Japan invading China, China invading Korea etc etc etc
This and her other ideas are what has led me to think shes trolling, no one could possibly take her seriously and if they do then well done to her
her argument on objectification (whether you agree or not) are an argument that supports that particular headline (quite possibly chosen by subeditor for its provocative nature).
your ignorance and ununderstanding show when you try to be high brow and discuss historical entitlements to land and bodies – do you know what the word ‘particularly ‘ means because I’m not sure it interpreted correctly by you there – hint – it doesn’t exclude.
I was using the that as an example of her trolling, she could have just left it at men but nope she threw in white men because she knew it would provoke a reaction
Anyone can eat what they like but when you start throwing massive generalisations around like she has it just shows shes trolling
Good on ya, marty. I’ve been a vegetarian since my late teens. I didn’t get into it for ethical reasons, but that’s been the driver for quite a few years now. I wrote a post here a few years back suggesting you couldn’t be socialist and a meat eater. Annoyed a few people, as I recall, but it was worth challenging some ingrained beliefs.
I enjoyed reading that too. I liked your post and I thought Rocky’s and Philip Ure’s responses were very good. In fact, the following quote from Philip Ure was excellent!!
” i’ve been vegan for ten years..vegetarian for twenty before that..
i know people who have been vegan for 40+ years..
and lots of other vegans..
one thing they have in common..
is glowing good health..
i also have three vegan dogs..
one 10 yrs old..her six yr old daughter..
and another 2 yr old..
the mother was vegan during the pregnancy..
these dogs could do centrefolds for ‘dog monthly’..
their coats are so shiny..you need to wear shades.. ”
Well, it was interesting in the sense that it’s rare to see such a level of pompous, smug self-indulgence compressed into such a small piece of text, but apart from that – not really.
A powerful climate change doco shown on Al Jazeera (47 mins):
Refusing to fall victim to the weather, Kisilu, a Kenyan smallholder farmer, uses a camera to capture the human impact of climate change.
Filmed over four years, he documents floods, droughts and storms that menace his and his community’s farms, forcing some to stop tending the fields and seek work in towns and cities.
500 cows – how many trucks to move them? How long would that take?
“Police investigating the disappearance of 500 dairy cows from an Ashburton farm will be following a milk trail worth $900,000 as they keep an open mind on a popular theory that the in-calf cattle went to the meat blackmarket.
All-up, the cows represent a loss of around $2 million to their owners.
The missing friesian-cross mixed-age cows – which number more than the average New Zealand dairy herd – went from a winter grazing property adjacent to their owners’ Norvo Farm in mid-Canterbury.”
“…the cows were winter-grazing on the adjacent farm with the staff who milked them.”
I knew farm employees are generally not well treated but this is ridiculous.
More likely china , although i think they only send heifers. 13 truck loads of cattle would be hard to shift with out the workers noticing something , that’s a lot of heavy tyre marks and mess in the yards.
Ain’t it beautiful how $43 million can fix any ‘little’ (huh!) irregularity in one’s status and tenure in New Zealand. These Indian students are palpably victims on an horrific scale. The ruination of them and very probably their families back in India as well.
“Oh so what ?” Having no capacity to make anonymous ‘donations’ to some anonymous ‘party’ (I use the word pointedly) is an insufferable culpability, the penalty for which must be sheeted home at once !
Remember folks……”On Planet Putea we must, simply must, protect the vaunted but illusory integrity of our systems……oh, in the absence of substantial expressions of ‘goodwill’ the way of those who ‘matter’ that is.”
It would be karmic were this to come back in a big way on that excuse for a man Key (represented on Checkpoint tonight by the dark creature Joyce).
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Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
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Natz have a slimy lying, 2 faced creep for a leader…. Morning
Cheers Nick have a nice day and may Jk be with you….morning
lols. Sorry Nck. I agree with you but you did ask for that one.
And yet he is preferred to anything the left can offer election after election after election … and probably for at least for one more.
Enjoy your day. Its easier when you dont wake up bitter.
“And yet he is preferred to anything the left can offer election after election after election … and probably for at least for one more.”
Well… that’s what the spin says, James.
Actually that’s what the results show. He’s PM and the labour leaders keep falling away.
“Actually that’s what the results show. He’s PM…”
Being PM is a temporary position James and Key had to use dirty politics to cling to it.
“the labour leaders keep falling away.”
As did the Nat leaders when National were in opposition for 9 years.
Morning Nck, that’s very true, lets kick him out next year. It’s what he deserves.
That will teach you to listen to Leighton Smith.
The New Zealand First annual conference is in Dunedin this weekend.
Should be some good speeches about the decline of rural life and the loss of land to foreigners.
And it looks like they will be fielding a candidate in Dunedin South this time around. Whoops that’s 500 less electorate votes for Clare, in a finger click. Only 3,400 left to go.
Will that candidate be…you?
Oh gawd no 😛
Nah……CV’s gonna be a doofer at the Trump White House.
Almost the entire shoreline of Lake Hawea has been sold or is in the process of being sold to overseas interests in the last few months.
And here is another part of Lake Wanaka gone today:
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/wanaka/land-purchase-approved-oio
“angry emoticon”
Talking to an agent who deals with that end of the market recently and they commented that the current political situation in USA and UK, with the Clinton / Trump choice and Brexit, was stunningly good for business….
Just reading this scary article makes you want to demand a banking transaction tax (and why the UK has capital gains taxes, stamp duties, taxes on taxes, but zero financial transaction taxes). This is the world that John Key made his money in. No wonder there is this .01% mentality and inability to change during the GFC from the banks.
“Top graduates missing out on banking jobs for lacking ‘polish”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/01/top-graduates-missing-out-on-banking-jobs-for-lacking-polish
That’s happening more and more across all industries. Getting a job is now more about socialisation than about being able to do the job. And the preferred socialisation is being exactly the same as the person hiring you.
We’re seeing the rise of conformity and the conformity is to be a psychopath just like your boss.
Massive groupthink on the bridge of the Titanic…and on all the lower decks too…
Social mobility for the lower and middle classes has stalled. Upper class has not changed, nor will it, by the looks of things in this article. Not really what you expect in 21st century of supposedly classless society. We are going backwards to Victorian times.
Neo-feudal
Just listening to Key live on Leighten Smith. A first!
Key plays with figures to explain “not defensively” the housing not being a crisis.
A shifty tricky chap. Can you stomach him?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11702996
“A shifty tricky chap. Can you stomach him?:
NO
+100…i don’think jonkey nact is going to win the next election ( from my surveys)
Ohh do publish your surveys – will be interesting to see the analysis…
Ever think of opening your eyes and taking a look outside of that bubble you live in James?
I do.
Judging by your comments, it doesn’t look like it.
Totally agree with you there Chooky!!
National have announced it’s usual pre election bene bashing policy….
Beneficiaries will be helped to find work
A new service will be trialled next year to help beneficiaries with diagnosed mental health conditions become independent and find work.
The two year trial is expected to cost $3.2 million and will be available in the Auckland, Waikato, Central, Canterbury and Southern regions.
Social Development Minister Anne Tolley says Work to Wellness will be a contracted service and will help around 1000 people a year.
She says it will provide coaching and mentoring, job search services and assistance to help people into work.
Beneficiaries will be able to opt-in through Work and Income, a referral from their GP or self-referring direct to the provider.
<a href="https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/32498892/beneficiaries-will-be-helped-to-find-work/#page1
If the comments on yahoo’s linked Facebok page is anything to go by, it doesn’t look like the Nats are going to get the kind of vote winning reaction they thought they will get…
Azaelia Mackereth There is no low this shitty government will go to, people with mental illness struggle enough just to get out of bed and function with life as it is, forcing them into a dead end job will just make them worse and then that vicious cycle starts all over again! People without mental health problems like this stupid tart never understand
38 · 23 hrs
5 Replies · 9 hrs
Debbie Jane Lomas oh and another point…mental health patients had plenty of support until you idiots wiped out virtually all the mental health agencies around the country…you are a disgrace….
20 · 16 hrs
Brian McFarland $3.2 million to find jobs for 1,000 people. So the government is going to pay a contractor $3,200 per person to find them a job? Sounds like they have budgeted inefficiencies nicely into the program. Better to just give $3,200 grants to those thousand people to improve their standard of living for a little while.
2 · 10 hrs
Arthur C. Charlton HOW. I may ask. Imported trash is draining the country’s overseas funds and ruining manufacturing jobs. Good luck with that. Please note a real job is not part time. 40 hours please.
13 · Yesterday at 13:50
Atra Dash Bunch of cunts. Bad enough people with mental health problems have issues and these fuckers want them to go back to work. This government needs to go and it needs to go quick smart.
3 · 15 hrs
3 Replies · 3 hrs
Carolyne Moran Once again National a going to Strip Kiwis from help and force them into jobs that have no guaranteed hours which is just what someone with mental health issues need.
5 · 22 hrs
1 Reply
Raumahoe Rose Williams aparently this stupid women has never worked with those with mental health..you cannot expect someone with this unwellness who is drugged to the eyeballs to be able to hold a decent job let alone a mundane one..they can only focus for a few minute at a time…so go tell that to yourself ..selfish twit…
7 · 22 hrs
2 Replies · 9 hrs
Deb Hartigan surely there must be some people that can be helped into work……….not saying everyone with the illness, but there would be some that with some help would love to get back into some type of work………..as a person said earlier in this thread it took him 3 years to find a job……..this may help shorten that time……….if one person out of 100 can be helped out then thats great isn’t it………….
2 · 22 hrs · Edited
9 Replies · 11 hrs
Estella Kingi So sick of the government right now. Tired of words being spoken by Aotearoa but never heard by ignorance. Hand enough, roll on elections, can’t come any faster or can it? Wishful thinking or is it?…..
14 hrs · Edited
Robin Aldridge Actually it’s hard to convince employers to take on people if they have been unwell. I know I have been an employment consultant looking for jobs for people with mental health issues. There is so much discrimination out there. And that adds more stress…See more
3 · 21 hrs
Lorraine Sami silly cow anne tolley try getting unemployed into work but noooooooooooo you want to bring in migrants who rort the immigration system, dumb down our society, allow employers to lower wage rates disingenuous cow
3 · 20 hrs
1 Reply
Danielle Pike Yes. Sounds bloody perfect. Instead of reinstating the help these people have lost because of the government over the years, they’re going to force them all to work whether they’re ready or not. Sounds like a plan. A really stupid fucked up plan.
1 · 10 hrs
Greg Giles It took me three years to find work, and I had to move from Hamilton to Auckland, any absence from work after an illness, or accident takes a lot to fit back in. Work is a necessary evil, and even more so with coping with unrealistic expectations. Being self employed should be considered and funded.
4 · Yesterday at 14:04
1 Reply
Charlie Boy Batt What a total load of crap. Have had ongoing vacancys listed with Winz work brokers for the last two years. Be lucky if they have referred two people. Both only lasted a week and were never seen again.
21 hrs
Jeanne Hill The problem is there needs to be jobs for them this is the government being oh so choosy.
17 hrs
Madonna Meikle if those without m-h probs cant find work how will those with m-h probs find work
9 · Yesterday at 14:03
1 Reply
Leonie Jones How the hell can they do that when most normal people themselves cannot find work. Pull the other one please 😛
7 · 23 hrs
Invoker’s Better Half Some are just unemployable and needs to be left alone just like permanent injury via acc need to be left alone !!
7 · Yesterday at 14:27
Rae Adams I got a degree and experience and still cant find a job. Maybe they should help us older workers as well.
2 · 9 hrs
Derek-Kim Hickling In small towns especially, jobs are limited. Makes it hard for everyone…thats why many jump the ditch to OZ.
3 · 23 hrs
Ramari Te Rupe Wiringi Stupid politicians…too much money not enough brain matter.
2 · 19 hrs
Graeme Trask Employers looking for cheap labour no doubt. Another wave of exploitation.
1 · 14 hrs
Joyce Marina OMG WTF what’s this stupid government thinking of.Next they’ll be wanting the elderly to find work
1 · 9 hrs
Jay Belmont Whatever. What about the non-mentally impaired that are unemployed, homeless??? Yeah….right!!!
1 · 12 hrs
Taruke Mafi Oh come on WTH THIS GOVERNMENT sux our Mental Health now but that doesnt surprise me the government will try anything
1 · 18 hrs
Deborah Smitheram I am so surprized no ones shot one of these fukwits already if anyone deserves a bullet they do
3 · 22 hrs
Jill Riggs This is already happening sad to see all the negative comments lots of people with mental health issues hold down jobs
1 · 15 hrs
1 Reply
Roberta Tau Get them into work, bossess will take advantage of them, they’ll be fired then can’t get back in assistance 🙁
15 hrs
David Simmonds Looks like that face above has been attacked by a pit bull,ug ug ug bloody ugly to say the least.Looks like it had just kissed G Brownlee
10 hrs
Glenys Epiha Toa Of all the dumbest things you’ve done..this takes it.
14 hrs
Cat Lamb And I hope they are serious about “helping ” and not just BULLYING
16 hrs
Horomona Kingi and what does she think they can do? most jobs now are taken up by immigrants
10 hrs
Debbie Jane Lomas just a way to kick the disabled off their benefits..
7 · 23 hrs
Lui Ikenasio What bloody jobs??
6 · Yesterday at 14:11
Garry Craig She should watch out. More competition for her job.
5 · Yesterday at 13:42
Brian Stowe more money wasted .
4 · Yesterday at 14:04
Nell Smith-Hughes More sheltered workshops!
Why were so many closed??
1 · 17 hrs
1 Reply
Karenza Mcleod Able bodied people need to get a job
2 · 19 hrs
Sharon Solomon What work? and where is it?
2 · 16 hrs
Christine Williams Arent that the truth Atra Dash.
3 hrs
Christine Williams You are right Azaelia Mackereth. When i saw this article i suddenly felt anxious and thought what the hell are they playing at now. You are right, people who don’t suffer from mental illness will never understand and us that suffer from the illness have to suffer more because of their stupidity .
3 hrs
Ray Harrison I have a feeling not many will be “opting in”
19 hrs
Damos Reddington Fkn idiot. It seems reality has leftthe building
2 hrs
Kath Garrity Another stupid intiative..
12 hrs
Louise Gordon You lot are a joke
17 hrs
Carl Zijlstra That’s an old old line
13 hrs
Jill Riggs What do they think we’re doing now…
15 hrs
Lee Anne Wikaira there definition of help is forced
11 hrs
Stanley G Foster What a joke
17 hrs
Dave Moke Fck bullshyt policies
5 hrs
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/YahooNewZealand/
+1 Leftie – some great comments there.
Thanks Save NZ, yep great comments there, it gives a glimpse of how people are really feeling, particularly about National.
Israel and Facebook lose a satellite:
‘Facebook satellite lost in SpaceX explosion at Cape Canaveral (VIDEO)’
https://www.rt.com/usa/357893-spacex-explosion-platform-launch/
“A Falcon 9 booster rocket exploded on the launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as tropical storm Hermine bore down on the area.
An Israeli satellite that was to provide Facebook broadband to Africa was lost in the explosion, SpaceX confirmed…
@Lynn, when you’re on the main landing page, all the default geometric gravatars show up, but when you visit an article page, they don’t.
I expect it’s some caching thing.
Strangely enough, on the current (Open Mike) page, I’m seeing your usual gravatar / identicon, as well as CV’s, Draco’s, and ianmac’s, but everyone else (including my good self) are rendered as anonymous white figures against a grey background. What makes you 4 so special ??? – Bloody Teacher’s Pets !!!
The gravatars and identicons are effectively generated remotely at gravatar, stored locally on my system after generation because gravatar were slowing down the page load too much, and then cached on a CDN (content distribution system) in Sydney.
Because I just shifted this site to https and especially http2, if something doesn’t arrive in time you get the default.
In this case it looks like you are seeing a bug. I’ll remove a layer and see what happens.
Edit: Ok, setting it to “monster”, clearing the cache, then reverting to identicons, and clearing the cache appear to have fixed it. I’ll have a look to see if I get widespread reversion to default icons.
Cheers, 1prent.
Nope. Ummm removed the local cache.
CV, Draco, ian and myself have all configured non-default gravatars.
If you are using the default one, then it generates an icon based on your email address (and also username?). It was the default geometric thing that wasn’t working properly.
“CV, Draco, ian and myself have all configured non-default gravatars”
Ahhh, of course !
When you think about it, that was ridiculously stupid of me.
I politely didn’t mention that 😛
Wow!
The Http/2 is really dealing with the gravatars well without the local cache. I had to shift to that a few years ago as they were slowing the page loads so much after getting a few hundred people on a comments page.
I’ve just been looking at pages with 300 comments from way back and getting no page load lag. I also see a massive amount of parallelism off to gravatar.
I really like HTTP2. It beats the hell out of SPDY and I don’t have to compromise the site setup.
He’s not one to miss an opportunity to tell a lie.
/
Translation: “I repeat what I said personally, Mr. Trump: Mexico would never pay for a wall.”
Maybe Trump will nuke em, if they don’t pay for the wall.
Of course more “civilised” US policy does this behind closed doors, and uses torture and rendition by friendly intermediaries towards people they don’t like and wars to countries they don’t like.
In this context maybe a wall to try to keep the outside world out, is better than trying to infiltrate and control the outside world under current US foreign policy.
Our planet is not looking in good shape and nor is equality or democracy under US control.
If only Klein or Sanders had a chance.
The Donald is probably like most people contributing on this site.
Not being able to speak Spanish he might have tried to interpret it as if what the words sounded like in English was the translation.
The last sentence therefore came out as “Mexico jamas (hm. jumps at?) pagaria(paying) for a wall.
Not that speaking Spanish seems to make much difference of course. Both George W and brother Jeb were fluent in the language.
Yes, they were. It was a pity about their inability to express themselves clearly in English.
Mind you the Donald seems to spend his time repeatably saying “I am a pretentious loudmouth narcissistic dickhead” in whatever language he is trying to grunt at the time. Has anyone ever seen him talk about anything apart directly or indirectly referring to himself and what he is gonna do?
FFS: even Yankees don’t deserve this cretin.
It’s extraordinary isn’t it…….I know what Alwyn would say if Trump dropped his trou’ and defecated on the stage at a huge rally…….
While almost drowned out by the cheers of a very ugly thousands – Alwyn (maybe CV too) – “Ummh…….Err Err Err……you know……you must consider that The Donald was never potty trained……..you know…….to be fair.”
Love Friday nights. Such fun. Good feed. Coro’ Street. Loving family of 6. Warm. In the people-mover in the park. Alwyn.
We really do live in the 8th happiest country in the world aye Alwyn ? …….respectful nod to the National Party Cabinet (Club). 10th without you and me though aye Alwyn…….?
You really are a sick little prick aren’t you?
Trumper has an idea…..
Oh God there’s another fuck promising a ‘Brighter Future’ !
Maybe he will pay for it with aid that used to go to Mexico US dollars 209,432,920, build a nice wall for that!
With US aid to Mexico around $420 million a year – It’ll take some time.
He could use neoliberalism to get China to build the wall or some sort of PPP which takes 25 years to build and costs 5 times as much.
Last I heard it was 2.3 billion a year.The cut is expected to be a small part – $5 million – of the U.S.’s roughly $2.3 billion aid package to Mexico to combat the drug cartels, according to the Washington Post. The money covers such things as helicopters, border sensors and training programs, the Post said.” Plus ifyou use mexican labour it wont cost as much. :-0
I see you’ve taken faux new’s word.
/
Congress has appropriated $2.3 billion since 2008 for equipment such as helicopters and border sensors as well as training programs for thousands of Mexican officials.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-blocks-some-anti-drug-funds-for-mexico-over-human-rights-concerns/2015/10/18/8fa3925e-710b-11e5-ba14-318f8e87a2fc_story.html
Meanwhile…..
http://us-foreign-aid.insidegov.com/q/112/1590/How-much-money-does-the-U-S-give-to-Mexico
http://beta.foreignassistance.gov/explore#
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_foreign_aid
This site is being inundated by less than savoury attacks on various commenters by one commenter in particular. His (can’t imagine a ‘she’ stooping to such puerile language) level of debate is often personal and comes across as deliberate stalking of selected individuals. Likely to be putting off readers from coming here.
His latest example:
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01092016/#comment-1226860
[lprent: I have been noticing his (feels like a dickhead) comments. To date, he seems to have been reacting to others blowing their volcanoes. I tend to not moderate against reactions unless they get too consistently inflammatory and look like someone trying to ignite a flamewar.
I’m always ready to give people time to learn to hang themselves – it is better for the training of all observers. 😈 ]
@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!
Incidentally I regard your post as sexist.
“@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!”
Agree with you there Bearded Git, and I know it’s wrong to feed the trolls, but they make themselves very hard to ignore. Hitting back with logic and facts seem to fuel them into a tizz and then they get even more abusive.
“@Anne You know Chris and Alwyn have lost the argument when they attack you. Simply ignore the attacks and answer with facts and logic. That confuses them!”
Agree with you there Bearded Git, and I know it’s wrong to feed the trolls, but they make themselves very hard to ignore. Hitting back with logic and facts seem to fuel them into a tizz and then they get even more abusive.
I do not however, believe that Anne’s post was sexist in any way. We all know who she is talking about after all.
@lprent
To date, he seems to have been reacting to others blowing their volcanoes.
In this and some other instances yes, but not always…
For sure Anne, there is no doubt about it, he stalks/trolls to abuse. Some comments don’t even necessitate such abuse either, which can and do come out of the blue as well.
+1 Anne, very pleased you have raised this issue.
It was difficult to tell given the early/late comments, to whom that comment was directed. It did seem to be in lock with mine responding to a “deluded Helen” comment catatonically issued by someone else. It just occurred to me that unlike Key Helen never got on global television and giggled about a murderer/child rapist being on the run from justice…….
Chris ain’t no prob’. I love his/her waste of energy.
It was an attack on someone else BG.
If you regard my tongue in cheek comment as ‘sexist’ then you are being overly sensitive. It’s normal in my world for the genders to joust with one another. No sexism involved.
But don’t let the twats divide and rule, the one thing they are masters at
That’s true Whateva Next.
@Anne. Agreed.
From recent (mid-late August) YouGov Polling:
Favourable to Clinton, unfavourable to Trump: 37%
Favourable to Trump, unfavourable to Clinton: 35%
Unfavourable to Both: 21%
Favourable to Both: 4%
Unsure: 2%
>
>
Presidential vote intention among registered voters who have an Unfavourable opinion of BOTH Clinton and Trump:
Will Vote
Trump 20%
Johnson 19%
Clinton 17%
Stein 12%
Other / Unsure 26%
This is how you handle banksters:
https://redice.tv/news/first-they-jailed-the-bankers-now-every-icelander-to-get-paid-in-bank-sale
YES!!!! Iceland is showing us the way!!
+1
Interesting perspective
“When I refuse to eat animals, I refuse to indulge in a system that profits off objectification. When I associate with my diet only ethical standards, and not guidelines on how to be the most ‘feminine’ according to patriarchal benchmarks on the slenderness of a woman’s physique; I reclaim my body. I nourish it for reasons beyond weight loss and dieting. I cater not for the gaze of toxic masculinity, but for the well-being of women and animals alike. Rather than eating for the eyes of my oppressor – he who too oppresses animals – a vegan lifestyle provides me revenge in solidarity. In my nourishment, I quietly protest.
Whilst the system’s prime concern is in ensuring masculinity is content and pleased, neither gender equality or animal equality will ever exist.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/life/83820068/i-dont-eat-meat-because-im-a-feminist
disclaimer : I am vegetarian for 36 years, never been vegan.
Personally I have always thought the relationship and correlation between meat eating and violence in society was a bit of a no brainer. The objectification argument makes sense to me.
“When I refuse to eat animals, I refuse to indulge in a system that profits off objectification.”
Sorry, but she obviously is ignorant about the realities of industrial grain and soy growing. Monsantoed monocrops are objectification too.
Can she be correct about what she says and not bring the other argument (you bought in) in?
Not if instead of eating meat she is eating industrial grain, soy etc (which she almost certainly is).
Edit, tbh I didn’t find her general argument about oppression of women and animals that compelling (the way she did it).
It is true that you don’t like vegans who push their philosophy though isn’t it? My reading of your comments on vegans is that you don’t really think much of them, their choices, or philosophy. Perhaps I’m wrong though.
Objectification of animals and womens bodies seems on a continuum to me and profiting off either is not something I’d endorse.
“My reading of your comments on vegans is that you don’t really think much of them, their choices, or philosophy.”
I like people that make thoughtful ethical choices about what they eat (vegans, vegetarians, locavores, slow foodies etc). I don’t like fundamentalists. Much of my arguments about veganism on ts centre around arguing with fundamentalists.
I also don’t like people misuing facts in one area to push underlying agendas eg Cowspiracy trying to say that it’s saving the planet while the underlying message is that everyone should be vegan. Animal rights ethics and environmental ethics are not a neat overlap and it does piss me off when they get conflated.
That’s me and vegans in general. I don’t know anything about the woman who wrote the article.
Perhaps I could have framed my response differently. Something like, there are similarities between objectificaiton of women, animals, the land and ecosystems, she appears to be focussing on two of them, and because some fundamentalist vegans pick and choose their ethics around objectification I wonder if she does too.
In terms of the article overall, I didn’t like the stuff about women’s tactics to not be seen as ‘appetising’ or prey. I don’t think most women frame themselves as meat, so her argument seemed off there to me. There are really obvious parallels in terms of oppression of women and animals, and how the dominant culture enforces and sanctions that, but she seemed to be falling into the thing she was objecting to by the way she framed her argument.
Thanks for clarifying – you make some interesting points as usual 🙂
I thought it was one of the best trolling efforts I’d ever read
in what way was it trolling?
It’s not trolling.
Its trolling and its very well done
No, it’s not trolling.
If you don’t want to eat for whatever reason that’s fine but to say “I don’t eat meat because I’m a feminist” is drawing one helluva line in the sand don’t you think (does that mean if you do eat meat then you’re not what she considers a “real” feminist?)
How about the gross generalisations contained within, for example I work in a male dominated, very macho industry yet I haven’t had any conversations at all long the lines of being a leg or breast man or anything remotely similar
“Men (particularly white men) have historically felt entitled to the land and bodies of “others”;
Really, particularly white men? So the mongol hordes were white, how about the (but not limited to) tribes of Zulu, how about the Barbary slave trade, Japan invading China, China invading Korea etc etc etc
This and her other ideas are what has led me to think shes trolling, no one could possibly take her seriously and if they do then well done to her
being provocative isn’t trolling
her argument on objectification (whether you agree or not) are an argument that supports that particular headline (quite possibly chosen by subeditor for its provocative nature).
your ignorance and ununderstanding show when you try to be high brow and discuss historical entitlements to land and bodies – do you know what the word ‘particularly ‘ means because I’m not sure it interpreted correctly by you there – hint – it doesn’t exclude.
I was using the that as an example of her trolling, she could have just left it at men but nope she threw in white men because she knew it would provoke a reaction
Anyone can eat what they like but when you start throwing massive generalisations around like she has it just shows shes trolling
“Anyone can eat what they like” – nah – can you eat babies?
veal – the iron deprived white calf meat?
Kiwi?
Baby seals?
A cat?
Lots of no noes there
Now you’re just being silly
go back to sleep and pretend to work then
Oh Mars Bars…….that did make me chortle…….”pretend to work then.”
+1 Marty Mars.
Good on ya, marty. I’ve been a vegetarian since my late teens. I didn’t get into it for ethical reasons, but that’s been the driver for quite a few years now. I wrote a post here a few years back suggesting you couldn’t be socialist and a meat eater. Annoyed a few people, as I recall, but it was worth challenging some ingrained beliefs.
thanks to you both – I might look that one up for a laugh trp
Here ya go: https://thestandard.org.nz/world-vegetarian-day-october-1st/
It was one of one of my first efforts. Looking back at it, I was a bit pompous and overbearing. Glad I’m not like that now 😉
Good fun reading that. I havent changed much either and i miss some of those commenters.
I enjoyed reading that too. I liked your post and I thought Rocky’s and Philip Ure’s responses were very good. In fact, the following quote from Philip Ure was excellent!!
” i’ve been vegan for ten years..vegetarian for twenty before that..
i know people who have been vegan for 40+ years..
and lots of other vegans..
one thing they have in common..
is glowing good health..
i also have three vegan dogs..
one 10 yrs old..her six yr old daughter..
and another 2 yr old..
the mother was vegan during the pregnancy..
these dogs could do centrefolds for ‘dog monthly’..
their coats are so shiny..you need to wear shades.. ”
Lol I thought that was hilarious!!!
Thanks for the link Te Reo Putake, enjoyed that.
Been a vegetarian since my teens too, and I wouldn’t want to live any other way.
That’s fantastic, Leftie. Well done.
Good one leftie
Interesting perspective
Well, it was interesting in the sense that it’s rare to see such a level of pompous, smug self-indulgence compressed into such a small piece of text, but apart from that – not really.
Lucky we all have different thresholds of interesting isn’t it.
A powerful climate change doco shown on Al Jazeera (47 mins):
Refusing to fall victim to the weather, Kisilu, a Kenyan smallholder farmer, uses a camera to capture the human impact of climate change.
Filmed over four years, he documents floods, droughts and storms that menace his and his community’s farms, forcing some to stop tending the fields and seek work in towns and cities.
https://youtu.be/Ccgsh-YafRk
+1 Mauī!!!
Hey waggy – this is a bit funny doncha reckon
500 cows – how many trucks to move them? How long would that take?
“Police investigating the disappearance of 500 dairy cows from an Ashburton farm will be following a milk trail worth $900,000 as they keep an open mind on a popular theory that the in-calf cattle went to the meat blackmarket.
All-up, the cows represent a loss of around $2 million to their owners.
The missing friesian-cross mixed-age cows – which number more than the average New Zealand dairy herd – went from a winter grazing property adjacent to their owners’ Norvo Farm in mid-Canterbury.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/83805047/police-follow-milk-or-meat-theories-in-2m-cow-theft
“…the cows were winter-grazing on the adjacent farm with the staff who milked them.”
I knew farm employees are generally not well treated but this is ridiculous.
I was drinking a cup of coffee when I reached your statement.
Then I had to wipe down the keyboard. Lovely comment.
🙂
They’re on a farm in Saudi now.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/83404772/shipping-dairy-cows-to-china-is-ecomomic-treason-winston-peters-says
More likely china , although i think they only send heifers. 13 truck loads of cattle would be hard to shift with out the workers noticing something , that’s a lot of heavy tyre marks and mess in the yards.
Ain’t it beautiful how $43 million can fix any ‘little’ (huh!) irregularity in one’s status and tenure in New Zealand. These Indian students are palpably victims on an horrific scale. The ruination of them and very probably their families back in India as well.
“Oh so what ?” Having no capacity to make anonymous ‘donations’ to some anonymous ‘party’ (I use the word pointedly) is an insufferable culpability, the penalty for which must be sheeted home at once !
Remember folks……”On Planet Putea we must, simply must, protect the vaunted but illusory integrity of our systems……oh, in the absence of substantial expressions of ‘goodwill’ the way of those who ‘matter’ that is.”
It would be karmic were this to come back in a big way on that excuse for a man Key (represented on Checkpoint tonight by the dark creature Joyce).