Watch out for the petition from Su’a William Sio to be presented in Parliament this week, from people anxious about the East-West link. I think this is going to be quite a movement against this massive arterial/motorway, and a key organising issue leading to the election next year for southern Auckland.
+1 don’t need be vegan to be healthy but for some people it’s seems to be the only way they finally get how to do so. A bit like going gluten free did for me even though I don’t weight problem in the sense of being too heavy more not heavy enough. Of course unlike Vegans it’s not a lifestyle choice because a medical condition isn’t really a choice. Even though more crap food is becoming gluten free I built up such a great eating habit I don’t want eat that stuff.
As much as I appreciate some of the appeals of the vegan lifestyle, I personally view it as a diet of affluence even moreso than meat eating because the missing dietary requirements usually have to be met through supplements (it’s the only way I’ve ever managed it) or specific targeting of foods that aren’t easy to locally produce in any single environment.
Meat-eating is still highly intensive but I have personally found that chickens will eat your vegetable scraps and scrounge around grass/garden areas very effectively (not requiring much maintenance), provide eggs and one of the best lean meat protein sources available.
The issues with our food production is *how* we do it, not *what* we eat…
uh – I am not talking about “expense” in dollar terms. I was actually referring to the high-level technological/transport infrastructure that is required just to meet a vegan diet. It is a diet that in use only in affluent nations where the infrastructure exists to provide the necessary nutrition through more advanced means.
Sooooooo… basically you just confirmed my hypothesis. You are getting a necessary vitamin that is readily available through meat consumption from your local supermarket…
It’s what I was trying to point out – those food miles add up and they are a significant contribution to issues in the world. On top of that, these are food products available here and around the Western world in our supermarkets because we *are* affluent societies. We *can* go down to the supermarket and, as long as we have the cash, buy these things.
Others may argue about the health benefits, I could care less. I’m more concerned about the misrepresentation of veganism as a viable alternative in a low energy economy.
You might be better to follow the other part of his advice. “I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine”.
Better you gave up the drugs and see how much better you will be. Why you might even get a job and get off the benefit system.
David Scott won 6 World Ironman championships as a vegan. Peter Brock is a vegan as are Mac Danzig, Ruth Heidrich and Greg Chappell just to name a few of many top vegan athletes.
And on it goes, the wailing of ex-Green Party candidate David Hay at the Party decision not to include Him on it’s 2014 Party Vote list just became farcical as Hay calls for Green Party activists and volunteers to ‘strike’ over what He sees as unwarranted treatment by the Party,
It would seem that Hay is more than happy to use the NZ Herald in what can only be described as a futile attempt to split the Party,(and the Herald will more than happily indulge Hay in His elongated hissy fit),
What the ongoing public display of child-like whining from Hay shows about Hay’s character to me is that it was the ME aspect of Hays character that lead His political ‘thinking’ and as his self advancement has been stymied He has no further use for the Party and is happy to attempt to ferment dissent within it,
My view is that the sooner the Party makes the ex-candidate an ex-member the better for all it will be…
Well said Marama, you have to wonder what irks or eats away at the mind of the David Hay’s of this world, how many candidates have put their names forward to the Green Party,(and any other for that matter),only to be rejected by a selection committee,
Zillions i would say over the decades and do they all run off to the media whining like beaten dogs over having had their ego’s bruised, like hell they do and my opinion is the well disciplined Green Party has escaped a bullet by not selecting a candidate, who by His actions has shown He cares little for the discipline or the unity of the Party,
While the Green Party sticks to both arms of it’s it’s foundation, Enviroment and Social justice and equality for all then the Parliamentary members can expect the full support of the members and quite frankly those who wish to exploit their ego driven agenda at the expense of the Party should be invited to fuck off and join Colon Craig…
The David Hay thing seems all a bit odd to me. Never heard of the guy before – so he can’t have much of a political/activist profile, even though he was on last election’s list.
And there’s been vague accusations about the GP having moved away from its core values, but nothing explicit.
OTOH, Hay has been deemed unsuitable to be on the GP list, with no clear reasons given – though Hay’s own actions in the last week make him look like he’s not GP material – all ME and little about being a team player or anything about the ways he’s working for the good of the community.
Yep a narrative for people to relate to. Different approach to well lit guys in suits saying vote for ME! Many previous candidate ads could be mistaken for network tv or radio ads. Also put spot ads on facebook.
The Green campaign a couple of elections ago using a young girl broke convention a little, ditch ad agency orthodoxy but don’t go too negative on the Key gang, go positive on Labour Green Mana–“you deserve better”.
I was wondering about the legality of signs with just a face that people hold up in the street or at at political meetings or in the background of TV interviews. Do they need an authorisation statement? I hope not, because I want to make some.
e.g. a Muldoon face in the background when Key is being interviewed on TV. I’m not actually going to do that one but you get the idea. http://i40.tinypic.com/2mdl7vr.jpg
I doubt that anything about Muldoon would really work today. I suspect that only people near retirement age actually remember him. It will be, after all, at the time of the next election, 30 years since Muldoon was PM and about 22 since he died.
Try finding someone under the age of 45, excluding the sort of people who remain glued to these blogs, who actually remembers Rob. Even the people of any age who do remember would be hard pressed to tell you anything bad about him. That is except for the ones that believe that Saint Roger Douglas cleaned up the mess Rob caused. Very old people would tell you he gave them super at 80% of the average wage and that you got it at 60, not like the 67 these evil Labour people want to impose.
No it would be a bit like saying what a terible man Forbes was as PM.
I’d say that roughly half of all voters were 45 and over. So a fair proportion of voters will remember Sir Rob. And it’d be a good political economic history lesson for the young ones.
I would say, having read many of the comments in “John Key is Rob Muldoons Doppelganger”, that most people do not remember Rob at all.
To have such a lot of people equate Key’s and Muldoon’s behaviour proves my point that people simply do not remember Rob.
In terms of their actual policy platforms Rob was very close to the currently expressed views of the Labour and Green parties. The worst thing he did for New Zealand was in his attempts to have the state control things like prices and salaries, and his attempts to pick winners in industrial companies. He also wanted the state to own many businesses and to set their policies. He also liked to force companies to do things he wanted, not things that were good for either the companies or New Zealand.
Remember supplementary minimum prices, carless days, state insurance companies, Think Big? Remember him swinging a punch at people who had heckled him (Mallard anyone)?
Sounds awfully like Norman and Cunliffe doesn’t it?
Yes, that would seem to describe them very aptly. I guess that Winston must be the last MP who entered Parliament when Rob was PM. Dunne, Goff, Mallard, McCully were all in 1984 weren’t they. None of the veteran MPs except Winnie would remember Rob in his prime.
and his attempts to pick winners in industrial companies.
Yeah and this government has been picking Warner Bros, SkyCity, Serco and a few others as winners.
Car-less days were a result of the OPEC oil reduction. Pity that they didn’t continue it – we’d have excellent public transport now.
As for state insurance companies, well, insurance is actually a natural monopoly. I know, I know, it doesn’t really seem that way as there’s plenty of companies in the market place but it’s one of those things that is what I term a demand monopoly – everybody needs it and when that happens the obvious economies of scale pertain only to a monopoly. There’s a few other reasons as well.
Think Big would have been great – if Muldoon hadn’t borrowed to build it. Just printed the money and utilised our own resources effectively. It was the borrowing that killed Think Big, not the project itself. Oh, and a fixed NZ$.
Remember him swinging a punch at people who had heckled him (Mallard anyone)?
Nope, that was Bob Jones and we all had a great laugh at it at the time.
Bob Jones certainly belted a TV reporter who chased him along the river when Bob was fishing.
However Rob did take a swing at people who were heckling him after an election meeting in Auckland. He insisted on leaving the hall by the front door and then took some swings at people in the street. He wasn’t the boxer that Bob Jones had been though so I don’t think there was any damage done. In that regard Rob was like Mallard.
Carless days were totally nuts. Muldoon was stupid enough to demand that Government owned vehicles must have their day between Monday and Friday so that it meant that some sacrifice be made. The sacrifice was the taxpayer’s of course because they then bought 25% more cars to cover the needs.
I am sure we (wife and I) were not the only ones who bought a second car when the policy came in.
I suggest that you put on your reading glasses and have another look at what I said Tracey.
I said that “… old people will tell you he GAVE them super at 80% of the average …”
I said GAVE Tracey, not STOLE. They would tell you that it was the Labour Government that stole it when they means tested it.
They are probably too complicated for a billboard. It has to be a message that people can take in within a second or two whilst driving past.
I am not going to get into a debate on them but the National party “Iwi/Kiwi” were absolutely superb in that regard. I don’t mean the content, I mean the speed with which the message could be absorbed.
I think that it would take to long to register the meaning of the billboards you are proposing.
Is the same for me. All indented left and is the same on 4 different browsers, and on 3 different computers, one a brand new win 8 machine I am building. But at least the reply is now working, hopefully.
NZ Herald editorial: anti-government regulation rant focused on core political issues /sarc.
Portable swimming pools, no wine in dairies, “anti-smacking Bill”, lightbulbs, banning cell phones while driving, compulsory immunisation, water flow in showers, – cause they limit people’s “freedom” and can have unintended consequences, especially on the “economy” (does that mean the impact on business profits?).
Still, it’s saying Key’s government is more “nanny state” than Clark’s government was.
Blubber Boy, infamous in His own bathtub,(just ask the rubber ducky about it’s treatment),has made the RadioNZ news with the defamation case,(much higher none of us could expect Him to slither),
Even Bryce Edwards, He of NZ Herald fame supports Blubber in His quest to have ‘wail oil’ taken by the Court as media,(Bryce has a point which after i have finished poking the stick i will get to),
My thoughts this morning is that the Blubber should stand up for journalistic integrity,(stop that laughter),everywhere and refuse point blank any courts order to divulge the contents of and identify His sources which lead to Him claiming that an Auckland businessman was intimately involved with Bevan Chuang,
Such a noble upholding of the journalistic ‘right’ to protect a ‘source’ in the face of the power of the judiciary would probably,(hopefully), result in Blubber Boy getting tossed in a jail cell and we might see a ‘Free the whale’ campaign start someplace,(go on Bryce make our day), while the rest of us sit around and laugh like loons as Blubber Boy eats cold wheat-bix in a jail cell where most of us think He belongs anyway,
Oh and befor i forget, Bryce’s point about Blubber being ‘media’, it appears in this latest of court appearences,(serial offender or what),Blubber is being told by the Court that He aint ‘media’, however, in a previous case the offending offensive one was told after He published the name of someone who the Court had given name suppression that ‘wail oil’ was ‘media’,
Seems at the least to be a little 2 faced by the judiciary, and damn i really want to see Him swing…
[Agreed bad12 and I have just posted about this – MS]
i never read whaleoil..(haven’t for at least a couple of yrs..i think..i stopped over the postings of pics of severed heads of animals he has slaughtered..)
..and i may be one of the few who have not read the (so i’m told) gripping/detailed accounts of len browns’ jism/seed/bodily-functions..(and no thank you..i’ll maintain that innocence..if you don’t mind..)
..but i am feeling uncomfortable over a court deciding what is or what isn’t ‘media’..
..and i see that ruling as a total orifice-pluck on the part of that judge..
..however much individuals may criticise slater for his choices of material/uses of that media..
..he..much as ‘truth’ was..is definitely part of the new media landscape..
Agreed. pu. I also don’t read WO and haven’t read all that spurious Len Brown stuff. But am also not comfortable with the court ruling on what is media – especially given the current sad state of a lot of our so-called press and news media.
Nor me (1 ever visit to the wallowing Whale, and another to a site operated by some sort of Penguin – both by links from this site me thinks).
I’m confident – relaxed even, that I’m not missing too much. The right wing view comes from various “horses’ mouths”.
Strangely enough, they all seem very similar, as though they were singing some sort of chorus. Even the new lingo is the same. Where is it they face? – it’s not Mecca …. Helensville perhaps?, or maybe the direction of the nearest talk-back radio transmitter.
The media issue, I assume is important because if he is media he can rely on public interest but does the press have an obligation to research, avoid bias, and report any surrounding circumstances, would it include an obligation to at least put the allegations to them before publishing and print their response?
Does the public interest have to be significant, and is it objective or subjective?
If Whaleoil’s sources are not protected, is anyone writing on The Standard protected?
With a slippery slope argument arriving any minute, let me put the question:
If being a “news distributor” is the principle criteria for protecting source anonymity, could all contributors to The Standard be revealed if required to do so?
Whaleoil’s (uncomfortable) interests are pretty similar to ours.
Try pressing Shift + Refresh (the circled arrow). THis should force your browser(s) to reload the style sheets.
There was a problem retransferring the DNS over the weekend. I was down with a dose of the flu (still am a bit) and didn’t deal with it early enough and then made a screwup on the time to live.
Quick note to McFlock, Karol, Weka, Bill, Rogue, Puddleglum….just reread the whole thread on 29 November Open Mike 18-18.5.1.1.1.2 excellent reading. Really enjoyed the insights and the easy debate. We may differ, disagree etc but hell , that’s one hell of a good read. Thank you all.
Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. (Proverbs 23:29)
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. (John 19:29)
Although he promptly dropped dead afterwards, so the term “vinegar” might genuinely imply something even less palatable than a Central Otago vanity plonk.
Life in the 21st century western style (USA version). I just heard some consumer related news on Radionz item. Thanksgiving day trading, some stores have opened for the first time. 10 million transactions in one day I think. $54 billion I think taken. Protests by workers wanting more pay outside Walmart.
The old kaleidoscope effect. Every time you shake it and look at it you get a different colour, perspective. Some in my family support NACTs. Looking at the same happenings in NZ we think about them entirely differently.
Concerned about the Auckland ‘daft lunatic Plan’ and ‘democracy for developers’?
Live in the Eden-Albert area?
Seen this?
“You are welcome to attend a Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan Public Meeting.
There will be a Presentation on the Notified Unitary Plan by independent planner David Wren – with particular emphasis on Albert-Eden area and topics which are likely to be of interest to locals.
David Wren will speak for about 40 minutes followed by plenty of time for questions and answers.
Date: Saturday 7 December 2013
Time: 9.30am to 12 Noon (doors open at 9.30am and there is access to displays in the lobby and opportunities to discuss issues prior to the main presentation).
Venue: Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, The Chamber Room, 489 Dominion Road, BALMORAL”
____________________________________________________________________________
and while I’m here,
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of (philosopher? ) kings”- 25:2.
Now, away to a tangi, people die, very moving.
Great listening on RadioLive right now – Cameron Slater and Michelle Boag arguing because he called her a lying poisonous scumbag, which is in itself ironic coming from someone like Slater. Also, Michelle once again stated that Slater is an ACC beneficiary, which is another irony when his favourite sport is beneficiary bashing.
So far the greatest number of ‘likes’ on the NZ Herald for New Zealander of the Year article have gone to Graham McCready for taking a private prosecution against the ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks – ACT Leader and MP for Epsom!
todays’ revelations are about/detail how australian spooks/govt offered unlimited raw data on australian citizens to their five eyes partners..to do with what they wished..
..whoar..!..eh..?..
..i wonder when our revelation will happen..?
..and is helen clark ‘sweating’ at all on these upcoming revelations..over there in noo yawk…?
NR radio again. Imagine again that NR decries the lack of factual correctness on the internet. Yet a smidgen of common sense would stop a guest from spouting nonsense. Its known that the firepower of an army is key to its success, that soldiers are trained in rapid accurate fire, so when a former top shot in the US marines guns down the president, looking down on a log slow moving cavalcade in Texas, is it any wonder Oswald got three shots off. You can imagine the jokes had he missed, former Marine couldn’t shoot diddly. So to my surprise NR guest declares he couldn’t believe that a lone gun man could of gotten three shots off in quick succession. Has the man never seen war movies of lines of muskets, highly trained to do just that, rapid fire. No, imagination mixed with common sense is not a requirement in a guest on Moro.
Cycling past this exit onto a cycle way, and keep meeting these aggressive drivers. Well turns out they were likely exiting a gym, didn’t make the connection until I heard about hormone abuses. I wonder do police stats show more accidents near gyms?
I recently had the pleasure of driving from Wellington to Auckland.
To maintain my sanity and ensure I didn’t do anything stupid like fall asleep at the wheel I divided the trip into 3 sections over 2 days.
As a quick aside, I totally recommend checking out any one of the short walks in Tongariro National Park, it was my best stop of the trip.
The traffic and behaviour of other drivers was pretty good right up until I hit the Bombay Hills. The increase of frequency of aggresive, rude and plain dangerous driving was stark.
I saw one incident of a frustrated driver shortly before I left Wellington compared to almost a dozen between Bombay and Glen Eden.
I ride a pushbike on almost a daily basis in Auckland so I am used to psychotic drivers, but this experience highlighted just how normalised bad driving is in Auckland compared to other cities and towns in New Zealand.
Hehe. Your comment brings to mind this piece that starts off:
“My gym has begun to sound like the set of a porno. So much grunting and heaving and panting. It reverberates around the room in a testosterone-laden symphony of man clownery.
“I’ve had enough. Grunty bloke, it’s time to shut up. I’m fairly certain I work out just as hard, yet you don’t hear me groaning like a constipated caveman on steroids every time I break a sweat.
“Women deliver babies with less fuss than the way you puff and whine through a bicep curl.
“Unless you’re attempting to pass a bowling ball through the tip of your urethra there’s really no reason for all the noise.
“And I’m not buying your ”but grunting makes me stronger” nonsense.”
Coming up on the Panel this afternoon: Neil Miller and Jordan Williams
Another black day for Radio New Zealand National
Monday, 2 December 2013
Miller is a smug and conceited git who is on record touting the racist right wing “humorist” P.J. O’Rourke as his favorite writer. If Miller stuck to beer assessing, then he would be sufferable, if only just sufferable. Unfortunately, he tends to veer into political commentary, but he knows little about anything other than beer.[1] Jordan Williams is a junior colleague of the infamous ex-ACT M.P. and S.S. spokesman Stephen Franks, and is becoming well known to Panel listeners as a pretentious but shallow commentator—very like Franks and Miller, in fact. So far, Williams’ most infamously stupid contribution—and there are many to choose from—remains this classic, uttered on the Panel a couple of months ago: “Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster”. [2]
So look at what’s happened, whether accidentally or not: two government-friendly right wing commentators appear on the day that another right wing commentator, Cameron Slater, is one of the major topics of discussion. That represents another minor victory for the beleaguered National-led regime, which needs all the help it can get after the disaster (for National) in Christchurch over the weekend. But it represents another body-blow to the credibility of Radio New Zealand National.
Speaking right now is another guest on the programme—-Garth “The Knife” McVicar. By way of some kind of justification for giving this bloodthirsty lout airtime, Mora prefaced his appearance by saying this: “Okay, we’ve had CRIMINOLOGISTS on the programme before….”
So treating violent psychopaths like McVicar respectfully is some kind of balancing manoeuvre.
..was how mora just sat by and let that clown mcvicar deny the provable-facts of the drop in crime here..
..(a drop that is but an echo of the international trend of sharply dropping rates of crime..)..
..mora makes no mention of that international trend echo..(does he not know..?..could someone tell him..?
..if he does know..?..huh..!..)
..why does he/mora just let these outright/easily provable lies go uncalled/unquestioned..?
..he does himself no favours by doing this..
..today i linked to a story on how sweden is closing four of their prisons..
..a combination of those dropping rates..and the swedish focus on rehabilitation..instead of being solely focused on retribution..as is practised here..
..i noted at the foot of that story/link..how at a time when sweden is closing four prisons..
..we are building a new super-prison..
..have handed our prison system over to the american private industry model..(now there’s a success story/role-model..eh..?..that american prison system..)
..and the cherry on top of this cake of fucken wrongheaded-incompetence/ignorance..
..is that the govt has signed contracts with these private prison spivs..
..guaranteeing to supply enough prisoners to fill their prisons..(!)
..now..that just fucken bends my head out of shape..that prisoner-guarantee..
Had to laugh at the “highbrow???” of Mensa Mora’s Mucky Show 4-5 pm today. The Mad Machiavellian Miller crapping on about whom, according to his girlfriend and others, he resembles.
James McOnie and someone else and someone else apparently. One only has to Google a pic of said Mad Miller to know that the most striking likeness is to – wait for it – SlaterPorn. There must be whakapapa !
Thought about you with anticipation Morrissey as in the course of a three hour plus drive home to the North I listened to the fascinatingly gross right wing fucks Jordan Williams, Mad Miller, and Garth McVictim. Gushingly hosted by The Nicest Man On Earth. Truly incredible !
A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show – you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.
A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show
Miller replaced Mai Chen at the last moment. It’s a pity, because she has shown a willingness to contest lazy ideologists in the past. Her absence ensured that Jordan Williams got (yet another) free ride.
– you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.
As bad as Neil Miller and Jordan Williams are, what I found utterly insulting was bringing on that S.S. obergruppenführer to “discuss” law and order. Surely, if McVicar is acceptable to the producers of this programme, then Kyle Chapman has to be consulted next time the Panel has a discussion about arson.
Probably already covered somewhere above but don’t have time to check – who would have thought it – forgive me the following words we’re not allowed to use – “G….y” Herald caning “N…y” National ???
The award for MSM capabilities in photojournalism goes to ……
c a m e r o n b u r r r N E L L ! ! ! for
“Turning the Sod”
(unassisted – the guy rolls over all on his own)
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Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
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. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
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 ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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Watch out for the petition from Su’a William Sio to be presented in Parliament this week, from people anxious about the East-West link. I think this is going to be quite a movement against this massive arterial/motorway, and a key organising issue leading to the election next year for southern Auckland.
isnt it like asset sales and too late?
nope fully in play
“..16 Celebrities You Never Knew Were Vegan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/vegan-celebrities_n_4351908.html
Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson turned vegan in 2010 –
– and has since loss 100 pounds.
“Becoming a vegan gave me another opportunity to live a healthy life.
I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine – I could hardly breathe –
– [I had] high blood pressure, -[was] almost dying – [and had] arthritis.
And once I became a vegan – all that stuff diminished” – said Tyson..”
phillip ure..
So maybe he should have stopped taking drugs instead? Being vegan doesn’t make you lose weight. Not eating sugary bullshit and exercise does.
+1 don’t need be vegan to be healthy but for some people it’s seems to be the only way they finally get how to do so. A bit like going gluten free did for me even though I don’t weight problem in the sense of being too heavy more not heavy enough. Of course unlike Vegans it’s not a lifestyle choice because a medical condition isn’t really a choice. Even though more crap food is becoming gluten free I built up such a great eating habit I don’t want eat that stuff.
16 celebrities whose vegan-status means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things.
@ lanth..
..given the environmental giant-boot-print from eating flesh and the multi-varied bye-products..
..’vegan status’ does actually mean quite a bit..
..and given the influence of celebrities on the opinions of others/popular culture..
..’in the grand scheme of things’..
..how can it not mean ‘something’….?
..phillip ure..
As much as I appreciate some of the appeals of the vegan lifestyle, I personally view it as a diet of affluence even moreso than meat eating because the missing dietary requirements usually have to be met through supplements (it’s the only way I’ve ever managed it) or specific targeting of foods that aren’t easy to locally produce in any single environment.
Meat-eating is still highly intensive but I have personally found that chickens will eat your vegetable scraps and scrounge around grass/garden areas very effectively (not requiring much maintenance), provide eggs and one of the best lean meat protein sources available.
The issues with our food production is *how* we do it, not *what* we eat…
@ zorr..
..not having bought meat for decades..i occaisonally take note of current prices..
..and..whoar..!..eh..?
..nah..!..you are wrong..being vegan is not more expensive that being a carnivore..
..it is much cheaper..
..and you r eating chook arguments stand if only viewed thru a single lens..
..myself..and many others..are vegan for animal welfare/environmental reasons – as much as for personal health reasons..
..it’s a three-fer..eh..?
..personal health/wellbeing..not hurting any animals..and helping the planet..
..are the three legs of the vegan-stool…
..phillip ure..
uh – I am not talking about “expense” in dollar terms. I was actually referring to the high-level technological/transport infrastructure that is required just to meet a vegan diet. It is a diet that in use only in affluent nations where the infrastructure exists to provide the necessary nutrition through more advanced means.
@zorr..”.. I was actually referring to the high-level technological/transport infrastructure that is required just to meet a vegan diet…”
cd u expand on that plse..i don’t understand what you are referring to..
“..It is a diet that in use only in affluent nations..”..well..not really..if you take rice/vegetables as the basic third world diet..
..it is the first world diet rich in animal/bye-product fats that is causing the ‘first world diseases’..(as they are known as..and for good reason..)
“..where the infrastructure exists to provide the necessary nutrition through more advanced means..”
..again i am usure as to what you are referring to..
..is it supplements..?
..factcheck:..i have been vegan for 15 yrs..i take no supplements..
(..a vegan diet doesn’t mean having to neck handfuls of supplements..)
..i am on no meds of any kind..
..i had a recent health-check..(blood-pressure of a young man’ etc etc..)
..and i know people who have been vegan for twice as long as i have..
..who are in similar general good health..
..that is the evidence i lean to ..zorr..
..phillip ure..
If I may ask then, where do you get your B12 from?
@ b12..soy milk..marmite..etc..etc..
..phillip ure..
Sooooooo… basically you just confirmed my hypothesis. You are getting a necessary vitamin that is readily available through meat consumption from your local supermarket…
It’s what I was trying to point out – those food miles add up and they are a significant contribution to issues in the world. On top of that, these are food products available here and around the Western world in our supermarkets because we *are* affluent societies. We *can* go down to the supermarket and, as long as we have the cash, buy these things.
Others may argue about the health benefits, I could care less. I’m more concerned about the misrepresentation of veganism as a viable alternative in a low energy economy.
You might be better to follow the other part of his advice. “I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine”.
Better you gave up the drugs and see how much better you will be. Why you might even get a job and get off the benefit system.
‘drugs’..alwyn..?
..these days i use pot…that’s it..
..no booze..
..how about yrslf..?..there alwyn..?
…(hic..!..)..what’s yr poison..?..(aside from ‘unjustified feelings of superiority’..eh..?..)
..looking forward to getting really pissed @ the xmas parties..?
..there..alwyn..?
phillip ure..
Anyone actually win the heavyweight boxing championship while vegan?
David Scott won 6 World Ironman championships as a vegan. Peter Brock is a vegan as are Mac Danzig, Ruth Heidrich and Greg Chappell just to name a few of many top vegan athletes.
Yeah, not the question I asked, is it?
The point is that saying “LOOK MIKE TYSON’S A VEGAN” is pointless. He became a vegan after the sporting achievements he’s famous for.
Not to mention the fact that Bill Clinton’s “vegan diet” isn’t:
http://www.fathead-movie.com/index.php/2013/08/13/bill-clintons-vegan-diet/
Or this vegan poster boy who isn’t:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB120122116182915297
(“Small servings” of chicken and fish, huh?)
… and when you add that all up the result is my severe side-eye for vegans trying to convert me to their way of eating.
Oh that’s mean
And on it goes, the wailing of ex-Green Party candidate David Hay at the Party decision not to include Him on it’s 2014 Party Vote list just became farcical as Hay calls for Green Party activists and volunteers to ‘strike’ over what He sees as unwarranted treatment by the Party,
It would seem that Hay is more than happy to use the NZ Herald in what can only be described as a futile attempt to split the Party,(and the Herald will more than happily indulge Hay in His elongated hissy fit),
What the ongoing public display of child-like whining from Hay shows about Hay’s character to me is that it was the ME aspect of Hays character that lead His political ‘thinking’ and as his self advancement has been stymied He has no further use for the Party and is happy to attempt to ferment dissent within it,
My view is that the sooner the Party makes the ex-candidate an ex-member the better for all it will be…
Excellent comment about this from Marama Davidson here:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/12/01/fair-democracy-let-david-hay-speak-and-put-his-hand-up-fair-democracy-common-sense-and-strong-leadership-spoke-back/
Well said Marama, you have to wonder what irks or eats away at the mind of the David Hay’s of this world, how many candidates have put their names forward to the Green Party,(and any other for that matter),only to be rejected by a selection committee,
Zillions i would say over the decades and do they all run off to the media whining like beaten dogs over having had their ego’s bruised, like hell they do and my opinion is the well disciplined Green Party has escaped a bullet by not selecting a candidate, who by His actions has shown He cares little for the discipline or the unity of the Party,
While the Green Party sticks to both arms of it’s it’s foundation, Enviroment and Social justice and equality for all then the Parliamentary members can expect the full support of the members and quite frankly those who wish to exploit their ego driven agenda at the expense of the Party should be invited to fuck off and join Colon Craig…
The David Hay thing seems all a bit odd to me. Never heard of the guy before – so he can’t have much of a political/activist profile, even though he was on last election’s list.
He’s been making vague accusations about the GP leaders, but nothing concrete: the GP has upped it’s (previously pretty non-existant) MPs living in the Auckland area in the last few years: Julie Ann Genter has been high profile about Auckland’s transport system. Denis Roche & Kennedy Graham are pretty active Auckland-based MPs. On top of that I’ve often seen other Green MPs at Auckland actions, notably Gareth Hughes and Jan Logie.
And there’s been vague accusations about the GP having moved away from its core values, but nothing explicit.
OTOH, Hay has been deemed unsuitable to be on the GP list, with no clear reasons given – though Hay’s own actions in the last week make him look like he’s not GP material – all ME and little about being a team player or anything about the ways he’s working for the good of the community.
Hay seems a bit too, managerialist for my liking, even though he says a lot of good things about green issues. He’s been part of the Auckland Council team – but that could mean anything.
Hay stood against Banks and Goldsmith in Epsom, and apparently was way more popular with men than women.
my five cents worth on david hay..
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/comment-whoar-i-am-puzzled-by-the-leveldegree-of-attention-paid-to-the-green-challenger-david-hay-but-he-hay-does-have-a-valid-point-about-the-green-partyies-long-neglect-of-inattention/
(excerpt:..)
“..ed:..the link will take you to (yet another) media piece on the quixotic tilt at russel norman..by one david hay..
..and just why the media have seized upon this exercise in clowning..by this (obvious) outlier is beyond me..”
(cont..)
phillip ure..
Suggestion for labour or greens at nextyear campaign.
Cartoon style billboards
Two panels
First panel
Paula Bennet climbing a ladder labelled support for single mothers, retraining for single mothers, etc
Second Panel
Paula Bennet at top of ladder pushing away while others still on it
Then another of Key climbing the career success ladder with State housing support, widow pension, free university education
second panel
at top pushing it away
and so on…
Simple to the point, highly visual.
Yep a narrative for people to relate to. Different approach to well lit guys in suits saying vote for ME! Many previous candidate ads could be mistaken for network tv or radio ads. Also put spot ads on facebook.
The Green campaign a couple of elections ago using a young girl broke convention a little, ditch ad agency orthodoxy but don’t go too negative on the Key gang, go positive on Labour Green Mana–“you deserve better”.
I was wondering about the legality of signs with just a face that people hold up in the street or at at political meetings or in the background of TV interviews. Do they need an authorisation statement? I hope not, because I want to make some.
e.g. a Muldoon face in the background when Key is being interviewed on TV. I’m not actually going to do that one but you get the idea.
http://i40.tinypic.com/2mdl7vr.jpg
I doubt that anything about Muldoon would really work today. I suspect that only people near retirement age actually remember him. It will be, after all, at the time of the next election, 30 years since Muldoon was PM and about 22 since he died.
Try finding someone under the age of 45, excluding the sort of people who remain glued to these blogs, who actually remembers Rob. Even the people of any age who do remember would be hard pressed to tell you anything bad about him. That is except for the ones that believe that Saint Roger Douglas cleaned up the mess Rob caused. Very old people would tell you he gave them super at 80% of the average wage and that you got it at 60, not like the 67 these evil Labour people want to impose.
No it would be a bit like saying what a terible man Forbes was as PM.
I’d say that roughly half of all voters were 45 and over. So a fair proportion of voters will remember Sir Rob. And it’d be a good political economic history lesson for the young ones.
I would say, having read many of the comments in “John Key is Rob Muldoons Doppelganger”, that most people do not remember Rob at all.
To have such a lot of people equate Key’s and Muldoon’s behaviour proves my point that people simply do not remember Rob.
In terms of their actual policy platforms Rob was very close to the currently expressed views of the Labour and Green parties. The worst thing he did for New Zealand was in his attempts to have the state control things like prices and salaries, and his attempts to pick winners in industrial companies. He also wanted the state to own many businesses and to set their policies. He also liked to force companies to do things he wanted, not things that were good for either the companies or New Zealand.
Remember supplementary minimum prices, carless days, state insurance companies, Think Big? Remember him swinging a punch at people who had heckled him (Mallard anyone)?
Sounds awfully like Norman and Cunliffe doesn’t it?
NZ First would seem to me to be the zombie of Muldoon’s National Party: grey, rotting, bits dropping off, but still lurching on.
Yes, that would seem to describe them very aptly. I guess that Winston must be the last MP who entered Parliament when Rob was PM. Dunne, Goff, Mallard, McCully were all in 1984 weren’t they. None of the veteran MPs except Winnie would remember Rob in his prime.
Yeah and this government has been picking Warner Bros, SkyCity, Serco and a few others as winners.
Car-less days were a result of the OPEC oil reduction. Pity that they didn’t continue it – we’d have excellent public transport now.
As for state insurance companies, well, insurance is actually a natural monopoly. I know, I know, it doesn’t really seem that way as there’s plenty of companies in the market place but it’s one of those things that is what I term a demand monopoly – everybody needs it and when that happens the obvious economies of scale pertain only to a monopoly. There’s a few other reasons as well.
Think Big would have been great – if Muldoon hadn’t borrowed to build it. Just printed the money and utilised our own resources effectively. It was the borrowing that killed Think Big, not the project itself. Oh, and a fixed NZ$.
Nope, that was Bob Jones and we all had a great laugh at it at the time.
Bob Jones certainly belted a TV reporter who chased him along the river when Bob was fishing.
However Rob did take a swing at people who were heckling him after an election meeting in Auckland. He insisted on leaving the hall by the front door and then took some swings at people in the street. He wasn’t the boxer that Bob Jones had been though so I don’t think there was any damage done. In that regard Rob was like Mallard.
Carless days were totally nuts. Muldoon was stupid enough to demand that Government owned vehicles must have their day between Monday and Friday so that it meant that some sacrifice be made. The sacrifice was the taxpayer’s of course because they then bought 25% more cars to cover the needs.
I am sure we (wife and I) were not the only ones who bought a second car when the policy came in.
Something had to be done about the extremely high oil prices at the time, which were crippling our balance of payments.
what? Very old people remember he stole their pension. I guess you missed the baby boomer phenomenon.
I suggest that you put on your reading glasses and have another look at what I said Tracey.
I said that “… old people will tell you he GAVE them super at 80% of the average …”
I said GAVE Tracey, not STOLE. They would tell you that it was the Labour Government that stole it when they means tested it.
It was 1984 Labour, sorry ACT, that stole our future.
Douglas’ better future, remember, bit like Key’s really.
They are probably too complicated for a billboard. It has to be a message that people can take in within a second or two whilst driving past.
I am not going to get into a debate on them but the National party “Iwi/Kiwi” were absolutely superb in that regard. I don’t mean the content, I mean the speed with which the message could be absorbed.
I think that it would take to long to register the meaning of the billboards you are proposing.
What is wrong with The Standard? I thought I’d fixed it by deleting cache and cookies etc, but now it’s back to looking like shit again.
Is the same for me. All indented left and is the same on 4 different browsers, and on 3 different computers, one a brand new win 8 machine I am building. But at least the reply is now working, hopefully.
The TS is back to normal for me since last night. Before that it looked like a mid-to-late 1990s message board – low graphics, naff layout.
It’s looking fine for me now on Chrome.
Today it is Kiwiblog up the creek with just a single word below each contribution from Jadis and one cannot log-in.
Oh well, whatever is going on… it isn’t partisan. 🙂
Mine is the same as David H.
All back to normal again.
So have the Conservatives got any policies yet which are actually conservative?
Or are they still all extreme? Like guns for all.
Conservatives, my arse….
NZ Herald editorial: anti-government regulation rant focused on core political issues /sarc.
Portable swimming pools, no wine in dairies, “anti-smacking Bill”, lightbulbs, banning cell phones while driving, compulsory immunisation, water flow in showers, – cause they limit people’s “freedom” and can have unintended consequences, especially on the “economy” (does that mean the impact on business profits?).
Still, it’s saying Key’s government is more “nanny state” than Clark’s government was.
Where are the blazing DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK banners then?
The Herald’s anonymous editor should have to repeat these words about too many rules to the families of. Pike River..
Ah, a jonolist learned a new word: eczematous
and then used it incorrectly.
Blubber Boy, infamous in His own bathtub,(just ask the rubber ducky about it’s treatment),has made the RadioNZ news with the defamation case,(much higher none of us could expect Him to slither),
Even Bryce Edwards, He of NZ Herald fame supports Blubber in His quest to have ‘wail oil’ taken by the Court as media,(Bryce has a point which after i have finished poking the stick i will get to),
My thoughts this morning is that the Blubber should stand up for journalistic integrity,(stop that laughter),everywhere and refuse point blank any courts order to divulge the contents of and identify His sources which lead to Him claiming that an Auckland businessman was intimately involved with Bevan Chuang,
Such a noble upholding of the journalistic ‘right’ to protect a ‘source’ in the face of the power of the judiciary would probably,(hopefully), result in Blubber Boy getting tossed in a jail cell and we might see a ‘Free the whale’ campaign start someplace,(go on Bryce make our day), while the rest of us sit around and laugh like loons as Blubber Boy eats cold wheat-bix in a jail cell where most of us think He belongs anyway,
Oh and befor i forget, Bryce’s point about Blubber being ‘media’, it appears in this latest of court appearences,(serial offender or what),Blubber is being told by the Court that He aint ‘media’, however, in a previous case the offending offensive one was told after He published the name of someone who the Court had given name suppression that ‘wail oil’ was ‘media’,
Seems at the least to be a little 2 faced by the judiciary, and damn i really want to see Him swing…
[Agreed bad12 and I have just posted about this – MS]
i never read whaleoil..(haven’t for at least a couple of yrs..i think..i stopped over the postings of pics of severed heads of animals he has slaughtered..)
..and i may be one of the few who have not read the (so i’m told) gripping/detailed accounts of len browns’ jism/seed/bodily-functions..(and no thank you..i’ll maintain that innocence..if you don’t mind..)
..but i am feeling uncomfortable over a court deciding what is or what isn’t ‘media’..
..and i see that ruling as a total orifice-pluck on the part of that judge..
..however much individuals may criticise slater for his choices of material/uses of that media..
..he..much as ‘truth’ was..is definitely part of the new media landscape..
..and to claim otherwise is a nonsense..
..phillip ure..
Agreed. pu. I also don’t read WO and haven’t read all that spurious Len Brown stuff. But am also not comfortable with the court ruling on what is media – especially given the current sad state of a lot of our so-called press and news media.
karol +1
Nor me (1 ever visit to the wallowing Whale, and another to a site operated by some sort of Penguin – both by links from this site me thinks).
I’m confident – relaxed even, that I’m not missing too much. The right wing view comes from various “horses’ mouths”.
Strangely enough, they all seem very similar, as though they were singing some sort of chorus. Even the new lingo is the same. Where is it they face? – it’s not Mecca …. Helensville perhaps?, or maybe the direction of the nearest talk-back radio transmitter.
Agree, the judiciary can’t have to both ways.
The media issue, I assume is important because if he is media he can rely on public interest but does the press have an obligation to research, avoid bias, and report any surrounding circumstances, would it include an obligation to at least put the allegations to them before publishing and print their response?
Does the public interest have to be significant, and is it objective or subjective?
If Whaleoil’s sources are not protected, is anyone writing on The Standard protected?
With a slippery slope argument arriving any minute, let me put the question:
If being a “news distributor” is the principle criteria for protecting source anonymity, could all contributors to The Standard be revealed if required to do so?
Whaleoil’s (uncomfortable) interests are pretty similar to ours.
**Hmm will shift this over to relevant debate**
Cannot reply. Same on Firefox and Safari. Text for comments are OK but layout very basic. All other sites are as normal.
Try pressing Shift + Refresh (the circled arrow). THis should force your browser(s) to reload the style sheets.
There was a problem retransferring the DNS over the weekend. I was down with a dose of the flu (still am a bit) and didn’t deal with it early enough and then made a screwup on the time to live.
I’ve purged all of the caches at the server end in case that is the problem.
That seemed to work for me on IE as it suddenly righted itself without me doing anything.
Thanks, lprent – and take care of that flu. We need you …..
Sorry to be a nuisance 1prent. I have no “circled arrow” or any key resembling word “refresh” on it. Can you hazard a guess which key it should be?
Oh… its suddenly come right. Life’s normal again. If you did something 1prent… thank-you. 🙂
Shift + F5 on windows keyboards
The refresh button on the button bar usually looks like a green circle cut at either one or two points with arrow(s) on them.
It has righted and back to usual bright and breezy format. Thanks Iprent.
lprent
+1
Quick note to McFlock, Karol, Weka, Bill, Rogue, Puddleglum….just reread the whole thread on 29 November Open Mike 18-18.5.1.1.1.2 excellent reading. Really enjoyed the insights and the easy debate. We may differ, disagree etc but hell , that’s one hell of a good read. Thank you all.
cheers – yes, it definitely gave me a fair bit to mull over, too – thanks 🙂
Mulled wine at Christmas – is that your bag?
If I were to be completely honest, my bag is probably anything with more ethanol than methanol in it.
According to an oenophile friend, the problem really is what I’m drinking 🙂
Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. (Proverbs 23:29)
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. (John 19:29)
Although he promptly dropped dead afterwards, so the term “vinegar” might genuinely imply something even less palatable than a Central Otago vanity plonk.
he he (and that’s all folks, at this time of the mornin’ to ya’) ffs 😀
“A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”- 25:12
Yaaaaaay, TS back to ‘normal’ (using that word plurally) 🙂
Life in the 21st century western style (USA version). I just heard some consumer related news on Radionz item. Thanksgiving day trading, some stores have opened for the first time. 10 million transactions in one day I think. $54 billion I think taken. Protests by workers wanting more pay outside Walmart.
The old kaleidoscope effect. Every time you shake it and look at it you get a different colour, perspective. Some in my family support NACTs. Looking at the same happenings in NZ we think about them entirely differently.
Hi folks!
Concerned about the Auckland ‘daft lunatic Plan’ and ‘democracy for developers’?
Live in the Eden-Albert area?
Seen this?
“You are welcome to attend a Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan Public Meeting.
There will be a Presentation on the Notified Unitary Plan by independent planner David Wren – with particular emphasis on Albert-Eden area and topics which are likely to be of interest to locals.
David Wren will speak for about 40 minutes followed by plenty of time for questions and answers.
Date: Saturday 7 December 2013
Time: 9.30am to 12 Noon (doors open at 9.30am and there is access to displays in the lobby and opportunities to discuss issues prior to the main presentation).
Venue: Mt Eden War Memorial Hall, The Chamber Room, 489 Dominion Road, BALMORAL”
____________________________________________________________________________
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
http://www.pennybright4mayor.org.nz/democracy-for-developers/
A look into the lives of the people who make the electronics we use.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/migrant-workers-pay-to-get-jobs-making-electronics-b99151857z1-234004661.html
and while I’m here,
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of (philosopher? ) kings”- 25:2.
Now, away to a tangi, people die, very moving.
You’re back, format and all. Great, no more of John Key’s dirty deeds. Funny how the site crashed on the day of the by-election.
wtf!
Great listening on RadioLive right now – Cameron Slater and Michelle Boag arguing because he called her a lying poisonous scumbag, which is in itself ironic coming from someone like Slater. Also, Michelle once again stated that Slater is an ACC beneficiary, which is another irony when his favourite sport is beneficiary bashing.
Seen this folks?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/your-views/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501154&objectid=11149526
So far the greatest number of ‘likes’ on the NZ Herald for New Zealander of the Year article have gone to Graham McCready for taking a private prosecution against the ‘Not-So-Honorable’ John Banks – ACT Leader and MP for Epsom!
YAY!
dodgy john is going…. going…. 🙂
Penny Bright
http://www.dodgyjohnhas gone.com
todays’ revelations are about/detail how australian spooks/govt offered unlimited raw data on australian citizens to their five eyes partners..to do with what they wished..
..whoar..!..eh..?..
..i wonder when our revelation will happen..?
..and is helen clark ‘sweating’ at all on these upcoming revelations..over there in noo yawk…?
..d’yareckon..?
..phillip ure..
NR radio again. Imagine again that NR decries the lack of factual correctness on the internet. Yet a smidgen of common sense would stop a guest from spouting nonsense. Its known that the firepower of an army is key to its success, that soldiers are trained in rapid accurate fire, so when a former top shot in the US marines guns down the president, looking down on a log slow moving cavalcade in Texas, is it any wonder Oswald got three shots off. You can imagine the jokes had he missed, former Marine couldn’t shoot diddly. So to my surprise NR guest declares he couldn’t believe that a lone gun man could of gotten three shots off in quick succession. Has the man never seen war movies of lines of muskets, highly trained to do just that, rapid fire. No, imagination mixed with common sense is not a requirement in a guest on Moro.
Cycling past this exit onto a cycle way, and keep meeting these aggressive drivers. Well turns out they were likely exiting a gym, didn’t make the connection until I heard about hormone abuses. I wonder do police stats show more accidents near gyms?
Are you in Auckland?
I recently had the pleasure of driving from Wellington to Auckland.
To maintain my sanity and ensure I didn’t do anything stupid like fall asleep at the wheel I divided the trip into 3 sections over 2 days.
As a quick aside, I totally recommend checking out any one of the short walks in Tongariro National Park, it was my best stop of the trip.
The traffic and behaviour of other drivers was pretty good right up until I hit the Bombay Hills. The increase of frequency of aggresive, rude and plain dangerous driving was stark.
I saw one incident of a frustrated driver shortly before I left Wellington compared to almost a dozen between Bombay and Glen Eden.
I ride a pushbike on almost a daily basis in Auckland so I am used to psychotic drivers, but this experience highlighted just how normalised bad driving is in Auckland compared to other cities and towns in New Zealand.
Hehe. Your comment brings to mind this piece that starts off:
“My gym has begun to sound like the set of a porno. So much grunting and heaving and panting. It reverberates around the room in a testosterone-laden symphony of man clownery.
“I’ve had enough. Grunty bloke, it’s time to shut up. I’m fairly certain I work out just as hard, yet you don’t hear me groaning like a constipated caveman on steroids every time I break a sweat.
“Women deliver babies with less fuss than the way you puff and whine through a bicep curl.
“Unless you’re attempting to pass a bowling ball through the tip of your urethra there’s really no reason for all the noise.
“And I’m not buying your ”but grunting makes me stronger” nonsense.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/9399413/Grunty-gym-bloke-please-pipe-down
Coming up on the Panel this afternoon: Neil Miller and Jordan Williams
Another black day for Radio New Zealand National
Monday, 2 December 2013
Miller is a smug and conceited git who is on record touting the racist right wing “humorist” P.J. O’Rourke as his favorite writer. If Miller stuck to beer assessing, then he would be sufferable, if only just sufferable. Unfortunately, he tends to veer into political commentary, but he knows little about anything other than beer.[1] Jordan Williams is a junior colleague of the infamous ex-ACT M.P. and S.S. spokesman Stephen Franks, and is becoming well known to Panel listeners as a pretentious but shallow commentator—very like Franks and Miller, in fact. So far, Williams’ most infamously stupid contribution—and there are many to choose from—remains this classic, uttered on the Panel a couple of months ago: “Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster”. [2]
So look at what’s happened, whether accidentally or not: two government-friendly right wing commentators appear on the day that another right wing commentator, Cameron Slater, is one of the major topics of discussion. That represents another minor victory for the beleaguered National-led regime, which needs all the help it can get after the disaster (for National) in Christchurch over the weekend. But it represents another body-blow to the credibility of Radio New Zealand National.
[1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-2092013/#comment-690249
[2] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12092013/#comment-695426
UPDATE!!!
Speaking right now is another guest on the programme—-Garth “The Knife” McVicar. By way of some kind of justification for giving this bloodthirsty lout airtime, Mora prefaced his appearance by saying this: “Okay, we’ve had CRIMINOLOGISTS on the programme before….”
So treating violent psychopaths like McVicar respectfully is some kind of balancing manoeuvre.
This programme is now beyond satire.
what really pissed me off about today..
..was how mora just sat by and let that clown mcvicar deny the provable-facts of the drop in crime here..
..(a drop that is but an echo of the international trend of sharply dropping rates of crime..)..
..mora makes no mention of that international trend echo..(does he not know..?..could someone tell him..?
..if he does know..?..huh..!..)
..why does he/mora just let these outright/easily provable lies go uncalled/unquestioned..?
..he does himself no favours by doing this..
..today i linked to a story on how sweden is closing four of their prisons..
..a combination of those dropping rates..and the swedish focus on rehabilitation..instead of being solely focused on retribution..as is practised here..
..i noted at the foot of that story/link..how at a time when sweden is closing four prisons..
..we are building a new super-prison..
..have handed our prison system over to the american private industry model..(now there’s a success story/role-model..eh..?..that american prison system..)
..and the cherry on top of this cake of fucken wrongheaded-incompetence/ignorance..
..is that the govt has signed contracts with these private prison spivs..
..guaranteeing to supply enough prisoners to fill their prisons..(!)
..now..that just fucken bends my head out of shape..that prisoner-guarantee..
..we are ruled by ignorant fools..
..phillip ure..
ACT – less than 1% of the voters
25% of panel invitees.
Had to laugh at the “highbrow???” of Mensa Mora’s Mucky Show 4-5 pm today. The Mad Machiavellian Miller crapping on about whom, according to his girlfriend and others, he resembles.
James McOnie and someone else and someone else apparently. One only has to Google a pic of said Mad Miller to know that the most striking likeness is to – wait for it – SlaterPorn. There must be whakapapa !
Thought about you with anticipation Morrissey as in the course of a three hour plus drive home to the North I listened to the fascinatingly gross right wing fucks Jordan Williams, Mad Miller, and Garth McVictim. Gushingly hosted by The Nicest Man On Earth. Truly incredible !
A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show – you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.
A passing comment by Mad Miller suggests he might’ve been a late call to today’s Mucky Show
Miller replaced Mai Chen at the last moment. It’s a pity, because she has shown a willingness to contest lazy ideologists in the past. Her absence ensured that Jordan Williams got (yet another) free ride.
– you may well be correct in your suspicion that a troika of outlandish right wingers was rapidly assembled to provide “balance” in the wake of the Christchurch result.
As bad as Neil Miller and Jordan Williams are, what I found utterly insulting was bringing on that S.S. obergruppenführer to “discuss” law and order. Surely, if McVicar is acceptable to the producers of this programme, then Kyle Chapman has to be consulted next time the Panel has a discussion about arson.
Probably already covered somewhere above but don’t have time to check – who would have thought it – forgive me the following words we’re not allowed to use – “G….y” Herald caning “N…y” National ???
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/9466873/Work-starts-on-MacKays-to-Peka-Peka-expressway
The award for MSM capabilities in photojournalism goes to ……
c a m e r o n b u r r r N E L L ! ! ! for
“Turning the Sod”
(unassisted – the guy rolls over all on his own)
The Guardian is picking up on the Government’s attempt to soften us all up for a fall in NZ’s Education Sector ranking in the OECD Pisa Report.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/dec/01/michael-gove-labour-international-league-table