And defended Matt Gaetz with the angle that no charges have been made so folks are jumping the gun, and some pretty shonkey interpretation of the term "age of consent"..
Yes, my comment was totes all about you (and had nothing to do with Greenwald claiming an age of consent of 17 when in fact the law in several of the relevant states was that the sexual partners of a man in his thirties need to be aged at least 18). /sarc
See, here's the thing: we can get into a debate about the ethics of a 31 year old having sex with a 17 year old, we can debate the semantics of whether that, in many instances, would involve a de facto power imbalance to the point of negating informed consent for someone of the younger age and thereby possibly constituting sexual assault or rape in a specific case, or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue).
But my comment had nothing to do with any of that.
Greenwald's efforts to defend a 31yo representative who allegedly had sex with a person under the age of consent include a basic misunderstanding of age of consent legislation in the relevant jurisdictions. Feel free to address that point at any time.
But whatevs. Your relationship as a 16yo with a 26yo was fine. Fair enough.
Were you in Florida at the time? I suspect not. So the Florida law is still irrelevant. Just as Gaetz apparently using venmo to pay a 17yo for sex has nothing to do with NZ prostitution law.Heck, in Russia or Alabama you could have started procreating at something like 14. That is equally irrelevant to Greenwald's apparent commitment to reality.
But in a thread about Greenwald, again, whatever Gaetz did or didn't do and the legality about those alleged actions is irrelevant. The fact is Greenwald, a former reporter still much respected as a blogger ( 👿 ) by some commenters here, is using a fundamentally incorrect understanding of applicable law to defendMatt Gaetz.
Sex we can' live with it and can't do without it. All these thousands of years and we still are arguing about every aspect of it and building higher soapboxes to declaim about it.
mind its not only the sex with a minor (statuatory rape) that is at Gaetzes problem it is the trafficking a minor across statelines for the prupose of sex (Man Act) , and paying her for the services.
so there is the issue with what would be considered statuatory rape
What is Statutory Rape? Florida's statutory rape law is codified in F.S. 794.05. Generally, the age of consent in Florida is 18. … The law says that if a person who is 24 or older engages in sexual activity with a person who is 16 or 17, he or she commits a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
then there is the issue of moving a underage person across statelines is of a different nature altogether.
and paying for sex and receiving making money of sex by pimping a girl ( in this case) out.
In Florida, it is a crime for people who are not married to each other to buy, sell, offer, solicit, or agree to engage in sexual favors in exchange for money. Florida's law against prostitution applies to both prostitutes and “johns.” (Fla. … For more information on prostitution laws generally, see Prostitution.
So even if the statuatory rape charges could be thrown out – and chances are if they stood alone know one would care tbh, it would still leave sex trafficking and pimping. Not sure what Glenn has to say about that.
He's the world's most renowned journalist, and that's your considered response.
The fact that he stands for the principle of free speech (which leads him to support people you have scoffed at and/or vilified, such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange) and the principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is no doubt the key driver of your animus towards him.
Morrissey it says volumes about McFlock and Co that they side with the AuthoritarianRight in attacking the journalist whose work actually freed from wrongful imprisonment one of the most important Left wing politicians in the world today…like I said before, these people are just Liberal Imperialists who haven't seen a western led sanction, foreign intervention or war that they didn't like in a long long time.
Glenn Greenwald Took on the Authoritarian Right in Brazil — and Won
On the contrary, McFlock is not necessarily against the presumption of innocence. Just that in this situation its a bit of a hinderance to 'throw everything at the courts and let them sort it out', which is after all just good politics is it not.
All I'm saying about Gaetz is that if "the world's most renowned journalist" comes to your defence and he finds it necessary to mislead people about the age of consent, you might want to top up your budget for an actual legal defense.
To roughly quote john Oliver, the poverty line is like the age of consent: if you feel the need to parse exactly where it is, then you’ve probably already done something very, very wrong.
See, the thing about that is the only source I saw was where Greenwald both describes the age of consent as being 18 in Virginia and that there really need to be charges before considering Gaetz guilt. So if Greenwald is missleading people I need to see where he is doing that (and this point was elided from your prior link).
“If you don’t think it should be legal for 17 year-olds to have sex with anyone they want, go write to the governors and legislatures in 37 states & the District of Columbia which made it legal,” Greenwald recently tweeted while defending Gaetz.
That quoted quote is from my link. Is the quote incorrect? Because it seems to suggest that the age of consent in states relevant to the Gaetz story is not 18.
As for considering legal guilt, I'm not. Sure, it looks damned suss on the face of it. And yeah, I tend to be of the opinion that the further the age gap gets from the old "half your age plus seven" guide, the odds of a relationship between equals gets lower and the odds of exploitation seem to get higher. And Gaetz looks like a sleazebag in the style of Roy Moore or Berlusconi, and Greenwald is well past his days of being "world renowned".
But hey, if it gets to court and turns out to be all a fit-up, it doesn't make Greenwald's comments about the age of consent any less misleading.
The point is Greenwalds quote is factually accurate for the US and yet you are repeatedly claiming its missleading. So we need to see the part of the conversation where Gaetz exoneration is supposedly implied by Greenwald. Unfortunately for some reason the author left it out though.
Daamit. If only there were some sort of computer algorithm or website that let us search for a direct quote across all the www in the hope of finding an original source. I guess we can never truly know the tru- oh wait here's the exact thread.
Wow, context really does help. Greenwald seems to be arguing that if a person is above the age of consent in some of the US states (in some circumstances), "woman" is always a more applicable term than "minor".
Thats just the same tweet again, doesn' t show me any earlier tweets. It also seems more clear that Greenwald intended that tweet in the general US context than before.
In his zeal to disparage one of the few decent American intellectuals, one "millsy" writes, sans evidence, that "Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years", and then compounds that outlandish, unsupported statement with something that is plain false, viz., "The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'." There is no evidence, anywhere, that Glenn Greenwald has ever said anything that even implies that.
“I would describe a lot of people on the right as being socialist. I would consider Steve Bannon to be socialist. I would consider the 2016 iteration of Donald Trump the candidate to be a socialist, based on what he was saying. I would consider Tucker Carlson to be a socialist.”
– Glenn Greenwald, on the Daily Caller, 3 March 2021
I don't normally engage with you anymore, you being a lost cause and hopeless case, especially considering the amount you're moderated and me not wanting to get caught up in your maladies, but on this occasion, tell me where "a bit further down" I should have been reading?
Of course you don't get moderated..are far as I can see you are a 'colour inside the lines' kind of guy..not that there is anything wrong with that.
…read down to where he explains what he meant by socialist…" not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I guess he is getting political crossover confused with Socialism, but he is not wrong about that crossover.
@arkie, You left out this bit of important context, not on purpose I am sure."“I think the vision is, you know, you have this kind of right wing populism, which really is socialism, that says we should close our borders, not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I used the pull quote used in the article in the second link, the context is present in the video straight from the Daily Caller site in the first.
You take my desire for an accurate discussion on this forum as malicious or a defense of the status quo, not on purpose I am sure, but as a leftist, I think Greenwald is just wrong in his understanding of socialism, and it does it no favour to be associated or equated to right wing populism, they are fundamentally at odds and it needs to be constantly repeated.
You may be are right in that Greenwalds understanding of Socialism leaves a bit to be desired, but I think that his point of there being some crossover with traditional conservatives and Socialists (in the US) in their views on the working classes/unions, end to US foreign interventions/wars and of course their mutual hatred of freemarket neoliberalism is a good point.
In fact I would say that anyone with real progressive Socialist political plans have more to fear from the Freemarket Liberal Centrists in the short term than they do from the Right or Conservatives, as was proven out in the open for us all to see vis a vis Corbyn and Sanders.
Where are these traditional conservatives that are similar to socialists in their views on the working classes/unions? Certainly not any of those above that Greenwald listed so there is no ‘point’ there.
If you think the answers to the pressing issues of our time will come solely through electoral politics then I think you are entitled to your fear but I do not proscribe to such a worldview.
Banks give money away, inflation is higher than interest rates. Affected: Those who save or have savings (pensioners, first home buyers etc..). Hahahahahaha… yeah lets just spend spend spend and print money… what a sound concept that is.
Meanwhile… we are certainly not raising a generation that will participate being part of the community and has to be supported by the taxpayers. Years 1-11 attending less than 70 per cent (of learning days).
Individuals who need immediate essential help can get up to six weeks of benefit payments which is then repaid back. Since 2016, the number of beneficiaries asking to be paid early has been steadily rising – almost 230,000 in this year's March quarter, at a cost of $87 million.
…
“What we're seeing is the need being met in a way that’s not sustainable,” advocate Kay Bereton said. She was on the Government's Welfare Expert Advisory Group three years ago and says beneficiaries need to earn more and private landlords incentivised to take them in.
“People are paying 80, 90, 110 per cent of their benefit income on their rent and there’s just not enough left,” Bereton said.
You need to read the post by Mickey, Labour is raining down money on our poor unfortunate unemployed. Its gonna come gushing down the drains that windfall of $ 57 (before tax lol) over the next 2.5 years.
They just simply care no more then National does. I think that myth should finally be put to rest.
I have seen enough in my community over the last year to not expect anything else but hardship. Couched in some cynical sugar coated baby babbling about kindness and niceness and gentleness. Not for the poor, now they need the hard treatment. Lest they get comfortable in their poorness.
And here we see how Tory all our parties are in regards to the unemployed and other unfortunate poor and those that actually can't be shoved back into work due to physical and other issues.
But Sepuloni says the Government has created change.
“On top of the income support that we've increased and provided better access to through the welfare system, we've been working really hard to provide access to employment and the upskilling,” she said.
But the National Party doesn’t buy it.
“With an increase in the number of people on Job-Seeker Benefit over 80,000 since Labour came into office, more people are doing it tough and we don’t think the Government is doing enough to support them into employment,” National’s Louise Upston said.
“In the last quarter we've seen the largest exits off benefits into work than what we've seen since 1996 when electronic records started to be kept,” Sepuloni maintained.
Yeah, shove them into what ever jobs never mind they are still on a benefit, cause they still can't pay a rent, food and shoes at the same time.
Carmel Sepuloni can't soon enough join her predecessor in selling property, as is befitting such callous people.
On top of the article is a little clip about a guy who just received a rent increase of over 100 NZD, cause why not. Obviously someone will pay it, if not him who cares…
Watch it without noise, just the writing over the images.
From the article seems to me like the tenant had a very generous landlord only charging $370 for over 2 years! (Think of all the money the tenant has saved over those two years by being lucky enough to have such cheap rent). Now the tenant complains when the rent finally increases to $525 (which is still cheap as the average is $560).
I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.
???? the real world is charging rent way beyond what can be afforded. This is why the taxpayer forks out 1 Million a day (let this melt on your tongue) to support the landlords collecting these extraordinary amounts.
Solid in depth interview with David Bell, the whistleblower at the Tavistock in the UK which treats children with gender dysphoria. He’s just retired so is now able to speak freely.
Lots of important issues in this case: the over medicalisation of children, the ideological influence of lobby groups, the fact that when the GIDS clinic was finally taken to court it was unable to present evidence for efficacy or not of treatment or even data on number and ages of children treated, that so many people are afraid to speak out.
Two things that stand out particularly, which are related to that last one. The number of girls being referred for treatment of gender dysphoria has exploded exponentially. Could be an increase in awareness of need for treatment or it could be a developing social dynamic where girls now experience bring female as so difficult they’d rather transition. But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Hence we have the situation of teen girls and young women eventually having non reversible medical and surgical treatments like double mastectomies and hormone treatments that leave them sterile, and finding their gender dysphoria remains unresolved and later they detransition. Many are lesbian and end up resuming life as lesbian women but with permanently altered bodies. Think about that in the current debate about conversion therapy.
Which leads us to the second point. The left is actively complicit in this by its refusal to allow debate of women’s rights in relation to trans rights and discussion of the issues by the public and academia. Bell notes the chilling effect generally from the left, and gender critical feminists have been writing about this for years now and are still being written off as transphobes. This article is a good exploration of the issues because it’s outside that political arena but still clinical people were afraid to speak and those that did faced sanctions.
The left needs to take a long hard look at itself and what it’s freeze peach, no debate rhetoric is doing.
Didn’t get back to this, but thanks so much for posting. Yes some on the left are complicit with this and have swallowed uncritically the gender identity narrative, which is pushed as the only way to think.
there is an annual fair held in Masterton (book fair I think) and every year they have a Harry Potter quiz for kids. This year it has been canceled because of JK Rowling’s so called trans phobic comments
But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Two thoughts. You'd think that GIDS' record keeping would be absolutely first class… bearing in mind that for many of their patients' treatment would involve chemical and surgical interventions (to mostly healthy bodies) with irreversible effects. It's almost as if GIDS never expected to ever have to be held accountable or face close public/judicial scrutiny.
The suppression and de- platforming of anyone with an opinion that is counter to the 'accepted narrative' has gone beyond concerning. It is Orwellian, and truly frightening.
Between this issue and Te Virus (origin, symptoms, treatments, supportive therapies and vaccines etc) I have read many, many articles and research papers that are automatically dismissed because they run (even slightly) counter to what fuck knows who decided is The Truth.
Respect, weka, for continuing to bring this issue to the fore.
Where do our tax dollars go? A wee it of a run down of motels in Rotorua that house 'district clients' aka homeless New Zealand families, kids, and anyone in between with no fixed abode.
District Clients, i wonder how much time was spend to come up with that euphemism and if it involved any sense of shame even just typing them. They are not clients, they are homeless. And thus as Stephanie Rodgers said a few years ago, the state gave up. Charity even government Charity is now business and homeless kiwis become 'district clients'
Jimmy, when you are passionate about an issue/s then you make time.
I maybe from the centre-right side of the divide but I don’t generally visit political blogs that align with my views as they tend to be echo chambers, only reinforcing my views.
I like coming here and hearing from commentators such as Sabine because it challenges my view point. On housing and alleviation of poverty Sabine makes some very salient points.
I agree Sabine does make some interesting comments but genuinely wondered how They find the time as some of the comments are quite long and detailed and obviously a lot of thought has gone in to them.
She finds the time as much as you do. But she has lived poverty, homelessness, sexual abuse, and such, so she knows it. She remembers being poor, hungry, cold, and being fucked around by some very comfortable people in very comfortable offices with very comfortable salaries that could not care one bit about hte damage they heep onto already damaged people.
Poverty and homelessness are my fights. I understand them. There are many things that are being discussed here on the Standard or elsewhere were i contribute by not saying a thing. But poverty, homelessness that is something that i understand in detail. Hunger i understand. What i still grapple with today is being so comfortable all your life that one takes wellbeing and riches for granted, while i can't enjoy mine of the moment because i don't want to get used to it. 🙂 Poverty does fuck one up for a long time.
An inquiry into a police spy scandal (which had its origins decades ago) is currently in progress in Britain. For those who might be interested, I leave here two podcasts which give some idea of the pernicious activity of the under-cover police officers involved, and how it affected the lives of many decent, law abiding British folk – women in particular.
Each podcast is 30 minutes in actual length and well worth the listen. The amount of wasted police hours and the over-all astronomical cost is in itself a scandal.
The time is overdue for a similar inquiry in NZ because the NZ Police ran a similar campaign here for years. It began in the 1970s around the time Muldoon became PM – no surprises there.
They infiltrated organisations which they perceived to be left-wing and therefore posed a threat to society. The NZ Labour Party was one of them. Incredibly hard to believe but it is true.
I know the identity of two people who acted in an undercover capacity (there would have been others) and who spied on me for years. I was also used by one of them to elicit information which I happily supplied… thinking the friendship was genuine. The fallout proved to be extremely harrowing for me.
The damage that was done to many innocent individuals was huge and is, in itself, worthy of a government initiated investigation into past police practices.
An inquiry is required or access to a highly qualified QC at no cost.
I do think those who have been mistreated (understated) and then have confronted the police and not had the issue resolved when superiors have sanctioned what was done, there needs to be consequences for the police.
Muldoon either told the office of the commissioner of police to use police resources to harm innocent people or the office of the Commissioner of Police acted unlawfully.
I will listen to the links you provided and I was aware of women being exploited by the police covertly. Years have not faded the injustice. Finding ways to live with the harm done is how I deal with it.
Muldoon was responsible for politicising the NZ police in the first place and it continued long after he was gone. Some of the behaviour was scurrilous and imo unlawful, and those of us on the receiving end were left high and dry without a shred of support from anyone.
It was a truly disgraceful period in the history of the NZ police and will remain so until they or the government front up and conduct a full inquiry.
The government cannot ignore those who are brave enough to speak out against a serious historical situation even though 40 – 45 years have gone by. When it comes to an operational police matter the office of the commissioner needs to have a process in place where a person can get the answers to why it was done to them. The person who it was done to needs to be able to say how it impacted.
For sure there would have been files and establishing who controlled the files is where I would start.
I managed to establish long since why they targeted me. It related to my father and a situation in the early 1970s they had misinterpreted. The police special branch in those days were a brash and ignorant lot. When I later joined the Labour Party they started on me.
You deserve an explanation as to what was misinterpreted and by whom, I hope you get one.
I was summoned to CIB in 1979 when 19 because I told a cop I was going to go to the newspaper in 2 weeks time. For 2 years I had to listen through the media about what was done to Moyle by the police and Muldoon knowing the cop had told me in March 1976. In late 2003 he said to me, "If you did it and I didn't report it."
Dealing with a cop perjuring himself at an inquiry (December 1976 and cops name was released mid April 1978) all on my own caused a huge impact. I worked at a police barracks in early 1976 and no one from there ever gave me a thought as to what I knew or how I was. I dated the cop for 6 months and he was involved in the Moyle incident in 17 June 1975. Every approach made toward the police had an impact. I am thinking about giving it one last go with Coster as it was a police commissioner's file. The cop was a fool as he probably has a case against the way his employer used him.
I am aware of you previously raising your interminable situation due to there being an impasse with the police.
I was not a party to anything, but a jealous and vindictive 'friend' made false claims in high places and together with the background I alluded to earlier… it resulted in me becoming "a person of interest".
While Muldoon was in office under-cover persons linked to the police committed practices that at the very least were corrupt, and at worst were possibly criminal in their execution. When I started investigating I never imagined for a moment there was a police element to my case. The relatively recent discovery shocked me to the core. But it has made me even more resolute that justice is going to prevail one day.
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Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A key part of the Albanese government’s political strategy is to fill the news cycle with its presence and messaging. Ministers are deployed to the maximum, even when they’ve little to say. This week ...
Recent extreme weather events showed the importance of a well-functioning insurance system, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs minister Andrew Bayly. ...
By Jo Moir, RNZ News political editor, and Craig McCulloch, deputy political editor New Zealand’s Labour Party is demanding Winston Peters be stood down as Foreign Minister for opening up the government to legal action over his “totally unacceptable” attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. In an interview on RNZ’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Brakenridge, Postdoctoral research fellow at Swinburne University, Centre for Urban Transitions, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute The Conversation, Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock People have a pretty intuitive sense of what is healthy – standing is better than sitting, exercise is great for overall ...
The Wellington-based Reserve Force soldier is now almost three years into his New Zealand Army career with 5th/7th Battalion, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. ...
"The Government needs to release the review immediately as this reckless approach to change risks disjointed decision making and creates more distress and uncertainty for staff," Fitzsimons said. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Jeremiah Manele has been elected Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, polling 31 votes to 18 over rival candidate and former opposition leader Mathew Wale with one abstention. The final result of the election by secret ballot was announced by the Governor-General, Sir David Vunagi, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Priestley Habru, PhD candidate, public diplomacy, University of Adelaide Former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele has been elected the next prime minister of Solomon Islands, defeating the opposition leader, Matthew Wale, in a vote in parliament. The result is a mixed bag for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shaun Eaves, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Jamey Stutz, CC BY-SA How often do mountains collapse, volcanoes erupt or ice sheets melt? For Earth scientists, these are important questions as we try ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Flood, Professor of Sociology, Queensland University of Technology Shutterstock Most young adult men in Australia reject traditional ideas of masculinity that endorse aggression, stoicism and homophobia. Nonetheless, the ongoing influence of those ideas continues to harm men and the people ...
The NZQA proposal released to staff today would involve a net loss of 35 roles. There are 66 roles being disestablished with 13 of those currently vacant, and 31 new roles proposed, said Fleur Fitzsimons Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga ...
Alex Casey talks to Loren Taylor, the writer, director and star of new film The Moon is Upside Down, about assembling her dream ensemble cast, toilet paper pads and turning literal dreams into reality. There’s a moment in The Moon is Upside Down where frazzled anaesthetist Briar (Loren Taylor) gets ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cassy Dittman, Senior Lecturer/Head of Course (Undergraduate Psychology), Research Fellow, Manna Institute, CQUniversity Australia With winter sports swinging into action, adults around the country have volunteered or been volunteered by others (humorously known as being “volun-told”) to coach junior sports teams. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karleen Gribble, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University richardernestyap/Shutterstock Parents are often advised to burp their babies after feeding them. Some people think burping after feeding is important to reduce or prevent discomfort crying, or to ...
Workers at a major ASB contact centre in Auckland have voted to take strike action and withdraw their labour following disappointing pay negotiations with the employer and an "offer" to workers that would leave them worse off than the previous year. ...
As the government tries to get the country back on track with a school phone ban, Tara Ward has an idea for where they should turn their attention to next.New Zealand students returned to school on Monday morning, but their cellphones did not. The government’s new phone ban began ...
The Labour Party is demanding Peters be stood down, saying "he's embarrassed the country" with a "totally unacceptable" attack on a prominent AUKUS critic. ...
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, whose members were victims of a China-backed cyber attack, is discussing forming a standing committee to deal with foreign influence. ...
The PSA is concerned that the voluntary redundancies being offered to staff by Stats NZ will impact on the agency’s ability to deliver on its core functions. ...
Results ranged from surprisingly yum to soul-destroying. I love cooking. The kitchen is a hearth of culinary creation, of sensory delights, of gastronomic poetry. I also can’t afford anything nice. Why does a pack of instant noodles and some milk cost ten bucks? I love you, Aotearoa, but I miss ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Police in Solomon Islands are on high alert ahead of the election of the prime minister today. The two candidates for the top job are former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele at the head of the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation, which is ...
He’s fine but it feels like I’m losing a friend and it’s making me bitter. How do I say ‘enough is enough’? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzHey Hera,I’ve recently moved in with a girlfriend, her partner Steve, and his friend. We all live in a lovely little house. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Chartres, Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Medicine & Health, University of Sydney shutterstockAhmet Misirligul/Shutterstock You go to the gym, eat healthy and walk as much as possible. You wash your hands and get vaccinated. You control your health. This is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacqueline Hendriks, Research Fellow and Lecturer, Curtin University Children and young people may be seeing news headlines about men murdering women or footage of people rallying to call for action. Perhaps they or their friends have even gone to the protests. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Balanzategui, Senior Lecturer in Media, RMIT University ABC “Bluey mania” shows no sign of abating. Bluey’s season finale, The Sign, was the most viewed ABC program of all time on iView. A “hidden” follow-up episode, aptly named The Surprise, created ...
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The substandard Grauniad opinionist James Ball had a go at Glenn Greenwald
Bad mistake. Very, very bad mistake….
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1388884000270438402
Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years mind you. The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'.
And defended Matt Gaetz with the angle that no charges have been made so folks are jumping the gun, and some pretty shonkey interpretation of the term "age of consent"..
I found the original article on his substack, but screw him, here's a response to the tweet teasers he sent of it.
Oh goodness
I began a 17 year span relationship with the father of my four children at the age of 16, first child at 18 , and he was some years older than me
Crikey , the Florida law would have me as a tragic victim of rape, a characterisation I don't share. It was a good relationship and I have no regrets.
Believe me , if that was rape, I far prefer it to the violent kind, which is absolutely devastating
But carry on , with your mansplaining of rape semantics
Yes, my comment was totes all about you (and had nothing to do with Greenwald claiming an age of consent of 17 when in fact the law in several of the relevant states was that the sexual partners of a man in his thirties need to be aged at least 18). /sarc
And my comment referred largely to the Florida law
But I also remember well your Assange rape comments
See, here's the thing: we can get into a debate about the ethics of a 31 year old having sex with a 17 year old, we can debate the semantics of whether that, in many instances, would involve a de facto power imbalance to the point of negating informed consent for someone of the younger age and thereby possibly constituting sexual assault or rape in a specific case, or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue).
But my comment had nothing to do with any of that.
Greenwald's efforts to defend a 31yo representative who allegedly had sex with a person under the age of consent include a basic misunderstanding of age of consent legislation in the relevant jurisdictions. Feel free to address that point at any time.
"or even whether the Floridian legislation is appropriate (often a doubtful issue)."
in my case an injustice would have been done
Can't remember responding to your Greenwald statements..in fact didn't , rather addressed the Florida law as it applied to my personal circumstances
Feel free McFlock
Interesting use of the reply button, then.
But whatevs. Your relationship as a 16yo with a 26yo was fine. Fair enough.
Were you in Florida at the time? I suspect not. So the Florida law is still irrelevant. Just as Gaetz apparently using venmo to pay a 17yo for sex has nothing to do with NZ prostitution law.Heck, in Russia or Alabama you could have started procreating at something like 14. That is equally irrelevant to Greenwald's apparent commitment to reality.
But in a thread about Greenwald, again, whatever Gaetz did or didn't do and the legality about those alleged actions is irrelevant. The fact is Greenwald, a former reporter still much respected as a blogger ( 👿 ) by some commenters here, is using a fundamentally incorrect understanding of applicable law to defend Matt Gaetz.
How old was he, if you don't mind me asking?
As Francesca said:
16+some
10 years older
Not as big an age gap as the Florida senator, who is pushing 20 years older than the girls he was "with".
Also age of consent laws are generally older than 16 in the USA.
Indeed Millsy
18 in some states , which would have made my partner a rapist
Sex we can' live with it and can't do without it. All these thousands of years and we still are arguing about every aspect of it and building higher soapboxes to declaim about it.
she was seventeen, he was over thirty.
mind its not only the sex with a minor (statuatory rape) that is at Gaetzes problem it is the trafficking a minor across statelines for the prupose of sex (Man Act) , and paying her for the services.
so there is the issue with what would be considered statuatory rape
then there is the issue of moving a underage person across statelines is of a different nature altogether.
and paying for sex and receiving making money of sex by pimping a girl ( in this case) out.
So even if the statuatory rape charges could be thrown out – and chances are if they stood alone know one would care tbh, it would still leave sex trafficking and pimping. Not sure what Glenn has to say about that.
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/state-crime/pandering-laws-florida.htm#:~:text=In%20Florida%2C%20it%20is%20a,(Fla.&text=For%20more%20information%20on%20prostitution%20laws%20generally%2C%20see%20Prostitution.
but screw him…
He's the world's most renowned journalist, and that's your considered response.
The fact that he stands for the principle of free speech (which leads him to support people you have scoffed at and/or vilified, such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange) and the principle that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is no doubt the key driver of your animus towards him.
Morrissey it says volumes about McFlock and Co that they side with the Authoritarian Right in attacking the journalist whose work actually freed from wrongful imprisonment one of the most important Left wing politicians in the world today…like I said before, these people are just Liberal Imperialists who haven't seen a western led sanction, foreign intervention or war that they didn't like in a long long time.
Glenn Greenwald Took on the Authoritarian Right in Brazil — and Won
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/04/glenn-greenwald-securing-democracy-review-death-threats-journalism-leaks-lula
On the contrary, McFlock is not necessarily against the presumption of innocence. Just that in this situation its a bit of a hinderance to 'throw everything at the courts and let them sort it out', which is after all just good politics is it not.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-30-04-2021/#comment-1790353
[link fixed]
Nah dude.
All I'm saying about Gaetz is that if "the world's most renowned journalist" comes to your defence and he finds it necessary to mislead people about the age of consent, you might want to top up your budget for an actual legal defense.
Although a line I used about poverty a few years back also seems to bode poorly for Gaetz' future before I even recall hearing about the individual:
See, the thing about that is the only source I saw was where Greenwald both describes the age of consent as being 18 in Virginia and that there really need to be charges before considering Gaetz guilt. So if Greenwald is missleading people I need to see where he is doing that (and this point was elided from your prior link).
That quoted quote is from my link. Is the quote incorrect? Because it seems to suggest that the age of consent in states relevant to the Gaetz story is not 18.
As for considering legal guilt, I'm not. Sure, it looks damned suss on the face of it. And yeah, I tend to be of the opinion that the further the age gap gets from the old "half your age plus seven" guide, the odds of a relationship between equals gets lower and the odds of exploitation seem to get higher. And Gaetz looks like a sleazebag in the style of Roy Moore or Berlusconi, and Greenwald is well past his days of being "world renowned".
But hey, if it gets to court and turns out to be all a fit-up, it doesn't make Greenwald's comments about the age of consent any less misleading.
So you didn't see the start of that thread either?
If you have a point, feel free to elaborate.
The point is Greenwalds quote is factually accurate for the US and yet you are repeatedly claiming its missleading. So we need to see the part of the conversation where Gaetz exoneration is supposedly implied by Greenwald. Unfortunately for some reason the author left it out though.
Daamit. If only there were some sort of computer algorithm or website that let us search for a direct quote across all the www in the hope of finding an original source. I guess we can never truly know the tru- oh wait here's the exact thread.
Wow, context really does help. Greenwald seems to be arguing that if a person is above the age of consent in some of the US states (in some circumstances), "woman" is always a more applicable term than "minor".
Thats just the same tweet again, doesn' t show me any earlier tweets. It also seems more clear that Greenwald intended that tweet in the general US context than before.
It shows me the thread when I scroll up or down. Even when I logged out.
Not sure if I can help you use twitter.
Then again he might not be trying to mislead anyone, but instead shock horror – use twitter to express his liberal personal views.
He was quoting excerpts of his latest blog post.
citation required
In his zeal to disparage one of the few decent American intellectuals, one "millsy" writes, sans evidence, that "Greenwald has swung to the right in recent years", and then compounds that outlandish, unsupported statement with something that is plain false, viz., "The guy thinks Tucker Carlson is a 'socialist'." There is no evidence, anywhere, that Glenn Greenwald has ever said anything that even implies that.
– Glenn Greenwald, on the Daily Caller, 3 March 2021
https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/03/glenn-greenwald-interview-tucker-carlson-socialism-christian-datoc-omeed-malik-populism/
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/why-glenn-greenwald-says-tucker-carlson-is-a-true-socialist.html
I looked out of the window and saw three monkeys running for the hills.
Shot! Right between the sock puppet's eyes lol
Al1en, As usual you are shooting blanks….maybe try reading a bit further down next time.
I don't normally engage with you anymore, you being a lost cause and hopeless case, especially considering the amount you're moderated and me not wanting to get caught up in your maladies, but on this occasion, tell me where "a bit further down" I should have been reading?
Cheers.
Of course you don't get moderated..are far as I can see you are a 'colour inside the lines' kind of guy..not that there is anything wrong with that.
…read down to where he explains what he meant by socialist…" not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I guess he is getting political crossover confused with Socialism, but he is not wrong about that crossover.
Which post number is that?
1.1.2.1.3
I first posted at 4.32pm, and the post you made at 1.1.2.1.3, was done at 5.57pm.
So when you say "maybe try reading a bit further down next time", what you really meant was 'try reading into the future'.
Firing blanks you say lol
I meant read further down the piece linked too that the quote came from… 1.1.2.1
https://dailycaller.com/2021/03/03/glenn-greenwald-interview-tucker-carlson-socialism-christian-datoc-omeed-malik-populism/
FYI, The Al1en has been moderated and banned before. However, they have learned to self-moderate. I do like your colouring-in metaphor 😀
Every day is a lesson
@arkie, You left out this bit of important context, not on purpose I am sure."“I think the vision is, you know, you have this kind of right wing populism, which really is socialism, that says we should close our borders, not allow unconstrained immigration, and then take better care of our own working class people, and not allow this kind of transnational, global, corporatist elite to take everything for themselves under the guise of neoliberalism,”
I used the pull quote used in the article in the second link, the context is present in the video straight from the Daily Caller site in the first.
You take my desire for an accurate discussion on this forum as malicious or a defense of the status quo, not on purpose I am sure, but as a leftist, I think Greenwald is just wrong in his understanding of socialism, and it does it no favour to be associated or equated to right wing populism, they are fundamentally at odds and it needs to be constantly repeated.
You may be are right in that Greenwalds understanding of Socialism leaves a bit to be desired, but I think that his point of there being some crossover with traditional conservatives and Socialists (in the US) in their views on the working classes/unions, end to US foreign interventions/wars and of course their mutual hatred of freemarket neoliberalism is a good point.
In fact I would say that anyone with real progressive Socialist political plans have more to fear from the Freemarket Liberal Centrists in the short term than they do from the Right or Conservatives, as was proven out in the open for us all to see vis a vis Corbyn and Sanders.
The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend.
Where are these traditional conservatives that are similar to socialists in their views on the working classes/unions? Certainly not any of those above that Greenwald listed so there is no ‘point’ there.
If you think the answers to the pressing issues of our time will come solely through electoral politics then I think you are entitled to your fear but I do not proscribe to such a worldview.
subscribe
Thank you for such a thoughtful and important contribution to this thread.
It's a secret, but we can't tell you why it's a secret.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9497015/Lawmakers-want-immediate-release-secret-docs-Saudi-role-9-11.html
Interesting times, where in the end the general public will have to pay:
Political Correctness, payable by the taxpayer and certainly the elderly:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300288785/twostorey-senior-housing-complex-without-a-lift-makes-no-sense-says-councillor
Neglect without consequence for those highly paid. Representing the community and yes, you guessed it, the community will pay:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/124971151/councils-risk-credit-rating-downgrades-if-they-do-not-spend-enough-on-infrastructure-sp-says
Banks give money away, inflation is higher than interest rates. Affected: Those who save or have savings (pensioners, first home buyers etc..). Hahahahahaha… yeah lets just spend spend spend and print money… what a sound concept that is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/124980580/bank-term-deposit-rates-are-so-low-savers-cant-be-bothered-putting-savings-in-them
Meanwhile… we are certainly not raising a generation that will participate being part of the community and has to be supported by the taxpayers. Years 1-11 attending less than 70 per cent (of learning days).
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/truancy-crisis-30000-chronically-absent-students-out-of-reach-for-under-funded-services/XPONVFNFHPRENHBC2SE3XDK7SY/
The week started well. Perhaps someone can provide highlights that mitigate the above and make things look a bit better.
Record advance welfare payouts (=debt) as housing swallows income in last quarter. (2m clip in story). https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/over-200-000-early-welfare-benefit-payments-have-been-paid-in-last-three-months-figures-show
You need to read the post by Mickey, Labour is raining down money on our poor unfortunate unemployed. Its gonna come gushing down the drains that windfall of $ 57 (before tax lol) over the next 2.5 years.
They just simply care no more then National does. I think that myth should finally be put to rest.
Ta. Had not seen that post. Guess we have only a few more weeks to see how much they are prepared to put their money where their mouths have been.
I have seen enough in my community over the last year to not expect anything else but hardship. Couched in some cynical sugar coated baby babbling about kindness and niceness and gentleness. Not for the poor, now they need the hard treatment. Lest they get comfortable in their poorness.
And here we see how Tory all our parties are in regards to the unemployed and other unfortunate poor and those that actually can't be shoved back into work due to physical and other issues.
Yeah, shove them into what ever jobs never mind they are still on a benefit, cause they still can't pay a rent, food and shoes at the same time.
Carmel Sepuloni can't soon enough join her predecessor in selling property, as is befitting such callous people.
And Carmel Honey, providing access is as good as handing out a phone number. There you have provided access, now hire some people to actually answer the goddamn phone.
Also Carmel Ghoul, so the fact that people gone back to some jobs re Covid, is now something you celebrate? Maybe we need more pandemic so you can massage your stats a bit more?
from Sachas link https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/over-200-000-early-welfare-benefit-payments-have-been-paid-in-last-three-months-figures-show
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300290534/green-party-starts-new-push-for-reasonable-rent-controls-to-fix-very-sick-market
On top of the article is a little clip about a guy who just received a rent increase of over 100 NZD, cause why not. Obviously someone will pay it, if not him who cares…
Watch it without noise, just the writing over the images.
From the article seems to me like the tenant had a very generous landlord only charging $370 for over 2 years! (Think of all the money the tenant has saved over those two years by being lucky enough to have such cheap rent). Now the tenant complains when the rent finally increases to $525 (which is still cheap as the average is $560).
I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.
Rent controls would ensure this didn't happen.
'I guess as Grant Robertson says, if he considers the increase unfair, he simply moves out to another place.'
Yes straight to emergency housing in a swamped market…
???? the real world is charging rent way beyond what can be afforded. This is why the taxpayer forks out 1 Million a day (let this melt on your tongue) to support the landlords collecting these extraordinary amounts.
Convert that money into houses. Short term government needs to ensure people can pay the shortfall in rent until homes are built..
Solid in depth interview with David Bell, the whistleblower at the Tavistock in the UK which treats children with gender dysphoria. He’s just retired so is now able to speak freely.
Lots of important issues in this case: the over medicalisation of children, the ideological influence of lobby groups, the fact that when the GIDS clinic was finally taken to court it was unable to present evidence for efficacy or not of treatment or even data on number and ages of children treated, that so many people are afraid to speak out.
Two things that stand out particularly, which are related to that last one. The number of girls being referred for treatment of gender dysphoria has exploded exponentially. Could be an increase in awareness of need for treatment or it could be a developing social dynamic where girls now experience bring female as so difficult they’d rather transition. But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Hence we have the situation of teen girls and young women eventually having non reversible medical and surgical treatments like double mastectomies and hormone treatments that leave them sterile, and finding their gender dysphoria remains unresolved and later they detransition. Many are lesbian and end up resuming life as lesbian women but with permanently altered bodies. Think about that in the current debate about conversion therapy.
Which leads us to the second point. The left is actively complicit in this by its refusal to allow debate of women’s rights in relation to trans rights and discussion of the issues by the public and academia. Bell notes the chilling effect generally from the left, and gender critical feminists have been writing about this for years now and are still being written off as transphobes. This article is a good exploration of the issues because it’s outside that political arena but still clinical people were afraid to speak and those that did faced sanctions.
The left needs to take a long hard look at itself and what it’s freeze peach, no debate rhetoric is doing.
https://amp.theguardian.com/society/2021/may/02/tavistock-trust-whistleblower-david-bell-transgender-children-gids
https://twitter.com/timbarnsley1/status/1388809500388384769?s=21
But we don’t know because GIDS failed in its basic requirement for record keeping, because public discussion and academic inquiry has been so suppressed.
Two thoughts. You'd think that GIDS' record keeping would be absolutely first class… bearing in mind that for many of their patients' treatment would involve chemical and surgical interventions (to mostly healthy bodies) with irreversible effects. It's almost as if GIDS never expected to ever have to be held accountable or face close public/judicial scrutiny.
The suppression and de- platforming of anyone with an opinion that is counter to the 'accepted narrative' has gone beyond concerning. It is Orwellian, and truly frightening.
Between this issue and Te Virus (origin, symptoms, treatments, supportive therapies and vaccines etc) I have read many, many articles and research papers that are automatically dismissed because they run (even slightly) counter to what fuck knows who decided is The Truth.
Respect, weka, for continuing to bring this issue to the fore.
+1
Hear hear Weka. Will respond more in full later. Busy day
Where do our tax dollars go? A wee it of a run down of motels in Rotorua that house 'district clients' aka homeless New Zealand families, kids, and anyone in between with no fixed abode.
District Clients, i wonder how much time was spend to come up with that euphemism and if it involved any sense of shame even just typing them. They are not clients, they are homeless. And thus as Stephanie Rodgers said a few years ago, the state gave up. Charity even government Charity is now business and homeless kiwis become 'district clients'
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/homeless-crisis-top-10-emergency-housing-motel-earners-in-rotorua-revealed/U3HR6LGT7OBJBNNKRJZVKLUZ4E/
https://twitter.com/bootstheory/status/963923595238846464
How do you get the time to spend so much time on TS Sabine? I haven't counted but almost half the comments on here seem to be from yourself today.
Jimmy, when you are passionate about an issue/s then you make time.
I maybe from the centre-right side of the divide but I don’t generally visit political blogs that align with my views as they tend to be echo chambers, only reinforcing my views.
I like coming here and hearing from commentators such as Sabine because it challenges my view point. On housing and alleviation of poverty Sabine makes some very salient points.
I agree Sabine does make some interesting comments but genuinely wondered how They find the time as some of the comments are quite long and detailed and obviously a lot of thought has gone in to them.
She finds the time as much as you do. But she has lived poverty, homelessness, sexual abuse, and such, so she knows it. She remembers being poor, hungry, cold, and being fucked around by some very comfortable people in very comfortable offices with very comfortable salaries that could not care one bit about hte damage they heep onto already damaged people.
This one to me is close. Also i am She / her.
I find that I can only fight so many battles at once without losing quality – but I appreciate most of your comments – so, as the Koreans say, 화이팅!
Poverty and homelessness are my fights. I understand them. There are many things that are being discussed here on the Standard or elsewhere were i contribute by not saying a thing. But poverty, homelessness that is something that i understand in detail. Hunger i understand. What i still grapple with today is being so comfortable all your life that one takes wellbeing and riches for granted, while i can't enjoy mine of the moment because i don't want to get used to it. 🙂 Poverty does fuck one up for a long time.
An inquiry into a police spy scandal (which had its origins decades ago) is currently in progress in Britain. For those who might be interested, I leave here two podcasts which give some idea of the pernicious activity of the under-cover police officers involved, and how it affected the lives of many decent, law abiding British folk – women in particular.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/dec/08/the-spy-cops-scandal-part-1
https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/dec/09/the-spy-cops-scandal-part-2
Each podcast is 30 minutes in actual length and well worth the listen. The amount of wasted police hours and the over-all astronomical cost is in itself a scandal.
The time is overdue for a similar inquiry in NZ because the NZ Police ran a similar campaign here for years. It began in the 1970s around the time Muldoon became PM – no surprises there.
They infiltrated organisations which they perceived to be left-wing and therefore posed a threat to society. The NZ Labour Party was one of them. Incredibly hard to believe but it is true.
I know the identity of two people who acted in an undercover capacity (there would have been others) and who spied on me for years. I was also used by one of them to elicit information which I happily supplied… thinking the friendship was genuine. The fallout proved to be extremely harrowing for me.
The damage that was done to many innocent individuals was huge and is, in itself, worthy of a government initiated investigation into past police practices.
An inquiry is required or access to a highly qualified QC at no cost.
I do think those who have been mistreated (understated) and then have confronted the police and not had the issue resolved when superiors have sanctioned what was done, there needs to be consequences for the police.
Muldoon either told the office of the commissioner of police to use police resources to harm innocent people or the office of the Commissioner of Police acted unlawfully.
I will listen to the links you provided and I was aware of women being exploited by the police covertly. Years have not faded the injustice. Finding ways to live with the harm done is how I deal with it.
Muldoon was responsible for politicising the NZ police in the first place and it continued long after he was gone. Some of the behaviour was scurrilous and imo unlawful, and those of us on the receiving end were left high and dry without a shred of support from anyone.
It was a truly disgraceful period in the history of the NZ police and will remain so until they or the government front up and conduct a full inquiry.
I tried to edit but ran out of time.
The government cannot ignore those who are brave enough to speak out against a serious historical situation even though 40 – 45 years have gone by. When it comes to an operational police matter the office of the commissioner needs to have a process in place where a person can get the answers to why it was done to them. The person who it was done to needs to be able to say how it impacted.
For sure there would have been files and establishing who controlled the files is where I would start.
I managed to establish long since why they targeted me. It related to my father and a situation in the early 1970s they had misinterpreted. The police special branch in those days were a brash and ignorant lot. When I later joined the Labour Party they started on me.
You deserve an explanation as to what was misinterpreted and by whom, I hope you get one.
I was summoned to CIB in 1979 when 19 because I told a cop I was going to go to the newspaper in 2 weeks time. For 2 years I had to listen through the media about what was done to Moyle by the police and Muldoon knowing the cop had told me in March 1976. In late 2003 he said to me, "If you did it and I didn't report it."
Dealing with a cop perjuring himself at an inquiry (December 1976 and cops name was released mid April 1978) all on my own caused a huge impact. I worked at a police barracks in early 1976 and no one from there ever gave me a thought as to what I knew or how I was. I dated the cop for 6 months and he was involved in the Moyle incident in 17 June 1975. Every approach made toward the police had an impact. I am thinking about giving it one last go with Coster as it was a police commissioner's file. The cop was a fool as he probably has a case against the way his employer used him.
I am aware of you previously raising your interminable situation due to there being an impasse with the police.
I was not a party to anything, but a jealous and vindictive 'friend' made false claims in high places and together with the background I alluded to earlier… it resulted in me becoming "a person of interest".
While Muldoon was in office under-cover persons linked to the police committed practices that at the very least were corrupt, and at worst were possibly criminal in their execution. When I started investigating I never imagined for a moment there was a police element to my case. The relatively recent discovery shocked me to the core. But it has made me even more resolute that justice is going to prevail one day.
Just on the facts as reported here, was there a sexual assault?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/124992156/novel-point-of-law-halts-court-martial-for-woman-in-air-force-charged-with-indecent-assault-and-drug-charges
Thought some would appreciate this..
https://twitter.com/noamchomskyT/status/1389077764083535875