I can imagine Patrick Gower with a microphone in Shearer’s face… what’s the vote count, how can we believe it’s what you say if you don’t give us the vote count? Even though it’s a secret ballot. Then Shearer getting blasted all over the news if he doesn’t give the secret answer…
Which MP’s are going to be true to their beliefs that Shearer is not leadership material?
It will be interesting to see how many, if any? of the Labour caucus back their convictions and cast a no confidence vote in Shearer as leader. Also there should be a number of MP’s taking direction from their LEC to force a wider vote from the party membership surely? I will find it hard to swallow if atleast 6 votes are not confirmed nay sayers.
Beautiful day today! Winning the Labour/Greens government the country so badly needs takes a big step forward in a few hours. Well done to all those LP activists who helped democratise the party, particularly those like myself who wanted Cunliffe but will work for the good of the party and for the good of NZ even if he won’t be leader.
Yep, but I wouldn’t expect major changes. Too early to dump dead wood like Mallard et al. That can wait till closer to the election, when it would be too risky to challenge Shearer’s call.
Apparently the only way to kill a zombie is to take out the head.
Anyhoo, in lieu of Rogue Trooper:
…Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
Hope someone has an attack on the National government lined up for running alongside the leadership vote. One inch up for labour (provided quality vote etc) and one inch down for national.
Otherwise of course the only political news will be “more leadership conflict for labour”
The Independent (UK) this weekend has an article about an event “today” that commemorates the 2nd wave Women’s Movement in the UK.
Today hundreds of the veteran activists from some of Britain’s most famous protests, ranging from Greenham Common to the miners’ strike, will gather for the first time. The worlds of social campaigning, politics and art come together today in a “Silver Action” event at the Tate Modern, London, where some 400 women campaigners aged over 60 will talk about their work.
Damn! Wish I could be there. That was the context in which I truly became politicised while living in London. I recognise one or two names in the article of women I knew at some point back then. Also the women mentioned and the range of their activities back in the 60s and 70s, show just how strongly the UK Women’s Movement was embedded in the grass roots left: its origins in Ruskin College – a place for educating trade unionists and people from “disadvantaged” backgrounds, with no formal qualifications: initially set up for educating working class men.
Although, I guess commemorations are fine, but there’s still too many crucial political struggles going on.
More than 700 pedestrians have been hit by cars at Auckland intersections over the past four years, and most victims were not paying attention to vehicles around them, distracted by cellphones or music players or succumbing to their own impatience.
When we moved to Vienna we couldn’t work out why drivers were impatient with our pausing before crossing the road at uncontrolled intersections, else they very courteously waited for us to cross. What a difference. Then we found out that cars must stop for pedestrians. It’s the law. The world didn’t end.
Indeed, while many drivers here are sensitive to pedestrians, many others are totally intolerant and/or oblivious. Since my accident the year before last (a result of my own carelessness), I am way more sensitive to how one careless moment can cause devastating impacts on the body. It continues to amaze me the number of drivers who speed across pedestrian crossings unaware that some of us are waiting to cross.
When I took driving lessons in the UK, before going for my UK licence, I was strongly schooled to visually scan around up-coming pedestrian crossings, looking for pedestrians, and preparing to stop in case an unexpected pedestrian stepped out. It is now pretty much second nature to me to do that.
Yes, we found UK drivers, in smaller cities in particular, very observant. I was actually talking about driver behaviour at intersections while walking today, which is probably why I picked up on the article. With a trip back to NZ imminent I’d strangely drifted back into stopping and waiting for cars at T-junctions, as I would do in NZ, without realising it, after about 4 or 5 crossings with drivers waiting for us to cross it gradually dawned on me what I was doing. I’ll have to be careful not reverse the error while back home.
Yep, the entire population sems to have forgotten that the streets were created for pedestrians. Cars came much much later and should be secondary in importance. Good luck with that though as today when that fact is mentioned people merely glaze over as it has never occured to them, such is the presumption that the streets were created for cars.
The streets most places are pretty dismal today. Try walking somewhere and you will find hardly any other people walking the streets or even in public places. The streets are ugly places now with whizzing cars and fumes, grey-black tarseal and concrete covering as many square metres as possible, hard, glare, noise, danger.
+1
I’m probably a little oversensitive to this issue because I walk a lot and have had a fair few inconsiderate drivers on controlled and uncontrolled crossings (it also really annoys me that the traffic light phasing doesn’t favour pedestrians, but that’s another story). It’s become sort of a hobby to compare drivers’ general attitudes toward pedestrians in different places.
The car traffic seems to go very fast in Vienna. When the crossing is controlled by lights I think that car drivers (quite rightly) assume that there will be no pedestrians on the road nor any jaywalkers. Therefore traffic clears quickly until the next phase for pedestrians. I noticed that it was very unwise to cross without the green- angry drivers! Maybe we pedestrians should follow the rules, but after a lifetime of drifting across when I feel like it, hard to change.
On the arterial routes, yes they do. I don’t know if there are variable speed limits in town, but it’s likely given the difference between those roads and others. I guess also with pedestrians having the right of way every where else drivers are not too keen when you cross on a red on an arterial route. Same with driving slowly in the fast lane…
Having grown up and lived for many years in Vienna, my hometown, I agree that they do drive faster, especially the “professional traffic” after 8am and pedestrians are directed by a road code in the same way as drivers. Driving slow in the fast lanes will get the professional drivers to pressure you to change lanes. Of cause it all looks denser due to the sheer volume- Vienna has about 2 mil people on 400 m2, compare Auckland with 1.3mil people on 1000 m2 – and with it the amount of vehicles, private and company on that spec of land. The driver license is another point. It is obtained after a very rigorous process (expensive) and tests both written and oral. People need to be at least 18 and have to have a full license before being allowed onto the road – there are no learners licenses. All in all – certainly not a dreamy ride.
However, the number of private cars is actually only 390 approx per 1000 people. This is mostly due to the fact that one really does not need a car in Vienna due to the excellent public transport service. I really mean that, not because I am from there but it is true.
I love your hometown Foreign Waka! Half time here and half in New Zealand would be perfect 😉
Yes, we don’t have a car and use the integrated public transport (trains, buses and trams) or walk to get around. A reduction in car-parking has also reduced the value of car ownership. We were accosted once by a couple of FPO people to sign a petition against the reductions. We spent ages telling them how good the transport system was and how we didn’t need a car before we realised who they were and the answers they were after. Woops. Of course with the central city pedestrianised it also makes it easier to do without a car when living in the inner ring.
The driver’s training does show. Drivers are observant around town and know what they’re doing.
Hey look, I am sorry to be a bastard (ironic huh?) but as one of your favourite (and continual) assertions is that Labour is a right-wing party I really have to call you out on something.
Don’t humour the poor simple-minded soul, Draco. One of those post-menopausal late-developers who clog up lecture rooms and demand extra explanations all the time.
Or the private school debater who oozes confidence and stupidity, only to be shell-shocked at university when their textbook (read “pro forma”) presentation is identified as failing to address the single fundamental factor that collapses their entire position.
On RadioNZ National program the Slippery lead National Government’s focus for 2013 is to be discussed in terms of what the ‘life-time’ cost of beneficiaries is,
In other words the present National Government having absolutely no idea how to stem the flow of red ink in the Governments accounts will now discuss in quiet polite voices how they plan to take away from those legal entitlements to welfare so as to be able to trumpet some bullshit balancing of the books as an election strategy for November 2014,
Should be a good listen if only to see which group of those currently receiving benefits are about to get it in the neck the hardest during the next 12 months…
If that is the case then I hope opposition parties do similar on, for example, lifetime costs borne by wage and salary earners to support the little tax paid by businesses such as farmers who take their gains through tax-free capital gain.
There are countless others.
It is overdue for fire to be fought with fire. This government gets away with all sorts of bullshit and the oppositions just whimper around the edges like sooky cowards with no chutzpa. Wussies.
Long may the Stalinist purge continue with too many MPs scared to vote to give us a say. Now the King/Mallard cabal will come after you one by one.
Andrew Little just forget Rongotai but be very worried about your list ranking too. The Stalinist cabal are going to centralise their power on list selection….you heard it here first! And all the others on the list, or with a seat they want to retire you from, just watch it…Prasad, Chauvel, Dyson, Robertson, Street….you’re going down.
But I’m off, no more pamphlet deliveries, no more donations, wine auctions, fundraisers….not off to join another party but I won’t be voting for Labour again.
Yep – Ad, Benghazi, Draco – both of us are also sad, and resigned. At least it will free up any spare time over the next couple of years NOT feeling obliged to attend meetings, organise, deliver pamphlets, raise funds, etc.
Labour should be able to form a government, with Winston’s help, even if it gets as low as 31% or 32%. But, the historic mission and purpose of the Labour Party seems to have been forgotten, at the very time that it is needed more than ever.
That is actually the point, especially younger ones have lost faith in a voting system where 32% with a bit of wiggle is perceived to be able to govern. Why? That is so far away from any majority that one can only wonder. Is that what Mr Shearer builds his confidence on? If it is even contemplated that 32% can go anywhere than FPP has never been changed.
OK, that was all as enlightening as MUD, the only point of real interest was Paula, the Minister of removing people form their entitlements, giving as a reason for the disparity in the figures of actual unemployed and the number of those currently collecting the dole is that both Sickness beneficiaries and those who receive the DPB who also have children over the age of 5 are now being included in the figures of the unemployed,
What tho of the heart of the discussion,
This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),
Lets put aside the little ‘fact’ for the moment that such a proposition FAILS at the first hurdle in that very few of those people as a % will receive those benefits ‘for a lifetime’, instead lets play the game as the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) do, as monetarists,
Remembering all the while that the GROSS COST of all those benefits over a ‘lifetime’ is 78 billion dollars,(gasp shock horror) we can judge this against Government revenue from the figure that this is currently 60.6 billion dollars a year, (leaving aside for the moment that we are in the middle of a recession),
So, in ten years that Government revenue would have been 600 billion dollars set against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars,
In fifty years of Government revenue the total Government revenue collected will be, excuses here as my riffmatic aint so hot, a ball park figure of 3000 billion dollars against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars, and, say that slowly to yourself to see just how ridiculous the Paula’s are being in using such a figure as a crude club to attempt to turn people against beneficiaries,
Now being good little monetarists, (well just for this morning anyway), we in all honesty have to look at this equation from around all aspects of this 78 billion dollars GROSS that the Government in all it’s largesse will pay out over that ‘lifetime’ of payment,
Taxation!!! yes TAXATION, the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) are using GROSS figures to arrive at the figure of 78 billion dollars, SO, using back of an envelope figures we can ‘see’ that direct taxation of that 78 billion dollars will result in 15% of that 78 billion NOT being paid to those beneficiaries at all,
Indirect taxation, you know the stuff, petrol tax, tobacco tax, tax tax tax etc, will result in the Government within 2 days of having paid out any of this 78 billion dollars recouping another 10% of the 78 billion dollars,
And, last but not least GS fucking T, at 15% will mean that within 2 days of having paid out any of the 78 billion dollars the Government will have raked back in another 15% of that 78 billion dollars,
But wait there’s more, yes sadly more, Beneficiaries spend what little monies they receive as part of that 78 billion dollars within 2 days into the local economy, what’s left after taxation is extracted that is, the goods and services bought by those beneficiaries from local providers are again taxed as profit from the pockets of those the beneficiaries buy the goods and services off of,
So here’s the Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock), equation again from a ballpark income of 3000 billion dollars over a ‘lifetime’, 78 billion dollars will be paid out in welfare benefits 40% of which the Government will have within 2 days of paying this money out recouped as TAXATION,
What then to make of the 2 Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock) shock horror 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime’ cost of welfare benefits, bullshit, simply blatant fucking bullshit is the best i can at this point muster from my limited vocabulary…
Would such short statement not be the job of labor in the house when these figures are being thrown around and hence have to be reported in the same way as Mrs Bennets statement?
Lolz, i dont’t think Bullshit is a word allowed,(under standing orders), to be uttered in the House, i wonder tho if ‘equine defecation’ might slip through…
“This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),”
and any journo worth the title would respond with “yeah but thats a sack or horseshit and you know it”
Paula, the Minister of parting people from what was once their legal entitlements, unintentionally painted Her and the other Paula’s (Rebstocks), monetary assertion of the ‘lifetime’ cost of beneficiaries as bullshit in the RadioNZ National interview this morning pointing out that the unemployment figures show that that benefit isn’t the ‘problem’ as the majority of those who access the unemployment benefit do so for short periods,
So, we now know that Paula has no pressing inducement to further attack unemployment benefit recipients besides having them prove that they have been looking for work,
She said as much also about the recipients of DPB, which just leads me to the conclusion that the most vulnerable cohort of mostly single people in our society are in the next 18 months to be subjected to Paula’s ‘help’ to move them off of that particular benefit,
Paula a number of times during the interview pointed out that Invalids Beneficiaries are paid a higher rate of benefit than those who receive the unemployment benefit, this is of course because the invalids benefit is expected by those who receive it and the Medical Professionals who test these individuals for work capability befor signing the relevant paper-work do not expect such people to be in any condition to work for a number of years if ever,
Paula tho knows best and we can assume that the National Government ‘plan’ to move 40,000 individuals ‘off benefit’ will be directed at these individuals, the economics of which National have given as much thought to as the 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime cost’ of benefits i will get down to discussing later…
now, anyhoo, this is just for the locals, and then i will sit back out of your hair.
an argillaceous liason around the ear as a scruffily draped phaethon parked a Malt magnesia exertion beneath the quasia dilantern.purslonely, it’s a bitter sweet sola number. Mind the salt Sister shiney washer, Let Robin save the day from the pun under your bed. To the emperor we dispose (please don’t let my tyre down; I enjoyed the walk) A pound a round The Globe. Beep Beep bop a loo bop
a little melting. Talk about pissisting down a man’s deep furrows.tick The Other Kind a pair of brown eyes walk alone (to be Farr, I’ve always followed the news to see what’s blown up today)
spinning wheel goes round and round the Gestalt chair, yet no bodies there.took the money and run.
On his way into the caucus, David Cunliffe said it was a secret ballot so he would not discuss how he would vote. In January he had said he would endorse Mr Shearer. Mr Shearer outflanked Mr Cunliffe in an effective challenge at the party conference last year.
Many other MPs going in also refused to say how they would vote, saying it was a secret ballot.
Slight difference between a frontbencher refusing to endorse the leader at conference while voting to change the election format into a form that might be advantageous for him (while the leader abstained from that vote), and a backbencher who has previously endorsed the leader walking into the caucus room on the day of what looks like a routine confidence endorsement.
A secretive funding organisation in the United States that guarantees anonymity for its billionaire donors has emerged as a major operator in the climate “counter movement” to undermine the science of global warming, The Independent has learnt . . .
In my internet travelling, I often come across the denialist position that climate change is a conspiracy. Ironic situation is ironic.
Well, after THAT news today it may be safe to assume that the only champagne corks popping tonight will be in the abodes of Team Shearer and those of the right wingers.
Instead lets raise a glass of red to The Greens and give a nod to Mana. All power to you. All power to us as voters too. We need to rally togther and to unify. Its up to us as well. Collectively and individually we have to get those non voters educated and motivated. Its a big task ahead.
. . . Shooting the messenger is still a favourite pastime of despotic regimes and corporate institutions and their lawyers, who use various types of silencers on their weaponry, aimed at those who light even a candle to disturb the dark of corruption . . .
Just for something different eh vto? You Cantabrians must be built of strong stuff. I’d have been a mess along time ago if I was in your shoes. The heaving earth beneath your feet is one thing but it must be something else to have the strength to take on insurers and cope with being treated like irksome peasants by a contemptuous govt. Kia Kaha.
Ha, yeah cheers, but we are mere mortals and I think most populations would just deal with it all the same way. As for being a mess – yep, there is plenty mess in the population. Strung out and worn out. Especially when the Great Earth Monster lets loose right under your arse…
“The Panel” continues its ghastly decline
Radio NZ National, Monday 4 March, 2013
Jim Mora, Jonathan Krebs, Tino Pereira
We are already into the fourth week of this year’s version of Jim Mora’s program “The Panel”. Sadly, the producers have made no innovations or improvements to the format at all; Jim’s volubility is as insufferable as ever, his blithe condescension is if anything even worse, and the “talent” is drawn from the same stagnant pool of lacklustre sycophants as it was last year, and the year before.
Today’s edition was typical….
MORA: All right, the next subject is ACC payouts. Some of these claims to ACC are hilarious! There were fifty claims for sunburn! Hur hur hur hur hur!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Hur hur hur hur hur! Fourteen thousand claims for insect bites…
TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: There were one hundred and ninety-five claims for windsurfing and—hur, hur, hur, hur!—two hundred and eleven for bodyboard injuries!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Hur hur hur! And 938 barbecue injuries! Hur hur hur hur hur!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Professor Grant Duncan from Massey University joins us. Hur hur
hur hur!
PROFESSOR DUNCAN: I am concerned about this apparent trivialization of injuries.
MORA: Uhhhh….
PROFESSOR GRANT DUNCAN: I don’t think these injuries are trivial. If you get stung by a swarm of wasps you need to get yourself to hospital. I think it’s dangerous if we start to trivialize injuries like this.
MORA: Hmmmm. Inevitable with media reportage though….
SOAPBOX….
MORA: Now’s the time we find out what our Panelists have been thinking about. Jonathan, you want to talk about university fees?
KREBS: Yeah, I don’t have anything that’s really NEEDLING me at the moment, Jim, but my daughter Harriet is off to university and I have had to pay $6,000 for her accommodation and $7,000 for course fees, which made me pucker up a bit!
Thankfully rain fade brought me to my senses but it’s a doozy ain’t it? Poor buggers! Still, I guess it pays the mortgage aye and its cleaner than the usual form of prostitution. They can probably wait till they get home before they have to have a shower!
What if David Cunliffe started his own party, i’m sure he would get a truckload of
support, who needs the s–t that has been dished out to him, just a thought.
UNWATCHABLE! SEVEN SHARP IS A DISASTER
One’s dreadful new current affairs show will not survive
SEVEN SHARP, Inaugural broadcast, Television One, Monday 4 March 2013
Alison Mau, Greg Boyed, Jesse Mulligan and assorted others
Alison Mau’s credibility, already pretty unimpressive, has plunged to an all-time low over the weekend, following her ludicrous few days of dishonestly lionizing “Sir” Paul Holmes as the greatest broadcaster who ever lived. It was ominous that she debased her currency so grievously just before this show’s opening.
Anybody who has looked at his Twitter account or seen him try to ad-lib while reading the News knows that Greg Boyed is about as funny as a parking ticket. On the evidence of tonight’s show, his idea of humour is to make sarcastic remarks. Not funny sarcastic remarks, though; Boyed is no Charlie Brooker. His first contribution to the dreadful three-person opening remarks sequence, was to make a sarcastic swipe at Titewhai Harawira, smirking with derision as he called her “that paragon of reason.” It was the sort of remark that the late Paul Holmes would have made, but Boyed has none of Holmes’s leavening wit.
Jesse Mulligan, who is billed as a comedian, decided to go for the big laughs: “Now we were going to have the Prime Minister cut a ribbon for the start of the show, but he wasn’t available.” Then he laughed: “Naaah, actually he WAS available, he just didn’t want to come on. Ha ha ha ha ha!” Tellingly, neither Alison Mau nor Greg Boyed could squeeze out a laugh to support the poor fellow. They were clearly wishing the ground would swallow them up. And so, no doubt, were most viewers.
Barry Soper’s South African squeeze Heather Du Plessis-Allan announced that she was going to do a “puff-piece” on John Key. “What else would you expect?” she laughed. And that’s just what she did.
I bailed after five minutes. It was simply unwatchable.
observing the political machinations (under the hood and on the deck) in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct, no amount of writing on The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts! In ADDition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing benignly. It’s a minefield on a moon lit night through vanity and vineyards across the red cod reef Clive; If not, a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn as we pick up after others (my notes have been binned in the recycling, blown away like the sand of a mandala) I really don’t mind if we sit this one Out (we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…back to the scrap heap) 🙁
Last Post for our loyal side-kick soldier.
Get LAo Daily (this cat’s not comin’ back) arrivederci, auf wiedersehen pets. bye 🙁 🙂
observing the political machinations in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct; no amount of writing will break down The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts? In Addition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing altogether.It’s a mine-field on a moonlit night through vanity and vineyards across a red cod sand-Bar.If not a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn.Picking up after others as I deposited my own notes in a recycling bin, blown away like a sand mandala. Really don’t mind if I sit this one Out
(we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…off to the scrap heap again).
Last Post for our trusty side-kick soldier.Get LAotea Daily. (this cat’s not coming back).
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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 ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
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 ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
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 Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
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 ...
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 ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. That’s how I’ve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last night’s dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. There’s a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: “Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people’s minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like ‘can you name a single book you’ve ever read?’ and ‘did you read it, or did you just see the movie?’This week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroom’s Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australia’s frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didn’t hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
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So Shearer probably slept well last night, but reckons he hasn’t sounded out his support for today’s vote.
Hope it’s not a foregone 100%.
CV said the other day that the ballot is secret, so theoretically we shouldn’t know the numbers afterwards.
I can imagine Patrick Gower with a microphone in Shearer’s face… what’s the vote count, how can we believe it’s what you say if you don’t give us the vote count? Even though it’s a secret ballot. Then Shearer getting blasted all over the news if he doesn’t give the secret answer…
Yeah Gower is one of the new breed of ‘nasty make it up’ type of reporter. Can’t get a story then just make one up.
So if its a secret vote. How can anyone trust the outcome? As we don’t know what happened.
Which MP’s are going to be true to their beliefs that Shearer is not leadership material?
It will be interesting to see how many, if any? of the Labour caucus back their convictions and cast a no confidence vote in Shearer as leader. Also there should be a number of MP’s taking direction from their LEC to force a wider vote from the party membership surely? I will find it hard to swallow if atleast 6 votes are not confirmed nay sayers.
Each and every Labour MP has a choice today.
Put their hand on heart, look at their colleagues, envision their membership, and
say they have Confidence in the Leadership of the Labour Party or
withhold that in favour of a Party wide 40/40/20 debate and democratic selection process.
+100
And we have every right to expect that of our Labour MPs. +100
Beautiful day today! Winning the Labour/Greens government the country so badly needs takes a big step forward in a few hours. Well done to all those LP activists who helped democratise the party, particularly those like myself who wanted Cunliffe but will work for the good of the party and for the good of NZ even if he won’t be leader.
The next step?
Policy.
“The next step?”
Caucus reshuffle? Can’t do policy without the people in place.
Yep, but I wouldn’t expect major changes. Too early to dump dead wood like Mallard et al. That can wait till closer to the election, when it would be too risky to challenge Shearer’s call.
“Too early to dump dead wood like Mallard et al.”
It can be argued that it’s already too late rather than too early – just saying.
Deadwood does not dump itself. Trevor wants a comfortable retirement sorted.
morning everyone…is this the day Labour dies?
Apparently the only way to kill a zombie is to take out the head.
Anyhoo, in lieu of Rogue Trooper:
…Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?
And good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye,
the day the music died.
note
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology
That is an Excellent and Just saying
Hope someone has an attack on the National government lined up for running alongside the leadership vote. One inch up for labour (provided quality vote etc) and one inch down for national.
Otherwise of course the only political news will be “more leadership conflict for labour”
The Independent (UK) this weekend has an article about an event “today” that commemorates the 2nd wave Women’s Movement in the UK.
Damn! Wish I could be there. That was the context in which I truly became politicised while living in London. I recognise one or two names in the article of women I knew at some point back then. Also the women mentioned and the range of their activities back in the 60s and 70s, show just how strongly the UK Women’s Movement was embedded in the grass roots left: its origins in Ruskin College – a place for educating trade unionists and people from “disadvantaged” backgrounds, with no formal qualifications: initially set up for educating working class men.
Although, I guess commemorations are fine, but there’s still too many crucial political struggles going on.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10863254&ref=rss
When we moved to Vienna we couldn’t work out why drivers were impatient with our pausing before crossing the road at uncontrolled intersections, else they very courteously waited for us to cross. What a difference. Then we found out that cars must stop for pedestrians. It’s the law. The world didn’t end.
Indeed, while many drivers here are sensitive to pedestrians, many others are totally intolerant and/or oblivious. Since my accident the year before last (a result of my own carelessness), I am way more sensitive to how one careless moment can cause devastating impacts on the body. It continues to amaze me the number of drivers who speed across pedestrian crossings unaware that some of us are waiting to cross.
When I took driving lessons in the UK, before going for my UK licence, I was strongly schooled to visually scan around up-coming pedestrian crossings, looking for pedestrians, and preparing to stop in case an unexpected pedestrian stepped out. It is now pretty much second nature to me to do that.
Yes, we found UK drivers, in smaller cities in particular, very observant. I was actually talking about driver behaviour at intersections while walking today, which is probably why I picked up on the article. With a trip back to NZ imminent I’d strangely drifted back into stopping and waiting for cars at T-junctions, as I would do in NZ, without realising it, after about 4 or 5 crossings with drivers waiting for us to cross it gradually dawned on me what I was doing. I’ll have to be careful not reverse the error while back home.
I’ve almost been hit at intersections. It wasn’t because I wasn’t paying attention but because the drivers were running red lights.
Yep, the entire population sems to have forgotten that the streets were created for pedestrians. Cars came much much later and should be secondary in importance. Good luck with that though as today when that fact is mentioned people merely glaze over as it has never occured to them, such is the presumption that the streets were created for cars.
The streets most places are pretty dismal today. Try walking somewhere and you will find hardly any other people walking the streets or even in public places. The streets are ugly places now with whizzing cars and fumes, grey-black tarseal and concrete covering as many square metres as possible, hard, glare, noise, danger.
Bleeeaargh !
Yeah, I’d agree with that. IMO, it’s part of the reason that main-street is closing down. It’s just such a boor to actually go to them.
The other reason is that online shopping is faster, easier and far far cheaper.
Chch is great for cycling now…well, through the city it is. Shame that only happened after the city was flattened.
Don’t underestimate how socially destructive the automobile has been, and continues to be
More short documentaries on pedestrians here
Some moron paid Stephan Fry to talk about how Wellington cyclists should bow down to drivers. Apparently drivers should be thanked when they do not kill those pesky/arrogant/arsehole cyclists. Whoever was involved in that video is a dick.
+1
I’m probably a little oversensitive to this issue because I walk a lot and have had a fair few inconsiderate drivers on controlled and uncontrolled crossings (it also really annoys me that the traffic light phasing doesn’t favour pedestrians, but that’s another story). It’s become sort of a hobby to compare drivers’ general attitudes toward pedestrians in different places.
The car traffic seems to go very fast in Vienna. When the crossing is controlled by lights I think that car drivers (quite rightly) assume that there will be no pedestrians on the road nor any jaywalkers. Therefore traffic clears quickly until the next phase for pedestrians. I noticed that it was very unwise to cross without the green- angry drivers! Maybe we pedestrians should follow the rules, but after a lifetime of drifting across when I feel like it, hard to change.
On the arterial routes, yes they do. I don’t know if there are variable speed limits in town, but it’s likely given the difference between those roads and others. I guess also with pedestrians having the right of way every where else drivers are not too keen when you cross on a red on an arterial route. Same with driving slowly in the fast lane…
Having grown up and lived for many years in Vienna, my hometown, I agree that they do drive faster, especially the “professional traffic” after 8am and pedestrians are directed by a road code in the same way as drivers. Driving slow in the fast lanes will get the professional drivers to pressure you to change lanes. Of cause it all looks denser due to the sheer volume- Vienna has about 2 mil people on 400 m2, compare Auckland with 1.3mil people on 1000 m2 – and with it the amount of vehicles, private and company on that spec of land. The driver license is another point. It is obtained after a very rigorous process (expensive) and tests both written and oral. People need to be at least 18 and have to have a full license before being allowed onto the road – there are no learners licenses. All in all – certainly not a dreamy ride.
However, the number of private cars is actually only 390 approx per 1000 people. This is mostly due to the fact that one really does not need a car in Vienna due to the excellent public transport service. I really mean that, not because I am from there but it is true.
I love your hometown Foreign Waka! Half time here and half in New Zealand would be perfect 😉
Yes, we don’t have a car and use the integrated public transport (trains, buses and trams) or walk to get around. A reduction in car-parking has also reduced the value of car ownership. We were accosted once by a couple of FPO people to sign a petition against the reductions. We spent ages telling them how good the transport system was and how we didn’t need a car before we realised who they were and the answers they were after. Woops. Of course with the central city pedestrianised it also makes it easier to do without a car when living in the inner ring.
The driver’s training does show. Drivers are observant around town and know what they’re doing.
Morning Draco!
Hey look, I am sorry to be a bastard (ironic huh?) but as one of your favourite (and continual) assertions is that Labour is a right-wing party I really have to call you out on something.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02022013/#comment-582948
I look forward to your response
Don’t humour the poor simple-minded soul, Draco. One of those post-menopausal late-developers who clog up lecture rooms and demand extra explanations all the time.
lol
Or the private school debater who oozes confidence and stupidity, only to be shell-shocked at university when their textbook (read “pro forma”) presentation is identified as failing to address the single fundamental factor that collapses their entire position.
On RadioNZ National program the Slippery lead National Government’s focus for 2013 is to be discussed in terms of what the ‘life-time’ cost of beneficiaries is,
In other words the present National Government having absolutely no idea how to stem the flow of red ink in the Governments accounts will now discuss in quiet polite voices how they plan to take away from those legal entitlements to welfare so as to be able to trumpet some bullshit balancing of the books as an election strategy for November 2014,
Should be a good listen if only to see which group of those currently receiving benefits are about to get it in the neck the hardest during the next 12 months…
If that is the case then I hope opposition parties do similar on, for example, lifetime costs borne by wage and salary earners to support the little tax paid by businesses such as farmers who take their gains through tax-free capital gain.
There are countless others.
It is overdue for fire to be fought with fire. This government gets away with all sorts of bullshit and the oppositions just whimper around the edges like sooky cowards with no chutzpa. Wussies.
Not all the opposition. The Greens are seriously getting some good hits in but Labour are out to lunch.
+1
And Shearer has been confirmed as leader.
Thanks god thats over.
Now discussions can turn to something interesting and useful
And now all those that were hoping for Labour to become more democratic can start looking for a better party without feeling any guilt.
Long may the Stalinist purge continue with too many MPs scared to vote to give us a say. Now the King/Mallard cabal will come after you one by one.
Andrew Little just forget Rongotai but be very worried about your list ranking too. The Stalinist cabal are going to centralise their power on list selection….you heard it here first! And all the others on the list, or with a seat they want to retire you from, just watch it…Prasad, Chauvel, Dyson, Robertson, Street….you’re going down.
But I’m off, no more pamphlet deliveries, no more donations, wine auctions, fundraisers….not off to join another party but I won’t be voting for Labour again.
Totally agree, for my partner and I as well.
pathetic that they can think of nothing but those little jobs rather than find any courage.
Shearer will deliver the polls in 2014 as they are, within a tolerance of 29-32%.
The rest is now counterfactual history.
just utter sadness.
Yep – Ad, Benghazi, Draco – both of us are also sad, and resigned. At least it will free up any spare time over the next couple of years NOT feeling obliged to attend meetings, organise, deliver pamphlets, raise funds, etc.
Labour should be able to form a government, with Winston’s help, even if it gets as low as 31% or 32%. But, the historic mission and purpose of the Labour Party seems to have been forgotten, at the very time that it is needed more than ever.
That is actually the point, especially younger ones have lost faith in a voting system where 32% with a bit of wiggle is perceived to be able to govern. Why? That is so far away from any majority that one can only wonder. Is that what Mr Shearer builds his confidence on? If it is even contemplated that 32% can go anywhere than FPP has never been changed.
32% Labour 14% Greens 5% NZ First (and Hone out in the cold as being too left) is still over the line…but also a monstrosity in of itself.
Stalin comparison right at the front.
Yay.
That cuts donw my “give a fuck” time allocation significantly.
OK, that was all as enlightening as MUD, the only point of real interest was Paula, the Minister of removing people form their entitlements, giving as a reason for the disparity in the figures of actual unemployed and the number of those currently collecting the dole is that both Sickness beneficiaries and those who receive the DPB who also have children over the age of 5 are now being included in the figures of the unemployed,
What tho of the heart of the discussion,
This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),
Lets put aside the little ‘fact’ for the moment that such a proposition FAILS at the first hurdle in that very few of those people as a % will receive those benefits ‘for a lifetime’, instead lets play the game as the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) do, as monetarists,
Remembering all the while that the GROSS COST of all those benefits over a ‘lifetime’ is 78 billion dollars,(gasp shock horror) we can judge this against Government revenue from the figure that this is currently 60.6 billion dollars a year, (leaving aside for the moment that we are in the middle of a recession),
So, in ten years that Government revenue would have been 600 billion dollars set against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars,
In fifty years of Government revenue the total Government revenue collected will be, excuses here as my riffmatic aint so hot, a ball park figure of 3000 billion dollars against a ‘lifetime’ welfare bill of 78 billion dollars, and, say that slowly to yourself to see just how ridiculous the Paula’s are being in using such a figure as a crude club to attempt to turn people against beneficiaries,
Now being good little monetarists, (well just for this morning anyway), we in all honesty have to look at this equation from around all aspects of this 78 billion dollars GROSS that the Government in all it’s largesse will pay out over that ‘lifetime’ of payment,
Taxation!!! yes TAXATION, the Paula’s (Bennett and Rebstock) are using GROSS figures to arrive at the figure of 78 billion dollars, SO, using back of an envelope figures we can ‘see’ that direct taxation of that 78 billion dollars will result in 15% of that 78 billion NOT being paid to those beneficiaries at all,
Indirect taxation, you know the stuff, petrol tax, tobacco tax, tax tax tax etc, will result in the Government within 2 days of having paid out any of this 78 billion dollars recouping another 10% of the 78 billion dollars,
And, last but not least GS fucking T, at 15% will mean that within 2 days of having paid out any of the 78 billion dollars the Government will have raked back in another 15% of that 78 billion dollars,
But wait there’s more, yes sadly more, Beneficiaries spend what little monies they receive as part of that 78 billion dollars within 2 days into the local economy, what’s left after taxation is extracted that is, the goods and services bought by those beneficiaries from local providers are again taxed as profit from the pockets of those the beneficiaries buy the goods and services off of,
So here’s the Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock), equation again from a ballpark income of 3000 billion dollars over a ‘lifetime’, 78 billion dollars will be paid out in welfare benefits 40% of which the Government will have within 2 days of paying this money out recouped as TAXATION,
What then to make of the 2 Paula’s(Bennett and Rebstock) shock horror 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime’ cost of welfare benefits, bullshit, simply blatant fucking bullshit is the best i can at this point muster from my limited vocabulary…
Yep
.
Yep. Bullshit alright.
Would such short statement not be the job of labor in the house when these figures are being thrown around and hence have to be reported in the same way as Mrs Bennets statement?
Lolz, i dont’t think Bullshit is a word allowed,(under standing orders), to be uttered in the House, i wonder tho if ‘equine defecation’ might slip through…
“This ‘discussion’ centers on the figures that if those currently receiving a welfare benefit were to receive that benefit for a ‘lifetime’ the cost to the Government would be 78 billion dollars, (shock horror spit),”
and any journo worth the title would respond with “yeah but thats a sack or horseshit and you know it”
not holding my breath though
Paula, the Minister of parting people from what was once their legal entitlements, unintentionally painted Her and the other Paula’s (Rebstocks), monetary assertion of the ‘lifetime’ cost of beneficiaries as bullshit in the RadioNZ National interview this morning pointing out that the unemployment figures show that that benefit isn’t the ‘problem’ as the majority of those who access the unemployment benefit do so for short periods,
So, we now know that Paula has no pressing inducement to further attack unemployment benefit recipients besides having them prove that they have been looking for work,
She said as much also about the recipients of DPB, which just leads me to the conclusion that the most vulnerable cohort of mostly single people in our society are in the next 18 months to be subjected to Paula’s ‘help’ to move them off of that particular benefit,
Paula a number of times during the interview pointed out that Invalids Beneficiaries are paid a higher rate of benefit than those who receive the unemployment benefit, this is of course because the invalids benefit is expected by those who receive it and the Medical Professionals who test these individuals for work capability befor signing the relevant paper-work do not expect such people to be in any condition to work for a number of years if ever,
Paula tho knows best and we can assume that the National Government ‘plan’ to move 40,000 individuals ‘off benefit’ will be directed at these individuals, the economics of which National have given as much thought to as the 78 billion dollar ‘lifetime cost’ of benefits i will get down to discussing later…
hope someones recorded that
Easily accessed i assume via the RadioNZ web-site /nine to noon…
😉
now, anyhoo, this is just for the locals, and then i will sit back out of your hair.
an argillaceous liason around the ear as a scruffily draped phaethon parked a Malt magnesia exertion beneath the quasia dilantern.purslonely, it’s a bitter sweet sola number. Mind the salt Sister shiney washer, Let Robin save the day from the pun under your bed. To the emperor we dispose (please don’t let my tyre down; I enjoyed the walk) A pound a round The Globe. Beep Beep bop a loo bop
a little melting. Talk about pissisting down a man’s deep furrows.tick The Other Kind a pair of brown eyes walk alone (to be Farr, I’ve always followed the news to see what’s blown up today)
spinning wheel goes round and round the Gestalt chair, yet no bodies there.took the money and run.
Interesting to read this in the Herald today:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10863308
Where are the crowds of idiots screeching “OMG! David Cunliffe didn’t endorse the leader! He’s mounting a coup!”
Why is his answer good enough today, but it wasn’t good enough at Conference?
Is he going to be demoted again for refusing to endorse Shearer?
Chess, that is the name of the game. People who work like the last roman emperors lot have not got my vote.
Slight difference between a frontbencher refusing to endorse the leader at conference while voting to change the election format into a form that might be advantageous for him (while the leader abstained from that vote), and a backbencher who has previously endorsed the leader walking into the caucus room on the day of what looks like a routine confidence endorsement.
Tax cuts for their own and a bedroom tax for others. Tory arses.
Slash and Burn Tyres
http://www.rtcc.org/climate-ambition-could-slash-value-of-big-oil-firms/
Zone O2out
http://www.rtcc.org/ozone-hole-affecting-antarctics-ability-to-absorb-carbon-dioxide/
Lawyers Bunsen Burners and Dunny
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Money-Politics-and-the-Sc-by-Adnan-Al-Daini-130203-17.html
Oh well.
.
The link to the Independent’s story makes for frustrating reading.
In my internet travelling, I often come across the denialist position that climate change is a conspiracy. Ironic situation is ironic.
yes BLiP, saw that article Independently a little while back.
Well, after THAT news today it may be safe to assume that the only champagne corks popping tonight will be in the abodes of Team Shearer and those of the right wingers.
Instead lets raise a glass of red to The Greens and give a nod to Mana. All power to you. All power to us as voters too. We need to rally togther and to unify. Its up to us as well. Collectively and individually we have to get those non voters educated and motivated. Its a big task ahead.
@ Rosie
+1 😀
.
So, what happens in Australia when a couple of journalists reveal high-level corruption and cover up . . . that goes on and on and on? Well, government and its authorities ignore it then goes after the journalists and their sources.
.
what a surprise
Fuck, another wee whopper just whacked Chch. Guess 4.4, 8km deep, centred 5km east.
Just for something different eh vto? You Cantabrians must be built of strong stuff. I’d have been a mess along time ago if I was in your shoes. The heaving earth beneath your feet is one thing but it must be something else to have the strength to take on insurers and cope with being treated like irksome peasants by a contemptuous govt. Kia Kaha.
Ha, yeah cheers, but we are mere mortals and I think most populations would just deal with it all the same way. As for being a mess – yep, there is plenty mess in the population. Strung out and worn out. Especially when the Great Earth Monster lets loose right under your arse…
Great Earth Monster? Has Gerry the Hutt been given a new nickname I am not aware of?
“The Panel” continues its ghastly decline
Radio NZ National, Monday 4 March, 2013
Jim Mora, Jonathan Krebs, Tino Pereira
We are already into the fourth week of this year’s version of Jim Mora’s program “The Panel”. Sadly, the producers have made no innovations or improvements to the format at all; Jim’s volubility is as insufferable as ever, his blithe condescension is if anything even worse, and the “talent” is drawn from the same stagnant pool of lacklustre sycophants as it was last year, and the year before.
Today’s edition was typical….
MORA: All right, the next subject is ACC payouts. Some of these claims to ACC are hilarious! There were fifty claims for sunburn! Hur hur hur hur hur!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Hur hur hur hur hur! Fourteen thousand claims for insect bites…
TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: There were one hundred and ninety-five claims for windsurfing and—hur, hur, hur, hur!—two hundred and eleven for bodyboard injuries!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
JIM MORA: Hur hur hur! And 938 barbecue injuries! Hur hur hur hur hur!
JONATHAN KREBS: Ha ha ha ha ha!
TINO PEREIRA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
MORA: Professor Grant Duncan from Massey University joins us. Hur hur
hur hur!
PROFESSOR DUNCAN: I am concerned about this apparent trivialization of injuries.
MORA: Uhhhh….
PROFESSOR GRANT DUNCAN: I don’t think these injuries are trivial. If you get stung by a swarm of wasps you need to get yourself to hospital. I think it’s dangerous if we start to trivialize injuries like this.
MORA: Hmmmm. Inevitable with media reportage though….
SOAPBOX….
MORA: Now’s the time we find out what our Panelists have been thinking about. Jonathan, you want to talk about university fees?
KREBS: Yeah, I don’t have anything that’s really NEEDLING me at the moment, Jim, but my daughter Harriet is off to university and I have had to pay $6,000 for her accommodation and $7,000 for course fees, which made me pucker up a bit!
….and so on, and so on, and so on….
Just started watching seven sharp… It’s fluffier than my bellybutton lint, what a joke of a current affairs show.
Thankfully rain fade brought me to my senses but it’s a doozy ain’t it? Poor buggers! Still, I guess it pays the mortgage aye and its cleaner than the usual form of prostitution. They can probably wait till they get home before they have to have a shower!
Slippery the Prime Minister will be having lots of fun at the Waitangi Marae tomorrow…
What if David Cunliffe started his own party, i’m sure he would get a truckload of
support, who needs the s–t that has been dished out to him, just a thought.
UNWATCHABLE! SEVEN SHARP IS A DISASTER
One’s dreadful new current affairs show will not survive
SEVEN SHARP, Inaugural broadcast, Television One, Monday 4 March 2013
Alison Mau, Greg Boyed, Jesse Mulligan and assorted others
Alison Mau’s credibility, already pretty unimpressive, has plunged to an all-time low over the weekend, following her ludicrous few days of dishonestly lionizing “Sir” Paul Holmes as the greatest broadcaster who ever lived. It was ominous that she debased her currency so grievously just before this show’s opening.
Anybody who has looked at his Twitter account or seen him try to ad-lib while reading the News knows that Greg Boyed is about as funny as a parking ticket. On the evidence of tonight’s show, his idea of humour is to make sarcastic remarks. Not funny sarcastic remarks, though; Boyed is no Charlie Brooker. His first contribution to the dreadful three-person opening remarks sequence, was to make a sarcastic swipe at Titewhai Harawira, smirking with derision as he called her “that paragon of reason.” It was the sort of remark that the late Paul Holmes would have made, but Boyed has none of Holmes’s leavening wit.
Jesse Mulligan, who is billed as a comedian, decided to go for the big laughs: “Now we were going to have the Prime Minister cut a ribbon for the start of the show, but he wasn’t available.” Then he laughed: “Naaah, actually he WAS available, he just didn’t want to come on. Ha ha ha ha ha!” Tellingly, neither Alison Mau nor Greg Boyed could squeeze out a laugh to support the poor fellow. They were clearly wishing the ground would swallow them up. And so, no doubt, were most viewers.
Barry Soper’s South African squeeze Heather Du Plessis-Allan announced that she was going to do a “puff-piece” on John Key. “What else would you expect?” she laughed. And that’s just what she did.
I bailed after five minutes. It was simply unwatchable.
observing the political machinations (under the hood and on the deck) in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct, no amount of writing on The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts! In ADDition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing benignly. It’s a minefield on a moon lit night through vanity and vineyards across the red cod reef Clive; If not, a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn as we pick up after others (my notes have been binned in the recycling, blown away like the sand of a mandala) I really don’t mind if we sit this one Out (we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…back to the scrap heap) 🙁
Last Post for our loyal side-kick soldier.
Get LAo Daily (this cat’s not comin’ back) arrivederci, auf wiedersehen pets. bye 🙁 🙂
observing the political machinations in this country, it is no surprise we have wrong-headed where we are going. Kubrick may be correct; no amount of writing will break down The Wall this season and as for roman Ghosts? In Addition, any suggestions other than auto-pilot or Siberia? What is reaped is what is grown to make of no effect when one leg is shorter than the other or missing altogether.It’s a mine-field on a moonlit night through vanity and vineyards across a red cod sand-Bar.If not a co-ordinated portamanto is being drawn.Picking up after others as I deposited my own notes in a recycling bin, blown away like a sand mandala. Really don’t mind if I sit this one Out
(we may make you feel but we can’t help but think…off to the scrap heap again).
Last Post for our trusty side-kick soldier.Get LAotea Daily. (this cat’s not coming back).
arrivederci auf wiedersehen pets. bye. 🙁 🙂
Something for the late nite insomniac and other’s warning it could make you sick
http://tvnz.co.nz/news
2/3rd of the page down on the left side entitles Inside John Keys Office a nice little 4.5 min vomit fest of Key love in talk about 1 sided reporting. But they have to do somethinf after that crap 7 Sharp Maybe they could get Hooton on it a crap writer on a crap show.
lolz @ “I never drink in the daytime.”