Things are going to get very weird. I reckon one of NZ’s biggest shocks will be when people have to get over the idea that it can’t happen to lil ole us in godzone.
Chapala has weakened and yesterday a Category 2 storm made landfall along the coast to the west of the port city of Al Mukalla, a region with very little or no experience with hurricanes. Bob Henson of Weather Underground said it “is difficult to overstate the rarity and gravity of this event: a hurricane-strength storm striking near a large, ancient city, situated near mountains, with no modern experience in dealing with tropical cyclones”.
The rainfall poses a huge danger, with Chapala likely bring at least five years’ worth of rain to parts of Yemen.
The last hurricane event to go through the eastern Yemen area in 2008 dumped a tonne of rain and caused mass floods, but does not create lasting water for a higher level of vegetation than normal. It would probably require a deep sea current change to bring regular rainfall to the area, but warmer temperatures will make hurricanes more frequent.
Interesting decision-
” [2]
The search warrant applications were largely prepared by the private investigators.
It was common ground well before trial that they were invalid.
The private investigators participated in the execution of the warrants along with police officers.
There are two other particular points that should be mentioned:
(a) the Patterson warrant was unsigned; and
(b) one of the police officers involved in the Van Essen warrant and its execution was Mr Gibbons’ son-in-law. ”
It seems you don’t even have to be the FBI or a Hollywood mogul to hire our cops for a bust. It must be official police policy now that –Better to just do it wrong and apologise later- because its okay to frame the right guy – that’s not a miscarriage of justice.
I like your …..”evidence from an oxymoron ?”. Certainly true in name. In nature probably nothing oxymoronic about it. For an institution which is part of the power structure and contributes to it . Bit of a worry really. Because this institution sets threshholds of behaviour.
TPP Countries Aiming To Publish Final Agreement Text Later This Week
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries are aiming to make public the final agreement text before the end of this week, after making more progress than expected at a drafting session that wrapped up in Tokyo at the end of October, according to informed sources. http://insidetrade.com/
Do you ever get the feeling you are surrounded by idiots, living here in Nu Zuland?
A PM who repeatedly pulls the hair of a woman in a position of service, harasses and abuses her, and gets away with it.
An MP that refers to women performing demeaning sex acts to an audience of technology professionals at Sky City, and gets away with it.
A Ministry that hires “model sheep” from a sex shop for their xmas party because you know, that’s f-ing hilarrrrious and everyone will love that surely………
The annual parade of idiots setting things on fire and traumatise animals because we allow idiots to purchase dangerous explosives:
If you had a 13 year old daughter would you do that her?
There are so many wrongs it’s hard to know where to start.
A professional stunt woman was interviewed on 3 news last night. She was absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer stupidity and risk of it.
A child’s life has been endangered with the permission of her idiot parents.
Neil Jorgensen, the driver of the truck, when asked by the RNZ interviewer couldn’t say that the girl (don’t know her name) volunteered for the stunt, he just kept referring to a discussion with the family. His argument is that he has known the girl’s Dad for 20 years, as if that is relevant to putting a young life at risk.
Oh, and she wasn’t strapped in, I was wrong. Jorgensen was quite adamant about that. Said she could have jumped at any time. Lucky girl eh, having that choice. A choice between something going wrong and going up in flames or jumping from a moving vehicle and breaking your bones.
my partner is one of the many unpaid voluntary firefighters in NZ, and yes, the stupidity of people is astounding.
Considering that it is the season, I have given up on sleeping through a night until winter next year.
Cause that beeper (while they still have pagers) is not gonna stop, cause lighting a bbq with flame accelerator is fun, lobbing fire crackers in the bush is fun, burning shit without a permit is fun, and so on and so on and yeah….huwud’avethunk.
Huge respect and gratitude to your partner Sabine.
I don’t have the level of tolerance for idiots that members of the volunteer fire service would need to possess in order to do their job and keep themselves calm and sane.
Two years ago one of our neighbours managed to set the vegetation on the roundabout next to our house on fire. The firework set alight very dry ornamental grasses. The flames went up so fast, metres into the air. I was on the phone to 111 immediately and the fire service were there within one minute. Probably one of many call outs to similar fires that night.
I fully support their calls last year for a discussion around the banning of the public sale of fireworks. If that happened you might get a few more uninterpreted nights with your partner.
Guts of a letter to the editor of my local newspaper
I hope Prime Minister John Key isn’t planning to wear a white ribbon this November as it is clear from his past actions that he has no idea what the White Ribbon campaign stands for, which is men standing up and saying to other men that violence towards women is not okay.
When former Labour leader Cunliffe did exactly this, rather than support him, John Key publicly denigrated him to score political points. He even went so far as to wear a T Shirt saying “I’m proud to be a man” after Cunliffe had lost the election and resigned. He couldn’t resist having one more jab just for the pleasure of it. The worst thing a man can do is actually denigrate other men who stand up and say violence against women is not okay.
As well, John Key persistently harassed a female café worker despite her objections, claiming afterwards it was just a bit of fun and an indication of his “casual” style. He doesn’t seem to understand that he is not the only male that does this sort of thing and if every man who went in a café felt entitled to harass female staff they would be put upon the whole day long. This is the sort of thing that goes on in a lot of countries.
As far as I can see, the Prime Minister is still in denial about his attitude and behavior. A good first step for him this November would be to do what many other men have already done. Stand up in public amongst a group of men and women (with accompanying media for maximum publicity) and take the White Ribbon Pledge “I promise never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence towards women”.
Excellent letter. Thanks for sharing. Where did you find it?
In my very humble opinion for all it’s worth, FJK is in denial, because his behaviour points to that of a cold, calculating psychopath. He is completely devoid of any emotion towards anyone he abuses, hurts, humiliates, denigrates or offends!
There is enough evidence there in that letter describing FJK’s behaviour, for a full psychiatric conference I’m sure!
Quote from the post
Former Manu Samoa player, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, is calling Samoan men out, urging them to put a stop to domestic violence against women in Samoa. His comments come after the brutal murder of 25-year-old mother of two Fatima Tupa’i, who was beaten to death by her estranged husband while she was asleep next to their children.
“A protection order is a piece of paper and a piece of paper will not stop a violent man. Fatima was still beaten to death while she slept with her children. She told the Police and they did nothing. They failed her and her children,” he said. He believed incidents of domestic violence in Samoa were increasing, and urged all men to put a stop to it.
“Domestic violence is a man’s issue! Who is doing the violence, the rape, the abuse? Men, we have to speak out against our brothers, fathers, uncles and friends. Men, if you see something, do something.”
“We have to stop being cowards,” he said. He believed women were devalued in Samoa. “Domestic violence is a product of a society that does not value women.”
I’m in mind of the televised giggles about who’s not coming to dinner at or about the time Smith fled to Brazil. This in the presence of the president of Brazil FFS. Footage that went round the world.
If we’d pity the 10 year old on the school trip who screws up the speech of thanks at the dairy factory…….surely we wouldn’t more or less celebrate ?
This is our prime minister and it’s happens more frequently. Worn with robust disdain, an amalgam of Vaudeville/Monty Python. It trickles down. Until the ‘spectacle’ becomes a melting ‘popsicle’ riding a broken-down ‘bicycle’.
Hey MSM, you wanna make that the broadly acceptable norm ?
Luckily for us our Dear Leader, now that the rugby is over and the boys are safely back in the country, will be on it. Surely, he will check with his OZ Dear Leader mate to make sure that the kiwis in detention on Manus Island will be treated as humanly as the Saudis treat NZ donated sheep in the desert. Or sum such thing. or maybe not. Oh …look, there is Sir Richies leg to hump.
Having been seen off by Northland, Wellington and the Hawkes Bay Paula Bennet is still going to corporatise councils by bribing with our own money (taxpayer funds) subsidies only if they go to CCO’s right?
So us ratepayers and taxpayers are looking forward to another round of expensive consultation that we don’t want to fund followed by the transfer of major council assets to undemocratic entities which will be locked in (and Northland is first for the chop).
Can we transfer the threatened regional assets to a company with the directors being the elected regional councillors and the shareholders being those on the electoral role entitled to vote for said councillors having one share each? Then the provisions of the companies act would click in so that major changes could not be made without putting it to shareholder vote, i.e us ratepayers or changing the wholes companies act? Are there other pre-emptive strategies we could look at – might be a better spend of the money
“Government was proposing a “viable alternative to large-scale amalgamation”. Regions could transfer some core services between regional and territorial authorities. Or they could transfer them to “arms-length” organisations similar to Auckland’s Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Half of CCOs’ directors are appointed by the council. Mrs Bennett admitted there could be some resistance to transferring core services to less democratic entities. But she said changes would not be forced on regions, and would be community-led.
The Government planned to introduce law changes next year which would allow the new structures to be “locked in” for the long-term.”
WASHINGTON, DC (November 3, 2015) – In the opening days of the month when National Geographic magazine is scheduled to be turned over to 21st Century Fox, the magazine’s employees were told to stand by their phones to wait for calls – one by one – to come to Human Resources to learn the fate of their jobs.
“There were times early on when I’d walk down the hall, pass only three or four inmates, and think, ‘How are we going to make it to the end of the month?’” said Parks, recalling several periods in which the company “hemorrhaged money” due to low recidivism, the result of occasional public investment in criminal rehabilitation programs. “Compare that to now, though, when all of our prisons are filled to the gills and we’re housing the overflow on bunks in the gymnasiums.”
“And what’s more, we’re hiring them all out as manual labor at pennies on the dollar,” he added. “Talk about a success story.”
North Carolina, while without a system comparable to the other states, did not prohibit the practice until 1933. Alabama was the last to end the practice of official convict leasing in 1928.
It is illegal to import goods produced by prisoner labour in the US but perfectly fine for them use prisoner labour to create consumer products.
A significant amount of controversy has arisen with regard to the use of prison labour if the prison in question is privatized, a phenomenon present in a few areas of the United States, where goods produced through penal labour are regulated through the Ashurst-Sumners Act which criminalizes the interstate transport of such goods.
Minimum wage in the United States, in dollars per hour528: $5.15
Average hourly rate paid at a prison camp in Nevada529: $0.13
Maximum wage paid to prisoner workers in dollars per day in Georgia and Texas530: $0
Most prisons that pay prisoners for work have a range of pay depending on the job. Average of the minimum wages for prisoners paid by the states, in dollars per day for non-industry work531: $0.93
Average of the maximum wages paid to prisoners by the states, in dollars per day532: $4.73
Lowest wage reported, in dollars per day, for prisoners working in private industry533: $0.16
I also wonder what the real unemployment figure is. RNZ said Statistics NZ look at those registered with WINZ and look at the total number of people in work. I don’t know what that second bit meant.
Relying on the number of WINZ registered unemployed is flawed as some of us unemployed aren’t eligible for assistance because our partners earn slightly more than peanuts. (Doesn’t matter that each week is an absolute struggle and debt is increasing due to having to use a credit card for living costs).
We’re simply not counted in the figures. A few of my friends are also in this position. How many unemployed around NZ aren’t registered with WINZ?
This is largely incorrect, the main measures of unemployment collected in NZ are not related to WINZ registrations. WINZ registrations are collected and counted by MSD, but these are not used for the official employment measures.
There methodology is subtly different to statistics NZ. I think its always a politically motivated decision to suggest one is more real, than the other and the important thing for policy is to be consistent across time. On the other hand Australians think their Roy Morgan unemployment rate is more realistic than their national statistics office.
Henry talked about that this morning with the money guy and then went to the longest interview I’ve seen him do with key and not one mention of it was made , all they talked about was fucking knighthoods the pair of arseholes.
Yep….a WINZ worker told me add another at least 1%….so many don’t even bother applying. So many involved in the ‘grey economy’….downside of which is not only skewed unemployment stats but also slightly lower tax take. Also undermining labour laws (such as they are) as the ‘job’ does not really exist.
Methinks this is exactly how Our Leaders want the economy to go….
Yep. Always relevant. If any political party is coming in with promises of tax cuts you can be sure that things are about to get worse for the majority of people and social services get cut again and again and again.
People working longer is already an issue for gen Y workers. There is little chance for advancement within organisations. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved as we all need the money!
The industries required in the future are the service and aged care industries, it would be helpful if they could offer an liveable wage for the frontline workers who cannot be easily replaced by machines.
I agree, a short term solution would be to copy the USA and its service industry driven economy.
It would involve a complete change of mind set within certain sectors of NZ.
That is, stopping being a tight arse , opening your wallet and start hiring people to do stuff for you.
That’s what they have drummed into the Americans, having people doing your chores isn’t a sign of laziness, it’s a form of charity which keeps the economy going and people in jobs.
I’m not sure the US style is to be emulated as it seems to be entirely predicated on businesses leaving renumeration of their employees to their customers.
As far as the mindset change goes, employers must be offering wages that reflect the high levels of skill and care that is required to do these kind of service jobs properly, and that needs to start with decent reimbursing of care workers now, which this government and aged care providers seem deadset against. That’s not going to encourage the next generation of workers to enter these industries.
Well there is no point in hiring people if they don’t get paid enough to live as for example Walmart employment is doing. Or ‘tipped’ servers that earn 2.10$ an hour plus tips that they have to share with bussers, dishwashers and often the cooks.
As for cleaners, lawn mowers, and house keepers these are probably the some of the oldest jobs on the planet, and should not be treated as charity but as work. The cleaner at the hotel does a full time job keeping the rooms clean, so does the lady that comes to ones own domicile to clean.
The trouble that we have is not that we don’t have jobs that need doing, we do, ‘the Auckland Transport owned Berms’ that are being mowed free of charge by people having houses behind them comes to mind. We have jobs that need doing, buy that we don’t want to pay for. We – the populace that wants tax cuts, and the current government -that would like to spend money of PR rather then infrastructure, social welfare, education, energy creation. WE could do with more nurses in hospitals, doctors even and decent cooks, we could do with more mental health care workers, we could do with more police and paid fire fighters, early child hood teachers and tertiary teachers, we could do with street cleaners and Park workers, Bus Drivers, Youth workers etc. but no one seems to want to pay for it.
So no, there is no need for high unemployment other than a wage drive downwards, high competition for the last remaining paid jobs (no matter how lowly they are paid) and the idea that general misery for many makes a virtuous populace.
How will you survive once you don’t have a job anymore? Ever thought of that? Or are you very very sure in your assumption that you will always have a paid gig, and that that gig is gonna cover all your costs?
I agree, a short term solution would be to copy the USA and its service industry driven economy.
Nope, that’s the worst thing to do as a service industry doesn’t actually create any wealth. And that is, IMO, why we have such increasing poverty in NZ. We’ve already become too dependent upon low paid services for jobs rather than creating new high value ones in and through R&D.
That is, stopping being a tight arse , opening your wallet and start hiring people to do stuff for you.
Thing is, that’s not actually possible as the people hired to do services must be paid lower than the people hiring them which means that only a few percent of people at the top can actually afford to hire others to do services.
This strikes me as a rather strange view. An economy which is focused on creating ‘wealth’ would seem to me to be a high resource impact economy. I want the opposite, a low resource impact economy. At the same time there seems to be no reason to suggest that economies are degenerating because they are not creating enough ‘wealth’ (what ever that is, I am assuming its real resources organised into useful technology). This suggests a service based industry would be a good thing if it could be organised.
The second paragraph is equally strange. There are no such tiered sectors of the economy which require that the service sector must be paid less. One part of the service sector can just the same spend on another part of the service sector. A service based economy could equally have a very flat wage structure. I can see no reason to believe that inequality in the economy had to develop, or is related to an increase in the service economy. Income inequality has been driven by factors unrelated to that, such as high unemployment rates, de-unionisation, and legislation against workers rights.
This strikes me as a rather strange view. An economy which is focused on creating ‘wealth’ would seem to me to be a high resource impact economy.
Not necessarily. Generally speaking you want a society producing everything that it needs from it’s own labour and resources. What you don’t want it doing is over producing to produce money which is what we have now.
There are no such tiered sectors of the economy which require that the service sector must be paid less.
We already have a service economy with our service sector at around 70% of the economy. Please note that around 75% of the population has an income less than the average wage. These people can’t afford to hire services.
This is what out present system has delivered and we’re getting more and more services all the time because we’re not developing our economy. Apparently that’s just too hard and costs too much.
“Generally speaking you want a society producing everything that it needs from it’s own labour and resources. What you don’t want it doing is over producing to produce money which is what we have now.”
This doesn’t differentiate between service and non-service wealth. Also what does over-production mean? In a largely service based economy it appears to mean people providing services to each other. I strongly disagree that is harmful or unsustainable in and of itself. You have been advocating for a UBI, so how is a bunch of people working to produce money any different to them not working and being given a UBI?
“We already have a service economy with our service sector at around 70% of the economy. Please note that around 75% of the population has an income less than the average wage. These people can’t afford to hire services.”
So arguably there is a correlation there (you didn’t show any real correlation), but this doesn’t mean that there is a cause. What is the supposed causal mechanism meaning a service economy must be highly unequal? We know about many of the causes of inequality in the economy but none of them appear to be that too much of the economy is focused on working on or producing services.
Over production is where excessive use of resources occur. Farming is a good example in that it over uses the land to produce money while not actually providing for our society.
In a largely service based economy it appears to mean people providing services to each other.
And how does that supply what we need? How is the food grown? How are the vehicles produced? etc. etc
Services don’t produce anything. To a degree they’re needed but we’re already pushing to excessive amounts.
You have been advocating for a UBI, so how is a bunch of people working to produce money any different to them not working and being given a UBI?
The UBI is to allow for people to buy the products of their society. In capitalistic terms, which I don’t like, they could be considered the dividend from simply being a citizen of the country. This overly simplistic though as the purpose of the economy is actually to provide people with what they need to live and thrive.
What is the supposed causal mechanism meaning a service economy must be highly unequal?
I said that a service economy didn’t work because the wages of service workers needed to come down to the point where they’re living in poverty for the majority of people to be able to afford them but as they’re the majority then they won’t be able to afford themselves.
So the economy is in a state of ‘over-production’, and its not producing enough of what we need at the same time?
I still don’t understand what’s requiring service workers wages to come down or be lower than other sectors in all of this.
As far as I can see it would be a good thing if both more people were employed and mostly at higher wages because the economy is quite far from in a state of over-production and also in a state of wide income inequality. And at the same time service industries seem like a good place for them to be employed still as this is mostly less physically resource intensive.
I think your getting a bit confused about the definition of the service economy. You realize education is part of the service economy right?
I suspect that the larger part of the current advancement problem is that people need to hold onto their jobs rather than successfully applying for better ones or risking a business startup (we still haven’t returned to the number of new company registrations in 2009-10).
You could very well be right, I also think that peoples continuing mortgage requirements into later life also contribute to staying in employment. Also others have mentioned NZ’s (small c) conservatism, and this sort of risk-adverse attitude is probably wise in such ‘interesting times’ as these too!
The industries required in the future are the service and aged care industries
Well, over the next couple of decades until the Baby Boomers start dying off.
The Baby Boomer demographics are a bulge in the population. Essentially, subsequent births didn’t match and thus scuttled most of the growth in the economy that the politicians had, quite literally, been banking on. An increasing population is always a growing economy even if you don’t get productivity increases.
it would be helpful if they could offer an liveable wage for the frontline workers who cannot be easily replaced by machines.
That could easily be done if it was the government directly doing it and we had a sovereign monetary system. The money paid would be directly created by the government to pay the workers and then taxed back out of existence.
I know this is a long way out there but how about:
1. Change the standard work week to be 20 hours instead of 40,
2. Increase the minimum wage so that those 20 hours are enough to live on,
3. Put overtime laws back in so that if an employer wants to have one person working more than 20 hours per week it will cost them more.
Surely this creates a requirement for more employees to do job’s, and the increased money in the bottom end of society which is normally spent straight away increases the earnings of those same buisnesses that will have increased staff costs.
Again I get this is a loooong way out there and not going to happen. However I think to say it can’t be fixed is a bit far as well.
France dropped their working week to 35 hours from 39 in 2000. The idea is it would increase employment. Critics have pointed out that no real increase in employment has happened, workers are just under more pressure to produce the same amount of output in less time.
I guess cutting from 40 to 20 wouldn’t have the same sort of problem, because you’d simply have to hire more people. But also this change is so dramatic it will not happen any time in the next 10 years, so you’d be better off focusing on potential solutions that could be implemented, not pie-in-the-sky daydreams.
It seems that the French system isn’t all that good. Workers get rest days rather than overtime rates.
What I’d like to see is what we used to have – simple penal rates. They would have to apply to people on salary as well though just to make sure they worked as more people are on salary now than used to be.
Maybe not anyone but the government could achieve full employment in a matter of months. Of course, that would have the business leader whinging again as they were in the 1970s and 80s about about the government taking all the employable people and them thus having to compete for them.
The undesirably high unemployment rate is a trivial problem for the country to solve. As BM argues later in this thread, you need somebody to employ these people (BM suggests the private sector should just start believing in a service economy, which is a fantasy, its not going to happen). But if the government wants them employed, it could simply employ them and pay them a wage to do something and then your problem is solved. The only problem here is the government doesn’t want them employed so it doesn’t employ them, it leaves them unemployed (its more focused on running a political budget surplus at present, which is why employment is stuck around 5-6% for ages).
If in addition to solving the unemployment problem the government doesn’t want to put pressure on wage rates, which might push inflation up, then it should only employ people the private sector doesn’t want to employ. So it should pay these people (the ones who are being employed by the government just for the purposes of being employed) only the minimum wage and then the government doesn’t compete with the private sector at all and so this policy causes no inflation at all as well.
So there you go problem solved. Somebody should probably mention this to Andrew Little.
Interestingly enough, very few jobs on offer in IT at the moment. That’s normally a warning sign. yeah, it,s end of year, but there’s normally something.
Tradition algorithms capture images at multiple distances to watch for obstacles, meaning the amount of processing power needed will only allow a drone to fly about 6 miles per hour, at most. Barry, however, set his drone to detect only what is 10 meters away.
“You don’t have to know about anything that’s closer or further than that,” Barry said. “As you fly, you push that 10-meter horizon forward, and, as long as your first 10 meters are clear, you can build a full map of the world around you.”
Bit of a cheats way of doing it but it’s one of the step you take on the way to full implementation.
International ridicule – worse than being a ‘slave’ eh steve
Pity we can’t get key stuck in this rapidly setting amber.
“”Those of you with a marginally broader perspective – say, anyone above the age of eight – may be tempted to pick holes in Williams’ definition of captive servitude. Welcome to The History of Slavery with Steve Williams, in which white men are brutally invited to carry the golf bags of black men, savagely consulted over club selection and putt lines, sadistically given a share of the winnings, cruelly allowed to leave whenever they want,” wrote Jonathan Liew in Britain’s Telegraph.””
“Kim Dotcom from New Zealand introduces a revolutionary Internet alternative: new non-IP based, non-hackable, surveillance-proof and encrypted network, which will be 100% crowd-funded.
Max Keiser from Keiser Report interviewed Kim Dotcom, who also talked about NSA spying and his ongoing prosecution by the US government…
and Part Two: Dotcom is not only a genius , he is also highly moral
First they came for MegaUpload Dotcom and then they came for Google…but they bit off more than they could chew
…Dotcom talks about his philosophy, whistleblowers, Wikileaks, Snowden and Manning
…and the Sony hack/leak which he believes was not done by Google or South Korea …but which exposes Hollywood USA political corruption and which could be used to defend Google
‘Meganet’, Part 2: Kim Dotcom plans crowdfunded replacement to internet (Ft. Max Keiser)
@ Clean_power…A better question: were NZ politicians bribed to persecute/prosecute Dotcom in New Zealand by Hollywood?
….as it would appear from the Sony hack/leaks ….. that USA politicians have been bribed by Hollywood to begin the persecution/prosecution of Google for piracy
…it would appear from the hacks/leaks that Google was facing the very same plotting behind the scenes…accusations/case that was levelled against Dotcom MegaUpload
…as it doesnt seem to have worked against Google …and in fact there is counter legal action by Google for the political corruption exposed ….where does this leave the NZ government?
Brave New World : Violent Passion Surrogate (V.P.S.), Violent Market Surrogate, Violent Crowd Surrogate
“V.P.S is great for keeping people divided over pointless issues and bogged down by as never-ending stream of misinformation and biased interpretations which exist only within a truncated frame of reference” ( urban dictionary .com)
Cashless society = bank surveillance, data mergers, censorship , state/corporate control ( social engineering, negative interest rates) ?
Bitcoin = an alternative ( to bankster control) plus future digital privacy ( an alternative to bank blockchain technology)
All this discussed on the Keiser Report with Tracy and Max and Brett Scott:
“Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines.
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Violent Market Surrogates as the doors of misperception in a brave new world in which central bankers are fighting the wrong war. In the second half, Max interviews Brett Scott, author of The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money, about financial surveillance states and cashless societies.”
OK this post is unrelated to the above ,but I was flabbergasted to hear John Key on RNZ this morning saying he was “quite mates” with Richie McCaw…..what the hell is a “quite mate”???????…..someone who you think likes you but your too bloody insecure to go the whole hog and call him a mate……does anybody out there have a “quite mate”or is this a new sort of relationship bond that only our PM indulges in…..?????
Maybe Sir Richie, the mighty leg (for leghumpers anyways), is just too polite to tell our most exalted Dear Leghumper that he is not quite mates with with our most exalted Dear Leghumper.
He also said knighthoods & damehoods have increased in popularity in NZ, tho fuk knows how he figured that out. In the same article he said the royals might join the All Blacks on one of their parades.
The titles were obviously very popular with those who got awards between 2001 and 2008 that entitled them to use Sir or Dame after the titles were reintroduced in 2009.
There were 85 of them, of whom 72 accepted the titles. That included at least one former Labour MP who must have really annoyed Helen Clark.
Of the other 13 a couple were “Clayton’s” refusals as they already held the title via other awards. I notice that they never relinquished their prior titles.
Thus the vote was 72 aye, 11 nay and 2 effective abstentions. http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/otago/67860/who039s-opting-titular-honour-and-who039s-not
I’ve just seen David Cunliffe give an amazing speech in Parliament in the General Debate. Just reaffirming once again why he should still be the Labour Leader. He managed to encapsulate in one rousing speech just what is wrong in NZ, from Stephen Joyce’s appalling management of MOBIE including “blow up sheep”, to the National Party’s manipulation of our media, their dirty politics a la Slater and Collins with the former SFO Head, the Ombudsman’s office failing to compel ministers to answer OIA’s, through to Westpac releasing Nicky Hager’s account details to the police.
He mentioned all of the journalists who have been removed from prime time television and newspapers who have sought a better home at Radio NZ. He mentioned the person responsible for the funding of Radio NZ is John Key’s former electorate head and wondered how long it would be before funding for Radio NZ would be reduced or stopped altogether.
This kind of speech from David Cunliffe is why the members are still so angry that the ABC crowd forced him to relinquish the leadership. The public voted in the major newspapers polls that Cunliffe had won most if not all the political debates in the election! So much for him being so unpopular. He just had too little time to establish himself as leader before the election, coupled with hatchet jobs from the media (Armstrong etc) and sad to say, from within!! If David Cunliffe had had the time as leader that Clark or Goff had had, things would be very different in Parliament today. David Cunliffe talked about Key’s “peeing in the shower and in the pockets of the All Blacks”!! Funny and the absolute truth!
Good to be reminded why I supported and voted for David Cunliffe. I also think it was the right thing for David to avoid any limelight for a year after the election. Had he launched any attacks sooner, the DP mob and their media acolytes would have accused him of trying to upstage Andrew Little.
Now that Little is firmly established and has the total support of every caucus member – plus the ordinary members – I hope Cunliffe will be brought back to the fore of proceedings again. His quick brain and smart rhetorical skills are much in need.
Sorry Saarbo – I thanked Hami for putting that clip up but it was actually you who did – Hami did a good summary of what was in it. Thanks. It is excellent.
“The public voted in the major newspapers polls that Cunliffe had won most if not all the political debates in the election”
And then the public voted in the election and showed that the support for him as PM was pretty thin among the voters.
Were there any real polls done by the newspapers as to who “won” the debates. I am not aware of any. There were of course some of the self selecting variety but I don’t think anyone could take them seriously.
Can you give me a reference to a professionally run poll that supports your thesis?
Yes it is a shame that David Cunliffe (a) didn’t get support from the ABC crowd and (b) wasn’t given another chance. The current Labour lot are ineffectual. They need to get rid of the traitors and Andrew Little needs to get a backbone. Many people are saying to me they don’t like National but Labour are just the same so why bother voting, wont make any difference. I would like to see David Cunliffe given the finance portfolio as Grant Robertson doesn’t have the credibility IMO.
all those ABCs who did not support Cunliffe are wannabes with more ambition than talent…we all have a fair idea who they are
they betrayed the Labour Party membership who voted for David Cunliffe …and they betrayed the Labour Party…and they betrayed the New Zealand electorate
imo David Cunlffe deserves to be Deputy Leader after Annette King and he deserves to be not only high profile Finance spokesperson but high profile spokesperson for Climate Change issues and Environment ( which are linked to Finance)
David Cunliffe is an old style New Zealand politician with high integrity
( about as far from jonkey nact as it is possible to be)
If David Cunliffe is given a high profile for the New Zealand Labour Party …its fortunes could turn around…as more and more are seeing through jonkey nact
+100 Thanks for putting that up Hami – it’s such a relief to hear an MP actually tell it like it is. I was shocked by the treatment dished out to Cunliffe when he was the LP leader, and I have not forgotten the heroism with which he hung on, under huge pressure, and forced the leadership question to be taken back to the membership. I too would like to see him restored to a position befitting his talents.
I stand by all that. My concerns about Hager are essentially twofold: first, that he uses the label “journalist”, with all its connotations of even-handedness and impartiality, to disguise his true purpose, which is that of an ideological crusader; and second, that the publication of his Dirty Politics book was carefully timed to coincide with a general election, in the clear hope that it would cause maximum political damage. But neither of those concerns could be construed as endorsement of any disregard for his rights or violation of his privacy.
I do, however, share Cameron Slater’s view that the reaction to the latest disclosures exposes a gaping double standard. Where was the media outrage when Slater’s email account was hacked?
There’s a difference, of course, in that this time it’s an agency of the state that’s digging into someone’s personal affairs. That’s infinitely more alarming than the actions of a rogue private hacker. But Slater is right to point out that the hacker, Rawshark, largely escaped media condemnation – as did Hager, who used the information Rawshark obtained.
If Hager had sat on the information for a couple of years, you guys might have a point about the timing. But he received the information in January and it was published in August. Seems to be a reasonable timeframe.
The media outrage at slater being hacked was somewhat lessened by the outrage at what those pricks had been up to, and their absolutely contemptable attitudes and behaviour. But then you’ve always had a problem understanding the concept of “public interest”.
Hager is an invetigative journalist. Just because you don’t like the truths he exposes, it doesn’t mean that if Labour or the Greens were up to the same thing he wouldn’t also report that.
Not a good article entirely
– calling Hager and idealogical crusader not a journalist is simply idiotic – the content of his book would be gobsmacking no matter who was doing it – Nact have only themselves to blame that they were in the limelight – and nobody has sued so we can take it that it’s pretty much factually right- personal responsibility there for Nact
– releasing it to cause maximum political damage – oh please – don’t do it to start with and don’t all MSM outlets write stories and release tehm for best effect.
Lastly Hager does factual content and investigation, du Fresne does an opinion column, why does the MSm support one but not the other.
You seem to suffer from the TVNZ disease which aches as to say that the first imperative is ‘balance’ (as though it were a calculable absolute). “Balance’ is the MOST subjective number and in TVNZ is generally reflected by reporting this and not reporting that, according to a lonely and untested personal sense of what is ‘balance’. Very well paid contenders to the next level of very well paid, even excessive, even obscenely extravagantly paid contenders.
Why is a child prime minister deemed to be central, reliable, our desired ‘us’ ? If this is ‘balance’……(gulp)……please do not show me imbalance. I am a precariously positioned pensioner. I have impecuniosity and nostrils keen to the stink of shit. Especially that passed on by yuppie Cafe Society wannabes of the Auckland media.
…….and I’m guessing your all very comfortable with females to this country being sexually assaulted by our customs officials …… if their crime is visiting Kim Dotcom
Hell ….. I’d even bet you 3 would join up to be customs officers …… if you could get in on some of that.
Kim Dotcom was a man who could get things done and had vision in the computer and internet industries …………… Nationals plan was more cows
Still you 3 keep giving yourself mutual hand-jobs ………….. because you really are wankers 🙂
The survey results reinforce the Vollgeld Initiative, which currently has more than 90,000 signatures of the 100,000 required to force a binding national referendum in Switzerland. [Update on 2nd Nov: More than 100,000 verified signatures were collected.]
Iceland is also having such discussions but no indications yet that they going to have a referendum on it.
alwyn ………….. I missed your late arrival for the now four-way with your buddies clean power, infused and puke rouge …….
Like those other trolls you are here to spread misinformation or derail …. and with your comments on Cunliffe you did just that ……. in this instance you left out the dirty politics hatchet job that the Nats cooked up and engineered for the election.
Cunliffe as most people know was the victim of a national dirty politics hit job involving the usual suspects of Key, Slater, farrar, the herald etc …….. and 1 dishonest dodgy rich immigrant named ‘Lui’ …..who was charged with domestic violence at the time.
The Herald in particular ran a counterfactual and unsubstantiated smear job on cunliffe and Labor ………………. all sorts of false accusation were put into print …………. Cunliffe was called to resign by Armstrong and others ……………. and the Nats in a pre-planned and coordinated way always referred to Cunliffe as ‘tricky’.
The truth in the matter which made the story against Labor and Cunliffe counterfactual …………….. Was that John Key and others were around having meals at Lui’s house ……. and picking up $10,000 dollar donations to the national party…..they were the ones associating and taking money from him …… but we never read that in the Herald or elsewhere
The Slater, Key, Farrar cliche were at the peak of their Dirty politics underhand sleazy tricks when they did their job against Cunliffe …………… but thanks to Nicky Hager we now know how they operate which has hobbled them ……. for the time being.
The unintended consequences from their shit slinging hit job on Cunliffe was Winston s rising …………
Winston is of course now sitting in the northland seat ………… courtesy of what could be John Keys dirtiest political act of all regarding one Mike Sabin ………… and who knew what when they knew it going into the general election.
Personally I think Key will resign before that shit storm hits ……..
His job is done now that he has signed away our sovereignty with the TPPA ……..
Winston is of course now sitting in the northland seat ………… courtesy of what could be John Keys dirtiest political act of all regarding one Mike Sabin ………… and who knew what AND when they knew it going into the general election.
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
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On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
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Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
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Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
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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”. ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99)’ This is the hottest book in New Zealand, number one with a bullet in its first week, selling more than any overseas title, and demand is so huge that it’s already been reprinted. A ...
Ranking of digital rights in tech companies.
https://rankingdigitalrights.org/index2015/
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11539503
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11539525
It might be good time for our government to wtfu and start doing something about cc.
Things are going to get very weird. I reckon one of NZ’s biggest shocks will be when people have to get over the idea that it can’t happen to lil ole us in godzone.
The optimist in me hopes rain in places like Yemen will become a regular thing ,and there might be rapid growth to lock up some carbon ,.
The last hurricane event to go through the eastern Yemen area in 2008 dumped a tonne of rain and caused mass floods, but does not create lasting water for a higher level of vegetation than normal. It would probably require a deep sea current change to bring regular rainfall to the area, but warmer temperatures will make hurricanes more frequent.
Swales (and other rainwater harvesting techniques) can make use of high but infrequent rainfall for food growing.
Van Essen v The Attorney-General [2015] NZSC 166 (3 November 2015)
http://www.nzlii.org/nz/cases/NZSC/2015/166.html
Interesting decision-
” [2]
The search warrant applications were largely prepared by the private investigators.
It was common ground well before trial that they were invalid.
The private investigators participated in the execution of the warrants along with police officers.
There are two other particular points that should be mentioned:
(a) the Patterson warrant was unsigned; and
(b) one of the police officers involved in the Van Essen warrant and its execution was Mr Gibbons’ son-in-law. ”
It seems you don’t even have to be the FBI or a Hollywood mogul to hire our cops for a bust. It must be official police policy now that –Better to just do it wrong and apologise later- because its okay to frame the right guy – that’s not a miscarriage of justice.
one statement stands out like dogs balls,
” In doing so the Court relied on the IPCA investigation and a subsequent report”
case closed i guess. works every time!
why would a court accept evidence from an oxymoron? !
I like your …..”evidence from an oxymoron ?”. Certainly true in name. In nature probably nothing oxymoronic about it. For an institution which is part of the power structure and contributes to it . Bit of a worry really. Because this institution sets threshholds of behaviour.
TPP Countries Aiming To Publish Final Agreement Text Later This Week
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) countries are aiming to make public the final agreement text before the end of this week, after making more progress than expected at a drafting session that wrapped up in Tokyo at the end of October, according to informed sources.
http://insidetrade.com/
Finally we might get to see the fine print.
Do you ever get the feeling you are surrounded by idiots, living here in Nu Zuland?
A PM who repeatedly pulls the hair of a woman in a position of service, harasses and abuses her, and gets away with it.
An MP that refers to women performing demeaning sex acts to an audience of technology professionals at Sky City, and gets away with it.
A Ministry that hires “model sheep” from a sex shop for their xmas party because you know, that’s f-ing hilarrrrious and everyone will love that surely………
The annual parade of idiots setting things on fire and traumatise animals because we allow idiots to purchase dangerous explosives:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/288726/fires-on-first-day-of-fireworks-sale
Idiots that can’t see a problem with strapping a 13 year old girl on to the front of a truck and sending her into flames, for kicks.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/288814/driver-defends-flaming-wall-truck-stunt
Also see Mickey’s post on a blighted future. Idiocy combined with cruelty.
Some days you’ve just gotta put your hands in your hands and sigh.
The flaming stunt trick was quite impressive, very mad max.
If you had a 13 year old daughter would you do that her?
There are so many wrongs it’s hard to know where to start.
A professional stunt woman was interviewed on 3 news last night. She was absolutely gobsmacked at the sheer stupidity and risk of it.
A child’s life has been endangered with the permission of her idiot parents.
Neil Jorgensen, the driver of the truck, when asked by the RNZ interviewer couldn’t say that the girl (don’t know her name) volunteered for the stunt, he just kept referring to a discussion with the family. His argument is that he has known the girl’s Dad for 20 years, as if that is relevant to putting a young life at risk.
Oh, and she wasn’t strapped in, I was wrong. Jorgensen was quite adamant about that. Said she could have jumped at any time. Lucky girl eh, having that choice. A choice between something going wrong and going up in flames or jumping from a moving vehicle and breaking your bones.
I agree, it was utterly stupid and showed a complete lack of awareness.
For a start she could have been impaled on the bits of flaming wood, not a lot of intelligence on display there.
Onya BM. Leave the stunts to Mad Max
BMadmax !
my partner is one of the many unpaid voluntary firefighters in NZ, and yes, the stupidity of people is astounding.
Considering that it is the season, I have given up on sleeping through a night until winter next year.
Cause that beeper (while they still have pagers) is not gonna stop, cause lighting a bbq with flame accelerator is fun, lobbing fire crackers in the bush is fun, burning shit without a permit is fun, and so on and so on and yeah….huwud’avethunk.
Huge respect and gratitude to your partner Sabine.
I don’t have the level of tolerance for idiots that members of the volunteer fire service would need to possess in order to do their job and keep themselves calm and sane.
Two years ago one of our neighbours managed to set the vegetation on the roundabout next to our house on fire. The firework set alight very dry ornamental grasses. The flames went up so fast, metres into the air. I was on the phone to 111 immediately and the fire service were there within one minute. Probably one of many call outs to similar fires that night.
I fully support their calls last year for a discussion around the banning of the public sale of fireworks. If that happened you might get a few more uninterpreted nights with your partner.
Guts of a letter to the editor of my local newspaper
I hope Prime Minister John Key isn’t planning to wear a white ribbon this November as it is clear from his past actions that he has no idea what the White Ribbon campaign stands for, which is men standing up and saying to other men that violence towards women is not okay.
When former Labour leader Cunliffe did exactly this, rather than support him, John Key publicly denigrated him to score political points. He even went so far as to wear a T Shirt saying “I’m proud to be a man” after Cunliffe had lost the election and resigned. He couldn’t resist having one more jab just for the pleasure of it. The worst thing a man can do is actually denigrate other men who stand up and say violence against women is not okay.
As well, John Key persistently harassed a female café worker despite her objections, claiming afterwards it was just a bit of fun and an indication of his “casual” style. He doesn’t seem to understand that he is not the only male that does this sort of thing and if every man who went in a café felt entitled to harass female staff they would be put upon the whole day long. This is the sort of thing that goes on in a lot of countries.
As far as I can see, the Prime Minister is still in denial about his attitude and behavior. A good first step for him this November would be to do what many other men have already done. Stand up in public amongst a group of men and women (with accompanying media for maximum publicity) and take the White Ribbon Pledge “I promise never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence towards women”.
That is an excellent letter e p. What paper was it in?
@ esoteric pineapples (6) –
Excellent letter. Thanks for sharing. Where did you find it?
In my very humble opinion for all it’s worth, FJK is in denial, because his behaviour points to that of a cold, calculating psychopath. He is completely devoid of any emotion towards anyone he abuses, hurts, humiliates, denigrates or offends!
There is enough evidence there in that letter describing FJK’s behaviour, for a full psychiatric conference I’m sure!
this is how its done, but Dear Leader is clearly above these ‘trivial’ matters
https://www.facebook.com/SamoaMoSamoa/photos/a.225162717501562.64779.225138367503997/1091286354222523/?type=3&fref=nf
Quote from the post
Former Manu Samoa player, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, is calling Samoan men out, urging them to put a stop to domestic violence against women in Samoa. His comments come after the brutal murder of 25-year-old mother of two Fatima Tupa’i, who was beaten to death by her estranged husband while she was asleep next to their children.
“A protection order is a piece of paper and a piece of paper will not stop a violent man. Fatima was still beaten to death while she slept with her children. She told the Police and they did nothing. They failed her and her children,” he said. He believed incidents of domestic violence in Samoa were increasing, and urged all men to put a stop to it.
“Domestic violence is a man’s issue! Who is doing the violence, the rape, the abuse? Men, we have to speak out against our brothers, fathers, uncles and friends. Men, if you see something, do something.”
“We have to stop being cowards,” he said. He believed women were devalued in Samoa. “Domestic violence is a product of a society that does not value women.”
+1 Sabine
I’m in mind of the televised giggles about who’s not coming to dinner at or about the time Smith fled to Brazil. This in the presence of the president of Brazil FFS. Footage that went round the world.
If we’d pity the 10 year old on the school trip who screws up the speech of thanks at the dairy factory…….surely we wouldn’t more or less celebrate ?
This is our prime minister and it’s happens more frequently. Worn with robust disdain, an amalgam of Vaudeville/Monty Python. It trickles down. Until the ‘spectacle’ becomes a melting ‘popsicle’ riding a broken-down ‘bicycle’.
Hey MSM, you wanna make that the broadly acceptable norm ?
who would not like a few teeth in their stew? And Food Hygiene is for suckers anyways.
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/03/human-teeth-found-in-meal-served-to-asylum-seekers-on-manus-island?CMP=fb_gu
or maybe a bit of violence and torture in ‘detention centers’ run by the ozzies
https://www.facebook.com/KelvinDavisLabour/posts/1068955776469602?fref=nf
maybe a bit of emotional torture for someone who has completed his sentence for the possession of marijuana, and a lonely death for a partner
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/288326/kiwi-detained-while-partner-dies-alone
Luckily for us our Dear Leader, now that the rugby is over and the boys are safely back in the country, will be on it. Surely, he will check with his OZ Dear Leader mate to make sure that the kiwis in detention on Manus Island will be treated as humanly as the Saudis treat NZ donated sheep in the desert. Or sum such thing. or maybe not. Oh …look, there is Sir Richies leg to hump.
+1 Sabine.
At least + 1 Sabine. One tiny edit: “Oh …look, there is Sir Richies leg [Ripe] to hump.”
Canterbury gets a bailout https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/canterbury-dhb-denies-its-struggling-despite-getting-16m-bailout and Southland/Otago gets a commissioner to slash the budget http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/69475533/Southern-DHB-commissioner-to-start-board-cleanup-process
(Both have a deficit)
i prfer to term it that both are underfunded.
Nash would call that as having a glass half full attitude CV
Definitely are…
Having been seen off by Northland, Wellington and the Hawkes Bay Paula Bennet is still going to corporatise councils by bribing with our own money (taxpayer funds) subsidies only if they go to CCO’s right?
So us ratepayers and taxpayers are looking forward to another round of expensive consultation that we don’t want to fund followed by the transfer of major council assets to undemocratic entities which will be locked in (and Northland is first for the chop).
Can we transfer the threatened regional assets to a company with the directors being the elected regional councillors and the shareholders being those on the electoral role entitled to vote for said councillors having one share each? Then the provisions of the companies act would click in so that major changes could not be made without putting it to shareholder vote, i.e us ratepayers or changing the wholes companies act? Are there other pre-emptive strategies we could look at – might be a better spend of the money
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11539528
“Government was proposing a “viable alternative to large-scale amalgamation”. Regions could transfer some core services between regional and territorial authorities. Or they could transfer them to “arms-length” organisations similar to Auckland’s Council Controlled Organisations (CCOs).
Half of CCOs’ directors are appointed by the council. Mrs Bennett admitted there could be some resistance to transferring core services to less democratic entities. But she said changes would not be forced on regions, and would be community-led.
The Government planned to introduce law changes next year which would allow the new structures to be “locked in” for the long-term.”
+1 Red Baron
Didn’t take Murdochs mob long.
WASHINGTON, DC (November 3, 2015) – In the opening days of the month when National Geographic magazine is scheduled to be turned over to 21st Century Fox, the magazine’s employees were told to stand by their phones to wait for calls – one by one – to come to Human Resources to learn the fate of their jobs.
https://nppa.org/node/72817
NG was compromised some time back
The magazine cover used ‘conspiracy theories’ as cover for “the war on science” , attacking ” reasonable people”
The digital age takes deception to a level beyond the capacity of people to understand
Executive Recalls Booming Private Prison Corporation’s Humble Beginnings As Modest 6-Cell Facility
Yeah, it’s the Onion…
You can dress up what their doing any way you want but that is government assisted slavery pure and simple.
You do know what the Onion is?
You do know the history of prisons in the US?
North Carolina, while without a system comparable to the other states, did not prohibit the practice until 1933. Alabama was the last to end the practice of official convict leasing in 1928.
I do now
It is illegal to import goods produced by prisoner labour in the US but perfectly fine for them use prisoner labour to create consumer products.
Maybe you need to know a bit more.
Convict leasing appears to be alive and well.
Prison labor in the states
http://www.prisonpolicy.org/prisonindex/prisonlabor.html
Oh I’ve been had….the barstards!! Still many a truth said in jest.
Free market really working for all!
Unemployment up to 6%.
Not panic time, but would be great to see an actual plan from the Government on this.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11539885
Looks like stagnation in 2016, not much better in 2017.
More to the point, I wonder what the real unemployment figure is?
I also wonder what the real unemployment figure is. RNZ said Statistics NZ look at those registered with WINZ and look at the total number of people in work. I don’t know what that second bit meant.
Relying on the number of WINZ registered unemployed is flawed as some of us unemployed aren’t eligible for assistance because our partners earn slightly more than peanuts. (Doesn’t matter that each week is an absolute struggle and debt is increasing due to having to use a credit card for living costs).
We’re simply not counted in the figures. A few of my friends are also in this position. How many unemployed around NZ aren’t registered with WINZ?
This is largely incorrect, the main measures of unemployment collected in NZ are not related to WINZ registrations. WINZ registrations are collected and counted by MSD, but these are not used for the official employment measures.
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/a-guide-to-unemployment-stats.aspx
Have you seen the Roy Morgan unemployment statistics?
http://www.roymorgan.com/morganpoll/new-zealand/rmr-vs-snz-unemployment
There methodology is subtly different to statistics NZ. I think its always a politically motivated decision to suggest one is more real, than the other and the important thing for policy is to be consistent across time. On the other hand Australians think their Roy Morgan unemployment rate is more realistic than their national statistics office.
http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/unemployment-roy-morgan-abs-comparison-201307110402
Henry talked about that this morning with the money guy and then went to the longest interview I’ve seen him do with key and not one mention of it was made , all they talked about was fucking knighthoods the pair of arseholes.
make unemployment benefit eligibility so hard that no one applies for benefits. Problem solved.
Yep….a WINZ worker told me add another at least 1%….so many don’t even bother applying. So many involved in the ‘grey economy’….downside of which is not only skewed unemployment stats but also slightly lower tax take. Also undermining labour laws (such as they are) as the ‘job’ does not really exist.
Methinks this is exactly how Our Leaders want the economy to go….
Increasing unemployment is their plan as it helps the capitalists to screw down wages.
As relevant now as it was back then.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0508/S00023.htm
Yep. Always relevant. If any political party is coming in with promises of tax cuts you can be sure that things are about to get worse for the majority of people and social services get cut again and again and again.
Only going to get worse and there’s nothing any one can do about.
a so thats the type of guy you are? A nothing can be done about nothing type of guy. That is pretty sad, really.
Automation and people living/working longer are going to be the big issues in next couple of decades.
I’m not ashamed to say, I don’t have the answers.
Its going to be very interesting to see if Mr Little has a few answers.
People working longer is already an issue for gen Y workers. There is little chance for advancement within organisations. It’s a tough situation for everyone involved as we all need the money!
The industries required in the future are the service and aged care industries, it would be helpful if they could offer an liveable wage for the frontline workers who cannot be easily replaced by machines.
I agree, a short term solution would be to copy the USA and its service industry driven economy.
It would involve a complete change of mind set within certain sectors of NZ.
That is, stopping being a tight arse , opening your wallet and start hiring people to do stuff for you.
That’s what they have drummed into the Americans, having people doing your chores isn’t a sign of laziness, it’s a form of charity which keeps the economy going and people in jobs.
I’m not sure the US style is to be emulated as it seems to be entirely predicated on businesses leaving renumeration of their employees to their customers.
As far as the mindset change goes, employers must be offering wages that reflect the high levels of skill and care that is required to do these kind of service jobs properly, and that needs to start with decent reimbursing of care workers now, which this government and aged care providers seem deadset against. That’s not going to encourage the next generation of workers to enter these industries.
Haha. “Be more like America.”
Sounds like a great idea.
Well there is no point in hiring people if they don’t get paid enough to live as for example Walmart employment is doing. Or ‘tipped’ servers that earn 2.10$ an hour plus tips that they have to share with bussers, dishwashers and often the cooks.
As for cleaners, lawn mowers, and house keepers these are probably the some of the oldest jobs on the planet, and should not be treated as charity but as work. The cleaner at the hotel does a full time job keeping the rooms clean, so does the lady that comes to ones own domicile to clean.
The trouble that we have is not that we don’t have jobs that need doing, we do, ‘the Auckland Transport owned Berms’ that are being mowed free of charge by people having houses behind them comes to mind. We have jobs that need doing, buy that we don’t want to pay for. We – the populace that wants tax cuts, and the current government -that would like to spend money of PR rather then infrastructure, social welfare, education, energy creation. WE could do with more nurses in hospitals, doctors even and decent cooks, we could do with more mental health care workers, we could do with more police and paid fire fighters, early child hood teachers and tertiary teachers, we could do with street cleaners and Park workers, Bus Drivers, Youth workers etc. but no one seems to want to pay for it.
So no, there is no need for high unemployment other than a wage drive downwards, high competition for the last remaining paid jobs (no matter how lowly they are paid) and the idea that general misery for many makes a virtuous populace.
How will you survive once you don’t have a job anymore? Ever thought of that? Or are you very very sure in your assumption that you will always have a paid gig, and that that gig is gonna cover all your costs?
+1 Sabine
Nope, that’s the worst thing to do as a service industry doesn’t actually create any wealth. And that is, IMO, why we have such increasing poverty in NZ. We’ve already become too dependent upon low paid services for jobs rather than creating new high value ones in and through R&D.
Thing is, that’s not actually possible as the people hired to do services must be paid lower than the people hiring them which means that only a few percent of people at the top can actually afford to hire others to do services.
This strikes me as a rather strange view. An economy which is focused on creating ‘wealth’ would seem to me to be a high resource impact economy. I want the opposite, a low resource impact economy. At the same time there seems to be no reason to suggest that economies are degenerating because they are not creating enough ‘wealth’ (what ever that is, I am assuming its real resources organised into useful technology). This suggests a service based industry would be a good thing if it could be organised.
The second paragraph is equally strange. There are no such tiered sectors of the economy which require that the service sector must be paid less. One part of the service sector can just the same spend on another part of the service sector. A service based economy could equally have a very flat wage structure. I can see no reason to believe that inequality in the economy had to develop, or is related to an increase in the service economy. Income inequality has been driven by factors unrelated to that, such as high unemployment rates, de-unionisation, and legislation against workers rights.
Not necessarily. Generally speaking you want a society producing everything that it needs from it’s own labour and resources. What you don’t want it doing is over producing to produce money which is what we have now.
We already have a service economy with our service sector at around 70% of the economy. Please note that around 75% of the population has an income less than the average wage. These people can’t afford to hire services.
This is what out present system has delivered and we’re getting more and more services all the time because we’re not developing our economy. Apparently that’s just too hard and costs too much.
“Generally speaking you want a society producing everything that it needs from it’s own labour and resources. What you don’t want it doing is over producing to produce money which is what we have now.”
This doesn’t differentiate between service and non-service wealth. Also what does over-production mean? In a largely service based economy it appears to mean people providing services to each other. I strongly disagree that is harmful or unsustainable in and of itself. You have been advocating for a UBI, so how is a bunch of people working to produce money any different to them not working and being given a UBI?
“We already have a service economy with our service sector at around 70% of the economy. Please note that around 75% of the population has an income less than the average wage. These people can’t afford to hire services.”
So arguably there is a correlation there (you didn’t show any real correlation), but this doesn’t mean that there is a cause. What is the supposed causal mechanism meaning a service economy must be highly unequal? We know about many of the causes of inequality in the economy but none of them appear to be that too much of the economy is focused on working on or producing services.
Over production is where excessive use of resources occur. Farming is a good example in that it over uses the land to produce money while not actually providing for our society.
And how does that supply what we need? How is the food grown? How are the vehicles produced? etc. etc
Services don’t produce anything. To a degree they’re needed but we’re already pushing to excessive amounts.
The UBI is to allow for people to buy the products of their society. In capitalistic terms, which I don’t like, they could be considered the dividend from simply being a citizen of the country. This overly simplistic though as the purpose of the economy is actually to provide people with what they need to live and thrive.
I said that a service economy didn’t work because the wages of service workers needed to come down to the point where they’re living in poverty for the majority of people to be able to afford them but as they’re the majority then they won’t be able to afford themselves.
That’s all rather bewildering.
So the economy is in a state of ‘over-production’, and its not producing enough of what we need at the same time?
I still don’t understand what’s requiring service workers wages to come down or be lower than other sectors in all of this.
As far as I can see it would be a good thing if both more people were employed and mostly at higher wages because the economy is quite far from in a state of over-production and also in a state of wide income inequality. And at the same time service industries seem like a good place for them to be employed still as this is mostly less physically resource intensive.
I think your getting a bit confused about the definition of the service economy. You realize education is part of the service economy right?
I suspect that the larger part of the current advancement problem is that people need to hold onto their jobs rather than successfully applying for better ones or risking a business startup (we still haven’t returned to the number of new company registrations in 2009-10).
You could very well be right, I also think that peoples continuing mortgage requirements into later life also contribute to staying in employment. Also others have mentioned NZ’s (small c) conservatism, and this sort of risk-adverse attitude is probably wise in such ‘interesting times’ as these too!
Well, over the next couple of decades until the Baby Boomers start dying off.
The Baby Boomer demographics are a bulge in the population. Essentially, subsequent births didn’t match and thus scuttled most of the growth in the economy that the politicians had, quite literally, been banking on. An increasing population is always a growing economy even if you don’t get productivity increases.
That could easily be done if it was the government directly doing it and we had a sovereign monetary system. The money paid would be directly created by the government to pay the workers and then taxed back out of existence.
I know this is a long way out there but how about:
1. Change the standard work week to be 20 hours instead of 40,
2. Increase the minimum wage so that those 20 hours are enough to live on,
3. Put overtime laws back in so that if an employer wants to have one person working more than 20 hours per week it will cost them more.
Surely this creates a requirement for more employees to do job’s, and the increased money in the bottom end of society which is normally spent straight away increases the earnings of those same buisnesses that will have increased staff costs.
Again I get this is a loooong way out there and not going to happen. However I think to say it can’t be fixed is a bit far as well.
France dropped their working week to 35 hours from 39 in 2000. The idea is it would increase employment. Critics have pointed out that no real increase in employment has happened, workers are just under more pressure to produce the same amount of output in less time.
I guess cutting from 40 to 20 wouldn’t have the same sort of problem, because you’d simply have to hire more people. But also this change is so dramatic it will not happen any time in the next 10 years, so you’d be better off focusing on potential solutions that could be implemented, not pie-in-the-sky daydreams.
It seems that the French system isn’t all that good. Workers get rest days rather than overtime rates.
What I’d like to see is what we used to have – simple penal rates. They would have to apply to people on salary as well though just to make sure they worked as more people are on salary now than used to be.
Oh well that solves it then!!
Maybe not anyone but the government could achieve full employment in a matter of months. Of course, that would have the business leader whinging again as they were in the 1970s and 80s about about the government taking all the employable people and them thus having to compete for them.
The undesirably high unemployment rate is a trivial problem for the country to solve. As BM argues later in this thread, you need somebody to employ these people (BM suggests the private sector should just start believing in a service economy, which is a fantasy, its not going to happen). But if the government wants them employed, it could simply employ them and pay them a wage to do something and then your problem is solved. The only problem here is the government doesn’t want them employed so it doesn’t employ them, it leaves them unemployed (its more focused on running a political budget surplus at present, which is why employment is stuck around 5-6% for ages).
If in addition to solving the unemployment problem the government doesn’t want to put pressure on wage rates, which might push inflation up, then it should only employ people the private sector doesn’t want to employ. So it should pay these people (the ones who are being employed by the government just for the purposes of being employed) only the minimum wage and then the government doesn’t compete with the private sector at all and so this policy causes no inflation at all as well.
So there you go problem solved. Somebody should probably mention this to Andrew Little.
Nonsense – this technique has a 25% chance of significantly improving things:
http://www.nber.org/papers/w13102
Interestingly enough, very few jobs on offer in IT at the moment. That’s normally a warning sign. yeah, it,s end of year, but there’s normally something.
Self-flying drone learns to avoid obstacles, reaches record speed
Bit of a cheats way of doing it but it’s one of the step you take on the way to full implementation.
until you blunder into a squash court !
Or a football field?
International ridicule – worse than being a ‘slave’ eh steve
Pity we can’t get key stuck in this rapidly setting amber.
“”Those of you with a marginally broader perspective – say, anyone above the age of eight – may be tempted to pick holes in Williams’ definition of captive servitude. Welcome to The History of Slavery with Steve Williams, in which white men are brutally invited to carry the golf bags of black men, savagely consulted over club selection and putt lines, sadistically given a share of the winnings, cruelly allowed to leave whenever they want,” wrote Jonathan Liew in Britain’s Telegraph.””
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/73663096/new-zealand-caddy-steve-williams-blasted-for-slave-comments-over-tiger-woods
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/tigerwoods/11972102/Steve-Williams-finds-himself-slighted-at-every-turn-but-is-it-any-surprise-after-latest-slavery-comment.html
Has New Zealand deported Kim Dot Com yet? If not, why not?
No planes meet the requirements to move him.
Dotcom is a genius …that is why he is being persecuted…he threatens the monopoly of the corporates
‘Meganet’: Kim Dotcom plans crowdfunded replacement to Internet (Ft. Max Keiser)’
https://futuristrendcast.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/meganet-kim-dotcom-plans-crowdfunded-replacement-to-internet-ft-max-keiser/
“Kim Dotcom from New Zealand introduces a revolutionary Internet alternative: new non-IP based, non-hackable, surveillance-proof and encrypted network, which will be 100% crowd-funded.
Max Keiser from Keiser Report interviewed Kim Dotcom, who also talked about NSA spying and his ongoing prosecution by the US government…
🙄
I would take anything that comes out of Dotcom’s mouth with a grain of salt.
KDC plans a lot of things, alot of things that don’t come to fruition
Well, it’s better than the usual RWNJ way of not planning anything and then complaining about it not working.
and Part Two: Dotcom is not only a genius , he is also highly moral
First they came for MegaUpload Dotcom and then they came for Google…but they bit off more than they could chew
…Dotcom talks about his philosophy, whistleblowers, Wikileaks, Snowden and Manning
…and the Sony hack/leak which he believes was not done by Google or South Korea …but which exposes Hollywood USA political corruption and which could be used to defend Google
‘Meganet’, Part 2: Kim Dotcom plans crowdfunded replacement to internet (Ft. Max Keiser)
I am sure that there would be something suitable in this list.
I’m not sure how many of the Antonov’s exist but the US would probably be able to find a Galaxy to move him.
He might be big but these things are bigger.
http://www.airforce-technology.com/features/featurethe-worlds-biggest-military-transport-aircraft-4180954/
A little annoyance called “due process” is reponsible. You wouldn’t understand the concept.
@ Clean_power…A better question: were NZ politicians bribed to persecute/prosecute Dotcom in New Zealand by Hollywood?
….as it would appear from the Sony hack/leaks ….. that USA politicians have been bribed by Hollywood to begin the persecution/prosecution of Google for piracy
…it would appear from the hacks/leaks that Google was facing the very same plotting behind the scenes…accusations/case that was levelled against Dotcom MegaUpload
…as it doesnt seem to have worked against Google …and in fact there is counter legal action by Google for the political corruption exposed ….where does this leave the NZ government?
Brave New World : Violent Passion Surrogate (V.P.S.), Violent Market Surrogate, Violent Crowd Surrogate
“V.P.S is great for keeping people divided over pointless issues and bogged down by as never-ending stream of misinformation and biased interpretations which exist only within a truncated frame of reference” ( urban dictionary .com)
Cashless society = bank surveillance, data mergers, censorship , state/corporate control ( social engineering, negative interest rates) ?
Bitcoin = an alternative ( to bankster control) plus future digital privacy ( an alternative to bank blockchain technology)
All this discussed on the Keiser Report with Tracy and Max and Brett Scott:
https://www.rt.com/shows/keiser-report/320603-episode-max-keiser-831/
“Every week Max Keiser looks at all the scandal behind the financial news headlines.
In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss Violent Market Surrogates as the doors of misperception in a brave new world in which central bankers are fighting the wrong war. In the second half, Max interviews Brett Scott, author of The Heretic’s Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money, about financial surveillance states and cashless societies.”
Joyce stand Jackie Blue?down as commissioner in parliament today, can he do that?
OK this post is unrelated to the above ,but I was flabbergasted to hear John Key on RNZ this morning saying he was “quite mates” with Richie McCaw…..what the hell is a “quite mate”???????…..someone who you think likes you but your too bloody insecure to go the whole hog and call him a mate……does anybody out there have a “quite mate”or is this a new sort of relationship bond that only our PM indulges in…..?????
Maybe Sir Richie, the mighty leg (for leghumpers anyways), is just too polite to tell our most exalted Dear Leghumper that he is not quite mates with with our most exalted Dear Leghumper.
He also said knighthoods & damehoods have increased in popularity in NZ, tho fuk knows how he figured that out. In the same article he said the royals might join the All Blacks on one of their parades.
The titles were obviously very popular with those who got awards between 2001 and 2008 that entitled them to use Sir or Dame after the titles were reintroduced in 2009.
There were 85 of them, of whom 72 accepted the titles. That included at least one former Labour MP who must have really annoyed Helen Clark.
Of the other 13 a couple were “Clayton’s” refusals as they already held the title via other awards. I notice that they never relinquished their prior titles.
Thus the vote was 72 aye, 11 nay and 2 effective abstentions.
http://www.odt.co.nz/the-regions/otago/67860/who039s-opting-titular-honour-and-who039s-not
Self interest? About sums up the honours system I think. I have never or will ever address anyone as ‘sir’ or ‘dame’. Seems backwards looking to me.
it increased amongst the dames and sirs in parnell who would love to hump dear Leghumpers leg and maybe have some hair pulled.
Have you had this fetish long sabine? It really doesn’t seem healthy.
I’ve just seen David Cunliffe give an amazing speech in Parliament in the General Debate. Just reaffirming once again why he should still be the Labour Leader. He managed to encapsulate in one rousing speech just what is wrong in NZ, from Stephen Joyce’s appalling management of MOBIE including “blow up sheep”, to the National Party’s manipulation of our media, their dirty politics a la Slater and Collins with the former SFO Head, the Ombudsman’s office failing to compel ministers to answer OIA’s, through to Westpac releasing Nicky Hager’s account details to the police.
He mentioned all of the journalists who have been removed from prime time television and newspapers who have sought a better home at Radio NZ. He mentioned the person responsible for the funding of Radio NZ is John Key’s former electorate head and wondered how long it would be before funding for Radio NZ would be reduced or stopped altogether.
This kind of speech from David Cunliffe is why the members are still so angry that the ABC crowd forced him to relinquish the leadership. The public voted in the major newspapers polls that Cunliffe had won most if not all the political debates in the election! So much for him being so unpopular. He just had too little time to establish himself as leader before the election, coupled with hatchet jobs from the media (Armstrong etc) and sad to say, from within!! If David Cunliffe had had the time as leader that Clark or Goff had had, things would be very different in Parliament today. David Cunliffe talked about Key’s “peeing in the shower and in the pockets of the All Blacks”!! Funny and the absolute truth!
+100…this also explains why they were so keen to get rid of David Cunliffe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIxSzcoI6Nc
Very well worth Listening too. Excellent.
Good to be reminded why I supported and voted for David Cunliffe. I also think it was the right thing for David to avoid any limelight for a year after the election. Had he launched any attacks sooner, the DP mob and their media acolytes would have accused him of trying to upstage Andrew Little.
Now that Little is firmly established and has the total support of every caucus member – plus the ordinary members – I hope Cunliffe will be brought back to the fore of proceedings again. His quick brain and smart rhetorical skills are much in need.
Sorry Saarbo – I thanked Hami for putting that clip up but it was actually you who did – Hami did a good summary of what was in it. Thanks. It is excellent.
“The public voted in the major newspapers polls that Cunliffe had won most if not all the political debates in the election”
And then the public voted in the election and showed that the support for him as PM was pretty thin among the voters.
Were there any real polls done by the newspapers as to who “won” the debates. I am not aware of any. There were of course some of the self selecting variety but I don’t think anyone could take them seriously.
Can you give me a reference to a professionally run poll that supports your thesis?
When the journalists expressed opinions, and they are certainly not right leaning as some of the people here seem to believe they wouldn’t support your view would they? For example
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11318016
Yes it is a shame that David Cunliffe (a) didn’t get support from the ABC crowd and (b) wasn’t given another chance. The current Labour lot are ineffectual. They need to get rid of the traitors and Andrew Little needs to get a backbone. Many people are saying to me they don’t like National but Labour are just the same so why bother voting, wont make any difference. I would like to see David Cunliffe given the finance portfolio as Grant Robertson doesn’t have the credibility IMO.
all those ABCs who did not support Cunliffe are wannabes with more ambition than talent…we all have a fair idea who they are
they betrayed the Labour Party membership who voted for David Cunliffe …and they betrayed the Labour Party…and they betrayed the New Zealand electorate
imo David Cunlffe deserves to be Deputy Leader after Annette King and he deserves to be not only high profile Finance spokesperson but high profile spokesperson for Climate Change issues and Environment ( which are linked to Finance)
David Cunliffe is an old style New Zealand politician with high integrity
( about as far from jonkey nact as it is possible to be)
If David Cunliffe is given a high profile for the New Zealand Labour Party …its fortunes could turn around…as more and more are seeing through jonkey nact
+100 Thanks for putting that up Hami – it’s such a relief to hear an MP actually tell it like it is. I was shocked by the treatment dished out to Cunliffe when he was the LP leader, and I have not forgotten the heroism with which he hung on, under huge pressure, and forced the leadership question to be taken back to the membership. I too would like to see him restored to a position befitting his talents.
http://karldufresne.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/surprising-as-it-may-seem-i-dont.html
I stand by all that. My concerns about Hager are essentially twofold: first, that he uses the label “journalist”, with all its connotations of even-handedness and impartiality, to disguise his true purpose, which is that of an ideological crusader; and second, that the publication of his Dirty Politics book was carefully timed to coincide with a general election, in the clear hope that it would cause maximum political damage. But neither of those concerns could be construed as endorsement of any disregard for his rights or violation of his privacy.
I do, however, share Cameron Slater’s view that the reaction to the latest disclosures exposes a gaping double standard. Where was the media outrage when Slater’s email account was hacked?
There’s a difference, of course, in that this time it’s an agency of the state that’s digging into someone’s personal affairs. That’s infinitely more alarming than the actions of a rogue private hacker. But Slater is right to point out that the hacker, Rawshark, largely escaped media condemnation – as did Hager, who used the information Rawshark obtained.
Its a good article
If Hager had sat on the information for a couple of years, you guys might have a point about the timing. But he received the information in January and it was published in August. Seems to be a reasonable timeframe.
The media outrage at slater being hacked was somewhat lessened by the outrage at what those pricks had been up to, and their absolutely contemptable attitudes and behaviour. But then you’ve always had a problem understanding the concept of “public interest”.
Hager is an invetigative journalist. Just because you don’t like the truths he exposes, it doesn’t mean that if Labour or the Greens were up to the same thing he wouldn’t also report that.
– Puckish Rogue
This is the first bit I read, and I stopped reading there.
Not a good article entirely
– calling Hager and idealogical crusader not a journalist is simply idiotic – the content of his book would be gobsmacking no matter who was doing it – Nact have only themselves to blame that they were in the limelight – and nobody has sued so we can take it that it’s pretty much factually right- personal responsibility there for Nact
– releasing it to cause maximum political damage – oh please – don’t do it to start with and don’t all MSM outlets write stories and release tehm for best effect.
Lastly Hager does factual content and investigation, du Fresne does an opinion column, why does the MSm support one but not the other.
You seem to suffer from the TVNZ disease which aches as to say that the first imperative is ‘balance’ (as though it were a calculable absolute). “Balance’ is the MOST subjective number and in TVNZ is generally reflected by reporting this and not reporting that, according to a lonely and untested personal sense of what is ‘balance’. Very well paid contenders to the next level of very well paid, even excessive, even obscenely extravagantly paid contenders.
Why is a child prime minister deemed to be central, reliable, our desired ‘us’ ? If this is ‘balance’……(gulp)……please do not show me imbalance. I am a precariously positioned pensioner. I have impecuniosity and nostrils keen to the stink of shit. Especially that passed on by yuppie Cafe Society wannabes of the Auckland media.
@ clean power, infused @ puke rouge …….
Have they caught the people who killed kim dotcoms swan yet ???? http://www.businessinsider.com.au/kim-dotcom-swan-murder-2015-2
also all three of you jerks will be very sad to hear that we have not deported Dotcoms nanny s who help raise his children yet …….. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11279059
…….and I’m guessing your all very comfortable with females to this country being sexually assaulted by our customs officials …… if their crime is visiting Kim Dotcom
Hell ….. I’d even bet you 3 would join up to be customs officers …… if you could get in on some of that.
Kim Dotcom was a man who could get things done and had vision in the computer and internet industries …………… Nationals plan was more cows
Still you 3 keep giving yourself mutual hand-jobs ………….. because you really are wankers 🙂
Brilliant Reason…..quite brilliant. Allusions to the unspoken truth…..
Looks like the race is on to see which nation will have a sovereign money system first:
Iceland is also having such discussions but no indications yet that they going to have a referendum on it.
alwyn ………….. I missed your late arrival for the now four-way with your buddies clean power, infused and puke rouge …….
Like those other trolls you are here to spread misinformation or derail …. and with your comments on Cunliffe you did just that ……. in this instance you left out the dirty politics hatchet job that the Nats cooked up and engineered for the election.
Cunliffe as most people know was the victim of a national dirty politics hit job involving the usual suspects of Key, Slater, farrar, the herald etc …….. and 1 dishonest dodgy rich immigrant named ‘Lui’ …..who was charged with domestic violence at the time.
The Herald in particular ran a counterfactual and unsubstantiated smear job on cunliffe and Labor ………………. all sorts of false accusation were put into print …………. Cunliffe was called to resign by Armstrong and others ……………. and the Nats in a pre-planned and coordinated way always referred to Cunliffe as ‘tricky’.
The truth in the matter which made the story against Labor and Cunliffe counterfactual …………….. Was that John Key and others were around having meals at Lui’s house ……. and picking up $10,000 dollar donations to the national party…..they were the ones associating and taking money from him …… but we never read that in the Herald or elsewhere
The Slater, Key, Farrar cliche were at the peak of their Dirty politics underhand sleazy tricks when they did their job against Cunliffe …………… but thanks to Nicky Hager we now know how they operate which has hobbled them ……. for the time being.
The unintended consequences from their shit slinging hit job on Cunliffe was Winston s rising …………
Winston is of course now sitting in the northland seat ………… courtesy of what could be John Keys dirtiest political act of all regarding one Mike Sabin ………… and who knew what when they knew it going into the general election.
Personally I think Key will resign before that shit storm hits ……..
His job is done now that he has signed away our sovereignty with the TPPA ……..
one small typo in my post above …….
Winston is of course now sitting in the northland seat ………… courtesy of what could be John Keys dirtiest political act of all regarding one Mike Sabin ………… and who knew what AND when they knew it going into the general election.