Rapprochement has broken out between the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
This is surely significant. This gives me great hope for the future.
The joyous photos speak for themselves. Also the gestures of reconciliation of the respective leaderships.
Both Fatah and Hamas organisations, have both strength and weaknesses. In my opinion these moves will join their respective strengths and negate their respective weaknesses.
Published on Friday, January 4, 2013 by Common Dreams
In Show of Unity, Hundreds of Thousands Rally in Gaza
Fatah event in Hamas-controlled Gaza hailed as ‘a step on the road to restoring national unity’ Lauren McCauley Common Dreams staff writer
In their first mass gathering in Gaza since 2007, hundreds of thousands of Fatah supporters rallied on Friday in celebration of the 48th anniversary of taking up arms against Israel.
Supporters waved the distinctive black and yellow flags of Fatah and carried pictures of current President Mahmoud Abbas, an Agence France Presse correspondent reports.
“Gaza was the first Palestinian territory rid of [Israeli] occupation and settlement and we want a lifting of the blockade so that it can be free and linked to the rest of the nation,” saidPresident Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the 2007 conflict between Fatah and Hamas, in a short televised speech.
Hamas, who permitted the rally to take place in the territory, congratulated Fatah on the anniversary in a statement, saying it considered it a “celebration of national unity and a success for Hamas as well as Fatah.”
“This positive atmosphere is a step on road to restoring national unity,” they added.
Lauren McCauley Common Dreams staff writer
Nothing succeeds like success. Bouyed by the Arab spring the Palestinians like all Arabs are resurgent. This has given the Palestinians the courage and the optimism to overcome their internal historical divisions.
In other good news. The Green led campaign to halt partial asset sales has achieved a significant victory in forcing a referendum on the issue.
Nothing succeeds like success. And in even further good news. In the euphoria following this victory, the comments celebrating the achievement of the referendum thresh hold, on this website, display a new feeling of solidarity and respect, even bonhomie, emerging between the Greens and Labour.
This is great news and all credit to the Greens. Through extra parliamentary joint activity with Labour and other groups, the Greens have pulled the whole political spectrum to the left.
The Greens gave leadership and put up the challenge, and to their credit, Labour and the rest of the left rose to it.
This bodes well for the future.
Now if only the Greens, building on this success, can do this for climate change.
Building on this victory, I would like to suggest that the Greens, instead of appeasing the conservative views in Labour over climate change. Instead switch to challenging Labour over climate change.
They could do this immediately in a number of ways. the first would be to call a parliamentary inquiry into the crisis of climate change and invite Labour to attend. Just as labour called a parliamentary inquiry into manufacturing and invited the Greens to attend.
Another initiative the Greens could take up, to challenge Labour over climate change. Is to put up a private members bill calling for the banning of all coal exports. Which is the most iniquitous immoral and corrupt way of subverting our commitment to Kyoto to cut our fossil fuel use.
Obviously such a bill will not pass while the Nats are in power and are committed to pimping our country to the fossil fuel big boys.
But, it will publicly challenge Labour’s conscience on where way they stand on this singular issue, related to climate change. With heavy lobbying of the Labour MPs by the Green caucus I expect that a number (possibly a majority) of Labour MPs will cross the floor rather than vote with the Nats to veto such a private members bill.
Having voted this way in opposition, these Labour MPs would be more likely to support such a bill when they are in government, (hopefully) within the next 24 months.
The Greens also need to announce now that they will make climate change a prominent election issue. (Unlike last time when they deliberately decided to play it down).
“With heavy lobbying of the Labour MPs by the Green caucus I expect that a number (possibly a majority) of Labour MPs will cross the floor”
You mean the caucus mps who shat themselves over supporting DC, and are now nothing more than obedient, subservient lap dogs for those behind DS?
Can’t see them doing anything other than they’re told from now on, but nice thought.
Perhaps a mod could remove post 3 [B:duplicate comment removed]
I expect the LECs and the Labour grass roots will have something to say, if as you suggest the MPs ignore the membership wish for a a vote on the leadership come February.
“I expect the LECs and the Labour grass roots will have something to say, if as you suggest the MPs ignore the membership wish for a a vote on the leadership come February.”
You expect wrong, Jenny. The members and LEC’s are fine with the process approved at conference and as there will be a unanimous vote of confidence in Shearer in caucus, it will not be going to a wider vote. That’s the process the party agreed to and that’s whats going to happen.
You are also wrong to refer to the asset sales petition as being ‘greens led’. It was a joint effort between several groups and political parties. There was no ‘leader’.
Te Reo Putake is almost certainly right. The main reason there will be no vote is because Cunliffe will not challenge Shearer, and so there will be no cause to trigger the membership-wide vote. That’s my understanding of how it works anyway.
I may despise the ABC club for their deceitful behaviour, but I guess the aim of the exercise was to make it impossible for Cunliffe to challenge, and in that they have succeeded. The irony is: we have no evidence to suggest Cunliffe was going to challenge anyway.
I, and many other members, will be watching to see how Shearer handles the re-shuffle. If he continues to ignore Cunliffe – and other promising Labour MPs who supported Cunliffe at the time of the leadership contest – then he will be buying himself into a future fight that will surely cost Labour the next election.
There will be a unanimous vote because there is no longer an alternative. The caucus know that Shearer will be leading the party into the next election and their jobs as MP’s and as Ministers in the next Government depend on him. Some might call it self interest, but it is the political reality.
Technically, there doesn’t have to be a challenger as its a vote of confidence. But in the absence of an alternative, no Labour MP is going to go into terminal martyr mode.
Nah, your membership is still useful. TRP talks bold, but s/he has no way of knowing what will happen, and it comes across as wishful thinking as much as anything.
No you didn’t renew your membership in vain, Jilly Bee, unless you think the leader is everything in politics. For me, the talking head is just the means of delivery for policy. It’s policy that makes good government, not a slick leader. Shearer is here for the next few years and is going to be a good, if somewhat plodding, PM. He’s not that important; its the changes made that mark the nature of government, not the leader.
True, TRP, but the leader needs to be able to articulate the agreed policy in a forthright and confident manner, not stumbling and mumbling his/her way which is happening at present and it’s simply makes me cringe. The last time I saw David Cunliffe being asked for an opinion on the TV news and I wish I could recall what the question was about now, but he answered in two or three concise words which totally answered the question put to him and left the viewer [or this viewer] in no doubt. I can’t say that for DS at the moment and I don’t think he’s going to be able to do so into the foreseeable future.
You mean the stumbling, stuttering, bumbling, head????? Because that is a real turn off for voters, when the message cannot be gotten out in a 10 sec sound bite, or in Shearers case a 5 minute explanation that leaves the viewers going HUH??
When the Douglas clique took over the Labour Party, people left in droves, but they had powerful backers and they got away with transforming NZ for the worse. It looks to me now as if the Labour Party is at risk of being hijacked again by undisclosed deals, and the answer is not to leave, but to stay in or join, so as to be in the position to collectively exert pressure in favour of genuine Labour principles. It may not work, but it has a chance of working. The other option, as some people have been saying, is to support the Greens, but I think it is too early to throw in the towel just yet. I would like the party to be able to throw out MPs and even leaders who fail to adhere to Labour principles, as this would arguably place conditions on the sorts of deals that can be made.
Please explain this lack of alternative? Are backbenchers debarred from challenging leaders? No. Was the unanimous backing of Shearer a genuine backing of him by caucus? If you believe in the tooth fairy, then I guess so.
But since I don’t belive in the tooth fairy, and since I also do not believe Cunliffe was issuing a challenge at conference, it would seem obvious that a proportion of caucus backed Shearer because it was the pragmatic thing to do….until February.
Its over for Cunliffe, Bill. And unless Shearer does something spectacularly stupid, he will be the next PM. I hate to repeat myself, but nobody is going to challenge him, because he is going to win the next election and the backbenchers would very much like to be considered for ministerial positions so they are not going to rock the boat.
So there is no application of common sense or attempt at anlysis that might underpin your opinion….it’s just hope and wishful thinking. (Shearer a shoo-in? No challenge because…oh that’s right – Shearer’s a shoo in. And in the event he’s not, then the ‘fact’ that every single member of caucus is a careerist who reckons he’s a shoo-in secures his position as leader anyway. wow ) Actually – probably more accurate to refer to your string of ultimately baseless assertions floating on circular and self reinforcing hot air and puffery rather than ‘your opinion’.
No doubt you’ll apologise for your ignorance and wishful thinking in February, Bill. I won’t hold my breath though.
If you have an alternative scenario, please put it up. But do open your eyes first. See any signs of a challenge to Shearer? Any indication that any MP will vote against Shearer in February? Any tittle tattle/gossip/interweb fantasy that suggests I’m wrong?
That scenario seems to be that the minority in caucus that support Cunliffe are keeping their powder dry. Yes?
I don’t see any evidence of that at all. Honestly, its over. Done like a dinner.
Time to move on to the real issues: what’s the election policy going to be and when is Shearer going to put the senior members of the ABC club out to pasture?
edit: got to shoot through for a few hours. It’s been an interesting discussion, cheers. TRP.
Thats exactly right, if you look at pure instinct to provide for yourself and your family would you rock the boat when it may well cost you a salary which is well above that you would get elsewhere? This is especially true for those dependant on list ranking. Most will make the descision to back the team they think will win purely for the above reason.
There is no challenge because the ABC mob, or whoever the twits were that put Shearer in, have decided that they would rather lose the election than have a credible leader.
Whoever floated in Shearer and his sycophants have destroyed the Labour parties chance of actually winning an election. National may yet lose it, but it will be no thanks to the present Labour leadership.
Well, if that’s the case I will seriously consider not party voting for Labour [for the first time since I started voting in 1966]. I will be taking a close interest in the candidate selection for Waitakere, or whatever the seat may morph itself into as to whether I even want to work for his/her election.
<blockquote.TRP
How do you know there will be a “UNANIMOUS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN SHEARER IN CAUCUS”
KhandallaViper
Another farcical unanimous vote of confidence? The North Koreans would be proud.
It will be unanimous vote because the ABCs know that they can’t allow a genuine democratic vote. If they let even one MP vote with their conscience, then more might, then more, and the Shearer gang might just, find themselves on the wrong end of it.
Self appointed stalinist commissar, TRP has threatened terminal martyrdom against any member of caucus who dares step out of line. The LECs and the membership need to match TRP’s threat, with an even bigger one. Betray the membership and you can put up your own bill boards.
That’s all a little too far of a gaze into the crystal ball of the future for me, come 2014 we may come full circle to where Labour and the Greens have not the numbers to Govern alone,
Given that NZFirst may balk at forming a coalition with Labour/Greens we may end up with a Labour/NZFirst minority Government with the Greens providing the votes for confidence and supply,
Whether inside Government or outside the Greens need to be doing the work now on which Ministries it could hope to gain from what is at this point a right leaning Labour Party, and of as much importance the budgetary requirements of these ministries,
My view is that Kyoto is history and we should resign from that agreement, impose a carbon tax across the whole economy using such a tax to fund an ongoing tree planting program along with research into ways of reducing emissions and capturing carbon from the atmosphere on an industrial scale…
Grey Power aligned themselves seriously with the signature collection.
Please give them some of the credit.
They are looking more like possible Labour voters now, than for Winston.
Those in my area who voted Winston will not do so again, some are looking towards the Greens as they are impressed by Russel Norman’s forthright views.
First time GreyPower appear to have deviated towards the left.
Not in the Waikato millsy. attended twice,With one or two exceptions it was full of redneck anti young greedy bitter eldery ,we were glad when it was over. Mind you they did put on a good lunch,if one could get there in the rush.We prefer our Rufus Rogers branch for the seniors where all the members look to the future.
Really? You associate grammar nazi with jack boots and Stuka dive bombers?
I’m all for defence against the dark arts, like most sane people, but surely it’s about picking your battles, friend.
This article by Naomi Klein, in the form of a letter to Kathryn Bigelow, explains how Bigelow and other film makers get corrupted by the readily available finance for movies that are pro-US military actions. Klein argues that Bigelow’s latest movie, while claiming to be based in fact, legitimises the US use of torture in Gitmo & elsewhere.
Your film Zero Dark Thirty is a huge hit here. But in falsely justifying, in scene after scene, the torture of detainees in “the global war on terror”, Zero Dark Thirty is a gorgeously-shot, two-hour ad for keeping intelligence agents who committed crimes against Guantánamo prisoners out of jail. It makes heroes and heroines out of people who committed violent crimes against other people based on their race – something that has historical precedent….
This also sets a dangerous precedent: we can be sure, with the “propaganda amendment” of the 2013 NDAA, just signed into law by the president, that the future will hold much more overt corruption of Hollywood and the rest of US pop culture. This amendment legalizes something that has been illegal for decades: the direct funding of pro-government or pro-military messaging in media, without disclosure, aimed at American citizens.
The “historical precedent” that Klein refers to is Leni Riefenstahl, whose films glamorised the 3rd Re1ch.
Actually I think the article points to something bigger than the corruption of one film maker. It’s about the corruption of the whole system, and the way the US authorities propagandise the entertainment industry.
Thanks for the link karol, but I ought to point out that it was the other Naomi who wrote it 😉
I vaguely recall seeing a short doco – or maybe it was part of a larger doco – about this wider issue. It seems the military will provide incredible amounts of logistic and material support for films with a sympathetic tone or message. Need tanks? Jets? How about lots of muscle? Need your crew and equipment airlifted into a remote location? Pretty handy to have an army on hand.
We’ve never been known as deep or considered, its the lack of public broadcasting and independent media that leave us with outlets with agendas to produce such results.
When a shock jock racist and a rorting politician who passed acts that robbed communities of their assets get new years honours is this any surprise.
Don’t be surprised if Deaker and Sharples are next.
Only 2.3% of those surveyed named Key as their favourite NZ ‘celebrity’. I think we can safely assume that zombies have not infiltrated the population.
In answer to Tazireviper’s question “Are Kiwi’s thicker than batshit?” (The term is pigshit Mr P.M)The answer has to be YES.
Not just in relation to yet another poll that bathes Shonkey in an adoring light. Read any of the reader comments on the Stuff site and you’ll start to have questions about our diminishing cognitive capacity. Check out the “Stuff nation” section and you’ll feel truly depressed. I get TC’s point about the lack of public broadcasting and a strong independant media but is a person not capable of thinking for themselves and asking questions? And if we were smart wouldn’t we be demanding more open and thought provoking media and not tuning into mind numbing “reality” shows? Are we so dumbed down that we even consider Shonkey in terms of celebrity? Sure he’s been modelled that way but we are the suckers for believing it.
We are a country that not only voted once for National under Shonkey, but twice, even when the damage was blindingly obvious. To me that alone highlights our inability to think. It doesn’t have to be deep thinking – just regular plain old thinking would have done.
During the second George Dubya reign I often used to wonder how stupid/blindly influenced the Americans could be for voting him back in (even taking on board the Florida rigging) and then I used to wonder what it must be like for those who didn’t support him who felt that his “leadership” was damaging their country (and those of the nations they invaded and or controlled). Living in NZ at this time feels like we are living in a void. Was this what it was like for the Americans? When we begin to reject our increasingly inane media and entertainment culture and as ordinary people begin to question is when we begin to get our power back
I’ve no time for either of them and wouldn’t know McCaw if I fell over him, but I think it would be a pretty sorry state of affairs if a man whose sole claim to fame is the ability to kick an inflated bladder in the right direction for entertainment was more popular than the Prime Minister of a nation state.
+ a gangnail; McCaw has been an Excellent Captain, a real hardman, imho. (a “brother” of mine is self-employed fixing pneumatic nail-guns, in fact, he has a boot full of new ones, generally under-cutting the franchisees) It has been my experience that if one can read the manual and has been shown the correct tool for the job we can fix any fu$k-up, or we could disproportionately Taser the mentally ill…
What’s with these little pop up polls that the Herald keeps running that Key keeps winning? Key more popular than Richie McCaw!!! Yea, good to know. Personally I don’t know anybody that has any time for our tedious little pm.
What lies behind this hyperactivity? Critics accuse the government of softening up the sector for privatisation. But the education secretary, Michael Gove, and the universities minister, David Willetts, insist that ensuring accountability for taxpayers’ money and driving up academic standards are their goals. Gove’s own fogeyish style completes the picture of the old-fashioned, no-nonsense grammar school headmaster. But the government is not simply stuck in 1950s “3Rism”, nor is it planning wholesale privatisation (yet). Rather, it is still stubbornly pursuing a discredited 1980s ideology of quasi-markets, even though 30 years of experience shows that far from improving quality, it is destroying it.
And our government is doing exactly the same thing so, why are conservatives so intent on destroying education?
Right-wingers in the UK (especially columnists in the Daily Mail – a publication which balances a call for ‘family values’ with a peddling of a rather high concentration of sleaze), routinely call for a return of the Tripartite System with the Grammar School taking precedence.
To which my response is: What about those who get dumped in the secondary moderns?
The Conservatives fear a well educated and informed populace. People might actually think, gain insight, and ask far too many awkward questions (let alone make enlightened demands).
Dr. Terry’s reply presupposes a sinister conspiracy by a cabal who are aware that their fundamental beliefs won’t stand up to scrutiny but respond by acting to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes.
Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. These people merely still firmly believe that their ideas and philosophy although discredited by experience will work if only conditions are different or the implementation is tweaked at the edges, ie they are insane rather than mendacious. A much simpler explanation.
That may be true of many of those who support conservative parties but it’s not true of all of them. Some of them will be looking to prevent a proper education that encourages people to think about what’s actually happening. These few will most likely be the leaders in the conservative parties. Research has shown that the majority of leaders in conservative parties and business happen to be psychopaths.
“Research has shown that the majority of leaders in conservative parties and business happen to be psychopaths.”
As you haven’t provided any authority for this statement I cannot weigh the veracity of the claim, but off the top of my head think it unlikely to be true. I would be more willing to accept a proposal that “the majority of leaders…’ &tc are sociopaths.
The difference? Psychopaths = “Tendency for impulsive or opportunistic criminal behavior, excessive risk taking, impulsive or opportunistic violence. Unable to maintain normal relationships.” Sociopaths = “Tendency for premeditated crimes with controllable risks, criminal opportunism, fraud, calculated or opportunistic violence. Tendency to appear superficially normal in social relationships, often social predators.”
By that definition Sociopaths I suggest are far more common that Psychopaths and I don’t see any reason why sociopathic behaviour should be a phenomenon limited to the Right, although the great unwashed would more likely accept TV drama displaying Sociopathic behaviour by bankers and Psychopathic behaviour by the residents of State housing.
In any cause I would argue your basic premise is wrong in that I don’t see many societies or countries around the world where an ill-educated and ‘repressed’ populace regularly votes in and supports rich Right-wing elites – at least where they get the chance to vote.
In fact I would suggest that it is the Right which benefits from a well-educated and socially mobile poplace. The reason the Left virtually doesn’t exist in the US despite its relatively well-educated population is that the Right represents what most people aspire to – ie being rich.
As you haven’t provided any authority for this statement I cannot weigh the veracity of the claim…
It was a book I read years ago by one of the better known sociologists – Robert Hare I believe but I could be misremembering.
In any cause I would argue your basic premise is wrong in that I don’t see many societies or countries around the world where an ill-educated and ‘repressed’ populace regularly votes in and supports rich Right-wing elites – at least where they get the chance to vote.
It’s all about perception and the perception being built by this government and the one in the UK is that they’re making education better.
In fact I would suggest that it is the Right which benefits from a well-educated and socially mobile poplace.
Nope as has been pointed out. A well educated populace that thinks (really important that bit) will pull down the neo-liberal BS and, eventually, capitalism as well. A populace that’s only taught to the test fails to learn to think and thus can’t as easily pick out the logical holes in the capitalist paradigm.
And there isn’t a hell of a lot of social mobility going on either. In fact, it’s been declining for a long time and even more so after the neo-liberal policies were brought in.
The reason the Left virtually doesn’t exist in the US despite its relatively well-educated population is that the Right represents what most people aspire to – ie being rich.
~50% of the populace in the US doesn’t vote and half of those don’t vote for the Republicans. This would indicate that most people aren’t all that enthused with the right (of course, there’s not a hell of a lot of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans).
Sweeping claims with no factual basis, that cannot be evidenced outside of “I read it once, in some book by this guy, but I can’t remember however it must be totally legit because it adheres to my preconceived bias” are far more offensive than any swear word I can lay down.
You are so right. Just been reading about Tebbet. What a fucking arsole The Tories do not want a well educated inquiring populace. I have also recently read about the Falklands war. This could have been easily fixed by negotiation, but Thatcher the evil cow knowing that she would lose the next election decided to invade the Falklands. She knew, by using and aided by the British MSM mainly that heap of filth called the Daily Express and using the “Rule Britannia, The Sun Will Never Set on the British Empire” bullshit cards she would win the next election. To her the “Falklands “was a gift from heaven” and a “Get Out of Jail” card. To enhance the “Rule Britannia” bullshit she awarded some prat in charge of a state of the art submarine a “decoration” for sinking a clapped out rusty tub full of sea cadets called the General Belgrano. The stupid poms fell for the “Rule Britannia” bullshit hook line and bloody sinker. and at the next election they voted for her with a landslide victory. To me this was like some medieval king putting on a show to get the peasants on his side to fight a war. This is why the right are shit scared of a well educated populace and do their best to dumb us down. We see this in the MSM with bite sized bits of information with no
indepth inquiries or discussions. If the populace are well educated they will not believe all they read in the excuses for papers or what they see on Fox News. They will ask questions, they will not believe the right wing bullshit. It is not in the interest of the fucking right to have people well educated as they will ask “why”, “how”, and “what for” and more importantly “is that the truth” .
They don’t want a well educated and informed society. National would like the opposite. A society of uneducated, individual self centered citizens so it can maintain power and create a cheap labour force.
The rich get richer and poor get poorer.
RNZ
-Rape Crisis facing funding crisis, tenuous, may have to close doors as they compete for Grants with sports clubs
-S.A-in S.Auck accommadation suppl maxed out Big time (rentiers on imported subsidized steroids)
there was more but I heard the Machine Gun Blues and had Georgias on my mind (Wow, what a soothing voice of voluptuosness; exceelent bait to capture the drosophila)
If we deliberately keep on with apostasy after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for missing the mark is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or more witnesses. How much more do you think a person deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son under his foot?
The Lord will judge His people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were pubicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions (unless of course, solar activity fries all the data) 🙂
So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.
Habakkuk- Yet, my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.
-Kotter
1:5 Look at the nations and watch-and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own; they are a law unto themselves and promote their own honour; Their horses are swifter than Leopards; Their cavalry gallops Headlong; They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; Their hordes advance like a Desert Storm and gather prisoners like sand; Guilty men whose own strength is their god.
Bi noculars see beyond the foreground to what is in the background circling the wagon trains.
“RNZ
-Rape Crisis facing funding crisis, tenuous, may have to close doors as they compete for Grants with sports clubs.”
Yeah for a while some time ago I was a member of our local REAP committee, ’til I left in despair and disgust at the amount of money that was being voted by my fellow members to what were little more than Maori social clubs while the Rape Crisis Centers, Charities for the Disabled, Legal Aid Centers, &tc went begging.
“Yet, my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” The reason many righteous ones have hit the buttons on their padded jackets.
There are 13 REAPs in New Zealand. Each REAP is a locally -based Incorporated Society or Trust. The Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission are the main sources of funding. The overall purpose of REAP is to provide educational support to early childhood centres, primary, secondary schools and community groups. REAP promotes and provides learning opportunities that enhance community and personal development.”
Each year we had a couple of $100,000 to distribute to applicants – nothing like enough to meet the needs of a Province, with ‘community groups’ the widest and most ‘flexible’ catagory. I found the sums allocated to a dozen or more Mari and half a dozen Te Reo set-ups in an area with a miniscule Maori population while charities filling desperate needs were refused – some like Refuges and Rape Crisis on the grounds that they weren’t ‘community groups’ – disgusted me, but it was just a personal matter of priorities.
Would it be impolite of me to suggest that you are full of s**t???, i will not ask you to name any of the recipients of the REAP funds but it would be helpful to know which region you are talking of,
So, in this miniscule Maori population there were at least half a dozen Kohanga with bugger all kids in each being given REAP funding???,
Please ennumerate what you consider to be a miniscule Maori population, and last but not least, what exactly is a Mari???…
PS, your whine has as it’s answer the Mission Statement of REAP that you yourself posted above, and i don’t personally see where ‘vote Education’ should be considered as a source of funding for ‘Rape Crisis’ which should be funded from ‘vote health’…
Yes. You make exactly the points I had to fight for several years before I gave up in disgust.
The problem lies with the definitions of “community groups” and “personal development” – or rather the lack of definition we had to work with and the refusal of the officers to provide any guidance. Hence “community groups” was taken by the majority on the committee as meaning “local community groups” so that anything with any national structure was refused ab initio regardless of the fact that the local ‘branch’ or whatever provided services to the local community, was staffed by local volunteers or barely-paid workers and was expected to raise most of its own funds. And “personal development” was vague practically anything could be made to qualify – after all, working to bring down your handicap at golf is “personal development”.
I took and fought for the unpopular view that helping someone get over being raped, or to escape an abusive relationship, or get compensation for an unjustified dismissal &tc, was a necessary first step for them even to begin any kind of “personal development” but, as you pointed out, this is strictly speaking someone else’s financial responsibility and the fact that the funding provided is totally insufficient is a simple matter of inefficient bureaucracy.
No, I won’t say where it was. However I did also have to fight a prevailing view that if we gave money to one Marae we had to give the same to all of them to avoid appearing more supportive of some over others, or if we gave $10,000 to someone undertaking to teach Te Reo in their front room we had to give $10,000 to anyone undertaking to teach Te Reo in their front room with no way whatever of ascertaining the efficacy of such teaching, nor how many children actually benefitted from it.
REAP does a lot of good and the fights I had probably affected no more than 20% if the money distributed at most, and I resigned because it had merely become apparent that my priorities in some areas differed from the majority of the committee and the half-day I occasionally gave up for the process was a waste of my time.
Your answer to my queries is simply a continuance of a series of unsupported allegations directed at Kohanga Reo and Marae,
You provide nothing in the way of ‘facts’ just broaden your unsupported allegations to include ‘giving $10,000 to someone undertaking to teach Maori language ‘in their front room’,
The ‘problem’ as you put it does not lie with the definitions of ‘community group’ and ‘personal development’, when i read those 2 phrases in conjunction with the stated intention of REAP as per EDUCATION it doesn’t take a intellectual giant to figure out the linkages between the 3, education, personal development, and community group,
An example of the above paragraph is a Wellington Marae that takes groups of youths through road safety courses and onto gaining their driving licenses, this fulfills all the REAP aims, it is a community group providing education which leads to the personal development of those involved, really simple if you think about it,
I however get the impression from your series of unsupported allegations,(i would have used the word bullshit,but, i am trying to be polite), that you are deliberately using the hot potato of ‘Rape Crisis’ funding along with the even more spurious ‘get compensation for unjustified dismissal’ as props in what appears to be an anti-Maori
rant in the hope that you will gain support from people here at the Standard via the support those who read these pages have for both those who are unjustifiably dismissed from employment and Rape Crisis/Womens Refuges…
it is all there in read white and black,
C.K Stead y
Future going bananas in Pluto’s banana republic.Goofy
Chinese Leaders embrace simplicity
Arabian nights as autumn fall; Suunis do not Shia divide
In Israel religious communities drive the golf course; Likud licked, another Bennett on the Right
(60,000 deaths in Syria, and counting on a Moscow plan)
“Currency Wars” pass the parcel to more victims of Europa and Bay of Piigs
anxiety ridden children cohorts sky-rocketing over-diagnosis and under-Amelioration of socio-cultural stimulants; Armoured clothes next one hit wonder?
NZQA failing dropouts passed over
Michael’s growing his own and I dig it. Sur l’herbe!
“Although the average temperatures for January and February are the same at 22 degrees, the average rainfall is considerably less in February than in January, with 19mm less rain. In January the average number of rain days is 8.2. In February it is 7.5”
What I find astounding in this article is that no-one seems to account for February being 3 days shorter than January (except in leap years when it is 2 day shorter)
Thus rainfall and raindays for February are being counted in a month that is around 10% shorter than January.
Allow for that 10% and the case that weather is ‘better’ in February is shown to be largely an urban myth born out of simple ignorance of the length of these two summer months.
(Business NZ chief executive Phil) O’Reilly had spoken to several Americans who underwent a similar process for their Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and found it difficult to motivate themselves through the period.
Yeah. Cause…cause…fck, I can’t even make anything up. What is/was O’Reilly on?
Rolls Royce Engines: the beauty of high value manufacturing
An amazing documentary, showing the kinds of wealth, capability and community that high tech, high added value manufacturing brings. It also makes it clear that this kind of expertise is gained over many years or decades and has to be protected and nurtured over the long term.
just in case “any body” wonders why? the Rogue holds the positions he does, it came about through dedicated reading, life experience, tertiary education, film, literature, and watching documentaries on the variety that exists in our world,(including on the production of food, apparel and other commodities for Years. Years! (i may be one-eyed, yet I keep one eye open) and then came The Standard and you guys, you guys. Like D., I too am a critical realist and I believe it is healthy to discuss “religion”, politics, and sociology in an open forum; thanks to an inspirational woman, (a nurse) I was taught that “the more windows you open, the more light we let in”; however, despite my “critical” gaze, i still believe we are well placed here in Aotearoa New Zealand to muddle through this inevitable storm, padded cells or not.(and although we have different styles, i do respect Cameron), what do I know, I’m just a gardener 🙂 (we are thinking of precis ing back issues of Best Practice; this medication of society is, as a generalization, not healthy, and I have personal relationships with G.P’s who suggest that diet / lifestyle is what is making people unwell (as a generalization) which is ironic when we consider the importance of ‘lifestyle’ to most of us. As Draco once exflamed, the economic system /s we are living under are exploitative and wasteful and sadly we live in the times when those ‘chickens’ are coming home to roost.Dreadful when we consider the BLiP compilation. I also watched parliament consistently live and was astounded at the behaviour and attitudes of many, though clearly there are many well meaning politicians.And the cognitive behaviouralists, don’t get me started (some Lorries are just too light for logging, and they wear out… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy
is something worth discussing though 🙂
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
On the international scene;
Rapprochement has broken out between the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.
This is surely significant. This gives me great hope for the future.
The joyous photos speak for themselves. Also the gestures of reconciliation of the respective leaderships.
Both Fatah and Hamas organisations, have both strength and weaknesses. In my opinion these moves will join their respective strengths and negate their respective weaknesses.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/01/04-2
Published on Friday, January 4, 2013 by Common Dreams
Nothing succeeds like success. Bouyed by the Arab spring the Palestinians like all Arabs are resurgent. This has given the Palestinians the courage and the optimism to overcome their internal historical divisions.
I wish them well.
“Gaza was the first Palestinian territory rid of [Israeli] occupation and settlement…”
Israel finally moved out those illegal terrorist/settlers, but it has not stopped inflicting murder and mayhem on the citizens of Gaza…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WaCJn4hdjc
That’s the sinister Australian-Israeli MARK REGEV at the end of the clip, explaining why killing that family was okay.
‘
In other good news. The Green led campaign to halt partial asset sales has achieved a significant victory in forcing a referendum on the issue.
Nothing succeeds like success. And in even further good news. In the euphoria following this victory, the comments celebrating the achievement of the referendum thresh hold, on this website, display a new feeling of solidarity and respect, even bonhomie, emerging between the Greens and Labour.
This is great news and all credit to the Greens. Through extra parliamentary joint activity with Labour and other groups, the Greens have pulled the whole political spectrum to the left.
The Greens gave leadership and put up the challenge, and to their credit, Labour and the rest of the left rose to it.
This bodes well for the future.
Now if only the Greens, building on this success, can do this for climate change.
Building on this victory, I would like to suggest that the Greens, instead of appeasing the conservative views in Labour over climate change. Instead switch to challenging Labour over climate change.
They could do this immediately in a number of ways. the first would be to call a parliamentary inquiry into the crisis of climate change and invite Labour to attend. Just as labour called a parliamentary inquiry into manufacturing and invited the Greens to attend.
Another initiative the Greens could take up, to challenge Labour over climate change. Is to put up a private members bill calling for the banning of all coal exports. Which is the most iniquitous immoral and corrupt way of subverting our commitment to Kyoto to cut our fossil fuel use.
Obviously such a bill will not pass while the Nats are in power and are committed to pimping our country to the fossil fuel big boys.
But, it will publicly challenge Labour’s conscience on where way they stand on this singular issue, related to climate change. With heavy lobbying of the Labour MPs by the Green caucus I expect that a number (possibly a majority) of Labour MPs will cross the floor rather than vote with the Nats to veto such a private members bill.
Having voted this way in opposition, these Labour MPs would be more likely to support such a bill when they are in government, (hopefully) within the next 24 months.
The Greens also need to announce now that they will make climate change a prominent election issue. (Unlike last time when they deliberately decided to play it down).
“With heavy lobbying of the Labour MPs by the Green caucus I expect that a number (possibly a majority) of Labour MPs will cross the floor”
You mean the caucus mps who shat themselves over supporting DC, and are now nothing more than obedient, subservient lap dogs for those behind DS?
Can’t see them doing anything other than they’re told from now on, but nice thought.
Perhaps a mod could remove post 3
[B:duplicate comment removed]
I expect the LECs and the Labour grass roots will have something to say, if as you suggest the MPs ignore the membership wish for a a vote on the leadership come February.
All depends on who they’re more afraid of, voters or their bosses b(l)and of brothers.
“I expect the LECs and the Labour grass roots will have something to say, if as you suggest the MPs ignore the membership wish for a a vote on the leadership come February.”
You expect wrong, Jenny. The members and LEC’s are fine with the process approved at conference and as there will be a unanimous vote of confidence in Shearer in caucus, it will not be going to a wider vote. That’s the process the party agreed to and that’s whats going to happen.
You are also wrong to refer to the asset sales petition as being ‘greens led’. It was a joint effort between several groups and political parties. There was no ‘leader’.
Ho ho. “there will be a unanimous vote of confidence in Shearer in Caucus” TRP
Yes sir, comrade commissar.
Well TRP seeing as you can tell the future.
Next weeks Lotto numbers Please.
TRP
How do you know there will be a “UNANIMOUS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN SHEARER IN CAUCUS” ?
Yeah I’m not sure how that works either. Last time there was a unanimous vote it was taken as evidence of a dastardly plot and heads had to roll.
Te Reo Putake is almost certainly right. The main reason there will be no vote is because Cunliffe will not challenge Shearer, and so there will be no cause to trigger the membership-wide vote. That’s my understanding of how it works anyway.
I may despise the ABC club for their deceitful behaviour, but I guess the aim of the exercise was to make it impossible for Cunliffe to challenge, and in that they have succeeded. The irony is: we have no evidence to suggest Cunliffe was going to challenge anyway.
I, and many other members, will be watching to see how Shearer handles the re-shuffle. If he continues to ignore Cunliffe – and other promising Labour MPs who supported Cunliffe at the time of the leadership contest – then he will be buying himself into a future fight that will surely cost Labour the next election.
Two can play that game.
Btw felixviper, it was a majority vote.
There will be a unanimous vote because there is no longer an alternative. The caucus know that Shearer will be leading the party into the next election and their jobs as MP’s and as Ministers in the next Government depend on him. Some might call it self interest, but it is the political reality.
Technically, there doesn’t have to be a challenger as its a vote of confidence. But in the absence of an alternative, no Labour MP is going to go into terminal martyr mode.
Looks like I renewed my membership in vain.
Nah, your membership is still useful. TRP talks bold, but s/he has no way of knowing what will happen, and it comes across as wishful thinking as much as anything.
No you didn’t renew your membership in vain, Jilly Bee, unless you think the leader is everything in politics. For me, the talking head is just the means of delivery for policy. It’s policy that makes good government, not a slick leader. Shearer is here for the next few years and is going to be a good, if somewhat plodding, PM. He’s not that important; its the changes made that mark the nature of government, not the leader.
True, TRP, but the leader needs to be able to articulate the agreed policy in a forthright and confident manner, not stumbling and mumbling his/her way which is happening at present and it’s simply makes me cringe. The last time I saw David Cunliffe being asked for an opinion on the TV news and I wish I could recall what the question was about now, but he answered in two or three concise words which totally answered the question put to him and left the viewer [or this viewer] in no doubt. I can’t say that for DS at the moment and I don’t think he’s going to be able to do so into the foreseeable future.
Leadership is not that important??? Just a talking head!!!
Another couple of clangers from TRP.
But, I suppose if this is what Labour insiders think then it would explain a lot about David Shearer’s dire performance.
“if this is what Labour insiders think then it would explain a lot about David Shearer’s dire performance.”
Not to mention those that put him there in the first place.
One day, when the memoirs are out.
You mean the stumbling, stuttering, bumbling, head????? Because that is a real turn off for voters, when the message cannot be gotten out in a 10 sec sound bite, or in Shearers case a 5 minute explanation that leaves the viewers going HUH??
When the Douglas clique took over the Labour Party, people left in droves, but they had powerful backers and they got away with transforming NZ for the worse. It looks to me now as if the Labour Party is at risk of being hijacked again by undisclosed deals, and the answer is not to leave, but to stay in or join, so as to be in the position to collectively exert pressure in favour of genuine Labour principles. It may not work, but it has a chance of working. The other option, as some people have been saying, is to support the Greens, but I think it is too early to throw in the towel just yet. I would like the party to be able to throw out MPs and even leaders who fail to adhere to Labour principles, as this would arguably place conditions on the sorts of deals that can be made.
Please explain this lack of alternative? Are backbenchers debarred from challenging leaders? No. Was the unanimous backing of Shearer a genuine backing of him by caucus? If you believe in the tooth fairy, then I guess so.
But since I don’t belive in the tooth fairy, and since I also do not believe Cunliffe was issuing a challenge at conference, it would seem obvious that a proportion of caucus backed Shearer because it was the pragmatic thing to do….until February.
Its over for Cunliffe, Bill. And unless Shearer does something spectacularly stupid, he will be the next PM. I hate to repeat myself, but nobody is going to challenge him, because he is going to win the next election and the backbenchers would very much like to be considered for ministerial positions so they are not going to rock the boat.
So there is no application of common sense or attempt at anlysis that might underpin your opinion….it’s just hope and wishful thinking. (Shearer a shoo-in? No challenge because…oh that’s right – Shearer’s a shoo in. And in the event he’s not, then the ‘fact’ that every single member of caucus is a careerist who reckons he’s a shoo-in secures his position as leader anyway. wow ) Actually – probably more accurate to refer to your string of ultimately baseless assertions floating on circular and self reinforcing hot air and puffery rather than ‘your opinion’.
No doubt you’ll apologise for your ignorance and wishful thinking in February, Bill. I won’t hold my breath though.
If you have an alternative scenario, please put it up. But do open your eyes first. See any signs of a challenge to Shearer? Any indication that any MP will vote against Shearer in February? Any tittle tattle/gossip/interweb fantasy that suggests I’m wrong?
You mean like the reasonable scenario I suggested at 12:02?
That scenario seems to be that the minority in caucus that support Cunliffe are keeping their powder dry. Yes?
I don’t see any evidence of that at all. Honestly, its over. Done like a dinner.
Time to move on to the real issues: what’s the election policy going to be and when is Shearer going to put the senior members of the ABC club out to pasture?
edit: got to shoot through for a few hours. It’s been an interesting discussion, cheers. TRP.
Thats exactly right, if you look at pure instinct to provide for yourself and your family would you rock the boat when it may well cost you a salary which is well above that you would get elsewhere? This is especially true for those dependant on list ranking. Most will make the descision to back the team they think will win purely for the above reason.
There is no challenge because the ABC mob, or whoever the twits were that put Shearer in, have decided that they would rather lose the election than have a credible leader.
Whoever floated in Shearer and his sycophants have destroyed the Labour parties chance of actually winning an election. National may yet lose it, but it will be no thanks to the present Labour leadership.
Well, if that’s the case I will seriously consider not party voting for Labour [for the first time since I started voting in 1966]. I will be taking a close interest in the candidate selection for Waitakere, or whatever the seat may morph itself into as to whether I even want to work for his/her election.
……….”because he is going to win the next election”…….
Wow thats great news. Has anybody told voters yet that they MUST give Labour over 50% of the vote so Shearer can WIN the next election?
<blockquote.TRP
How do you know there will be a “UNANIMOUS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN SHEARER IN CAUCUS”
KhandallaViper
Another farcical unanimous vote of confidence? The North Koreans would be proud.
It will be unanimous vote because the ABCs know that they can’t allow a genuine democratic vote. If they let even one MP vote with their conscience, then more might, then more, and the Shearer gang might just, find themselves on the wrong end of it.
Self appointed stalinist commissar, TRP has threatened terminal martyrdom against any member of caucus who dares step out of line. The LECs and the membership need to match TRP’s threat, with an even bigger one. Betray the membership and you can put up your own bill boards.
That’s all a little too far of a gaze into the crystal ball of the future for me, come 2014 we may come full circle to where Labour and the Greens have not the numbers to Govern alone,
Given that NZFirst may balk at forming a coalition with Labour/Greens we may end up with a Labour/NZFirst minority Government with the Greens providing the votes for confidence and supply,
Whether inside Government or outside the Greens need to be doing the work now on which Ministries it could hope to gain from what is at this point a right leaning Labour Party, and of as much importance the budgetary requirements of these ministries,
My view is that Kyoto is history and we should resign from that agreement, impose a carbon tax across the whole economy using such a tax to fund an ongoing tree planting program along with research into ways of reducing emissions and capturing carbon from the atmosphere on an industrial scale…
Grey Power aligned themselves seriously with the signature collection.
Please give them some of the credit.
They are looking more like possible Labour voters now, than for Winston.
Those in my area who voted Winston will not do so again, some are looking towards the Greens as they are impressed by Russel Norman’s forthright views.
First time GreyPower appear to have deviated towards the left.
I thought GreyPower were more or less left anyway?
Not in the Waikato millsy. attended twice,With one or two exceptions it was full of redneck anti young greedy bitter eldery ,we were glad when it was over. Mind you they did put on a good lunch,if one could get there in the rush.We prefer our Rufus Rogers branch for the seniors where all the members look to the future.
Tv leaders debates in 2014
Should be for the three main parties, no?
Who would object most, Key or Shearer?
Who would object most, Key or Shearer?
Rewrite as….
Who would object MORE, Key or Shearer?
Or rewrite as…
Who would object the most, Key, Shearer or grammar nazis? 😆
I do believe we have a case of Godwin’s on our hands.
No, I was messing with you, but if you didn’t see what I did, I wouldn’t worry about it. 😉
No, I was messing with you,
I KNOW you were, Al1en, you kidder, you.
…but if you didn’t see what I did, I wouldn’t worry about it.
I SAW what you did, already! Sheesh…
Are you serial?
the nuzzies were pacificly mentioned…
Really? You associate grammar nazi with jack boots and Stuka dive bombers?
I’m all for defence against the dark arts, like most sane people, but surely it’s about picking your battles, friend.
No mileage crying heil wolf in my direction.
And yes, before you ask, I think sacha baron cohen is knob. 😉
lol
sorry, I was just continuing the mispronounciation jokes.
This article by Naomi Klein, in the form of a letter to Kathryn Bigelow, explains how Bigelow and other film makers get corrupted by the readily available finance for movies that are pro-US military actions. Klein argues that Bigelow’s latest movie, while claiming to be based in fact, legitimises the US use of torture in Gitmo & elsewhere.
The “historical precedent” that Klein refers to is Leni Riefenstahl, whose films glamorised the 3rd Re1ch.
Actually I think the article points to something bigger than the corruption of one film maker. It’s about the corruption of the whole system, and the way the US authorities propagandise the entertainment industry.
Thanks for the link karol, but I ought to point out that it was the other Naomi who wrote it 😉
I vaguely recall seeing a short doco – or maybe it was part of a larger doco – about this wider issue. It seems the military will provide incredible amounts of logistic and material support for films with a sympathetic tone or message. Need tanks? Jets? How about lots of muscle? Need your crew and equipment airlifted into a remote location? Pretty handy to have an army on hand.
Whoops. Thanks, felix. Yes – Wolf.
I think this is the film I was thinking of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r20a7nHpnY
that is correct
Are Kiwis thicker than batshit?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/8146954/Key-more-popular-than-McCaw-poll-finds
The answer is yes.
We’ve never been known as deep or considered, its the lack of public broadcasting and independent media that leave us with outlets with agendas to produce such results.
When a shock jock racist and a rorting politician who passed acts that robbed communities of their assets get new years honours is this any surprise.
Don’t be surprised if Deaker and Sharples are next.
Sir Garth McVicar.
You read it here first.
Only 2.3% of those surveyed named Key as their favourite NZ ‘celebrity’. I think we can safely assume that zombies have not infiltrated the population.
In answer to Tazireviper’s question “Are Kiwi’s thicker than batshit?” (The term is pigshit Mr P.M)The answer has to be YES.
Not just in relation to yet another poll that bathes Shonkey in an adoring light. Read any of the reader comments on the Stuff site and you’ll start to have questions about our diminishing cognitive capacity. Check out the “Stuff nation” section and you’ll feel truly depressed. I get TC’s point about the lack of public broadcasting and a strong independant media but is a person not capable of thinking for themselves and asking questions? And if we were smart wouldn’t we be demanding more open and thought provoking media and not tuning into mind numbing “reality” shows? Are we so dumbed down that we even consider Shonkey in terms of celebrity? Sure he’s been modelled that way but we are the suckers for believing it.
We are a country that not only voted once for National under Shonkey, but twice, even when the damage was blindingly obvious. To me that alone highlights our inability to think. It doesn’t have to be deep thinking – just regular plain old thinking would have done.
During the second George Dubya reign I often used to wonder how stupid/blindly influenced the Americans could be for voting him back in (even taking on board the Florida rigging) and then I used to wonder what it must be like for those who didn’t support him who felt that his “leadership” was damaging their country (and those of the nations they invaded and or controlled). Living in NZ at this time feels like we are living in a void. Was this what it was like for the Americans? When we begin to reject our increasingly inane media and entertainment culture and as ordinary people begin to question is when we begin to get our power back
I’ve no time for either of them and wouldn’t know McCaw if I fell over him, but I think it would be a pretty sorry state of affairs if a man whose sole claim to fame is the ability to kick an inflated bladder in the right direction for entertainment was more popular than the Prime Minister of a nation state.
And it’s exactly that sort of pointless elitist snobbery that makes the Left look ugly for a lot of potential supporters
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/14305/in_defense_of_the_spectacle/
Relax.It’s actually the pollsters who are thick.
(Nails are more popular than gerbils).
+1
+ a gangnail; McCaw has been an Excellent Captain, a real hardman, imho. (a “brother” of mine is self-employed fixing pneumatic nail-guns, in fact, he has a boot full of new ones, generally under-cutting the franchisees) It has been my experience that if one can read the manual and has been shown the correct tool for the job we can fix any fu$k-up, or we could disproportionately Taser the mentally ill…
“Taser the mentally ill…”
This party political election broadcast was bought to you by the conservative party.
apparently, the Tasers are in the “shop” being repaired alot; Communication Breakdown?
I bet judith collins has a can of mace in her handbag next to her emergency y fronts
love Leo
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/537839_363900367041926_1588146299_n.jpg
Always a tough crowd on comedy night at the standard 😆
^ ^ (he is funny, and very little swearing, from memory of tele)
Economics again. Required listening for better understanding of the present day culture.
On Radionz now Laidlaw interviewing a NZ economist.
Related to book Behavioural Economics for Dummies.
What’s with these little pop up polls that the Herald keeps running that Key keeps winning? Key more popular than Richie McCaw!!! Yea, good to know. Personally I don’t know anybody that has any time for our tedious little pm.
Britain’s education system is being tested to destruction
And our government is doing exactly the same thing so, why are conservatives so intent on destroying education?
Right-wingers in the UK (especially columnists in the Daily Mail – a publication which balances a call for ‘family values’ with a peddling of a rather high concentration of sleaze), routinely call for a return of the Tripartite System with the Grammar School taking precedence.
To which my response is: What about those who get dumped in the secondary moderns?
The Conservatives fear a well educated and informed populace. People might actually think, gain insight, and ask far too many awkward questions (let alone make enlightened demands).
Dr. Terry’s reply presupposes a sinister conspiracy by a cabal who are aware that their fundamental beliefs won’t stand up to scrutiny but respond by acting to pull the wool over everyone else’s eyes.
Einstein famously defined insanity as doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. These people merely still firmly believe that their ideas and philosophy although discredited by experience will work if only conditions are different or the implementation is tweaked at the edges, ie they are insane rather than mendacious. A much simpler explanation.
That may be true of many of those who support conservative parties but it’s not true of all of them. Some of them will be looking to prevent a proper education that encourages people to think about what’s actually happening. These few will most likely be the leaders in the conservative parties. Research has shown that the majority of leaders in conservative parties and business happen to be psychopaths.
“Research has shown that the majority of leaders in conservative parties and business happen to be psychopaths.”
As you haven’t provided any authority for this statement I cannot weigh the veracity of the claim, but off the top of my head think it unlikely to be true. I would be more willing to accept a proposal that “the majority of leaders…’ &tc are sociopaths.
The difference? Psychopaths = “Tendency for impulsive or opportunistic criminal behavior, excessive risk taking, impulsive or opportunistic violence. Unable to maintain normal relationships.” Sociopaths = “Tendency for premeditated crimes with controllable risks, criminal opportunism, fraud, calculated or opportunistic violence. Tendency to appear superficially normal in social relationships, often social predators.”
By that definition Sociopaths I suggest are far more common that Psychopaths and I don’t see any reason why sociopathic behaviour should be a phenomenon limited to the Right, although the great unwashed would more likely accept TV drama displaying Sociopathic behaviour by bankers and Psychopathic behaviour by the residents of State housing.
In any cause I would argue your basic premise is wrong in that I don’t see many societies or countries around the world where an ill-educated and ‘repressed’ populace regularly votes in and supports rich Right-wing elites – at least where they get the chance to vote.
In fact I would suggest that it is the Right which benefits from a well-educated and socially mobile poplace. The reason the Left virtually doesn’t exist in the US despite its relatively well-educated population is that the Right represents what most people aspire to – ie being rich.
It was a book I read years ago by one of the better known sociologists – Robert Hare I believe but I could be misremembering.
It’s all about perception and the perception being built by this government and the one in the UK is that they’re making education better.
Nope as has been pointed out. A well educated populace that thinks (really important that bit) will pull down the neo-liberal BS and, eventually, capitalism as well. A populace that’s only taught to the test fails to learn to think and thus can’t as easily pick out the logical holes in the capitalist paradigm.
And there isn’t a hell of a lot of social mobility going on either. In fact, it’s been declining for a long time and even more so after the neo-liberal policies were brought in.
~50% of the populace in the US doesn’t vote and half of those don’t vote for the Republicans. This would indicate that most people aren’t all that enthused with the right (of course, there’s not a hell of a lot of difference between the Democrats and the Republicans).
[delete]
[B:- you were banned for a week on Tuesday. This is only Sunday.]
Sweeping claims with no factual basis, that cannot be evidenced outside of “I read it once, in some book by this guy, but I can’t remember however it must be totally legit because it adheres to my preconceived bias” are far more offensive than any swear word I can lay down.
Use your heads. Logic works.
This Old Chestnut
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_Anxiety
Bonkers!
(however, from small acorns grow mighty folks)
You are so right. Just been reading about Tebbet. What a fucking arsole The Tories do not want a well educated inquiring populace. I have also recently read about the Falklands war. This could have been easily fixed by negotiation, but Thatcher the evil cow knowing that she would lose the next election decided to invade the Falklands. She knew, by using and aided by the British MSM mainly that heap of filth called the Daily Express and using the “Rule Britannia, The Sun Will Never Set on the British Empire” bullshit cards she would win the next election. To her the “Falklands “was a gift from heaven” and a “Get Out of Jail” card. To enhance the “Rule Britannia” bullshit she awarded some prat in charge of a state of the art submarine a “decoration” for sinking a clapped out rusty tub full of sea cadets called the General Belgrano. The stupid poms fell for the “Rule Britannia” bullshit hook line and bloody sinker. and at the next election they voted for her with a landslide victory. To me this was like some medieval king putting on a show to get the peasants on his side to fight a war. This is why the right are shit scared of a well educated populace and do their best to dumb us down. We see this in the MSM with bite sized bits of information with no
indepth inquiries or discussions. If the populace are well educated they will not believe all they read in the excuses for papers or what they see on Fox News. They will ask questions, they will not believe the right wing bullshit. It is not in the interest of the fucking right to have people well educated as they will ask “why”, “how”, and “what for” and more importantly “is that the truth” .
They don’t want a well educated and informed society. National would like the opposite. A society of uneducated, individual self centered citizens so it can maintain power and create a cheap labour force.
The rich get richer and poor get poorer.
yaaaaay, out of “jail”;
RNZ
-Rape Crisis facing funding crisis, tenuous, may have to close doors as they compete for Grants with sports clubs
-S.A-in S.Auck accommadation suppl maxed out Big time (rentiers on imported subsidized steroids)
there was more but I heard the Machine Gun Blues and had Georgias on my mind (Wow, what a soothing voice of voluptuosness; exceelent bait to capture the drosophila)
If we deliberately keep on with apostasy after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for missing the mark is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgement and of raging fire that will consume. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or more witnesses. How much more do you think a person deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son under his foot?
The Lord will judge His people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were pubicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions (unless of course, solar activity fries all the data) 🙂
So do not throw away your confidence, it will be richly rewarded.
Habakkuk- Yet, my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.
-Kotter
1:5 Look at the nations and watch-and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwelling places not their own; they are a law unto themselves and promote their own honour; Their horses are swifter than Leopards; Their cavalry gallops Headlong; They fly like a vulture swooping to devour; Their hordes advance like a Desert Storm and gather prisoners like sand; Guilty men whose own strength is their god.
Bi noculars see beyond the foreground to what is in the background circling the wagon trains.
-Franklin (J.C)
“RNZ
-Rape Crisis facing funding crisis, tenuous, may have to close doors as they compete for Grants with sports clubs.”
Yeah for a while some time ago I was a member of our local REAP committee, ’til I left in despair and disgust at the amount of money that was being voted by my fellow members to what were little more than Maori social clubs while the Rape Crisis Centers, Charities for the Disabled, Legal Aid Centers, &tc went begging.
“Yet, my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” The reason many righteous ones have hit the buttons on their padded jackets.
What’s a ‘REAP’ committee??
(Sorry for my ignorance).
“Rural Education Activities Programme”.
There are 13 REAPs in New Zealand. Each REAP is a locally -based Incorporated Society or Trust. The Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission are the main sources of funding. The overall purpose of REAP is to provide educational support to early childhood centres, primary, secondary schools and community groups. REAP promotes and provides learning opportunities that enhance community and personal development.”
Each year we had a couple of $100,000 to distribute to applicants – nothing like enough to meet the needs of a Province, with ‘community groups’ the widest and most ‘flexible’ catagory. I found the sums allocated to a dozen or more Mari and half a dozen Te Reo set-ups in an area with a miniscule Maori population while charities filling desperate needs were refused – some like Refuges and Rape Crisis on the grounds that they weren’t ‘community groups’ – disgusted me, but it was just a personal matter of priorities.
Would it be impolite of me to suggest that you are full of s**t???, i will not ask you to name any of the recipients of the REAP funds but it would be helpful to know which region you are talking of,
So, in this miniscule Maori population there were at least half a dozen Kohanga with bugger all kids in each being given REAP funding???,
Please ennumerate what you consider to be a miniscule Maori population, and last but not least, what exactly is a Mari???…
PS, your whine has as it’s answer the Mission Statement of REAP that you yourself posted above, and i don’t personally see where ‘vote Education’ should be considered as a source of funding for ‘Rape Crisis’ which should be funded from ‘vote health’…
Yes. You make exactly the points I had to fight for several years before I gave up in disgust.
The problem lies with the definitions of “community groups” and “personal development” – or rather the lack of definition we had to work with and the refusal of the officers to provide any guidance. Hence “community groups” was taken by the majority on the committee as meaning “local community groups” so that anything with any national structure was refused ab initio regardless of the fact that the local ‘branch’ or whatever provided services to the local community, was staffed by local volunteers or barely-paid workers and was expected to raise most of its own funds. And “personal development” was vague practically anything could be made to qualify – after all, working to bring down your handicap at golf is “personal development”.
I took and fought for the unpopular view that helping someone get over being raped, or to escape an abusive relationship, or get compensation for an unjustified dismissal &tc, was a necessary first step for them even to begin any kind of “personal development” but, as you pointed out, this is strictly speaking someone else’s financial responsibility and the fact that the funding provided is totally insufficient is a simple matter of inefficient bureaucracy.
No, I won’t say where it was. However I did also have to fight a prevailing view that if we gave money to one Marae we had to give the same to all of them to avoid appearing more supportive of some over others, or if we gave $10,000 to someone undertaking to teach Te Reo in their front room we had to give $10,000 to anyone undertaking to teach Te Reo in their front room with no way whatever of ascertaining the efficacy of such teaching, nor how many children actually benefitted from it.
REAP does a lot of good and the fights I had probably affected no more than 20% if the money distributed at most, and I resigned because it had merely become apparent that my priorities in some areas differed from the majority of the committee and the half-day I occasionally gave up for the process was a waste of my time.
Your answer to my queries is simply a continuance of a series of unsupported allegations directed at Kohanga Reo and Marae,
You provide nothing in the way of ‘facts’ just broaden your unsupported allegations to include ‘giving $10,000 to someone undertaking to teach Maori language ‘in their front room’,
The ‘problem’ as you put it does not lie with the definitions of ‘community group’ and ‘personal development’, when i read those 2 phrases in conjunction with the stated intention of REAP as per EDUCATION it doesn’t take a intellectual giant to figure out the linkages between the 3, education, personal development, and community group,
An example of the above paragraph is a Wellington Marae that takes groups of youths through road safety courses and onto gaining their driving licenses, this fulfills all the REAP aims, it is a community group providing education which leads to the personal development of those involved, really simple if you think about it,
I however get the impression from your series of unsupported allegations,(i would have used the word bullshit,but, i am trying to be polite), that you are deliberately using the hot potato of ‘Rape Crisis’ funding along with the even more spurious ‘get compensation for unjustified dismissal’ as props in what appears to be an anti-Maori
rant in the hope that you will gain support from people here at the Standard via the support those who read these pages have for both those who are unjustifiably dismissed from employment and Rape Crisis/Womens Refuges…
it is all there in read white and black,
C.K Stead y
Future going bananas in Pluto’s banana republic.Goofy
Chinese Leaders embrace simplicity
Arabian nights as autumn fall; Suunis do not Shia divide
In Israel religious communities drive the golf course; Likud licked, another Bennett on the Right
(60,000 deaths in Syria, and counting on a Moscow plan)
“Currency Wars” pass the parcel to more victims of Europa and Bay of Piigs
anxiety ridden children cohorts sky-rocketing over-diagnosis and under-Amelioration of socio-cultural stimulants; Armoured clothes next one hit wonder?
NZQA failing dropouts passed over
Michael’s growing his own and I dig it. Sur l’herbe!
Heat’s on for later summer break
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8146816/Heats-on-for-later-summer-break
“Although the average temperatures for January and February are the same at 22 degrees, the average rainfall is considerably less in February than in January, with 19mm less rain. In January the average number of rain days is 8.2. In February it is 7.5”
What I find astounding in this article is that no-one seems to account for February being 3 days shorter than January (except in leap years when it is 2 day shorter)
Thus rainfall and raindays for February are being counted in a month that is around 10% shorter than January.
Allow for that 10% and the case that weather is ‘better’ in February is shown to be largely an urban myth born out of simple ignorance of the length of these two summer months.
Yeah. Cause…cause…fck, I can’t even make anything up. What is/was O’Reilly on?
Positively Discriminating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_discrimination#New_Zealand.
playing catch-up when we acknowledge the Power of language and culture; after all that
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_psychology
makes sense Tooby Cosmic
Rolls Royce Engines: the beauty of high value manufacturing
An amazing documentary, showing the kinds of wealth, capability and community that high tech, high added value manufacturing brings. It also makes it clear that this kind of expertise is gained over many years or decades and has to be protected and nurtured over the long term.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3XssrFqWF0
just in case “any body” wonders why? the Rogue holds the positions he does, it came about through dedicated reading, life experience, tertiary education, film, literature, and watching documentaries on the variety that exists in our world,(including on the production of food, apparel and other commodities for Years. Years! (i may be one-eyed, yet I keep one eye open) and then came The Standard and you guys, you guys. Like D., I too am a critical realist and I believe it is healthy to discuss “religion”, politics, and sociology in an open forum; thanks to an inspirational woman, (a nurse) I was taught that “the more windows you open, the more light we let in”; however, despite my “critical” gaze, i still believe we are well placed here in Aotearoa New Zealand to muddle through this inevitable storm, padded cells or not.(and although we have different styles, i do respect Cameron), what do I know, I’m just a gardener 🙂 (we are thinking of precis ing back issues of Best Practice; this medication of society is, as a generalization, not healthy, and I have personal relationships with G.P’s who suggest that diet / lifestyle is what is making people unwell (as a generalization) which is ironic when we consider the importance of ‘lifestyle’ to most of us. As Draco once exflamed, the economic system /s we are living under are exploitative and wasteful and sadly we live in the times when those ‘chickens’ are coming home to roost.Dreadful when we consider the BLiP compilation. I also watched parliament consistently live and was astounded at the behaviour and attitudes of many, though clearly there are many well meaning politicians.And the cognitive behaviouralists, don’t get me started (some Lorries are just too light for logging, and they wear out…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy
is something worth discussing though 🙂
p.s I hope C.S has read and concurred with C.K Stead