He does, all the time, the whole 4 or 5 of Him, depending upon the scene that is set Slippery can transform Himself from Dances with transvestites to discussing issues upon the world stage with international leaders in the blink of an eye,
The reshuffle was one such rare moment.
No-one saw the knives go in, everyone was surprised, the new order settled in seconds.
“I can smile, and murder while I smile.”
Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.
This quote from Arundhati Roy, is very relevant at home and abroad:
This theft of language, this technique of usurping words and deploying them like weapons, of using them to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant, has been one of the most brilliant strategic victories of the czars of the new dispensation. It has allowed them to marginalize their detractors, deprive them of a language to voice their critique and dismiss them as being “anti-progress,” “anti-development,” “anti-reform,” and of course “anti-national” – negativists of the worst sort. To reclaim these stolen words requires explanations that are too tedious for a world with a short attention span, and too expensive in an era when Free Speech has become unaffordable for the poor. This language heist may prove to be the keystone of our undoing.
But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, language is meaningless anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”?
According to Deconstructionism, isn’t Roy’s world view, just that, a purely subjective experience, there is no objective reality out there for it to attache to, its no more truthful or valid or evil than Hitler’s world view?
Does she really need her girl pal QofT to rush in snarling and biting?
QofT, you repeatedly avoids stating what intellectual school she subscribes to.
What are you afraid of?
For the record, QofT, your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, with a small qualification interestingly enough – ‘for the most part’ was it if I remember correctly – a failed attempt to hedge her bet I think.
Some of us get bored with your fixation.
You tried this ages ago, then never replied to Karol when she explained herself.
It was either sniper shots at Karol, or sniper shots at those troublemakers born on another patch of dirt. Got stats yet?
I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Marxism, neo or whatever, Deconstructionism/Postmodernism or whatever those flaky followers like to call it, are ideologies which make truth claims about the way the world is. Claims that are easily disprovable.
You build your world view/argument on these failed ideologies as Feminists do, then you are exposed to the same failures.
Wailing that you are being “pigeon holed” doesn’t change that.
Ditto for neo-liberalism/neo conservatism and those scrambling to defend it in the wake of 2008.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Just because you do it doesn’t mean that everyone does. Karol certainly doesn’t share your attitude toward “thinking”. Perhaps if you gave the rather pathetic misogynist stroking a rest some time, maybe the blood will flood back to the organ that is responsible for actual thought.
In case that was too subtle for you…
Most people think about things before they spew it out on the rest of us… You just seem to wank a lot when you get excited. Your keyboard must have a sticky problem whenever you reply to a female commentator.
Lol, I’ll leave the rest of your ignorant absurdities to others, but seeing you are so hung up on labels, please enlighten me on what happened with regard to neo-Conservatism in 2008.
Pretty strong suggestion in that comment that you don’t know anything about Neo-Conservatism.
k_p: I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Gee, you sure do show your superficial understanding of the umbrella terms you are referring to. I assume you mean that comment fatty helpfully linked to, of which I associated myself with bits of poststructuralism and neo-Marxism, etc. Do you understand the meaning of “heterogeneous” as used at the link?
Note in the second line the reference to “critical theorists” as being included in the general collection of post-structuralists theories. Click on the link and you will see that neo-Marxism is included there.
ie I was referring to an eclectic mix of related theories all included under very general terms that you don’t really seem to understand.
I don’t know how anyone can do anything but pick out various bits of each, as ones they most agree with.
Scouring rubbish tips for discarded and broken ideologies about and picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’.
That’s not creating propaganda.
That’s bricolage!
Especially when it’s women writing, because our ladybrains can’t come up with awesome arguments about deconstructionist marxist neo-anarcho-eco-feminism like k_p’s.
k_p: But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, [citation needed] language is meaningless [citation needed] anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”? [citation needed]
For an objectivist, you make a lot of loose claims based on little evidence.
Do you have anything to contribute about the significant article GeoffC linked to, or are you just trying to divert his thread?
This “theft of language” is being most effectively deployed by the coal industry to hide the dirty nature of their business, using words to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant. For example Fonterra say they plan to excavate a major “Escarpment Mine” Just south of Auckland, that looks likely to become the ground zero in the fight against climate change in the Auckland area. Fonterra facing unexpectedly stiff opposition from local residents and Auckland based environmentalists, hoped an “Escarpment Mine” wouldn’t get the same emotional response from Aucklanders that “Open Cast Mine” might.
Everyone knows what an open cast mine looks like, from unpleasant pictures seen on television and in books.
“Escarpment” in geology means a natural feature of the landscape, either a very steep natural slope, or slanting cliff face. The coal mining industry have subverted the original meaning of this word, for their own uses. Using the word ‘Escarpment’ avoids the unpleasant mental pictures that automatically form in people’s minds on hearing the words ‘Open Cast Mine’. ‘Escarpment Mine’, much more pleasant.
<blockquote.Dairy juggernaut Fonterra is planning a major new coal mine in north Waikato, saying that will be cheaper than buying coal from Solid Energy, the state-owned enterprise axing 120 jobs at Huntly, blaming falling prices.
Fonterra's coal mining company Glencoal is about to apply for resource consents to develop an open cast coalmine on 30ha of farmland it has owned for 10 years between Mangatawhiri Rd and the new State Highway 2 at Maramarua.
The name Mangatangi is more familiar to Aucklanders as being the location of the Mangatangi Dam, Auckland’s largest water-storage dam. With a capacity of 39 million cubic metres, it supplies nearly a quarter of the city’s bulk water.
Aucklanders are not too happy to learn that it will also be the location of the regions biggest opencast coal mine. Oops, pardon me ‘escarpment mine’.
PS. This proposed mine was originally going to be publicy notified with a chance for public submissions. But on meeting unexpectedly stiff resistance from locals and environmentalitst, this is now in doubt with Fonterra considering seeking fast track permission. (Maybe the language trick didn’t work).
The Truth-Out.Org article – the politics of disconnect. And we wonder why the polls read as they do. “Mr Key’s a ‘nice man’……..honourably doing all he can in the circumstances. Very well. Kia Ora……”
Deliberate is what it is………brought here to do the business.
Not an easy article to read being so very very American, but quite unnerving with a clear echo with what’s happening here in NZ. Makes one wonder where the brief is coming from?
He is his usual aggressive obnoxious self but amongst the abuse and self obsessed diatribe are a couple of pearlers. About Paula Bennett he says “I can’t stand what she is doing to beneficiaries, I just won’t tolerate taking a stick to the most vulnerable, who, by and large, don’t want to be there.”
And about the distribution of wealth he says “[i]n this government, the few get rich in the name of the many. That just can’t continue.” So government, he says, has to become far more involved.
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yes. I read it and thought he was very good on the class/beneficiaries/anti-wealthy elites stuff. But his prejudices against people/qualities outside of various socially constructed “norms” undo all the good stuff he says.
There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol.
“various socially constructed “norms””
What about your socially constructed feminist ideas, values, attitudes? Can’t they be deconstructed as well, aren’t they also just another set of self serving formulae, Karol?
It’s like that nonsensewith gay “marriage’, you were banging on about “binary opposites” – that’s just pure academic pedantry.
Ditto with the “essentialism” cry that goes up around here to dismiss any opinion you lot don’t like. It’s a bit of jargon made up by the Academic Left, premised on the same old flaky, 1970’s French philosophy, Deconstructionist/Feminist nonsense.
Oh, k_p. It’s seriously cute how you keep popping up whenever a woman has an opinion to try and score some pseudoacademic point about what you think the term “social construct” means.
@Kiwi Prometheus
Having looked it up, it appears that Deconstructionism is about finding meaning in texts by uncovering underlying assumptions. The Basics of
Philosophy pages. point out that it is “notoriously difficult to define” and that some critics have “gone so far as to claim it is a dangerous form of Nihilism”.
Nihilism appears to be where K.P is pushing it.
You can push any philosophy or analytical approach to extremes and it will be…well…extreme. Keeping an eye on a wider perspective, therefore is required with any philosophy or analytical approach.
With regard to deconstructionism, it appears useful; if we don’t check up on our basic assumptions from time to time we really will deviate from our aims and ideals. I believe doing this “checking” is part of what is commonly called “thinking”.
I can imagine that those who are “winning” under the basic assumptions going by unquestioned would not like this form of analytical approach.
I would question those who think they are “winning” under basic assumptions going by unquestioned. I really don’t think there are many people at all who are currently “winning” at present. That is, not unless you thrive in living in a divided, unhappy and stressed society that is heading for financial, social and environmental meltdown.
Interesting that there is no reply from K.P. One could be forgiven for thinking that this “deconstructionism” argument was a poorly thought out faux intellectual comment that was in actuality simply trying to get someone to STFU.
Good points there, bl @1.28pm. And after a day at work, I am not that interested in untangling all of k_p’s off-target claims, unsubstantiated and loose assumptions, and poor understanding of theory/ies. I have other more useful things I’d rather be doing.
k_p: There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol. How did you decide that I was deconstructing and not doing an older form of semiotic (structuralist) analysis, or some discourse analysis, or applying critical theory, or just doing what most folks do here when they critically read a newspaper article?
Where did I mention “binary opposites” on open mike today?
Tamihere has an image in his head of the good deserving worker (generally male) that Labour should go into bat for. It’s a cloth cap vision that was not even entirely relevant in the 1930s. As far as I’m concerned, he’s far too much like Shane Jones, and can shove his political aspirations up his back pussy. In today’s world he would do far more harm than good.
The fact that he can say something that sounds militant and left wing only serves to show how far to the right Shearer and the ABC have remained. Instead of complaining about a male beneficiary on a roof, Tamihere would complain if they weren’t driving a ute. I thought the left in general had moved well past his sort of blokiness, but maybe not.
What a hypocrite. He was waving his own stick around years before Paula even thought about picking hers up.
And it is all well and good saying “So government, he says, has to become far more involved”, he really needs to spell out that policies he would adopt.
And didn’t he take the side of the POA against their workers in that dispute?
Well he’s got the right level of arrogance and double standards to be back in parliament amongst like minded characters and he’d know all about diversion of public monies for personal gain.
What DS needs to realise is he’d stab him in the back given half the chance and is not a team player so it’s a major judgement call, if JT can take a seat off the nat’s why not I say as they’ve got plenty of candidates who can’t do that so far.
Agreed. The Labour caucus would be benefit from his energy and passion. However JT’s unrestrained “bull in the china shop” manner during his previous term as a MP lost him a lot of friends on his own side (and continues to alienate to this day). Without wise mentoring I suspect JT would stumble back into his familiar form and serve as a liability rather than an asset to the caucus.
Duh!? What a pointless comment, k_p@10.06am. When you strip way your emotive, subjective sneer, all you are doing is outlining my comment in general terms: i.e. I agree with some things Tamihere says and not others. And that is unusual or wrong,…. how?
Why not try engaging with the substance of my or others comments, instead of such pointless general sneers?
lol
Even if the military analogy stood, why would that be wrong?
Or do you believe that the appropriate response to being struck by so-called “friendly” fire is “thank you, sir, may I have another”?
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yeah, unlikely, micky, given he says:
“Tamihere reckons it’s not what he says, but how he says it that gets him into trouble. He reckons people know he’s saying the right thing, “but they might be far more genteel or academic [how they say it]. I’m not”.”
Because you know, he’s clearly just saying what we’re all thinking, he just doesn’t sugar-coat it, man. Just like Paul Henry.
I greet this new “positioning” from a man who is interested in charter schools with some caution. It looks as if he is shaping himself up for one of the West Auckland seats; either Carmel’s, or if they take Hooton’s advice, New Lynn. Hooton, who seems to take “left” and “sinister” as across the board synonyms, was earlier this week suggesting that they metaphorically “cut Cunliffe’s throat,” as well as making oblique remarks about his family.
I agree with you, Olwyn. I’ve just read the story in SST re Tamihere, and I don’t think he’s changed one little bit. What I find interesting is that Shearer has endorsed his re-entry into Labour membership, and it sounds as if he (Tamihere) is going after the Waitakere seat. Which, after the hard yards put in by Carmel Sepuloni to get in behind with only nine votes to win it, is cheeky to say the least. I hope the Waitakere Labour people can see behind the cheeky grin and charm to the self-interested, egotistical rightwing boy who wants another “go” at Parliament.
It is hard to tell just how much influence Hooton has, but it seems as if there are certain quarters that are not content to bury the hatchet now that Shearer has been endorsed by his colleagues, but instead want to continue to sideline the centre-left of the party while tacking rightwards. Not only that, they seem to favour right wingers on that ground alone, with competence, hard work and even the ability to win seats coming a distant second. I will be interested to see what shape the reshuffle takes.
Yeah but ….. Mickey …. (in reply 37) you know as well as I do sometimes those selections can be “rigged” by certain members of caucus/HO – and Tamihere WAS endorsed by Shearer – which speaks spades to me !
What I also found fascinating in the SST story is that Tamihere is going to ask Maori to change from their Maori vote ie Te Tai Tokerau – to a General vote. That’s pretty cheeky on his part.
“… it seems more likely Tamihere wil persuade Labour Maori members to swtich electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and he hops, beat Bennett”
However, the story also mentions he’s popular out South Auckland way, so maybe he’ll have a tilt at Ross Robertson’s seat if RR decides he’s had enough !
I agree that you have a perfectly good MP Micky, I just do not trust the decision makers, and do not think I have good reason to trust them, to be honest.
I think the revolt would go beyond New Lynn Olwyn. In fact the party would be decimated and it would take years (if ever) for them to get back to it’s present state. They could kiss goodbye to the next election or failing that, they would be a one term govt. and that would be the end of Labour for a long time.
That’s why Hooton et al are working their butts off fomenting as much mischief as they can.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Oops Olwyn. I was grazing over my recent comments and I came across this one. My last sentence. I wasn’t referring to you when I said that. Rather the ABC club…
It’s OK Anne – I got what you meant. I notice that they never seem to distance themselves from Hooton’s comments. The fact that he supports Shearer appears to licence him to say what he likes. That headline in the NBR last week was simply outrageous.
I’d like to see JT take back a seat, none of this safe seat comfy stuff, he has to earn it.
Mangakiekie is winnable and has an ordinary and lazy candidate who got walked over in debates by slimy smiley Sam. Win that and you deserve a go, not as a minister just an MP.
I thought Brendan Who was imported into NZFirst to fulfill that particular role, shame He has been so efficiently kneecapped and dispatched to Siberia…
Interesting to read 3 columns about Waitangi Day especially relating to Titewhai Harawira.
Matt notes the pathos
When Key slunk back to the local flash hotel among his own, he huffed in a speech that he’d had enough of protesters ruining our national day.
In fact, the only protest at Waitangi this year was a peaceful march of several hundred against domestic violence.
But then Key’s also the man who can’t remember what he thought as a young man about protests against apartheid or nuclear ships – although he’s happy to take credit on the international stage for the reputation New Zealand now enjoys because of those stands.
Rodney Hide – that sad wanker reminds us all of why we can be thankful he’s out of parliament – he is so subtle not
The day could work if there was something big happening that would lift us and give us pause for thought. Like New Year’s Eve fireworks, only bigger, or Concert in the Park.
Instead, our political leaders all sweep up to the Bledisloe-gifted grounds, far away from most of us
It is very hard to argue against the line that Titewhai uses that, “We get benefits as a Treaty partner because we fight for them.” It seems to me to be very true and one of the major reasons that the fight will continue – because equality has not arrived in this country yet.
And these lines are exceptional from the Day interview
She resents the governments’ (past and current) financially based solutions to the issues of the Maori underclass.
Although Key says Treaty stimulants are the “biggest stimulus on the horizon” that will “financially empower iwi”, Harawira believes the approach neglects the real problems faced by Maori and the real obligations of the Treaty of Waitangi.
“The Treaty has been reduced to a document that we’ve got to give those Maoris a dollar for then it will all disappear. Well it won’t. The injustice continues.”
Money will not solve an education system, health statistics and housing situations that continue to be disastrous for Maori, Harawira said.
Oh dear that buggers up the bullshit memes put forward against tangata whenua.
The only way imo to sort these issues out is for some humbleness – and not from tangata whenua.
Titewhai hit the nail on the head when she said about Key – “he’s just talking to Pakeha……”.
Muttering conceived by spin doctors and calculated for throw-away line delivery at Waitangi.
The rationale – to tap the subliminal anti-Maori racism rampant in this country. And like the seasoned real estate agent talking heads (“we are part of the story”) Gower et al close on Key’s behalf.
These contributions encapsulates the situation of NZ quite well. Geoff and Karol’s : “the new extremism…” and a quote from Arundhati Roy vis a vis the statements from Titwhai Harawira. Given the landscape and situation of NZ – is was never so important to be “one people” and yet there is constant work on creating two nations. One wonders to whose benefit.
One people, eh? How about we all become Maori, or Polynesian. That would solve the perceived problem would it not? Or are you suggesting that the only option is for us all to be Pakeha?
So we should all accept being part of a political entity imposed by Europeans, and named after a mainland European Dutch province. Can’t help thinking that this is a little bit exclusionary. Why does this group get naming rights above anyone else? Are they more cleverer than everyone else? Are they more moral than everyone else? Are they more superior than everyone else? Two things are certain: They are more whiter, and they are more racist than everyone else.
Yeah, like I said, the only option is for us all to be one with the dominant culture ie Pakeha.
Of course we are already all NZers, all that is required for that is to either be born here or to jump certain citizenship hoops. Once you have a NZ passport or entitlement to one then you are a NZer. What you really mean is you want one people culturally. Which takes me back to my first point – which culture do you want us all to be? And why should Maori be assimilated into that when they have equal rights to their own sovereignty under Te Tiriti?
@ Colonial Weka
I think Foreign Waka was referring to something a whole lot wider than creating one dominant paradigm, rather seemed to be referring to asking NZers to unite and strengthen themselves against this (failing) dominant paradigm. I read FW’s comment as speaking to the need for the people of NZ to become less easily divided on important issues.
I don’t really follow that blue leopard. I feel solidarity with many Maori re the dominant paradigm. I also recognise that they have been thinking about this, and working hard, for generations in ways that my people haven’t. That counts for something. I don’t need to be ‘one’ with Maori in order to work with them against oppression. All we need to common ground and common purpose, and that exists to varying degrees, but I don’t beleive that we have to be the same or of one mind. In fact I think that lessens us in many ways.
FW specifically refers to two nations, and I took that to be about Maori and Pakeha. FW states it as a bad thing. I don’t see this divide you talk about. I see Maori issues continually being sidelined, or ignored, or not even recognised by the dominant culture. Hence Titewhai’s comment that they have to fight for their treaty rights. And when they do, they get accused of creating divisions. Sorry, but IMO it ain’t Maori that are causing this problem. It’s Pakeha unwillingness to deal with reality and other ways of understanding the world than their own that creates the problems. We WANT Maori to assimilate into Pakeha culture. They can keep their groovy cultural things that we like (haka, art, some te reo), but we will not tolerate them existing as a people in their own right and self-determination. Hence the fight and what you see as division (I think).
I used to think that Pakeha needed to change, but I don’t hold that hope so much any more, although I will still work for that. I think in reality
time will resolve the problem – eventually Polynesians will outnumber European descendants and NZ will become a Pacific Island once again instead of an outpost of the Queen of England.
btw, I find the notion of ‘one people’ pretty offensive. It takes me immediately to people like Pauline Hanson. I’m not sure that is where you are, but if you are going to use those terms then please understand the political context they exist within. Hanson’s ‘One Nation’ ideas are racist and exclusionary and in complete denial of the reality of Aboriginal people. She would get on well with John Ansell. These are not people who will join use in the fight against oppression.
@ Colonial Weka
Well perhaps I was misunderstanding Foreign Waka’s comment. I understood the message to be similar to what you write here. Waka’s comment referenced not only Titewhai’s comment, also Geoff’s, link, which I only had a quick scan of, however believed it to be about the divide and rule and distraction techniques being used on us nearly constantly. Therefore not specifically about race; that is only one division being used, there are many, low waged vs unemployed, middle income earners vs lower income earners, employers vs employees, gay vs straight the list is endless.
I understood the “two nations” to be simply “dividedness”; not as in race. It depends on what particular issue is being presented as in which way our nation is being split in two in any particular moment.
Your btw links in as an example of what Karol quoted Arundhati Roy as saying. (comment 2.1 above). Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.
Yes, it’s possible that I have misunderstood FW too. Perhaps they can clarify.
“Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.”
It’s not about the words so much as the concept. The words could be reclaimed. I just don’t agree with the basic premise of ‘one people’. We are NOT one people. We are a nation of many peoples, and the reasons we don’t have as much unity as we might want is because of lack of cultural awareness. Trying to merge all cultures won’t solve that.
Where the right or whoever are creating division as a way of gaining political power, then I agree this is a problem. I just don’t believe the ‘one people’ meme is the solution. Worse, it plays directly into their hands. Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric?
“Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric”?
Lol, no thank goodness!! Yet I can imagine….
Yes, I think there is not really any argument here. It ends up being what we associate words with. I have no problem with “One” being a concept involving uniting whilst still retaining diversity; yet I can see how you associate it with a concept involving a merging cultures.
I agree that merging cultures is not a positive way to go. Acknowledging and appreciating differences, to me is far less “ist”. We can’t all be exactly the same, and how horrid if we were!.
Seems that you have not cottoned on that these constant divisions amongst the races is giving advantage to someone. You figure out who that is and you might just see what the real game here is. It does not matter what race you are (really!) but it does matter whether the homophobic tendencies on anyone’s part is being used to undermine NZ as a whole.
OK – are you making the comment BECAUSE my synonym says FOREIGN or do you want to reinvent biology? You can replace the term if you want to with “ethnic group” or “different people”. Don’t politicize the word race, its perfectly legitimate in a scientific sense. Besides, you comment just shows exactly what my point was and thank you for demonstrating so vividly the issue at hand.
Not sure what you mean otherwise. Biologically, there is ONE human race (Homo sapiens). NZer is not a race. We are all the same species.
I think you are talking about ethnicity and culture. I don’t understand why you want that to be ‘one’. But as blue leopard and I were mentioning, perhaps you have been misunderstood. Would you care to clarify your point?
Pretty absurd responses to your accurate comment. I, too, would like to know to whose benefit actively dividing us is for? I sure as hell wish the majority would realize that its not to their benefit.
“One people” is an attitude of inclusiveness, the responses from CW & Jenny omit to acknowledge this. There can still be diversity and an attitude of “we’re all in this together”. We don’t have to become one colour, or clones. How foolish to even suggest that.
Britain after Stonehenge program on Choice TV relayed how the Romans gave a hoard of silver and gold to a “friendly” Scottish tribe to keep them onside and try and divide the clan loyalties. This was over 1000 years ago. Do we not learn anything
Please people, try and engage and see what games are being played on you. This is getting really serious. Look at what is going on overseas. Our paradigm is not working. We need collective force to shift toward a more positive direction.
I agree…Our biculturalism is Pakeha defined biculturalism and it is not working.
But I don’t see the problem as being that we are not “one people”. Biculturalism would work better if it was not within a neoliberal paradigm – that is the problem.
There would be nothing wrong if we had two cultural norms, so long as they were both given equal opportunity to exist. Currently, we have token Maori culture that gets further subjugated by our racist economic system.
We need to redefine biculturalism so that both cultures can exist. Promoting only eurocentric ideals failed us before, during the 1970s, and this was after 2 decades of an equity based economic system.
To ditch biculturalism now, we would be left with the worst possible combination of economic and cultural systems. – neoliberalism and mono-culturalism. Yuk.
An attitude of “we are all in it together” has nothing to do with colour, bi-culturalism, gender or any of these other ways of dividing us up.
Our dominant paradigm has been referred to as the “white male paradigm” by some. I will use this term to get my point across.
My observation is that the closer you are to a white male mentality the more likely you are to be “successful” in that hierarchy, I emphasize “mentality” because those who are “winning”, recieving accolades and value in the hierarchy and whom support and promulgate this dominant paradigm are not solely white nor male; we all know examples where some of the worst offenders are quite other than that physically. and those losing are not solely brown, pink, yellow, red. They are also white. And they are also white and male.
The more people who realize this the more we realize we are all in this together and the less prone we will be to being distracted and divided and ruled.
I need to add that I don’t believe many people are “winning” at all currently. Some might think they are, however there has to be some denial involved when the trends overseas are taken into account. It doesn’t matter whether you are “middle class” (what ever that means) and/or “non-political” and fairly “comfortable”; these groups of people are being affected by the state of chaos that our Western society has become. It doesn’t matter whether you are brown, black, white. It doesn’t matter what your gender is. Most peoples interests are being adversely affected.
There are problems that need to be dealt with and aren’t being, and one thing that would help is that we realize our similarities; we breathe, we love, we hurt, we all want what is best for ourselves.. If we could realize what unites us, we would start respecting one another, and one anothers’ different interests and start ensuring we were moving toward a better direction. This is not what is occurring at present. We are being more and more pitted against one another.
Yes, when I read those last two comments, and the one that I replied to, I have no idea what your point is…but I am interested
The problem is that the term ‘one people’ or ‘we are all in this together’ is usually a call to end biculturalism…that is how I read it.
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case re you referring to biculturalism, which wasn’t what I was talking about.
Basically I’m commenting on getting NZ people in a state of mind where they are not so damned dividable! (My comment was in response to Foreign Waka’s comment at (5) and the response FW got to that comment.)
If people see what they have in common with one another, they are more likely to work together and be less easily divided.
re There are problems that need to be dealt with
I guess I am being deliberately vague because I’m not in the mood for searching for links to substantiate my point!
I’m referring to the type of problems illustrated out of the global financial crisis; how we are witnessing less and less morality and integrity from those in the upper echelons of our society (Western, not solely NZ), where people still appear to be giving our superiors credit for “knowing what they are doing” where its no longer due. I mean, these people such as bankers and politicians have been caught red-handed again and again and again, yet no real response or change to anything; not rectifying regulations, not the way things are reported and not how people vote. Just denial.
When a movement began that would have started getting the problems addressed, (Occupy Wall Street) here in NZ, it appeared people were more concerned over the state of our public lawns?? Our media, along with our lawn-valuing population, appear to have entirely checked out; I live amongst people of many different nationalities and I am constantly hearing how particularly dreadful New Zealand media is and how uninformed the people are (not surprising really).
I’ll make a short mention of the entirely illegal wars our Western society are involving themselves in, ones where there are war crimes committed and the initiators of which simply go on to get another, probably higher paid jobs, rather than be done for their crimes
Despite all these issues our media continues to push the lowest common denominator in attitudes. For what? Ratings? And in the meantime, it appears that people are still merely supporting a government because the main frontsperson “seems like a nice guy” despite oodles of dodgy, dodgy behaviour, incompetence and fiascos. And do I even bother to mention the approach our largest opposition party…is…taking…nah, I think you’ll probably get my point…
These are the types of problems I was referring to needed to be dealt with.
The issue with our media is a big one. We tend to have a bland and predictable media who perpetuate ignorance, but I think that is partly to do with the size of our population.
Mainstream sources of media – TV/newspapers/radio have such a limited amount of people to aim at, as a result they all sit in the middle and offer nothing. Compared with the UK – they have enough people to support left wing and right wing papers, as a result there are contrasting views and an environment is created where debate will occur…overcoming this is difficult.
This is compounded by the general agreement of most of our political parties. In a way, the demise of ACT has almost been a burden for the left…without them contrasting opinions also disappear. Nothing promotes true left policies more than an ACT supporter opening their mouth.
The population issue is a real one. But it pays to remember that in the UK you get the tabloids as well as the Times, The Gaurdian, and the Independent. While you do get more top notch stuff, you also get a lot more crap.
Hmm interesting . That gives me some insight thanks.
It is rather strange though, I was just considering how that we are a small nation, one might hope that spinning bigoted type attitudes wouldn’t “work” because we are only a few degrees separated and most of us must know plenty of others from different walks of life, therefore understand how different people’s needs and the issues they face are. This has certainly been what has caused me to open my attitudes up and pull my horns in and learn to consider a matter from different angles before drawing conclusions.. I would think we would be more understanding (and thus tolerant) toward one another’s different needs and issues for this reason. This does not appear to be the way it is working though.
Madoff would have arrived here in the nick of time to see the whole s**t-pile collapse as the likes of Sir Doug et al beat him by a long nose to suck all the cash out of the bloated upper-middle class with finance schemes that bore a remarkable resemblance to Madoff’s very own little money spinner…
2014, once again, will see politicians from all sides promising much,smiling and waving,
speeches that convince some, that’s the trickery,the hoodwinking of the political game,
once elected the hammer comes down,all bets are off,they are in office,why should
they care, or even stand by the words they uttered, prior to gaining office.
‘Democracy means government by discussion,but it is only effective if you can stop
people talking’ By Clement Atlee.
‘Democracy is the name we give the people, whenever we need them. By Robert,
Marquis de Flers and Arman de Caillavet L’habit vert.
Yes it works. Now for someone to explain to me – in laywoman’s language – how you create a link using your own words like “this” or “have a look at this” etc.
Umm… not layman enough for me. I will print a copy and find someone to explain what it all means and how it translates into practice. Thanks anyway joe90. It’s a start. 🙂
I can try in lay-person 🙂 In this example I’ll use square brackets [ ] so we can see what’s going on, but when you do it for real you’ll use angle brackets .
There are three bits to remember. The opening tag (which includes the address), the clickable text, and the closing tag.
————————-
The opening tag starts with a bracket, the letter a, and the phrase href=
Like so:
[a href=
That bit will always be the same for every link you make. The “a” means “this is a link”, and the href= means “this is the address the link takes us to”
We put quote marks around the address which mean “this is the beginning and end of the address”, and then a bracket, and that’s the end of the opening tag.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]
————————-
Next is the text that you want to be able to click. This can be anything at all. It doesn’t need quote marks or anything, whatever you put here is exactly what you’ll see.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band
————————–
The last bit is the closing tag. It’s just a bracket, a slash, another a, and another bracket. It means “this is the end of the link”.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band[/a]
————————–
And that’s it! Replace the square brackets in the example with angle brackets and this is what you’ll get: felix’s new band
One of my younger incarnations in the sixties was as a bass and slide guitar player. Now play slide lapstyle and bottleneck- deeply satisfying music. Still raises my neck hairs when I hear a slide player…….
I was disappointed to hear that Phil Goff, Phil Twyford and others apparently supported John Tamihere’s return to the party; perhaps they could share their reasoning here at The Standard. In today’s newspaper article John sneers about ‘the sisterhood’, and his comments about Paula Bennett’s appearance are an absurd sideshow, a circus he would bring to Parliament should Labour be foolish enough to let him swan back. He asks whether instead of calling Paula fat he should describe her as morbidly obese. Why does he make any negative comment about a woman’s appearance? What does this say about his character, about him as a man, and about those who overlook his ugly proclivities to renew his footing in Labour? In light of recent party tensions, I find myself wondering what sort of government Labour would make with its current team; not, perhaps, one that ordinary party members might feel proud of, or part of. I find myself hanging back from this party, which wears the cloak of Labour, but whose heart may no longer be truly Labour. I watch with interest the jostling for list positions as we approach the next election. Shane Jones, like John Tamihere, has an overworked ego but has achieved little in Parliament; he flaps his lips at media moments but is not the thoughtful leader we hoped for (and thus does not warrant in my view a high list position). Other list MPs have accepted positions, or taken stances, for rewards that may be as illusory as their list rankings in the months to come. I do not personally care who is the leader of the Labour party. But I care very much about the heart of the Labour party, as one little cog that has kept it beating in the provinces. Attention seeking opportunists like John Tamihere and Shane Jones come and go. But I thought more of Phil; as a woman member of the party, I can’t overlook sexism which, like any other kind of ism, can only exist if good people condone it.
It would be good to read a response from a member of caucus to what you write here. When people express doubts about a party on The Standard, it would be interesting to know how many they represent. In this case, a lot I’m sure, which makes me view it a worthwhile activity for caucus members to respond.
I know Phil Twyford and it puzzles me too. I can only assume he was approached and he agreed to let him have another chance. I presume Tamihere’s negative personal comments re Paula Bennett is tied up with his desire to win the candidacy for the Waitakere seat. (I know he says he’s not interested but who believes a politician even a past one).
I suspect it’s an attempt to attract the red-neck, anti-female politicians brigade to support him in his cause. Remember the previous candidate was Carmel Sepuloni and she indicated her intention to run for the candidacy again some time ago.
As a happily hetero sport-loving beer-drinking bloke, I find Tamihere’s attitude infantile at best, offensive at worst. Worse still is this patronising notion that people like him and Shane Jones speak for a large chunk of society, and voters will return to Labour in droves if only Tamihere and Jones could be to the fore.
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
Are you meaning that these bloke-types are to appeal to the female vote?
Or that these bloke-types are bitches?
I guess I personally would agree with the second option, however, if you are meaning the first, I wonder whether this is true? Or is it that blokes don’t vote for chicks? I have wondered how the genders are split with regards to political views; whether there is a distinct trend amongst the genders. It was certainly mentioned during election-time that Act has a hard time appealing to the female voter.
From memory, I think he called certain women (was it women Labour MPs including Helen Clark?) bitches earlier in the 2000 decade when he was given the push. Something along those lines anyway. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes, Virginia Linton, I – too – am seeing a much more sexist Labour caucus re-appearing with John Tamihere’s endorsement by so many of the rightwing blokes and their takeover of the caucus.
And I regret to say that I think we’ll see the so-called re-shuffle of front positions due to be announced
soon by the Leader reinforce this blokey-bent.
Hi lprent,
I posted a query a few Open Mikes ago, not realising you were away.
Its simply about the “notify me via email” function, which no longer works. Its no biggy really, yet I was wondering if there was some way to get this function back? If there was any setting I could change from my side? I am on Safari 5.something and gmail email.
I will go back and find my last query because there were a few others commenting in response.
Ah. Thanks for reminding me. I’m just fixing one of the backups that isn’t working too well. I’ll reconnect and start the mail server after that. It was simply an oversight when I shifted the server in Jan. Ummm people may get a pile of banked emails when that happens.
It was more that my brain was elsewhere. The code I was trying to build/fix was complicated and I had to kind of stretch to make it work at all well in the target platform.
As well as The Standard I was somewhat vague about really important things like sleep, Lyn, bills and taking pills.
Oh cool! Thanks lprent, and thanks for the work you do, its most appreciated.
(Hopefully you’ll address the really important things first, I’m sure none of us would begrudge you that 😯 )
Lynn,You have to take your medication, and get some sleep. The days of SysOp’s surviving on 4 hrs, and umpteen cups of corrosively strong coffee are long gone now lol. And never forget the better half! Mental note to self, don’t forget your pills!
Chris Laidlaw’s lame quip trivializes and undermines a serious point
Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 10 February 2013, 11:10 a.m.
Chris Laidlaw interviewed Seyed Majid Tafreshi Khameneh, the Iranian Ambassador to New Zealand.
LAIDLAW: Iran has supported Hezbollah, hasn’t it.
TAFRESHI: Hezbollah has not invaded any other territory. They are
defending their land. They are freedom fighters.
LAIDLAW:[guffaws nervously] Well, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
Disappointed in Laidlaw’s lapse into hard right propaganda, I sent him the following e-mail….
Dear Chris,
After the Iranian ambassador had pointed out that Hezbollah is an indigenous self-defence organization, and had never sent troops to invade any territory, you quipped that “one man’s freedom-fighter is another man’s terrorist.” That was not only a banal observation, it served to trivialize and undermine the point that the Ambassador had just made.
@Morrissey
I find this sort of thing really shameful. How rude and uninformed we can be.
It is probably beyond any “middle” NZ to grasp the concept that the word “freedom fighter” isn’t synonymous with terrorist The word “terrorist” can, thus be effectively used to stamp out any opposition to the status quo, and noone seems to mind that the status quo way of doing things is leading us to hell in a handbasket.
Its just shameful to be lumped in with this type of mentality (if you can even call it that).
NZ must not change as there is no alternative.
Meanwhile –
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
If Key and Gillard in Queenstown are supposed to signify the ‘ANZAC Spurrut’ at play, then I want no part of it.
Yet another Key venture in self-aggrandisement, sucking up and selling out.
It’s interesting when you look at the definition of a psychopath available on the internet. I think it’s Wikipaedia that has some interesting characteristics. You could provide a match with the various categories more precisely than you coud with the likes of Bainimarama or Mugabe.
Yet – still the populace worships! – aided and abetted by an uncritical MSM.
As they say though – the harder they rise, the harder they fall!
(and if EVER there was a travesty to an OZ Labor Party it would be Joolya – I keep wondering if NZ’s equivalent are an ABC club and a Shearer).
Hey! – btw (as they say amongst the connected) – what’s happened to that noice little boi FanClub, or FanBoi – or whatever the fuck he pops up as? AND – WHERE lately is the Hataitai pacifier that not only now wants to review the ‘used by’ label expiry date, but also the ‘RRP’ [or recommended retail price]. Bugger! I forget her name just at the moment – hold on – for the benefit of precision, I’ll just Google her shall I? ………
Oh fuck – it seems she’s become irrelevant to GOOGLE too!
Anyway – you fellas should know who I mean – she’s a foreskin in the ABC club along with the Mallardy bovver boy and a host of other amusements
Didn’t you get the memo? Drinking to excess is only bad when it’s Yoof (i.e. anyone who looks “young” to a Campbell Live producer) doing it. Grown-ups can do whatever they like, it’s not like they set examples or contribute to drinking culture or anything.
So the future isn’t a boot stamping on a human face, forever. It’s a person in a beige business outfit advocating beige policies that nobody wants (but nobody can quite articulate a coherent alternative to) with a false mandate obtained by performing rituals of representative democracy that offer as much actual choice as a Stalinist one-party state. And resistance is futile, because if you succeed in overthrowing the beige dictatorship, you will become that which you opposed.
Despite being hypocritical and increasingly a parody of shit sensationalism and faux community concern, it looks like the Campbell live team just keep getting lucky breaks.
Someone at TVNZ made something much much worse.
It’s called lose lose for those who watch rather than ‘make’ TV.
“it’s not like they set examples or contribute ”
Not one reply, not even a nibble.
Someone get me a two headed tortoise and JC’s extension number.
Someone should tell David Shearer to stop listening to what He is saying when speaking in front of a camera,
Shearer i noticed on the news tonight has a bad habit of self editing in the middle of making a comment, this also brings in the aaah as He searches for the words He wants to use as a clarification in the middle of a comment to the media…
I think I might have mentioned it before, but I doubt very much it’s searching for words, just making sure he remembers to use the ones he’s been told to.
Speak from the same sleeve you wear your heart on, or learn to fake it better.
He should just stop speaking and get someone competent doing it. If I were fixing my car and reached the limit of my incompetence, I’d get hold of someone who knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t burn down the closest workshop and carry on.
Labour voter??? Labour Party member???, rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???,
The vote has been had, is there another in February 2014???, if not such denigration of those the Labour Caucus voted for as Leader is pretty pointless and it’s only possible out-come is to increase the chances of Slippery being the Prime Minister until 2017,
Myself, i would rather work toward not having the worst case scenario occur and would suggest that if you are a Labour Party member your energies would better be spent ensuring the Party Members have the ability to ‘trigger’ the scheduled leadership votes under the ‘new’ rules into the future,
Shearer may have made that abhorrent bene-bashing speech and His ‘worker in the pub’ one wasn’t something to cheer about either,
Compare this tho to another Labour Leader as Prime Minister, ”Beneficiaries will not be included in Working for Families as this will encourage them to get a job”-Helen Clark,
Who was Prime Minister when income tax was applied to welfare benefits,none other than David Lange,
Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…
“Labour voter???” – Nope. Not any more.
“Labour Party member???” – Nope. Never joined any political party.
“rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???” – Nope. that doesn’t sound like me at all. Besides, I reckon you’ll need many more than just my vote for that not to occur. Good luck, best get your lucky red socks out of the bottom drawer, bless.
And none of those answers above discredit or give less validity to me stating opinion in any way shape or form, Comrade. Do feel free to prove they do if you’re bothered.
As for the rest of your post, all I can give you is a bit of a shrug, apart from
“Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…”
As opposed to you sipping the dregs of the sweet nectar of success dripping off the bottom of Mallard’s poisoned chalice.
You were doing alright until the spurious final comment, my feelings on Mallard are pretty plain in the comments on the post on that subject,
Spoze the likes of Trev and Shane with their open attacks on the Green Party are a bit like the anti-Shearer crew here on the Standard, Trev might have caught it by being entangled with McCully’s ex and Shane well wanker’s never really stop themselves from gushing,
Lolz i should really just scroll past the ‘i hate Shearer comments’ but even that’s damn hard as i found out today reading one interesting comment on an entirely unrelated subject that ended with a ‘i hate Shearer’,
Hate on, but, unless there is a vote in February 2014 and a willingness of caucus to put that vote to the wider Party which considering everything is a small flight of fancy then Shearer we are all stuck with and no amount of venting will change that,
Nah not red socks, my feet are Green from having roamed my patch to often without any on…
John key got a mixed reception at the Big Gay Out today, according to Stuff:\\
Today at the Big Gay Out he donned a yellow polo shirt and chatted convivially with drag queens, gay men and women and almost nude couples painted in tiger stripes. But when he took to the stage at the invitation of Miss Ribena, a drag queen with a penchant for purple, there was a slight shift in mood.
“F*** you John Key,” several voices in the crowd called.
“Don’t worry they must be from West Auckland,” Miss Ribena said.
“That’s alright,” Key replied. …
And then, Auckland local Andy Lawrie attempted to reinforce the point that Key might not be as progressive as he purported. Lawrie was seen lowering a coat hanger affixed to a bamboo pole over the head of the Prime Minister.
“It’s just a little reminder,” he said.
On the coat hanger was a “gay” red shirt.
“It’s just to make people remember.”
The Greens seemed to be more in tune with the event. Loiusa Wall got various mentions because of her marriage equality amendment bill. But the rest of Labour MPs seem to have been MIA.
Meanwhile, Lucy Lawless turned up to do a little Community Service, and probably mingled today:
Lucy Lawless will be among the thousands at today’s Big Gay Out in Auckland.
“BigGayOut this weekend. Could life be more colourful? Hooray for everything!” she has tweeted.
GayNZ.com Daily News hears the actress, who has a global following, particularly among lesbians, even helped out by pitching in to erect tents yesterday.
Long term plan for NZ’s move to Charter or Partnership Schools might go like this.
The full extent of Michael Gove’s (UK Sec Education) plans to revolutionise education are revealed today in a secret memo showing he is considering outright privatisation of academies and free schools. All academies and free schools in England, which are the Education Secretary’s personal obsession, would be free to become profit-making for the first time, and be entirely decoupled from Whitehall control. ……Mr Gove is considering the radical step because massive expansion of academies and free schools is costing government too much money.
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 cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“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 to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, Thursday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In 2023, Anthony Albanese was shooting for the moon, his eyes on the Voice referendum. On one view, he looked like the idealist reflecting his left-wing roots. In 2024, we’re seeing a pragmatic, determined, ...
The House - The principle that all MPs are honourable and that they should be taken at their word has been tested multiple times this week in Parliament. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Dickinson, Professor, Public Service Research, UNSW Sydney Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock Since the review of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) released its recommendations in December, there has been a series of Town Hall events to discuss them around the country ...
It’s really bugging me. Is John Key our Richard III ?
He seems weighed down by the cares of office, his hair
increasingly tinted white at the temples.
I saw no hint of his goofy ‘youf’ persona around Julia Gillard.
Like Ric, he might find his own troops deserting him.
Would the real John Key please stand up ?
He does, all the time, the whole 4 or 5 of Him, depending upon the scene that is set Slippery can transform Himself from Dances with transvestites to discussing issues upon the world stage with international leaders in the blink of an eye,
He is after all Slippery…
Richard III is a bag of bones – true, there may be some similarity there!
The reshuffle was one such rare moment.
No-one saw the knives go in, everyone was surprised, the new order settled in seconds.
“I can smile, and murder while I smile.”
Interestingly, that line is only in the McKellen movie adaptation of Richard III, not the play – it’s originally from Henry VI Part 3.
Interesting and valid article on the demise or dismantling of democracy and the rise of authoritarian..
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13998-the-new-extremism-and-politics-of-distraction-in-the-age-of-austerity
Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.
This quote from Arundhati Roy, is very relevant at home and abroad:
But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, language is meaningless anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”?
According to Deconstructionism, isn’t Roy’s world view, just that, a purely subjective experience, there is no objective reality out there for it to attache to, its no more truthful or valid or evil than Hitler’s world view?
Still pigeonholing people, k_p? Interesting.
Can’t Karol stick up for herself?
Does she really need her girl pal QofT to rush in snarling and biting?
QofT, you repeatedly avoids stating what intellectual school she subscribes to.
What are you afraid of?
For the record, QofT, your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, with a small qualification interestingly enough – ‘for the most part’ was it if I remember correctly – a failed attempt to hedge her bet I think.
What are you afraid of?
Some of us get bored with your fixation.
You tried this ages ago, then never replied to Karol when she explained herself.
It was either sniper shots at Karol, or sniper shots at those troublemakers born on another patch of dirt. Got stats yet?
I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Marxism, neo or whatever, Deconstructionism/Postmodernism or whatever those flaky followers like to call it, are ideologies which make truth claims about the way the world is. Claims that are easily disprovable.
You build your world view/argument on these failed ideologies as Feminists do, then you are exposed to the same failures.
Wailing that you are being “pigeon holed” doesn’t change that.
Ditto for neo-liberalism/neo conservatism and those scrambling to defend it in the wake of 2008.
Oh my god, k_p, do you mean you don’t actually get why people keep using the word “pigeonholed”?
I’ve only linked to the reason a few dozen hilarious times now.
Just because you do it doesn’t mean that everyone does. Karol certainly doesn’t share your attitude toward “thinking”. Perhaps if you gave the rather pathetic misogynist stroking a rest some time, maybe the blood will flood back to the organ that is responsible for actual thought.
In case that was too subtle for you…
Most people think about things before they spew it out on the rest of us… You just seem to wank a lot when you get excited. Your keyboard must have a sticky problem whenever you reply to a female commentator.
Lol, I’ll leave the rest of your ignorant absurdities to others, but seeing you are so hung up on labels, please enlighten me on what happened with regard to neo-Conservatism in 2008.
Pretty strong suggestion in that comment that you don’t know anything about Neo-Conservatism.
k_p: I remember Karol saying she was a bit of this a bit of that.
It’s BS of course.
Acting like you are scouring a rubbish tip of discarded and broken ideologies you don’t actually have a clue about, picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’ to your vested interests is called creating propaganda.
Gee, you sure do show your superficial understanding of the umbrella terms you are referring to. I assume you mean that comment fatty helpfully linked to, of which I associated myself with bits of poststructuralism and neo-Marxism, etc. Do you understand the meaning of “heterogeneous” as used at the link?
Note in the second line the reference to “critical theorists” as being included in the general collection of post-structuralists theories. Click on the link and you will see that neo-Marxism is included there.
ie I was referring to an eclectic mix of related theories all included under very general terms that you don’t really seem to understand.
I don’t know how anyone can do anything but pick out various bits of each, as ones they most agree with.
Scouring rubbish tips for discarded and broken ideologies about and picking up fragments that you think are ‘useful’.
That’s not creating propaganda.
That’s bricolage!
I don’t have any subscriptions, it’s just too difficult keeping my address and direct debits up-to-date.
I am sure that Karol can and will reply to you in due course.
Perhaps you need to read her comment at 2.1 again – in particular the first line.
“Thanks. Read the first bit. Will read the rest after work today.”
Note the bit about “‘after work today”.
Come on, you don’t really expect k_p to read what people actually write do you?
Especially when it’s women writing, because our ladybrains can’t come up with awesome arguments about deconstructionist marxist neo-anarcho-eco-feminism like k_p’s.
Edit – reply to CW
LOL – no!
Just could not help myself – I usually try to ignore idiots.
k_p: your girl pal has admitted she is a Deconstructionist, [citation please.
Why do you continue to insist that people are what they’re not?
k_p: But according to you Karol as a Deconstructionist, [citation needed] language is meaningless [citation needed] anyway, so what does it matter, language and words are only good for “deploying…like weapons”? [citation needed]
For an objectivist, you make a lot of loose claims based on little evidence.
Do you have anything to contribute about the significant article GeoffC linked to, or are you just trying to divert his thread?
This “theft of language” is being most effectively deployed by the coal industry to hide the dirty nature of their business, using words to mask intent and to mean exactly the opposite of what they have traditionally meant. For example Fonterra say they plan to excavate a major “Escarpment Mine” Just south of Auckland, that looks likely to become the ground zero in the fight against climate change in the Auckland area. Fonterra facing unexpectedly stiff opposition from local residents and Auckland based environmentalists, hoped an “Escarpment Mine” wouldn’t get the same emotional response from Aucklanders that “Open Cast Mine” might.
Everyone knows what an open cast mine looks like, from unpleasant pictures seen on television and in books.
“Escarpment” in geology means a natural feature of the landscape, either a very steep natural slope, or slanting cliff face. The coal mining industry have subverted the original meaning of this word, for their own uses. Using the word ‘Escarpment’ avoids the unpleasant mental pictures that automatically form in people’s minds on hearing the words ‘Open Cast Mine’. ‘Escarpment Mine’, much more pleasant.
<blockquote.Dairy juggernaut Fonterra is planning a major new coal mine in north Waikato, saying that will be cheaper than buying coal from Solid Energy, the state-owned enterprise axing 120 jobs at Huntly, blaming falling prices.
Fonterra's coal mining company Glencoal is about to apply for resource consents to develop an open cast coalmine on 30ha of farmland it has owned for 10 years between Mangatawhiri Rd and the new State Highway 2 at Maramarua.
ANDREA FOX AND MATT BOWEN http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/7759938/Coal-costs-force-Fonterras-hand
The name Mangatangi is more familiar to Aucklanders as being the location of the Mangatangi Dam, Auckland’s largest water-storage dam. With a capacity of 39 million cubic metres, it supplies nearly a quarter of the city’s bulk water.
Aucklanders are not too happy to learn that it will also be the location of the regions biggest opencast coal mine. Oops, pardon me ‘escarpment mine’.
PS. This proposed mine was originally going to be publicy notified with a chance for public submissions. But on meeting unexpectedly stiff resistance from locals and environmentalitst, this is now in doubt with Fonterra considering seeking fast track permission. (Maybe the language trick didn’t work).
The Truth-Out.Org article – the politics of disconnect. And we wonder why the polls read as they do. “Mr Key’s a ‘nice man’……..honourably doing all he can in the circumstances. Very well. Kia Ora……”
Deliberate is what it is………brought here to do the business.
Not an easy article to read being so very very American, but quite unnerving with a clear echo with what’s happening here in NZ. Makes one wonder where the brief is coming from?
Thanks GeoffC, very interesting. A lot of parallels between US and NZ.
There is an interview with John Tamihere in the SST this morning (http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8279775/Tamihere-wants-to-return-to-politics/). The headline says it all, he wants to get back into Parliament.
He is his usual aggressive obnoxious self but amongst the abuse and self obsessed diatribe are a couple of pearlers. About Paula Bennett he says “I can’t stand what she is doing to beneficiaries, I just won’t tolerate taking a stick to the most vulnerable, who, by and large, don’t want to be there.”
And about the distribution of wealth he says “[i]n this government, the few get rich in the name of the many. That just can’t continue.” So government, he says, has to become far more involved.
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yes. I read it and thought he was very good on the class/beneficiaries/anti-wealthy elites stuff. But his prejudices against people/qualities outside of various socially constructed “norms” undo all the good stuff he says.
There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol.
“various socially constructed “norms””
What about your socially constructed feminist ideas, values, attitudes? Can’t they be deconstructed as well, aren’t they also just another set of self serving formulae, Karol?
It’s like that nonsensewith gay “marriage’, you were banging on about “binary opposites” – that’s just pure academic pedantry.
Ditto with the “essentialism” cry that goes up around here to dismiss any opinion you lot don’t like. It’s a bit of jargon made up by the Academic Left, premised on the same old flaky, 1970’s French philosophy, Deconstructionist/Feminist nonsense.
Oh, k_p. It’s seriously cute how you keep popping up whenever a woman has an opinion to try and score some pseudoacademic point about what you think the term “social construct” means.
Do you not know what Deconstructionism is?
Ooooh, yeah, k_p, educate the feminist, that’ll show her, oooooh you’re such a master debater!!! *orgasm*
hahaha K_P needs some aloe vera for that burn! It would seem he lets the dictionary do the thinking for him.
@Kiwi Prometheus
Having looked it up, it appears that Deconstructionism is about finding meaning in texts by uncovering underlying assumptions. The Basics of
Philosophy pages. point out that it is “notoriously difficult to define” and that some critics have “gone so far as to claim it is a dangerous form of Nihilism”.
Nihilism appears to be where K.P is pushing it.
You can push any philosophy or analytical approach to extremes and it will be…well…extreme. Keeping an eye on a wider perspective, therefore is required with any philosophy or analytical approach.
With regard to deconstructionism, it appears useful; if we don’t check up on our basic assumptions from time to time we really will deviate from our aims and ideals. I believe doing this “checking” is part of what is commonly called “thinking”.
I can imagine that those who are “winning” under the basic assumptions going by unquestioned would not like this form of analytical approach.
I would question those who think they are “winning” under basic assumptions going by unquestioned. I really don’t think there are many people at all who are currently “winning” at present. That is, not unless you thrive in living in a divided, unhappy and stressed society that is heading for financial, social and environmental meltdown.
Yeah, as I understand it deconstructionism of more of an analytic tool than a philosophy.
Interesting that there is no reply from K.P. One could be forgiven for thinking that this “deconstructionism” argument was a poorly thought out faux intellectual comment that was in actuality simply trying to get someone to STFU.
My money’s on copy-pasta/reworking of something k_p saw on a men’s rights forum, probably Reddit-based.
Good points there, bl @1.28pm. And after a day at work, I am not that interested in untangling all of k_p’s off-target claims, unsubstantiated and loose assumptions, and poor understanding of theory/ies. I have other more useful things I’d rather be doing.
kiwi_prometheus – do you know what ‘stalking’ is?
k_p: There you go with that Deconstructionist nonsense again, Karol. How did you decide that I was deconstructing and not doing an older form of semiotic (structuralist) analysis, or some discourse analysis, or applying critical theory, or just doing what most folks do here when they critically read a newspaper article?
Where did I mention “binary opposites” on open mike today?
Tamihere has an image in his head of the good deserving worker (generally male) that Labour should go into bat for. It’s a cloth cap vision that was not even entirely relevant in the 1930s. As far as I’m concerned, he’s far too much like Shane Jones, and can shove his political aspirations up his back pussy. In today’s world he would do far more harm than good.
The fact that he can say something that sounds militant and left wing only serves to show how far to the right Shearer and the ABC have remained. Instead of complaining about a male beneficiary on a roof, Tamihere would complain if they weren’t driving a ute. I thought the left in general had moved well past his sort of blokiness, but maybe not.
What a hypocrite. He was waving his own stick around years before Paula even thought about picking hers up.
And it is all well and good saying “So government, he says, has to become far more involved”, he really needs to spell out that policies he would adopt.
And didn’t he take the side of the POA against their workers in that dispute?
Well he’s got the right level of arrogance and double standards to be back in parliament amongst like minded characters and he’d know all about diversion of public monies for personal gain.
What DS needs to realise is he’d stab him in the back given half the chance and is not a team player so it’s a major judgement call, if JT can take a seat off the nat’s why not I say as they’ve got plenty of candidates who can’t do that so far.
Agreed. The Labour caucus would be benefit from his energy and passion. However JT’s unrestrained “bull in the china shop” manner during his previous term as a MP lost him a lot of friends on his own side (and continues to alienate to this day). Without wise mentoring I suspect JT would stumble back into his familiar form and serve as a liability rather than an asset to the caucus.
So he gets your cooing approval if its an enemy target he hits, but squeal in outrage when you come under friendly fire, LOL.
Duh!? What a pointless comment, k_p@10.06am. When you strip way your emotive, subjective sneer, all you are doing is outlining my comment in general terms: i.e. I agree with some things Tamihere says and not others. And that is unusual or wrong,…. how?
Why not try engaging with the substance of my or others comments, instead of such pointless general sneers?
lol
Even if the military analogy stood, why would that be wrong?
Or do you believe that the appropriate response to being struck by so-called “friendly” fire is “thank you, sir, may I have another”?
If only he learned to be more civilised and circumspect he could become a very good politician.
Yeah, unlikely, micky, given he says:
“Tamihere reckons it’s not what he says, but how he says it that gets him into trouble. He reckons people know he’s saying the right thing, “but they might be far more genteel or academic [how they say it]. I’m not”.”
Because you know, he’s clearly just saying what we’re all thinking, he just doesn’t sugar-coat it, man. Just like Paul Henry.
“Just like Paul Henry.”
A left arse cheek to match the one on the right.
Any volunteers to occupy the centre ground?
Well … not if we’re going to keep running with that analogy … 😛
Ba dum tish 😆
I greet this new “positioning” from a man who is interested in charter schools with some caution. It looks as if he is shaping himself up for one of the West Auckland seats; either Carmel’s, or if they take Hooton’s advice, New Lynn. Hooton, who seems to take “left” and “sinister” as across the board synonyms, was earlier this week suggesting that they metaphorically “cut Cunliffe’s throat,” as well as making oblique remarks about his family.
I agree with you, Olwyn. I’ve just read the story in SST re Tamihere, and I don’t think he’s changed one little bit. What I find interesting is that Shearer has endorsed his re-entry into Labour membership, and it sounds as if he (Tamihere) is going after the Waitakere seat. Which, after the hard yards put in by Carmel Sepuloni to get in behind with only nine votes to win it, is cheeky to say the least. I hope the Waitakere Labour people can see behind the cheeky grin and charm to the self-interested, egotistical rightwing boy who wants another “go” at Parliament.
It is hard to tell just how much influence Hooton has, but it seems as if there are certain quarters that are not content to bury the hatchet now that Shearer has been endorsed by his colleagues, but instead want to continue to sideline the centre-left of the party while tacking rightwards. Not only that, they seem to favour right wingers on that ground alone, with competence, hard work and even the ability to win seats coming a distant second. I will be interested to see what shape the reshuffle takes.
There is no way he would succeed in Waitakere and New Lynn would revolt rather than support him. We have a perfectly good electorate MP right now …
Yeah but ….. Mickey …. (in reply 37) you know as well as I do sometimes those selections can be “rigged” by certain members of caucus/HO – and Tamihere WAS endorsed by Shearer – which speaks spades to me !
What I also found fascinating in the SST story is that Tamihere is going to ask Maori to change from their Maori vote ie Te Tai Tokerau – to a General vote. That’s pretty cheeky on his part.
“… it seems more likely Tamihere wil persuade Labour Maori members to swtich electoral rolls into the Waitakere seat, giving him enough clout to win selection and he hops, beat Bennett”
However, the story also mentions he’s popular out South Auckland way, so maybe he’ll have a tilt at Ross Robertson’s seat if RR decides he’s had enough !
I agree that you have a perfectly good MP Micky, I just do not trust the decision makers, and do not think I have good reason to trust them, to be honest.
I think the revolt would go beyond New Lynn Olwyn. In fact the party would be decimated and it would take years (if ever) for them to get back to it’s present state. They could kiss goodbye to the next election or failing that, they would be a one term govt. and that would be the end of Labour for a long time.
That’s why Hooton et al are working their butts off fomenting as much mischief as they can.
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
Oops Olwyn. I was grazing over my recent comments and I came across this one. My last sentence. I wasn’t referring to you when I said that. Rather the ABC club…
It’s OK Anne – I got what you meant. I notice that they never seem to distance themselves from Hooton’s comments. The fact that he supports Shearer appears to licence him to say what he likes. That headline in the NBR last week was simply outrageous.
I’d like to see JT take back a seat, none of this safe seat comfy stuff, he has to earn it.
Mangakiekie is winnable and has an ordinary and lazy candidate who got walked over in debates by slimy smiley Sam. Win that and you deserve a go, not as a minister just an MP.
Tamihere already stood for mayor of Waitakere City and he lost. What makes him think the Waitakere electorate would be any more keen on him?
It does not matter what Tamihere says under any circumstances.
There have been too many examples of his lack of judgement for him to e treated with any respect.
The count of sins commences at the figure 192,000 and goes upwards rapidly.
When he last ran in Tamaki he never once thanked the electorate workers who canvassed and erected signs for him.
I’ve never met a west Auckland labour volunteer worker who would piss on him if they found him on fire.
Yep. I put up billboards for him once. You could tell my ones, they were the ones with two extra staples – one through each of his nasty piggy eyes.
You know JT would make a great heir apparent to lead New Zealand First – if his ego and Winston’s could work with the other’s!
I thought Brendan Who was imported into NZFirst to fulfill that particular role, shame He has been so efficiently kneecapped and dispatched to Siberia…
quod erat demonstrandum 🙂
Interesting to read 3 columns about Waitangi Day especially relating to Titewhai Harawira.
Matt notes the pathos
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10864403
Rodney Hide – that sad wanker reminds us all of why we can be thankful he’s out of parliament – he is so subtle not
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10864396
And a very nice article from Simon Day
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8283238/A-tete-a-tete-with-Titewhai
It is very hard to argue against the line that Titewhai uses that, “We get benefits as a Treaty partner because we fight for them.” It seems to me to be very true and one of the major reasons that the fight will continue – because equality has not arrived in this country yet.
And these lines are exceptional from the Day interview
Oh dear that buggers up the bullshit memes put forward against tangata whenua.
The only way imo to sort these issues out is for some humbleness – and not from tangata whenua.
Titewhai hit the nail on the head when she said about Key – “he’s just talking to Pakeha……”.
Muttering conceived by spin doctors and calculated for throw-away line delivery at Waitangi.
The rationale – to tap the subliminal anti-Maori racism rampant in this country. And like the seasoned real estate agent talking heads (“we are part of the story”) Gower et al close on Key’s behalf.
No Key only talks to RICH Pakeha, the rest of us are ignored.
These contributions encapsulates the situation of NZ quite well. Geoff and Karol’s : “the new extremism…” and a quote from Arundhati Roy vis a vis the statements from Titwhai Harawira. Given the landscape and situation of NZ – is was never so important to be “one people” and yet there is constant work on creating two nations. One wonders to whose benefit.
One people, eh? How about we all become Maori, or Polynesian. That would solve the perceived problem would it not? Or are you suggesting that the only option is for us all to be Pakeha?
Just all New Zealanders would be a good start.
So we should all accept being part of a political entity imposed by Europeans, and named after a mainland European Dutch province. Can’t help thinking that this is a little bit exclusionary. Why does this group get naming rights above anyone else? Are they more cleverer than everyone else? Are they more moral than everyone else? Are they more superior than everyone else? Two things are certain: They are more whiter, and they are more racist than everyone else.
“Just all New Zealanders would be a good start.”
Yeah, like I said, the only option is for us all to be one with the dominant culture ie Pakeha.
Of course we are already all NZers, all that is required for that is to either be born here or to jump certain citizenship hoops. Once you have a NZ passport or entitlement to one then you are a NZer. What you really mean is you want one people culturally. Which takes me back to my first point – which culture do you want us all to be? And why should Maori be assimilated into that when they have equal rights to their own sovereignty under Te Tiriti?
@ Colonial Weka
I think Foreign Waka was referring to something a whole lot wider than creating one dominant paradigm, rather seemed to be referring to asking NZers to unite and strengthen themselves against this (failing) dominant paradigm. I read FW’s comment as speaking to the need for the people of NZ to become less easily divided on important issues.
I don’t really follow that blue leopard. I feel solidarity with many Maori re the dominant paradigm. I also recognise that they have been thinking about this, and working hard, for generations in ways that my people haven’t. That counts for something. I don’t need to be ‘one’ with Maori in order to work with them against oppression. All we need to common ground and common purpose, and that exists to varying degrees, but I don’t beleive that we have to be the same or of one mind. In fact I think that lessens us in many ways.
FW specifically refers to two nations, and I took that to be about Maori and Pakeha. FW states it as a bad thing. I don’t see this divide you talk about. I see Maori issues continually being sidelined, or ignored, or not even recognised by the dominant culture. Hence Titewhai’s comment that they have to fight for their treaty rights. And when they do, they get accused of creating divisions. Sorry, but IMO it ain’t Maori that are causing this problem. It’s Pakeha unwillingness to deal with reality and other ways of understanding the world than their own that creates the problems. We WANT Maori to assimilate into Pakeha culture. They can keep their groovy cultural things that we like (haka, art, some te reo), but we will not tolerate them existing as a people in their own right and self-determination. Hence the fight and what you see as division (I think).
I used to think that Pakeha needed to change, but I don’t hold that hope so much any more, although I will still work for that. I think in reality
time will resolve the problem – eventually Polynesians will outnumber European descendants and NZ will become a Pacific Island once again instead of an outpost of the Queen of England.
btw, I find the notion of ‘one people’ pretty offensive. It takes me immediately to people like Pauline Hanson. I’m not sure that is where you are, but if you are going to use those terms then please understand the political context they exist within. Hanson’s ‘One Nation’ ideas are racist and exclusionary and in complete denial of the reality of Aboriginal people. She would get on well with John Ansell. These are not people who will join use in the fight against oppression.
@ Colonial Weka
Well perhaps I was misunderstanding Foreign Waka’s comment. I understood the message to be similar to what you write here. Waka’s comment referenced not only Titewhai’s comment, also Geoff’s, link, which I only had a quick scan of, however believed it to be about the divide and rule and distraction techniques being used on us nearly constantly. Therefore not specifically about race; that is only one division being used, there are many, low waged vs unemployed, middle income earners vs lower income earners, employers vs employees, gay vs straight the list is endless.
I understood the “two nations” to be simply “dividedness”; not as in race. It depends on what particular issue is being presented as in which way our nation is being split in two in any particular moment.
Your btw links in as an example of what Karol quoted Arundhati Roy as saying. (comment 2.1 above). Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.
Yes, it’s possible that I have misunderstood FW too. Perhaps they can clarify.
“Are you saying that we can’t use the word “one nation” anymore without bringing up the spin of exclusionary and racism that some bigot in Australia sold? Thats very sad. She doesn’t have exclusive rights to the concept of people uniting.”
It’s not about the words so much as the concept. The words could be reclaimed. I just don’t agree with the basic premise of ‘one people’. We are NOT one people. We are a nation of many peoples, and the reasons we don’t have as much unity as we might want is because of lack of cultural awareness. Trying to merge all cultures won’t solve that.
Where the right or whoever are creating division as a way of gaining political power, then I agree this is a problem. I just don’t believe the ‘one people’ meme is the solution. Worse, it plays directly into their hands. Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric?
“Have you seen John Ansell’s rhetoric”?
Lol, no thank goodness!! Yet I can imagine….
Yes, I think there is not really any argument here. It ends up being what we associate words with. I have no problem with “One” being a concept involving uniting whilst still retaining diversity; yet I can see how you associate it with a concept involving a merging cultures.
I agree that merging cultures is not a positive way to go. Acknowledging and appreciating differences, to me is far less “ist”. We can’t all be exactly the same, and how horrid if we were!.
very quaint and naive otv
Seems that you have not cottoned on that these constant divisions amongst the races is giving advantage to someone. You figure out who that is and you might just see what the real game here is. It does not matter what race you are (really!) but it does matter whether the homophobic tendencies on anyone’s part is being used to undermine NZ as a whole.
Foreign Waka, there is no such thing as race. We are all one species. It’s the belief in race that is one of the causes of racism.
OK – are you making the comment BECAUSE my synonym says FOREIGN or do you want to reinvent biology? You can replace the term if you want to with “ethnic group” or “different people”. Don’t politicize the word race, its perfectly legitimate in a scientific sense. Besides, you comment just shows exactly what my point was and thank you for demonstrating so vividly the issue at hand.
No, nothing to do with your name.
Not sure what you mean otherwise. Biologically, there is ONE human race (Homo sapiens). NZer is not a race. We are all the same species.
I think you are talking about ethnicity and culture. I don’t understand why you want that to be ‘one’. But as blue leopard and I were mentioning, perhaps you have been misunderstood. Would you care to clarify your point?
We are supposed to ALL be New Zealanders.
Quite right.
David, what makes you think that all New Zealanders are not ALL New Zealanders?
+1 Foreign Waka,
Pretty absurd responses to your accurate comment. I, too, would like to know to whose benefit actively dividing us is for? I sure as hell wish the majority would realize that its not to their benefit.
“One people” is an attitude of inclusiveness, the responses from CW & Jenny omit to acknowledge this. There can still be diversity and an attitude of “we’re all in this together”. We don’t have to become one colour, or clones. How foolish to even suggest that.
Britain after Stonehenge program on Choice TV relayed how the Romans gave a hoard of silver and gold to a “friendly” Scottish tribe to keep them onside and try and divide the clan loyalties. This was over 1000 years ago. Do we not learn anything
Please people, try and engage and see what games are being played on you. This is getting really serious. Look at what is going on overseas. Our paradigm is not working. We need collective force to shift toward a more positive direction.
Our paradigm is not working.
I agree…Our biculturalism is Pakeha defined biculturalism and it is not working.
But I don’t see the problem as being that we are not “one people”. Biculturalism would work better if it was not within a neoliberal paradigm – that is the problem.
There would be nothing wrong if we had two cultural norms, so long as they were both given equal opportunity to exist. Currently, we have token Maori culture that gets further subjugated by our racist economic system.
We need to redefine biculturalism so that both cultures can exist. Promoting only eurocentric ideals failed us before, during the 1970s, and this was after 2 decades of an equity based economic system.
To ditch biculturalism now, we would be left with the worst possible combination of economic and cultural systems. – neoliberalism and mono-culturalism. Yuk.
I think you miss the point here, Fatty.
An attitude of “we are all in it together” has nothing to do with colour, bi-culturalism, gender or any of these other ways of dividing us up.
Our dominant paradigm has been referred to as the “white male paradigm” by some. I will use this term to get my point across.
My observation is that the closer you are to a white male mentality the more likely you are to be “successful” in that hierarchy, I emphasize “mentality” because those who are “winning”, recieving accolades and value in the hierarchy and whom support and promulgate this dominant paradigm are not solely white nor male; we all know examples where some of the worst offenders are quite other than that physically. and those losing are not solely brown, pink, yellow, red. They are also white. And they are also white and male.
The more people who realize this the more we realize we are all in this together and the less prone we will be to being distracted and divided and ruled.
I need to add that I don’t believe many people are “winning” at all currently. Some might think they are, however there has to be some denial involved when the trends overseas are taken into account. It doesn’t matter whether you are “middle class” (what ever that means) and/or “non-political” and fairly “comfortable”; these groups of people are being affected by the state of chaos that our Western society has become. It doesn’t matter whether you are brown, black, white. It doesn’t matter what your gender is. Most peoples interests are being adversely affected.
There are problems that need to be dealt with and aren’t being, and one thing that would help is that we realize our similarities; we breathe, we love, we hurt, we all want what is best for ourselves.. If we could realize what unites us, we would start respecting one another, and one anothers’ different interests and start ensuring we were moving toward a better direction. This is not what is occurring at present. We are being more and more pitted against one another.
I think you miss the point here, Fatty.
Yes, when I read those last two comments, and the one that I replied to, I have no idea what your point is…but I am interested
The problem is that the term ‘one people’ or ‘we are all in this together’ is usually a call to end biculturalism…that is how I read it.
There are problems that need to be dealt with
Can you be more specific? I am confused
Yes, I wondered whether that was the case re you referring to biculturalism, which wasn’t what I was talking about.
Basically I’m commenting on getting NZ people in a state of mind where they are not so damned dividable! (My comment was in response to Foreign Waka’s comment at (5) and the response FW got to that comment.)
If people see what they have in common with one another, they are more likely to work together and be less easily divided.
re There are problems that need to be dealt with
I guess I am being deliberately vague because I’m not in the mood for searching for links to substantiate my point!
I’m referring to the type of problems illustrated out of the global financial crisis; how we are witnessing less and less morality and integrity from those in the upper echelons of our society (Western, not solely NZ), where people still appear to be giving our superiors credit for “knowing what they are doing” where its no longer due. I mean, these people such as bankers and politicians have been caught red-handed again and again and again, yet no real response or change to anything; not rectifying regulations, not the way things are reported and not how people vote. Just denial.
When a movement began that would have started getting the problems addressed, (Occupy Wall Street) here in NZ, it appeared people were more concerned over the state of our public lawns?? Our media, along with our lawn-valuing population, appear to have entirely checked out; I live amongst people of many different nationalities and I am constantly hearing how particularly dreadful New Zealand media is and how uninformed the people are (not surprising really).
I’ll make a short mention of the entirely illegal wars our Western society are involving themselves in, ones where there are war crimes committed and the initiators of which simply go on to get another, probably higher paid jobs, rather than be done for their crimes
Despite all these issues our media continues to push the lowest common denominator in attitudes. For what? Ratings? And in the meantime, it appears that people are still merely supporting a government because the main frontsperson “seems like a nice guy” despite oodles of dodgy, dodgy behaviour, incompetence and fiascos. And do I even bother to mention the approach our largest opposition party…is…taking…nah, I think you’ll probably get my point…
These are the types of problems I was referring to needed to be dealt with.
well said, I get your point and agree with you.
The issue with our media is a big one. We tend to have a bland and predictable media who perpetuate ignorance, but I think that is partly to do with the size of our population.
Mainstream sources of media – TV/newspapers/radio have such a limited amount of people to aim at, as a result they all sit in the middle and offer nothing. Compared with the UK – they have enough people to support left wing and right wing papers, as a result there are contrasting views and an environment is created where debate will occur…overcoming this is difficult.
This is compounded by the general agreement of most of our political parties. In a way, the demise of ACT has almost been a burden for the left…without them contrasting opinions also disappear. Nothing promotes true left policies more than an ACT supporter opening their mouth.
The population issue is a real one. But it pays to remember that in the UK you get the tabloids as well as the Times, The Gaurdian, and the Independent. While you do get more top notch stuff, you also get a lot more crap.
Thanks Fatty,
Hmm interesting . That gives me some insight thanks.
It is rather strange though, I was just considering how that we are a small nation, one might hope that spinning bigoted type attitudes wouldn’t “work” because we are only a few degrees separated and most of us must know plenty of others from different walks of life, therefore understand how different people’s needs and the issues they face are. This has certainly been what has caused me to open my attitudes up and pull my horns in and learn to consider a matter from different angles before drawing conclusions.. I would think we would be more understanding (and thus tolerant) toward one another’s different needs and issues for this reason. This does not appear to be the way it is working though.
Your Conspiracies Today Breaking News!
No. 94: Christpher Dorner.
http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news/2013/02/08/12476/lapd-manhunt-some-cheer-on-fugitive-christopher-do/
How is that a conspiracy?
It’s not, but that won’t stop the wackjobs. The first facebook link:
We Are All Chris Dorner
Christopher John Dorner is the victim of a manhunt and smear campaign. 5 years ago he was fired…
For many his allegations about police conduct ring true hence the support.
Great Bernard Hickey interview with the guy who spent a decade trying to get peoples attention about Madoff’s ponzi scheme.
He even got a couple of guns and sent his wife to shooting school, it was getting that hairy.
He reckons Madoff was burning through the world markets and clients and would have reached NZ eventually if it hadn’t crashed.
Now he makes a fortune detecting and alerting US authorities about ponzi schemes.
He describes the clues that give a ponzi schemer away.
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/63049/double-shot-interview-harry-markopolos-how-i-found-worlds-biggest-ponzi-scheme-8-years
Madoff would have arrived here in the nick of time to see the whole s**t-pile collapse as the likes of Sir Doug et al beat him by a long nose to suck all the cash out of the bloated upper-middle class with finance schemes that bore a remarkable resemblance to Madoff’s very own little money spinner…
2014, once again, will see politicians from all sides promising much,smiling and waving,
speeches that convince some, that’s the trickery,the hoodwinking of the political game,
once elected the hammer comes down,all bets are off,they are in office,why should
they care, or even stand by the words they uttered, prior to gaining office.
‘Democracy means government by discussion,but it is only effective if you can stop
people talking’ By Clement Atlee.
‘Democracy is the name we give the people, whenever we need them. By Robert,
Marquis de Flers and Arman de Caillavet L’habit vert.
Above quotes sourced from the Collins Thesaurus.
Record snow in a warming world: The science is clear.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8283594/King-find-recalls-Savage-mystery
Hi Anne, success, i hope the above link works,
thanks for your help. 🙂
Savage was one of our ‘truly great’ PM’s
He was indeed.
Yes it works. Now for someone to explain to me – in laywoman’s language – how you create a link using your own words like “this” or “have a look at this” etc.
Anne.
http://thestandard.org.nz/faq/comment-formatting/#linking
http://www.ironspider.ca/format_text/hyperlinks.htm
Thanks joe90…. Mystery solved, I’m a bit ashamed to say.
Umm… not layman enough for me. I will print a copy and find someone to explain what it all means and how it translates into practice. Thanks anyway joe90. It’s a start. 🙂
I can try in lay-person 🙂 In this example I’ll use square brackets [ ] so we can see what’s going on, but when you do it for real you’ll use angle brackets .
There are three bits to remember. The opening tag (which includes the address), the clickable text, and the closing tag.
————————-
The opening tag starts with a bracket, the letter a, and the phrase href=
Like so:
[a href=
That bit will always be the same for every link you make. The “a” means “this is a link”, and the href= means “this is the address the link takes us to”
The next bit of the opening tag is the address you want the link take us to. In this example it’s a youtube video address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY
We put quote marks around the address which mean “this is the beginning and end of the address”, and then a bracket, and that’s the end of the opening tag.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]
————————-
Next is the text that you want to be able to click. This can be anything at all. It doesn’t need quote marks or anything, whatever you put here is exactly what you’ll see.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band
————————–
The last bit is the closing tag. It’s just a bracket, a slash, another a, and another bracket. It means “this is the end of the link”.
Like so:
[a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRPmPn8pCY”]felix’s new band[/a]
————————–
And that’s it! Replace the square brackets in the example with angle brackets and this is what you’ll get: felix’s new band
Your turn…
Testing:
(ahref=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjQimIWClEw”) If you like Patti Smith You Might Like This(/a)
Many thanks Felix. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do this for ages
edit – bugger!
You need to use angle brackets, like < >
Also put a space between the “a” and the “href”
Apart from that you’re golden
second time lucky
edit: yes!
Ta Felix
Riverdance
Here goes
edit: She’s done it. She’s so clever. 🙂
Thanks felixviper.
Yay!
That you with the white hat and the slide guitar, felix?
could be…
One of my younger incarnations in the sixties was as a bass and slide guitar player. Now play slide lapstyle and bottleneck- deeply satisfying music. Still raises my neck hairs when I hear a slide player…….
I hear you. Something primal about slide that you don’t get from regular guitar.
Sonny Landreth: Almost Everybody Slides.
Probably drilled by him spinning in his grave.
I was disappointed to hear that Phil Goff, Phil Twyford and others apparently supported John Tamihere’s return to the party; perhaps they could share their reasoning here at The Standard. In today’s newspaper article John sneers about ‘the sisterhood’, and his comments about Paula Bennett’s appearance are an absurd sideshow, a circus he would bring to Parliament should Labour be foolish enough to let him swan back. He asks whether instead of calling Paula fat he should describe her as morbidly obese. Why does he make any negative comment about a woman’s appearance? What does this say about his character, about him as a man, and about those who overlook his ugly proclivities to renew his footing in Labour? In light of recent party tensions, I find myself wondering what sort of government Labour would make with its current team; not, perhaps, one that ordinary party members might feel proud of, or part of. I find myself hanging back from this party, which wears the cloak of Labour, but whose heart may no longer be truly Labour. I watch with interest the jostling for list positions as we approach the next election. Shane Jones, like John Tamihere, has an overworked ego but has achieved little in Parliament; he flaps his lips at media moments but is not the thoughtful leader we hoped for (and thus does not warrant in my view a high list position). Other list MPs have accepted positions, or taken stances, for rewards that may be as illusory as their list rankings in the months to come. I do not personally care who is the leader of the Labour party. But I care very much about the heart of the Labour party, as one little cog that has kept it beating in the provinces. Attention seeking opportunists like John Tamihere and Shane Jones come and go. But I thought more of Phil; as a woman member of the party, I can’t overlook sexism which, like any other kind of ism, can only exist if good people condone it.
Well said, Virginia Linton.
It would be good to read a response from a member of caucus to what you write here. When people express doubts about a party on The Standard, it would be interesting to know how many they represent. In this case, a lot I’m sure, which makes me view it a worthwhile activity for caucus members to respond.
+1 to Virginia Linton.
I know Phil Twyford and it puzzles me too. I can only assume he was approached and he agreed to let him have another chance. I presume Tamihere’s negative personal comments re Paula Bennett is tied up with his desire to win the candidacy for the Waitakere seat. (I know he says he’s not interested but who believes a politician even a past one).
I suspect it’s an attempt to attract the red-neck, anti-female politicians brigade to support him in his cause. Remember the previous candidate was Carmel Sepuloni and she indicated her intention to run for the candidacy again some time ago.
Virginia +1.
As a happily hetero sport-loving beer-drinking bloke, I find Tamihere’s attitude infantile at best, offensive at worst. Worse still is this patronising notion that people like him and Shane Jones speak for a large chunk of society, and voters will return to Labour in droves if only Tamihere and Jones could be to the fore.
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
If these two “blokes” are such vote-magnets, how come they keep losing elections?
Because bitches, that’s why.
@Pascal’s Bookie
I don’t understand?
Are you meaning that these bloke-types are to appeal to the female vote?
Or that these bloke-types are bitches?
I guess I personally would agree with the second option, however, if you are meaning the first, I wonder whether this is true? Or is it that blokes don’t vote for chicks? I have wondered how the genders are split with regards to political views; whether there is a distinct trend amongst the genders. It was certainly mentioned during election-time that Act has a hard time appealing to the female voter.
From memory, I think he called certain women (was it women Labour MPs including Helen Clark?) bitches earlier in the 2000 decade when he was given the push. Something along those lines anyway. Someone will correct me if I’m wrong.
Ah cheers Anne,
A case of projection I would conclude 🙂
Yes, Virginia Linton, I – too – am seeing a much more sexist Labour caucus re-appearing with John Tamihere’s endorsement by so many of the rightwing blokes and their takeover of the caucus.
And I regret to say that I think we’ll see the so-called re-shuffle of front positions due to be announced
soon by the Leader reinforce this blokey-bent.
Twyford and Goff are all part of the Mallfaria, see where this is going out west. They just can’t help themselves.
Watch that space and DC and CS better watch their backs, even more so now.
watch Labour do it all in public whereas the NACT do the deals, sort out the spin and everyone then gets on with it.
A really well-composed comment, Virginia.
Sorry about that brief outage. Didn’t notice a mysql update amongst the security fixes.
Hi lprent,
I posted a query a few Open Mikes ago, not realising you were away.
Its simply about the “notify me via email” function, which no longer works. Its no biggy really, yet I was wondering if there was some way to get this function back? If there was any setting I could change from my side? I am on Safari 5.something and gmail email.
I will go back and find my last query because there were a few others commenting in response.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06022013/#comments
(There was also another query to you at post 19 on the same Open Mike.
Thank you
Ah. Thanks for reminding me. I’m just fixing one of the backups that isn’t working too well. I’ll reconnect and start the mail server after that. It was simply an oversight when I shifted the server in Jan. Ummm people may get a pile of banked emails when that happens.
It was more that my brain was elsewhere. The code I was trying to build/fix was complicated and I had to kind of stretch to make it work at all well in the target platform.
As well as The Standard I was somewhat vague about really important things like sleep, Lyn, bills and taking pills.
Oh cool! Thanks lprent, and thanks for the work you do, its most appreciated.
(Hopefully you’ll address the really important things first, I’m sure none of us would begrudge you that 😯 )
Lynn,You have to take your medication, and get some sleep. The days of SysOp’s surviving on 4 hrs, and umpteen cups of corrosively strong coffee are long gone now lol. And never forget the better half! Mental note to self, don’t forget your pills!
Thank you, and thanks for the work you put in. It lets us write and perhaps even be heard now and then.
Chris Laidlaw’s lame quip trivializes and undermines a serious point
Radio New Zealand National, Sunday 10 February 2013, 11:10 a.m.
Chris Laidlaw interviewed Seyed Majid Tafreshi Khameneh, the Iranian Ambassador to New Zealand.
LAIDLAW: Iran has supported Hezbollah, hasn’t it.
TAFRESHI: Hezbollah has not invaded any other territory. They are
defending their land. They are freedom fighters.
LAIDLAW: [guffaws nervously] Well, one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.
Disappointed in Laidlaw’s lapse into hard right propaganda, I sent him the following e-mail….
Dear Chris,
After the Iranian ambassador had pointed out that Hezbollah is an indigenous self-defence organization, and had never sent troops to invade any territory, you quipped that “one man’s freedom-fighter is another man’s terrorist.” That was not only a banal observation, it served to trivialize and undermine the point that the Ambassador had just made.
Your interview was otherwise fair and thorough.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
@Morrissey
I find this sort of thing really shameful. How rude and uninformed we can be.
It is probably beyond any “middle” NZ to grasp the concept that the word “freedom fighter” isn’t synonymous with terrorist The word “terrorist” can, thus be effectively used to stamp out any opposition to the status quo, and noone seems to mind that the status quo way of doing things is leading us to hell in a handbasket.
Its just shameful to be lumped in with this type of mentality (if you can even call it that).
NZ must not change as there is no alternative.
Meanwhile –
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years.
If you have even the remotest interest in public broadcasting, I cannot recommend the following link enough. Truly inspiring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXEuEUQIP3Q
frackin’ hell
http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130209/OPINION/130209230/1119
…and you thought Atlantis was a disaster
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/09/lawless-high-seas-threaten-the-planet
growing a clam-shell economy
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/09/1563101/national-journal-warns-the-economic-price-of-climate-change-is-already-here-and-growing/?mobile=nc
“oh my gully goodness gracious me”
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/02/09/bangladesh_faces_mass_migration_loss_of_land_from_climate_change.html
Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
If Key and Gillard in Queenstown are supposed to signify the ‘ANZAC Spurrut’ at play, then I want no part of it.
Yet another Key venture in self-aggrandisement, sucking up and selling out.
It’s interesting when you look at the definition of a psychopath available on the internet. I think it’s Wikipaedia that has some interesting characteristics. You could provide a match with the various categories more precisely than you coud with the likes of Bainimarama or Mugabe.
Yet – still the populace worships! – aided and abetted by an uncritical MSM.
As they say though – the harder they rise, the harder they fall!
(and if EVER there was a travesty to an OZ Labor Party it would be Joolya – I keep wondering if NZ’s equivalent are an ABC club and a Shearer).
Hey! – btw (as they say amongst the connected) – what’s happened to that noice little boi FanClub, or FanBoi – or whatever the fuck he pops up as? AND – WHERE lately is the Hataitai pacifier that not only now wants to review the ‘used by’ label expiry date, but also the ‘RRP’ [or recommended retail price]. Bugger! I forget her name just at the moment – hold on – for the benefit of precision, I’ll just Google her shall I? ………
Oh fuck – it seems she’s become irrelevant to GOOGLE too!
Anyway – you fellas should know who I mean – she’s a foreskin in the ABC club along with the Mallardy bovver boy and a host of other amusements
Just saw Key on the News playing a drinking game, and sculling a glass of beer. Nice to see he supports safe drinking habits.
Didn’t you get the memo? Drinking to excess is only bad when it’s Yoof (i.e. anyone who looks “young” to a Campbell Live producer) doing it. Grown-ups can do whatever they like, it’s not like they set examples or contribute to drinking culture or anything.
Missed that memo. Thanx for the heads up. A case of do as he says, not as he does huh?
Charlie Stross on the beige dictatorship. …sigh…
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/02/political-failure-modes-and-th.html
So the future isn’t a boot stamping on a human face, forever. It’s a person in a beige business outfit advocating beige policies that nobody wants (but nobody can quite articulate a coherent alternative to) with a false mandate obtained by performing rituals of representative democracy that offer as much actual choice as a Stalinist one-party state. And resistance is futile, because if you succeed in overthrowing the beige dictatorship, you will become that which you opposed.
Thoughts?
“a Campbell Live producer”
Despite being hypocritical and increasingly a parody of shit sensationalism and faux community concern, it looks like the Campbell live team just keep getting lucky breaks.
Someone at TVNZ made something much much worse.
It’s called lose lose for those who watch rather than ‘make’ TV.
“it’s not like they set examples or contribute ”
Not one reply, not even a nibble.
Someone get me a two headed tortoise and JC’s extension number.
Someone should tell David Shearer to stop listening to what He is saying when speaking in front of a camera,
Shearer i noticed on the news tonight has a bad habit of self editing in the middle of making a comment, this also brings in the aaah as He searches for the words He wants to use as a clarification in the middle of a comment to the media…
I think I might have mentioned it before, but I doubt very much it’s searching for words, just making sure he remembers to use the ones he’s been told to.
Speak from the same sleeve you wear your heart on, or learn to fake it better.
I pity the Hansard editor.
He should just stop speaking and get someone competent doing it. If I were fixing my car and reached the limit of my incompetence, I’d get hold of someone who knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t burn down the closest workshop and carry on.
Labour voter??? Labour Party member???, rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???,
The vote has been had, is there another in February 2014???, if not such denigration of those the Labour Caucus voted for as Leader is pretty pointless and it’s only possible out-come is to increase the chances of Slippery being the Prime Minister until 2017,
Myself, i would rather work toward not having the worst case scenario occur and would suggest that if you are a Labour Party member your energies would better be spent ensuring the Party Members have the ability to ‘trigger’ the scheduled leadership votes under the ‘new’ rules into the future,
Shearer may have made that abhorrent bene-bashing speech and His ‘worker in the pub’ one wasn’t something to cheer about either,
Compare this tho to another Labour Leader as Prime Minister, ”Beneficiaries will not be included in Working for Families as this will encourage them to get a job”-Helen Clark,
Who was Prime Minister when income tax was applied to welfare benefits,none other than David Lange,
Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…
“Labour voter???” – Nope. Not any more.
“Labour Party member???” – Nope. Never joined any political party.
“rather have Slippery leading the National Party to victory in 2014???” – Nope. that doesn’t sound like me at all. Besides, I reckon you’ll need many more than just my vote for that not to occur. Good luck, best get your lucky red socks out of the bottom drawer, bless.
And none of those answers above discredit or give less validity to me stating opinion in any way shape or form, Comrade. Do feel free to prove they do if you’re bothered.
As for the rest of your post, all I can give you is a bit of a shrug, apart from
“Or is every one still imbibing sour grapes about the other Dave’s failure to topple Shearer…”
As opposed to you sipping the dregs of the sweet nectar of success dripping off the bottom of Mallard’s poisoned chalice.
You were doing alright until the spurious final comment, my feelings on Mallard are pretty plain in the comments on the post on that subject,
Spoze the likes of Trev and Shane with their open attacks on the Green Party are a bit like the anti-Shearer crew here on the Standard, Trev might have caught it by being entangled with McCully’s ex and Shane well wanker’s never really stop themselves from gushing,
Lolz i should really just scroll past the ‘i hate Shearer comments’ but even that’s damn hard as i found out today reading one interesting comment on an entirely unrelated subject that ended with a ‘i hate Shearer’,
Hate on, but, unless there is a vote in February 2014 and a willingness of caucus to put that vote to the wider Party which considering everything is a small flight of fancy then Shearer we are all stuck with and no amount of venting will change that,
Nah not red socks, my feet are Green from having roamed my patch to often without any on…
John key got a mixed reception at the Big Gay Out today, according to Stuff:\\
The Greens seemed to be more in tune with the event. Loiusa Wall got various mentions because of her marriage equality amendment bill. But the rest of Labour MPs seem to have been MIA.
Meanwhile, Lucy Lawless turned up to do a little Community Service, and probably mingled today:
Lolz dances with transvestites, Slippery gets the first comment of the day and maybe the last of the night,
Imagine the Gordon Brown type comments that must flow from the mouth of that chameleon as the limo whisks Him off from such events…
Long term plan for NZ’s move to Charter or Partnership Schools might go like this.
The full extent of Michael Gove’s (UK Sec Education) plans to revolutionise education are revealed today in a secret memo showing he is considering outright privatisation of academies and free schools. All academies and free schools in England, which are the Education Secretary’s personal obsession, would be free to become profit-making for the first time, and be entirely decoupled from Whitehall control. ……Mr Gove is considering the radical step because massive expansion of academies and free schools is costing government too much money.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/secret-memo-shows-michael-goves-plan-for-privatisation-of-academies-8488552.html
That’s the point they’ve reached in the United States, thus allowing the far-right Republicans to argue for voucher schools. Fortunately the latest effort in Louisiana was overturned late last year: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324705104578151570134436156.html