‘If we’re serious about tackling crime, we need to tackle poverty’
Studies from around the world tell us several important things about poverty and crime. Poverty is linked with crime. Those who experience poverty are much more likely to be the victims of crime than those in more affluent communities. As a British review of the research noted: “Most children raised in poverty do not become involved in crime, but there are higher victim and fear of crime rates in disadvantaged areas”.
That said, there is good evidence that, compared with their more affluent peers, children brought up in poverty are more likely to be reported as having behavioural problems, more likely to be reported for aggressive and/or risk-taking behaviour, more likely to be excluded from school, more likely to be the victims of criminal behaviour, more likely to grow up in communities with limited social and recreational opportunities and facilities.
Two important points need to be made about this evidence:
If we are serious about tackling crime then we need to tackle poverty
First, none of the research links these outcomes and behaviours with bad parenting by parents who don’t care. It is the poverty of lives, experiences and opportunities that is critical. Put simply, children and families need the resources to enable them to have a full life in which children are given every possible opportunity to grow and develop.
The UK research indicates that poverty is identified as an important part of the context of crime, while US research goes further, indicating that poverty causes crime.
Whether it is context or cause, if we are serious about tackling crime then we need to tackle poverty as part of the response.
Of course, we have seen nothing from this government which indicates they are really serious about tackling poverty. It is much easier to tackle the poor and to blame them for poverty, and for crime.
Poverty is expensive
Second, both crime and poverty are expensive economic and social failures.
There are now good calculations of the costs of crime and the costs of poverty. Reducing poverty is seen as an important part of reducing the costs of poverty. If we are really serious about cutting the costs of crime, then we will need to be serious about reducing poverty.
Of course, we have seen nothing from this government which indicates they are really serious about tackling poverty.
What they’re serious about is increasing poverty. That’s what privatisation has always done throughout history. Rich people require the existence of poor people because people who can support themselves can’t be forced to make a few people richer.
National governs for the rich and so they actively increase poverty.
Trump is the fault of Trump (he’s been saying nasty stuff since long before he got involved in politics) and the GOP who didn’t stop him when they should have. In fact they doubled down too and got in behind him.
And there’s you making excuses for a grown man again, and assuming that someone criticising Trump is a uncritical of US politics generally and the Clintons specifically.
You are being a bit heavy handed there Miravox. CV is not making excuses for Trump, he’s just pointing out how stuffed their system is and what morons it throws up.
You’ve hit the nail on the head Miravox. And CV paints himself even more
risibly the fanboy of a man ‘entitled’ purely on account of being from birth a fabulously rich spoilt arsehole. Save us from CV and Trump. Bullies the both of them.
I tend to think Trump is the fault of those who came earlier, especially Bush x 2, and Reagan. Those latter have disenfranchised so many working people and trashed the social contract, leading to the disillusionment and discontent in US society now, on which the bottom-feeding Trump depends.
“Trump is all Hilary’s fault”. Typical of right wing supporter for not taking responsibility for their flawed leadership, and policies. Trump like Key is of the narcissistic mold, will never admit to a mistake or see another person’s point of view as valid.
Are you serious Johan? Obama has been a total disappointment and a monumental flop. The only thing he has been good at is killing people. His drone warfare is an abomination and a despicable method of warfare. It’s all very well to be affable and congenial ( and to play golf with other dickheads), but that doesn’t make you a good Human Being. He will go off and join the ex Presidents social club, like all the others that have done their bit for “pax americana’.
Obviously, you know very little about American politics, and their checks and balance system, which restricts a presidents from doing what they wants to do.
The drone investment was already on the books and signed off before Obama became president.
Garibaldi, keep listening and viewing RT to shape your views of world politics.
Was not a fan of her politics, but did admire her for her tireless fighting for what she believed in. Her passing is sad not only for her family and friends but for those she fought for.
James, why did you have to start with, ‘Was not a fan of her politics’? Your comment would have seemed genuine without that unnecessary, slightly hostile snip. As if you are so magnanimous in praising her, even though she was wrong. When someone takes your bait, in comes your abusive reply. Sorry – you are the cheap, disrespectful troll, and your attempt to take the high moral ground is rather unconvincing. You should have the brains to understand that her politics were the basis of her passion, and now is NOT the time to question them. I suspect that you do have those brains, and wanted someone to bite, just so you could leap in – abusively.
The death of Helen Kelly is a huge loss, and her courage, hard work and resourcefulness on behalf of New Zealand workers, right till the end, is an inspiration to us all. My condolences to her family, and to her many friends and supporters.
Yes Helen was the epitome of people we can admire.
I remain a bit sceptical of those who opposed all the good work she did offering their condolences. How about coming out and admitting that what she did and what she stood for was superb , you right wingers.
Annoys me too, they were especially feral during the Hobbit dispute, were there any kind words for her then? I recall her being called a traitor & shit stirrer & a hater. I don’t buy their sincerity at all. (& why do they have all start with ‘I didn’t agree with her politics but…’). She will be greatly missed.
No, they’ll have information, just not the type of stuff that the police can use.
Dunno about you but I used to be part of the ‘criminal underground’ and know how it works. Probably couldn’t function there now, it was several decades ago after all, but at the time I was always amazed at how much people who weren’t in that scene didn’t know what was going on around them.
They will know who the drug dealers are, they will know where they are. In a small place like that, if I was a drug dealer I’d be getting up and leaving. The police should be watching who’s leaving.
Repeatedly in the past I have told good people from a small poverty stricken Northland town that there are safe and amonymous ways of alerting the authorities. Often they’ve responded that they’ve availed those ‘ways’……..and nothing.
The middle class presume that insofar as we have a law-abiding society this is a product of the formal process of justice.
Back when I was deepsea fishing, one of my colleague’s daughters was raped. A gang ‘resolved’ the matter.
This too was a legal process, a justice system reflecting the values of a community and conducive to law abiding behaviour.
Not being familiar with the antecedents of our legal system my fellow students could not imagine what I was talking about.
Of course a healthy justice system would not rely on gangs – but a healthy justice system would not allow a corrupt government to steal public assets either. Robin Hood and the Yakuza are products of an unjust environment.
Back when I was deepsea fishing, one of my colleague’s daughters was raped. A gang ‘resolved’ the matter.
Similar happened with one of my nieces.
Of course a healthy justice system would not rely on gangs – but a healthy justice system would not allow a corrupt government to steal public assets either. Robin Hood and the Yakuza are products of an unjust environment.
This too was a legal process, a justice system reflecting the values of a community and conducive to law abiding behaviour.
A shit justice system reflecting a community with shit values. When I was 20, a group of us nearly got creamed by a gang after someone decided one of us had raped a woman none of us had ever heard of. I hated those fucks way more than I hated the police at the time.
Every justice system is loved or hated according to the integrity of its results.
That gang leaders can identify and threaten drug dealers publicly suggests a relatively low level of systemic integrity in that area. Communities access the justice systems that are permeable to them.
A justice system led by a Judith Collins creates a significant demand for informal justice.
Michelle would have way more credibility if she had come out against the destruction of sovereign country Libya by Hillary Clinton with the complicity of her husband
…this is a war crime!!! ( they should be tried as war criminals)
…”… US arrogance admits no mistakes. The people of the world really should demand all of these US officials and NATO and French and Italian and British officials be charged as war criminals. Because that’s the only way you can characterize what was done to Libya. There was no reason, no purpose, except outright piracy. Libya had the highest standard of living and an enormous amount of stability. It had built up a vibrant infrastructure, it had modern cities. All of this has been completely and systematically destroyed. What was done to the water and the irrigation, the man-made river – all of this. It is unimaginable the crime and an accounting must be demanded, not further intervention. Because ‘failed state’ means this is ‘something that just happened’, it failed on its own. They should label it a ‘destroyed state’, a state destroyed by US and NATO bombing…”
you are losing it sooky – attack michelle obama now? what a bunch of dim sadwits you trump defenders are – no morals, no guts, no strength, no honour, no courage – nothing, just weak efforts at distraction from the abomination that is your man trump.
Whew! Have you got your two minutes hate done for the day now?
It’s hilarious watching how the liberal left in the US has now fallen into the same mudslinging gutter dwelling smear politics that it has always accused the right of driving.
It’s even funnier watching local lefties get sucked in by it all under the pretense of Clinton being the morally righteous candidate.
Watch frail Clinton stumble and fall mate. Her entire inner circle and Secret Service detail know how sick she is. Maybe she should get some guts and own up to not being fit for office.
what about that sniff – is it a habit or some deadly disease – with all the revelations about trumps disgusting behaviours I worry but I spose the tests will show – he’ll do them after his audit is finished and he sends his tax returns in ha ha
[I completely agree. This isn’t the first time recently that Open Mike has descended into ad hominems and vitriol. Yes OM is looser in terms of what is ok, but there are limits and it isn’t a free for all for people to abuse each other. I suggest that everyone rethink where the boundaries are (or reread the Policy). Everyone in OM toady can take this as a general warning, and if I see repeat offenders I will start banning. I don’t have time for this shit today, and it’s easier to drop someone in moderation than try and edit and explain.
Please also consider how your behaviour affects other people (especially people reading or wanting to comment). – weka]
“Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Apr 29
Is it really necessary to spend next 6 months pointing out that “criticism of Clinton” ≠ “support for Trump”? Just get a different tactic.
And the reverse.
+100 @ left for deadOn this day, really. Stop the hate PLEASE.
Today I’m really feeling the loss of Helen Kelly and have no patience with petty bickering which comes across as trivial, childish and distracting.
it is open mike – if you don’t like it don’t read it and if you want to ignore it go ahead – if you want to insult others (trivial, childish and distracting) do that too – nice enough for you two?
[free for all abuse that has no political point is not ok. Please read the warning above or at the bottom of this thread – weka]
Michelle would have way more credibility if she had come out against the destruction of sovereign country Libya by Hillary Clinton with the complicity of her husband
Yeah, those damn Libyans would never have tried to overthrow Gaddafi if Hillary hadn’t ordered them to do it!
Do you know what is going to decide the election on Nov 8
No, it’s not the liberal left’s current obsession with genital grabbing and the well timed and well co-ordinated “bimbo explosion” (to use Hillary Clinton’s phrasing) now targetting Trump.
It is demographics and turn out. These two links will be very interesting to anyone wanting to understand what might happen on Nov 8.
IMO compared to 2012:
– white turn out will increase significantly (back to 2000 or 2004 levels)
– African American turn out will decrease significantly (back to 2000 or 2004 levels)
– Trump will gain marginally more African American and Hispanic vote than Romney did
– the gender split will be basically steady as per 2012 (amongst women voters Obama was +11 compared to Romney; I expect Clinton to come in somewhere between +10 to +12 compared to Trump)
– Voters under 30: Trump will do noticeably better than Romney with Millenials but still be well behind Clinton (in 2012 Obama was +23 compared to Romney).
the liberal left’s current obsession with genital grabbing
I think you’ll find that it’s Trump who’s obsessed with genital grabbing. The liberal left tend to be interested in consent, or the obvious lack of it.
If the response is well timed and well co-ordinated, good. Feminism is about effective unified action by women for women against rape culture and its proponents and apologists who try to downplay it or distract attention from or excuse perpetrators.
” “You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing,” the conservative commentator said, according to audio released by Media Matters for America. “You can do anything — the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything — as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent.
“If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation, then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.””
When it comes to the question of whether and how the Podesta email archive should be reported, there are, in my view, five principles that ought to guide the decision-making process:
1. A source’s motives are irrelevant in deciding whether to publish.
2. Journalists constantly publish material that is stolen or illegally obtained.
3. The more public power someone has, the less privacy they are entitled to claim.
4. Whether something is “shocking” or “earth-shattering” is an irrelevant standard.
5. All journalists are arbiters of privacy and gatekeepers of information.
This pretty much.
Russia may have hacked the emails (We have no proof that they did, only hearsay) but that is irrelevant to the content of those emails and the behaviour that they indicate.
And whether Russia hacked the e-mails and/or is trying to influence the US election is a totally separate issue to be considered in it’s own compartment.
Agreed to all that me too Draco.
The Expert Clinton team has played the distraction card- “the Russians did it so it doesn’t matter.”
Remember the Dirty Tricks response from the Nats? The info was stolen so it doesn’t matter what it showed.
Remember the Dirty Tricks response from the Nats? The info was stolen so it doesn’t matter what it showed.
Yep. Always bugged me that. The Nats were admitting that the information that showed that they were a corrupt bunch that should rightly be in jail was true and correct but the jonolists helped spread the distraction.
I actually agree.
I’m not sure that the emails show anything to be annoyed about though. All seems pretty standard for private emails , no “I hid the stolen ballots over here” lines.Unlike the overt plotting in DP.
“Earlier, Trump on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) used a rally in Florida to speak of a vast sinister conspiracy to keep him out of the White House.
Addressing the release of emails apparently hacked from the Democratic Party and then published by WikiLeaks, Trump constructed a conspiracy theory that included the collusion of the Clintons, the Clinton campaign, the Clintons’ lawyers, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Commission on Presidential Debates, as well as Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the mainstream media.
These actors, he suggested, were somehow involved in covering up various crimes by Clinton and seeking to prevent his election.”
yep just everyone out to get him, nothing to do with anything he’s done, he is a innocent, shamefully hounded for being honest, for being rich and successful and terrific.
Please note the qualities of the man – a coward and weakling.
Gowdy (R.) to FBI director Comie: You Have Five Immunity Agreements and No Prosecution, “That’s Not The FBI That I Used To Work For”
Something dirty is going on at the DOJ and FBI. The rules are being bent and broken to help Hillary Clinton. I wish the liberal left would wake up and smell the crony corruption in the air.
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) questions FBI Director Comey during the House Judiciary hearing titled, “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“What concerns me Director is when you have five immunity agreements and no prosecution… when you are allowing witnesses who happen to be lawyers sit in on an interview. That is not the FBI that I used to work with,” Gowdy said to Comey on Wednesday.
“… This is not something we can ignore. It’s not something we can sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. Because this was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn’t locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. And actually bragging about kissing and groping women. Using language so obscene that many of us are worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV. To make matters worse, it now seems clear this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life.
I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally. And I’m sure that many of you do too. Particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It is frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts…”
CNN gave Clinton advance warning of debate question
Speaking of conspiracy (interesting how an 11 year old tape of the Don gets released, and a couple of days afterwards a “bimbo explosion” [using Hillary Clinton’s phrasing] appears to drag the Don down) it seems that people in the media are coordinating very closely with the Clinton camp:
How did the text of a CNN-TV One town hall question about the death penalty end up in the hands of the Clinton campaign ahead of time?
New evidence on Wednesday suggests that TV One co-host Roland Martin may have been the link from the town hall prep process to the Democratic National Committee.
In a hacked email published by Wikileaks, Democratic National Committee official Donna Brazile appeared to tell Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri that “from time to time I get the questions in advance.” The March 12 email foreshadowed a question asked by TV One host Roland Martin at the March 13 town hall.
Brazile was both a DNC vice chair and CNN political commentator at the time. But CNN flatly denied any coordination. “We have never, ever given a town hall question to anyone beforehand,” a CNN spokeswoman said.
Martin did not deny sharing information with Brazile. Instead, when asked by CNNMoney on Tuesday, he said “my questions were shared with my executive producer and several members of my TV One team.”
When asked in a followup question if he would explicitly rule out any sharing of questions with Brazile, Martin did not respond.
I shed tears this morning when I heard about Helen Kelly’s death. I shed more when I watched Michelle Obama fighting back her own tears delivering this speech.
It is fair to say that I am in a rather emotional state today and I am feeling particularly intolerant of those commentators on the Standard who have dominated discourse with their attacks on Clinton and their defence of Trump. I find these people abhorrent, and I want to say a few things about why I feel this way.
I went on my first protest march against U.S. foreign policy in 1968 and I have been continuously critical of U.S. foreign policy ever since. US foreign policy is often disastrous for the rest of the world. Some presidents have been worse than others, and Clinton is likely to be worse than Obama, but there have been many presidents far worse than either of them. It is my belief that Trump would be worse than any for the simple reason that he is a narcissist completely lacking in basic humanity. He doesn’t care a shit for anybody except himself. He is a misogynist and he is racist. He is greedy, he is dishonest and as far as I am aware, he has never sacrificed a single thing to make the world a better place.
Hillary Clinton has done work to improve the lives of the poor and the disadvantaged in the U.S. I would have preferred a left wing candidate but this is not going to happen in the U.S.A any time soon so I support the best option – but she is a lot better than “not Trump.” She is also better than any of the Republican candidates.
Are the people who support Trump misogynist and racist? Not necessarily. However, they are people who don’t think misogyny and racism are important, and from my point of view, that is almost as bad.
I have been protesting against racism and misogyny as long as I have been protesting against US foreign policy but I will not be responding to any Trump apologists commenting here as they are not worth the time.
Michael Moore @MMFlint 5h5 hours ago
It’s as if Dr. Frankenstein wanted to see if he could create a creature that embodied every disgusting male trait all rolled into one guy.
Karen you don’t have to reply, but I just want to say that I agree that Trump is abhorrent and is a total disaster and can’t be let near the reigns of power.
However, I feel the same about Hillary. Going by her past record she will HAPPILY lead ‘us’ into nuclear war. What the heck? The American system is failing us all.
“In the same way, I’d like to suggest that it’s past time for the inmates of modern industrial civilization to grow up, sprout some gonads—either kind, take your pick—and deal with the simple, necessary, and healthy realization that our species is not going to be around forever. Just as maturity in the individual arrives when it sinks in that human life is finite, collective maturity may just wait for a similar realization concerning the life of the species. That kind of maturity would be a valuable asset just now, not least because it might help us grasp some of the extraordinary possibilities that will open up as industrial civilization finishes its one-way trip down the chute marked “decline and fall” and the deindustrial future ahead of us begins to take shape.”
From what I can see Helen Kelly was never given an Honor in the New Zealand awards system – all shame to New Zealand that in her lasting months she was not awarded for her work for employees’ rights and health and safety on our work sites. There is something smelling bad in our civic system in this country. No matter what anyone’s ideology is, it cannot be ignored that Helen Kelly deserved recognition for her faithful endeavours for employees over her working lifetime.
What you say does raise questions about the Honours’ system. If it cannot transcend politics and honour someone as heroically good, dedicated and effective as Helen Kelly, it is badly compromised. An honours system that is reduced to dishing out awards for cronies cannot command broad respect.
Here’s a question about ‘our’ honours system: Do the politicians ask us about who we think should be honoured?
See, I’m pretty sure that they don’t. So, where do they get the lists from? The answer to that seems to be in the people who mostly get honoured – business people.
Question: Mr President, the thing is that the French do not understand why you are bombing these people you call terrorists. After all, it was ISIS who attacked us, but there are no ISIS forces in Aleppo. This is what the French do not understand.
Vladimir Putin: Let me explain. It is another terrorist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, that controls the situation in Aleppo. This group was always considered a wing of Al Qaeda and is included in the UN’s list of terrorist organisations.
What we find particularly depressing and hard to understand is that our partners, especially the Americans, are always finding a way to try to exclude this group from the list of terrorist organisations. Let me tell you why. It seems to us as though our partners are always repeating the same mistake. They want to use these terrorist organisations’ and radicals’ combat potential to pursue their own political aims, in this case, to combat President Assad and his government, and do not understand that they cannot simply stall them [the rebels] and get them to live by civilised rules after they have tasted victory over someone.
We have reached repeated agreements with the Americans that they will differentiate between Jabhat al-Nusra and its like and the so-called healthy opposition forces, including in Aleppo. They have agreed that this is necessary. What’s more, we have even agreed on concrete deadlines, but nothing is done from one month to the next.
I would like to put in a full comment on Helen Kelly and her work but it won’t come on site though it has been recorded as when I tried a second time I was told it was a duplicate.
Could it be released from Colditz?
s there a limit on me since I got rude some months ago? What changes have there been to try and limit specious comments? Any?
[You’re not in any form of moderation that I can see. However, there are other reasons that comments can get held up. Most often it’s if the system doesn’t recognise you. Sometimes that’s a new IP address or a misspelled handle or email. I’ll keep an eye out and release anything of yours that gets trapped ASAP. TRP]
TRP
Thanks. I had already put the comment on the other condolences post so had been recognised, but then took that off with a view to transferring it here, and replaced it with a shorter one.
The system now isn’t allowing me to put the transferred post plus added extra links on it, up here. It has been registered in the system. but perhaps not noted when I removed it, and now I want to put it in the different post it still records it as published.
As I went to some trouble to get good links I would like to get it up and honour Helen’s work more fully.
[Open Mike seems a better place to have this conversation :-). Site does seem buggy this morning – weka]
I have a very simple question, that only requires a yes or no answer,
if you have to go through mental gymnastics and wordy explanations to justify not being forthright and honest you are deceiving yourself and others and as such cannot be trusted.
Question:
If you know someone is sponsoring terrorism, is it ethical to accept funding from them for a personal campaign?
If you know someone is endorsed by a terrorist organisation, is it ethical to promote them as the next President of the United States?
When hate groups or their leaders support him, Trump makes half-hearted apologies or simply feigns ignorance. He accepted (and later returned) money from a well-known white separatist, then selected him as a delegate. (”Database error,” the campaign later said.) He denounced pro-Trump white nationalist robocalls, but acknowledged that “people are extremely angry.”…
[former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard] Duke, a longtime neo-Nazi, has publicly praised the real estate mogul for months. Last August, he called Trump’s candidacy “a great thing,” and noted that Trump was “the best of the lot.” At that point, Trump’s nativist platform was clear — he had made inflammatory comments about Mexican “rapists” earlier that summer — but Trump still had an opportunity to distance himself from the white nationalist movement.
Instead, in February, he utterly failed to denounce Duke… Amid an onslaught of public criticism, Trump disavowed Duke and blamed his initial remarks on a “very bad earpiece.”…
on “Meet the Press,” Trump said he would support a Democrat over Duke, but added a caveat: “I guess, depending on who the Democrat (is).”
And therein lies the problem, the reality is the question required a yes or no answer,
You don’t like this as it would make you question your values so seek to change the reality.
What you want is not what is present so you seek to change that reality by pretending your need changes the reality to include a third option, “it depends” when in reality “it depends falls within the subgroup of “yes” with justifications allowing you to choose that option.
The end result is you have chosen, “the ends justify the means” .
moral fluidity, nothing set in stone,
Maybe lying on a discussion board is justifiable if it nets the best results?
[OK, lets see. Ignoring moderation request? Check. Insinuating an author is a liar? Check. Banned for a week? Check. See you Saturday week, Grim. TRP]
Women being assaulted is just something Women live with every day. Who cares.
Women being grabbed by the pussy without consent is something that happens every day. Who cares.
Women being belittled and put down is happening every day. Who cares.
Little girls being told to shut up and be nice is good for little girls after all they need to learn their place. Who cares.
Women being told that motherhood is the biggest thing in their live happens every day, it matters not that they may not want children or even can’t have them. Who cares
Women being hired for what they can do while Men get hired for potential happens every day.Who cares.
Women world wide being abused, beaten, verbally put down, discriminated against with such mundane things as food availability, access to hygiene products, safe spaces etc etc …thats normal.
So frankly of course women should just go back to their place and be seen but not heard. Cause no women shall teach men. http://biblehub.com/1_timothy/2-12.htm
King James Bible
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
#repealthe19th 🙂 cause clearly women don’t know what men are good for them. see above.
And yeah, its Clintons fault that the Republican party could only find the carrrot coloured shitstain to represent them in the running for Presnit.
Can’t remember who said it, but here it goes… Never wrestle with a pig: you assume undignified positions, you get covered with mud and in the end you’re left with the suspicion that the pig enjoyed it.
In case you missed it (as there is no confirmation there from you that you saw the moderator’s message and you otherwise seem to be ignoring it), here are TRP’s instructions from comment 22 repeated:
[Don’t tell commenters and authors what they can and can’t write, grim. You’re being both pompous and precious expecting folk to just limit themselves to yes or no answers and then pontificating at great length yourself. Further more, chiding those that can’t be bothered with your games and assuming a position of moral authority because they won’t follow your rules is foolish and not conducive to intelligent debate.
Try being less prescriptive and ask open questions that allow commenters to comment. Debates on ethics can be instructive and educational, but less so if you’ve already claimed squatters rights on the moral high ground. TRP]
In other words, I think that Sabine’s comment was likewise telling you that she does not accept the limitations you have put upon her comments. Well; that, and the fact their is no ethically-pure choice between the two main party’s presidential candidates. There’s always Stein and Johnson (or even one of the other four candidate who don’t even have running mates) if your own ethical purity is more important to you than your county’s wellbeing.
I’m glad that it’s not me having to choose, but I certainly wouldn’t go for Trump. #Woman are People
[edit: I see that Sabine has already told you what she thinks of your attempt to constrain her speech. And much more succinctly than myself at that.
2nd edit: I see that you did reply to TRP at comment 22 before I finished typing my comment. I really do have to work on brevity.]
I support neither candidate, and if I was American would be looking at third party candidates, as Hillary’s leaked emails mentioned, there is a very real possibility of a third party gaining ground and winning.
Yet the media focus on Trump vs Hillary and the social media attacks against both have destroyed any possibility of an independent getting the coverage and exposure required, what I have been attempting to do here is make people realise both Trump and Hillary are unfit, discard them and promote a third party, but as you can see from the comments above and below, the left can’t get past the US vs Them 2 party bullshit.
Hillary destroyed Sanders, Hillary aided Trump, Trump is big business, Hillary is big business, Trump and Clinton families are friends, it is rich vs poor, but the left can’t get past the divisive female vs male, black vs white, conservative vs liberal, and so on, so here we are, the ends justifies the means, vote for someone because the other is even worse.
Grim
The entire USA electoral system is deeply flawed and it is questionable whether it deserves the name; democratic. I would have preferred Sanders as Democratic candidate myself, but it’s not all about me.
I think that you have to live in the world that actually exists and do what you can achieve within limitations. You seem to have another opinion:
The definition of ‘terrorism’ is itself fairly debatable.
Noam Chomsky calls the US the ‘world’s leading terrorist state’. So the question is, should politicians in a terrorist state accept money from other terrorism supporting states.
For them the answer would have to be ‘Yes, why not??”
As i work for a maori trust i get the odd surprise hongi situation , she said something about the touching the healing eye , does that mean fore heads should touch to?
Trump is guilty of serial sexual assault over decades by his own admission and is accused of rape. Not surprisingly, his popularity among women plummets. So what do his apologists suggest?
Repeal the 19th Amendment (allowing women to vote) of course!
This is an important question, that many Repugs don’t seem to be able to answer:
it now seems inevitable that, with less than a month to go before the United States likely elects its first female president, the top trending topic on Twitter would be #repealthe19th. The hashtag was started by angry supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump in response to a FiveThirtyEight analysis by Nate Silver showing that Trump would win in a landslide if women didn’t have the right to vote… the past couple of weeks have demonstrated that this election is also a referendum on the question: Are women people?..
Even the Republicans who are disavowing Trump do so in language that reinforces this notion that women are objects that men own, instead of people in their own right. Most Republican men who released statements condemning Trump invoked their wives and daughters, framing sexual violence as a property crime against male-controlled female bodies, rather than a crime against people with rights.
I think we already know how Trump prefers to hold women voters, CV 😉 On the upside, it won’t cost him the election, because he was always going to lose anyway. But it might cost the Republicans in the house and senate and that’s good news indeed.
TRP
The 538 projection was updated this hour to a 62.6% chance of Democrat control of the Senate (which looks set to be a 50/ 50 split with Vicepresident Kaines casting the deciding vote). That’s the highest it’s been this month – back to August levels.
However, I don’t think there’s much chance of the house changing hands, but it’s been a while since I hunted up data on that. If the Republicans keep themselves chained to Trump as his mouth digs an ever deeper hole for the party, then I suppose anything is possible.
The Dem’s are a long way behind in the house and only thirty or so seats are up for grabs this election cycle, as I recall. However, the majority of those being contested are currently held by the Republicans, so there is potential for big gains.
Something I’ve just got curious about and haven’t found any data yet is where the polls show a lot of intention to split-ticket vote, how well does that actually correlate to split-ticket votes on the day.
Overall split-ticket voting has declined a lot over the last few decades. In at least some states, it’s actually quite a pain to split ticket vote. One of the US elections I voted in, I fully intended to split ticket. But once in the booth, to split ticket vote meant turning a lever for each of the thirty-plus offices being voted on. I got partway through, said fuck it, reset the lot,and just turned the one lever for full-slate Democrat.
“Rape” in its very old meaning is literally “to steal”.
framing sexual violence as a property crime against male-controlled female bodies
Indeed.
John Oliver’s own take on Repugs’ treating women as property. They’re pretty sickening.
BTW, the media consensus on the mild term “lewd comments” instead of “confession of serial sexual assault” even though it plays into his hands characterising it as “locker room talk” is almost certainly advised by lawyers as the latter would be used by the defense in any trial as “prejudicial statements” as it denotes the actual breaking of a law – even though Trump has already confessed to it.
Donald Trump’s Cynical Exploitation of Rape Culture
The Republican nominee’s attempt to undermine his accusers highlights the callousness of his attacks against Hillary Clinton…
The more that sexual violence becomes politicized, the more survivors are at risk of getting caught up in the crosshairs of partisan fights. Yet the Trump campaign is not only willing to politicize sexual assault allegations—it has also taken the dramatic step of making them foundational to its case against Hillary Clinton in the final weeks before the election, even as Trump himself faces accusations of his own.
While his downright creepy defenders simultaneously hype the former and try to brush off the latter as trivial or a conspiracy. Just like Trump.
They knocked it down. This kind of vandalism will continue under the banner of private rights in Auckland and soon we will have no history left. Whoever has relaxed the laws around heritage buildings in Auckland needs to be taken out the back of one and shot.
I once had a job to do a mosaic in a property in New Jersey. Oh my gosh, the house was barely a year old, the doors pulled, tiles in the bathroom were loose, the Hallway was like the entrance to a Cathedral – super high, super cold.
The poor women and her children living there wanted nothing more than to move back to Brooklyn where their old neighbours lived. I did pity her.
Upon further reflection, those that see my question above and don’t answer should refrain from posting in public until they have completed some serious soul searching.
Especially anyone feeling the need to post something to re-enforce their belief that they are morally and ethical superior.
If you can’t answer a simple yes or no question on ethics this is sad.
I’m going to drop the aggressive stance for a second here and talk openly and from the heart.
It dismays me that people adopt beliefs that conflict with basic truths and when faced with simple straightforward questions encounter cognitive dissonance so bad that they have to explain away inconsistencies. The ends do not justify the means, ever!
Being on the right side does not justify doing bad things.
[Don’t tell commenters and authors what they can and can’t write, grim. You’re being both pompous and precious expecting folk to just limit themselves to yes or no answers and then pontificating at great length yourself. Further more, chiding those that can’t be bothered with your games and assuming a position of moral authority because they won’t follow your rules is foolish and not conducive to intelligent debate.
Try being less prescriptive and ask open questions that allow commenters to comment. Debates on ethics can be instructive and educational, but less so if you’ve already claimed squatters rights on the moral high ground. TRP]
[You might want to spell out why you think it’s ironic. However, if that’s a dig at me, you might want to contemplate how my posts generate hundreds of comments and your contributions go nowhere. Hint: I write challenging opinions and I structure the posts so that there is room for the ideas in them to be argued for and against and for further ideas to be raised. I don’t write ‘agree with me, yes or no?’, because that’s a debating dead end.
If this site was just reduced to people giving binary answers, it wouldn’t be worth reading. So, no more badgering commenters with your childish insistence that they respond only according to your pompous rules. TRP]
…”It ain’t over till the last (rigged?) Diebold machine sings. November 8 will be all about turnout in a basketful of “deplorable” states.
And for all the 24/7 scandal time of non-stop groping and kissing and lewd locker room misbehaving, Trump seems to be ready to limp toward the finish line just as he began; an all-out populist/nativist/nationalist fighting open borders (a Clinton mantra, as revealed by the latest WikiLeaks Podesta email dump); “free” trade; neoliberal globalization; and regime change/bomb them into democracy/”humanitarian” imperialism.
US East Coast business circles discreetly supporting Trump’s platform are encouraging him to focus on only two issues; “to attack Obama and Clinton for blowing up Libya and Syria, creating the flow of refugees that is disrupting the civilized world;” and to attack Hillary as a Wall Street surrogate, stressing “the 2008 debacle was engineered by derivative manipulations where losses were reimbursed to Wall Street, while middle class home owners were not bailed out. These firms are all supporters of Hillary.”
And then there’s the ultimate, defining issue; the US-Russia Cold War 2.0 that could turn into WWIII. Washington is de facto holding open a nuclear first-strike capacity against Russia, part of the Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine – and Hillary fully supports it. To unmask her as ‘Mother Warmonger’, businessmen supporting Trump have suggested he go – literally – nuclear, issuing a remixed version of the notorious ad that guaranteed the 1964 electoral victory to Lyndon Johnson….
…Hillary is the anointed – warmongering – representative of these masters; or to quote 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature Bob Dylan, she’s only a pawn in their game, while Trump consciously positions himself as the unlikely outsider. She is actually the Goliath. If he wants to come out as the winning David, his (nuclear) slingshot has got to be a remixed “Daisy”.
This story this seems to follow the standard pattern of universalising particular examples to demonise a group so that no one minds too much when they get a kicking. You can stop a school from using an unacceptable punishment without making headline news of it, and the inclusion of the claim that the time-out area used to be a toilet block seemed added as an “in case you are not yet upset” extra – it says nothing of what the area is like now, but leaves a disturbing impression. This government hates the teachers’ union and is eager to impose a new version of bulk funding. Hence the seeding of bad teacher stories.
Males like Trump make “ugliness” attractive to some women:
Many of my clients were overweight, some seriously so. After learning about their struggles, I would ask, “Can you think of any disadvantage to solving this problem?” (Sounds like a strange question, but many of us have unstated reasons that we don’t give up a problematic habit). Almost always, the heavy woman would think a minute and respond, “What would I do about men?”
This exact comment was made by hundreds of women I knew personally, over a period of 25 years. This suggests that they were so unwilling to be looked at with desire, that they literally put on a costume of fat to keep the men away. They were willing to put up with discomfort, poor health, and low self-esteem. Anything rather than attention from men.
Testing to see whether this comment appears when I am logged in. At the moment, when I am not logged in I go into moderation, and the one comment I have made when logged-in (a few days ago) vanished into the ether.
Garner’s thoughts on Helen Kelly with an example of the kind of work she did. Work which most righties weirdly feel the need to express opposition to before offering any condolences to her and her family.
The next phase will be to use her as a stick to beat her successors. “You’re not reasonable like Helen Kelly. I could respect her even though I disagreed with her. You’re just being shrill (sniff).” Rod Donald had ordure tipped over him when he was alive, but the same people who tipped it on him started saying that to his successors before his body was even cold.
I don’t think I’ll read what Dunne has to say without having a bucket handy.
may one day he wake up with an itch caused by the fleas of a thousand camels under his armpits.
may this itch will be with him until the very last breath he takes.
Just letting someone know, in case this extends beyond me. If I do not log in, my comments go into moderation. If I do log in my comments vanish into the ether. Since I prefer the moderation to the vanishing, I am not logging in.
Just released this from mod, Olwyn. I don’t know what’s happening, but you aren’t the only one being affected. However, it’s not widespread and I think there are others logged in who aren’t getting bounced to moderation. I see one comment of yours is in the spam list, which a) shouldn’t happen and b) is a tad insulting!
Thanks TRP – The two comments made while logged in are of no great note (one is an earlier version of the above) and I think I can cope with the ignominy of falling into the spam bucket. 🙂 I assume this has happened because I do not log in very often, but have done so recently in an unsuccessful attempt at avoiding the moderation problem.
The US election has become shambolic. It is like watching a reality TV show. Trump is an absurd caricature of a man. Whether he claims to be left or right, I fail to see how people can back him. I have actually found a reason to have some respect for the Bushs. At least they are willing to say no, not for us thanks.
But he is only a manifestation of a growing world-wide problem. Discontent gravitating to extremism. I hope we can avoid the same here. The mainstream parties need to wake up a bit.
I’m quite surprised at the amount of vitriol on here today so being the kind, caring and considerate guy that I am I thought I’d post something that might take peoples minds off being mean to each other
PR
It’s not final yet, but it’s a shoe I’ve been waiting to drop since the prelim results were announced (given the narrowness of the margin):
Mr Laws gained his seat with 7648 votes, ahead of Mr Kelliher on 7643…
Mr Kelliher, a farmer from Springvale, near Alexandra, has served one term on the council and was still considering today whether to seek a recount of the votes.
. Look I started to feel unwell this afternoon, because I realised you have been promising us that TRump will win the Presidency.
That means that you and all the Republican hoards will be Trumpet followers and clones of him by day and by night. No wonder I am sick.
Will you be leading the swarm of unsavoury wealthy Wasps chanting Trump drivel? I hope you get a Donald medal for all your work CV.
As for me, I am not coping with my vomit or bowel collapse. I wish to heaven Trump could change his spots and become 0.0000000001% decent. But of course he cant change can he?
We all know you can’t either.
PS: will you be building the wall for him? That would be worth another medal, I think.
PS2: I love the way you hate Obama! You really pull the rug out from under his feet! He wasn’t even born in USA was he CV ? The Ratbag.
.
My latest petition – for an Independent Commission Against Corruption!
It “Respectfully requests:
That the House establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption, tasked with the prevention, education, detection, and prosecution of corruption in New Zealand.”
Now that NZ has FINALLY ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), (which supports such a body), and NZ has slipped to now being ‘perceived’ as the 4th ‘least corrupt country in the world’ – according to the Transparency International 2015 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – IT’S TIME!
IT’S TIME for New Zealand to to have a genuinely Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)!
Based on votes you garnered not many people support your view, paying your rates may give you a bit more credibility in regard to not robbing other rate payers by using services and assets that they paid for and you choose not to
I’m disputing and refusing to pay Auckland Council rates until the Public Records Act 2005, s.17 is followed, and the following information about spending of public rates monies on private sector consultants and contractors is made available for public scrutiny:
* The unique contract number.
* The name of the consultant / contractor.
* A brief description of the scope of the contract.
* The contract start /finish dates.
* The exact dollar value of each and every contract – including those sub-contracted.
* How the contract was awarded, by direct appointment or public tender.
By making this information available on the front page of Auckland Council and all Auckland CCO websites, under ‘Procurement – Awarded Contracts’ would be the first step in being able to measure ‘cost-effectiveness’ of such private sector contracting.
Given that international research has proven private contracting of public services is TWICE as expensive as in-house service provision, and the fact that contracting can breed corruption, (as being currently revealed in the Auckland High Court, with the Auckland Transport unprecedented bribery and corruption case), it amazes me that more ‘social justice’ and political activists aren’t picking up this call for ‘transparency’?
Unless some are perhaps ‘conflicted’ by themselves being consultants and contractors?
Just saying ……nicely.
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-privatisation / anti-corruption Public Watchdog’.
Colin Kaepernick Calls Trump And Clinton “Proven
Liars” Who Were “Trying To Debate Who’s Less Racist”
by BARRY PETCHESKY, Deadspin, 29 September 2016
Hillary Clinton won the presidential debate because Donald Trump is a bad man who is bad at most things. But acknowledging that the two-party system dominates American politics doesn’t mean you have to buy into moral relativism. Colin Kaepernick watched the debate and despaired at both choices. ….
[I completely agree. This isn’t the first time recently that Open Mike has descended into ad hominems and vitriol. Yes OM is looser in terms of what is ok, but there are limits and it isn’t a free for all for people to abuse each other. I suggest that everyone rethink where the boundaries are (or reread the Policy).
Everyone in OM today can take this as a general warning
and if I see repeat offenders I will start banning. I don’t have time for this shit today, and it’s easier to drop someone in moderation than try and edit and explain.
Please also consider how your behaviour affects other people, (especially people reading or wanting to comment) – weka]
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That is the only way to describe an MP "forgetting" to declare $178,000 in donations. The amount of money involved - more than five times the candidate spending cap, and two and a half times the median income - is boggling. How do you just "forget" that amount of money? ...
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Hi,Two years ago I briefly featured in Justin Pemberton’s Web of Chaos documentary, which touched on things like QAnon during the pandemic.I mostly prattled on about how intertwined conspiracy narratives are with Evangelical Christian thinking, something Webworm’s explored in the past.(The doc is available on TVNZ+, if you’re not in ...
The Government is leaving the entire construction sector and the community housing sector in limbo. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government released the long-awaited Bill English-led review of Kāinga Ora yesterday, but delayed key decisions on its build plan and how to help community housing providers (CHPs) build ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Farmers who can’t sleep, worrying they’ll lose everything amid increasing drought. Youth struggling with depression over a future that feels hopeless. Indigenous people grief-stricken over devastated ecosystems. For all these people and more, climate change is taking a clear toll ...
New Zealand’s relationship with China is becoming harder to define, and with that comes a worry that a deteriorating political relationship could spill over into the economic relationship. It is about more than whether New Zealand will join Pillar Two of Aukus, though the Chinese Ambassador, more or less, suggested ...
Been hoping we would see something like this from Sir Geoffrey Palmer. This is excellent.The present Bill goes further than the National Development Act 1979 in stripping away procedures designed to ensure that environmental issues are properly considered. The 1979 approach was not acceptable then and this present approach is ...
He’s Got The Moxie: Only Willie Jackson possesses the credentials to meld together a new Labour message that is, at one and the same moment, staunchly working-class, union-friendly, and which speaks to the hundreds-of-thousands of urban Māori untethered to the neo-tribal capitalist elites of the Iwi Leaders Forum.IT’S ONE OF THE ...
Tree-huggers may well accuse the Government of giving them the fingers, after Energy Minister Simeon Brown announced new measures to protect powerlines from trees, rather than measures to protect trees from powerlines. It can be no coincidence, surely, that this has been announced at the same as Fisheries Minister Shane Jones ...
Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper who could take over the Labour ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect New Zealanders' right of free speech. The “Protection of Freedom of Expression Bill” will ensure that no organisation or individual, when acting within the law, is unreasonably denied use of a public venue for an organised event or ...
The Green Party unequivocally condemns the governing parties’ attempts to limit the public’s say on the controversial Māori wards legislation, after the select committee considering the legislation set a deadline for submissions of just five days. ...
Disabled children and families nationwide have recently found out they’re no longer able to use disability support funding for programmes during school hours in another quiet update from the Government. ...
Following a horrific case of stalking that ended in tragedy, Labour’s police spokesperson Ginny Andersen has drafted a bill that would add stalking to the Crimes Act. ...
The Rt Hon Winston Peters, joined by Mike King, has announced $24 million over four years for the ‘I Am Hope Foundation’, and will provide young people aged between 5 to 25 years with free mental health counselling services. This funding will help I Am Hope’s ‘Gumboot Friday’ initiative give ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Over the next four years, Budget 24 will support the training and recruitment of 1,500 teachers into the workforce, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced today. “To raise achievement and develop a world leading education system we’re investing nearly $53 million over four years to attract, train and retain our valued ...
1. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters; Minister of Health and Minister for Pacific Peoples Hon Dr Shane Reti; and Minister for Climate Change Hon Simon Watts hosted Cook Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Hon Tingika Elikana and Minister of Health Hon Vainetutai Rose Toki-Brown on 24 May ...
The Government has approved two-year extensions for four New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa, Defence Minister Judith Collins and Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced today. “These deployments are long-standing New Zealand commitments, which reflect our ongoing interest in promoting peace and stability, and making active ...
The Climate Change Commission Chair, Dr Rod Carr, has confirmed his plans to retire at the end of his term later this year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Prior to the election, Dr Carr advised me he would be retiring when his term concluded. Dr Rod Carr has led ...
Nine highly respected experts have been appointed to the inaugural board of the new Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Integrity Sport and Recreation Commission is a new independent Crown entity which was established under the Integrity Sport and Recreation Act last year, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters confirmed today that Vote Foreign Affairs in Budget 2024 will balance two crucial priorities of the Coalition Government. While Budget 2024 reflects the constrained fiscal environment, the Government also recognises the critical role MFAT plays in keeping New Zealanders safe and prosperous. “Consistent with ...
New social housing funding in Budget 2024 will ensure the Government can continue supporting more families into warm, dry homes from July 2025, Housing Ministers Chris Bishop and Tama Potaka say. “Earlier this week I was proud to announce that Budget 2024 allocates $140 million to fund 1,500 new social ...
Introduction Today, we are sharing a red-letter occasion. A Blackball event on hallowed ground. Today we underscore the importance of our mineral estate. A reminder that our natural resource sector has much to offer. Such a contribution will not come to pass without investment. However, more than money is needed. ...
Increasing national and regional prosperity, providing the minerals needed for new technology and the clean energy transition, and doubling the value of minerals exports are the bold aims of the Government’s vision for the minerals sector. Resources Minister Shane Jones today launched a draft strategy for the minerals sector in ...
The coalition Government’s legislation to restore the rights of communities to determine whether to introduce Māori wards has passed its first reading in Parliament, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says. “Divisive changes introduced by the previous government denied local communities the ability to determine whether to establish Māori wards.” The ...
The coalition Government has today introduced legislation to slash the tangle of red and green tape throttling some of New Zealand’s key sectors, including farming, mining and other primary industries. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop says the Government is committed to unlocking development and investment while ensuring the environment is ...
The decision by Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to approve the continued use of hydrogen cyanamide, known as Hi-Cane, has been welcomed by Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay. “The EPA decision introduces appropriate environmental safeguards which will allow kiwifruit and other growers to use Hi-Cane responsibly,” Ms ...
Kia ora, Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou kātoa Tāmaki Herenga Waka, Tāmaki Herenga tangata Ngā mihi ki ngā mana whenua o tēnei rohe Ngāti Whātua ō Ōrākei me nga iwi kātoa kua tae mai. Mauriora. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the EMA for hosting this event. Let me acknowledge ...
The coalition Government is investing in social housing for New Zealanders who are most in need of a warm dry home, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. Budget 2024 will allocate $140 million in new funding for 1,500 new social housing places to be provided by Community Housing Providers (CHPs), not ...
Thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services as the Government delivers on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative, says Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey. “Budget 2024 will provide $24 million over four years to contract the ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
Asia Pacific Report Pro-Palestinian protesters today condemned Google for sacking protesting staff and demanded that the New Zealand government immediately “cut ties with Israeli genocide”. Wearing Google logo masks and holding placards saying “Google complicit in genocide” and “Google drop Project Nimbus”, the protesters were targeting the global tech company ...
Fresh off the back of episode one of Married at First Sight NZ’s new season, Alex Casey and Tara Ward fire up the chat to dissect what the hell we all just watched. Alex Casey: Tara, are you still screaming? I’m screaming. Tara Ward: I started screaming the moment I ...
Fresh off the back of episode one of Married at First Sight NZ’s new season, Alex Casey and Tara Ward fire up the chat to dissect what the hell we all just watched. Alex Casey: Tara, are you still screaming? I’m screaming. Tara Ward: I started screaming the moment I ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan independence group has condemned French “modern-day colonialism in action” in Kanaky New Caledonia and urged indigenous leaders to “fight on”. In a statement to the Kanak pro-independence leadership, exiled United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda said the proposed electoral changes ...
“The situation in Gaza is desperate,” Will Alexander said. “It’s obvious to everyone that if Christopher Luxon truly cared, our government could do a lot more.” ...
ANALYSIS:By Nicole George, The University of Queensland New Caledonia’s capital city, Nouméa, has endured widespread violent rioting over the past three days. This crisis intensified rapidly, taking local authorities by surprise. Peaceful protests had been occurring across the country in the preceding weeks as the French National Assembly in ...
EDITORIAL:By Fred Wesley, editor-in-chief of The Fiji Times So 40 Fiji members of Parliament voted in favour of the Special Committee on Emoluments Report on the review of MPs’ salaries, allowances and benefits in Parliament on Friday. Now that’s not going down well with the masses, with many venting ...
First Hovel Grant Bishop Chris ventured out of the High Keep For his annual tour of the slums of the Holey Land. His litter bearers held his palanquin high Above the muck strewn and dilapidated alleys Of the Capital. The menials and peons swarmed around And pleaded for Alms from ...
Opinion: Following France’s President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to New Caledonia on Thursday, attention has turned to the country’s political future beyond the ongoing crisis. The uprising, which began on May 14, has demonstrated the capacity and determination of those involved to shut down the country and to inflict extensive economic ...
Asia Pacific ReportBy a Kanak from Aotearoa New Zealand in Kanaky I’ve been trying to feel cool and nice on this beautiful sunny day in Kanaky. But it has already been spoiled by President Emmanuel Macron’s flashy day-long visit on Thursday. Currently special French military forces are trying to ...
RNZ Pacific The survivors of a massive landslide in a remote village in Papua New Guinea’s highlands are still waiting for official help, more than 24 hours after the disaster. Hundreds are feared dead in Yambali village in Enga province after the landslide bulldozed homes and buried families alive early ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby The United States has said it is “ready to lend a helping hand” to the people of Mulitaka, Enga province, after a devasting landslide swallowed an entire village in Papua New Guinea’s highlands yesterday. US President Joe Biden and his wife said in a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Housing remains one of Australia’s most pressing issues in both state and federal politics. The RBA keeping rates up and high mortgage repayments have left many Australians struggling. For those Australians who don’t own a ...
This plan lacks any thought on how to drive New Zealand forward. Giving away rare minerals owned by every New Zealander for a measly return of 2.1% to the crown last year is simply ludicrous. ...
A West Coast conservation leader is lodging a complaint with Police after an officer barred her from a public meeting in Blackball, called by Resources Minister Shane Jones. The NZ First politician was in the historic coal-mining town on Thursday to launch the Government’s new draft minerals strategy, promising to ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman meets an old rival and wonders what could’ve been. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend, where dreams and regrets have time and space to flower. What’s the thing in your life that you wish you had given more energy to? It could be a relationship, an exam, ...
This year, Tori Peeters will compete at the Paris Olympics in the javelin. Ten years ago, Madeleine Chapman thought she might be in the same position. She talks to Peeters about what it takes to go all the way and mulls her own life decisions in the process.No New ...
The star of High Country talks Tinkerbell, her love for Hawkeye Pierce and why a 98-year-old environmentalist is the most stylish man on television. Sara Wiseman has been a fixture on New Zealand television screens for nearly three decades. First appearing in Hercules and Xena Warrior Princess during the mid ...
Alex Casey takes a trip to Lincoln to visit the only couple from the first season of Married at First Sight NZ that’s still together. To cross the threshold into Brett and Angel’s marital abode is to be greeted with a welcome that sums up the MAFSNZ season one golden ...
In a new weekly interview series, we ask a different local artist to curate their dream weekend soundtrack. First up: Troy Kingi. Troy Kingi is a man on a well-documented mission to make 10 albums, in 10 genres, over 10 years. But finding himself creatively blocked while making his eighth ...
Reflections on a childhood split across Hong Kong and Auckland. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I arrive in Hong Kong with my mother in the middle of summer. t’s not a good time to travel here, she tells me. It’s June. We’re ...
Pacific Media Watch Pro-Palestinian protesters dressed in blue “press” vests tonight staged a vigil calling on New Zealand journalists to show solidarity with the media of Gaza who have suffered the highest death toll in any war. They staged the vigil at the Viaduct venue of NZ’s annual Voyager Media ...
Opinion: Outside my house, the autumn breeze blows crisp leaves off trees and leaks through the gap in my ranchslider while I slump on my couch listening to our CEO announcing our restructure. With many ums and ahs, he reads his script, talking of “prioritisation,” “working differently,” and “reconceiving the ...
Just days after Taiwan’s new president called on China to stop making threats, Beijing has launched “punishment” military drills around the island. Everyone was watching to see what China’s reaction to the swearing in of President William Lai Ching-te would be. On Thursday night we found out. China had already ...
For the past six weeks Annie has been sleeping with a teacher named Patrick Drury. Twice he has tried to call it an affair. Twice she has considered correcting him. But she likes how he looks when he says it. She likes that he’s older than her. That he’s recently ...
MONDAY Fast-Track Jones stood in the shade beneath an awning of a train station and waited for the 3:10 to Blackball. He narrowed his eyes and studied the view. A water tower. A windmill. A cattle fence. All else was empty land. Locomotive smoke rose over the horizon. The 3:10 ...
A groundbreaking investigative podcast into the death of Gore three-year-old Lachie Jones has won Melanie Reid and Bonnie Sumner two notable awards at the Voyager Media Awards. Their in-depth reporting and nine-part first season of The Boy in the Water, which led to the case being reopened twice and preceded ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist Scores of people have died in a huge landslide which has struck a remote village in the Papua New Guinean highlands. The landslide reportedly hit Yambali village in Enga Province, about 600 km north-west of Port Moresby. The landslip has buried homes and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lara Herrero, Research Leader in Virology and Infectious Disease, Griffith University Red-Diamond/Shutterstock We’ve now been living with COVID for well over four years. Although there’s still much to learn about SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID) at least one thing seems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clive Schofield, Professor, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has found countries are obliged to protect the oceans from climate change impacts under the law of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca McGirr, Postdoctoral research fellow, Australian National University Bernhard Staehli/Shutterstock Imagine you’re standing near the edge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, gazing out over the ocean, when the ice near you starts to melt very rapidly. A surge of meltwater flows ...
The Finance Minister prepares to present one of the most difficult budgets, National MP David MacLeod gets himself into trouble and the First Home Buyers Grant is scrapped. ...
The Iranian Solidarity Group NZ met with Minister For Foreign Affairs Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, urging the NZ government to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (the IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. The group continues to advocate for justice ...
On 24th May, 6pm, Palestinian journalists covering Gaza will be honoured in a silent and visually impactful vigil outside Shed 10, 89 Quay Street, Auckland, where the Voyager Media Awards are being held. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This should be a golden age for Australian soccer. After all, the big picture is good: the Matildas are waltzing, the Socceroos are well supported and Australia was just awarded hosting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Wellings, Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations, Monash University Assuming a Labour win in the UK general election – always a risky assumption given Labour’s proclivity for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory – the “Global Britain” bombast emanating ...
The community group People Against Prisons Aotearoa is holding a protest against mass incarceration tomorrow against the Government’s proposed expansion of Waikeria prison. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Shutterstock OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, and News Corp, the international media conglomerate, have signed a deal that will let OpenAI use and learn from News Corp’s content. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jaimon Kelly, Senior Research Fellow in Telehealth delivered health services, The University of Queensland Shutterstock/Nils Versemann For many Australians the emergency department (ED) is the physical and emblematic front door to accessing urgent health-care services. But health-care services are evolving rapidly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Trelease, Senior Lecturer in Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Following the hugely successful recent season of Married At First Sight (MAFS) Australia, fans of the format – and the reality romance genre in general – will be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic Redfern, Associate Professor, School of Art, RMIT University We Are All Unique by Universal Everything commissioned by Hyundai Motorstudio Senayan Park in Beings at ACMI.Image by Michelle Tran At this week’s launch of Beings by Universal Everything, ACMI board member ...
As Married at First Sight New Zealand returns to our screens this Sunday, Tara Ward speaks to the show’s new relationship experts about what lies ahead. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. John Aiken is teasing Jo Robertson about her cup of ...
A new poem by Wellington writer Erin Donohue. The body’s score Here is what happens if you starve yourself for years. Your body will forget herself. She will have to learn new how a heart beats and she will not get it right. She will need MRIs and a quiet ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Picador, $25)A charming, smash-hit book about ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle “Only the struggle counts . . . death is nothing.” Éloi Machoro — “the Che Guevara of the Pacific” — said this shortly before he was gunned down by a French sniper on 12 January 1985. Machoro, one of the leaders of the newly-formed FLNKS (Kanak ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Wake, Associate Professor, Journalism, RMIT University Photo by Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels The news media play a vital role in shaping the public conversation and covering complex issues such as war, the economy, climate change and technology. Yet our new research ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aviroop Gupta, PhD Candidate, Curtin University Narendra Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has resorted to religious polarisation as it tries to rally its Hindu nationalist base in India’s ongoing general election, which ends on June 1. Just days after voting started ...
Lana Walters’ new show is playing in Auckland for the NZ International Comedy Festival. Madeleine Holden (a parent) and Liv Sisson (not) went along to review. I hadn’t heard of comedian Lana Walters until a colleague posted the following message in one of The Spinoff’s Slack channels: “Has anyone been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paola A. Magni, Associate Professor of Forensic Science, Murdoch University Microgen / Shutterstock When you think of a criminal investigation, you might picture detectives meticulously collecting and analysing evidence found at the scene: weapons, biological fluids, footprints and fingerprints. However, this ...
Recent price falls in the New Zealand market for carbon credits leaves the Government facing the prospect of a significant loss of revenue from carbon auctions this year. The March financial statements from Treasury highlight lower-than-expected revenue ...
ANALYSIS:By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French President Emmanuel Macron has ended a meeting-packed whirlwind day in New Caledonia with back-to-back sessions including opposing leaders in the French Pacific territory. Macron left New Caledonia this morning, leaving some members of his entourage to deal with details ...
"The government's 'Draft Mineral Strategy' released this week by Minister for Resources Shane Jones is a disaster in the making for the environment, the climate and people as more and more rural communities will have to battle these companies ...
Behind the pretty flower beds at Auckland Botanic Gardens, conservation mahi is under way for the region’s 357 threatened plants. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. At Auckland Botanic Gardens, conservation specialist Ella Rawcliffe has been trying to plant a seed that’s smaller ...
One financial hopeful looks to MPs for inspiration on how to be savvy with money.As a person whose search history includes “easy ways to make money” and “what should I do with $1,000 savings”, my interest was piqued when parliament released the pecuniary interests register this week. Since 2005, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barbara Mintzes, Professor, School of Pharmacy and Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney Monster Ztudio/Shutterstock Drug companies are paying Australian doctors millions of dollars a year to fly to overseas conferences and meetings, give talks to other doctors, and to serve ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trivess Moore, Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University The Victorian government is planning Australia’s largest urban renewal project. The plan is to knock down and rebuild 44 large public housing towers in Melbourne. The government says these ...
Michael O’Brien nails it.
‘If we’re serious about tackling crime, we need to tackle poverty’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/315600/'if-we're-serious-about-tackling-crime,-we-need-to-tackle-poverty‘
What they’re serious about is increasing poverty. That’s what privatisation has always done throughout history. Rich people require the existence of poor people because people who can support themselves can’t be forced to make a few people richer.
National governs for the rich and so they actively increase poverty.
Russell Brand and the Trews is back!
In this episode he exposes the cruel trick that means whoever wins the US presidency, we’re all screwed.
How Hillary Laid the Foundations for Donald Trump’s Popular Neo-Fascism
Goodness me! Trump is all Hilary’s fault… who knew?
Btw voting for Trump is not disrupting systematic racism, it’s doubling-down (good Trump-ism that) on it.
You should the Russell Brand video.
I did, thanks.
Trump isn’t “Hillary’s fault.”
He is the fault of a two party one team, venal status quo in Washington DC.
Within which the Clintons have been players for decades.
Trump is the fault of Trump (he’s been saying nasty stuff since long before he got involved in politics) and the GOP who didn’t stop him when they should have. In fact they doubled down too and got in behind him.
And there’s you making excuses for a grown man again, and assuming that someone criticising Trump is a uncritical of US politics generally and the Clintons specifically.
It’s raining today in Wellington and I have a sneaking suspicion that the Clintons have nothing to do with it.
But I wouldn’t put it past John Key…
You are being a bit heavy handed there Miravox. CV is not making excuses for Trump, he’s just pointing out how stuffed their system is and what morons it throws up.
Just taking a short-cut Garibaldi.
You’ve hit the nail on the head Miravox. And CV paints himself even more
risibly the fanboy of a man ‘entitled’ purely on account of being from birth a fabulously rich spoilt arsehole. Save us from CV and Trump. Bullies the both of them.
“Trump isn’t “Hillary’s fault.”
He is the fault of a two party one team, venal status quo in Washington DC.
Within which the Clintons have been players for decades.”
so trump is the fault of the system, and the system is the fault of clinton – lol at least labour didn’t get a mention
I tend to think Trump is the fault of those who came earlier, especially Bush x 2, and Reagan. Those latter have disenfranchised so many working people and trashed the social contract, leading to the disillusionment and discontent in US society now, on which the bottom-feeding Trump depends.
Those damn liberals! If it wasn’t for them there wouldn’t be any fascist demagogues!
“Trump is all Hilary’s fault”. Typical of right wing supporter for not taking responsibility for their flawed leadership, and policies. Trump like Key is of the narcissistic mold, will never admit to a mistake or see another person’s point of view as valid.
Yes I see the Left Wing is so much better at taking responsibility for the flawed leadership and policies of Obama and Clinton.
Not.
…and what is wrong with Obama’s leadership and political aims???
Are you serious Johan? Obama has been a total disappointment and a monumental flop. The only thing he has been good at is killing people. His drone warfare is an abomination and a despicable method of warfare. It’s all very well to be affable and congenial ( and to play golf with other dickheads), but that doesn’t make you a good Human Being. He will go off and join the ex Presidents social club, like all the others that have done their bit for “pax americana’.
Obviously, you know very little about American politics, and their checks and balance system, which restricts a presidents from doing what they wants to do.
The drone investment was already on the books and signed off before Obama became president.
Garibaldi, keep listening and viewing RT to shape your views of world politics.
It seems Britain also has a problem with a useless media.
http://www.thecanary.co/2016/10/13/taxi-drivers-response-people-losing-shit-marmite-best-thing-youll-see-day-video/
Bob Dylan has won the Nobel Prize for literature. “New poetic forms” apparently. Way cool.
Trump’s team delivers us “armrest truthing”.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-armrest-truther_us_57ff1a78e4b0162c0439fcb6?section=&
Helen Kelly has died 🙁
We all knew it was coming, but it is still a great loss to the country.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/inspirational-trade-unionist-helen-kelly-dies-after-brave-battle-cancer
Awesome fightet
Awesome fighter
Oh I am sorry.
Was not a fan of her politics, but did admire her for her tireless fighting for what she believed in. Her passing is sad not only for her family and friends but for those she fought for.
Is this your attempt at considering the disenfranchised and vulnerable? Noted.
Really you are a classless pathetic small minded little piece of work.
Trying to score cheap troll points on comments about a lady’s death should be below even the likes of you.
Try for once to treat comments with some respect. She deserves better.
James, why did you have to start with, ‘Was not a fan of her politics’? Your comment would have seemed genuine without that unnecessary, slightly hostile snip. As if you are so magnanimous in praising her, even though she was wrong. When someone takes your bait, in comes your abusive reply. Sorry – you are the cheap, disrespectful troll, and your attempt to take the high moral ground is rather unconvincing. You should have the brains to understand that her politics were the basis of her passion, and now is NOT the time to question them. I suspect that you do have those brains, and wanted someone to bite, just so you could leap in – abusively.
Agreed, would not wish cancer on anyone
The death of Helen Kelly is a huge loss, and her courage, hard work and resourcefulness on behalf of New Zealand workers, right till the end, is an inspiration to us all. My condolences to her family, and to her many friends and supporters.
rip Helen – you are remembered, you are loved. Thank you for everything you have done for others.
+100
Yes Helen was the epitome of people we can admire.
I remain a bit sceptical of those who opposed all the good work she did offering their condolences. How about coming out and admitting that what she did and what she stood for was superb , you right wingers.
Annoys me too, they were especially feral during the Hobbit dispute, were there any kind words for her then? I recall her being called a traitor & shit stirrer & a hater. I don’t buy their sincerity at all. (& why do they have all start with ‘I didn’t agree with her politics but…’). She will be greatly missed.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11728767
Normally the thought of a vigilante gang would would wind me up , but these fullas have me conflicted .
Or the could give the information to the police and allow hem to arrest those involved – as opposed to just moving them onto someplace else.
And I’m not 100% convinced that they are totally legit themselves.
Its one way to remove the competition
What information?
What proof?
Nobody said that they were. Hell, even they say that they’re not exactly nice.
But they do seem to care for the community which National, and it’s cutting of the police force so as to give the rich tax cuts, doesn’t.
So they will be running people out of town with no information and no proof.
Sounds legit.
No, they’ll have information, just not the type of stuff that the police can use.
Dunno about you but I used to be part of the ‘criminal underground’ and know how it works. Probably couldn’t function there now, it was several decades ago after all, but at the time I was always amazed at how much people who weren’t in that scene didn’t know what was going on around them.
They will know who the drug dealers are, they will know where they are. In a small place like that, if I was a drug dealer I’d be getting up and leaving. The police should be watching who’s leaving.
Repeatedly in the past I have told good people from a small poverty stricken Northland town that there are safe and amonymous ways of alerting the authorities. Often they’ve responded that they’ve availed those ‘ways’……..and nothing.
i did note they only said they are against p , so i’m reading between the lines but i bet they supply the herbs.
Indeed, anti-drug (so he claims) which is good but what other crimes do they get up to?
Is a case of the lesser of two evils?
When communities find themselves besieged and they’re not getting any help then they will fix the problem themselves.
Or make new bigger problems.
anyone recall shonky’s war on P comments many lies ago….must’ve been another aspirational target.
I had this debate in a pols course years ago.
The middle class presume that insofar as we have a law-abiding society this is a product of the formal process of justice.
Back when I was deepsea fishing, one of my colleague’s daughters was raped. A gang ‘resolved’ the matter.
This too was a legal process, a justice system reflecting the values of a community and conducive to law abiding behaviour.
Not being familiar with the antecedents of our legal system my fellow students could not imagine what I was talking about.
Of course a healthy justice system would not rely on gangs – but a healthy justice system would not allow a corrupt government to steal public assets either. Robin Hood and the Yakuza are products of an unjust environment.
Similar happened with one of my nieces.
QFT
This too was a legal process, a justice system reflecting the values of a community and conducive to law abiding behaviour.
A shit justice system reflecting a community with shit values. When I was 20, a group of us nearly got creamed by a gang after someone decided one of us had raped a woman none of us had ever heard of. I hated those fucks way more than I hated the police at the time.
Every justice system is loved or hated according to the integrity of its results.
That gang leaders can identify and threaten drug dealers publicly suggests a relatively low level of systemic integrity in that area. Communities access the justice systems that are permeable to them.
A justice system led by a Judith Collins creates a significant demand for informal justice.
Careful Draco, you are bordering on ‘market’ speak there
Thanks Helen, for your huge contribution and being a fighter for truth and social justice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7e3QKKOp50
If you have a few minutes, this is Michelle Obama in full flight yesterday.
Michelle would be a pretty interesting politician.
FFS don’t fuel the Obamas dynastic aspirations
Michelle would have way more credibility if she had come out against the destruction of sovereign country Libya by Hillary Clinton with the complicity of her husband
…this is a war crime!!! ( they should be tried as war criminals)
Michelle Obama is a hypocrite
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2016/01/06/new-hillary-emails-reveal-true-motive-for-libya-intervention/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riley-waggaman/hillary-clinton-turned-nation-into-isis-safe-haven_b_9571956.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/12/barack-obama-says-libya-was-worst-mistake-of-his-presidency
The real WAR CRIME disgrace Michelle Obama should be making speeches about!
(…committed by Hillary Clinton and her husband)
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/obamas-worst-mistake-libya/478461/
The aftermath of Clinton’s and Obama’s war attack on Libya and Libyans
http://globalnews.ca/news/2984171/nearly-11000-migrants-rescued-off-libyan-coast-in-48-hours-italian-coast-guard/
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/333611-libya-failed-destroyed-state/
…”… US arrogance admits no mistakes. The people of the world really should demand all of these US officials and NATO and French and Italian and British officials be charged as war criminals. Because that’s the only way you can characterize what was done to Libya. There was no reason, no purpose, except outright piracy. Libya had the highest standard of living and an enormous amount of stability. It had built up a vibrant infrastructure, it had modern cities. All of this has been completely and systematically destroyed. What was done to the water and the irrigation, the man-made river – all of this. It is unimaginable the crime and an accounting must be demanded, not further intervention. Because ‘failed state’ means this is ‘something that just happened’, it failed on its own. They should label it a ‘destroyed state’, a state destroyed by US and NATO bombing…”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-us-hand-in-libyas-tragedy/5444887
you are losing it sooky – attack michelle obama now? what a bunch of dim sadwits you trump defenders are – no morals, no guts, no strength, no honour, no courage – nothing, just weak efforts at distraction from the abomination that is your man trump.
Whew! Have you got your two minutes hate done for the day now?
It’s hilarious watching how the liberal left in the US has now fallen into the same mudslinging gutter dwelling smear politics that it has always accused the right of driving.
It’s even funnier watching local lefties get sucked in by it all under the pretense of Clinton being the morally righteous candidate.
cv = “no morals, no guts, no strength, no honour, no courage – nothing, just weak efforts at distraction from the abomination that is your man trump.”
Watch frail Clinton stumble and fall mate. Her entire inner circle and Secret Service detail know how sick she is. Maybe she should get some guts and own up to not being fit for office.
what about that sniff – is it a habit or some deadly disease – with all the revelations about trumps disgusting behaviours I worry but I spose the tests will show – he’ll do them after his audit is finished and he sends his tax returns in ha ha
On this day, really. Stop the hate PLEASE.
[I completely agree. This isn’t the first time recently that Open Mike has descended into ad hominems and vitriol. Yes OM is looser in terms of what is ok, but there are limits and it isn’t a free for all for people to abuse each other. I suggest that everyone rethink where the boundaries are (or reread the Policy). Everyone in OM toady can take this as a general warning, and if I see repeat offenders I will start banning. I don’t have time for this shit today, and it’s easier to drop someone in moderation than try and edit and explain.
Please also consider how your behaviour affects other people (especially people reading or wanting to comment). – weka]
“Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald Apr 29
Is it really necessary to spend next 6 months pointing out that “criticism of Clinton” ≠ “support for Trump”? Just get a different tactic.
And the reverse.
+100 @ left for deadOn this day, really. Stop the hate PLEASE.
Today I’m really feeling the loss of Helen Kelly and have no patience with petty bickering which comes across as trivial, childish and distracting.
it is open mike – if you don’t like it don’t read it and if you want to ignore it go ahead – if you want to insult others (trivial, childish and distracting) do that too – nice enough for you two?
[free for all abuse that has no political point is not ok. Please read the warning above or at the bottom of this thread – weka]
when cv speaks https://youtu.be/rLDgQg6bq7o
Michelle would have way more credibility if she had come out against the destruction of sovereign country Libya by Hillary Clinton with the complicity of her husband
Yeah, those damn Libyans would never have tried to overthrow Gaddafi if Hillary hadn’t ordered them to do it!
“Michelle would have way more credibility if….”
Cooky as a fanboi of Penny Bright, Munter Bradbury and Trump you are not fit to judge anybodys credibility.
Do you know what is going to decide the election on Nov 8
No, it’s not the liberal left’s current obsession with genital grabbing and the well timed and well co-ordinated “bimbo explosion” (to use Hillary Clinton’s phrasing) now targetting Trump.
It is demographics and turn out. These two links will be very interesting to anyone wanting to understand what might happen on Nov 8.
Brookings: Minority turnout determined 2012 election
https://www.brookings.edu/research/minority-turnout-determined-the-2012-election/
Cornell: How groups voted in 2012
http://ropercenter.cornell.edu/polls/us-elections/how-groups-voted/how-groups-voted-2012/
IMO compared to 2012:
– white turn out will increase significantly (back to 2000 or 2004 levels)
– African American turn out will decrease significantly (back to 2000 or 2004 levels)
– Trump will gain marginally more African American and Hispanic vote than Romney did
– the gender split will be basically steady as per 2012 (amongst women voters Obama was +11 compared to Romney; I expect Clinton to come in somewhere between +10 to +12 compared to Trump)
– Voters under 30: Trump will do noticeably better than Romney with Millenials but still be well behind Clinton (in 2012 Obama was +23 compared to Romney).
the liberal left’s current obsession with genital grabbing
I think you’ll find that it’s Trump who’s obsessed with genital grabbing. The liberal left tend to be interested in consent, or the obvious lack of it.
If the response is well timed and well co-ordinated, good. Feminism is about effective unified action by women for women against rape culture and its proponents and apologists who try to downplay it or distract attention from or excuse perpetrators.
You and Rush Limbough together say it so well.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/13/here-come-the-rape-police-rush-limbaugh-reacts-to-trumps-sex-talk-scandal/
” “You know what the magic word, the only thing that matters in American sexual mores today is? One thing,” the conservative commentator said, according to audio released by Media Matters for America. “You can do anything — the left will promote and understand and tolerate anything — as long as there is one element. Do you know what it is? Consent.
“If there is consent on both or all three or all four, however many are involved in the sex act, it’s perfectly fine. Whatever it is. But if the left ever senses and smells that there’s no consent in part of the equation, then here come the rape police. But consent is the magic key to the left.””
RIP Helen Kelly. 🙁
Yes. https://thestandard.org.nz/rip-helen-kelly/
On WikiLeaks, Journalism, and Privacy: Reporting on the Podesta Archive is an Easy Call
This pretty much.
Russia may have hacked the emails (We have no proof that they did, only hearsay) but that is irrelevant to the content of those emails and the behaviour that they indicate.
+1 to all of that.
And whether Russia hacked the e-mails and/or is trying to influence the US election is a totally separate issue to be considered in it’s own compartment.
Agreed to all that me too Draco.
The Expert Clinton team has played the distraction card- “the Russians did it so it doesn’t matter.”
Remember the Dirty Tricks response from the Nats? The info was stolen so it doesn’t matter what it showed.
Yep. Always bugged me that. The Nats were admitting that the information that showed that they were a corrupt bunch that should rightly be in jail was true and correct but the jonolists helped spread the distraction.
I actually agree.
I’m not sure that the emails show anything to be annoyed about though. All seems pretty standard for private emails , no “I hid the stolen ballots over here” lines.Unlike the overt plotting in DP.
trump can’t help himself
“Earlier, Trump on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) used a rally in Florida to speak of a vast sinister conspiracy to keep him out of the White House.
Addressing the release of emails apparently hacked from the Democratic Party and then published by WikiLeaks, Trump constructed a conspiracy theory that included the collusion of the Clintons, the Clinton campaign, the Clintons’ lawyers, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the Commission on Presidential Debates, as well as Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the mainstream media.
These actors, he suggested, were somehow involved in covering up various crimes by Clinton and seeking to prevent his election.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/us-election-2016/85329837/donald-trump-speaks-of-a-vast-sinister-conspiracy-to-keep-him-out-of-the-white-house
yep just everyone out to get him, nothing to do with anything he’s done, he is a innocent, shamefully hounded for being honest, for being rich and successful and terrific.
Please note the qualities of the man – a coward and weakling.
Preposterous! Everyone knows theres a VRWC not a left wing one 🙂
If they really are out to get you, is it still paranoia?
🙂
Gowdy (R.) to FBI director Comie: You Have Five Immunity Agreements and No Prosecution, “That’s Not The FBI That I Used To Work For”
Something dirty is going on at the DOJ and FBI. The rules are being bent and broken to help Hillary Clinton. I wish the liberal left would wake up and smell the crony corruption in the air.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/09/28/gowdy_to_comey_you_have_five_immunity_agreements_and_no_prosecution_thats_not_the_fbi_that_i_used_to_work_for.html
Nice speech michelle
“… This is not something we can ignore. It’s not something we can sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. Because this was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn’t locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. And actually bragging about kissing and groping women. Using language so obscene that many of us are worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV. To make matters worse, it now seems clear this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life.
I have to tell you that I listened to all this. And I feel it so personally. And I’m sure that many of you do too. Particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies. The disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. The belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. It is cruel. It is frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts…”
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/10/watch-choking-back-tears-michelle-obama-delivers-powerful-speech-on-trumps-abuse-of-women/
you are going down don down
CNN gave Clinton advance warning of debate question
Speaking of conspiracy (interesting how an 11 year old tape of the Don gets released, and a couple of days afterwards a “bimbo explosion” [using Hillary Clinton’s phrasing] appears to drag the Don down) it seems that people in the media are coordinating very closely with the Clinton camp:
https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/786176282706845697
http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/11/media/donna-brazile-wikileaks-question/index.html?sr=twmoney101216donna-brazile-wikileaks-question1103AMVODtopLink&linkId=29832111
I shed tears this morning when I heard about Helen Kelly’s death. I shed more when I watched Michelle Obama fighting back her own tears delivering this speech.
It is fair to say that I am in a rather emotional state today and I am feeling particularly intolerant of those commentators on the Standard who have dominated discourse with their attacks on Clinton and their defence of Trump. I find these people abhorrent, and I want to say a few things about why I feel this way.
I went on my first protest march against U.S. foreign policy in 1968 and I have been continuously critical of U.S. foreign policy ever since. US foreign policy is often disastrous for the rest of the world. Some presidents have been worse than others, and Clinton is likely to be worse than Obama, but there have been many presidents far worse than either of them. It is my belief that Trump would be worse than any for the simple reason that he is a narcissist completely lacking in basic humanity. He doesn’t care a shit for anybody except himself. He is a misogynist and he is racist. He is greedy, he is dishonest and as far as I am aware, he has never sacrificed a single thing to make the world a better place.
Hillary Clinton has done work to improve the lives of the poor and the disadvantaged in the U.S. I would have preferred a left wing candidate but this is not going to happen in the U.S.A any time soon so I support the best option – but she is a lot better than “not Trump.” She is also better than any of the Republican candidates.
Are the people who support Trump misogynist and racist? Not necessarily. However, they are people who don’t think misogyny and racism are important, and from my point of view, that is almost as bad.
I have been protesting against racism and misogyny as long as I have been protesting against US foreign policy but I will not be responding to any Trump apologists commenting here as they are not worth the time.
Filmmaker Michael Moore sums up Trump
Michael Moore @MMFlint 5h5 hours ago
It’s as if Dr. Frankenstein wanted to see if he could create a creature that embodied every disgusting male trait all rolled into one guy.
Obama has a Nobel Peace Prize under false pretence
Michelle might as well be given and honourary Oscar for that performance
They’re all phony and fake which serve only to undervalue and undermine any ’cause’ they seek to attach themselves to
It’s incredible how many dupes there are!
Karen you don’t have to reply, but I just want to say that I agree that Trump is abhorrent and is a total disaster and can’t be let near the reigns of power.
However, I feel the same about Hillary. Going by her past record she will HAPPILY lead ‘us’ into nuclear war. What the heck? The American system is failing us all.
the entertainment business should be funding his campaign as its doing very well out of all the material he keeps dishing out.
Alec Baldwin on snl is brilliant as the Donald.
“In the same way, I’d like to suggest that it’s past time for the inmates of modern industrial civilization to grow up, sprout some gonads—either kind, take your pick—and deal with the simple, necessary, and healthy realization that our species is not going to be around forever. Just as maturity in the individual arrives when it sinks in that human life is finite, collective maturity may just wait for a similar realization concerning the life of the species. That kind of maturity would be a valuable asset just now, not least because it might help us grasp some of the extraordinary possibilities that will open up as industrial civilization finishes its one-way trip down the chute marked “decline and fall” and the deindustrial future ahead of us begins to take shape.”
The ArchDruid’s very readable today.
I’ll be quite surprised if there are more than 1B humans around by the year 2200.
From what I can see Helen Kelly was never given an Honor in the New Zealand awards system – all shame to New Zealand that in her lasting months she was not awarded for her work for employees’ rights and health and safety on our work sites. There is something smelling bad in our civic system in this country. No matter what anyone’s ideology is, it cannot be ignored that Helen Kelly deserved recognition for her faithful endeavours for employees over her working lifetime.
Safe Journey Helen, you will be missed.
In contrast to honours awarded to those pets in the education system.
What you say does raise questions about the Honours’ system. If it cannot transcend politics and honour someone as heroically good, dedicated and effective as Helen Kelly, it is badly compromised. An honours system that is reduced to dishing out awards for cronies cannot command broad respect.
Good comment Olwyn.
Here’s a question about ‘our’ honours system: Do the politicians ask us about who we think should be honoured?
See, I’m pretty sure that they don’t. So, where do they get the lists from? The answer to that seems to be in the people who mostly get honoured – business people.
Like the PM’s favourite local chef, an arrogant twat perfectly suited to his clientele.
+100 Whispering Kate
Transcript of Putin interview by French TV
http://thesaker.is/vladimir-putins-interview-with-the-french-tv-channel-tf1-transcript/
I would like to put in a full comment on Helen Kelly and her work but it won’t come on site though it has been recorded as when I tried a second time I was told it was a duplicate.
Could it be released from Colditz?
s there a limit on me since I got rude some months ago? What changes have there been to try and limit specious comments? Any?
[You’re not in any form of moderation that I can see. However, there are other reasons that comments can get held up. Most often it’s if the system doesn’t recognise you. Sometimes that’s a new IP address or a misspelled handle or email. I’ll keep an eye out and release anything of yours that gets trapped ASAP. TRP]
TRP
Thanks. I had already put the comment on the other condolences post so had been recognised, but then took that off with a view to transferring it here, and replaced it with a shorter one.
The system now isn’t allowing me to put the transferred post plus added extra links on it, up here. It has been registered in the system. but perhaps not noted when I removed it, and now I want to put it in the different post it still records it as published.
As I went to some trouble to get good links I would like to get it up and honour Helen’s work more fully.
[Open Mike seems a better place to have this conversation :-). Site does seem buggy this morning – weka]
I have a very simple question, that only requires a yes or no answer,
if you have to go through mental gymnastics and wordy explanations to justify not being forthright and honest you are deceiving yourself and others and as such cannot be trusted.
Question:
If you know someone is sponsoring terrorism, is it ethical to accept funding from them for a personal campaign?
Yes or No.
No.
No
If you know someone is stoning women to death for sex outside marriage, is it ethical to accept funding from them for a personal campaign?
NO
(apologies for taking liberties)
If you know someone sexually assaults women and thinks that is ok, is it ethical to promote them as the next President of the United States?
No,
now can you answer with a simple yes or no,
If you know someone is endorsed by a terrorist organisation, is it ethical to promote them as the next President of the United States?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-kkk-racism_us_57966095e4b0d3568f8415ea
“now can you answer with a simple yes or no,”
Yes.
(as in, I can answer this question – “now can you answer with a simple yes or no?” – with a simple yes or no).
Your original question upthread isn’t a simple yes or not question though. I would answer “it depends”. I’m not a moral absolutist.
And therein lies the problem, the reality is the question required a yes or no answer,
You don’t like this as it would make you question your values so seek to change the reality.
What you want is not what is present so you seek to change that reality by pretending your need changes the reality to include a third option, “it depends” when in reality “it depends falls within the subgroup of “yes” with justifications allowing you to choose that option.
The end result is you have chosen, “the ends justify the means” .
moral fluidity, nothing set in stone,
Maybe lying on a discussion board is justifiable if it nets the best results?
[OK, lets see. Ignoring moderation request? Check. Insinuating an author is a liar? Check. Banned for a week? Check. See you Saturday week, Grim. TRP]
Women being assaulted is just something Women live with every day. Who cares.
Women being grabbed by the pussy without consent is something that happens every day. Who cares.
Women being belittled and put down is happening every day. Who cares.
Little girls being told to shut up and be nice is good for little girls after all they need to learn their place. Who cares.
Women being told that motherhood is the biggest thing in their live happens every day, it matters not that they may not want children or even can’t have them. Who cares
Women being hired for what they can do while Men get hired for potential happens every day.Who cares.
Women world wide being abused, beaten, verbally put down, discriminated against with such mundane things as food availability, access to hygiene products, safe spaces etc etc …thats normal.
So frankly of course women should just go back to their place and be seen but not heard. Cause no women shall teach men.
http://biblehub.com/1_timothy/2-12.htm
King James Bible
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
#repealthe19th 🙂 cause clearly women don’t know what men are good for them. see above.
And yeah, its Clintons fault that the Republican party could only find the carrrot coloured shitstain to represent them in the running for Presnit.
so was that a yes or no?
nah it was more a
can’t be fucked with you and your pompous arse.
Thumbs-up
Can’t remember who said it, but here it goes… Never wrestle with a pig: you assume undignified positions, you get covered with mud and in the end you’re left with the suspicion that the pig enjoyed it.
pigs….hmmm
you kill a pig
you roast it.
crackle……so much crackle and gravy and biscuits.
now i want to go buy me some pig.
In case you missed it (as there is no confirmation there from you that you saw the moderator’s message and you otherwise seem to be ignoring it), here are TRP’s instructions from comment 22 repeated:
In other words, I think that Sabine’s comment was likewise telling you that she does not accept the limitations you have put upon her comments. Well; that, and the fact their is no ethically-pure choice between the two main party’s presidential candidates. There’s always Stein and Johnson (or even one of the other four candidate who don’t even have running mates) if your own ethical purity is more important to you than your county’s wellbeing.
I’m glad that it’s not me having to choose, but I certainly wouldn’t go for Trump. #Woman are People
[edit: I see that Sabine has already told you what she thinks of your attempt to constrain her speech. And much more succinctly than myself at that.
2nd edit: I see that you did reply to TRP at comment 22 before I finished typing my comment. I really do have to work on brevity.]
I support neither candidate, and if I was American would be looking at third party candidates, as Hillary’s leaked emails mentioned, there is a very real possibility of a third party gaining ground and winning.
Yet the media focus on Trump vs Hillary and the social media attacks against both have destroyed any possibility of an independent getting the coverage and exposure required, what I have been attempting to do here is make people realise both Trump and Hillary are unfit, discard them and promote a third party, but as you can see from the comments above and below, the left can’t get past the US vs Them 2 party bullshit.
Hillary destroyed Sanders, Hillary aided Trump, Trump is big business, Hillary is big business, Trump and Clinton families are friends, it is rich vs poor, but the left can’t get past the divisive female vs male, black vs white, conservative vs liberal, and so on, so here we are, the ends justifies the means, vote for someone because the other is even worse.
Doing bad in the name of good.
Grim
The entire USA electoral system is deeply flawed and it is questionable whether it deserves the name; democratic. I would have preferred Sanders as Democratic candidate myself, but it’s not all about me.
I think that you have to live in the world that actually exists and do what you can achieve within limitations. You seem to have another opinion:
Vote Elf/ Unicorn 2016
“Thinks its ok”…
Did the person you refer to say they believed it was ok?
The definition of ‘terrorism’ is itself fairly debatable.
Noam Chomsky calls the US the ‘world’s leading terrorist state’. So the question is, should politicians in a terrorist state accept money from other terrorism supporting states.
For them the answer would have to be ‘Yes, why not??”
+1
Yes
This is a lovely little explanation of a hongi
nice to have that this morning, thanks.
As i work for a maori trust i get the odd surprise hongi situation , she said something about the touching the healing eye , does that mean fore heads should touch to?
Yep the forehead touch is nice. Different iwi do it slightly differently. Embarassing when you get genders mixed up as I have done – shame lol
genders have different ones ,?
You not noticed b waghorn? It’s generally only the males who hongi & touch foreheads, usually the women get a kiss. Certainly from where I am from.
Yes that’s what Ive found to but thought I’d check.
thank you
Trump is guilty of serial sexual assault over decades by his own admission and is accused of rape. Not surprisingly, his popularity among women plummets. So what do his apologists suggest?
Repeal the 19th Amendment (allowing women to vote) of course!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-supporters-tweet-repealthe19th-after-poll-shows-hed-win-if-only-men-voted_us_57fea03ce4b05eff55814a75
You couldn’t make this shit up.
On the other hand, there’s this. Witty and effective design:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/10/donald-trump-pussy-grabs-back-meme-women-twitter
This is an important question, that many Repugs don’t seem to be able to answer:
http://www.salon.com/2016/10/13/are-women-people/
I think Trump will hold the gender vote the same as Obama/Romney in 2012.
I think we already know how Trump prefers to hold women voters, CV 😉 On the upside, it won’t cost him the election, because he was always going to lose anyway. But it might cost the Republicans in the house and senate and that’s good news indeed.
TRP
The 538 projection was updated this hour to a 62.6% chance of Democrat control of the Senate (which looks set to be a 50/ 50 split with Vicepresident Kaines casting the deciding vote). That’s the highest it’s been this month – back to August levels.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/senate/?ex_cid=2016-forecast
However, I don’t think there’s much chance of the house changing hands, but it’s been a while since I hunted up data on that. If the Republicans keep themselves chained to Trump as his mouth digs an ever deeper hole for the party, then I suppose anything is possible.
The Dem’s are a long way behind in the house and only thirty or so seats are up for grabs this election cycle, as I recall. However, the majority of those being contested are currently held by the Republicans, so there is potential for big gains.
Something I’ve just got curious about and haven’t found any data yet is where the polls show a lot of intention to split-ticket vote, how well does that actually correlate to split-ticket votes on the day.
Overall split-ticket voting has declined a lot over the last few decades. In at least some states, it’s actually quite a pain to split ticket vote. One of the US elections I voted in, I fully intended to split ticket. But once in the booth, to split ticket vote meant turning a lever for each of the thirty-plus offices being voted on. I got partway through, said fuck it, reset the lot,and just turned the one lever for full-slate Democrat.
“Rape” in its very old meaning is literally “to steal”.
framing sexual violence as a property crime against male-controlled female bodies
Indeed.
John Oliver’s own take on Repugs’ treating women as property. They’re pretty sickening.
BTW, the media consensus on the mild term “lewd comments” instead of “confession of serial sexual assault” even though it plays into his hands characterising it as “locker room talk” is almost certainly advised by lawyers as the latter would be used by the defense in any trial as “prejudicial statements” as it denotes the actual breaking of a law – even though Trump has already confessed to it.
appreciating the links. Oliver is gold.
Some more here too:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/10/donald-trump-women-accusations-sexual-assault/504089/
Donald Trump’s Cynical Exploitation of Rape Culture
The Republican nominee’s attempt to undermine his accusers highlights the callousness of his attacks against Hillary Clinton…
The more that sexual violence becomes politicized, the more survivors are at risk of getting caught up in the crosshairs of partisan fights. Yet the Trump campaign is not only willing to politicize sexual assault allegations—it has also taken the dramatic step of making them foundational to its case against Hillary Clinton in the final weeks before the election, even as Trump himself faces accusations of his own.
While his downright creepy defenders simultaneously hype the former and try to brush off the latter as trivial or a conspiracy. Just like Trump.
They knocked it down. This kind of vandalism will continue under the banner of private rights in Auckland and soon we will have no history left. Whoever has relaxed the laws around heritage buildings in Auckland needs to be taken out the back of one and shot.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11728857
This is a thing i don’t understand, and frankly never will.
Way too many of the old Architecture in NZ just gets cut down to make way for some ugly, grey leaking rubbish concrete box.
Im sure they will build something quite stunning.
yeah, right tui.
You may enjoy this bit of architecture criticism.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mcmansion-hell_us_57ffb8e2e4b0e8c198a6a4b5?section=&
I once had a job to do a mosaic in a property in New Jersey. Oh my gosh, the house was barely a year old, the doors pulled, tiles in the bathroom were loose, the Hallway was like the entrance to a Cathedral – super high, super cold.
The poor women and her children living there wanted nothing more than to move back to Brooklyn where their old neighbours lived. I did pity her.
Nats super city working as designed
Upon further reflection, those that see my question above and don’t answer should refrain from posting in public until they have completed some serious soul searching.
Especially anyone feeling the need to post something to re-enforce their belief that they are morally and ethical superior.
If you can’t answer a simple yes or no question on ethics this is sad.
I’m going to drop the aggressive stance for a second here and talk openly and from the heart.
It dismays me that people adopt beliefs that conflict with basic truths and when faced with simple straightforward questions encounter cognitive dissonance so bad that they have to explain away inconsistencies. The ends do not justify the means, ever!
Being on the right side does not justify doing bad things.
[Don’t tell commenters and authors what they can and can’t write, grim. You’re being both pompous and precious expecting folk to just limit themselves to yes or no answers and then pontificating at great length yourself. Further more, chiding those that can’t be bothered with your games and assuming a position of moral authority because they won’t follow your rules is foolish and not conducive to intelligent debate.
Try being less prescriptive and ask open questions that allow commenters to comment. Debates on ethics can be instructive and educational, but less so if you’ve already claimed squatters rights on the moral high ground. TRP]
TRP – Rather ironic don’t you think?
[You might want to spell out why you think it’s ironic. However, if that’s a dig at me, you might want to contemplate how my posts generate hundreds of comments and your contributions go nowhere. Hint: I write challenging opinions and I structure the posts so that there is room for the ideas in them to be argued for and against and for further ideas to be raised. I don’t write ‘agree with me, yes or no?’, because that’s a debating dead end.
If this site was just reduced to people giving binary answers, it wouldn’t be worth reading. So, no more badgering commenters with your childish insistence that they respond only according to your pompous rules. TRP]
So very ironic, it’s what I love about The Standard moderators. That and their algorithms.
+100 Grim…Clinton and Obama war crimes committed against Libya have been completely swept under the carpet by the msm which is now going for Trump
more on Trump…and the mainstream media character assassination
http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/latest-poll-shows-donald-trump-leading-second-debate/
this is hilarious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H7aKGOpSwE
Trump would be well advised to take this advice from an international journalist .Trump should take Escobar’s advice:
‘Is Trump ready to go nuclear?’ by Pepe Escobar ( an independent geopolitical analyst)
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/362656-trump-clinton-cold-war-nuclear/
…”It ain’t over till the last (rigged?) Diebold machine sings. November 8 will be all about turnout in a basketful of “deplorable” states.
And for all the 24/7 scandal time of non-stop groping and kissing and lewd locker room misbehaving, Trump seems to be ready to limp toward the finish line just as he began; an all-out populist/nativist/nationalist fighting open borders (a Clinton mantra, as revealed by the latest WikiLeaks Podesta email dump); “free” trade; neoliberal globalization; and regime change/bomb them into democracy/”humanitarian” imperialism.
US East Coast business circles discreetly supporting Trump’s platform are encouraging him to focus on only two issues; “to attack Obama and Clinton for blowing up Libya and Syria, creating the flow of refugees that is disrupting the civilized world;” and to attack Hillary as a Wall Street surrogate, stressing “the 2008 debacle was engineered by derivative manipulations where losses were reimbursed to Wall Street, while middle class home owners were not bailed out. These firms are all supporters of Hillary.”
And then there’s the ultimate, defining issue; the US-Russia Cold War 2.0 that could turn into WWIII. Washington is de facto holding open a nuclear first-strike capacity against Russia, part of the Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine – and Hillary fully supports it. To unmask her as ‘Mother Warmonger’, businessmen supporting Trump have suggested he go – literally – nuclear, issuing a remixed version of the notorious ad that guaranteed the 1964 electoral victory to Lyndon Johnson….
…Hillary is the anointed – warmongering – representative of these masters; or to quote 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature Bob Dylan, she’s only a pawn in their game, while Trump consciously positions himself as the unlikely outsider. She is actually the Goliath. If he wants to come out as the winning David, his (nuclear) slingshot has got to be a remixed “Daisy”.
I agree, lets all vote for Putin.
yes/no?
Screw this timid lesser evil shit. Vote for the greatest evil of all. Chthulhu for president.
i did say that some month ago, no one took me up on.
Thanks for joining the light.
It’s a movement! We’ve got momentum!
https://cthulhuforamerica.com/
may his tentacles always hold you in a soft embrace
Well done, that’s genuinely funny, I actually snorted
no 🙂
Grim, the levels required to comprehend where you are coming from, while not ‘too deep’ are ‘too confronting’
The method and logic you’ve employed with that approach are sound indeed
More of it is what’s required!
Teachers require to be educated on how to treat students humanely?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201819933/parata-receives-report-on-use-of-miramar-school-scream-room
This story this seems to follow the standard pattern of universalising particular examples to demonise a group so that no one minds too much when they get a kicking. You can stop a school from using an unacceptable punishment without making headline news of it, and the inclusion of the claim that the time-out area used to be a toilet block seemed added as an “in case you are not yet upset” extra – it says nothing of what the area is like now, but leaves a disturbing impression. This government hates the teachers’ union and is eager to impose a new version of bulk funding. Hence the seeding of bad teacher stories.
Trump’s defense against groping claim: implies she’s not pretty enough for him to have groped her.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-says-sexual-assault-accusers-are-too-ugly-for-him-d3be41c0a565#.ikg6cauku
Every time you think he’s surely hit the bottom, he finds a way to go lower…
it’s like watch a master class in satire ,
As if Stanley Kubrick teamed up with Andy Kaufman and Mel Brooks to write “Springtime for Trump”.
Males like Trump make “ugliness” attractive to some women:
http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/13/1582099/-Keeping-Men-Away-with-a-Costume-Made-of-Fat-Looking-at-You-Trump-Enablers
& from the comments:
“I have known several beautiful young women who have adopted the most masculine, unbecoming looks specifically to ward off the unwanted attention.”
“I can endorse the content of this diary from personal experience.”
“an aura of weird works sort of… hit on a lot less, but the guys that did hit on her were more strange.”
Testing to see whether this comment appears when I am logged in. At the moment, when I am not logged in I go into moderation, and the one comment I have made when logged-in (a few days ago) vanished into the ether.
Garner’s thoughts on Helen Kelly with an example of the kind of work she did. Work which most righties weirdly feel the need to express opposition to before offering any condolences to her and her family.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/opinion/opinion-helen-kelly-my-new-zealander-of-the-year-2016101409
The next phase will be to use her as a stick to beat her successors. “You’re not reasonable like Helen Kelly. I could respect her even though I disagreed with her. You’re just being shrill (sniff).” Rod Donald had ordure tipped over him when he was alive, but the same people who tipped it on him started saying that to his successors before his body was even cold.
I don’t think I’ll read what Dunne has to say without having a bucket handy.
Peter effn Dunne,
may one day he wake up with an itch caused by the fleas of a thousand camels under his armpits.
may this itch will be with him until the very last breath he takes.
Just letting someone know, in case this extends beyond me. If I do not log in, my comments go into moderation. If I do log in my comments vanish into the ether. Since I prefer the moderation to the vanishing, I am not logging in.
Just released this from mod, Olwyn. I don’t know what’s happening, but you aren’t the only one being affected. However, it’s not widespread and I think there are others logged in who aren’t getting bounced to moderation. I see one comment of yours is in the spam list, which a) shouldn’t happen and b) is a tad insulting!
Thanks TRP – The two comments made while logged in are of no great note (one is an earlier version of the above) and I think I can cope with the ignominy of falling into the spam bucket. 🙂 I assume this has happened because I do not log in very often, but have done so recently in an unsuccessful attempt at avoiding the moderation problem.
Lucy Lawless’s stay at the Trump hotel. Phone rings:
Trump: “Hi, Xena, it’s Donald.”
Xena: “Um… Hi…. is that Donald Trump??”
Trump: “I loved you as that warrior person, you know such a terriiffic person”
Xena: “Thanks..”
Trump: “Yeah, I’ve just recently come back from Chiiina”
Xena: “Huh?..”
Trump: “Yeah, I’ve just come back on the market”
Xena: “Okkk….”
Trump: “Are you seeing anybooddyy?”
Xena: “Yes”
Trump: “You know what, forget about it. I get along with everyyybooddyy”
Xena: “Huh?..”
Trump: “And you know what.. laawww and orrdderrr, thats what we need”
Xena: “Huh??”
Trump: “You enjoy your stay alright, goodnight”
Xena: “..uh… hello?”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11729033
Lucy Lawless’s stay at the Trump hotel. Phone rings:
Trump: “Hi, Ruby, it’s Donald.”
Ruby: “Um… Hi…. is that Donald Trump??”
Trump: “I saw you on the lobby camera. I keep a feed the room screen… In my… bedroom… You are so hot”
Ruby: “Thanks… I guess…”
Trump: “Maybe I should come over and inspect your room. I have the key and can come in anytime… I own the place”
Ruby: “Huh?..”
Trump: ‘Perhaps you heard, I’ve recently come on the market”
Ruby: “Okkk…. I’m really just looking for a book.”
Trump: “Are you seeing anybooddyy?”
Ruby: “Yes. There is a man I’m meeting. Has; a shotgun, chainsaw for his right hand, frequently drenched in blood, and other bodily fluids…”
Trump: [long pause] “Why did you call me bitch? [shouting] I’ll sue you!” [Phonecall ends]
and of course, it’s all about you eh? Infused.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
The US election has become shambolic. It is like watching a reality TV show. Trump is an absurd caricature of a man. Whether he claims to be left or right, I fail to see how people can back him. I have actually found a reason to have some respect for the Bushs. At least they are willing to say no, not for us thanks.
But he is only a manifestation of a growing world-wide problem. Discontent gravitating to extremism. I hope we can avoid the same here. The mainstream parties need to wake up a bit.
Trump is about positioning by the real power brokers to ensure their chosen destructor, Hilary, gets the Oval Office.
Donald’s playing his part in a political reboot of the apprentice, he’ll be looked after when it’s all over.
Till then enjoy the show.
Members of the Cambridge Branch NZLP .Wish to send there sincere
sympathy to the family of Helen Kelly . Rest in Peace Helen you will be sadly missed.
Members of the Cambridge Branch NZLP wish to send their sincere sympathy to family of Helen Kelly .Rest in n peace Helen you will be sadly missed
I’m quite surprised at the amount of vitriol on here today so being the kind, caring and considerate guy that I am I thought I’d post something that might take peoples minds off being mean to each other
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11729077
No need to thank me, a good deed is its own reward 🙂
PR
It’s not final yet, but it’s a shoe I’ve been waiting to drop since the prelim results were announced (given the narrowness of the margin):
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/laws-wins-orc-seat-five-votes
The lord giveth .. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/aucklander/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503378&objectid=11728934
.
. Hi Colonial Viper
. Look I started to feel unwell this afternoon, because I realised you have been promising us that TRump will win the Presidency.
That means that you and all the Republican hoards will be Trumpet followers and clones of him by day and by night. No wonder I am sick.
Will you be leading the swarm of unsavoury wealthy Wasps chanting Trump drivel? I hope you get a Donald medal for all your work CV.
As for me, I am not coping with my vomit or bowel collapse. I wish to heaven Trump could change his spots and become 0.0000000001% decent. But of course he cant change can he?
We all know you can’t either.
PS: will you be building the wall for him? That would be worth another medal, I think.
PS2: I love the way you hate Obama! You really pull the rug out from under his feet! He wasn’t even born in USA was he CV ? The Ratbag.
.
Deluded rambling,
My latest petition – for an Independent Commission Against Corruption!
It “Respectfully requests:
That the House establish an Independent Commission Against Corruption, tasked with the prevention, education, detection, and prosecution of corruption in New Zealand.”
Now that NZ has FINALLY ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), (which supports such a body), and NZ has slipped to now being ‘perceived’ as the 4th ‘least corrupt country in the world’ – according to the Transparency International 2015 ‘Corruption Perception Index’ – IT’S TIME!
IT’S TIME for New Zealand to to have a genuinely Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)!
Actually, in my view, it’s LONG overdue….
#NZCorruption
#NZICAC
#PublicRecordsAct
#OpenTheBooks
Penny Bright
Based on votes you garnered not many people support your view, paying your rates may give you a bit more credibility in regard to not robbing other rate payers by using services and assets that they paid for and you choose not to
yawn…..
I’m disputing and refusing to pay Auckland Council rates until the Public Records Act 2005, s.17 is followed, and the following information about spending of public rates monies on private sector consultants and contractors is made available for public scrutiny:
* The unique contract number.
* The name of the consultant / contractor.
* A brief description of the scope of the contract.
* The contract start /finish dates.
* The exact dollar value of each and every contract – including those sub-contracted.
* How the contract was awarded, by direct appointment or public tender.
By making this information available on the front page of Auckland Council and all Auckland CCO websites, under ‘Procurement – Awarded Contracts’ would be the first step in being able to measure ‘cost-effectiveness’ of such private sector contracting.
Given that international research has proven private contracting of public services is TWICE as expensive as in-house service provision, and the fact that contracting can breed corruption, (as being currently revealed in the Auckland High Court, with the Auckland Transport unprecedented bribery and corruption case), it amazes me that more ‘social justice’ and political activists aren’t picking up this call for ‘transparency’?
Unless some are perhaps ‘conflicted’ by themselves being consultants and contractors?
Just saying ……nicely.
Kind regards,
Penny Bright
‘Anti-privatisation / anti-corruption Public Watchdog’.
Colin Kaepernick Calls Trump And Clinton “Proven
Liars” Who Were “Trying To Debate Who’s Less Racist”
by BARRY PETCHESKY, Deadspin, 29 September 2016
Hillary Clinton won the presidential debate because Donald Trump is a bad man who is bad at most things. But acknowledging that the two-party system dominates American politics doesn’t mean you have to buy into moral relativism. Colin Kaepernick watched the debate and despaired at both choices. ….
Read more…
http://deadspin.com/colin-kaepernick-calls-trump-and-clinton-proven-liars-1787223273
“On this day, really. Stop the hate PLEASE.”
[I completely agree. This isn’t the first time recently that Open Mike has descended into ad hominems and vitriol. Yes OM is looser in terms of what is ok, but there are limits and it isn’t a free for all for people to abuse each other. I suggest that everyone rethink where the boundaries are (or reread the Policy).
Everyone in OM today can take this as a general warning
and if I see repeat offenders I will start banning. I don’t have time for this shit today, and it’s easier to drop someone in moderation than try and edit and explain.
Please also consider how your behaviour affects other people, (especially people reading or wanting to comment) – weka]
In my opinion a key driver of misconduct here is the abuse of power by two moderators