Catherine Isaac, the former Act Party president appointed to set up the new privately-sponsored schools, proposed the retail education tactic at a small public meeting this week. But she faced a loud accusation of racism from the secondary teachers’ union, which is scathing about the potential for “McDonald’s schools” or campuses sponsored by controversial Act donor Louis Crimp.
Isaac, the Charter School Working Group chair, raised the prospect of recruiting charter school students from shopping malls at the Auckland meeting. She cited the example of charter schools marketing themselves in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina disrupted public school enrolment.
But the logic of this is just madness, and shows no faith in the government to provide adequate education:
Isaac dismissed that, saying charter schools could not cherry-pick students. “To call it racism is bizarre. What we’re trying to do is provide another option for parents whose needs are not being met by the current system.”
And which parents exactly are not being met, when NZ’s education rates well internationally? If it’s less well-off parents, will charter schools ever make up for an unequal society?
Isaac had a piece in the DomPost the other day too claiming Charter Schools were not anti teacher and upping the lie about the number of pupils failing, now it’s 30%. It’s an insult to educators to have a Business Round Table affiliated money-bags foisting neoliberal crap on the teaching profession.
Yesterday someone said it was impossible for MSM to present a view outside the western perspective and that article is a prime example. Further, it is all fractured and linked to PPTA statements without a context – available online if you want them. So many statements stand alone and become so wildly open to interpretation as to be useless as a form of information.
Even after reading a few online sources of how the PPTA could cry racism and then a paper from University of Otago on the matter that goes into some depth – complete with a startling alternative view, for balance, that would bolster the enthusiasm of any maori bashers lurking nearby – it is no wonder The Herald can’t tell the whole story. It’s funny how the science of thinking, in an effort to acknowledge balance, often forgets human nature. (I’m not going to post the link, because the last thing this site needs is more fuel for the fire. It’s easy to find if you want it.). In order for this story to be written properly, the story would have to first not be able to be written. The story, doesn’t exist.
As far as I can make out, there is no way for MSM to present a nonwestern view. Can’t be done. If they try, they inadvertantly present a view deemed racist from one particular (important) group’s perspective. In the context of this story there is no way the PPTA can call racism. In calling racism from their point of view, they are being racist from another particular group’s point of view.
The obvious and easy concept that one could take from this MSM story, a story that does not exist, is that recruiting students from a shopping mall is discriminating against levels of society who do not or cannot frequent shopping malls, because in the very least, they are too poor.
ah, I should add, Carol, that the fracturing of the story I refer to is not a comment on your posting it. I am talking about the original Herald article you link to, not your ideas/opinions/post.
The National Party leader has had to suck up the embarrassment of having to defend John Banks’ dodginess. Last week, the police completed their investigation of Banks’ revelation that he concealed his solicitation of Kim Dotcom for cash and put the cheques through his campaign accounts as anonymous. Presumably the police will shortly reveal their decision. If Banks is criminally charged, then Key’s job will get even harder.
So why has this completion slipped by so quietly? Is it because no charges will be laid?
I recall short articles on both Stuff and the Herald about a week or 10 days ago stating that the investigation had been completed and the issue referred to the Police legal unit as per the internal process. A decision was then expected within 2 to 3 weeks IIRCG.
Banks will not be charged by the police. Indeed as recent cases have shown the police job see their job as protecting those members of the establishment or from “good faimilies” from “needless” prosecution.
The only way Banks could face charges for his corruption was if some one else took a private prosecution against him.
Police investigation into Banks’ mayoral campaign completed
A police investigation into John Banks’ 2010 mayoral campaign donations disclosure is completed and a decision on whether the Act leader faces prosecution is expected within weeks.
Auckland Detective Inspector Mark Benefield told complainants yesterday that the investigation was over and the case had been sent to Police Legal Services to review. He said that process could take two to three weeks.
For cases such as this the facts alone aren’t at issue. The prosecuting police officer whose desk this arrived on, knows that this sort of decision is way above his pay grade, and that it is his political duty to bump this up to the senior police who reserve for themselves the right of weighing up the rights and wrongs of political matters.
When it came to making political decisions about Tuhoe or making armed raids on Dotcom at the behest of the FBI events show that these senior police officers will always come down on the side of authority.
On the say so of the Americans and without any evidence produced to them at all by the FBI, the police stormed Mr Dotcom’s house in an armed raid, illegally confiscated all his property, used their discretionary powers to oppose bail citing a flight risk. Following the publicly expressed wishes of the Americans, the police also continued to vigorously oppose bail and defend the confiscations when their decisions ha to come before the courts.
Just as well we still have a court system to check the police. If not, chillingly Dotcom would have been delivered up to their foreign power de jour by our politicised police.
Similiarly to a political script made in the US, our police force mounted major armed raids making dozens of arrests and terrorising a whole Maori community,when they could have just arrested their four suspects with out hardly any effort. In the following court case, politically motivated, the police tried to use illegally gathered evidence and anonymous police spies and undercover agents to make a case for a huge terrorist conspiracy. And failed miserably.
Our police at the senior police are conservatively politicised and will not act against a conservative bastion of the status quo. However be a Maori activist, or a trade union picketer, or a Occupy Aotearoa activist, or anti racist protester and expect the full use of police discretionary powers to arrest or detain. Often followed by mischievious and frivolous police prosecutions that most likely will fail but still cost you time and money.
Just as well we still have a court system to check the police. If not, chillingly Dotcom would have been delivered up to their foreign power de jour by our politicised police.
Just the facts of the matter are not all the police consider when laying charges, your class position in society is also a factor.
In a scandalous example our conservatively partisan police show their political bias in exercising their discretion not to charge someone with family connections.
This partiality is why our prisons are stuffed full of Maori or those without expensive lawyers or not from “good families”.
Or why wealthy conservative politicians like John Banks will never face charges.
In another case of the police exercising their discretion not to bring charges against an establishment figure. The husband of a judge who ran down and killed a pedestrian and then fled the scene, has been told he will not be facing any charges. The police have also told a key witness to the events, the first person who turned up at the scene, that his testimony will not be required.
The judge was in the car with her husband when he fled the scene of the accident.
Firstly;-
Had the judge and her husband come from a social event?
Was there alcohol involved?
Had the driver been drinking?
Did the judge remonstrate with her husband to stop and give assistance?
The police who dropped the charges should be immediately suspended and be investigated.
Hopefully after the trauma of loosing his son he has the will to force the issue.
Come on, Jenny, drunk driving is only a problem when it’s young people, poor people, or Asians doing it. In fact, it’s scientifically impossible for good Pillars of the Community to harm people through driving, ergo the hit-and-run cannot have actually happened.
And more victim blaming by the police at the end of the first article:
He said it was a reminder that people driving alone late at night in areas with bars and hotels should keep their doors locked.
The second one is disgusting. It’s an obvious case of people making excuses for the driver:
The witness, who was due to appear before the court tomorrow, was told Mr Mascelle had hired another lawyer and said he understood it had been determined that “he couldn’t have stopped” the car on the night William Hoskins was run down.
No, I don’t expect Banks to be charged with anything – he’s too well connected, white and rich.
I love how “visibility was low”, and no one could possibly have been expected to have their headlights on or anything. (Judging by the photo in the article, it’s not a blind turn or any other physical obstruction of visibility.)
I have gone to the link I supplied in 2.4.6 and punched in Police drop charges over hit and run and it came back page not found. I am not sure if what the police said is now being scrutinised. In a nut shell the driver and the judge’s word is believed by the police. The driver knew he hit something, he got out and checked the panel on his car and he did not think he had hit a person. The victim is reported as probably lying on the road when he was hit and that he had been to his cousin’s wedding. A motorist saw him lying in the middle of the road in a critical condition.
Looking forward to seeing how the New Zealand Labour Council come up with the democratic right of Labour members to choose their own leader, following their decisions yesterday.
From a newspaper article where the reporter uses info Bennet has provided to inflame hatred and dersion against beneficiaries, and which I’m not even going to link to. From the obligatory few ‘other side of the story’ paragraphs so beloved of the talkback taliban, who like pick apart the carcass they provide for days afterwards:
…Some may accuse her of having an easy life, but Catherine faces a daily struggle to feed her family.
The reason she cannot make the books balance, says Mangere Budgeting Services chief executive Daryl Evans, is because she is in hock to predatory money lenders who demand huge repayments each week.
Her debt, inherited from her partner, is upwards of $45,000.
Much of it is representative of high-interest and fees rather than money borrowed.
By the time the rent and bills are paid, little is left for day to day survival and when the money runs out, she is forced to buy groceries from the mobile food trucks that roam poor neighbourhoods.
They charge $7.95 for two litres of milk and $5 for a loaf of bread, but her credit rating means she doesn’t have access to credit cards that a supermarket would accept.
“In an ideal world,” says Evans, “she would be working but currently there aren’t any jobs. They simply don’t exist.”…
bold mine
Jesus, the vultures really are honing in on the poor. More landing every day.
Chilling
I suggest a moratorium on links to crappy news sites on The Standard. All it does is enrage people because the information is so obviously corrupted. Once, it was that you could be sure that what the papers said, if not accurate to the last detail, thena at least the event itself actually happened. Now that we can’t even be sure of that, what is the point in reading it?
Note the considerable coverage in this morning’s Sunday Herald featuring the latest from Beneficiary Bashing Bennett. Great Scott!! Cited here are TWELVE families from the entire country who dared to have 10 plus children! How will the country survive? (I thought New Zealand wanted increase in population! Only of the “right kind”, of course). So exactly how much money is the tax payer shelving out for these families? In a family of ten, almost certainly a number are aged 16 or over, probably left school, even working (with luck!)
I am waiting for Bennett to turn her attention to the Catholic Church (if she dare!) and castigate it for opposing, as a sin, the practice of contraception. How quiet the news is on this point! Many poorer and larger families just happen to be Catholic.
While I am about it, dare I criticise the vast amount of media coverage devoted to Sonny Bill Williams? Does anything else in the country gain this amount of coverage and devotion (though some are now bitter about his “deserting” them for the idol of money)? He hopes to learn Japanese language – before he quits on them for still more cash in Australian rugby league! After Australia, he is likely to bless this country with a return – for high paying rugby will again be on the agenda! What a hero for our kiddies.
One of the strengths of The Standard is that generally posters are prepared to support quotations with links, or references to the source. Sometimes there will be no source – a personal and informed opinion is still valuable, and sometimes an news report or article cannot be found on the net. There is obviously no need for academic sort of attributions, but where there is not url to link to, it is reasonable to give a brief reference such as for example SST pageXX, but a statement that a link was not being given deliberately, immediately brought to my mind suspicion that the quotes were selective and potentially misleading
Herald on Sunday. Today. Page one.
You’ll probably get a bit of de ja vu. Bene bashing tends to follow a pretty standard formula.
In this case the section of the piece that I quoted was the only part of the item relevant to my comment. However, I reserve the right to not be obliged to provide a short cut that might increase the page views of an item I consider discriminatory and nasty, where the offending text is not relevant to my comment.
Che Guevara was a medical doctor who saw extreme poverty in central and south America where indigenous people were being exploited by a few wealthy people you would call it Feudal.
He had the brains and the balls to stand up for what he believed in.
Unlike you pg who has neither as your just a
Pathetic Grovalar running with the fox’s and hunting with the hounds!
He gave his life for the cause.
A. Which ministers lack confidence gernerally? Or B which minister has nothing to be confident about?
A few obvious candidates there. Coleman & Parata is an A and B. Collins and Groser are a B.
Next, of those names, which one has any sex drive?
Next, of those names, which one is arrogant or stupid enough to try-it-on with someone who is unwelcoming of the attention?
try the game for yourself!
1 Rt Hon John Key
2 Hon Bill English
3 Hon Gerry Brownlee
4 Hon Steven Joyce
5 Hon Judith Collins
6 Hon Tony Ryall
7 Hon Hekia Parata
8 Hon Christopher Finlayson
9 Hon Paula Bennett
10 Hon David Carter
11 Hon Murray McCully
12 Hon Anne Tolley
13 Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
14 Hon Tim Groser
15 Hon Phil Heatley
16 Hon Kate Wilkinson
17 Hon Nathan Guy
18 Hon Craig Foss
19 Hon Amy Adams
20 Hon Chris Tremain
“Schools are shuffling Maori and Pacific Island students into “easy” subjects to boost NCEA results, according to new research.
A mentoring group’s report revealed disadvantaged students were on an “educational dead-end” as softer subjects tended to shut the door on tertiary study and good jobs.”
SO what would expect when you PUBLISH league tables of pass rates for the schools.
TRP – as usual it’s you who ignore the point in your desperation to diss.
I acknowledged the importance if water to Māori, but Māori don’t have ownership of having an affinity with water, it’s a universal connection.
I grew up learning to value rain, it was an essential replenisher and it also cleansed. And I had a close association with water races, creeks and rivers. Saying this shouldn’t diminish the connection others have with water.
I grew up learning to value rain, it was an essential replenisher and it also cleansed. And I had a close association with water races, creeks and rivers.
Te Reo Putz, what is your issue? I hold no particular brief for Pete George, but who the heck died and made you QoT? (Or similar racially obsessed nutmeg..)
Vicky, seriously. You just can’t keep bringing me up out of the blue and then whinge when I give you yet another lesson in Earth logic.
I’m deeply sorry you’re incapable of addressing your own deep-seated racism. But given I’ve barely addressed the topic on this blog for months, your comment would seem to indicate it’s you who has the obsession (aka inability to self-analyse or let go of a grudge.)
And Vicky, it's me who's historically oft cluebatted the likes of you for ignoring racial issues and Te Treati O Waitangi. Only I haz no teaspoons for such bullshit at present.
But hey, you're welcome to keep making an idiot out yourself with your hate-on for QoT, just to remind some of us why you're a bit of a douche-hound at times.
I should be able to have similar feelings about water that Māori do, shouldn’t I? Or are you trying to claim that all Māori attributes are exclusive to one race?
If water belongs to us all then why should partially privately owned companies use it for their exclusive benefit? Why should they be allowed to affect water’s flow and the environmental health of our rivers so that they can make a dollar?
But Petey this is the nub of the question. You are perfectly happy for the power companies to build dams, store and regulate the flow of water so that they can profit and even though by doing this the environmental health of the river is affected.
Yet you do not accept that Maori may have any similar right even though under the treaty it seems pretty clear they have some rights to the rivers.
How do you reconcile this?
And what makes you say Maori are seeking to exclusively benefit from water? They have been very generous in allowing Kiwis to use the water and rivers without charge to date.
And what makes you say Maori are seeking to exclusively benefit from water?
I don’t think that.
I questioned your claim that “partially privately owned companies use it for their exclusive benefit”, which is completely different – and obviously incorrect.
If water belongs to us all then why should partially privately owned companies use it for their benefit? Why should they be allowed to affect water’s flow and the environmental health of our rivers so that they can make a dollar?
Felix says you know we can have electricity without private ownership …..PG in his blinkered ideological thickheadedness is not going to consider whyy these power schemes were not initially built by the private sector.
But PG is prepared for the private sector to become parasites upon public investment. True mark of an antisocial scumbag. You will find his grandmother for sale on Trademe.
That’s right Pete, we buy those things, then we own them. Collectively. Via the state.
Clap clap for your 30 second diversion. And now we’re back to where we were before your last comment, where I’m asking you why you think it’s suddenly so crucially necessary to have private interests benefiting from the ownership of our energy resources when it’s oddly never been necessary before.
Any chance you’re going to start behaving like an adult today or is it just going to be more of the same disingenuous bullshit?
And where. Like Cuba and North Korea? Or do they buy in turbines too? Do they smelt their own metals?
I heard about the far off really weird country called Aotearoa.
Apparently their state, gasp, designed and built power stations using state employees.
I kid you not!
The whole lot used to be owned by the state and meant not only that the state made a tidy sum it could use to pay for stuff like pensions but also the prices charged were lower than those charged by private companies.
Until one day when a dickhead said “that is communism” and thereby conclusive won the debate amongst the ill informed and the feeble minded.
And so they sold their power companies, or at least parts of them and from then on large amounts of wealth were lost to the people of Aotearoa and paid to American corporate bankers and shysters.
No arguments, no answers, no reasoning, not even a commitment to your own statements.
You’ve really exposed yourself in the last couple of days, even more than you already had.
You’re no longer even pretending to discuss anything in good faith. Just transparent word games that you’re not even good at, in a language you don’t understand.
And to think I actually stuck up for you when nobody else would. I was wrong about you Pete.
Just as well you have the guts to engage in protracted anonymous nitpicking and making up your own misinterpretations, while pretending to ignore anything that’s said.
+1, Felix. Much as I try to ignore PG, I cannot resist on this occasion at playing him at his own game of dissing people here on KB*.
You may enjoy this only reply to date on KB General Debate to his post at 8 above re ‘I am at one with Maori on water’
Pete George- I have a pretty strong connection with water also. In fact I am about 65% made up of the stuff…
Yikes- Does that mean Hone and co have a claim on me??
*Today’s example on the KB Racisim thread
Pete George (13,816) Says:
July 15th, 2012 at 11:12 am
It’s not just doing something that someone somewhere could faintly perceive as possibly disadvantaging a Māori person somewhere that risks getting called racism.
I’ve posted today about how I feel I have a similar affinity to water as do Māori. I’ve had these responses:
Te Reo Putake
Jeez, what a plonker you are, Pete. Way to completely miss the point and belittle maori at the same time.
marty mars
yay just what is needed more attempted racial division by pete – if support or understanding from you is the answer then the question is fucked.
Getting accused of racism for having similar feelings about water – some Māori want to set themselves apart, and attack anyone who suggests any commonality.
Just as well you have the guts to engage in protracted anonymous nitpicking and making up your own misinterpretations, while pretending to ignore anything that’s said.
Where will you bravely stick your neck out next?
Keep on digging Pete, who knows, maybe ye shall break through to the other side and become smart someday, or even become an MP…
Oh pete remember it was only a few nights ago that you accepted you stir it up just for your own weird pleasure, as part of your plan.
“I am one with Māori on water” is patronising, pretentious and blatant disinformation when your real agenda is understood, and it is, don’t worry about that.
I should be able to have similar feelings about water that Māori do, shouldn’t I? Or are you trying to claim that all Māori attributes are exclusive to one race?
Please give us a list of the the ways that Maori feel about water that you think you share with them. You haven’t actually said yet.
And saying that water belongs to Maori *isn’t* racially divisive? Lord, give me strength.
Actually, the clouds in the sky belong to Maori, also the updrafts and wind. This is set out under the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. So it should by now be very clear that every time a plane takes off, it’s owners should pay big bucks to Iwi-dom, because the plane takes advantage of something that belongs to one racial grouping. Who aren’t the slightest bit racist in claiming that. And let me tell you this: anyone who says that the plane’s owners shouldn’t pay is racist.
Spiritfree, the text of your reply is a plainly stupid knee-jerk reaction, as Maori have made no such claim,
Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi gives to Maori the full,exclusive, and, undisturberd use of their Lands,Estates and other Properties,
At the time of the signing of the Treaty Maori had in no way been dispossessed of their property rights to rivers and lakes by either force of arms or legislation,
Article Two of the Treaty also gives the Crown the sole right of purchase of any of that ‘property’ at a price that Maori agree too,
Hence,the Crown has never bought from Maori the rivers and lakes upon which sit the facilities for power generation,
So,other then legislation whereby the Crown gave unto itself the power to build such facilities of electricity generation upon the beds of rivers and lakes it neither purchased from or legislated out of the hands of the Maori owners, the Treaty of Waitangi is the sole legal document which sets out the ‘ownership’ of such rivers and lakes,
Having neither stolen,bought,or legislated the rivers and lakes out of the estates of the possession of Maori who at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi were in possession of them and thus guaranteed such ‘possession’ to attempt now to sell to any third party part or all of such rivers and lakes must breach article two of the Treaty…
PG, your blog post shows that you still have almost no understanding of the issues at stake.
Of course we all want to have a say in how water is managed. But the truth is that at the moment most of us don’t. That’s why dairy farmers can pollute rivers and it takes regional councils years to step up and intervene. It’s how the Clyde Dam got built. It’s why didymo was allowed to spread into so many SI rivers. It’s also why we now pay exorbitant rates for electricity.
You’re also missing the point about governance. There are already bodies that represent YOU (local and govt) who have some control over water. Maori, as treaty partners, are saying (have been saying for some times now) that they want their rights acknowledged. This isn’t about individuals feeling like they have some control, it’s about which groups legitimately get to say what happens to water. Either you support that Te Tiriti gives Maori the right to be a treaty partner, or you don’t.
The main difference I can see between you and pretty much everyone else in this thread is that everyone else either trusts Maori to do no worse than Pakeha with their power, and/or considers we will be better of with having water managed by Maori, and/or believes that the principle of Te Tiriti is worth upholding even where we may lose out on other ways. You on the other hand come across as being ok with some powerholders controlling water as long as they are white.
Not very nice considering what it will be like when you have no power is it?
The main enemy of the US—Al-Qaeda—was once financed and trained by Washington to fight the Soviet Union, Pakistani politician Imran Khan reminded Julian Assange. But after 9/11 it suddenly became an enemy and Pakistan people refused to accept it.
In the ninth episode of his show Julian Assange talks to Imran Khan, whose political party was ignored for years and which US State Department cables called “Pakistan’s one-man party.”
But today he is a front-runner in Pakistani politics. Nowadays his party counts far more than “one member” as electable people come to join him.
But when, Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s victorious cricket team, created his party from humble origins no one paid attention, no one supported him. That was so till Khan’s party, along with a few others, boycotted the elections in 2008, because they “were manipulated by the Bush administration,” and until his predictions turned out to be obvious.
Khan has always warned that elections would be “a disaster for the people of Pakistan” and that Pakistani leaders were turncoats telling Americans how great they were, but at the same time giving their own citizens a different opinion.
“The War on Terror has been devastating for Pakistan,” Khan says, because 40,000 Pakistanis have been killed “fighting America’s war.” “Basically, our own army was killing our own people.”
Imran Khan explained that about 20 years ago Osama Bin Laden and the whole of al-Qaeda were trained by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and CIA.
“These people were assets of the Pakistan Army,” he said. “They were trained by the Pakistan Army and the ISI, financed by the CIA, but they were fighting the Soviets, and for a long time these groups had very close association with the Pakistan secret agencies.”
“Now suddenly comes 9/11 and you do a 180 degrees turn,” he explained. “But it doesn’t mean that all along the way that people would have accepted this. Because here were people trained for Jihad – Jihad in this case means fighting a foreign occupation – so how were you going to convince them having indoctrinated not only these militant groups but also your own agencies, that they’re fighting foreign occupation as a religious duty.”
“No country has ever been bombed by its own ally, as we have been bombed in this country. Never has a country’s ruling elite, for personal benefits, never have they betrayed their people as much as this elite under Musharraf and the current elite,” Khan says.
Imran Khan says that the US operation on Pakistan’s soil in May 2011 against Osama bin Laden was the “ultimate humiliation” for the state, which was “sacrificing for the US.” It turned out that “our ally did not trust us and actually came and killed someone on our own soil. It was that the two factors combined: the sacrifices, and secondly, here is an ally which – are we a friend or an enemy?”
Khan says the “client-master relationship” between the US and Pakistan, when the latter is “a hired gun, being paid to kill America’s enemies” should be reviewed.
“The only thing that the Americans should be told is that “Look, there will be no terrorism from our side,” he says. The relationship with the US should be based on “dignity and self-respect” instead of the “client-master” model.
To the Maori the land and the water just were.
Only with the advent of grasping venal victorian rugged individuals who are psychologically incapable of looking at anything without putting a price on it did the question of pricing natural assets assume any importance.
and of course they want if for themselves.
slaves built monuments
slaves built roads
slaves mine rock
slaves carry water
slaves chop wood
slaves shepherd flock
slaves built alter
slaves bear tribute
slaves rear children
slaves write programme
slaves attack other
slaves pick crop
yet here we are, addicted and permanently wedged between what should be and what is. Even the most accomplished urban hermit has to go outside for food. That’s when the problems begin.
There’s a story of a master of life and a disciple travelling a mountain road. He comes to a tree and rests in its shade. While he rests a carpenter passes and sees the tree, but does not chop it down, because, as he remarks to the master, it is so knobbly and knotted it isn’t worth the effort. The master says to the disciple, “Today we have seen a useless tree left to live out all the years given to it because it is so useless.”
That evening the master and his disciple come to a man’s house and stay the night. The man is excited by the master’s presence and tells his son to kill a goose for dinner. The son says, “There is one goose that can cackle and the other has always been silent, which should I kill?” The father tells him to kill the one that cannot cackle.
The disciple says to the master, “These two days we have seen a tree that wasn’t useful left to live out its life and goose who wasn’t fit for purpose lose it’s life because of it. Which is the best way for people to be?”
The amused master said, “Clearly somewhere between useless and useful would be the sensible course, but this too would be certain death.”.
Then he said something similar to your list above. Then he said how he thought it should be. How does John Elijah say it should be?
Here’s hoping the usual running battle with Pete George has terminated for today! Pete will be bathing in all the attention he receives!
Considering the testerical accusations of racism he’s received, I’d be very surprised if he was basking. In his shoes I would be (and thanks to a pair of complete lunatics, I have been) projectile vomiting.
CHINA Roads. Geography. Trucks. Truck Roads.
not 4 car so much in near future.
What makes the programmers and consumers “think” like machines -statistical and probabilistic algorithms implicated in everything machine -fridges that talk to the supermarket distribution centre logistics-after people seeing feedback loop marketing)-(Supermarkets moving to MARKET and other nonsense including cheap appliances)
including “risk management” all the way up to Hedge Fund Fools.
THE MACHINE
the machine is not HUMAN BEING
FREE
The more CREATIVITY u give away the more you deconstruct the prostitution of ART which far outweighs dissemination.
Sooo,
Lets consider some sort of Socialist , for want of a better word unfortunately,
MULTI-CULTURAL
PARADISE
EVOLVED
from the MONOCULTURAL,
“TRADE PROTECTIONIST”
PARADISE
Of the 1950s
One of the most relevant international affairs commentators i have seen in the recent present suggested the option for NZ, rather than be swept up in the tide of globalism and its impending events was as a FACILITATING NATION because of it location and multiple RELATIONSHIPS
We are entering an extremly dangerous area when start to determine,the innocence or guilt of an accused person by gallop -poll .As was carried out by the Dom this week regarding the Scott Guy case, I have no doubt that Garth McVicar and his crew of fanatics are behind this move.
He is also trying to take away the right of silence from the accused. Just imagine how the less educated and vunerable would be treated if this came about. Its bad enough at the moment with the law favouring the rich without giving the better of another tool to bash workers and lowpaid families with.
Its time McVicar was shut up for good ,this dangerous man has too much say for his Fascist like opinions.
The McVicar’s of the world should be flogged daily. the only problem is he would probably enjoy it. He and his like are far more dangerous than we think, it’s time people start to challenge him before he becomes to powerful, or better yet, someone snaps him in bed being flogged by a transvestite dressed up as a prisoner . ‘Know disrespect to Transvestites intended.’
And California starts to (legally) recognise the actual relationships that humans engage in rather than forcing the unnatural nuclear family on everyone:
A California bill allowing children to have more than two parents is moving through the legislature. Its passage could fuel similar legislative efforts in other states to help address expanding definitions of family and parenthood brought on by same-sex marriage and advances in reproductive technologies.
The legislation, which has the support of gay and lesbian groups as well as some child-advocacy organizations, would give California judges explicit authority to grant parenthood status to three or more people, provided that such a move is “required to protect the best interests of the child.”
The bill was passed by the state senate …
Don’t like the last part required to protect the best interests of the child as it puts arbitrary limits on the family but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
J90 BofA in serious trouble after a string of scandals it has been brought to te brink by losses at no surprises Merrill Lynch (subsidiary)’Shonkey if he still has shares will have lost over 1/2 his $5 million worth of shares. boo hoo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10819499
In January, they bought a two-bedroom townhouse and embarked on a do-up, selling on June 24 for $430,000, making around $100,000 tax-free.
How can this not be considered worthy of the attention of the IRD ?
Forget CGT how about the IRD policing the existing tax rules of trading in property.
I know people who have bought and sold on rising markets, never worked and treated the capital gains as income. When I say never worked they worked hard renovating and selling, their labour being untaxed. I would regard that as employment, wonder what the IRD would think?
There is a limit to how often you can do that. Can’t remember exactly, but a builder I used to know would buy a run down house, live in it while he did it up, and then sell it on. He had to be careful not to do that too many times or he’d have to pay tax. I’m thinking it was something like once every few years???
Not a bad way to make a living, but I agree the tax avoidance is wrong. CGT might sort that out. What are proposed rules – eg how many houses are you allowed to own over what time before CGT would kick in?
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
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Charter schools promoters getting so desperate they are considering touting for students in shopping malls?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10819663
But the logic of this is just madness, and shows no faith in the government to provide adequate education:
And which parents exactly are not being met, when NZ’s education rates well internationally? If it’s less well-off parents, will charter schools ever make up for an unequal society?
Isaac had a piece in the DomPost the other day too claiming Charter Schools were not anti teacher and upping the lie about the number of pupils failing, now it’s 30%. It’s an insult to educators to have a Business Round Table affiliated money-bags foisting neoliberal crap on the teaching profession.
Yesterday someone said it was impossible for MSM to present a view outside the western perspective and that article is a prime example. Further, it is all fractured and linked to PPTA statements without a context – available online if you want them. So many statements stand alone and become so wildly open to interpretation as to be useless as a form of information.
Even after reading a few online sources of how the PPTA could cry racism and then a paper from University of Otago on the matter that goes into some depth – complete with a startling alternative view, for balance, that would bolster the enthusiasm of any maori bashers lurking nearby – it is no wonder The Herald can’t tell the whole story. It’s funny how the science of thinking, in an effort to acknowledge balance, often forgets human nature. (I’m not going to post the link, because the last thing this site needs is more fuel for the fire. It’s easy to find if you want it.). In order for this story to be written properly, the story would have to first not be able to be written. The story, doesn’t exist.
As far as I can make out, there is no way for MSM to present a nonwestern view. Can’t be done. If they try, they inadvertantly present a view deemed racist from one particular (important) group’s perspective. In the context of this story there is no way the PPTA can call racism. In calling racism from their point of view, they are being racist from another particular group’s point of view.
The obvious and easy concept that one could take from this MSM story, a story that does not exist, is that recruiting students from a shopping mall is discriminating against levels of society who do not or cannot frequent shopping malls, because in the very least, they are too poor.
ah, I should add, Carol, that the fracturing of the story I refer to is not a comment on your posting it. I am talking about the original Herald article you link to, not your ideas/opinions/post.
>>Charter schools promoters getting so desperate they are considering touting for students in shopping malls?
This is straight out of the Banks and Hullich play book.
Banks signed off dodgy prospectuses for Hullich.
Hullich set up in malls in Porirua etc to sell dodgy kiwisaver.
We know how well that worked out.
Now they going to prowl the malls again.
NICE
Hmmmm…. so the police have completed their investigation into Banksies’ funding by Dotcom:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10819571
So why has this completion slipped by so quietly? Is it because no charges will be laid?
I recall short articles on both Stuff and the Herald about a week or 10 days ago stating that the investigation had been completed and the issue referred to the Police legal unit as per the internal process. A decision was then expected within 2 to 3 weeks IIRCG.
Edit – here is a link to the Herald article on 5 july.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=10817650
Thanks for the links. Agreed. Jenny. I don’t expect any charges to be made.
On Politics this morning (Nine to Noon), Hooten referred to (for the first time afaik), to the possible consequences to the Nats of a prosecution.
Banks will not be charged by the police. Indeed as recent cases have shown the police job see their job as protecting those members of the establishment or from “good faimilies” from “needless” prosecution.
The only way Banks could face charges for his corruption was if some one else took a private prosecution against him.
It was reported on July 5:
For cases such as this the facts alone aren’t at issue. The prosecuting police officer whose desk this arrived on, knows that this sort of decision is way above his pay grade, and that it is his political duty to bump this up to the senior police who reserve for themselves the right of weighing up the rights and wrongs of political matters.
When it came to making political decisions about Tuhoe or making armed raids on Dotcom at the behest of the FBI events show that these senior police officers will always come down on the side of authority.
On the say so of the Americans and without any evidence produced to them at all by the FBI, the police stormed Mr Dotcom’s house in an armed raid, illegally confiscated all his property, used their discretionary powers to oppose bail citing a flight risk. Following the publicly expressed wishes of the Americans, the police also continued to vigorously oppose bail and defend the confiscations when their decisions ha to come before the courts.
Just as well we still have a court system to check the police. If not, chillingly Dotcom would have been delivered up to their foreign power de jour by our politicised police.
Similiarly to a political script made in the US, our police force mounted major armed raids making dozens of arrests and terrorising a whole Maori community,when they could have just arrested their four suspects with out hardly any effort. In the following court case, politically motivated, the police tried to use illegally gathered evidence and anonymous police spies and undercover agents to make a case for a huge terrorist conspiracy. And failed miserably.
Our police at the senior police are conservatively politicised and will not act against a conservative bastion of the status quo. However be a Maori activist, or a trade union picketer, or a Occupy Aotearoa activist, or anti racist protester and expect the full use of police discretionary powers to arrest or detain. Often followed by mischievious and frivolous police prosecutions that most likely will fail but still cost you time and money.
I would not expect to see any charges against Banks, the mason brothers all take care of their own!
Very fortunate for Dotcom indeed!
Just the facts of the matter are not all the police consider when laying charges, your class position in society is also a factor.
In a scandalous example our conservatively partisan police show their political bias in exercising their discretion not to charge someone with family connections.
This partiality is why our prisons are stuffed full of Maori or those without expensive lawyers or not from “good families”.
Or why wealthy conservative politicians like John Banks will never face charges.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7249331/Carjacked-teen-upset-as-man-let-off-with-warning
In another case of the police exercising their discretion not to bring charges against an establishment figure. The husband of a judge who ran down and killed a pedestrian and then fled the scene, has been told he will not be facing any charges. The police have also told a key witness to the events, the first person who turned up at the scene, that his testimony will not be required.
The judge was in the car with her husband when he fled the scene of the accident.
Firstly;-
Had the judge and her husband come from a social event?
Was there alcohol involved?
Had the driver been drinking?
Did the judge remonstrate with her husband to stop and give assistance?
We will never know.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7243382/Fatal-hit-and-run-charges-dropped
Secondly;-
If the occupants of the car involved in this hit and run, had been Maori, or otherwise not part of the establishment, would there be a hearing?
Would the police use their discretion not to bring charges?
Would the runaway driver have to appear in court?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7243382/Fatal-hit-and-run-charges-dropped
“that was a big thump dear”
“Don’t worry, keep driving”
Disgusting.
Absolutely disgraceful.
Absolutely!
The police who dropped the charges should be immediately suspended and be investigated.
Hopefully after the trauma of loosing his son he has the will to force the issue.
Great, now we have a community magistrate who owes the police a favour.
Come on, Jenny, drunk driving is only a problem when it’s young people, poor people, or Asians doing it. In fact, it’s scientifically impossible for good Pillars of the Community to harm people through driving, ergo the hit-and-run cannot have actually happened.
And more victim blaming by the police at the end of the first article:
The second one is disgusting. It’s an obvious case of people making excuses for the driver:
No, I don’t expect Banks to be charged with anything – he’s too well connected, white and rich.
I love that he couldn’t have stopped the car.
Like it didn’t have working brakes or something.
I love how “visibility was low”, and no one could possibly have been expected to have their headlights on or anything. (Judging by the photo in the article, it’s not a blind turn or any other physical obstruction of visibility.)
Yesterday I added this link 14 .2 to Banks case to Police lawyers 5 July 2012 regarding the fatal incident which you have mentioned again.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/7279622/Police-drop-charges-over-hit-and-run
A recent Wainuiomata case is also mentioned and a similar conclusion is being drawn.
I was hoping that the stuff link had a life longer than a day as I do not have the same problem with a Herald link.
If someone could please fix it, this would be appreciated.
I have gone to the link I supplied in 2.4.6 and punched in Police drop charges over hit and run and it came back page not found. I am not sure if what the police said is now being scrutinised. In a nut shell the driver and the judge’s word is believed by the police. The driver knew he hit something, he got out and checked the panel on his car and he did not think he had hit a person. The victim is reported as probably lying on the road when he was hit and that he had been to his cousin’s wedding. A motorist saw him lying in the middle of the road in a critical condition.
The driver knew he hit something, he got out and checked the panel on his car and he did not think he had hit a person.
To be fair I should change my reconstruction then:
“That was a big thump dear”
(stops)
“Gee, the car panel looks rather bent”
“Don’t worry dear, keep driving”
Police complaints authority
Yep yet another whitewash coming. The only thing that will amaze me is if anyone is actually surprised at the whitewash. Its all dirty politics.
Looking forward to seeing how the New Zealand Labour Council come up with the democratic right of Labour members to choose their own leader, following their decisions yesterday.
From a newspaper article where the reporter uses info Bennet has provided to inflame hatred and dersion against beneficiaries, and which I’m not even going to link to. From the obligatory few ‘other side of the story’ paragraphs so beloved of the talkback taliban, who like pick apart the carcass they provide for days afterwards:
…Some may accuse her of having an easy life, but Catherine faces a daily struggle to feed her family.
The reason she cannot make the books balance, says Mangere Budgeting Services chief executive Daryl Evans, is because she is in hock to predatory money lenders who demand huge repayments each week.
Her debt, inherited from her partner, is upwards of $45,000.
Much of it is representative of high-interest and fees rather than money borrowed.
By the time the rent and bills are paid, little is left for day to day survival and when the money runs out, she is forced to buy groceries from the mobile food trucks that roam poor neighbourhoods.
They charge $7.95 for two litres of milk and $5 for a loaf of bread, but her credit rating means she doesn’t have access to credit cards that a supermarket would accept.
“In an ideal world,” says Evans, “she would be working but currently there aren’t any jobs. They simply don’t exist.”…
bold mine
Jesus, the vultures really are honing in on the poor. More landing every day.
Chilling
One puzzle about that quote: If her money has run out and she doesn’t have a valid credit card how does she buy food from a mobile vendor?
Do they let her book it up on tick?
Why is she responsible for the debts of some dead beat partner?
I honestly think that for some folk who end up in this situation their best option is to declare bankruptcy.
Sure they may lose their hp 50″ tv & x box, but at least they can start again with a clean slate without all burden of debt around their neck.
Also by being declared bankrupt this will affect their credit rating thus making it more difficult to give in to the temptation to book things up.
For day to day basics they can then talk to the Sallies or op shop about getting cheap stuff for their home.
Also it means that the dodgy money lenders take a loss from their bad loans so hopefully they will think twice before lending again in the future.
I suggest a moratorium on links to crappy news sites on The Standard. All it does is enrage people because the information is so obviously corrupted. Once, it was that you could be sure that what the papers said, if not accurate to the last detail, thena at least the event itself actually happened. Now that we can’t even be sure of that, what is the point in reading it?
Just having a wee nibble Jimmie? Too delicious to resist?
Full marks for hiding behind concern-for-her-plight while you feast, though.
“Do they let her book it up on tick?”
Almost certainly.
“Why is she responsible for the debts of some dead beat partner?”
Because of relationship property laws in this country.
“I honestly think that for some folk who end up in this situation their best option is to declare bankruptcy.”
Yes, she should.
Note the considerable coverage in this morning’s Sunday Herald featuring the latest from Beneficiary Bashing Bennett. Great Scott!! Cited here are TWELVE families from the entire country who dared to have 10 plus children! How will the country survive? (I thought New Zealand wanted increase in population! Only of the “right kind”, of course). So exactly how much money is the tax payer shelving out for these families? In a family of ten, almost certainly a number are aged 16 or over, probably left school, even working (with luck!)
I am waiting for Bennett to turn her attention to the Catholic Church (if she dare!) and castigate it for opposing, as a sin, the practice of contraception. How quiet the news is on this point! Many poorer and larger families just happen to be Catholic.
While I am about it, dare I criticise the vast amount of media coverage devoted to Sonny Bill Williams? Does anything else in the country gain this amount of coverage and devotion (though some are now bitter about his “deserting” them for the idol of money)? He hopes to learn Japanese language – before he quits on them for still more cash in Australian rugby league! After Australia, he is likely to bless this country with a return – for high paying rugby will again be on the agenda! What a hero for our kiddies.
Those vultures all vote Nactional
“and which I’m not even going to link to”
One of the strengths of The Standard is that generally posters are prepared to support quotations with links, or references to the source. Sometimes there will be no source – a personal and informed opinion is still valuable, and sometimes an news report or article cannot be found on the net. There is obviously no need for academic sort of attributions, but where there is not url to link to, it is reasonable to give a brief reference such as for example SST pageXX, but a statement that a link was not being given deliberately, immediately brought to my mind suspicion that the quotes were selective and potentially misleading
just saying?
Yeah, I’d much prefer that links be provided.
K. Fair enough.
Herald on Sunday. Today. Page one.
You’ll probably get a bit of de ja vu. Bene bashing tends to follow a pretty standard formula.
In this case the section of the piece that I quoted was the only part of the item relevant to my comment. However, I reserve the right to not be obliged to provide a short cut that might increase the page views of an item I consider discriminatory and nasty, where the offending text is not relevant to my comment.
But fair call.
If it was her partners bills then why is she paying it and she can legally get those money lender bills dropped.
That said, the government really needs to reign in the loan sharks.
A no asset procedure (NAP) may erase most of the debt, but there are conditions and exclusions.
Since when does a person get accommodation supplement entitlement when they rent from HNZ?
Corin Dann on Q+A: “was there any symbolism in Tariana Turia dressing like a Cuban revolutionary?”
Che Guevara was an Argentine.
…who was a revolutionary in Cuba.
Have you never heard of a character called Fidel Castro?
Yes, he was a revolutionary in Cuba too. There are pictures of him wearing a similar type of beret.
And here’s me thinking she was dressing like the S1Ws.
… and Bolivia. Better he just ‘revolutionary’. Actually maybe she wore in sympathy with the U.S Olympic team about uniforms being made in china…
We had our red socks being sold in NZ as fundraisers for Sir Peter Blake yacht thing made in China.
Che Guevara was a medical doctor who saw extreme poverty in central and south America where indigenous people were being exploited by a few wealthy people you would call it Feudal.
He had the brains and the balls to stand up for what he believed in.
Unlike you pg who has neither as your just a
Pathetic Grovalar running with the fox’s and hunting with the hounds!
He gave his life for the cause.
Turia dresses like a Cuban revolutionary, in response to a PM who talks like Hernán Cortés. Open the can of spaghetti metaphors, who can untangle it?
Just read in Anderea Vance’s column in the SST …
“Which Cabinet minister so lacks confidence they need esteem-boosting cuddles from a less-than-sympathetic press secretary?”
I wonder who …
Let us start with a table!
A. Which ministers lack confidence gernerally? Or B which minister has nothing to be confident about?
A few obvious candidates there. Coleman & Parata is an A and B. Collins and Groser are a B.
Next, of those names, which one has any sex drive?
Next, of those names, which one is arrogant or stupid enough to try-it-on with someone who is unwelcoming of the attention?
try the game for yourself!
1 Rt Hon John Key
2 Hon Bill English
3 Hon Gerry Brownlee
4 Hon Steven Joyce
5 Hon Judith Collins
6 Hon Tony Ryall
7 Hon Hekia Parata
8 Hon Christopher Finlayson
9 Hon Paula Bennett
10 Hon David Carter
11 Hon Murray McCully
12 Hon Anne Tolley
13 Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman
14 Hon Tim Groser
15 Hon Phil Heatley
16 Hon Kate Wilkinson
17 Hon Nathan Guy
18 Hon Craig Foss
19 Hon Amy Adams
20 Hon Chris Tremain
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/latest-edition/7280930/Struggling-students-pushed-to-take-soft-subjects
“Schools are shuffling Maori and Pacific Island students into “easy” subjects to boost NCEA results, according to new research.
A mentoring group’s report revealed disadvantaged students were on an “educational dead-end” as softer subjects tended to shut the door on tertiary study and good jobs.”
SO what would expect when you PUBLISH league tables of pass rates for the schools.
I now have a better understanding of how Māori feel about water. I am at one with Māori on water.
Jeez, what a plonker you are, Pete. Way to completely miss the point and belittle maori at the same time. Are you John Terry in disguise?
Louis Crimp.
TRP – as usual it’s you who ignore the point in your desperation to diss.
I acknowledged the importance if water to Māori, but Māori don’t have ownership of having an affinity with water, it’s a universal connection.
I grew up learning to value rain, it was an essential replenisher and it also cleansed. And I had a close association with water races, creeks and rivers. Saying this shouldn’t diminish the connection others have with water.
Still missing the point, Pete, but keep waffling, that’ll make you look less like a pompous, patronising pakeha, fer sure.
I grew up learning to value rain, it was an essential replenisher and it also cleansed. And I had a close association with water races, creeks and rivers.
OMG.
Te Reo Putz, what is your issue? I hold no particular brief for Pete George, but who the heck died and made you QoT? (Or similar racially obsessed nutmeg..)
Vicky, seriously. You just can’t keep bringing me up out of the blue and then whinge when I give you yet another lesson in Earth logic.
I’m deeply sorry you’re incapable of addressing your own deep-seated racism. But given I’ve barely addressed the topic on this blog for months, your comment would seem to indicate it’s you who has the obsession (aka inability to self-analyse or let go of a grudge.)
<3
And Vicky, it's me who's historically oft cluebatted the likes of you for ignoring racial issues and Te Treati O Waitangi. Only I haz no teaspoons for such bullshit at present.
But hey, you're welcome to keep making an idiot out yourself with your hate-on for QoT, just to remind some of us why you're a bit of a douche-hound at times.
So what about the riverbeds Petey? Doncha agree that if they were owned by Maori and never confiscated they remain in Maori ownership?
yay just what is needed more attempted racial division by pete – if support or understanding from you is the answer then the question is fucked.
You’re the one trying to racially divide.
I should be able to have similar feelings about water that Māori do, shouldn’t I? Or are you trying to claim that all Māori attributes are exclusive to one race?
Water is worldwide. So is an affinity with water.
Good for you, Pete.
Now let’s see your documentation.
Most people know that water is worldwide, and that people everywhere have an affinity with water, without the need for documentation.
(But I guess felix is just trying to lead into another long meaningless sidetrack discussion)
If by “lead into another long meaningless sidetrack discussion” you mean “get Pete to say what he means out loud in unambiguous language” then yes.
But I thought it was obvious that I was referring to the documentation to show that you took ownership of the water at some point.
Still waiting for answers on the other thread too Pete.
No, it wasn’t obvious, and your response makes (trying to lead into another long meaningless sidetrack discussion) more obvious.
Well now that it is obvious I suppose you’ll be able to answer.
Still waiting on the other thread too.
Most people know that water is worldwide, and that people everywhere have an affinity with water, without the need for documentation.
OMG again!
Captain Hook makes a good point.
If water belongs to us all then why should partially privately owned companies use it for their exclusive benefit? Why should they be allowed to affect water’s flow and the environmental health of our rivers so that they can make a dollar?
It’s not for their exclusive benefit. There are very few if any people in New Zealand who don’t benefit from power generation.
And private companies have been and are involved in the business of providing power, it’s not a newly introduced concept.
But Petey this is the nub of the question. You are perfectly happy for the power companies to build dams, store and regulate the flow of water so that they can profit and even though by doing this the environmental health of the river is affected.
Yet you do not accept that Maori may have any similar right even though under the treaty it seems pretty clear they have some rights to the rivers.
How do you reconcile this?
And what makes you say Maori are seeking to exclusively benefit from water? They have been very generous in allowing Kiwis to use the water and rivers without charge to date.
And what makes you say Maori are seeking to exclusively benefit from water?
I don’t think that.
I questioned your claim that “partially privately owned companies use it for their exclusive benefit”, which is completely different – and obviously incorrect.
Bit pedantic and ignores everything else I said.
How about this then?
If water belongs to us all then why should partially privately owned companies use it for their benefit? Why should they be allowed to affect water’s flow and the environmental health of our rivers so that they can make a dollar?
So we can have electricity.
You do use electricity don’t you? I presume you also pay someone for it.
So what? If it is a commercial entity and they want to make a profit they should pay to use what does not belong to them.
Simple capitalist economics.
Are you saying that Maori should give them free use of what belongs to Maori and they should then charge us all for using it?
“So we can have electricity. ”
But you know we can have electricity without private ownership interests benefiting.
Don’t you?
Felix says you know we can have electricity without private ownership …..PG in his blinkered ideological thickheadedness is not going to consider whyy these power schemes were not initially built by the private sector.
But PG is prepared for the private sector to become parasites upon public investment. True mark of an antisocial scumbag. You will find his grandmother for sale on Trademe.
No felix, I didn’t know that. Tell me how. Documentation would help.
And where. Like Cuba and North Korea? Or do they buy in turbines too? Do they smelt their own metals?
That’s right Pete, we buy those things, then we own them. Collectively. Via the state.
Clap clap for your 30 second diversion. And now we’re back to where we were before your last comment, where I’m asking you why you think it’s suddenly so crucially necessary to have private interests benefiting from the ownership of our energy resources when it’s oddly never been necessary before.
Any chance you’re going to start behaving like an adult today or is it just going to be more of the same disingenuous bullshit?
is it just going to be more of the same disingenuous bullshit?
Interesting that you think that way. I’ll leave you to it.
And where. Like Cuba and North Korea? Or do they buy in turbines too? Do they smelt their own metals?
I heard about the far off really weird country called Aotearoa.
Apparently their state, gasp, designed and built power stations using state employees.
I kid you not!
The whole lot used to be owned by the state and meant not only that the state made a tidy sum it could use to pay for stuff like pensions but also the prices charged were lower than those charged by private companies.
Until one day when a dickhead said “that is communism” and thereby conclusive won the debate amongst the ill informed and the feeble minded.
And so they sold their power companies, or at least parts of them and from then on large amounts of wealth were lost to the people of Aotearoa and paid to American corporate bankers and shysters.
No arguments, no answers, no reasoning, not even a commitment to your own statements.
You’ve really exposed yourself in the last couple of days, even more than you already had.
You’re no longer even pretending to discuss anything in good faith. Just transparent word games that you’re not even good at, in a language you don’t understand.
And to think I actually stuck up for you when nobody else would. I was wrong about you Pete.
You dishonest, cowardly little man.
Just as well you have the guts to engage in protracted anonymous nitpicking and making up your own misinterpretations, while pretending to ignore anything that’s said.
Where will you bravely stick your neck out next?
Oh the old “anonymous” bit now? Cute. It’s not my problem you haven’t met me, dick.
But whatever. Feel free to engage any time you like. Still waiting on the other thread too.
Felix isn’t anonymous. He uses a consistent name here so we all know who he is when he posts (if we pay attention).
+1, Felix. Much as I try to ignore PG, I cannot resist on this occasion at playing him at his own game of dissing people here on KB*.
You may enjoy this only reply to date on KB General Debate to his post at 8 above re ‘I am at one with Maori on water’
Pete George- I have a pretty strong connection with water also. In fact I am about 65% made up of the stuff…
Yikes- Does that mean Hone and co have a claim on me??
*Today’s example on the KB Racisim thread
Pete George (13,816) Says:
July 15th, 2012 at 11:12 am
It’s not just doing something that someone somewhere could faintly perceive as possibly disadvantaging a Māori person somewhere that risks getting called racism.
I’ve posted today about how I feel I have a similar affinity to water as do Māori. I’ve had these responses:
Te Reo Putake
Jeez, what a plonker you are, Pete. Way to completely miss the point and belittle maori at the same time.
marty mars
yay just what is needed more attempted racial division by pete – if support or understanding from you is the answer then the question is fucked.
Getting accused of racism for having similar feelings about water – some Māori want to set themselves apart, and attack anyone who suggests any commonality.
It’s not my problem you haven’t met me, dick.
Best response to that bullshit line of argument EVER.
Keep on digging Pete, who knows, maybe ye shall break through to the other side and become smart someday, or even become an MP…
It is once the state power companies are privatised by this government.
But it is a completely worthless and expensive concept as the facts show.
Oh pete remember it was only a few nights ago that you accepted you stir it up just for your own weird pleasure, as part of your plan.
“I am one with Māori on water” is patronising, pretentious and blatant disinformation when your real agenda is understood, and it is, don’t worry about that.
Please give us a list of the the ways that Maori feel about water that you think you share with them. You haven’t actually said yet.
And saying that water belongs to Maori *isn’t* racially divisive? Lord, give me strength.
Actually, the clouds in the sky belong to Maori, also the updrafts and wind. This is set out under the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. So it should by now be very clear that every time a plane takes off, it’s owners should pay big bucks to Iwi-dom, because the plane takes advantage of something that belongs to one racial grouping. Who aren’t the slightest bit racist in claiming that. And let me tell you this: anyone who says that the plane’s owners shouldn’t pay is racist.
Spiritfree, the text of your reply is a plainly stupid knee-jerk reaction, as Maori have made no such claim,
Article Two of the Treaty of Waitangi gives to Maori the full,exclusive, and, undisturberd use of their Lands,Estates and other Properties,
At the time of the signing of the Treaty Maori had in no way been dispossessed of their property rights to rivers and lakes by either force of arms or legislation,
Article Two of the Treaty also gives the Crown the sole right of purchase of any of that ‘property’ at a price that Maori agree too,
Hence,the Crown has never bought from Maori the rivers and lakes upon which sit the facilities for power generation,
So,other then legislation whereby the Crown gave unto itself the power to build such facilities of electricity generation upon the beds of rivers and lakes it neither purchased from or legislated out of the hands of the Maori owners, the Treaty of Waitangi is the sole legal document which sets out the ‘ownership’ of such rivers and lakes,
Having neither stolen,bought,or legislated the rivers and lakes out of the estates of the possession of Maori who at the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi were in possession of them and thus guaranteed such ‘possession’ to attempt now to sell to any third party part or all of such rivers and lakes must breach article two of the Treaty…
Pot. Kettle. Black. Numbnuts…
PG, your blog post shows that you still have almost no understanding of the issues at stake.
Of course we all want to have a say in how water is managed. But the truth is that at the moment most of us don’t. That’s why dairy farmers can pollute rivers and it takes regional councils years to step up and intervene. It’s how the Clyde Dam got built. It’s why didymo was allowed to spread into so many SI rivers. It’s also why we now pay exorbitant rates for electricity.
You’re also missing the point about governance. There are already bodies that represent YOU (local and govt) who have some control over water. Maori, as treaty partners, are saying (have been saying for some times now) that they want their rights acknowledged. This isn’t about individuals feeling like they have some control, it’s about which groups legitimately get to say what happens to water. Either you support that Te Tiriti gives Maori the right to be a treaty partner, or you don’t.
The main difference I can see between you and pretty much everyone else in this thread is that everyone else either trusts Maori to do no worse than Pakeha with their power, and/or considers we will be better of with having water managed by Maori, and/or believes that the principle of Te Tiriti is worth upholding even where we may lose out on other ways. You on the other hand come across as being ok with some powerholders controlling water as long as they are white.
Not very nice considering what it will be like when you have no power is it?
You on the other hand come across as being ok with some powerholders controlling water as long as they are white.
That seems to be another assumption, to fit your prejudices?
I’ve never said anything like that, and don’t think anything like that.
http://www.rt.com/news/assange-pakistan-us-client-masters-relations-130/
Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda were trained by CIA 20 years ago
The main enemy of the US—Al-Qaeda—was once financed and trained by Washington to fight the Soviet Union, Pakistani politician Imran Khan reminded Julian Assange. But after 9/11 it suddenly became an enemy and Pakistan people refused to accept it.
In the ninth episode of his show Julian Assange talks to Imran Khan, whose political party was ignored for years and which US State Department cables called “Pakistan’s one-man party.”
But today he is a front-runner in Pakistani politics. Nowadays his party counts far more than “one member” as electable people come to join him.
But when, Khan, a former captain of Pakistan’s victorious cricket team, created his party from humble origins no one paid attention, no one supported him. That was so till Khan’s party, along with a few others, boycotted the elections in 2008, because they “were manipulated by the Bush administration,” and until his predictions turned out to be obvious.
Khan has always warned that elections would be “a disaster for the people of Pakistan” and that Pakistani leaders were turncoats telling Americans how great they were, but at the same time giving their own citizens a different opinion.
“The War on Terror has been devastating for Pakistan,” Khan says, because 40,000 Pakistanis have been killed “fighting America’s war.” “Basically, our own army was killing our own people.”
Imran Khan explained that about 20 years ago Osama Bin Laden and the whole of al-Qaeda were trained by the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and CIA.
“These people were assets of the Pakistan Army,” he said. “They were trained by the Pakistan Army and the ISI, financed by the CIA, but they were fighting the Soviets, and for a long time these groups had very close association with the Pakistan secret agencies.”
“Now suddenly comes 9/11 and you do a 180 degrees turn,” he explained. “But it doesn’t mean that all along the way that people would have accepted this. Because here were people trained for Jihad – Jihad in this case means fighting a foreign occupation – so how were you going to convince them having indoctrinated not only these militant groups but also your own agencies, that they’re fighting foreign occupation as a religious duty.”
“No country has ever been bombed by its own ally, as we have been bombed in this country. Never has a country’s ruling elite, for personal benefits, never have they betrayed their people as much as this elite under Musharraf and the current elite,” Khan says.
Imran Khan says that the US operation on Pakistan’s soil in May 2011 against Osama bin Laden was the “ultimate humiliation” for the state, which was “sacrificing for the US.” It turned out that “our ally did not trust us and actually came and killed someone on our own soil. It was that the two factors combined: the sacrifices, and secondly, here is an ally which – are we a friend or an enemy?”
Khan says the “client-master relationship” between the US and Pakistan, when the latter is “a hired gun, being paid to kill America’s enemies” should be reviewed.
“The only thing that the Americans should be told is that “Look, there will be no terrorism from our side,” he says. The relationship with the US should be based on “dignity and self-respect” instead of the “client-master” model.
http://www.rt.com/news/assange-pakistan-us-client-masters-relations-130/
To the Maori the land and the water just were.
Only with the advent of grasping venal victorian rugged individuals who are psychologically incapable of looking at anything without putting a price on it did the question of pricing natural assets assume any importance.
and of course they want if for themselves.
+ 1
Master of Being
slave to determination
master of destiny
slave to history
master of faith
slave to priest
master of wisdom
slave to “truths”
master of emotions
slave to thoughts
master of thoughts
slave to stories
master of fear
slave to guilt
master of reason
slave to morality
master of happiness
slave to contentment
master of sadness
slave to loss
master of awareness
slave to denial
master of surprise
slave to excitement
master of anger
slave to outrage
master of interest
slave to boredom
master of disgust
slave to contempt
master of anticipation
slave to obsession
master of security
slave to exchange
master of shelter
slave to lender
master of diet
slave to process sugar and fat
master of warmth
slave to generation
master of apparel
slave to sweatshop
master of gold
slave to mine
master of activity
slave to compulsion
master of passion
slave to obsession
master of aggression
slave to hostility
master of curiosity
slave to addiction
master of achievement
slave to recognition
master of affiliation
slave to status
master of autonomy
slave to loneliness
master of nurturance
slave to control
master of exhibition
slave to fame
master of order
slave to geometry
master of dominance
slave to authority
master of play
slave to rules
master of universe
slave to electron
master of nature
slave to extinction
master of water
slave to thirst
master of breath
slave to lungs
master of land
slave to fence
master of home
slave to ancestors
master of time
slave to clock
master of motion
slave to road
master of learning
slave to curriculum
master of labour
slave to contract
master of learning
slave to medium
master of profession
slave to form
master of role
slave to economics
master of innovation
slave to tradition
slaves built monuments
slaves built roads
slaves mine rock
slaves carry water
slaves chop wood
slaves shepherd flock
slaves built alter
slaves bear tribute
slaves rear children
slaves write programme
slaves attack other
slaves pick crop
Slave elect Master
Slave buried with Master
Slave of future
Slave of present
Master of Change
Slave to inevitable
Master of Ego
Slave to Self
John Elijah
+1
yet here we are, addicted and permanently wedged between what should be and what is. Even the most accomplished urban hermit has to go outside for food. That’s when the problems begin.
There’s a story of a master of life and a disciple travelling a mountain road. He comes to a tree and rests in its shade. While he rests a carpenter passes and sees the tree, but does not chop it down, because, as he remarks to the master, it is so knobbly and knotted it isn’t worth the effort. The master says to the disciple, “Today we have seen a useless tree left to live out all the years given to it because it is so useless.”
That evening the master and his disciple come to a man’s house and stay the night. The man is excited by the master’s presence and tells his son to kill a goose for dinner. The son says, “There is one goose that can cackle and the other has always been silent, which should I kill?” The father tells him to kill the one that cannot cackle.
The disciple says to the master, “These two days we have seen a tree that wasn’t useful left to live out its life and goose who wasn’t fit for purpose lose it’s life because of it. Which is the best way for people to be?”
The amused master said, “Clearly somewhere between useless and useful would be the sensible course, but this too would be certain death.”.
Then he said something similar to your list above. Then he said how he thought it should be. How does John Elijah say it should be?
Cripes John, you trying to build a Statute of Liberty out of your names and lists on this here thread?
Just wondering if you could improve your master-slave relationship to theory.
Perhaps a bit of Allen Ginsberg’s O Master might help please your Binary Master?
Here’s hoping the usual running battle with Pete George has terminated for today! Pete will be bathing in all the attention he receives!
I felt that today’s attempt was more lame than most. Pity, because he seemed to have put more effort into it than usual.
Considering the testerical accusations of racism he’s received, I’d be very surprised if he was basking. In his shoes I would be (and thanks to a pair of complete lunatics, I have been) projectile vomiting.
By the way,
CHINA Roads. Geography. Trucks. Truck Roads.
not 4 car so much in near future.
What makes the programmers and consumers “think” like machines -statistical and probabilistic algorithms implicated in everything machine -fridges that talk to the supermarket distribution centre logistics-after people seeing feedback loop marketing)-(Supermarkets moving to MARKET and other nonsense including cheap appliances)
including “risk management” all the way up to Hedge Fund Fools.
THE MACHINE
the machine is not HUMAN BEING
FREE
The more CREATIVITY u give away the more you deconstruct the prostitution of ART which far outweighs dissemination.
Sooo,
Lets consider some sort of Socialist , for want of a better word unfortunately,
MULTI-CULTURAL
PARADISE
EVOLVED
from the MONOCULTURAL,
“TRADE PROTECTIONIST”
PARADISE
Of the 1950s
One of the most relevant international affairs commentators i have seen in the recent present suggested the option for NZ, rather than be swept up in the tide of globalism and its impending events was as a FACILITATING NATION because of it location and multiple RELATIONSHIPS
ala SWISS , i believe he referenced.
http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=fonzie&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hRACUKr5LJHBiQfB_MHtBw&ved=0CF8QsAQ&biw=1093&bih=549
Yup the mushies must be powerful today macca.
We are entering an extremly dangerous area when start to determine,the innocence or guilt of an accused person by gallop -poll .As was carried out by the Dom this week regarding the Scott Guy case, I have no doubt that Garth McVicar and his crew of fanatics are behind this move.
He is also trying to take away the right of silence from the accused. Just imagine how the less educated and vunerable would be treated if this came about. Its bad enough at the moment with the law favouring the rich without giving the better of another tool to bash workers and lowpaid families with.
Its time McVicar was shut up for good ,this dangerous man has too much say for his Fascist like opinions.
Couldn’t agree more Postman.
The McVicar’s of the world should be flogged daily. the only problem is he would probably enjoy it. He and his like are far more dangerous than we think, it’s time people start to challenge him before he becomes to powerful, or better yet, someone snaps him in bed being flogged by a transvestite dressed up as a prisoner . ‘Know disrespect to Transvestites intended.’
Cross country harrier-ing after Petey again. Go Petey you foxy little bunny.
And California starts to (legally) recognise the actual relationships that humans engage in rather than forcing the unnatural nuclear family on everyone:
Don’t like the last part required to protect the best interests of the child as it puts arbitrary limits on the family but it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
SST steals a march.
they noted today that Kweewee will go on RNZ to opine on Sunny BIll but not about politics.
something very fishy here.
David Miliband: Labour cannot be conservative.
Robert Reich: Wall Street Sleaze Keeps Growing
J90 BofA in serious trouble after a string of scandals it has been brought to te brink by losses at no surprises Merrill Lynch (subsidiary)’Shonkey if he still has shares will have lost over 1/2 his $5 million worth of shares. boo hoo
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10819499
In January, they bought a two-bedroom townhouse and embarked on a do-up, selling on June 24 for $430,000, making around $100,000 tax-free.
How can this not be considered worthy of the attention of the IRD ?
Forget CGT how about the IRD policing the existing tax rules of trading in property.
I know people who have bought and sold on rising markets, never worked and treated the capital gains as income. When I say never worked they worked hard renovating and selling, their labour being untaxed. I would regard that as employment, wonder what the IRD would think?
There is a limit to how often you can do that. Can’t remember exactly, but a builder I used to know would buy a run down house, live in it while he did it up, and then sell it on. He had to be careful not to do that too many times or he’d have to pay tax. I’m thinking it was something like once every few years???
Not a bad way to make a living, but I agree the tax avoidance is wrong. CGT might sort that out. What are proposed rules – eg how many houses are you allowed to own over what time before CGT would kick in?