Democracy seems to be breaking out everywhere.
If the Labour membership get the right to have a say in their leadership selection. Lobbyists for vested interest will find it harder to influence thousands of grass roots Labour Party members than a few dozen Labour MPs.
Well, Jenny, the astonishing thing is that, though they are politicians, Green parliamentarians actually have principles – which hopefully Labour will take on board.
Whilst all eyes in NZ turn toward the latest little fiasco from a government determined to sell off every vestige of a state once internationally renowned for its care of its less well off citizenry, some of us have eyes elsewhere.
Some questions about where the money really was going to come from and where it was going to go to (for assets etc) raised bigger pictures. Will any of this cash be worth anything? US$….what are they worth when the debt crisis arrives head on? Euros? Try this link http://www.forexpros.com/analysis/europe-continues-its-slide-toward-the-precipice-129581
Shonkey might just be about to inherit a bigger issue if the banks where he holds his wealth collapse. We are all in for an interesting ride, think about how you will feed yourself if the currency supply dissappears.
We often hear the Right scare mongering around the supposed conspiracy around climate change to form a Global Govt, but hasn’t the right already achieved this through Corporatism and Banking, is the Builderberg agenda for a single Global Central Bank? Max Keiser on Press TV >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HU3EbWbUjs&feature=youtu.be
If money is Power, and our Politicians and even Economists don’t understand how money is created, what hope do we have against the Banksters?
If money is power…..you are so right. Having said that their is a paradox inherent: if debts are called in and cant be paid because there is not enough money what value the debt? And if the debt expressed in money terms has no value what value does the money have?
That is the real risk for the Eurozone. The Emperors lack of clothes once exposed becomes contagious. The smart money rushes out to the US $….China gets nervous and tries to call in the money owed them by the US….the US$ crashes because their debts are too large and voila….
If the money has no value then where is the power? If you cannot pay the states enforcers, then how can you impose your power?
Any word of the deliberations of Te Labour NZ Council on the Leadership selection process?
Did they “recommend” that the membership have a REAL say?
Or did they give in to pressure from the status quo, don’t rock the boat, faction in the Caucus?
The polls are shite for Shearer and Labour. Be honest.
When trying to predict how Labour will respond, whatever scenario would be a bitter disappointment, sadly, almost always proves correct.
I predict that the voice that is ceded to the membership will be set up to pose no real threat to the status quo, despite a considerable effort to present it as being significant progress.
Any word on the Labor NZ Council meeting deliberations on the Leadership selection process this week?
Did they support REAL power for membership in the selection?
Or did they back the status quo section of the Caucus that wants to have a veto over everything?
Any word on the Labor NZ Council meeting deliberations on the Leadership selection process this week?
Did they support REAL power for membership in the selection?
Or did they back the status quo section of the Caucus that wants to have a veto over everything?
I wonder how many of us still remember back to November, what it was like to actually have some say in the matter.
Is it true that Grant Robertson and Claire Curran were on the phone to the Conference for the whole eight hours, and never let up once seeking to completely shut Party Members out of Leadership decisions?
The vote to reduce union representation to something meaningless was defeated, at least.
The really bad news – I understand that the Right Wing of caucus will probably get their Fiji Amendment.
If its a caucus only vote of confidence in the leadership (which can occur without members ever being told) the bar is going to be significantly and unfairly raised from a simple majority to 67%.
So in future it will require a full 67% of Labour MPs to declare no-confidence in a current leader and trigger a leadership selection process. Put another way, if just 14 out of 40 Labour MPs voted for confidence, and 26 against, the leader would remain secure “with the confidence of caucus” behind him.
“And I thought they did that. It was called “ACT”.”
Some replacements sneaked in with the humans. Another purge is required.
With the worldwide failings of right-wing agenda on show Labour should just concentrate on communicating their remedy, and stop trying to capture left and right with two faced bs.
Perhaps the Right Wing of caucus should go and form their own party and give back the Labour Party to its membership.
So, nobody but me noticed that these ‘questions’ about the Labour party were identically-worded mis-spelled (Labor NZ?) posts under 3 different names? * All seems a tad dogdy to me, but those who are heavily into Shearer and Labour bashing just took it all for, literally, granted!
So, is it true, as someone here once told me, that most Standardistas are Greens? Does that explain all the loathing of Shearer and Labour? Cause it gets very old.
* Similar behaviour making a pro-Nat point would have been noticed and commented on. ‘Nuff said! 🙁
And silly me understood that democracy meant that a simple majority decides things.
Looks like caucus may be on a collision course with party membership. The last time this happened was in the late 1980s and the results were not pretty …
CV
I don’t like simple majorities as a basis for change, after all the margin of error used in polls is about 2-3%. What about 55% being used as a ‘significant majority’ rather than 51-49.
Oh dear . . . btw how well did each of them do in 2011 in their respective constituencies in terms of electorate votes and party votes? And how did that compare with their numbers in the 2008 general elections?
About $200 million has been paid to transport consultants for work on five of the seven roads of national significance since 2009.
[…]
Labour transport spokesperson Phil Twyford told Radio New Zealand it was an “eye-watering amount of money” to be spending on consultants in the current economic climate.
[…]
“$200m could buy a lot of useful transport infrastructure and services,” Mr Twyford said.
Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter questioned the impartiality of the advice given to NZTA by consultants.
“In does beg the question of whether the transport consultants’ industry is actually giving advice that’s totally neutral or whether they’re recommending projects they know are going to result in more work for them,” she told Radio New Zealand.
The continuing story of Joyce’s crony capitalism ……
I’m thinking of looking for a job as a speech writer for a polly. Gerry Brownlee questioned about the huge amount budgeted today for planning future motorways, emphasised that it was necessary to getting quality roads, and I think safety came into it. So predictable the waffle could be drafted by anyone.
Proof we humans are the stupidest creatures on the planet….some unfortunate guy sitting on a peice of fibre glass on the ocean meets a very large fish…Sharky is just doing what he has done for millions of years, and yes the gent on the board knew all about shark habits…unfortunate incident takes place.
So far, an expected result, but then…poor Sharky must pay the ultimate penalty as we humans, masters of the Universe take revenge.
Just after Steve Irwin said “Crikey, that’s a big stingray!”, heaps of idiots went out and killed as many as they could find. Given that he had labelled Howard as a warrior for the environment, his ghost possibly approved.
I think a lot of firms used Y2K to implement lots of IT innovation and quietly dropped it. I worked for an international firm that had a fair few programmers going through hundreds of programs changing the dates from 1999 to 2050 so they wouldn’t crash. A lot of money was spent on contingency planning but in the end the programmers did their job, as did those of other firms (or else software was upgraded).
Carping on about the limitations of new workers by Auckland Employers group Campbell. And single parents were mentioned as a reason amongst others. The endless dump that the right wing make on females continues.
Poverty is a large part of the problem which the right wing is making worse with more demands to be out at work that WINZ sets, rather than something that can be found locally, even a few hours a week working in the fruit and vegetable shop. Working and receiving less than the already pared down benefit makes life harder moneywise but also timewise. And teenage kids need care and discussion about general problems which then can move onto their own problems. If a solo parent has to be away at work for peanuts, then in this case you are likely to get monkeys.
A farmer in this item says that the old time sharemilking agreements are being pared down so that the worker and his cows receive less than before. In that case the enterprise becomes not a collaboration, but is a profit-sucking approach by the absent landowner at the expense of the heavy-lifter actually investing plus doing the work on the farm. This is worrying as it is a move towards the rich estate owner and always poor tenant farmer which our forebears tried to escape.
There is a photo of John Key on Facebook with a Moko, Merril Lynch written on his forehead and a dollar sign on his chin. Some negative comments about the use of the moko but most comments very negative about Key, some vehemently even violently so. Let him feel it folks!
I hope you don’t go, prism. I like your contributions, which are always witty and well reasoned.
It would be particularly sad if you were going because Pete George has ruined this site for you, as is obviously his aim. It’s a shame that The Standard mods are too nice to simply ban him for turning the place into The Petard, rather than the left wing site it was meant to be. But I guess most lefties are tolerant to a fault.
The road to hell is now littered with “brighter future” pamphlets, forgotten helicopter ride photos and the clippings from a rather creepy blue/grey bouffant.
Perhaps it would be quite appropriate, given the unique circumstances, to create an opportunity for the community of people who provide pieces and comments here to express support for the moderators of The Standard to administer a longer term ban on a certain commenter.
I too feel that if the current situation persists, I know I will do the one thing I can choose, although with some reluctance, and that is to stop visiting this site.
I too feel that if the current situation persists, I know I will do the one thing I can choose, although with some reluctance, and that is to stop visiting this site.
Nasty! Very nasty. First, you don’t have the balls to name the person you’re wishing banned, and then, why is it that you can’t tolerate even seeing disagreement?
If you had half a brain, you could do what I do, and skim… (Te Real Putz, I am talking about you.)
It’s nothing to do with disagreement Vicky, and all about dishonesty. People disagree here about all sorts of things all the time. The strongest disagreements can often be between people who tend to agree on most things, oftentimes between people who are members/supporters of the same parties and organisations.
That’s the real strength of this place. It can be a very effective forum for robust honest open discussion between people who, despite their differences, fundamentally share some common goals. Broadly speaking (very broadly) those goals are the goals of the (small ‘l’) labour movement and left wing ideas generally (did I mention it would be broad? 😉 )
Obviously lots of other stuff goes on here too, and obviously the place attracts people who don’t share those goals. Some of them come for a bit of good-natured jousting, some to explore and challenge ideas, and some just come to fuck the place up in service of their own, very different goals.
It is my opinion that no-one here is under any obligation to allow those people to define the shape of this forum. It doesn’t exist for their ends. Everything we want from this place, they come here to obstruct. Everything we build in the real world, they want to destroy.
Fuck them, they can play elsewhere. Let’s use this place to share our ideas and experiences, to educate and learn from each other, to build our networks, and move toward those goals we share.
For clarification to 12.2.1,
the comment at 12.2 was in context and in relation to 12.
The certain commenter was not named because the person posting 12.2 felt readers can do with a break without the name being typed out again.
Re 12.2.1.2 “Let’s use this place to share our ideas and experiences, to educate and learn from each other, to build our networks, and move toward those goals we share.” – agree. Hence I am back. And I am making a cash donation to The Standard’s account when I drop by Kiwibank during lunch today.
Dear “prism”
Please continue posting your comments again when you wish.
Jim Nald
On reading your comment that you did not want to name the person all I could think of was Vold…mort! 😀
And I too will put some more money into the Standard, a small amount but perfectly formed, when something is done to control Pete George’s verbiage. It’s worse than mine which is sometimes reprehensible, so get some steel Standard and make sure the kiddies are playing properly in the sandpit and no-one is dominating.
Are you aware of the sacrifices and struggle attached to getting te reo Māori recognised as an official language, let alone respected? Sure I am being precious but just think on the fact that your mangling of it to make a point hurts because it is only just making it through. I’d ask you to apologise but what’s the point…
Are you aware of the sacrifices and struggle attached to getting te reo Māori recognised as an official language,
Of course I am! I am a linguist. My play on his name was intended not as an insult to the language (that being said, no language is sacred, and thinking otherwise is just silly.) but to the man, who is in fact as much of a putz as my late husband (and so my brother nick-named him. Google putz, it’s Yiddish)
Welsh was brought back from the brink within living memory, and my grandmother’s mother tongue, Manx Gaelic, died in that same time. Maori is far from being the only endangered language, and in fact when I lived in Whakatane, my 3 year old son and I sat waiting for a bus, and we were the only people speaking English in the whole bus station! My point is, that in Rotorua when I was a child, and other parts of the BOP when I was in my early 20s, I was surrounded by native speakers of Maori. Therefore the ‘Maori is endangered’ people always seemed to me to be a bit precious and unaware of the status of the language! A language being taught to children by their parents, is not in any danger. Those who learn Maori as adults tend to be Pakeha, many motivated by guilt/pride etc.
Apologise? Of course not. I have done nothing to apologise for.
Os gwelwch yn dda, peidiwch â bod mor werthfawr prideful idiot! A rhoi’r gorau i addysgu eich nain i sugno wyau.
I much prefer your comments, prism, to that of the virus that PG has become. Either that virus is totally deluded or lacking in intellect or is deliberately trying to sabotage this site.
prism, on the other hand, is straightforward and sincere, and aims to further discussions and knowledge through his comments.
+1 to this comment and all the others. I too enjoy and respect your comments, Prism. But the continual hypocracy etc from a certain other commenter also from time to time drives me away from here, which is extremely annoying because the Standard is imo the best blog on the block – thanks to the owners, moderators and other posters here.
I’m sorry you feel that way prism, especially because you’re usually one of the better contributors here. But don’t you think it’s a tad ironic that even you are now joining the campaign to ban me, when I spoke up against this comment:
All you filthy colonising white maggot scum can crawl back to the slums you came from now.
Do you think that qualifies as satire?
If so do you think it is reasonable satire, and helpful on the debate on water and race issues?
I’ve often been accused of being a fence sitter, and not saying what I really think. Yet when I do speak most strongly I get the most criticism. But threats of banning won’t make me step back from this, I think it’s important, it touches on a very serious issue facing our country.
I’m happy to discuss this with any moderator who wants to. But hey, if an engineered excuse achieves it’s aim, then so be it.
But while I still can I’d like to say that it’s not me that stalks and abuses and continually tries to extend discussions beyond their used by date.
The next comment is an example of where the real problem is on this blog.
Vicky, what would you think if someone started quoting you as calling someone a lying maggot? Without mentioning that that part of your comment was quoting someone else. Making it look like that’s what you were saying, which obviously you weren’t.
That’s very close to what’s happening here, but instead of a direct quote it was the sarcastic finishing off of someone else’s comment.
Without mentioning that that part of your comment was quoting someone else. Making it look like that’s what you were saying, which obviously you weren’t.
Sorry, I didn’t realise that is what had happened…
Oh dear … I’ve been too busy with work to keep track of this.
First of all it was not really satire. Not even irony. It was simply meant to provoke a thought experiment.
So far you can tell from the Maori reaction to this whole issue that they find John Key’s position pretty inflammatory and offensive. (As they did when Helen Clark was pushed into making a similar mistake over the Seabed and Foreshore… the difference this time of course is that Key has pretty much dug this hole all by himself.)
Now you find my comment inflammatory and offensive … and yes on face value, this is true. Mea culpa. It was deliberately constructed to push Pakeha buttons. But also you now have some sense of how Maori feel when WE push THEIR buttons.
However I carefully added another sentence which everyone else has understood as a great big fat clue as to my actual intent.
And I should add that stripped of the offensiveness, there remains a core of truth. Like it or not the Treaty more or less reads that the iwi are indeed the legal ‘owners’ of all resources in this land. That’s what we signed up to for better or worse. Of course what Maori meant by ‘ownership’ and what Pakeha mean by the same word have two rather different meanings and connotations.
Up until very recent times Pakeha have been able to exploit their dominant position to interpret this ‘ownership’ word as suited us. Which has consistently turned out pretty much the worse for Maori.
Now the tables are turning and by adopting our own tactics Maori are forcing us to re-examine this cosy, convenient arrangement we have made for ourselves. So far they have been, by and large, pretty patient and generous about the whole deal. So all things considered you may want to think about how they might feel about constantly having their buttons being pushed.
It is possible to read your original post and not have one’s buttons pushed. As Pakeha I didn’t feel offended in the slightest by what you wrote. People who were offended might want to reflect on why they felt that way. This is esp true for Pakeha who think that that comment is in any way close to being similar to what Maori experience as racism every day or for the last several hundred years.
Can you explain how Maori have experienced racism every day for the last several hundred years ?
Certainly there have been instances of racism, bigotry which are obvious to all and pre European settlement one could point to inter tribal genocides…. but racism every day for the last several hundred years….. surely that is not only hyperbole it’s just fundamentally wrong.
Your complaining would come across as more genuine if you hadn’t accused iwi of extortion, and failed to justify or withdraw the allegation. Hint: repeating it isn’t explaining it, and pointing out that you might legally be owed money if someone does something isn’t extortion
Also, there was that piece from NZN that you approvingly linked to on friday, which implied that iwi claims for water were dangerous, and made all sorts of dark hints about the radical scariness of iwi caims, with warnings to the left about supporting them. As if it was the claims themselves that were the problem, rather than the backlash from people who don’t support honouring the treaty.
All very odd behaviour for someone who claims to support honouring the treaty.
As the comment YOU express disgust at was a reply to something(s) myself and another commenter had addressed in that particular thread i can tell you that while it wasn’t quite the comment that got me to spit my coffee all over the keyboard it came pretty damn close, the sheer humor engendered from the expressed comment is only matched by at times MY actual thoughts of the (mis)treatment of Maori over their property rights since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840,
I have yet to see you provide any ‘helpful debate’ on issues of water (ownership) or how this can be successfully adjudicated between the signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi, those being the Tribes and the Crown and your present WAH WAH WAH as was described to you by another commenter over on that other web-site serves to simply distract from that debate in an effort to make the debate about YOU,
While not seeing any reason to ban you from this site for your abhorrent ‘dissing’ of someone commenting here elsewhere, a blatant act of cowardice in my view, such a banning if meted out to YOU by those YOU have dissed in such a cowardly manner would be richly deserved,
To drag the ‘take’ back to where the debate was befor YOU, in my opinion with deliberation, dragged it off topic as is your usual tactic, the original version of the Treaty of Waitangi was the work of 3 people, all of them Englishmen, Captain William Hobson, his secretary James Freeman, and, the British Resident James Busby,
Those 3 wrote the English text of the Treaty of Waitangi and this was then translated into Maori by the British Missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward Williams, there are not 2 Treaty’s, just the one, the Maori version written as a translation of the English version by Englishmen,
Where you and the other detractors of the Treaty of Waitangi attempt to muddy the waters with claims of differing meanings between the 2 Treaty versions there are in fact none,
The intent of the Treaty of Waitangi is clearly written in plain English in the English version, and with regards to the present ‘take’ befor the Waitangi Tribunal Maori have every right and every confidence that THEY stand on the right side of both the Treaty of Waitangi and later Government Legislation in their stand befor the Tribunal,
Section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 states, ”Nothing in this Act permits the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”…
Evidence please. Its typical of The Standard that its participants always claim to encourage honest debate when in fact all they actually seem interested in doing is shutting debate down in a somewhat immature fashion.
My values have always been clear, New Zealanders expect a higher standard of politics and political discourse. Its why I’m actively involved in politics, and its why I always find innovative ways to contribute to my local community. Its disappointing that The Standard also promises this but in reality rarely delivers.
I have always been confident in myself that I can help create change for the better. That is what I spend my time and energy doing every single day.
Perhaps you could learn something from my centrist and community spirited example instead of repeating unimaginative vitriol?*
*I thought you guys might be missing PG so just doing a bit of channeling this morning
So now Pete is openly attacking author/moderators, both here and elsewhere on the internet, and yet for some unknowable reason we keep this turd and lose good souls like prism.
prism, there are 32 comments on this thread commenting on PG.
Prior to your entry No.12, he hadn’t appeared. But his very being
generated 30 of those comments. (and of course I increase the count by one)
However if you hadn’t commented, we may have had a PG free day.
Just thinking …
Logie97
Your thinking is becoming convoluted as is all the traffic connected with PG. And that is the problem. I looked at the thread on Friday? as being like a hunt with PG being the fox or the bunny and everyone after him. I haven’t been reading him and tried ignoring anything relating to him but find that there’s often precious little else on his chosen thread, probably mostly Open Mike. Thankfully you usually provide something substantial between the puff pastry.
bleeaaarrgh…… That is yucky isn’t it. Just like a sewer. They are like a bunch of stinky rats who hide out in an underground sewer cavorting and chuckling away with each other every day without ever poking their heads up to see the sun.
How is it that a section of the spectrum of society come to be this way?
Last week I was up at Ruapekapeka where the last battle of the colonial wars in Northland took place. The Maori had shown amazing ingenuity in fortifying their position, the British showed amazing tenacity in bringing their firepower to bear and capturing the position.
More amazing was the wisdom shown from both sides: Grey called a ceasefire and sent terms to the Maori. Kawiti’s reply was, “If you have had enough, I have had enough, if you have not had enough, I have not had enough”. Grey promptly declared peace, pardoned all involved and refused his sides request to hoist the British flag over Ruapekapeka.
Eeek, just went over for a quick look. I am now going to wash myself down for decontamination purposes, it is very unclean and totally unwholesome over there at Kiwiblog. Mr Garrett et al presenting cultural supremacist lines, puke. Totally nasty.
I think it’s really appropriate that Garrett has become the philosophical muse of those retards. Pete also lets his real thoughts out of the bag over there. Quite illuminating really.
Enough of the passive aggressive stuff Petey. All that we want is that when you clearly get caught out doing the trolly thing you have the decency to fess up and apologise. You have now had the indecency of repeating the same smear three or four times not only here but at the sewer.
In the interests of defusing this I’m not commenting here again today.
I think it’s fair to say that I only skim your posts (along with those of some of the crazier nutmegs who oppose you) but I have also to say that I admire your strength of character!
If the last week has shown 1 thing in the uS its shown that Romney really is a shit candidate. Totally unprepared for the big leagues. He could turn it around, but at the mo’ he’s floundering.
That’s a good summation of why you never put the RWNJs in charge of a country or a business. They destroy everything they touch for their own personal enrichment.
Worried that your piss poor practices will come back to bite you in the arse?. No problems, destroy the evidence.
The owner of Alan Reay Consultants which designed the CTV building has admitted the company destroyed its records after the deadly February earthquake.
There was a time where I consistently watched Maori TV because I got so fed up with other channels’ interpretation of current affairs and also the because the inane content (celebrity culture, competitive cooking/singing/dancing/DIY etc shows )- was unbearable. Maori TV has great documentaries and films and and was particularly interesting, lively, humourous and insightful during election campaigning last year.
After a while, after reintergrating TV3 news and other “shows” back into the viewing habits I became aware of how biased, negative and ignorant of the Maori world view our TV media is. I wonder how much Pakeha media news and views further influence those in NZ, and theres plenty of them,who already have an inherently racist viewpoint?
The Pete George bizzo. I am new to and irregular on this site so probably don’t have place to have a voice on the subject….but I wonder, if you just ignore him, won’t he go away?
Nobody should feel they need to withdraw their presence on a site because of the words of another, especially when that “other” intentionally goes out of their way to be provocative and disruptive. Prism, if you quit because of PG (Personal Grievenace) then he has won. He’s only out to wind folks up and to troll.
I always skip PG’s posts because they are just plain tiresome but do admit to getting invloved in a PG directed discussion ages ago about poverty, a reality he was denying existed. I admit to getting really annoyed about this and in response posted a youtube video of HomeBrew’s song “Listen to us”, about the harsh reality of life in for many in NZ and released prior to the election last year.
Standard posters, would you consider just ignoring him? It could be an experiment. If enough people ignore him, he might just quietly leave………
I just skate over his posts and really enjoy the occasional PFD (Pete Free Day) at the Standard. Used to think he was just a pompous even somewhat well meaning git, but hundreds of liteweight fencesitting posts later along with being caught with his ideological tweeds down at other sites, have confirmed the obvious.
Rosie, you have got it exactly right – best simply to ignore him – reacting only serves to make one sound defensive. Best not to feed his delusions of grandeur.
I don’t for a moment believe that he’ll quietly leave if ignored. I think that’s a misunderstanding of how he regards this place and the function he thinks it serves for him.
But if everyone else wants to blank him, I’ll play. Got to be 100% though. Nary a mention. Not a syllable not a sound, not a mutter not a murmur.
I’m in. Haven’t been snared by Pete’s often passive-agresssively nasty, faux naive, self-serving twaddle for a long time. I’ve been amazed by the persipacity of those who have valiantly and patiently slogged away (in vain) with facts and logic in ever increasing irritation….
He’s been sapping the energy of many of TS’s best and brightest when there are one or two important things happening in politics at the moment. Just saying…
Like I said, I’m kind of new here so don’t know PG’s motivations and his style or how he would respond being blanked. To be honest I don’t pay that much attention to him and his posts. I just feel he gets far too much attention, and for god’s sake, I’m contributing to that attention right now by discussing his self!!! Sucked in!! Oh dear.
Personally I’m just getting my head around the irony of moving into to the Ohariu electorate and the being on the turf of Te Hair. Seeing any UF, anywhere, especially on a good old blog such as this is makes me overlook anything PG has to say. Avoidance and all that.
Yep, I’m game, though I may post the occasional DNFTT request with a link to this debate. As Lou Reed’s painter mate Donald might have once said: Stick a fork in his ass, he’s Dunne.
Yep, Lou’s the man. If there’s a heaven, this is what the house band looks like! Ok, I’d have probably have Charlie Watts on the drums, but only if Mo Tucker didn’t mind. William Burroughs MC’ing, of course.
If I had the motivation I’d probably quite merrily troll him off the internet, which sadly is probably the only way to get him to stop his campaign of stupid, diverting posts that daily turn the open mike thread into a morass of dealing with him.
I’m in the, just-ignore-him-and-don’t-reply brigade, also, Rosie. If I recall correctly so was prism.
The problem is that others decide the best policy is to respond and not let him get away with spin, shonkey logic and misinformation. This effectively over-rides the ignore-him contingent & becomes frustrating when we see long strings of threads effectively hi-jacking discussions.
Rosie, those are fine sentiments, but you are never going to get a consensus on ignoring PG (and it would need a consensus for it to be any use). People are here to argue, and PG provides prime fodder. Further, much of what he posts needs rebuttal, esp when he is playing games with this and other sites. It’s inconceivable that the hardcore here would let him post bullshit without calling him on it. Remember that there are exponentially more readers here than commenters, so it’s not possible to just ignore his posts when he deliberately uses the readership and popularity of TS to increase exposure to his ideas.
The sad thing is that he really has far too much influence on what happens here. I can’t see any way out of that other than a long term ban.
Weka, it’s ok, I wasn’t actually calling for a consensus on ignoring PG, just seeing what others thought about such a tactic to dampen his trolling activity Like you say, he has too much influence on the site, and to my mind ignoring him is a good way of reducing that influence. If the Standard’s moderators choose a ban, as you suggest then I’ve got no beef with that.
I did it again. Talking about PG is akin to responding to him. ARRRGGHHHH!
Ok, but say there are ten people here who regularly respond to him, and five of those decide to ignore him. He keeps posting, often taking post one of Open Mike each day, link whoring to his blog, dissing TS on other blogs, selectively misquoting TS commenters etc. The other five regulars can then also choose to ignore him, but I don’t believe that that will change his behaviour. At the very least it is worth him dropping his blog link here, simply because TS gets so many readers. All that will happen is he will be free to say what he likes with no challenge.
Judge Harvey is not due to hear the internet mogul’s extradition case until next year but made his views on copyright known during the launch of the “Fair Deal” campaign last week.
[…]
When talking about how the TPP would affect copyright in New Zealand, Harvey said it could stop the practice of hacking around DVD region codes.
[…]
“Under TPP and the American Digital Millennium copyright provisions you will not be able to do that, that will be prohibited… if you do you will be a criminal – that’s what will happen. Even before the 2008 amendments it wasn’t criminalised. There are all sorts of ways this whole thing is being ramped up and if I could use Russell [Brown’s] tweet from earlier on: we have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S.”
In todays DimPost Labour housing Spokesperson Annette King again addressing the crisis in affordable housing, going so far as to state that the Accommodation Supplement is a direct subsidy to private sector landlords,
Yes Annette your right and we all do need to have a focused debate on how affordable housing can be provided to all those who need it,
Lets back-track a bit shall we, in Rogernomics we had the building of the new underclass and as this underclass was in terms of ability to spend those deemed most necessary by dint of income to be the occupants of the States low cost housing those up to that point who were the traditional occupiers of such State housing, those in employment at the rate of the minimum wage, were and are those who now shut out of State housing must rent from the private sector,
It does not then take a mental giant to arrive at the conclusion that ALL the current problems of Housing are simply the problems of supply and demand,
In other words, we have as a nation slightly fewer,(because of sell-offs), State houses with a population of 4 million than we had with a population of 3 million, address that anomaly with a comprehensive State house building program where the number of houses owned and rented out by the State is judged to be the correct amount when the number of those on the States waiting list for housing is ZERO and issues of affordability across the whole housing spectrum will diminish markedly,
Labour only need look back in time to ‘see’ how such State Housing can be ‘afforded’ and this can be achieved simply by printing the necessary capital to complete the necessary building,
Addressing the benefits of doing such, from lowering the exchange rate in favor of exporters by increasing the money supply, to positive employment and training and onto increased domestic economic activity are all known positive results from the State providing affordable housing to ALL that need such…
Well said Rosie. There’s many readers who agree with you.
I know there are commenters here who love razzing PG and sometimes it can be very funny, but on the whole he’s off-putting. I’m sure he is driving readers away from the site. He would go – eventually – if he was ignored.
There are growing calls for a wide ranging cross-blog discussion on the future of Pete as a commentator…
If you can generate some positive and balanced discussion here I’d be happy to promote and support it.
Suggested progress:
– Involve all willing parties and any groups and organisations with an interest in the future of NZ political blogs
– Open it to wide public discussion.
– Gather as much information and opinion as possible.
– The Dim Post seems to have a policy regarding Pete George this can be used to develop the debate further.
– In time for next week have a commitment from all (willing) blogs on the future direction of Pete George as a commentator and a timeframe for dealing with it.
‘Laugh’, that sounds like we need to get together to discuss a potent political issue when the reality seems to be more a discussion on what seems to be the emergent talent of that one as the blogispheres Village Idiot…
Ho ho, very droll. Peter Dunne has emailed me and he has this to say:
It’s time for a cross party consensus on this vital issue that we in United Future have always been in favour of/never been in favour of/ Minister? Yes, please, John! (check box).
As we said at every candidate meeting at the last election, in every phone box in the land from Taita to Churton Park, there are many Pete Georges and many ways of looking at the many Pete Georges, if indeed we can truly say that there is such a thing as ‘many’ or ‘ways’ Or ‘or’.
And like our position on asset sales, our policy shows this to be true/not true/I’ve burned the evidence (check box) dependent on which way the wind blows. If the wind does blow, it will almost certainly ruin my hair and the ordinary New Zealander I represent (Dunne, P, c/- The Agreeable House, Consensus Drive, Johnsonville, you can’t miss it, its painted fifty shades of grey) wouldn’t want that and if I stand for anything, it’s nothing. Whatever it was/wasn’t (check box).
Which I why I say, whatever the outcome of the Great National Debate on the Pete George question, Yes, No, or Hermaphrodite, I’ll still have a job.
Thank you for your continued support and you can rely on me to continue to fight the extremists in Labour/National (check box depending on next election result).
Check/uncheck ’voice, it is all getting a bit ‘catch 22–ish’ really. Could be time to move on.
If Pee Gee did not actually exist Dunny would had to have invented such a fine advocate for the more than once supremely low polling 0.0 (zero point zero) United future.
“And like our position on asset sales, our policy shows this to be true/not true/I’ve burned the evidence (check box) dependent on which way the wind blows.” This from PG Nov 2011:
Asset sales are not United Future policy. If partial sales are a part of coalition negotiations UF have bottom lines. Full asset sales will not be supported (non are proposed anyway). Apart from that it depends on priorities in negotiations, and which parties are involved in those negotiations.
Obviously it’s possible UnitedFuture may agree to partial sales but they are not party policy.
I’m just gonna keep posting this if he ever goes on about UF being clear it supported asset sales before the last election. Otherwise I’ll stick to my position since around about then of ignoring his rubbish.
I’m disappointed to see the same old pointscoring crap from both Te Reo Putake and Bad12 on this. Pete is one issue that needs wideranging cross-blog discussions – with open minds at this stage.
Both have fobbed off addressing this now, saying nothing needs to hapen until next decade anyway. Except that many people who will retire next decade need to know what to expect and what to plan for.
And it will take some time to discuss and work out how to go forward with Pete for the next half century.
If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017? Not if I (and a lot others) can help it.
Jeez gareth, get a grip, “If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017?”
Well going on Pee Gee’s contributions here…..
I have taken the pledge, no more responses to Pee Gee, if enough regulars do ditto he will just become scrolling pollution.
Gareth, that is the most disgusting example of one way racism I have ever seen on this site, typical of the left and the moderators must act now. This is why I prefer Kiwiblog. And you haven’t answered my question in response to your question in response to my question about your question about why I ask so many questions. What have you got to hide?
By the way, important quotes from random public figures and politicians are here. I take them out of context from Stuff, then raise questions about the acceptability of the opposite of what they actually said. I then confuse “inane bullshit” with profound rhetorical questions. Because don’t we all, at some level, want to help society as best we can?
I too am sickened by gareth’s behaviour on this site over the past several hours. And I’ve got a lot of support on this from a large number of readers who won’t comment here because of what they’re calling the “garethification of the standard”.
Hey Felix, glad to see you. I recently discovered we not only have a mutual interest but a mutual friend. He is a an old friend of mine but someone you know also. Hell we almost met not too long ago at a party which I only declined to attend at the last minute. Which is a shame.
If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017?
But, but, but – will The Hair still be here then and will PG still be with UF…. ?
PG only sees/saw UF as an opportunity for him to advance his opinions/ego/attention getting.
PG on KB on 2 July
Depends on a number of things. UF offers a unique opportunity…
If some ambitious semi-independent aspirants wanted to fast-tracked themselves into a pivotal political position then there’s no better option, providing they can work from a moderate-ish/centrish base. All the basics are in place, all it needs is a few people to recognise the opportunity.
Perhaps, the Hair also saw this and/or has seen through PG. See PG’s very specific disclaimer on 12 July here: BTW, as I have done for years I speak independently for myself here, elsewhere, and on my blogs, and not for United Future.
This came out of the blue – nothing in the preceding comments on that thread to prompt this disclaimer.
Like others here, for a long time I ignored him or gave him the benefit of the doubt as someone entitled to have a different view, but increasingly I lost respect for him in terms of his comments here and elsewhere, and increasingly he became a sore that could not be ignored much as I tried. I am a strong believer in people being able to have differing views to mine and to respect them for that, but I am human – and one of my faults is that I have a very low tolerance for hypocrits and users. A bit like an addiction – I will try to ignore him in future but will possibly need support!
Slippery throws in the towel, conceding that Asset Sales are likely to be delayed as it is now obvious that further court action will result from the Maori Council after the Waitangi Tribunal hearings end in Wellington,
I think what the Prime Minister is saying is that the Maori council claims are likely to spend quite some time transiting through the court system to the Supreme Court,(depending on how fast the Crown wishes to roll over),and,given such a time frame He wont be selling jack and is highly unlikely to be the Prime Minister when the only logical decision on this point of law is handed down…
National will use this to take asset sales off the 2014 agenda, the spin will be “listening to the people and being responsive to true NZ democracy”, and take valuable campaigning bullets off the left.
From the look on Slippery’s face as He announced there may have to be a delay to Asset Sales He knows He and the National Government are fast running out of wriggle room,
When the voting public realize that delay is Slippery-speak for no way as far as Asset sales go, then we really have a lame-duck Government dead in the water until the 2014 election,
After having barely a week ago dissed both the Maori council for taking the claim to the Waitangi Tribunal and in turn the Tribunal itself and still having to face the Citizens Initiated Referendum over Asset Sales National have used up all it’s political capital generated from tax cuts,
National are fast assuming that uncomfortable electoral position where the only possible way it can stem the tide of electoral support fast receding from it is to become overtly racist as did Dr Dullard the past leader of that motley crew with the Iwi/Kiwi campaign,
I personally don’t think Slippery has the stomach for a campaign of that nature and while it might be slightly naive i do not believe that the New Zealand electorate will tolerate such again either,
Besides all of that, National still have the Maori Party to keep happy,(which requires the odd pat on the head, and a 100 mill or so in the favorite slush fund),because if there isn’t at least 3 Maori Party MP’s in the next Parliament supporting National they will be relying on an unlikely act of God to become Government for a third term,
The sky hasn’t quite stopped falling for the Prime Minister tho, we laughingly await the out-come of the decision on whether John(the convicted) Banks will be appearing once more in the District Court…
The worst thing about Pete George’s presence on TS is how it ties up so much of the good debate here. I think about what we would be discussing if we weren’t all arguing with him. Essentially PG gets to set a really large amount of the debate agenda here now. Which is actually pretty pathetic.
24 counts of the word Pete (associated with George) on this page. At 116 comments that’s 20% of the comments, and it doesn’t count comments to/about him that haven’t used his name.
Just been reading through ‘open mike’ and yes, the irony of so much oxygen/energy being given/expended on a single commentator is quite remarkable.
I had previously suggested that those irked by his comments simply ignore them. That obviously doesn’t work for some people. Granted, it’s difficult to remain silent if and when you feel provoked by stuff some-one is saying.
So…know how in real life when an idiot or intensely annoying person insists on debating frivolous side issues and you respond to them, not with simple silence, but a smile of indulgence and pity that carries a thousand unspoken words and unverbalised counter positions? And you know how that tends to either render the irksome personage silent or throw them into paroxysms of emotive clap trap?
Well. Strikes me that a simple 🙂 as the complete response to such commentators could work on a number of levels. Those who have difficulty remaining silent can feel that they have expressed themselves without fueling any ongoing nonsense (they are conveying the message that they comment is considered stupid or whatever and not worth responding to in any detail. Yet by acknowledging it’s been made and extending a token, as it were, of indulgence, they are being similtaneously utterly dismissive) And it ain’t so bad for other readers to simply scroll past a column of happy smiles.
Just a thought. Could have been expressed better. But I’m sure you get my point.
edit. Or instead of creating an smiley face, expree the indulgence and avoid confusion with generally agreeable indications of humour by typing “colon, dash, right bracket”
This has the potential to be huge. Provided that the entities that paid through the nose on interest rates follow through on their threats to sue.
Pension funds, hedge funds, even cities. Baltimore, Maryland, is threatening to sue.
I don’t know if Barclays has the dosh. Still they could always go after the UK government. Maybe even John Key buddy “Timmy” G at the Fed.
on a different topic (although related to those earlier abour Labour versus the Greens) I see that Grant has put up his environment speech that he gave in Auckland last month. Cunliffe’s speech ran here and generatef quite a bit of comment so I thought it was only fair that a link to Grant’s go up too: http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-green-growth
It reads like a Wellingtoncentric Public service analysis to look like you are doing something about environmental changes rather than a serious attempt to actually achieve something.
It is pretty turgid. Can anyone explain to me what this means?
“We cannot afford the luxury of uncompromising dogma. Labour will not make the perfect the enemy of the good as we make environment central to our progress.”
NATIONAL social and environmental impact all over MSM
LEN BROWN building Auckland in His name. loss of moderation
failing to learn from history and all that jazz..
if if dont fit, dont force it…
If CUNLIFFE not leader then
Antithesis to
Joyce
(equity)
emotion , internal physiological motion, rises up
brain tells “stories” about motion
let emotion pass, write new story
or
breathe thru nose
in counting 1,2,3,4,5 out counting five
let thought carry on “by” awarenes and out of awareness, ready for new thought
thought comes, thought goes….
APPRENTICESHIP to learn
not
learn APPRENTICESHIP
cOLIN McCrae “running with scissors in hand”
MARX influence on future from Time of Telegram
What are we teaching, what are we learning.
Soul in Being human
not in HUman Being
little Faith Big thoughts
BIG FAITH BIGGER thoughts
Prostitution of Art beyond FACILITATION
not feed many PEOPLE
The strands of what WAS done
may
Be woven together in a new Korowai to shelter
us
all
from The Storm
I dentity politics
Push/Push Back
missionary
Lead-follow
Ghandi
Have look round paddock
Right wing whistle
look around paddock
think “Footrot Flats”
Natural divisions
natural geographic subsectioning into areas of interest
CHINATOWN
not “goal”
not “try”
Lurk around in angst
rather than ask question?
THE MORE WIDOWS OPEN
THE MORE LIGHT IN
(slogan not shouting;old skool)
re MSM
pebble-skimming issues
all PEOPLE have memory
cumulative memory
though Neo-liberal Free Foreign Trade Capitalism (non E Asia, non Southern Hemisphere) not helping
OPIATES
irony
“opiates” going other way.
but
neurological plasticity is for ALL
consider intersection of psych and soc DEMOGRAPHICS
replace values, jesuits and all that….
LAW AND ORDER; Fin de siecle, sans romance
Carpe diem
KLEPTOCRACY
open face, better faith,
not
“save face”
Master of mask
slave to deception
an utterance so dark in brackets
(hom-icide bomber)
father
not
Father
mother
not
Mother
authoratative
not
Authoritarian
baby-boomer parents
“perfected”
Authority
hence mommies boys and former Bad-girls
making parents PROUD
“well aint you proud….is that how you want to look when jeeezus comes.”
(generalisation, thats what learnt)
small light small darkness
darkness fears light
applied “ideals”
applied
TradeMe
gambling BUYNOW
Tim Winton “Cloudstreet”
Coro a bit of tram-wreck
Coro normalized the mundane, the comedic and tragic.
If GREENS consider immigration/migration/environment intersections/land-ownership
may Winstoned Peters.
I mentioned the other day that NSW Labor was debating a motion to ‘preference’ the Greens last in their election literature. That could have meant the loss of some Green seats, as the additional votes (2nd preferences) of other party voters are needed to get candidates over the 50% line in most Aussie elections.
That proposal has been watered down somewhat, in a gesture to the Labor left, who want to build a constructive relationship with the Greens.
Next up; the by-election in the Victorian State seat of Melbourne. Currently held by Labor, but very much in play for the Greens. Liberal voters may even vote Green just to spite Labor. Tellingly, Julia Gillard hasn’t been invited to help out with the campaign, despite being a Melbourne federal MP herself.
Thanks ‘Native Affairs’ for another little gem that i missed during the day, it appears that Crown Counsel at the Waitangi Tribunal under questioning today has agreed that for the National Government to even be attempting to sell off Might River Power in the face of the Crown’s previous admission that Maori do have (some as yet unspecified) rights to fresh water in river and lakes would put that National Government in direct breach of the Treaty of Waitangi,
That along with last weeks admission and today’s admission by Slippery that Court action is likely to delay the sale of Mighty River Power just about makes it strike three and your out,
Should the High Court if approached agree with the Crown Counsels admissions to the Tribunal and injunct the Government to stop attempting to sell Mighty River Power, National will be left with only 2 choices, do as the Court says or legislate away the Court decision and any implied right Maori have to fresh water,
At such a point of such Legislation the emperor in the form of Slippery will find it has no clothes as to retain a shred of it’s electoral support the Maori Party will have to walk away from Government…
For the first time in four years a malaise is slowly lifting for me – I thought that the asset sales would be the coup de grace to my desire to stay here.
Now it is beginning to appear that shonkey tried to take a breach too far… 🙂
I missed the first quarter of tonight’s Native affairs,(even Duncan Garner makes sense on that forum),
While there is no gloating about where the Maori Council claims have progressed to in the current Waitangi Tribunal hearings, there was stunned amazement expressed by the likes of Mai Chen and John Tamihere about the concessions from the Crown Counsel,
Tamihere who i have far more respect for for His work outside of the Parliament then when He was inside the tent so to speak actually put the sum total of payments to the various claimant Iwi from claims to the Waitangi Tribunal into a grand perspective when He pointed out that when South Canterbury Finance went belly up the Crown were there in an instant writing out checks to the tune of 1.7 Billion Dollars while the sum total paid out to Iwi barely reaches a billion,
Slippery may well have the luxury of ignoring the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal over water rights but Legislating away both an injunction from the High Court and the property rights of Maori as Helen Clark found out creates it’s own Taniwha,
The State Owned Enterprise Act 1986 at section 9 says, ”Nothing in this Act permits
the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”, unquote
Meh,even an escapee from the education system like myself can de-cypher that in 2 minutes, perhaps Slippery and the National Government Cabinet, like Annette Sykes suggested today, should at least study Law befor they go about the place breaking them…
Thanks for the heads up on Native Affairs last night. I missed it so must watch it online today if it is available.
The water rights issue is certainly not going away as Slippery would like and may well be his downfall …..
Re the State Owned Enterprises Act, I may be wrong, but I thought that one of the major issues with the MOM Acts was that they take Mighty River Power etc out of the ambit of the SOE Act and its TOW requirements, and include much reduced TOW requirements, if any. I must check this out in more detail as its now bugging me. Perhaps someone else here know the details of this.
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Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
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It is way over time that we dropped the con job that is the ETS.
Will the Green Party caucus mount a parliamentary campaign to get rid of it?
Will the Labour, National and ACT parties unite to preserve it?
Could this be the issue that differentiates the Green from the pro-warming parties?
Or will the Green Party at the behest of Labour drop their “dogmatic” concern for the environment to get seats in a future Labour led cabinet?
Jenny I think you can be sure that the money masters will have the parties, and individuals doing what they want them to do!
We will see.
Democracy seems to be breaking out everywhere.
If the Labour membership get the right to have a say in their leadership selection. Lobbyists for vested interest will find it harder to influence thousands of grass roots Labour Party members than a few dozen Labour MPs.
People have to take democracy back, then hang onto it, otherwise it gets taken away!
Well, Jenny, the astonishing thing is that, though they are politicians, Green parliamentarians actually have principles – which hopefully Labour will take on board.
Whilst all eyes in NZ turn toward the latest little fiasco from a government determined to sell off every vestige of a state once internationally renowned for its care of its less well off citizenry, some of us have eyes elsewhere.
Some questions about where the money really was going to come from and where it was going to go to (for assets etc) raised bigger pictures. Will any of this cash be worth anything? US$….what are they worth when the debt crisis arrives head on? Euros? Try this link http://www.forexpros.com/analysis/europe-continues-its-slide-toward-the-precipice-129581
Shonkey might just be about to inherit a bigger issue if the banks where he holds his wealth collapse. We are all in for an interesting ride, think about how you will feed yourself if the currency supply dissappears.
As an extension, is the crisis in Europe all part of the plan of it’s Chicago School architect? Classic Shock Doctrine >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/26/robert-mundell-evil-genius-euro?CMP=twt_gu
We often hear the Right scare mongering around the supposed conspiracy around climate change to form a Global Govt, but hasn’t the right already achieved this through Corporatism and Banking, is the Builderberg agenda for a single Global Central Bank? Max Keiser on Press TV >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HU3EbWbUjs&feature=youtu.be
If money is Power, and our Politicians and even Economists don’t understand how money is created, what hope do we have against the Banksters?
If money is power…..you are so right. Having said that their is a paradox inherent: if debts are called in and cant be paid because there is not enough money what value the debt? And if the debt expressed in money terms has no value what value does the money have?
That is the real risk for the Eurozone. The Emperors lack of clothes once exposed becomes contagious. The smart money rushes out to the US $….China gets nervous and tries to call in the money owed them by the US….the US$ crashes because their debts are too large and voila….
If the money has no value then where is the power? If you cannot pay the states enforcers, then how can you impose your power?
Reserve Bank fugures suggest that New Zealanders have $114 billion in Bank term deposits currently.
Not far below our GDP.
That money doesn’t exist in banks.
Fartrain thats chicken feed compared to Australia which has 5 times the amount of savings per head of population than us
Any word of the deliberations of Te Labour NZ Council on the Leadership selection process?
Did they “recommend” that the membership have a REAL say?
Or did they give in to pressure from the status quo, don’t rock the boat, faction in the Caucus?
The polls are shite for Shearer and Labour. Be honest.
When trying to predict how Labour will respond, whatever scenario would be a bitter disappointment, sadly, almost always proves correct.
I predict that the voice that is ceded to the membership will be set up to pose no real threat to the status quo, despite a considerable effort to present it as being significant progress.
Any word on the Labor NZ Council meeting deliberations on the Leadership selection process this week?
Did they support REAL power for membership in the selection?
Or did they back the status quo section of the Caucus that wants to have a veto over everything?
Any word on the Labor NZ Council meeting deliberations on the Leadership selection process this week?
Did they support REAL power for membership in the selection?
Or did they back the status quo section of the Caucus that wants to have a veto over everything?
I wonder how many of us still remember back to November, what it was like to actually have some say in the matter.
Is it true that Grant Robertson and Claire Curran were on the phone to the Conference for the whole eight hours, and never let up once seeking to completely shut Party Members out of Leadership decisions?
Perhaps they could come on the site and explain.
ad, this bit of your comment needs fixing… word or 2 missing?
and never let up once seeking to completely shut out of Leadership decisions?
The vote to reduce union representation to something meaningless was defeated, at least.
The really bad news – I understand that the Right Wing of caucus will probably get their Fiji Amendment.
If its a caucus only vote of confidence in the leadership (which can occur without members ever being told) the bar is going to be significantly and unfairly raised from a simple majority to 67%.
So in future it will require a full 67% of Labour MPs to declare no-confidence in a current leader and trigger a leadership selection process. Put another way, if just 14 out of 40 Labour MPs voted for confidence, and 26 against, the leader would remain secure “with the confidence of caucus” behind him.
Hence why its named the “Fiji Amendment”.
Perhaps the Right Wing of caucus should go and form their own party and give back the Labour Party to its membership.
And I thought they did that. It was called “ACT”.
“And I thought they did that. It was called “ACT”.”
Some replacements sneaked in with the humans. Another purge is required.
With the worldwide failings of right-wing agenda on show Labour should just concentrate on communicating their remedy, and stop trying to capture left and right with two faced bs.
Correct, Jim – except that there should be no “perhaps” about it!
So, nobody but me noticed that these ‘questions’ about the Labour party were identically-worded mis-spelled (Labor NZ?) posts under 3 different names? * All seems a tad dogdy to me, but those who are heavily into Shearer and Labour bashing just took it all for, literally, granted!
So, is it true, as someone here once told me, that most Standardistas are Greens? Does that explain all the loathing of Shearer and Labour? Cause it gets very old.
* Similar behaviour making a pro-Nat point would have been noticed and commented on. ‘Nuff said! 🙁
And silly me understood that democracy meant that a simple majority decides things.
Looks like caucus may be on a collision course with party membership. The last time this happened was in the late 1980s and the results were not pretty …
CV
I don’t like simple majorities as a basis for change, after all the margin of error used in polls is about 2-3%. What about 55% being used as a ‘significant majority’ rather than 51-49.
Prism – we are talking about a caucus vote between 30-40 people. There is no polling “sample margin of error” whatsoever.
I will add: there are 34 Labour MPs currently. A 50/50 majority system would create a valid result in an 18 to 16 vote decision.
In a 67% majority system you would need at least a 23 to 11 vote in order to create a valid result.
CV Agree. That sort of margin is a stumbling block against change and is self-seeking not open to the request for change from others.
But doesn’t that mean that if the leader has party but not caucus support, the leader will not be so easy for caucus to undemocratically oust?
Is there a separate mechanism for the membership to vote no confidence in a parliamentary leader?
A majority may decide SOME things but not everything – that is the method of dictators.
Oh dear . . . btw how well did each of them do in 2011 in their respective constituencies in terms of electorate votes and party votes? And how did that compare with their numbers in the 2008 general elections?
I smell troll (x 3).
That’s strange – there is the same wording of a comment from both Alotupper and Racquelsbro.
Is Alotupper also Racquels bro?
No they are quoting from the same text, they just forgot to ‘put it in their own words’. Paid trolls.
They did try, they just can’t spell “froth at mouth, blame c0mmies”
The spelling is Australian wouldn’t be surprised if it is from the centre for independent studies
The right wing think tank.
Independent of any logic, science, thinking, study, or humanity, but not of the mining dollar.
There’s a no shit Sherlock moment! Bet you didn’t notice the mis-spellings though! Or too busy with today’s hatred? (Labour in this case)
RONS – a nice little earner for some…… but the money could have been better spent on public transport infrastructure for all.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10819888
The continuing story of Joyce’s crony capitalism ……
I suppose it is marginally better that they are given $200 million for nothing. Than $billions to actually build their huge climate crimes.
I’m thinking of looking for a job as a speech writer for a polly. Gerry Brownlee questioned about the huge amount budgeted today for planning future motorways, emphasised that it was necessary to getting quality roads, and I think safety came into it. So predictable the waffle could be drafted by anyone.
Proof we humans are the stupidest creatures on the planet….some unfortunate guy sitting on a peice of fibre glass on the ocean meets a very large fish…Sharky is just doing what he has done for millions of years, and yes the gent on the board knew all about shark habits…unfortunate incident takes place.
So far, an expected result, but then…poor Sharky must pay the ultimate penalty as we humans, masters of the Universe take revenge.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/7281230/Order-to-destroy-massive-shark-that-killed-surfer
Just after Steve Irwin said “Crikey, that’s a big stingray!”, heaps of idiots went out and killed as many as they could find. Given that he had labelled Howard as a warrior for the environment, his ghost possibly approved.
Oh Dear. Not only is Rodney a climate change denier, but also a Y2K bug denier and an ozone hole denier.
Never happened apparently. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10819582##
Good thing he’ll never be allowed near public policy again.
A know a large number of Y2K projects which never got finished in time. Or started, even. After the date passed, they all got quietly dropped.
I think a lot of firms used Y2K to implement lots of IT innovation and quietly dropped it. I worked for an international firm that had a fair few programmers going through hundreds of programs changing the dates from 1999 to 2050 so they wouldn’t crash. A lot of money was spent on contingency planning but in the end the programmers did their job, as did those of other firms (or else software was upgraded).
Carping on about the limitations of new workers by Auckland Employers group Campbell. And single parents were mentioned as a reason amongst others. The endless dump that the right wing make on females continues.
Poverty is a large part of the problem which the right wing is making worse with more demands to be out at work that WINZ sets, rather than something that can be found locally, even a few hours a week working in the fruit and vegetable shop. Working and receiving less than the already pared down benefit makes life harder moneywise but also timewise. And teenage kids need care and discussion about general problems which then can move onto their own problems. If a solo parent has to be away at work for peanuts, then in this case you are likely to get monkeys.
The Fonterra capital smoothing scheme TAF was originally considered a good idea, but later reflection meant that there is not the same unbounded enthusiasm. (Similar to the selling of our control over our essential assets by the government.)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/7284022/Working-for-milk-price-only-a-farmers-nightmare
A farmer in this item says that the old time sharemilking agreements are being pared down so that the worker and his cows receive less than before. In that case the enterprise becomes not a collaboration, but is a profit-sucking approach by the absent landowner at the expense of the heavy-lifter actually investing plus doing the work on the farm. This is worrying as it is a move towards the rich estate owner and always poor tenant farmer which our forebears tried to escape.
There is a photo of John Key on Facebook with a Moko, Merril Lynch written on his forehead and a dollar sign on his chin. Some negative comments about the use of the moko but most comments very negative about Key, some vehemently even violently so. Let him feel it folks!
Here’s the link. Would be interesting to see it put up in The Standard.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151110912624665&set=a.10150253486649665.365909.271524634664&type=1&ref=nf
Stunning photo. And so apt. Mongrel mob has nothing on that Merryl Lynch crew.
Here’s the original photo and blog
http://porcupinefarm.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/true-colours.html#comment-form
I think I will take a break from this blog as has been suggested for Pete George. I can count on him to fill up any gaps caused by my withdrawal.
I hope you don’t go, prism. I like your contributions, which are always witty and well reasoned.
It would be particularly sad if you were going because Pete George has ruined this site for you, as is obviously his aim. It’s a shame that The Standard mods are too nice to simply ban him for turning the place into The Petard, rather than the left wing site it was meant to be. But I guess most lefties are tolerant to a fault.
+1. Sick of PG.
Ditto
He hates me because I give him such a hard time.
I’m going to try and not reply to a PG comment for a week. What was the road to hell paved with again?
The road to hell is now littered with “brighter future” pamphlets, forgotten helicopter ride photos and the clippings from a rather creepy blue/grey bouffant.
Perhaps it would be quite appropriate, given the unique circumstances, to create an opportunity for the community of people who provide pieces and comments here to express support for the moderators of The Standard to administer a longer term ban on a certain commenter.
I too feel that if the current situation persists, I know I will do the one thing I can choose, although with some reluctance, and that is to stop visiting this site.
Nasty! Very nasty. First, you don’t have the balls to name the person you’re wishing banned, and then, why is it that you can’t tolerate even seeing disagreement?
If you had half a brain, you could do what I do, and skim… (Te Real Putz, I am talking about you.)
Vicky32 never gets nasty, even when outsmarted by QoT every other day.
There may be lessons in nasty in “the book” that need to be studied again.
It’s nothing to do with disagreement Vicky, and all about dishonesty. People disagree here about all sorts of things all the time. The strongest disagreements can often be between people who tend to agree on most things, oftentimes between people who are members/supporters of the same parties and organisations.
That’s the real strength of this place. It can be a very effective forum for robust honest open discussion between people who, despite their differences, fundamentally share some common goals. Broadly speaking (very broadly) those goals are the goals of the (small ‘l’) labour movement and left wing ideas generally (did I mention it would be broad? 😉 )
Obviously lots of other stuff goes on here too, and obviously the place attracts people who don’t share those goals. Some of them come for a bit of good-natured jousting, some to explore and challenge ideas, and some just come to fuck the place up in service of their own, very different goals.
It is my opinion that no-one here is under any obligation to allow those people to define the shape of this forum. It doesn’t exist for their ends. Everything we want from this place, they come here to obstruct. Everything we build in the real world, they want to destroy.
Fuck them, they can play elsewhere. Let’s use this place to share our ideas and experiences, to educate and learn from each other, to build our networks, and move toward those goals we share.
/2c
For clarification to 12.2.1,
the comment at 12.2 was in context and in relation to 12.
The certain commenter was not named because the person posting 12.2 felt readers can do with a break without the name being typed out again.
Re 12.2.1.2 “Let’s use this place to share our ideas and experiences, to educate and learn from each other, to build our networks, and move toward those goals we share.” – agree. Hence I am back. And I am making a cash donation to The Standard’s account when I drop by Kiwibank during lunch today.
Dear “prism”
Please continue posting your comments again when you wish.
Jim Nald
On reading your comment that you did not want to name the person all I could think of was Vold…mort! 😀
And I too will put some more money into the Standard, a small amount but perfectly formed, when something is done to control Pete George’s verbiage. It’s worse than mine which is sometimes reprehensible, so get some steel Standard and make sure the kiddies are playing properly in the sandpit and no-one is dominating.
“Te Real Putz”
Are you aware of the sacrifices and struggle attached to getting te reo Māori recognised as an official language, let alone respected? Sure I am being precious but just think on the fact that your mangling of it to make a point hurts because it is only just making it through. I’d ask you to apologise but what’s the point…
Of course I am! I am a linguist. My play on his name was intended not as an insult to the language (that being said, no language is sacred, and thinking otherwise is just silly.) but to the man, who is in fact as much of a putz as my late husband (and so my brother nick-named him. Google putz, it’s Yiddish)
Welsh was brought back from the brink within living memory, and my grandmother’s mother tongue, Manx Gaelic, died in that same time. Maori is far from being the only endangered language, and in fact when I lived in Whakatane, my 3 year old son and I sat waiting for a bus, and we were the only people speaking English in the whole bus station! My point is, that in Rotorua when I was a child, and other parts of the BOP when I was in my early 20s, I was surrounded by native speakers of Maori. Therefore the ‘Maori is endangered’ people always seemed to me to be a bit precious and unaware of the status of the language! A language being taught to children by their parents, is not in any danger. Those who learn Maori as adults tend to be Pakeha, many motivated by guilt/pride etc.
Apologise? Of course not. I have done nothing to apologise for.
Os gwelwch yn dda, peidiwch â bod mor werthfawr prideful idiot! A rhoi’r gorau i addysgu eich nain i sugno wyau.
🙂
sorry I meant this one
🙄
Your patience is impressive marty.
I much prefer your comments, prism, to that of the virus that PG has become. Either that virus is totally deluded or lacking in intellect or is deliberately trying to sabotage this site.
prism, on the other hand, is straightforward and sincere, and aims to further discussions and knowledge through his comments.
+ 1 I enjoy your comments, perspective and humour prism
Prism, please stay around, your wisdom and good sense very much appreciated, always a good read.
Have to agree with Felix below re who comes and goes, you should stay.
+1 to this comment and all the others. I too enjoy and respect your comments, Prism. But the continual hypocracy etc from a certain other commenter also from time to time drives me away from here, which is extremely annoying because the Standard is imo the best blog on the block – thanks to the owners, moderators and other posters here.
I’m sorry you feel that way prism, especially because you’re usually one of the better contributors here. But don’t you think it’s a tad ironic that even you are now joining the campaign to ban me, when I spoke up against this comment:
Do you think that qualifies as satire?
If so do you think it is reasonable satire, and helpful on the debate on water and race issues?
I’ve often been accused of being a fence sitter, and not saying what I really think. Yet when I do speak most strongly I get the most criticism. But threats of banning won’t make me step back from this, I think it’s important, it touches on a very serious issue facing our country.
I’m happy to discuss this with any moderator who wants to. But hey, if an engineered excuse achieves it’s aim, then so be it.
But while I still can I’d like to say that it’s not me that stalks and abuses and continually tries to extend discussions beyond their used by date.
The next comment is an example of where the real problem is on this blog.
Pete George, you lying maggot. Quote the whole comment in context. What a low-life.
@Prism, please keep contributing here – you always have somethng of value to say.
KTH well said Prism don’t let a little small minded Fwit stop you blogging here.
If there was a report abuse procedure here, that’s what I’d do with your bastardly comment.
Disgusting!
Thank you very much indeed, Vicki32, but please refrain from dragging bastards into it: they didn’t do anything to you.
Hey Vicky 32 look at what pg is saying and agreeing with on Kiwi blog his opinions at times are more venal and racist than David Garrets.
I never have been to kiwiblog, but I will in fact do that! Thanks for the heads-up…
Vicky, what would you think if someone started quoting you as calling someone a lying maggot? Without mentioning that that part of your comment was quoting someone else. Making it look like that’s what you were saying, which obviously you weren’t.
That’s very close to what’s happening here, but instead of a direct quote it was the sarcastic finishing off of someone else’s comment.
Sorry, I didn’t realise that is what had happened…
Oh dear … I’ve been too busy with work to keep track of this.
First of all it was not really satire. Not even irony. It was simply meant to provoke a thought experiment.
So far you can tell from the Maori reaction to this whole issue that they find John Key’s position pretty inflammatory and offensive. (As they did when Helen Clark was pushed into making a similar mistake over the Seabed and Foreshore… the difference this time of course is that Key has pretty much dug this hole all by himself.)
Now you find my comment inflammatory and offensive … and yes on face value, this is true. Mea culpa. It was deliberately constructed to push Pakeha buttons. But also you now have some sense of how Maori feel when WE push THEIR buttons.
However I carefully added another sentence which everyone else has understood as a great big fat clue as to my actual intent.
And I should add that stripped of the offensiveness, there remains a core of truth. Like it or not the Treaty more or less reads that the iwi are indeed the legal ‘owners’ of all resources in this land. That’s what we signed up to for better or worse. Of course what Maori meant by ‘ownership’ and what Pakeha mean by the same word have two rather different meanings and connotations.
Up until very recent times Pakeha have been able to exploit their dominant position to interpret this ‘ownership’ word as suited us. Which has consistently turned out pretty much the worse for Maori.
Now the tables are turning and by adopting our own tactics Maori are forcing us to re-examine this cosy, convenient arrangement we have made for ourselves. So far they have been, by and large, pretty patient and generous about the whole deal. So all things considered you may want to think about how they might feel about constantly having their buttons being pushed.
We know you don’t PG.
It is possible to read your original post and not have one’s buttons pushed. As Pakeha I didn’t feel offended in the slightest by what you wrote. People who were offended might want to reflect on why they felt that way. This is esp true for Pakeha who think that that comment is in any way close to being similar to what Maori experience as racism every day or for the last several hundred years.
Can you explain how Maori have experienced racism every day for the last several hundred years ?
Certainly there have been instances of racism, bigotry which are obvious to all and pre European settlement one could point to inter tribal genocides…. but racism every day for the last several hundred years….. surely that is not only hyperbole it’s just fundamentally wrong.
Your complaining would come across as more genuine if you hadn’t accused iwi of extortion, and failed to justify or withdraw the allegation. Hint: repeating it isn’t explaining it, and pointing out that you might legally be owed money if someone does something isn’t extortion
Also, there was that piece from NZN that you approvingly linked to on friday, which implied that iwi claims for water were dangerous, and made all sorts of dark hints about the radical scariness of iwi caims, with warnings to the left about supporting them. As if it was the claims themselves that were the problem, rather than the backlash from people who don’t support honouring the treaty.
All very odd behaviour for someone who claims to support honouring the treaty.
As the comment YOU express disgust at was a reply to something(s) myself and another commenter had addressed in that particular thread i can tell you that while it wasn’t quite the comment that got me to spit my coffee all over the keyboard it came pretty damn close, the sheer humor engendered from the expressed comment is only matched by at times MY actual thoughts of the (mis)treatment of Maori over their property rights since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840,
I have yet to see you provide any ‘helpful debate’ on issues of water (ownership) or how this can be successfully adjudicated between the signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi, those being the Tribes and the Crown and your present WAH WAH WAH as was described to you by another commenter over on that other web-site serves to simply distract from that debate in an effort to make the debate about YOU,
While not seeing any reason to ban you from this site for your abhorrent ‘dissing’ of someone commenting here elsewhere, a blatant act of cowardice in my view, such a banning if meted out to YOU by those YOU have dissed in such a cowardly manner would be richly deserved,
To drag the ‘take’ back to where the debate was befor YOU, in my opinion with deliberation, dragged it off topic as is your usual tactic, the original version of the Treaty of Waitangi was the work of 3 people, all of them Englishmen, Captain William Hobson, his secretary James Freeman, and, the British Resident James Busby,
Those 3 wrote the English text of the Treaty of Waitangi and this was then translated into Maori by the British Missionary Henry Williams and his son Edward Williams, there are not 2 Treaty’s, just the one, the Maori version written as a translation of the English version by Englishmen,
Where you and the other detractors of the Treaty of Waitangi attempt to muddy the waters with claims of differing meanings between the 2 Treaty versions there are in fact none,
The intent of the Treaty of Waitangi is clearly written in plain English in the English version, and with regards to the present ‘take’ befor the Waitangi Tribunal Maori have every right and every confidence that THEY stand on the right side of both the Treaty of Waitangi and later Government Legislation in their stand befor the Tribunal,
Section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986 states, ”Nothing in this Act permits the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”…
pathetic groveller you are an out and out racist redneck over on KB .
Evidence please. Its typical of The Standard that its participants always claim to encourage honest debate when in fact all they actually seem interested in doing is shutting debate down in a somewhat immature fashion.
My values have always been clear, New Zealanders expect a higher standard of politics and political discourse. Its why I’m actively involved in politics, and its why I always find innovative ways to contribute to my local community. Its disappointing that The Standard also promises this but in reality rarely delivers.
I have always been confident in myself that I can help create change for the better. That is what I spend my time and energy doing every single day.
Perhaps you could learn something from my centrist and community spirited example instead of repeating unimaginative vitriol?*
*I thought you guys might be missing PG so just doing a bit of channeling this morning
So now Pete is openly attacking author/moderators, both here and elsewhere on the internet, and yet for some unknowable reason we keep this turd and lose good souls like prism.
The contemptible idiot has rushed off snivelling to anyone who’ll listen.
They’re trying to Dim-Post me. They’re in a frenzy and will probably have a field day knowing I won’t respond. Showing where the real problem lies.
If RedLogix – or any of the other brave commenters there – want to really prove their balls they can come and try their arguments here.
I see you’ve deleted your wee snivel Pete.
I don’t have balls, and no desire to try to prove I have some.
I’ve seen enough of the racist, sexist and homophobic comments that are allowed on that site, to never want to go there.
Why expose myself to that from people who see no problem in expressing such attitudes, and will not take any notice of criticisms of those attitudes?
Balls? Really? That’s what it’s about?
QED.
Pete G? Grasp the basics of sexism101? Yeah right…
But only like bad panel shops use bog to fill gaps in poor workmanship.
Hope you return soon prism.
Nice one – very apt.
Pete George should go. He only comes here so he can report back to his soul mates about what a great net warrior he is.
prism, there are 32 comments on this thread commenting on PG.
Prior to your entry No.12, he hadn’t appeared. But his very being
generated 30 of those comments. (and of course I increase the count by one)
However if you hadn’t commented, we may have had a PG free day.
Just thinking …
Logie97
Your thinking is becoming convoluted as is all the traffic connected with PG. And that is the problem. I looked at the thread on Friday? as being like a hunt with PG being the fox or the bunny and everyone after him. I haven’t been reading him and tried ignoring anything relating to him but find that there’s often precious little else on his chosen thread, probably mostly Open Mike. Thankfully you usually provide something substantial between the puff pastry.
In the interests of defusing this I’m not commenting here again today.
Good.
Pete George. Scourge of the blog’s. Adds nothing. Anywhere.
His blogs on KB are very similar to David Garrets
Yes Pete, perhaps you should ride your high horse around and about in this thread:
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2012/07/general_debate_16_july_2012.html#comments
there’s lots of racial animosty flying about in there, so have at it.
bleeaaarrgh…… That is yucky isn’t it. Just like a sewer. They are like a bunch of stinky rats who hide out in an underground sewer cavorting and chuckling away with each other every day without ever poking their heads up to see the sun.
How is it that a section of the spectrum of society come to be this way?
Realistically, they’ve always been here.
Last week I was up at Ruapekapeka where the last battle of the colonial wars in Northland took place. The Maori had shown amazing ingenuity in fortifying their position, the British showed amazing tenacity in bringing their firepower to bear and capturing the position.
More amazing was the wisdom shown from both sides: Grey called a ceasefire and sent terms to the Maori. Kawiti’s reply was, “If you have had enough, I have had enough, if you have not had enough, I have not had enough”. Grey promptly declared peace, pardoned all involved and refused his sides request to hoist the British flag over Ruapekapeka.
No such wisdom over at Kiwiblog.
Eeek, just went over for a quick look. I am now going to wash myself down for decontamination purposes, it is very unclean and totally unwholesome over there at Kiwiblog. Mr Garrett et al presenting cultural supremacist lines, puke. Totally nasty.
I think it’s really appropriate that Garrett has become the philosophical muse of those retards. Pete also lets his real thoughts out of the bag over there. Quite illuminating really.
I think the fact that he went there of all places to complain RedLogix’s post says it all.
Enough of the passive aggressive stuff Petey. All that we want is that when you clearly get caught out doing the trolly thing you have the decency to fess up and apologise. You have now had the indecency of repeating the same smear three or four times not only here but at the sewer.
Deo Gratias
Make it permanent! pathetic grovaling again
I think it’s fair to say that I only skim your posts (along with those of some of the crazier nutmegs who oppose you) but I have also to say that I admire your strength of character!
Bloody commun1sts at bloomberg, goddam lieberal meadia;
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-15/romney-s-bain-yielded-private-gains-socialized-losses.html
If the last week has shown 1 thing in the uS its shown that Romney really is a shit candidate. Totally unprepared for the big leagues. He could turn it around, but at the mo’ he’s floundering.
That’s a good summation of why you never put the RWNJs in charge of a country or a business. They destroy everything they touch for their own personal enrichment.
Richest man in Mogadishu?
A powerful new society has been formed to protect our natural heritage from damaging commercial interests and to do what the Department of Conservation should be doing:
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/save-fiordland-society-incorporated.html
Lovely site and a real oxygen supply to those of us in Wanaka or Queenstown a lot and think the place appears as wall to wall Nats.
Many, many thanks for this link.
haha stupiod hippys!! EVEN more real SCIENTICTS have come out against the globle warming MYTH and now you will be held accountble in COURT OF LAWS.
http://bit.ly/NWyOMy
Worried that your piss poor practices will come back to bite you in the arse?. No problems, destroy the evidence.
The owner of Alan Reay Consultants which designed the CTV building has admitted the company destroyed its records after the deadly February earthquake.
Perverting the course of justice?.
This article about research into the media portrayal of Maori makes sad but unsurprising reading
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1207/S00026/new-research-confirms-maori-news-is-bad-news.htm
There was a time where I consistently watched Maori TV because I got so fed up with other channels’ interpretation of current affairs and also the because the inane content (celebrity culture, competitive cooking/singing/dancing/DIY etc shows )- was unbearable. Maori TV has great documentaries and films and and was particularly interesting, lively, humourous and insightful during election campaigning last year.
After a while, after reintergrating TV3 news and other “shows” back into the viewing habits I became aware of how biased, negative and ignorant of the Maori world view our TV media is. I wonder how much Pakeha media news and views further influence those in NZ, and theres plenty of them,who already have an inherently racist viewpoint?
The Pete George bizzo. I am new to and irregular on this site so probably don’t have place to have a voice on the subject….but I wonder, if you just ignore him, won’t he go away?
Nobody should feel they need to withdraw their presence on a site because of the words of another, especially when that “other” intentionally goes out of their way to be provocative and disruptive. Prism, if you quit because of PG (Personal Grievenace) then he has won. He’s only out to wind folks up and to troll.
I always skip PG’s posts because they are just plain tiresome but do admit to getting invloved in a PG directed discussion ages ago about poverty, a reality he was denying existed. I admit to getting really annoyed about this and in response posted a youtube video of HomeBrew’s song “Listen to us”, about the harsh reality of life in for many in NZ and released prior to the election last year.
Standard posters, would you consider just ignoring him? It could be an experiment. If enough people ignore him, he might just quietly leave………
I just skate over his posts and really enjoy the occasional PFD (Pete Free Day) at the Standard. Used to think he was just a pompous even somewhat well meaning git, but hundreds of liteweight fencesitting posts later along with being caught with his ideological tweeds down at other sites, have confirmed the obvious.
Rosie, you have got it exactly right – best simply to ignore him – reacting only serves to make one sound defensive. Best not to feed his delusions of grandeur.
I don’t for a moment believe that he’ll quietly leave if ignored. I think that’s a misunderstanding of how he regards this place and the function he thinks it serves for him.
But if everyone else wants to blank him, I’ll play. Got to be 100% though. Nary a mention. Not a syllable not a sound, not a mutter not a murmur.
I’m in. Haven’t been snared by Pete’s often passive-agresssively nasty, faux naive, self-serving twaddle for a long time. I’ve been amazed by the persipacity of those who have valiantly and patiently slogged away (in vain) with facts and logic in ever increasing irritation….
He’s been sapping the energy of many of TS’s best and brightest when there are one or two important things happening in politics at the moment. Just saying…
Go Felix.
Like I said, I’m kind of new here so don’t know PG’s motivations and his style or how he would respond being blanked. To be honest I don’t pay that much attention to him and his posts. I just feel he gets far too much attention, and for god’s sake, I’m contributing to that attention right now by discussing his self!!! Sucked in!! Oh dear.
Personally I’m just getting my head around the irony of moving into to the Ohariu electorate and the being on the turf of Te Hair. Seeing any UF, anywhere, especially on a good old blog such as this is makes me overlook anything PG has to say. Avoidance and all that.
Yep, I’m game, though I may post the occasional DNFTT request with a link to this debate. As Lou Reed’s painter mate Donald might have once said: Stick a fork in his ass, he’s Dunne.
Love that song
Yep, Lou’s the man. If there’s a heaven, this is what the house band looks like! Ok, I’d have probably have Charlie Watts on the drums, but only if Mo Tucker didn’t mind. William Burroughs MC’ing, of course.
If I had the motivation I’d probably quite merrily troll him off the internet, which sadly is probably the only way to get him to stop his campaign of stupid, diverting posts that daily turn the open mike thread into a morass of dealing with him.
I also like Bill’s suggestion downthread about how if you absolutely have to respond, just respond with a smileyface
I’m in the, just-ignore-him-and-don’t-reply brigade, also, Rosie. If I recall correctly so was prism.
The problem is that others decide the best policy is to respond and not let him get away with spin, shonkey logic and misinformation. This effectively over-rides the ignore-him contingent & becomes frustrating when we see long strings of threads effectively hi-jacking discussions.
Rosie, those are fine sentiments, but you are never going to get a consensus on ignoring PG (and it would need a consensus for it to be any use). People are here to argue, and PG provides prime fodder. Further, much of what he posts needs rebuttal, esp when he is playing games with this and other sites. It’s inconceivable that the hardcore here would let him post bullshit without calling him on it. Remember that there are exponentially more readers here than commenters, so it’s not possible to just ignore his posts when he deliberately uses the readership and popularity of TS to increase exposure to his ideas.
The sad thing is that he really has far too much influence on what happens here. I can’t see any way out of that other than a long term ban.
Weka, it’s ok, I wasn’t actually calling for a consensus on ignoring PG, just seeing what others thought about such a tactic to dampen his trolling activity Like you say, he has too much influence on the site, and to my mind ignoring him is a good way of reducing that influence. If the Standard’s moderators choose a ban, as you suggest then I’ve got no beef with that.
I did it again. Talking about PG is akin to responding to him. ARRRGGHHHH!
If you say his name three times he appears in your mirror…
Ok, but say there are ten people here who regularly respond to him, and five of those decide to ignore him. He keeps posting, often taking post one of Open Mike each day, link whoring to his blog, dissing TS on other blogs, selectively misquoting TS commenters etc. The other five regulars can then also choose to ignore him, but I don’t believe that that will change his behaviour. At the very least it is worth him dropping his blog link here, simply because TS gets so many readers. All that will happen is he will be free to say what he likes with no challenge.
I’m keen to try. Could be fun.
Any suggestions for rules to govern a ‘Smile of Indulgence’ competition?
Killing the Competition
The truth about market capitalism and the fear engendered by it.
And given that state of US capitalism, maybe Dotcom’s Judge Harvey has nailed it?!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10819927
The algorithm for breaking DVD region codes and recoding DVDs as region free has been available for many many years now.
The recording industry are such a bunch of no-hope dinosaurs for trying to regulate this away now.
Apple say the warranty is void on their computers if the dvd region codes get tampered with 🙁
In todays DimPost Labour housing Spokesperson Annette King again addressing the crisis in affordable housing, going so far as to state that the Accommodation Supplement is a direct subsidy to private sector landlords,
Yes Annette your right and we all do need to have a focused debate on how affordable housing can be provided to all those who need it,
Lets back-track a bit shall we, in Rogernomics we had the building of the new underclass and as this underclass was in terms of ability to spend those deemed most necessary by dint of income to be the occupants of the States low cost housing those up to that point who were the traditional occupiers of such State housing, those in employment at the rate of the minimum wage, were and are those who now shut out of State housing must rent from the private sector,
It does not then take a mental giant to arrive at the conclusion that ALL the current problems of Housing are simply the problems of supply and demand,
In other words, we have as a nation slightly fewer,(because of sell-offs), State houses with a population of 4 million than we had with a population of 3 million, address that anomaly with a comprehensive State house building program where the number of houses owned and rented out by the State is judged to be the correct amount when the number of those on the States waiting list for housing is ZERO and issues of affordability across the whole housing spectrum will diminish markedly,
Labour only need look back in time to ‘see’ how such State Housing can be ‘afforded’ and this can be achieved simply by printing the necessary capital to complete the necessary building,
Addressing the benefits of doing such, from lowering the exchange rate in favor of exporters by increasing the money supply, to positive employment and training and onto increased domestic economic activity are all known positive results from the State providing affordable housing to ALL that need such…
Well said Rosie. There’s many readers who agree with you.
I know there are commenters here who love razzing PG and sometimes it can be very funny, but on the whole he’s off-putting. I’m sure he is driving readers away from the site. He would go – eventually – if he was ignored.
edit: damm. Reply to Rosie @ 2:08pm.
There are growing calls for a wide ranging cross-blog discussion on the future of Pete as a commentator…
If you can generate some positive and balanced discussion here I’d be happy to promote and support it.
Suggested progress:
– Involve all willing parties and any groups and organisations with an interest in the future of NZ political blogs
– Open it to wide public discussion.
– Gather as much information and opinion as possible.
– The Dim Post seems to have a policy regarding Pete George this can be used to develop the debate further.
– In time for next week have a commitment from all (willing) blogs on the future direction of Pete George as a commentator and a timeframe for dealing with it.
Lets make it happen. Starting now.
‘Laugh’, that sounds like we need to get together to discuss a potent political issue when the reality seems to be more a discussion on what seems to be the emergent talent of that one as the blogispheres Village Idiot…
Ho ho, very droll. Peter Dunne has emailed me and he has this to say:
It’s time for a cross party consensus on this vital issue that we in United Future have always been in favour of/never been in favour of/ Minister? Yes, please, John! (check box).
As we said at every candidate meeting at the last election, in every phone box in the land from Taita to Churton Park, there are many Pete Georges and many ways of looking at the many Pete Georges, if indeed we can truly say that there is such a thing as ‘many’ or ‘ways’ Or ‘or’.
And like our position on asset sales, our policy shows this to be true/not true/I’ve burned the evidence (check box) dependent on which way the wind blows. If the wind does blow, it will almost certainly ruin my hair and the ordinary New Zealander I represent (Dunne, P, c/- The Agreeable House, Consensus Drive, Johnsonville, you can’t miss it, its painted fifty shades of grey) wouldn’t want that and if I stand for anything, it’s nothing. Whatever it was/wasn’t (check box).
Which I why I say, whatever the outcome of the Great National Debate on the Pete George question, Yes, No, or Hermaphrodite, I’ll still have a job.
Thank you for your continued support and you can rely on me to continue to fight the extremists in Labour/National (check box depending on next election result).
😀
Check/uncheck ’voice, it is all getting a bit ‘catch 22–ish’ really. Could be time to move on.
If Pee Gee did not actually exist Dunny would had to have invented such a fine advocate for the more than once supremely low polling 0.0 (zero point zero) United future.
Very good, Gareth.
“And like our position on asset sales, our policy shows this to be true/not true/I’ve burned the evidence (check box) dependent on which way the wind blows.”
This from PG Nov 2011:
I’m just gonna keep posting this if he ever goes on about UF being clear it supported asset sales before the last election. Otherwise I’ll stick to my position since around about then of ignoring his rubbish.
Play of the Day to TRP 🙂
Cheers, ad! Here all week, do try the shrimp ….
Does the dimpost actually have a policy for dealing with PG?
Steve Braunias takes aim at Tariana Turia, and hits the target …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/opinion/steve-braunias/7275998/The-Secret-Diary-Of-Tariana-Turia
Ouch!
Oooh, sick burn.
LOL, ouch indeed! I do like Steve’s Diaries and that one is very close to the bone!
I’m disappointed to see the same old pointscoring crap from both Te Reo Putake and Bad12 on this. Pete is one issue that needs wideranging cross-blog discussions – with open minds at this stage.
Both have fobbed off addressing this now, saying nothing needs to hapen until next decade anyway. Except that many people who will retire next decade need to know what to expect and what to plan for.
And it will take some time to discuss and work out how to go forward with Pete for the next half century.
If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017? Not if I (and a lot others) can help it.
i am deeply hurt and will not be ever ever ever commenting on this site again in the next five minutes…
Jeez gareth, get a grip, “If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017?”
Well going on Pee Gee’s contributions here…..
I have taken the pledge, no more responses to Pee Gee, if enough regulars do ditto he will just become scrolling pollution.
Gareth, that is the most disgusting example of one way racism I have ever seen on this site, typical of the left and the moderators must act now. This is why I prefer Kiwiblog. And you haven’t answered my question in response to your question in response to my question about your question about why I ask so many questions. What have you got to hide?
By the way, important quotes from random public figures and politicians are here. I take them out of context from Stuff, then raise questions about the acceptability of the opposite of what they actually said. I then confuse “inane bullshit” with profound rhetorical questions. Because don’t we all, at some level, want to help society as best we can?
I too am sickened by gareth’s behaviour on this site over the past several hours. And I’ve got a lot of support on this from a large number of readers who won’t comment here because of what they’re calling the “garethification of the standard”.
I’ve blogged about it here: http://mynz.con/the-garethification-of-the-standard
If gareth or anyone else thinks they’re hard enough they can meet me outside.
I’m really very dubious as to what you are suggesting here.
Perhaps it was a little too subtle CV. It apes a challenge made yesterday by the person who 5 of the preceding comments, including mine, are aping.
Hey Felix, glad to see you. I recently discovered we not only have a mutual interest but a mutual friend. He is a an old friend of mine but someone you know also. Hell we almost met not too long ago at a party which I only declined to attend at the last minute. Which is a shame.
Interesting, any clues?
Not right now…..I have something else planned….Heh.
However, if my fun doesn’t pan out I’ll just tell you.
If it’s the party I’m thinking of there’ll be another in a few weeks…
If United Future wins next election and Pete George holds the balance of power in the next Government does that mean nothing will happen until 2017?
But, but, but – will The Hair still be here then and will PG still be with UF…. ?
PG only sees/saw UF as an opportunity for him to advance his opinions/ego/attention getting.
PG on KB on 2 July
Depends on a number of things. UF offers a unique opportunity…
If some ambitious semi-independent aspirants wanted to fast-tracked themselves into a pivotal political position then there’s no better option, providing they can work from a moderate-ish/centrish base. All the basics are in place, all it needs is a few people to recognise the opportunity.
Perhaps, the Hair also saw this and/or has seen through PG. See PG’s very specific disclaimer on 12 July here:
BTW, as I have done for years I speak independently for myself here, elsewhere, and on my blogs, and not for United Future.
http://thestandard.org.nz/dumb-or-dissing/#comment-492385
This came out of the blue – nothing in the preceding comments on that thread to prompt this disclaimer.
Like others here, for a long time I ignored him or gave him the benefit of the doubt as someone entitled to have a different view, but increasingly I lost respect for him in terms of his comments here and elsewhere, and increasingly he became a sore that could not be ignored much as I tried. I am a strong believer in people being able to have differing views to mine and to respect them for that, but I am human – and one of my faults is that I have a very low tolerance for hypocrits and users. A bit like an addiction – I will try to ignore him in future but will possibly need support!
3News,
Slippery throws in the towel, conceding that Asset Sales are likely to be delayed as it is now obvious that further court action will result from the Maori Council after the Waitangi Tribunal hearings end in Wellington,
I think what the Prime Minister is saying is that the Maori council claims are likely to spend quite some time transiting through the court system to the Supreme Court,(depending on how fast the Crown wishes to roll over),and,given such a time frame He wont be selling jack and is highly unlikely to be the Prime Minister when the only logical decision on this point of law is handed down…
National will use this to take asset sales off the 2014 agenda, the spin will be “listening to the people and being responsive to true NZ democracy”, and take valuable campaigning bullets off the left.
From the look on Slippery’s face as He announced there may have to be a delay to Asset Sales He knows He and the National Government are fast running out of wriggle room,
When the voting public realize that delay is Slippery-speak for no way as far as Asset sales go, then we really have a lame-duck Government dead in the water until the 2014 election,
After having barely a week ago dissed both the Maori council for taking the claim to the Waitangi Tribunal and in turn the Tribunal itself and still having to face the Citizens Initiated Referendum over Asset Sales National have used up all it’s political capital generated from tax cuts,
National are fast assuming that uncomfortable electoral position where the only possible way it can stem the tide of electoral support fast receding from it is to become overtly racist as did Dr Dullard the past leader of that motley crew with the Iwi/Kiwi campaign,
I personally don’t think Slippery has the stomach for a campaign of that nature and while it might be slightly naive i do not believe that the New Zealand electorate will tolerate such again either,
Besides all of that, National still have the Maori Party to keep happy,(which requires the odd pat on the head, and a 100 mill or so in the favorite slush fund),because if there isn’t at least 3 Maori Party MP’s in the next Parliament supporting National they will be relying on an unlikely act of God to become Government for a third term,
The sky hasn’t quite stopped falling for the Prime Minister tho, we laughingly await the out-come of the decision on whether John(the convicted) Banks will be appearing once more in the District Court…
Or watch the excuse for financial woes shift from ‘the Ch/ch earthquake/recovery/whatever’ to ‘Well, if we had sold those assets…”
I liked seeing the circles under his eyes, the nasty nasty creature that he is.
Hmmm…. interesting:
http://www.3news.co.nz/John-Key-concedes-likely-asset-sales-delay/tabid/370/articleID/261533/Default.aspx
But, whatever Key/NAct does from here, this is a bit of a back-down from key.
Interesting also to see Annette Sykes. I don’t think I’ve seen her on screen before. And with a direct challenge to Turia.
Aha, the Taki of both Annette and the Maori Council to Tariana and Pita is simply the Money or the Mana…
The worst thing about Pete George’s presence on TS is how it ties up so much of the good debate here. I think about what we would be discussing if we weren’t all arguing with him. Essentially PG gets to set a really large amount of the debate agenda here now. Which is actually pretty pathetic.
24 counts of the word Pete (associated with George) on this page. At 116 comments that’s 20% of the comments, and it doesn’t count comments to/about him that haven’t used his name.
Just been reading through ‘open mike’ and yes, the irony of so much oxygen/energy being given/expended on a single commentator is quite remarkable.
I had previously suggested that those irked by his comments simply ignore them. That obviously doesn’t work for some people. Granted, it’s difficult to remain silent if and when you feel provoked by stuff some-one is saying.
So…know how in real life when an idiot or intensely annoying person insists on debating frivolous side issues and you respond to them, not with simple silence, but a smile of indulgence and pity that carries a thousand unspoken words and unverbalised counter positions? And you know how that tends to either render the irksome personage silent or throw them into paroxysms of emotive clap trap?
Well. Strikes me that a simple 🙂 as the complete response to such commentators could work on a number of levels. Those who have difficulty remaining silent can feel that they have expressed themselves without fueling any ongoing nonsense (they are conveying the message that they comment is considered stupid or whatever and not worth responding to in any detail. Yet by acknowledging it’s been made and extending a token, as it were, of indulgence, they are being similtaneously utterly dismissive) And it ain’t so bad for other readers to simply scroll past a column of happy smiles.
Just a thought. Could have been expressed better. But I’m sure you get my point.
edit. Or instead of creating an smiley face, expree the indulgence and avoid confusion with generally agreeable indications of humour by typing “colon, dash, right bracket”
I like the way you think Bill. I’ma try that if I get the urges.
Yet another failed National government policy
The LIBOR mess as a graphic and a sample of traders e-mails.
Thanks that was useful indeed.
This has the potential to be huge. Provided that the entities that paid through the nose on interest rates follow through on their threats to sue.
Pension funds, hedge funds, even cities. Baltimore, Maryland, is threatening to sue.
I don’t know if Barclays has the dosh. Still they could always go after the UK government. Maybe even John Key buddy “Timmy” G at the Fed.
on a different topic (although related to those earlier abour Labour versus the Greens) I see that Grant has put up his environment speech that he gave in Auckland last month. Cunliffe’s speech ran here and generatef quite a bit of comment so I thought it was only fair that a link to Grant’s go up too: http://www.labour.org.nz/news/speech-green-growth
It reads like a Wellingtoncentric Public service analysis to look like you are doing something about environmental changes rather than a serious attempt to actually achieve something.
It is pretty turgid. Can anyone explain to me what this means?
“We cannot afford the luxury of uncompromising dogma. Labour will not make the perfect the enemy of the good as we make environment central to our progress.”
NATIONAL social and environmental impact all over MSM
LEN BROWN building Auckland in His name. loss of moderation
failing to learn from history and all that jazz..
if if dont fit, dont force it…
If CUNLIFFE not leader then
Antithesis to
Joyce
(equity)
emotion , internal physiological motion, rises up
brain tells “stories” about motion
let emotion pass, write new story
or
breathe thru nose
in counting 1,2,3,4,5 out counting five
let thought carry on “by” awarenes and out of awareness, ready for new thought
thought comes, thought goes….
APPRENTICESHIP to learn
not
learn APPRENTICESHIP
cOLIN McCrae “running with scissors in hand”
MARX influence on future from Time of Telegram
What are we teaching, what are we learning.
Soul in Being human
not in HUman Being
little Faith Big thoughts
BIG FAITH BIGGER thoughts
Prostitution of Art beyond FACILITATION
not feed many PEOPLE
The strands of what WAS done
may
Be woven together in a new Korowai to shelter
us
all
from The Storm
I dentity politics
Push/Push Back
missionary
Lead-follow
Ghandi
Have look round paddock
Right wing whistle
look around paddock
think “Footrot Flats”
Natural divisions
natural geographic subsectioning into areas of interest
CHINATOWN
not “goal”
not “try”
Lurk around in angst
rather than ask question?
THE MORE WIDOWS OPEN
THE MORE LIGHT IN
(slogan not shouting;old skool)
re MSM
pebble-skimming issues
all PEOPLE have memory
cumulative memory
though Neo-liberal Free Foreign Trade Capitalism (non E Asia, non Southern Hemisphere) not helping
OPIATES
irony
“opiates” going other way.
but
neurological plasticity is for ALL
consider intersection of psych and soc DEMOGRAPHICS
replace values, jesuits and all that….
LAW AND ORDER; Fin de siecle, sans romance
Carpe diem
KLEPTOCRACY
open face, better faith,
not
“save face”
Master of mask
slave to deception
an utterance so dark in brackets
(hom-icide bomber)
father
not
Father
mother
not
Mother
authoratative
not
Authoritarian
baby-boomer parents
“perfected”
Authority
hence mommies boys and former Bad-girls
making parents PROUD
“well aint you proud….is that how you want to look when jeeezus comes.”
(generalisation, thats what learnt)
small light small darkness
darkness fears light
applied “ideals”
applied
TradeMe
gambling BUYNOW
Tim Winton “Cloudstreet”
Coro a bit of tram-wreck
Coro normalized the mundane, the comedic and tragic.
If GREENS consider immigration/migration/environment intersections/land-ownership
may Winstoned Peters.
rumbling
tsunami
slide overground underground
underground overground
seismic
Time for aphorismic not plattitudinous utterances
strategy
ART OF WAR
peace
know opponent
Be good hosts and do not ply guests with alcohol
Abuse and Dependence might as well hit people on head with hammer and pour petrol down their throats.
Master of adventure
slave to escape
I mentioned the other day that NSW Labor was debating a motion to ‘preference’ the Greens last in their election literature. That could have meant the loss of some Green seats, as the additional votes (2nd preferences) of other party voters are needed to get candidates over the 50% line in most Aussie elections.
That proposal has been watered down somewhat, in a gesture to the Labor left, who want to build a constructive relationship with the Greens.
Next up; the by-election in the Victorian State seat of Melbourne. Currently held by Labor, but very much in play for the Greens. Liberal voters may even vote Green just to spite Labor. Tellingly, Julia Gillard hasn’t been invited to help out with the campaign, despite being a Melbourne federal MP herself.
Thanks ‘Native Affairs’ for another little gem that i missed during the day, it appears that Crown Counsel at the Waitangi Tribunal under questioning today has agreed that for the National Government to even be attempting to sell off Might River Power in the face of the Crown’s previous admission that Maori do have (some as yet unspecified) rights to fresh water in river and lakes would put that National Government in direct breach of the Treaty of Waitangi,
That along with last weeks admission and today’s admission by Slippery that Court action is likely to delay the sale of Mighty River Power just about makes it strike three and your out,
Should the High Court if approached agree with the Crown Counsels admissions to the Tribunal and injunct the Government to stop attempting to sell Mighty River Power, National will be left with only 2 choices, do as the Court says or legislate away the Court decision and any implied right Maori have to fresh water,
At such a point of such Legislation the emperor in the form of Slippery will find it has no clothes as to retain a shred of it’s electoral support the Maori Party will have to walk away from Government…
For the first time in four years a malaise is slowly lifting for me – I thought that the asset sales would be the coup de grace to my desire to stay here.
Now it is beginning to appear that shonkey tried to take a breach too far… 🙂
I missed the first quarter of tonight’s Native affairs,(even Duncan Garner makes sense on that forum),
While there is no gloating about where the Maori Council claims have progressed to in the current Waitangi Tribunal hearings, there was stunned amazement expressed by the likes of Mai Chen and John Tamihere about the concessions from the Crown Counsel,
Tamihere who i have far more respect for for His work outside of the Parliament then when He was inside the tent so to speak actually put the sum total of payments to the various claimant Iwi from claims to the Waitangi Tribunal into a grand perspective when He pointed out that when South Canterbury Finance went belly up the Crown were there in an instant writing out checks to the tune of 1.7 Billion Dollars while the sum total paid out to Iwi barely reaches a billion,
Slippery may well have the luxury of ignoring the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal over water rights but Legislating away both an injunction from the High Court and the property rights of Maori as Helen Clark found out creates it’s own Taniwha,
The State Owned Enterprise Act 1986 at section 9 says, ”Nothing in this Act permits
the Crown to act in a manner that is inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi”, unquote
Meh,even an escapee from the education system like myself can de-cypher that in 2 minutes, perhaps Slippery and the National Government Cabinet, like Annette Sykes suggested today, should at least study Law befor they go about the place breaking them…
Thanks for the heads up on Native Affairs last night. I missed it so must watch it online today if it is available.
The water rights issue is certainly not going away as Slippery would like and may well be his downfall …..
Re the State Owned Enterprises Act, I may be wrong, but I thought that one of the major issues with the MOM Acts was that they take Mighty River Power etc out of the ambit of the SOE Act and its TOW requirements, and include much reduced TOW requirements, if any. I must check this out in more detail as its now bugging me. Perhaps someone else here know the details of this.