I realised this morning that I did not read or hear a single item re “PM Key says …..”. This is despite the momentous success of the marriage equality legislation on Tuesday night and the Labour/Green announcement on NZ Power yesterday.
But then I don’t watch the TV news etc or listen to radio other than RNZ National.
BUT I get suspicious/nervous when I don’t hear the usual ‘Mr Key says …’ even when he is overseas.
What was he up to yesterday? Where is he? Is Lord Ashcroft in town? Or Warner Bros? Or CT?
Key is dog tucker, thats why. The ponce is damaged goods – and the best National can do to try and stop the freefall is to get him out of the spotlight.
Interstingly, so many here have worried about Key versus Shearer in election debates. But think about Shearer versus Collins or Joyce. The dynamics change…. Sometimes politics is a long and slow game of chess..
Good point. There is something badly wrong for Key not to show, normally he would be all over this. My guess is that the DotCom situation is finally and messily unraveling. It is in court at present, so maybe the truth will out shortly… and the senior Nats know it. But without Key, Joyce et al are totally at sea.
Prime Minister John Key faced more questions yesterday over the July 2011 conversation in which he suggested his former childhood acquaintance should apply to become director of the Government Communications Security Bureau. …
Mr Key was asked to explain to Parliament how he had Mr Fletcher’s telephone number in Australia.
“No clue . . . I genuinely have no clue. I do not know how I got the number,” he said at first.
But pressed by Labour’s deputy leader, Grant Robertson, he replied: “I did not, at that point, have Ian Fletcher’s mobile phone number. To the best of my knowledge, I actually rang the directory service to get the Queensland number. I do not actually have his number.”
The service redirected the call to Mr Fletcher’s mobile, he said.
Afterwards he said he couldn’t be “100 per cent sure” if he or his secretary rang directory services.
He says he was given a landline number which redirected to Fletcher’s mobile.
Odd and very detailed recollections from someone who only moments earlier said he genuinely had no clue how he came by Fletcher’s number, and who had previously said he already had Fletcher’s number.
Key popped up on TV3 News tonight to say that the Labour-Green Power policy was barking mad. He was somewhere outdoors in a fairly rural area – looked quite haggard to me, though it might just have been the lighting.
Signs that ordinary NZ’ers are waking up to National Party greed and arrogance with that dip in the polls. And emphasized by their hysterical reaction to the power market reforms last evening.
Ironic to hear the word ‘Stalinist’ trotted out, when Key has proposed extending the powers of his spy agency, the K-GCSB, to become NZ’s Stasi. And retrospectively, of course, to get DotCom at the behest of the Americans.
A few other choice little items they may be pondering. Like the DoC cuts, then far more govt $’s being dumped into ‘high-end’ tourism. And the boost to subsidies for elite private religious schools, while state schools are struggling. And the attacks on environmental controls, along with the irrigation subsidies. Nice work if you can get it. 99% of NZ’ers can’t.
We are being asked to ‘trust’ this government on the TPP. This is being conducted in unprecedented secrecy, for the benefit of the US. We have a free trade agreement with China, openly arrived at, and kept our Pharmac too. So what’s with this ‘ally’?
The slickest PM for a long time is leading NZ up the garden path. And it will take more than bumbling David Shearer to get stuck in, and to motivate those non-voters to do the same.
So Pike River Coal (the company) has been found guilty by Judge Farish of causing the deaths of 29 men.
Did New Zealand hear that? The company caused the deaths of 29 men. The company, of course, is its owners in a wider sense. Chairman John Dow, directors such as Chch man Stuart Natrass, the top managers like Whittall. These men caused the deaths of these men.
and now that all just gets left to hang ……………………………………
If this (the mining) was done in a personal capacity the charges would have been against the individuals and there would be consequences. The fact that a limited liability company was used protects these men from their actions….. But this is not what the limited liability company is for. It is to limit capital liability. Yet here it is being relied on for something not originally intended to be lmited i.e. effectively criminal and corporate negligence leading to death.
Perhaps in light of 29 men being killed it is time to look at a stricter definition of the limited liability company. Limit it to capital only, as originally intended, and any other acts of a non-capital nature by a company are deemed conducted in various of personal capacities.
If that was implemented what do you think Dow and Nattrass and Whittal have done differently? I suspect shitloads.
..
Further, the Pike River guilty verdict nails home the final nail in the coffin of deregulation and free market forces left to run unhindered.
Freedom to act in a manner based on the self-inrterest of the individual, as promoted still today by dinosaurs like Joyce and Act, does not serve society. This is now proved beyond doubt.
29 dead men Joyce, 29 dead men. Caused by your philosophy on how business should work. You are a deadly failure and people should be very aware of trusting your ideas on society lest they end up dead.
Thanks for that, vto. Yes, among all the other stuff going on yesterday (especially the power announcement), this was covered in the media, but not as much as it should be.
We’re seeing a repeat with forestry, they’re just dying one by one so it doesn’t sound so bad each time. Since Helens last post on the subject I’ve read of one death and a serious injury.
I agree that employers should be held responsible but I do think it’s the job of Govt to make sure these deaths don’t occur in the first place. Pike River should have been a big wake up call and yet the forestry situation shows they’ve learnt nothing or if they have they’ve decided to ignore it.
I agree DH. Unfortunately this lot of kids in government will not see these things so the only way the change needed to stop men being killed dead is for a new government to come which regards lives as a priority.
Re Pike River and its directors Nattrass and Dow, manager Whittal and then the government men which changed the health & safety regime such as Bill Birch disgust me. They are pigs of people. Each one of them has at various times issued statements saying they do not accept responsibility, despite enquiries and courts stating time and time again that they and their actions were responsible.
As I say, Bill Birch, John Dow, Stuart Nattrass, Peter Whittal – pigs of people. The proof is all there.
Lynn, for the past day or so I’ve been getting lots ‘unresponsive script’ messages (from firefox, mac) when loading ts pages. It seems to happen near the end of the loading time, and it stops me from being able to scroll the page while it is loading.
Is that likely to be something at your end or mine?
I see the National party’s stooge in Epsom is going to be appearing in court to face an electoral dodginess charge. Shame it had to be a private prosecution, Banksie, but better than nothing!
thx TRP ..you just beat me to it … but if found guilty, does he not have to resign from the house ? and any idea of how long this prosecution might take to be in court ?
Pascal’s bookie beat both of us to it over on the Roy Morgan post; the house always wins!
I would expect 2-3 days for the case to be heard, and a reserved decision released a few weeks later. If convicted, I seem to recall that expulsion from the house depends on the gravity of the possible sentence, something like if its potentially jail, then a resignation must follow. So, if its regarded as serious as, say, Philip Field’s offences, then Banks is gone. However, if its on the order of Mallard’s frank and honest exchange of views with Tau Henare, then he may survive.
Reliable sources report that if he loses he will have to stand down, yes, unless the learned judge decides he deserves to be discharged without conviction.
thx .. so does the case come up immediately with this ruling ? many thx to the man who is pursuing this … this could disintegrate the wobbly pack of liars …
“The myth
‘Strivers versus skivers’ purports to sum up our welfare state, and why, therefore, the benefits system should be reformed.
“There are two distinct groups of people, one good and one bad; individuals choose to be in one group or the other. ‘Strivers’ work hard and put money into the economy while ‘skivers’ are just lay-abouts who take money out. Claiming benefits traps people in dependency, which is a social evil, passed from one generation to the next. People not in paid work contribute nothing of value to society.”
The myth divides people against each other and creates a scapegoat. If people are finding life a struggle they can blame the skivers rather than anything else. This story helps to justify what might otherwise be unpopular economic policies, like spending cuts and punitive welfare-to-work policies.”
———————————-
“The division between strivers and skivers is a false one. Increasingly, people are forced to shuttle between spells of unemployment and short-term, low-paid insecure jobs. All but a tiny minority of jobless people are out of work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or simply cannot find a job. Much more of the social security budget is used to subsidise low wages than to support jobseekers, and receipt of benefits tends not to cause long-term or intergenerational dependency. Some people’s work is unpaid, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable.
There is nothing disreputable about being dependent. We are all dependent on others at certain points in our lives – when we are young, sick and old, as well as when we find ourselves without enough to live on. This is a positive, defining characteristic of a flourishing society: that we all depend on and care for one another in different ways, as our needs and resources change over time. We need a benefits system that respects and supports this – not one that fosters division, competition and looking after ‘number one’.”
No longer able to effectively trot out the scripted official story that a white right-wing extremist has been apprehended, the perpetrators of the government false flag are now forced to shut down the original plan and formulate an alternative scenario.
The government now has new “persons of interest” – alternative patsies – and has ordered the corporate media to ignore the Plan A patsy. It has also issued instructions that the suspicious special ops military or private security contractor personnel photographed roaming around after the attack are to be ignored. The fallback plan will now be that the perpetrators are Arab, possibly al-Qaeda or some other shadowy Salafist group.
Indisputable evidence that the government has conducted a false flag designed to demonize and criminalize its political enemies is now out there for all to see. It is up to the people to act on the indisputable evidence we have provided and bring the real criminals to justice.
I wonder why the fallback plan was the Arab one. Seems like they should just reissue the first one again but call them a new splinter group rather than go all the way back and then up a new path towards the Arabs. That just doesn’t stack up imo. The “white right-wing extremist” angle was the “original plan” and it is way too early to change it and they wouldn’t, change it that is. These are the Governments “political enemies” remember – they want to get them and smear them and they wouldn’t stop at the first hurdle, they’d keep going until the smear was complete – they couldn’t afford to do anything different – too risky. Also if this was a false flag then they have surrendered just after starting – you don’t put all the effort into a genuine false flag to pull the plug just after zero hour. So I don’t agree with alex that he has forced them to shut down the original plan in fact this makes the water more murky not less which is just what those black ops crew love.
Graham McCready, Informant for New Zealand Private Prosecution Service Limited, has been successful.
Judge IG Mill has ordered that the Registrar of the Wellington District Court issue a summons for John Archibald Banks to appear in the Auckland District Court to answer to an indictable charge of knowingly transmitting a false electoral return as a candidate in the Auckland Super City City election in 2010.
What happens if there is a by-election in Epsom caused by John Banks leaving Parliament, when a lot of legislation is scraping through 61 votes to 60?
From the time Banks left Parliament until the time a new MP was elected – wouldn’t that leave National without that pivotal one ACT vote, for legislation which was not supported by the Maori Party – ie: 60 – 60?
PS: Judge Mill’s decision, explaining his reasons for issuing a summons for John Banks to attend the Auckland District Court, for a charge of alleged electoral fraud is available here:
National won’t even try to pass the real nasty policies for 6 weeks and then the new National MP will vote for it.
I’ll be happy to see John Banks out of politics but don’t think it will change the government because it won’t. If you want to do that then your best bet would be to get rid of Paula Bennett. IMO, that would return a Labour MP and destroy National’s majority possibly resulting in a snap election.
The Maritime Union and the Ports of Auckland are at loggerheads again, with their dispute being escalated straight to the Employment Court.
The union has accused the port company of not acting in good faith and has cited port actions going as far back as November 2011 when the company began planning to employ contractors rather than union-aligned workers.
Things have gone a bit quiet on Key’s proposals to change the GCSB legislation over the last few days, with everything else that has been going on.
So I am pleased to see an excellent opinion piece has now popped up on the Herald online by Gehan Gunasekara arguing against the proposed changes from the point of view of the dangers of ‘mission creep’ in the proposed new powers. Well worth reading.
Gehan Gunasekara is an associate professor in commercial law at the University of Auckland Business School, specialising in information privacy law.
This reminds me of an interview I read with an Admiral who had been part of the Brazilian military junta. He was asked why they never formally legalised torture. His reply was that they didn’t need to, because they knew that the cops and the intelligence guys would always go 50% past what was authorised. I suspect this is a pretty general rule, and it makes me wonder just how much further the K-GCSB will actually go.
In Christchurch you may recall there has been a precedent setting case between the O’Loughlins and the insurance company Tower.
The Oloughlins had a house that needed repairs only. The govt came along and zoned it Red which meant that they had to move and live elsewhere. They claimed that the insurance company needed to pay for full replacement rather than just repair because their house a write-off due to the earthquakes and their effect.
Tower claimed it had to only pay the cost of repair.
No resolution so off to court they want – all very high profile.
So, it turns out today that the parties have reached a settlement. A confidential settlement. This case was due to set a precedent in Chch with disputes with insrurance companies and now we will never know whether the insurance company was on the ropes.
If Tower assessed they were about to lose the case then it is in their very high interest to settle confidentially and out of court so that every other disputant in town does not latch onto the same or similar precedent.
Sneaky-arsed insurance companies – don’t want their customers to know what their true rights are.
The first, 62e, is about 40 percent larger than Earth. It might be warm and may experience flashes of lightning, said Borucki.
The second, 62f, is about 60 percent larger than our planet, and orbits its star every 267 days, close to Earth’s annual trajectory of 365 days.
The planet may have polar caps, significant land masses and liquid water, Borucki said.
Both are orbiting a seven-billion-year-old star some 1,200 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra.
Yep, two of them orbiting the same star and it’s a couple of billion years older than our own sun. The next step is finding a way to detect life on these far distant planets.
Who knows, but if they have any WMDs I’m afraid we’ll be obliged to regime change their arses. Or at least send John Key at them to persuade them that selling their assets would be best for everyone.
Lake Brunner on the west coast is being “remediated” to basically clean up the shit that farming has dumped in it. It is being attended to by the local council and paid for by the ratepayers of the wider region and the taxpayers of NZ.
Question: If the local farmers made this mess then why aren’t they cleaning it up? or at the very minimum paying for it?
these coinkydinks are pretty Waco-schmacko;
-20th anniversary of Mt Carmel
-18th anniversary of Oklahama
-Fertilser
-in the town of West.
did you know, that the zoo-keeper killed by the elephant had not had a day off in two-and-a-half years due to financial constraints and lack of staff;
(can’t, or won’t, or is your man a jaffa?)
or, that regarding this hoovering up iron-sands that scientists have warned “we know very little about these ecosystems”. (90% of the sand is returned to the ocean floor; how efficient is that?).
or,
“that when China sneezes the rest of the world gets a cold”?
There are some good housing initiatives for Māori and one is underway in Tauranga but bob clarkson has spoken out because
But Mr Clarkson said it was not fair for one section of the community to be eligible for funds when many in the wider population also suffered.
The city council last year “shot down” his plan to provide 1000 affordable homes for $280,000 each. Everyone should be able to access affordable housing, no matter what colour their skin was, he said.
he did preface his comments with the old, “”It’s bloody lovely. I’ve got nothing against Maori but…” line but it doesn’t lesson his lowness.
It is a dedicated contestable fund for grants dimbob try moaning to the real people that make the decisions. I can’t stand the bitterness that uses Māori as a weapon when it isn’t even anything to do with them.
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
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New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
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For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
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Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
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This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
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Did I miss something yesterday?
I realised this morning that I did not read or hear a single item re “PM Key says …..”. This is despite the momentous success of the marriage equality legislation on Tuesday night and the Labour/Green announcement on NZ Power yesterday.
But then I don’t watch the TV news etc or listen to radio other than RNZ National.
BUT I get suspicious/nervous when I don’t hear the usual ‘Mr Key says …’ even when he is overseas.
What was he up to yesterday? Where is he? Is Lord Ashcroft in town? Or Warner Bros? Or CT?
Key is dog tucker, thats why. The ponce is damaged goods – and the best National can do to try and stop the freefall is to get him out of the spotlight.
Interstingly, so many here have worried about Key versus Shearer in election debates. But think about Shearer versus Collins or Joyce. The dynamics change…. Sometimes politics is a long and slow game of chess..
Good point. There is something badly wrong for Key not to show, normally he would be all over this. My guess is that the DotCom situation is finally and messily unraveling. It is in court at present, so maybe the truth will out shortly… and the senior Nats know it. But without Key, Joyce et al are totally at sea.
Yes, very good point. The last seen of Key in the MSM is this:
I thought that had been further corrected that Directory Service does not give out Mobile numbers?
He says he was given a landline number which redirected to Fletcher’s mobile.
Odd and very detailed recollections from someone who only moments earlier said he genuinely had no clue how he came by Fletcher’s number, and who had previously said he already had Fletcher’s number.
Key popped up on TV3 News tonight to say that the Labour-Green Power policy was barking mad. He was somewhere outdoors in a fairly rural area – looked quite haggard to me, though it might just have been the lighting.
Signs that ordinary NZ’ers are waking up to National Party greed and arrogance with that dip in the polls. And emphasized by their hysterical reaction to the power market reforms last evening.
Ironic to hear the word ‘Stalinist’ trotted out, when Key has proposed extending the powers of his spy agency, the K-GCSB, to become NZ’s Stasi. And retrospectively, of course, to get DotCom at the behest of the Americans.
A few other choice little items they may be pondering. Like the DoC cuts, then far more govt $’s being dumped into ‘high-end’ tourism. And the boost to subsidies for elite private religious schools, while state schools are struggling. And the attacks on environmental controls, along with the irrigation subsidies. Nice work if you can get it. 99% of NZ’ers can’t.
We are being asked to ‘trust’ this government on the TPP. This is being conducted in unprecedented secrecy, for the benefit of the US. We have a free trade agreement with China, openly arrived at, and kept our Pharmac too. So what’s with this ‘ally’?
The slickest PM for a long time is leading NZ up the garden path. And it will take more than bumbling David Shearer to get stuck in, and to motivate those non-voters to do the same.
“The slickest PM for a long time is leading NZ up the garden path”
It’s what’s at the end of that path that worries me.
Shearer’s deliveries are improving.
So Pike River Coal (the company) has been found guilty by Judge Farish of causing the deaths of 29 men.
Did New Zealand hear that? The company caused the deaths of 29 men. The company, of course, is its owners in a wider sense. Chairman John Dow, directors such as Chch man Stuart Natrass, the top managers like Whittall. These men caused the deaths of these men.
and now that all just gets left to hang ……………………………………
If this (the mining) was done in a personal capacity the charges would have been against the individuals and there would be consequences. The fact that a limited liability company was used protects these men from their actions….. But this is not what the limited liability company is for. It is to limit capital liability. Yet here it is being relied on for something not originally intended to be lmited i.e. effectively criminal and corporate negligence leading to death.
Perhaps in light of 29 men being killed it is time to look at a stricter definition of the limited liability company. Limit it to capital only, as originally intended, and any other acts of a non-capital nature by a company are deemed conducted in various of personal capacities.
If that was implemented what do you think Dow and Nattrass and Whittal have done differently? I suspect shitloads.
..
Further, the Pike River guilty verdict nails home the final nail in the coffin of deregulation and free market forces left to run unhindered.
Freedom to act in a manner based on the self-inrterest of the individual, as promoted still today by dinosaurs like Joyce and Act, does not serve society. This is now proved beyond doubt.
29 dead men Joyce, 29 dead men. Caused by your philosophy on how business should work. You are a deadly failure and people should be very aware of trusting your ideas on society lest they end up dead.
Thanks for that, vto. Yes, among all the other stuff going on yesterday (especially the power announcement), this was covered in the media, but not as much as it should be.
Yep, Helen Kelly spoke well about this on RNZ this morning.
Word v.
Every word.
Corporate manslaughter legislation.
If only….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/8195483/US-coal-mine-manager-jailed-over-explosion
http://www.desmogblog.com/2013/03/08/don-blankenship-dark-lord-coal-country-implicated-upper-big-branch-mine-explosion-deaths
We’re seeing a repeat with forestry, they’re just dying one by one so it doesn’t sound so bad each time. Since Helens last post on the subject I’ve read of one death and a serious injury.
I agree that employers should be held responsible but I do think it’s the job of Govt to make sure these deaths don’t occur in the first place. Pike River should have been a big wake up call and yet the forestry situation shows they’ve learnt nothing or if they have they’ve decided to ignore it.
I agree DH. Unfortunately this lot of kids in government will not see these things so the only way the change needed to stop men being killed dead is for a new government to come which regards lives as a priority.
Re Pike River and its directors Nattrass and Dow, manager Whittal and then the government men which changed the health & safety regime such as Bill Birch disgust me. They are pigs of people. Each one of them has at various times issued statements saying they do not accept responsibility, despite enquiries and courts stating time and time again that they and their actions were responsible.
As I say, Bill Birch, John Dow, Stuart Nattrass, Peter Whittal – pigs of people. The proof is all there.
Lynn, for the past day or so I’ve been getting lots ‘unresponsive script’ messages (from firefox, mac) when loading ts pages. It seems to happen near the end of the loading time, and it stops me from being able to scroll the page while it is loading.
Is that likely to be something at your end or mine?
Your end would be my bet. The only time it ever usually happens from the “server” side is for the ads. But that is rare.
Usually I suggest that people try another browser to see if it shows up there. But that is 3 hours later.
Just been testing it across a range of browsers and it isn’t showing on any of them.
Hmm, does seem to be related to firefox.
Script: http://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/flexie/1.0.0/flexie.min.js:18
What is that for? I have the choice of disabling the message. Is it a problem for the script of be slow or unresponsive?
cold better?
I see the National party’s stooge in Epsom is going to be appearing in court to face an electoral dodginess charge. Shame it had to be a private prosecution, Banksie, but better than nothing!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878452
He really should release that Police statement he’s been keeping under wraps. Better now than on the stand.
thx TRP ..you just beat me to it … but if found guilty, does he not have to resign from the house ? and any idea of how long this prosecution might take to be in court ?
Pascal’s bookie beat both of us to it over on the Roy Morgan post; the house always wins!
I would expect 2-3 days for the case to be heard, and a reserved decision released a few weeks later. If convicted, I seem to recall that expulsion from the house depends on the gravity of the possible sentence, something like if its potentially jail, then a resignation must follow. So, if its regarded as serious as, say, Philip Field’s offences, then Banks is gone. However, if its on the order of Mallard’s frank and honest exchange of views with Tau Henare, then he may survive.
Reliable sources report that if he loses he will have to stand down, yes, unless the learned judge decides he deserves to be discharged without conviction.
thx .. so does the case come up immediately with this ruling ? many thx to the man who is pursuing this … this could disintegrate the wobbly pack of liars …
“The myth
‘Strivers versus skivers’ purports to sum up our welfare state, and why, therefore, the benefits system should be reformed.
“There are two distinct groups of people, one good and one bad; individuals choose to be in one group or the other. ‘Strivers’ work hard and put money into the economy while ‘skivers’ are just lay-abouts who take money out. Claiming benefits traps people in dependency, which is a social evil, passed from one generation to the next. People not in paid work contribute nothing of value to society.”
The myth divides people against each other and creates a scapegoat. If people are finding life a struggle they can blame the skivers rather than anything else. This story helps to justify what might otherwise be unpopular economic policies, like spending cuts and punitive welfare-to-work policies.”
———————————-
“The division between strivers and skivers is a false one. Increasingly, people are forced to shuttle between spells of unemployment and short-term, low-paid insecure jobs. All but a tiny minority of jobless people are out of work because they are disabled, have caring responsibilities or simply cannot find a job. Much more of the social security budget is used to subsidise low wages than to support jobseekers, and receipt of benefits tends not to cause long-term or intergenerational dependency. Some people’s work is unpaid, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable.
There is nothing disreputable about being dependent. We are all dependent on others at certain points in our lives – when we are young, sick and old, as well as when we find ourselves without enough to live on. This is a positive, defining characteristic of a flourishing society: that we all depend on and care for one another in different ways, as our needs and resources change over time. We need a benefits system that respects and supports this – not one that fosters division, competition and looking after ‘number one’.”
http://www.resilience.org/stories/2013-04-18/mythbusters-strivers-versus-skivers
This will blow your mind.
http://deadspin.com/the-boston-bombing-witch-hunt-bags-another-innocent-kid-476001019
Whether you hate him or love him Alex Jones is chronicling the collapse of the official Boston terrorist narrative!
What is the “Official Boston terrorist narrative”?
The woodwork squeaks and out come the freaks.
I wonder why the fallback plan was the Arab one. Seems like they should just reissue the first one again but call them a new splinter group rather than go all the way back and then up a new path towards the Arabs. That just doesn’t stack up imo. The “white right-wing extremist” angle was the “original plan” and it is way too early to change it and they wouldn’t, change it that is. These are the Governments “political enemies” remember – they want to get them and smear them and they wouldn’t stop at the first hurdle, they’d keep going until the smear was complete – they couldn’t afford to do anything different – too risky. Also if this was a false flag then they have surrendered just after starting – you don’t put all the effort into a genuine false flag to pull the plug just after zero hour. So I don’t agree with alex that he has forced them to shut down the original plan in fact this makes the water more murky not less which is just what those black ops crew love.
http://www.infowars.com/government-caught-in-boston-bombing-false-flag-cover-up/
Hmmm
Sources:
Hannity.
Glenn Beck.
lol
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878452
Graham McCready, Informant for New Zealand Private Prosecution Service Limited, has been successful.
Judge IG Mill has ordered that the Registrar of the Wellington District Court issue a summons for John Archibald Banks to appear in the Auckland District Court to answer to an indictable charge of knowingly transmitting a false electoral return as a candidate in the Auckland Super City City election in 2010.
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=6186600&da=y
What is this going to do for National’s wafer-thin majority?
Has Prime Minister John Key stood down John Banks as a Minister yet?
If not – why not?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
Absolutely nothing unless the good people of Epson decide to vote in Labour’s candidate.
What happens if there is a by-election in Epsom caused by John Banks leaving Parliament, when a lot of legislation is scraping through 61 votes to 60?
From the time Banks left Parliament until the time a new MP was elected – wouldn’t that leave National without that pivotal one ACT vote, for legislation which was not supported by the Maori Party – ie: 60 – 60?
What then?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption / anti-privatisation’ campaigner
2013 Auckland Mayoral candidate
PS: Judge Mill’s decision, explaining his reasons for issuing a summons for John Banks to attend the Auckland District Court, for a charge of alleged electoral fraud is available here:
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com/
National won’t even try to pass the real nasty policies for 6 weeks and then the new National MP will vote for it.
I’ll be happy to see John Banks out of politics but don’t think it will change the government because it won’t. If you want to do that then your best bet would be to get rid of Paula Bennett. IMO, that would return a Labour MP and destroy National’s majority possibly resulting in a snap election.
The Ports of Auckland-MUNZ dispute has re-ignited.
Things have gone a bit quiet on Key’s proposals to change the GCSB legislation over the last few days, with everything else that has been going on.
So I am pleased to see an excellent opinion piece has now popped up on the Herald online by Gehan Gunasekara arguing against the proposed changes from the point of view of the dangers of ‘mission creep’ in the proposed new powers. Well worth reading.
Gehan Gunasekara is an associate professor in commercial law at the University of Auckland Business School, specialising in information privacy law.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10878343
This reminds me of an interview I read with an Admiral who had been part of the Brazilian military junta. He was asked why they never formally legalised torture. His reply was that they didn’t need to, because they knew that the cops and the intelligence guys would always go 50% past what was authorised. I suspect this is a pretty general rule, and it makes me wonder just how much further the K-GCSB will actually go.
In Christchurch you may recall there has been a precedent setting case between the O’Loughlins and the insurance company Tower.
The Oloughlins had a house that needed repairs only. The govt came along and zoned it Red which meant that they had to move and live elsewhere. They claimed that the insurance company needed to pay for full replacement rather than just repair because their house a write-off due to the earthquakes and their effect.
Tower claimed it had to only pay the cost of repair.
No resolution so off to court they want – all very high profile.
So, it turns out today that the parties have reached a settlement. A confidential settlement. This case was due to set a precedent in Chch with disputes with insrurance companies and now we will never know whether the insurance company was on the ropes.
If Tower assessed they were about to lose the case then it is in their very high interest to settle confidentially and out of court so that every other disputant in town does not latch onto the same or similar precedent.
Sneaky-arsed insurance companies – don’t want their customers to know what their true rights are.
The wearying war continues.
Astronomers find most Earth-like planets yet
Yep, two of them orbiting the same star and it’s a couple of billion years older than our own sun. The next step is finding a way to detect life on these far distant planets.
Now that is exciting, especially that they live in the constellation of lycra. Always wondered where that stuff came from.
more interested in where it disappears to 😀
drop them a line D.
Is it anywhere near Planet Key? If so, can we just beam him home?
I read that article earlier. I’m not really much into space reality, preferring space fiction, and the reality of life on earth.
But I was intrigued by that article- if advanced life there, what would it be like?
Neither of them can be Planet Key.
They are both too similar to Earth.
I’ve always envisaged Planet Key as being a small, harsh, and dense planet covered with a brutal and storm-ridden atmosphere of corrosive gas.
the deserts of the real!
I said near to, not one of the planets.
ah, my apologies 🙂
Do you think it might be closer to the hot hell of a star, or much farther out in the lifeless chill of the eternal void?
“if advanced life there, what would it be like?”
Who knows, but if they have any WMDs I’m afraid we’ll be obliged to regime change their arses. Or at least send John Key at them to persuade them that selling their assets would be best for everyone.
😆
“The next step is finding a way to detect life on these far distant planets.”
Shouldn’t we concentrate on confirming intelligent life on this one first?
“the constellation of lycra. Always wondered where that stuff came from.”
“more interested in where it disappears to”
It’s a bit of a stretch, but from my observations, it’s mostly Uranus.
Lake Brunner on the west coast is being “remediated” to basically clean up the shit that farming has dumped in it. It is being attended to by the local council and paid for by the ratepayers of the wider region and the taxpayers of NZ.
Question: If the local farmers made this mess then why aren’t they cleaning it up? or at the very minimum paying for it?
Any farmers out there like to comment?
The FedFarmers version:
“It’s my land, I can do what I want”
“making my farm profitable is the most important thing”
“farming is the backbone of this country, so stop your whining”
“we’ve stacked the Regional Council with our mates, so you should just give up now”
“nothing wrong with a bit of pollution anyway, it’s the natural order of things”
“there is no such thing as manmade climate change”
(apologies to all the NZ farmers who do give a shit)
paragraph 5 by the scurrying weka paragraph 5
these coinkydinks are pretty Waco-schmacko;
-20th anniversary of Mt Carmel
-18th anniversary of Oklahama
-Fertilser
-in the town of West.
did you know, that the zoo-keeper killed by the elephant had not had a day off in two-and-a-half years due to financial constraints and lack of staff;
(can’t, or won’t, or is your man a jaffa?)
or, that regarding this hoovering up iron-sands that scientists have warned “we know very little about these ecosystems”. (90% of the sand is returned to the ocean floor; how efficient is that?).
or,
“that when China sneezes the rest of the world gets a cold”?
from The Boy With The Tape on His Face
amidst The Infinite Sadness
GOD
is (not)
Dead
because the gospels according to John tell us so : The King is Dead : Long Live The King
David Shearer’s press secretary quits
*Crosses fingers and chants:”Please don’t be a Pagani. Please don’t be a Pagani. Please don’t be a Pagani.”*
It’s actually not the press secretary that should be replaced.
LIARS OF OUR TIME
No. 1: Barack Hussein Obama
“Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty’.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-dies-tributes-obama
just to re-iterate Mossy, I enjoy some of your tales; very comfortable sometimes.
Thanks for your kind words, ghostrider. I enjoy your posts, too.
“Margaret Thatcher was one of the great champions of freedom and liberty’.
That’s not how you spell “cretins of fascism and larceny”
Good one, felix.
There are some good housing initiatives for Māori and one is underway in Tauranga but bob clarkson has spoken out because
he did preface his comments with the old, “”It’s bloody lovely. I’ve got nothing against Maori but…” line but it doesn’t lesson his lowness.
It is a dedicated contestable fund for grants dimbob try moaning to the real people that make the decisions. I can’t stand the bitterness that uses Māori as a weapon when it isn’t even anything to do with them.
http://www.bayofplentytimes.co.nz/news/anger-over-homes-for-maori/1836297/
http://mars2earth.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/bitter-bob.html
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/private-schools-could-receive-taxpayer-funding-increase-5411270
T_T
Once more National’s engaging in welfare for friends, helping to prop up private schools that really should just tighten their belts.
It’s all kicking off near Boston. One suspect captured, according to CBS, the other on the run. Lots of gunfire and some use of explosives.
Here’s the Guardian’s live update thingy
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/apr/19/boston-mit-police-dead-watertown
Wow, now we all know why the authorities were searching frantically for Sunil Tripathi.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981864024
or maybe not
So 12 new posts today, including Weekend Social and Open Mic. Is that a new record?
Chechnya? That’s weird and unexpected