Granny’s found a psychology lecturer to put Shonkeys latest brain fade in Antarctica possibly down to fainting then listed some other major memory lapses but not them all as that’d probably take up too much room and remind folk how often and conveniently it occurs.
Bending over backwards to help as always granny, trying to play the health card on his behalf, how about some medical opinions not behavioural ones.
While in Antarctica, Key spoke of how he was affected by news of the Air New Zealand flight which crashed into the side of Mt Erebus.
Flight TE901 was destroyed on impact, killing all 257 passengers and crew.
“I know I was starting School C at around that time – it’s a memory that’s lasted with me till now,” Key said this week.
John Key was born on August 9, 1961, and the Erebus disaster was on November 28, 1979 – meaning he would have been 18 at the time. Students usually sat School Certificate examinations about the age of 15….
Brain fades
• Key sat through a briefing on the Kim Dotcom case weeks after a high-profile police raid on the internet mogul’s property in Key’s Helensville electorate. He said he completely forgot about it.
• Last October, Key told reporters he had voted for the drinking age to be raised to 20 but Key had voted for it to remain at 18.
• During an election debate in 2008, Key said he could not remember how he felt about the 1981 Springbok rugby tour. At the time of the contentious tour, Key was attending Canterbury University – a hotbed of protests. Pressed for an answer Key said he was “probably mildly pro-tour”.
• Also in 2008, when questioned about sham foreign exchange deals, Key said he was not working at Elders when the deals were made. Labour proved Key was still at Elders at the time.
If a B-Com takes three years and he graduated in 1981 then he left School in 78, no?. Which means he was at University when Erebus occured. How can he not remember if he was at University or High School at the time of that disaster
More pathetic Journalism. No fact checking, not even bothering to do basic arithmetic
+1, spot-on, my belief is that Slippery is a compulsive one as well, it’s a gambler, Psycho/sociopath thing with that one as far as i can see,
Compulsive’s, liars that is, have to keep testing the boundaries of what ‘they’ can get people to believe,
The way i see it is He is heading for a major stress related coronary partly brought about by the ‘will they believe this one’ anxiety inherent in the ‘gamble’ of continually talking s**t…
If was was born in 61, when he would have been sitting School Cert in 77 (he could have got Erebus mixed with Tenerife – that happened in 77 and killed 500+ people — A KLM jet collided with a Pam Am jet). He would be sitting Bursary in 79.
Perhaps Slippery’s suitcase of intellectual rigor is as empty as what it would seem to be and He had to sit the school cert year a number of times, before in exasperation, ‘they’ just gave up and gave it to the little failure…
Or perhaps this is just more spin to make him appear more like the common man than the actual conniving and calculating prick he is.
Playing the sympathy card at the same time to make people concerned for his health would seem a masterstroke. Three doctors couldn’t explain Key’s fainting? Please!
The question should be: do we want either a deluded and bumbling fool with a potential health condition that makes him faint and forget things or a master right wing manipulator and compulsive liar as Prime Minister?
What a laughable, twisted old blow-hard is Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
His out-of-left-field prognostications that gay marriage will increase crime confirms that his prescription for a decent society invokes selectively applied inequality, discrimination, exclusion, bullying. Such morals !
McVicar is a notorious, over-indulged, redneck clown perfectly suited to the bigotry of US tea party politics where any old shit is true the second some dinosaur zealot chooses to say it is.
Pray that the cruddy old people-hater sells up and relocates to the wilds of Wyoming where to his heart’s content he can run periodically passing aged-hippies, gays, profile-meeting blacks and other dangerous types out of the county on the end of a shotgun. And otherwise batten down against the world.
Like all marriage, Gay marriage is an act of Love. The stuid McVicar (who is best ignored, except that The MSM hang on his every word), is in effect spouting forth that “loving marriage, ipso facto, is likely to end up in criminality”. That is the extent of this pathetic soul’s logic.
Never trust a man prepared to whore out someone else’s grief for a sound bite on the news.
McFlock, Felix, QoT – As self appointed sentinels of the, who is offended, by what, and how, security assessment services, what’s your positon on the above reference to, *whore out* ?
Verb
whore out (third-person singular simple present whores out, present participle whoring out, simple past and past participle whored out)
(informal, transitive) To prostitute, take advantage of, exploit, show off; to hire out or provide to others like a whore
TA – I would suggest you await the security (hate speech assessment services) team, to deliver their judgement – I’ve highlighted the possible threat, to one of the members!
I’m surprised at the tardiness of response today, perhaps its because only one of them appears to be around currently, and is unable to deliver a unilateral response!
TA – Even though this is the virtual space, it is important that should handles feel it appropriate to throw around the serious accusations of bigotry and so on, that accusers are evaluating regulary, and without bias, hyocracy or other, the basis for their accusations, as they are a serious impediment to societal healing.
Highlighting your choice of words, is, in my opinion necessary, as I would like to understand if there is consistancy, should there be a response from those I named. No response, will speak visibly for itself, on their behalf!
Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.
What muzza’s alluding to is that he was called out for uncritically copy-pasting an article title using the phrase “rent boy”.
As with the phrase “whore out”, this is problematic because it uses sex work as shorthand for immorality or exploitation, per the definition you quoted below.
McVicar is out of control and must be stopped. He will stop at nothing into imposing a return to the 1950’s and all the associated misery the era has inflicted on people for a crime free utopia, especially for those who were packed off Lake Alice and had 500 volts put through them because they couldnt spell ‘cat’ properly.
les Amis de l’ABC (the Friends of the ABC), a group of students dedicated to making political changes in France. In the original French, the name of the group is a pun on Les Amis de l’abaissé, the friends of the debased, “that is to say, the people”,
From les mis. The irony that we have our own red clique. Perhaps history will repeat itself and throw together various left wing idealist that hear the drum beat and bring about change.
Yep. NZ Labour Party ABC’s have their own group of vehement Young Labour student supporters which fit under this name. Many in Young Labour spoke and voted against the 40% threshold during Conference.
More likely they are looking for a career in a Labour minister’s office (after 2014) and then a possible further career move to the Labour Party caucus some time after that. In the meantime they must butter-up said ministers’ political egos.
Lets face it, they took most of the principles out of politics back in the 1980s…
Good comment – it appears from this blog that there are two Labour wings firstly the real Labour Party, and secondly the Parliamentary Labour wing.
Are these getting further apart – looks like it possibly ?
Yes Fortran that is what is happening and I find it very sad. There are good people on both sides of the leadership fence, but a small group inside the caucus seem intent on fostering disunity for the sake of their own personal egos – at least I suppose that is the basic reason. Their attitude (as demonstrated immediately after the Conference late last year) is an insult to many members because it showed what they really think of us. We are useful fodder during election campaigns – letter box stuffers, canvassers, meeting arrangers, money donators and that’s about all.
As far as I can see, the only person who can change it now is David Shearer. The olive
branch must be extended to David Cunliffe preferably by way of a return to the Front Bench. What happens after that we will have to wait and see…
Spot on, Anne. I think principled young left activists these days are more likely to head towards Mana/Greens or even some of the non-parliamentary movements. The activism exists, but why would they look to participate in Labour when senior figures such as Mallard see them as potential customers for any spare tickets he has lying around? I think those looking for paid positions inside the machine will gravitate towards Young Labour, and this will become even worse as the slightest hint of radicalism continues to be purged from caucus.
The uninformed criticisms of Young Labour here are just staggering. Are these commentators even involved in the Labour Party – certainly not the one that I am a proud member of.
Young Labour activists are some of the most principled, hard-working, intelligent members of this party. We are integral to so many campaigns around the country, we organise events where the big ideas within the party are discussed (Campaign School, Summer School, Winter School etc.), we push for the most progressive policies at conference and usually do well at getting support, we actually do stuff to help the party instead of writing whinging comments on political blogs.
The members I know in Young Labour are not in it for themselves but for the progressive ideals that we get to push for. Why don’t you come help us?
Even more likely is that they realised that 50% plus one is the norm in most democratic elections, Anne. The 60% level is a wank. It appears it was pushed by those hoping DC could use it to his short term advantage in forcing a leadership contest.
But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.
“But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.”
The 60% + 1 threshold only applies for the constitutionally mandated leaders vote at the start of the year immediately following the election, eg once every 3 years. If DC wins the leadership and loses the next election, he’s gone-burger anyway (just as DS will/would be) so it doesn’t really matter.
TRP….You may want to consider what is currently the threshold in other Labour Parties overseas. My understanding is that something like 60% is the norm.
You may be right, RL, but the NZLP has current and historical links to the union movement. There, the norm is 50% plus one. The 60% pass rate seems arbitrary at best and, as I say above, probably intended for DC’s short term gain. (ie its the figure his numbers pre-conference could muster).
The UK Labour Party has far stronger and longer ties to the union movement than the NZLP (affiliates there have long had a real vote in choosing the UK Labour Leader).
A UK Labour MP leadership contender can initiate a leadership challenge with just 20% initial backing of the Labour caucus. The decision then goes to the wider membership.
The NZLP has a long, long way left to go in democratising its Leadership and candidate selection processes.
And yet the UKLP is regarded as being anti-democratic and top down and, in Government, the caucus has the legal right to ignore the party. And, as I said, 50% is the norm in unions in both countries. So what’s your point?
CV, I have a terrible feeling you think democracy means ‘the one I want wins’.
You appear to know little about unions, CV. No reason you should, I suppose, but it leaves your ‘meme’ comment knackered. A simple majority is the norm in the union movement.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
Answering directly to the party members. This is the kind of thing that many associated with Labour seem deathly afraid of in 2013. And which TRP you seem to consider “anti democratic”.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
Quite some time ago I think; it may be that the UKLP 20% is actually too high a threshold.
TRP unions have internal votes only. They do not have to participate in decision making where three different sectors of an organisation have to decide on something. Besides the vote is only a trigger for a contest and does not decide the contest.
CV: The point I was making is that the trigger has not been used, as far as I know. It’s meaningless in the UK and arbitrary at best here.
MS: Unions participate in multi-faceted decision making all the time. Unions are represented on all sorts of organisations, including ITO’s, community groups and boards. And many negotiations are multi party, either more than one union or more than one boss.
The tendency for schools to have exclusive stationery deals with single supplier is disturbing, and another reason why Tomorrow’s Schools should be reviewed.
Parents should be able to source stationery for their children through whatever source they see fit. Whether it be calculators through trademe, compasses and protractors from the $2 shop, or books from the Warehouse. Forcing financially burdened parents to go through one supplier is totally wrong.
I would actually stick my neck out and say that school kids have too much stationery. It would be better to have the MoE supply pre printed curriculum workbooks for specialist subjects, and just have the parents buy refill, pens and rulers.
I’m not sure how the schools can prevent you from buying stationary from elsewhere? What are they gonna do, kick your kid out?
I’m sure nothing like this happened when I went to school. They did have stationary that you could buy from the school, presumably they partnered up with a retail chain to offer this. But they always gave you the price list so you could choose to go elsewhere.
Following on from the, “unexpected arrest”, the youth allegedly involved in the Sina Solomona murder as now been denied bail, “in spite of the “legislative bias” in favour of granting bail to young people.”
The arrest was reported on 20/12/12, court appearance 14/1/13, and prosecution given until 25/2/13 (5.5 weeks extension), when prosecutor Andrew McRae “sought an extension of three or four weeks for the filing of police evidence”. He sought extra time because of the extensive investigation and forensic analysis that was still being done.
1: Why was the additional time granted, over and above what the prosecutor had sought?
2: If the prosecution are sure enough the youth is the perpetrator to keep him on remand, then why is the extended investigation necessary? (surely if there is such a “powerful public interest”, resources would have been working this case since mid December when it happened, around the clock)
3: How long do forensic investigations of a single individual take to match to a victim and place at a crime scene?
4: Why in Christchuch, just weeks earlier (to the youths appearance for alleged murder) was a “convicted paedophile given bail after appearing in court accused of abusing dozens of young boys, and in Northland, a man accused of sex crimes against children was bailed to an Auckland address despite police opposition”
5: Why is it that repeat paedophile gets home detention for molesting a 7 year old girl (based on poor health (apparently), into the community he is from, and the victim’s mother is devastated and says “she is concerned about the safety of the Tauranga community” ?.
6: Why are health concerns seemingly more a factor, over the obvious safety/health concerns of a young teen on remand for many months, at risk of potential mental, and physical harm!
I don’t care about your issues with QoT and McFlock, although I agree with both of them, but why are you continuing to use this case to push your meme? I’ve read your questions and they are leading – to whatever conclusion you have reached – just say it. Is this sort of stuff part of the social experiment you claim you are conducting – the last person that did that was pete george if I remember correctly. You do remind me of him in a weird way.
Oh and please spare me the usual “don’t shoot the messenger” stuff or use americanisms like “cool your jets”. I used to think you were onto the real issues muzza – I feel quite disappointed in you to tell you the truth. Sorry to personalise it but we aren’t bots are we.
Hi Marty, perhaps have a look inside if you feel let down bro, search as to why you associate the emotion to my comments. What meme exactly do you believe I’m pushing Marty, you have yet to make any concrete comments, instead just waffling around.
If you believe the questions to be leading, then point out which ones, and why, tell me what you believe to be better questions to ask, or answer some of the questions, a combo is good. Again you have fed back nothing, just jumped in and expressed your bias, which seems to have been triggered by my letting you down in some way, come on bro, you can do better than that!
Perhaps I should have asked the question – Who is more dangerous to society/bigger flight risk etc, a previously convicted , elderly white paedophile, who we know has a passport, the means to travel, a network of sorts (salvation army), with some health problems or a young brown kid, unknown previous, unknown passport holder, or means to travel, or what, if any his connections are, who is under suspicion of murder!
FYI – I have reached no conclusion at this stage, however there is to me some rather poor reporting of this situation going on, hence I have some questions, because it feel off to me!
Don’t apologise if you actually mean what you say Marty, I’m picking there is more to it than that!
yes I have thought about why your comment triggered me. My conclusion is that this case was first raised by you for no good reason, which I mentioned at the time, and on the other occasions when you have bought it up the use of the case has shifted so that it now has become a “poor brown boy” story, which it wasn’t when you originally mentioned it. That implies to me that the story is useful to you because it helps you promote your ideas and I am not okay when innocent victims are used to score points for any viewpoint. If I come across that type of behavior I normally ignore those postings but I had unrealistic expectations of the stuff you post and therefore began to comment then, and now. Some commenters I engage with for a while until I realise that it is a waste of time for me – vto is one and mate I’m putting you in the same bucket. I don’t wish either of you ill it’s just that I’m more interested in making changes in society and communities and going over 101 areas is just so boring – I’m sure you feel the same.
I hope you leave the defenseless alone and go after those with defenses – they are worth the trouble – kia ora.
As information about this sad situation progresses, and is reported on, is it not probable that questions will develop around the pregressing information releases. Surely this is not shifting, it is commenting on the developments via the media, as I interpret the details, from what I’m reading.
It’s unfortunate that you’re unable to fathom, that my posts, are actually aimed at those with the defenses you refer. The posts were/are intended, to get generate thinking about what the MSM has been reporting, and how the low quality of reporting begs questions about its innaccuracies and gaps, and how those gaps will shape the views of readers who absorb it!
My focus is firmly on the establishments, and those with the ability to deliver/create/protect injustice, because not only are individuals corrupted, but the systems they operate inside of are systematically broken. Those same systems, seek only to protect themselves, no matter the collateral damage to the rest of us, who they pretend to serve and protect!
The reality is Marty, that the changes you (and I), are looking to be invovled with, can’t begin to happen, until what is keeping the changes from gaining traction, (because it must subvert reality in such ways, to keep control), are clearly understood for the barriers, and the theats that the establishment system are.
Take another look Marty, and if you are able to do so without predjudice, you should be able to tell where my intentions lie!
yes granted that situations change and perceptions of those situations change. The initial post from you on that case was well before much had come out – it was ghoulish, disrespectful and unnecessary – but that was then…
maybe you are trying to be too tricky – just a thought because your middle three paragraphs above are pretty coherent – perhaps if you wacked out those then your evidence/questions it might flow better, for me anyway.
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on. You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
I hope you go all neo on the owners of the foot across most of our throats 🙂
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
Quintessentially, no, however its not that simple in reality. If you apply that premise 100%, then justice would be very difficult to see done. Jimmy Saville for example, there are many victims alive, should people ignore what was done, and what will be the fallout from his evil, because the victims are innocent? You can apply the same measure to almost any situation where there are victims, and there would be few perpetrators punished for crimes!
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on.
Marty, that’s ok, I accept your view, and understand your position, but mine is that I was not using the deceased victim. I spend alot of time reading through articles, and it felt like there was more to this one, so I went about finding, reading, cross referencing as many write ups as I could, and then posted my thoughts/views. Whats not on for me, is the pathetic so called reporting around such terrible events, and the fact questions are not asked, and that people do not think, because it allows injustice to flourish!
You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
It takes all types of approach to get messages out there Marty, as you and I show, that we have different ways to express ourselves, so there are different ways that people receiving (hearing) those messages, might be swayed, or jolted into thinking more deeply.
IMO, the more varied the message delivery we can get, but with the constant intent to promote positive , the higher chance of reaching, even more minds.
Hide’s dishonest piece on state housing is just part of a broader effort which fetishes ownership and aims to further curtail tenancy rights. If he and his acolytes get their way, Housing Corp will end up managing emergency night shelters with a maximum of one week stay. Or maybe contracting out the management of these to a private provider?
Utterly predictable. But this from a man who has openly admitted that the 1840’s were a much better time because it was without all that ‘government interference’.
Mega upload. Have I got this right? New rules a year or so ago meant that if an “authority” believed that a person was downloading illegally the the internet provider was contacted, the downloader warned, and ex-communicated if she persisted. This was how Kim Dotcom cooperated with the “authorities” who then shat all over him in spite of cooperation.
So now Mega is launched with 100,000 registrations in the first hour. Wow!
Found a copy of the infamous Picot Report in the local library today. Which was good, as before I had an OIA request for it turned down by the min of ed.
A few interesting points:
All support services for schools, that were provided by the old Department of Education, or the local education boards, were chopped, and school boards given extra cash to ‘purchase their own services’.
The education advisers employed by the above effectively became consultants/independent contractors, selling their services to schools.
The education service centres that were to replace the education boards are/were basically privatised versions of the latter, some of them set up by old Education Board staff.
It was intended that community education forums would be set up and help so the local community can have a say in the running of the education system. This measure, not implemented, could have made a difference to Mallard’s school closing frenzy 10 years ago, the Parata’s school restructuring in Christchurch.
This is not really what I agree with and like, but I came across it, and I think it is important to remind ourselves of what historic events once happened.
We are busy, sometimes with perhaps trivial political stories, but the history of fascism, and what it led to is something that must never be forgotten.
Rommel was not a fascist as such himself, Hitler even hated him in the end, but he was an instrument, just like many in modern NZ society are instruments also in introducing and implementing “reforms” of a welfare kind, that have elements of fascism in them. Few get the message, I am afraid.
Maybe lucky to get away alive. The history of human kind (vermin like kind) is full of hatred, war, destruction and exploitation, some try to put a nice gloss on it. So where do we go from here???
Yet another, more friendly perspective. “Die Prinzen”, one of the more favourite bands from there, I know of. Always witty, a bit cynical and critical but always measured and sound.
So where do we get this here? I love Mr Bean also, good old UK humour, and there is some good program on TV3 on Fridays now, but hey, get a bit into the global sphere, there is so much more, and worth listening to, even if you may (at first) not understand the language.
NZ is needing to climb up the learning curve a bit more. Get onto it, and you cannot lose.
Why is The Standard not sufficiently promoting socialist or social democratic ideas, as it proclaims it is. We must move further to take a stand, I sadly see a too weak and mellowed down approach. Remember your bloody heritage, PLUS what the international development has shown.
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Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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Granny’s found a psychology lecturer to put Shonkeys latest brain fade in Antarctica possibly down to fainting then listed some other major memory lapses but not them all as that’d probably take up too much room and remind folk how often and conveniently it occurs.
Bending over backwards to help as always granny, trying to play the health card on his behalf, how about some medical opinions not behavioural ones.
Although, the brain fades the article does mention are pretty significant:
If a B-Com takes three years and he graduated in 1981 then he left School in 78, no?. Which means he was at University when Erebus occured. How can he not remember if he was at University or High School at the time of that disaster
More pathetic Journalism. No fact checking, not even bothering to do basic arithmetic
To be fair to the PM, the four events listed aren’t “brain fades”.
It’s a little unfair to blame his failing health for what are really just out and out lies told by Mr Key.
+1, spot-on, my belief is that Slippery is a compulsive one as well, it’s a gambler, Psycho/sociopath thing with that one as far as i can see,
Compulsive’s, liars that is, have to keep testing the boundaries of what ‘they’ can get people to believe,
The way i see it is He is heading for a major stress related coronary partly brought about by the ‘will they believe this one’ anxiety inherent in the ‘gamble’ of continually talking s**t…
That’s weird.
If was was born in 61, when he would have been sitting School Cert in 77 (he could have got Erebus mixed with Tenerife – that happened in 77 and killed 500+ people — A KLM jet collided with a Pam Am jet). He would be sitting Bursary in 79.
Perhaps Slippery’s suitcase of intellectual rigor is as empty as what it would seem to be and He had to sit the school cert year a number of times, before in exasperation, ‘they’ just gave up and gave it to the little failure…
Or perhaps this is just more spin to make him appear more like the common man than the actual conniving and calculating prick he is.
Playing the sympathy card at the same time to make people concerned for his health would seem a masterstroke. Three doctors couldn’t explain Key’s fainting? Please!
The question should be: do we want either a deluded and bumbling fool with a potential health condition that makes him faint and forget things or a master right wing manipulator and compulsive liar as Prime Minister?
My answer in both cases would have to be no!
He was most likely accredited from sixth form
in order to be at Uni in ’79 in order to graduate in ’81
What a laughable, twisted old blow-hard is Garth McVicar of the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
His out-of-left-field prognostications that gay marriage will increase crime confirms that his prescription for a decent society invokes selectively applied inequality, discrimination, exclusion, bullying. Such morals !
McVicar is a notorious, over-indulged, redneck clown perfectly suited to the bigotry of US tea party politics where any old shit is true the second some dinosaur zealot chooses to say it is.
Pray that the cruddy old people-hater sells up and relocates to the wilds of Wyoming where to his heart’s content he can run periodically passing aged-hippies, gays, profile-meeting blacks and other dangerous types out of the county on the end of a shotgun. And otherwise batten down against the world.
Here’s the link: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8199943/Lobbyist-links-gay-marriage-to-crime-rise-in-NZ
You beat me to the post and thanks for your lovely writing .. what a hate-filled message he sends. Horrible.
Like all marriage, Gay marriage is an act of Love. The stuid McVicar (who is best ignored, except that The MSM hang on his every word), is in effect spouting forth that “loving marriage, ipso facto, is likely to end up in criminality”. That is the extent of this pathetic soul’s logic.
Never trust a man prepared to whore out someone else’s grief for a sound bite on the news.
[IrishBill: you were banned for a week for calling an author a liar. See you next Saturday]
McFlock, Felix, QoT – As self appointed sentinels of the, who is offended, by what, and how, security assessment services, what’s your positon on the above reference to, *whore out* ?
Is there a problem with what I’ve written?
Form wiki
Verb
whore out (third-person singular simple present whores out, present participle whoring out, simple past and past participle whored out)
(informal, transitive) To prostitute, take advantage of, exploit, show off; to hire out or provide to others like a whore
TA – I would suggest you await the security (hate speech assessment services) team, to deliver their judgement – I’ve highlighted the possible threat, to one of the members!
I’m surprised at the tardiness of response today, perhaps its because only one of them appears to be around currently, and is unable to deliver a unilateral response!
No offence, but if it’s all about an e-peen fight, I don’t want anything to do with it.
I’d rather I wasn’t quoted to make point scoring bombs.
As a weapon of massively good looking distraction, I’m strictly handle with care. 😆
TA – Even though this is the virtual space, it is important that should handles feel it appropriate to throw around the serious accusations of bigotry and so on, that accusers are evaluating regulary, and without bias, hyocracy or other, the basis for their accusations, as they are a serious impediment to societal healing.
Highlighting your choice of words, is, in my opinion necessary, as I would like to understand if there is consistancy, should there be a response from those I named. No response, will speak visibly for itself, on their behalf!
Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.
“Apologies to have to involve you (handle) under these conditions, I mean you no ill.”
No worries. No offence taken.
fucktard, I’ve only just turned on the computer, and you already know the fucking answer.
Funnily enough, while you might be “surprised” at the “tardiness”, my life doesn’t revolve around your fantasies.
Nothing wrong at all, Al1en. Muzza is just trying to reinforce his No1 tool status.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19012013/#comment-575492
Still waiting for that genius in your explanation! – Was my helpful hint not enough to get you statred?
Yeah, we get it … you have comprehension difficulties, muz. All the best with the therapy.
What muzza’s alluding to is that he was called out for uncritically copy-pasting an article title using the phrase “rent boy”.
As with the phrase “whore out”, this is problematic because it uses sex work as shorthand for immorality or exploitation, per the definition you quoted below.
Someone should point out to him what het marriages leads to –
http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/michael-leunig-20090711-dgl6.html?selectedImage=43
Gay marriage on the other hand –
http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/opinion/cartoons/michael-leunig-20090711-dgl6.html?selectedImage=34
Excellent Colonial 🙂
McVicar is out of control and must be stopped. He will stop at nothing into imposing a return to the 1950’s and all the associated misery the era has inflicted on people for a crime free utopia, especially for those who were packed off Lake Alice and had 500 volts put through them because they couldnt spell ‘cat’ properly.
Tac you mean???…
les Amis de l’ABC (the Friends of the ABC), a group of students dedicated to making political changes in France. In the original French, the name of the group is a pun on Les Amis de l’abaissé, the friends of the debased, “that is to say, the people”,
From les mis. The irony that we have our own red clique. Perhaps history will repeat itself and throw together various left wing idealist that hear the drum beat and bring about change.
Yep. NZ Labour Party ABC’s have their own group of vehement Young Labour student supporters which fit under this name. Many in Young Labour spoke and voted against the 40% threshold during Conference.
+1CV
That was one of the most shocking aspects of the Conference, seeing the Youth fight against democracy and membership power.
Sad.
Youth wings are normally the instigators of change and radicalism, not the backers of conservative power players.
Their “leaders” must have been got “confused”.
I’m sure clarity will prevail at the Summer School.
More likely they are looking for a career in a Labour minister’s office (after 2014) and then a possible further career move to the Labour Party caucus some time after that. In the meantime they must butter-up said ministers’ political egos.
Lets face it, they took most of the principles out of politics back in the 1980s…
Anne
Good comment – it appears from this blog that there are two Labour wings firstly the real Labour Party, and secondly the Parliamentary Labour wing.
Are these getting further apart – looks like it possibly ?
Yes Fortran that is what is happening and I find it very sad. There are good people on both sides of the leadership fence, but a small group inside the caucus seem intent on fostering disunity for the sake of their own personal egos – at least I suppose that is the basic reason. Their attitude (as demonstrated immediately after the Conference late last year) is an insult to many members because it showed what they really think of us. We are useful fodder during election campaigns – letter box stuffers, canvassers, meeting arrangers, money donators and that’s about all.
As far as I can see, the only person who can change it now is David Shearer. The olive
branch must be extended to David Cunliffe preferably by way of a return to the Front Bench. What happens after that we will have to wait and see…
Spot on, Anne. I think principled young left activists these days are more likely to head towards Mana/Greens or even some of the non-parliamentary movements. The activism exists, but why would they look to participate in Labour when senior figures such as Mallard see them as potential customers for any spare tickets he has lying around? I think those looking for paid positions inside the machine will gravitate towards Young Labour, and this will become even worse as the slightest hint of radicalism continues to be purged from caucus.
The uninformed criticisms of Young Labour here are just staggering. Are these commentators even involved in the Labour Party – certainly not the one that I am a proud member of.
Young Labour activists are some of the most principled, hard-working, intelligent members of this party. We are integral to so many campaigns around the country, we organise events where the big ideas within the party are discussed (Campaign School, Summer School, Winter School etc.), we push for the most progressive policies at conference and usually do well at getting support, we actually do stuff to help the party instead of writing whinging comments on political blogs.
The members I know in Young Labour are not in it for themselves but for the progressive ideals that we get to push for. Why don’t you come help us?
Even more likely is that they realised that 50% plus one is the norm in most democratic elections, Anne. The 60% level is a wank. It appears it was pushed by those hoping DC could use it to his short term advantage in forcing a leadership contest.
But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.
“But, as I’ve pointed out earlier, it actually means DC can never lead Labour, because his minority support could never be lifted high enough to meet the 60% hurdle in caucus. An unintended consequence, I believe that’s called.”
The 60% + 1 threshold only applies for the constitutionally mandated leaders vote at the start of the year immediately following the election, eg once every 3 years. If DC wins the leadership and loses the next election, he’s gone-burger anyway (just as DS will/would be) so it doesn’t really matter.
.
And who came up with that one TRP? Someone from the ABC camp perchance?
TRP….You may want to consider what is currently the threshold in other Labour Parties overseas. My understanding is that something like 60% is the norm.
You may be right, RL, but the NZLP has current and historical links to the union movement. There, the norm is 50% plus one. The 60% pass rate seems arbitrary at best and, as I say above, probably intended for DC’s short term gain. (ie its the figure his numbers pre-conference could muster).
Which sounds like tripe to me, TRP.
The UK Labour Party has far stronger and longer ties to the union movement than the NZLP (affiliates there have long had a real vote in choosing the UK Labour Leader).
A UK Labour MP leadership contender can initiate a leadership challenge with just 20% initial backing of the Labour caucus. The decision then goes to the wider membership.
The NZLP has a long, long way left to go in democratising its Leadership and candidate selection processes.
And yet the UKLP is regarded as being anti-democratic and top down and, in Government, the caucus has the legal right to ignore the party. And, as I said, 50% is the norm in unions in both countries. So what’s your point?
CV, I have a terrible feeling you think democracy means ‘the one I want wins’.
They are however far more democratic than the NZLP, including using a far lower leadership trigger threshold.
And it looks like your “union 50% + 1” meme is false, as demonstrated by the UKLP 20% threshold (which the unions over there support).
I suggest just one basic tennet for democracy: all Labour Party members get a say about the Leadership, not just 34 of them.
If the wider party backs Shearer in a leaderhip vote than he is my man through to 2014. But will we even be given that chance by the 34.
What exactly is your problem with that?
You appear to know little about unions, CV. No reason you should, I suppose, but it leaves your ‘meme’ comment knackered. A simple majority is the norm in the union movement.
When was the last time the UKLP caucus used the trigger, CV?
UK Labour leadership candidate hustings 2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a128paHGoEs
Answering directly to the party members. This is the kind of thing that many associated with Labour seem deathly afraid of in 2013. And which TRP you seem to consider “anti democratic”.
Quite some time ago I think; it may be that the UKLP 20% is actually too high a threshold.
TRP unions have internal votes only. They do not have to participate in decision making where three different sectors of an organisation have to decide on something. Besides the vote is only a trigger for a contest and does not decide the contest.
CV: The point I was making is that the trigger has not been used, as far as I know. It’s meaningless in the UK and arbitrary at best here.
MS: Unions participate in multi-faceted decision making all the time. Unions are represented on all sorts of organisations, including ITO’s, community groups and boards. And many negotiations are multi party, either more than one union or more than one boss.
The tendency for schools to have exclusive stationery deals with single supplier is disturbing, and another reason why Tomorrow’s Schools should be reviewed.
Parents should be able to source stationery for their children through whatever source they see fit. Whether it be calculators through trademe, compasses and protractors from the $2 shop, or books from the Warehouse. Forcing financially burdened parents to go through one supplier is totally wrong.
I would actually stick my neck out and say that school kids have too much stationery. It would be better to have the MoE supply pre printed curriculum workbooks for specialist subjects, and just have the parents buy refill, pens and rulers.
I’m not sure how the schools can prevent you from buying stationary from elsewhere? What are they gonna do, kick your kid out?
I’m sure nothing like this happened when I went to school. They did have stationary that you could buy from the school, presumably they partnered up with a retail chain to offer this. But they always gave you the price list so you could choose to go elsewhere.
Teen refused bail on murder charge
Following on from the, “unexpected arrest”, the youth allegedly involved in the Sina Solomona murder as now been denied bail, “in spite of the “legislative bias” in favour of granting bail to young people.”
The arrest was reported on 20/12/12, court appearance 14/1/13, and prosecution given until 25/2/13 (5.5 weeks extension), when prosecutor Andrew McRae “sought an extension of three or four weeks for the filing of police evidence”. He sought extra time because of the extensive investigation and forensic analysis that was still being done.
1: Why was the additional time granted, over and above what the prosecutor had sought?
2: If the prosecution are sure enough the youth is the perpetrator to keep him on remand, then why is the extended investigation necessary? (surely if there is such a “powerful public interest”, resources would have been working this case since mid December when it happened, around the clock)
3: How long do forensic investigations of a single individual take to match to a victim and place at a crime scene?
4: Why in Christchuch, just weeks earlier (to the youths appearance for alleged murder) was a “convicted paedophile given bail after appearing in court accused of abusing dozens of young boys, and in Northland, a man accused of sex crimes against children was bailed to an Auckland address despite police opposition”
5: Why is it that repeat paedophile gets home detention for molesting a 7 year old girl (based on poor health (apparently), into the community he is from, and the victim’s mother is devastated and says “she is concerned about the safety of the Tauranga community” ?.
6: Why are health concerns seemingly more a factor, over the obvious safety/health concerns of a young teen on remand for many months, at risk of potential mental, and physical harm!
I don’t care about your issues with QoT and McFlock, although I agree with both of them, but why are you continuing to use this case to push your meme? I’ve read your questions and they are leading – to whatever conclusion you have reached – just say it. Is this sort of stuff part of the social experiment you claim you are conducting – the last person that did that was pete george if I remember correctly. You do remind me of him in a weird way.
Oh and please spare me the usual “don’t shoot the messenger” stuff or use americanisms like “cool your jets”. I used to think you were onto the real issues muzza – I feel quite disappointed in you to tell you the truth. Sorry to personalise it but we aren’t bots are we.
Hi Marty, perhaps have a look inside if you feel let down bro, search as to why you associate the emotion to my comments. What meme exactly do you believe I’m pushing Marty, you have yet to make any concrete comments, instead just waffling around.
If you believe the questions to be leading, then point out which ones, and why, tell me what you believe to be better questions to ask, or answer some of the questions, a combo is good. Again you have fed back nothing, just jumped in and expressed your bias, which seems to have been triggered by my letting you down in some way, come on bro, you can do better than that!
Perhaps I should have asked the question – Who is more dangerous to society/bigger flight risk etc, a previously convicted , elderly white paedophile, who we know has a passport, the means to travel, a network of sorts (salvation army), with some health problems or a young brown kid, unknown previous, unknown passport holder, or means to travel, or what, if any his connections are, who is under suspicion of murder!
FYI – I have reached no conclusion at this stage, however there is to me some rather poor reporting of this situation going on, hence I have some questions, because it feel off to me!
Don’t apologise if you actually mean what you say Marty, I’m picking there is more to it than that!
Ta muzza
yes I have thought about why your comment triggered me. My conclusion is that this case was first raised by you for no good reason, which I mentioned at the time, and on the other occasions when you have bought it up the use of the case has shifted so that it now has become a “poor brown boy” story, which it wasn’t when you originally mentioned it. That implies to me that the story is useful to you because it helps you promote your ideas and I am not okay when innocent victims are used to score points for any viewpoint. If I come across that type of behavior I normally ignore those postings but I had unrealistic expectations of the stuff you post and therefore began to comment then, and now. Some commenters I engage with for a while until I realise that it is a waste of time for me – vto is one and mate I’m putting you in the same bucket. I don’t wish either of you ill it’s just that I’m more interested in making changes in society and communities and going over 101 areas is just so boring – I’m sure you feel the same.
I hope you leave the defenseless alone and go after those with defenses – they are worth the trouble – kia ora.
Hi Marty,
As information about this sad situation progresses, and is reported on, is it not probable that questions will develop around the pregressing information releases. Surely this is not shifting, it is commenting on the developments via the media, as I interpret the details, from what I’m reading.
It’s unfortunate that you’re unable to fathom, that my posts, are actually aimed at those with the defenses you refer. The posts were/are intended, to get generate thinking about what the MSM has been reporting, and how the low quality of reporting begs questions about its innaccuracies and gaps, and how those gaps will shape the views of readers who absorb it!
My focus is firmly on the establishments, and those with the ability to deliver/create/protect injustice, because not only are individuals corrupted, but the systems they operate inside of are systematically broken. Those same systems, seek only to protect themselves, no matter the collateral damage to the rest of us, who they pretend to serve and protect!
The reality is Marty, that the changes you (and I), are looking to be invovled with, can’t begin to happen, until what is keeping the changes from gaining traction, (because it must subvert reality in such ways, to keep control), are clearly understood for the barriers, and the theats that the establishment system are.
Take another look Marty, and if you are able to do so without predjudice, you should be able to tell where my intentions lie!
Hey muzza
yes granted that situations change and perceptions of those situations change. The initial post from you on that case was well before much had come out – it was ghoulish, disrespectful and unnecessary – but that was then…
maybe you are trying to be too tricky – just a thought because your middle three paragraphs above are pretty coherent – perhaps if you wacked out those then your evidence/questions it might flow better, for me anyway.
Are you a believer of the “to save a family/town/country a person/family/town can be sacrificed” mode of thinking?
See for me using a recently deceased innocent victim of a terrible crime as a flail against mine enemies within the fray is just not on. You may consider me over sensitive and too pc but for my sensibilities I’d rather use the recently pulled out appendage of the enemy to slot them around the head. But hey we are all different and my lines are my lines, as are yours.
I hope you go all neo on the owners of the foot across most of our throats 🙂
Quintessentially, no, however its not that simple in reality. If you apply that premise 100%, then justice would be very difficult to see done. Jimmy Saville for example, there are many victims alive, should people ignore what was done, and what will be the fallout from his evil, because the victims are innocent? You can apply the same measure to almost any situation where there are victims, and there would be few perpetrators punished for crimes!
Marty, that’s ok, I accept your view, and understand your position, but mine is that I was not using the deceased victim. I spend alot of time reading through articles, and it felt like there was more to this one, so I went about finding, reading, cross referencing as many write ups as I could, and then posted my thoughts/views. Whats not on for me, is the pathetic so called reporting around such terrible events, and the fact questions are not asked, and that people do not think, because it allows injustice to flourish!
It takes all types of approach to get messages out there Marty, as you and I show, that we have different ways to express ourselves, so there are different ways that people receiving (hearing) those messages, might be swayed, or jolted into thinking more deeply.
IMO, the more varied the message delivery we can get, but with the constant intent to promote positive , the higher chance of reaching, even more minds.
And the Orwell prize for neo-liberal bullshit goes today to… Rodney Hide!
“State house policy must free tenants from rentals”
That’s right, the poor in tin and tar paper shanties without power or sanitation are free! FREE I TELL YOU!!!
he also manages to tell a nasty little lie in an attempt to smear Michael Joseph Savage, a man who he clearly very, very jealous of.
PS I am not linking to his nasty little piece of shit because the HoS shouldn’t be encouraged by the site hits.
Hide’s dishonest piece on state housing is just part of a broader effort which fetishes ownership and aims to further curtail tenancy rights. If he and his acolytes get their way, Housing Corp will end up managing emergency night shelters with a maximum of one week stay. Or maybe contracting out the management of these to a private provider?
Utterly predictable. But this from a man who has openly admitted that the 1840’s were a much better time because it was without all that ‘government interference’.
Mega upload. Have I got this right? New rules a year or so ago meant that if an “authority” believed that a person was downloading illegally the the internet provider was contacted, the downloader warned, and ex-communicated if she persisted. This was how Kim Dotcom cooperated with the “authorities” who then shat all over him in spite of cooperation.
So now Mega is launched with 100,000 registrations in the first hour. Wow!
But the new Mega has no open-ness to any authority not even to Mega itself.
Is this huge, very huge, given the wish for USA (and National) want to to control the internet?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10860260
So will people use the mega site to file share, pretty much as they used Megaupload, or does it’s set-up open it up to different sorts of uses?
Well I’m interested in backups…
Rock and Roll ‘aint Noise Pollution
(to me it makes good good sense) 🙂
Muwahahahahahahaha:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/292910_FACTA–Ireland_and_Caymens_on_
Found a copy of the infamous Picot Report in the local library today. Which was good, as before I had an OIA request for it turned down by the min of ed.
A few interesting points:
All support services for schools, that were provided by the old Department of Education, or the local education boards, were chopped, and school boards given extra cash to ‘purchase their own services’.
The education advisers employed by the above effectively became consultants/independent contractors, selling their services to schools.
The education service centres that were to replace the education boards are/were basically privatised versions of the latter, some of them set up by old Education Board staff.
It was intended that community education forums would be set up and help so the local community can have a say in the running of the education system. This measure, not implemented, could have made a difference to Mallard’s school closing frenzy 10 years ago, the Parata’s school restructuring in Christchurch.
This is not really what I agree with and like, but I came across it, and I think it is important to remind ourselves of what historic events once happened.
We are busy, sometimes with perhaps trivial political stories, but the history of fascism, and what it led to is something that must never be forgotten.
Rommel was not a fascist as such himself, Hitler even hated him in the end, but he was an instrument, just like many in modern NZ society are instruments also in introducing and implementing “reforms” of a welfare kind, that have elements of fascism in them. Few get the message, I am afraid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNkYFpg2iw&NR=1
They killed the Jews, and this is what some of them got in return:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=YpxX4cg9JqY
Maybe lucky to get away alive. The history of human kind (vermin like kind) is full of hatred, war, destruction and exploitation, some try to put a nice gloss on it. So where do we go from here???
Free “western” NZ, UK, USA ???
Yet another, more friendly perspective. “Die Prinzen”, one of the more favourite bands from there, I know of. Always witty, a bit cynical and critical but always measured and sound.
So where do we get this here? I love Mr Bean also, good old UK humour, and there is some good program on TV3 on Fridays now, but hey, get a bit into the global sphere, there is so much more, and worth listening to, even if you may (at first) not understand the language.
NZ is needing to climb up the learning curve a bit more. Get onto it, and you cannot lose.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY9K8CjXHkM
We want revolutionary spirit, nothing else, so please enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY9K8CjXHkM
(over 1 million downloads is impressive)
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=el+pueblo+unido+jamas+sera+vencido&oq=el+pueblo&gs_l=youtube-reduced.1.1.0l4.121108.125107.0.128120.9.5.0.3.3.0.1174.2030.1j1j1j1j7-1.5.0…0.0…1ac.1.3lKKd_8s9Jc
(for search options)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlkWPXfvXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWlkWPXfvXc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mOjijV4jA0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSRVtlTwFs8
Why is The Standard not sufficiently promoting socialist or social democratic ideas, as it proclaims it is. We must move further to take a stand, I sadly see a too weak and mellowed down approach. Remember your bloody heritage, PLUS what the international development has shown.
Viva el pueble, viva la revolution.
THE TRUTH or El Veridad –
This is a MUST view documentary, before anybody goes about adopting biased and anti social comments:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=6QfuOOJzByg
El Che was MURDERED by CIA, so also in Chile we had Pinochet establish later a fascist dictatorship, supported and created by USA!!!