Can I surprise everyone by saying that I think that disciplinary action should be taken by David Shearer.
There is a member of caucus who has destabilized the party for the past few years by continuously leaking to the media. Last weekend was an example. In a clusterfuck of gigantic proportions he managed to undermine all the good that Shearer’s speech achieved by feeding the meme that Cunliffe is running a challenge.
Cunliffe did refuse to say how he would be voting in the future on the leadership as his right. Others also refused to say how they would vote, including one Trevor Mallard.
Loyalty to a leader should always be conditional on the interests of the party and a review is perfectly appropriate. Blind loyalty is not in the interests of the party.
But by continuing to feed this meme this leaker has not only sought to undermine Cunliffe’s future but has also undermined Shearer’s leadership.
And the biggest joke of it all, is if Shearer just watched TV3’s destabalising of the Labour party he could then have a go at them. and know that Cunliffe was bending over backwards to be polite at the end. Hipkins should immediately be dumped as whip, and a back bencher he should be. As should Mallard, King, Dyson, and Goff, they should ALL be on the back bench for the LAST months of their political lives. And as to the leak to the media Dump that lot and the leaks should stop. but yesterday (Monday) on Firstline at 8.25am was the interesting bit.
It is just QoT’s posts that you should avoid. Authors are allowed to moderate comments on their own posts. It serves two purposes.
Firstly, there is nothing as irritating to an author has someone sidetracking their posts from their intent in writing it. And you’ve got to admit that the arguments between you two are pretty full on and tend to take over the posts – which rather defeats the purpose of writing it. The editorial moderators probably wouldn’t interfere because generally the comments are acceptable but they may frustrate the hell out of authors. You’ll probably have noted that I have a different style of moderation in my own posts especially in science – that happens for much the same reasons.
Secondly, it is a useful way for authors to ease into moderating on a large site. Excessive moderation gets a certain amount of (very polite) blowback from other commentators.
So just think of it as a minor restriction and don’t get too worried.
Oh, I see… A minor restriction? Give me a break! What on earth gave her and you the idea that I would have side-tracked the post from her intent?
You wonder why the media and Shearer question the relevance of bloggers. Tricks such as QoT’s maybe? The posts she removed, were simply my sticking up for Shearer.
If the idea is to make it seem that Standardistas are unamimous in bagging Shearer, well, then, well done! 🙁
Ah – perhaps you should think about why bloggers write? They write because they want to express something. They seldom write because they want to be “relevant”. That is a politicians trait to always think of everything in terms of damage and influence. Those things are just by-products of the process.
And I suspect that she simply doesn’t want you on any of her posts regardless what you say. Live with it.
BTW: Mike Smith, r0b, Ben, etc. I guess I can’t organise – or you’re very unobservant.
Mai Chen on Radio yesterday said that she respected the Garrent, a Australian Labour Ministers point, that how Australia chooses its policies is up to Australia. re. kids born to kiwis failing to get loans, welfare in Australia…
No for a lawyer, and one interested in civil rights, three thing strike,
i.) lawyers as a rule think about the consequences of statements all the time, so the fact that there is a growing population of individuals who have kiwi citizenship, are no afforded access to higher education, and cannot get welfare in Australia, and probably not citizenship if they have a criminal record in OZ, why would she not consider the tsunami of angry young people coming to NZ and welfare dependancy (where their parents have not been paying tax)!
ii.) that she is reinforcing a political stance yet could not see the Australian Minister saying that his constituiency isn’t interested in kiwis rights, so much for he claim to interest in civil rights,
iii.) and then to finally cap off, Chen thought it wise to cut Australian in NZ access to welfare, and exactly why would the ramification would be does she not understand the technical word, of reciprocal agreements, that many kiwis in Australia are on benefits too, and so there is no way the NZ government could end welfare to some, because the whole agreement was about the LARGE number of kiwis in Australia, and the SMALL number of Australians in NZ, and so the bigger cost to Australia,
So I’m totally perplex how did this person ever become a lawyer, or does NZ live under the rule of lawyers now, who think nothing of the law, letter or otherwise. Its just putty for extreme political muckracking? Could we please have real discussions about the effect on our economy of Kiwis turning up wanting welfare, wanting loans for Nz universities (only to return to Australia afterwards), who mayy have criminal records and been conditioned to mental, criminal, and other conditions by Australian authorities. Of course Key needs to grow some balls, how can he be serious worried about poverty amongst kiwi kids, if he does not include those in Australia – who will inevitable turn up here.
But while the spectacular and seemingly untarnished natural backdrops, stunning waterscapes and snow-tipped mountains might look world-class on film, critics say the realm New Zealand’s marketers have presented is as fantastical as dragons and wizards.
“There are almost two worlds in New Zealand,” said Mike Joy, a senior lecturer in environmental science at Massey University in Palmerston North. “There is the picture-postcard world, and then there is the reality.”
The clean and green image has long been promoted by the isolated country in its striving to compete in world markets. But an international study in the journal PLoS One measuring countries’ loss of native vegetation, native habitat, number of endangered species and water quality showed that per capita, New Zealand was 18th worst out of 189 nations when it came to preserving its natural surroundings.
That’s in the NYT so our clean, green brand is history. Which is good, might give us a chance to reign in those filthy farmers and put in place better regulations to protect the environment.
The report Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided doesn’t put it in quite such descriptive terms — it is a scientific analysis prepared by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. But make no mistake, it packs quite a punch, all the more so given who commissioned it. As World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim says in his foreword:
It is my hope that this report shocks us into action. Even for those of us already committed to fighting climate change, I hope it causes us to work with much more urgency. This report spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4 degrees Celsius, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes.
And what’s this government done? Oh, yeah, weakened the RMA, put in place the EPA which seems to be more about boosting business than protecting the environment and dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol.
Australia is far far cleaner than new Zealand. One of the reasons is probably as there are rubbish bins on every corner in the cities. You walk around Wellington and the bins are like hens teeth. Same goes for Auckland and other cities.
There’s also a possibility that immigrant cultures aren’t used to using bins. Visiting Samoa as I do every year, I remain constantly appalled at the amount of rubbish there. Apia park is always covered in plastic and food wrappers, mcds and kfc bags etc every afternoon.
The users of the ferry services just throw their rubbish overboard into the sea.
Absolutely terrible and one can see how that environment conditions those who move to Nz to carry on the fine littering tradition as espoused by their parents.
Which is what I said a while back, National and Tourism New Zealand are living on another planet. New Zealanders view their nation differently to how it is viewed in the rest of the world, which is quite poorly on the environment front.
Tourism New Zealand is totally out of touch…so much so that the only increases in tourist numbers are coming from places like China, which has far worse pollution problems that New Zealand. Europe and America however have led big declines in visitor numbers here, and it can no longer be held to be because of ‘the difficult recession conditions’.
Time that NZ stopped branding itself ‘100% pure’ and instead focussed its attention on the multicultural society we have here, especially on our culture, music and art. Anyone can visit Finland, Sweden, Iceland etc and get similar scenery, why does Tourism NZ keep claiming the 100% Pure brand is working, when visitor numbers show a decline.
sociocultural-political patterns to consider, from a leftish political position if interested
The world, and Aotearoa’s place within, it is changing at an ever-increasing rapidity, exponentially, I believe.
salience (not assuming that TS readers do not keep abreast of current affairs, but links kept me returning to the site when I began)
lprent can give me feedback, he knows how unorthodox I can be
This chappie, whose thought I am learning about, was active academically across a wide range of fields / disciplines- law, politics, history, philosophy and theology.
I think that the promotion of such a wide critical gaze is helpful
Re Auckland Canton-ese: Good lord, another bit of racism from our news-makers for no reason. Central story: people with less money can’t compete in an auction-like environment with people who have more money. Wow. Insightful stuff. But wait, what’s this? Oh the rich people are Chinese? That explains it then. Everyone knows Chinese money has special evil mega powers. uh? 😯
Reminds me of last night’s news story that, and I’m paraphrasing, “maori and pacific people are refusing to wear life jackets, even though they have been repeatedly told to do as us whities say. Education can’t reach them, they are unteachable!” uh? 😯
The reason I caught that piece of stupid was because I’d just finished watching Moneyball. Behind the simpering of Brad Pitt and the unsurprising end that comes from projecting ones own problems onto one’s job, was a message of the importance of a healthy skepticism of the norm, dismissing outward appearances and identifying the various ways inferior traits can be applied.
Hi Uturn. Always good exchanging with you. I been doing it all year under four earlier pseudonyms (from memory, can ya list them?). The thing about this site, the only one I have time to read, is the critical thinking often displayed; TINA is bullshit, but then, if I may be a little immodest, all my life I wondered what had prevented a wider dissemination of international thought and subsequent influence on policy in Aotearoa, and concluded very early on, that it was the dominant imported / colonial culture/s.
As I read Ellul, I find that his thought was matched by his experiences and offerings in the real world, down amongst the delinquents (french equivalent of teddy-boys), university politics, church politics, the war, revolutionary politics, family, community, parish and so on. Yet, everywhere his great mind was directed politically, he was met by power and self-interest ( sorta like this debacle playing out within New Zealand politics), yet, he still contributed and taught and published (gave away) thousands of newspaper and journal articles and wrote approximately fifty books.
Well, after a lifetime of exposure to MSM in this country, what the majority of the electorate consume, I personally conclude it is absolute rubbish, and that is saying something as I have spent literally years in time consuming music, film, fiction, MSM current events, Sky documentaries, and what has passed for television for four decades.
Now, I feel liberated, as I can only bear flicking through the news on television and skimming the local and international press for the zeitgeist (thats what the context is Lanth, the zeitgeist).The television and what passes for the majority of journalism and socially acceptable commentary in this country is like another, more primal, language to me now
Thinkers such as Ellul are very critical of the implications of technology for social well-being, harmony, yet, reading this blog and the links provided by thinkers such as Draco and others has had one identifiable personal positive outcome; it has opened up, and made more efficient, my cognitive processes, so that when I do think about things, it is precise, and draws on my exposure to both life and many disciplines. Also, there are many things / most things, that I do not even have to give any thought, or worry, to at all now.Furthermore, after frequent consideration of the many perspectives that are encountered on a political blog such as this, the MSM is just too freakin narrow and slow; I imagine that this is the case with the politicians too, just too simple and self-serving; not you Julie Ann and Helen Kelly, You do Impress me!
As I once heard, sadly, people get the politicans they deserve (that is harsh, it feels harsh writing it, but really, what sort of people vote for a government that includes John Banks, Peter Dunne, Maggie Barry, Paula Bennet, Anne Tolley, Tremain et al; and that is without even starting on the opposition)
I am just very thankful that I was born here, and that we are well situated geo-politically, yet I tend to avoid what passes for polite discourse around us; Racism, Ageism, Xenophobia, Aquisitiveness, Consumption, Bigotry,Labelling (self-deprecation) 🙂 it takes strong filters to prevent these attitudes soaking in to one if around them.
Anyway, I am no saint; I literally lived the will-to-power White male New Zealand / American dream for two and a half decades, well-paying work, the toys I wanted, the experiences I sought; it was weighed, and found wanting; it was all on the backs of the billions of simple folk that populate the remainder of the planet, the people Tolstoy considered, and eventually understood.
I, like Ellul, agree with Kierkegaard; Faith (not virtue) overcomes “sin” (that’s “missing the mark”, not being right with “God”, for you atheists)
anyway, might head off to the “shop” and encourage some awareness of Mana while I’m there.
Probably I could list the previous handles (I count five 😉 ), but that’d be rude. Ideas count, not labels. It’s strange you know, admin here are quick to say there is no hive mind, but since we all talk about the same thing and tend towards similar perspectives, there is often a natural flow to the ideas outlined here. While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less. Last night I was thinking of the source of the colonial culture we have and why it is still dominant and how certain other dominant psychological theories would either have to be completely wrong to allow for that cultural dominance, or the idea of culture being anything more than a failed brain process would have to be true. In which case, who exactly would “we” be at any given moment if everything in our past is just an illusion? What or which guidelines are we living if there is no such thing as culture and memory is a delusion?
I was impressed to see the link you offered a few days ago under the title of Logos; an element of western philosophy of a distinctly Eastern outlook that I was not aware existed; and seems to have little influence in global affairs these days. This also contributed to my thoughts last night that, somehow, a whole sphere of thinking has been suppressed by the western mind at a level that suggests something more powerful than the usual conspiracy theory of a shadowy group of patriarchal puppeteers controlling what rises and what doesn’t. Maybe “western mind” is too vague. Let’s say, Celtic. The mind of the people as a group who began in central Europe and spread outwards from there. It didn’t seem possible to me that for seven thousand years or so, people have only ever been behaving like animals – worse than that – mindless animals… not even looking after their own interests. Impossible. So why is a “colonial” attitude so entrenched in our collective psyche? I couldn’t answer that specifically. There were questions of inescapable evil, evils downgraded to popular virtues because everyone has to live them if they want to eat; and if you’re born into it, you’ll never find out what’s happening at least before fifteen years have passed. A blind spot in the psyche? How would we find and recognise something everyone has forgotten and how would we know what we were looking at was the real deal, not just some pipe dream to make us feel better?
Yeah, I agree this site is the only one I’ve found where the people can think in a way I can be bothered participating. (That might motivate them to change their style 😉 ). It’s a pity it’s centred around politics, because as you say, so much that goes on in politics isn’t politics and the polarisation of attitudes that our NZ style encourages makes me impatient. Not much humour and creativity in polarised arguments. I owe some debt of gratitude to regular contributors here for pushing me this way and that and helping to breaking down some of the hurdles that were proving difficult. It is a little embarrassing, and unethical, when I think about what they had to go through to give me an education I could have found myself, if I’d just been better at asking the right questions. But that’s the cost of self directed learning, learning through doing – no one comes out clean. It’s common now to realise that to argue for balance is an equally immoral interference as the aggression of a singular opinion, because of the way I came to know the difference. Supporting what is right, isn’t always right and so knowledge hits it’s useful limit.
I’ve been over a little of my past here already and like you, owing to a number of personal dispositions and unknowable motivations, it all fell apart. My level of reasonably assured comfort presently extends to 14 day periods, which is privileged, compared to many who ran out of food two days ago. I’ve had more and wasted too much, had almost nothing and still wasted some and at times been able to create something out of nothing. I still live the evils of our time: own gadgets, drive a car, live in a house surrounded by other houses – all things paid for by the on-going colonial mindset, the destructions of others. There’s even a lawn. What bizarre stately Victorian reality are we all condoning with our acceptance of lawns? Thank god the people in my new neighbourhood dig theirs up for vegetable gardens.
Life often bewilders me and the Christian God scares me. He appears to be one seriously unrelenting individual. So when I remember, I put my faith in “overshooting” the mark and hope that should we meet he’s in the mood for grace. It’s fair to note that I haven’t met anyone that can make him sound as reasonable as you often do. Have we sucked up enough space yet? I think I hear people snoring.
While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less.
Not quite. On any one topic you’ll have the people who are interested in a particular discussion. People who aren’t interested or use a different ‘language’ for it tend to go to other discussions either here or elsewhere. So there is a certain amount of self-selection going on.
theology is often defined as “faith seeking understanding”
I have always valued Satre’s concept of “good faith”
I have just come from a walk around the city of the province and a read of the local paper
-more of that later
anyway, Thomas Mann said “when a man comes to know himself, he is never quite the same” and Mary Wollenscroft (sp probably) said “prejudice can make a psychology unstable and flow out in a flood when barriers are removed” or something like that (quotes at back of paper) and I see that with the flow of information in the “media”.
even people of faith have struggles, it is all in there (in Colossians at the moment); I never profess to understand how it works, but clearly faith was around for a long time before
“psychologizing” and man, has there been some rubbish psychology around (I understand the assertions and findings of neuroscience, I believe in the current findings of science, but as I think felix said “science is taught by telling lies to children”; like when I studied my degree and all those resources and time is wasted with the loitering around the foundations, when one finds when one is introduced to (drip-fed) advanced papers that the whole discipline has been examined in a post-modern, deconstructive sense, and that “philosophising” is the ascendent modality (hence health workers utilising “logotherapy” and “mindfulness” techniques, which are effective imo, ime,).
anyway, back to the walk, clearly we can become determined by the technology / tools/ la tecnique, via our relationship through the day to many forms of technology, utilitarian and recreational, and it is the involvement in virtual reality, vicarious living and fiction that interests me (and we are not alone, my best friend, who lives with dyslexia, gets these ideas, and we question why, a,young people are not taught how to be “human beings” and how to “drive their bodies” alongside preparation for economic contribution and, b, why they are not made more aware of the influence of economically-rationalised propaganda)
I value creativity in art (“creation” in the Hebrew was “created to create”), I just lament the capitalist prostitution
anyway, time will tell, I’m with the wide variety of environmentally aware Posters and commentators on here who warn us about climate and pollution, here is one for Draco http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proudhon
however The Chinese are very industrious people and they may take greater steps towards
a more sustainable future, yet for much of the people on the planet, the coming decades appear likely to be “dystopian” sadly,
back to the bay, Retail sales are down across all cities, some 5% down year-on-year and the local fishermen have been carrying out regular surveys of fish stocks (gurnard in particular) over a decade, and stocks are consistently, across a wide range of surveys, by a wide range of organizations, not looking healthy. Even Supermarkets report “same amount of people, generally spending less each”.
More and more different ethnicities though, especially people from or around the sub-continent, many men with long flowing beards, and these people remember their customers in retail and are easy to engage.(not good PR for the buddhists in Myanmar though, sadly, see when the teachings split into Theravada and Mahayana, and all these “scriptures” I started thinking wtf?, sorta like trying to understand Christian denominations, which I don’t, but I understood John Walton, and all the dynamics possible in a large loving family)
Like archetypes / myths influencing culture influencing archetypes, for example The Matrix (I must apologize and state my position on “gaming using information technology”; never been interested) I’ve looked at cyberpunk lit, but it is not really my thing, anything too culturally determined is bound to be prejudicial, don’t you think?
The editor of the local paper is a shill for the retailers though, while in the same editorial acknowledging what “a low-wage economy” the region is (we are in the bottom of employment, health and a few other lovely (not) socio-economic statistical indicators)
There is a great literary journalist at the local paper though-Mark Story, so not all is lost
Wittgenstein stated “that the meaning of the system, is outside the system”, however he also asserted, that faith is just another “language game” so either/or as Johannes /Judge Vilhelm would argue
however, readings recently strongly suggest that there are enough common referents and definitions between moderate Christian and Islamic scholars understanding of the monotheistic God of Abraham to allow discourse at the highest levels even with the Pope,
and over half the population of the planet acknowledge that understanding, or variations of it now, and have done across generations within the “advancing” cultures for more than Three millennia;
If the medical science priests could get away with it, they would seek a pathogen (of course, they would not look at food, or the socio-cultural-economic situation of peoples lives) and they would develop and trial a vaccine; they could call it a “cluster-munition”
I might be fortunate enough to get a wee flat soon, thanks to the provisions and foresight of earlier Labour governments, and then if I can get a job gardening, I will be more secure than many of our fellow people, one way or another (i’m gonna getcha, getcha getcha good) They ripped into Debbie too for her past, freakin paparazzi parasites
Imagine being Mick Fleetwood and having memories snorting you-know-what- off the bottom of you-know-who.With my memory, I do not think I would need to ever open my eyes again, just kidding
Blues-Gospel-Soul-R&B-Rock-Steady-Reggae-Rock-Punk-New Order-House-Grunge
Drum and Bass-Pulp-Blur-Radiohead-TripHop-Bluegrass-Grunge-Black Sabbath Worship
Tamihere might come across as a jovial kind of chap, but his recent statements have been entirely undiplomatic and show him to be just another political fool…
Very good post by Susun Krumdiek over at The Jackal. Practical suggestions presented in an easy to understand form. A couple of excerpts:
To be honest, coal is really dirty dangerous crap. Mining coal, and well, really mining anything, is guaranteed to be an environmental disaster for more than just one generation. The thing is that we can’t have any kind of industrial society without coal. So, what we are going to have to do is recognise that coal use is going to decline, it’s going to get more expensive, we are going to have to spend 50-90% more on technology when we mine it and use it to make sure we don’t muck things up, and we are going to have to make hard choices about what we really need and don’t need. What is really worth burning coal for and what isn’t. We are not going to burn coal for electricity. Those days are over. We are not going to sell our coal resources off-shore. Our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will need some coal some day. They will also be much more sensible about balancing their fossil energy use against the irreversible climate rupture we have created. We start now to face up to the facts about coal and we are going to do everything we can to reduce what we dig up – including a 10 year moratorium on new coal mining as a period to take stock, get the international corporations jaws un-clamped from around our necks, and decide what we really need to do.
and
I have told you the truth about energy resources and how we are going to adapt to use less energy. Now I am going to be honest with you about the economy. The economy is not something separate from us. The economy is actually just people who do a good job getting fair compensation for their work from the people who benefit from their labours. This is why there are different wages for different capabilities. We all pay taxes in order to live in a country that has high quality services and infrastructure. The people who are profiting the most should also do the most to make this country a better place.
“OPEN LETTER SENT TO TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL BY NEW ZEALAND ‘ANTI-CORRUPTION’ CAMPAIGNER /’WHISTLEBLOWER’ Penny Bright:
31 October 2012
For the URGENT attention of Transparency International Secretariat, and global member ‘chapters’.
I, Penny Bright, from New Zealand, was an attendee at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010, in Bangkok, and widely distributed a ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ – which showed the lack of transparency and accountability in New Zealand, which is consistently ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the TI ‘Corruption Perception Index’).
In my considered opinion, if Transparency International is going to ignore the FACTS and EVIDENCE presented by ‘whistleblowers’ such as myself – then your ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is going to be seen as being effectively meaningless as a global indicator of global corruption.
(This ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ has since ‘morphed’ into the following:)
ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ:
1. Get our anti-corruption domestic legislative framework in place so NZ can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.
2. Set up an NZ independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption.
3. Change NZ laws to ensure genuine transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central and local government level.
4. Legislate for an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’ for NZ Members of Parliament (who make the rules foreveryone else).
5. Make it an offence under the Local Government Act 2002 for NZ Local Government elected representatives to breach their ‘Code of Conduct’.
6. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government elected representatives.
7. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Government staff responsible for property and procurement, (including the Ministry of Health), in order to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
8. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government staff, and Directors and staff employed by ‘Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) responsible for property and procurement.
9. Make it a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Government Public Sector, and Local Government (Council), and ‘Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny.
10. Make it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Government, and Local Government public finances be undertaken to prove that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority. If not – then return public service provision to staff directly employed ‘in-house’ and cut out these private contractors who are effectively dependent on ‘corporate welfare’.
11. Legislate for a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary, to ensure they are not ‘above the law’.
12. Ensure that ALL NZ Court proceedings are recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them.
13. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’, to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
14. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ and ‘Code of Conduct for Lobbyists’ at Central Government Ministerial level.
15. Make it a lawful requirement at NZ Central and Local Government level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine’ period from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector. (Help stop the ‘revolving door’).
16. Make it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central or Local Government level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships (PPPs).
17. Make it unlawful for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level.
18. Make laws to protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local government level and within the judiciary.
19. Legislate to help stop ‘State Capture’, a form of ‘grand corruption’ arguably endemic in NZ – where vested interests get their way at the ‘policy level’ before legislation is passed which serves their interests.
7.1 Penny Bright – Open letter to Auditor General
Ms Bright was present to address the meeting regarding her open letter to the Auditor-General on conflicts of interest.
_______________________________________________________________
This presentation was filmed, and can be viewed, (after registering – costs nothing to register) athttp://www.allaboutauckland.com/
“CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS” 25 October 2012: ”
_______________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
(New Zealand)
[lprent: Frigging hell Penny. We need to get you onto the mandatory verbiage reduction diet. ]
It’s not ‘verbiage’ – these are concrete, sensible proposals that any political party with any brains would pick up?
In my considered opinion?
(You may prefer this ‘verbiage’? 🙂
“NZ Herald – News digest Tuesday 20 November 2012
Banks faces more counts
Act leader John Banks is facing two fresh charges in a private prosecution brought by political activist Graham McCready. The charges relate to Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP. ”
_____________________________________________________________
Graham McCready states that the Wellington Deputy Registrar ‘confirmed she would set them down for Banks to be Summons to appear on these two with the Local Elections Act charge on 11 December 2012 at 1:45.
The Court will ensure the Police serve all three summonses.’
So!
The arguably ‘Not-so Honorable’ John Banks will appear in the Wellington District Court, on Tuesday 11 December 2012, to face private prosecutions over alleged electoral fraud and ‘Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP’.
Bit of a sad day for the ‘perceived’ least corrupt country in the world, when individual citizens have to take private prosecutions in order to help ensure ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ actually does apply equally in New Zealand?
Where were the regulatory and statutory bodies when it came to applying ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management(NZ) Ltd – current and former leaders of the ACT Party – John Banks and Don Brash?
A farewell to arms
By Guy McPherson November 19, 2012
In previous essays in this space I have mentioned two phenomena worth fighting for: the living planet and freedom based in anarchy. I surrender. I no longer believe the struggle matters on either front.
Kiss goodbye the living planet
I no longer think we’ll save the remaining shards of the living planet beyond another human generation. We’ll destroy every — or nearly every – species on Earth when the positive feedbacks associated with climate change come seriously into play (and I’ve not previously considered the increasingly dire prospects of methane release from Antarctica or the wildfire-induced release of carbon from Siberian peat bogs). Due to numerous positive feedbacks, climate change has become irreversible over temporal spans relevant to humans. Such is the nature of reaching the acceleration phase of the nonlinear system that is climate catastrophe.
The climate-change data, models and assessments keep coming at us, like waves crashing on a rocky, indifferent beach. The worst drought in 800 years in the western United States is met by levels of societal ignorance and political silence I’ve come to expect. I would be stunned if this valley — or any other area in the interior of a northern-hemisphere continent — will provide habitat for humans five years from now. And climate change is only part of the story.
My trademark optimism vanishes when I realize that, in addition to climate chaos, we’re on the verge of tacking on ionizing radiation from the world’s 444 nuclear power plants. Let’s ignore for now the radioactive waste we’ve left lying around without a plan or already dumped into the world’s oceans. When we choke on our own poison, we’ll be taking the whole ship down with us, spewing a global blanket of radiation in the wake of collapse. Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.
Your excerpt was funny enough. It looked like you wrote that bit about optimism. And I have doubts about claims to optimism by people who are preaching 100% extinction of life on the planet. Blatant bollocks – or at least a massive bias towards higher life forms. Which makes me doubt the reliability of other predictions made by the same people.
I think Guy has a clue, more so than anyone else I know anyway. But then I might have a small circle of stupid friends).
Guy’s bio – Academic B.S. Forest Resources, University of Idaho, 1982
M.S. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1984
Ph.D. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1987
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia Institute of Ecology, 1987-1988
Visiting Assistant Professor, Texas A & M University Range Science Department, 1988-1989
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1989-1995
Visiting Associate Professor, University of California-Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, 1995-1996
Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1995-2000
Director, The Nature Conservancy David H. Smith Fellows Program, 1999-2000
Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 2000-present
Professor, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2002-present.
Given that there are fungi growing inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus, I’m saying that:
Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.”
… is a pretty massive call. Even human extinction is a big call – humans have managed to build communities is the harshest places on the planet. So worst case we’re looking at a significant reduction in the human population down to sustainable levels, maybe a bit of the old soylent green scenario as a transition period.
Hostess Brands, the maker of sweet snacks like Twinkies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, will ask a bankruptcy judge today to approve a plan that will allow it to pay $1.75 million in bonuses to 19 of its executives. Hostess’ decision to file for bankruptcy came amid disputes with its union workers, who threatened a strike that Hostess said imperiled the company’s finances. The unions are now protesting Hostess’ request for the bonuses, though they are unlikely to prevail, CNN Money reports:
Or attempt to but, still:
The salary of the company’s chief executive tripled from $750,000 to roughly $2.5 million, and at least nine other executives received pay raises ranging from $90,000 to $400,000. Those raises came just months after Hostess originally filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
We aren’t exactly seeing great management here and it has been getting very well rewarded for trashing the company.
Correct. Let’s take a look at current Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn’s executive resume, per Businessweek and LinkedIn:
CEO, Hostess Brands: February 2012 – Present (10 months)
CRO, Indiana Live Casino and Indiana Downs Racetrack: February 2011 – April 2012 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, NYCOTB: July 2010 – January 2011 (7 months)
CEO, Magna Entertainment Corp. March 2009 – May 2010 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, Muzak: 2005 – 2006 (1 year)
CRO, AAIPharma Services Corp.: 2004 – 2005 (1 year)
CRO, WorldCom: 2003 – 2004 (1 year)
CEO. Sunterra: 2002 – 2003 (1 year)
Co-Founder, Capstone Equity: 1999 – 2001 (2 years)
Huh. In ten years, he’s helped run eight (8) companies, yet his average tenure is just under one (1) year. Sounds like just the guy to provide some stability to a company that’s hemorrhaging cash (Hostess has had six CEOs in eight years, an obvious indicator of sensible and stable leadership; insert deck-chairs-on-Titanic metaphor here).
Suggestions that modest increases in sea ice around Antarctica offset significant losses in Arctic sea ice are based on a bogus “apples and oranges” comparison. Through interviews with a range of respected experts, Peter Sinclair’s newest Yale Forum video explains why such suggestions do not stand up to scientific scrutiny.
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What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
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I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
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Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
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The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
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Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
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A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
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Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
COMMENTARY:By Murray Horton New Zealand needs to get tough with Israel. It’s not as if we haven’t done so before. When NZ authorities busted a Mossad operation in Auckland 20 years ago, the government didn’t say: “Oh well, Israel has the right to defend itself.” No, it arrested, prosecuted, ...
NEWSMAKERS:By Vijay Narayan, news director of FijiVillage Blessed to be part of the University of Fiji (UniFiji) faculty to continue to teach and mentor those who want to join our noble profession, and to stand for truth and justice for the people of the country. I was privileged to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Lowry, Ice Sheet & Climate Modeller, GNS Science Hugh Chittock/Antarctica New Zealand, CC BY-SA As the climate warms and Antarctica’s glaciers and ice sheets melt, the resulting rise in sea level has the potential to displace hundreds of millions of ...
The government's plan to reintroduce a three strikes regime is being strongly opposed by lawyers, who argue there is no evidence it reduces crime or helps people rehabilitate. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Jerker B. Svantesson, Professor specialising in Internet law, Bond University Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform? Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Pepping, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Griffith University Marvin / Shutterstock Are all single people insecure? When we think about people who have been single for a long time, we may assume it’s because single people have insecurities that make ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, Lecturer in Quantitative Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation, The University of Melbourne Trismegist san, Shutterstock Landscapes that have escaped fire for decades or centuries tend to harbour vital structures for wildlife, such as tree hollows and large logs. But these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, Lecturer in Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock/S Curtis Why are we crossing ecological boundaries that affect Earth’s fundamental life-supporting capacity? Is it because we don’t have enough information about how ecosystems respond to change? Or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Crocker, PhD Student in Economics, Deakin University Here’s something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a charity director outlines how she’s saving for retirement and buying secondhand. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 45 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Charity director, mum of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie Yates, Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late last year. Now a ...
It’s been called a failed experiment and a judicial straightjacket but the government says the revised three strikes law will be a more workable regime, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Three ...
New Zealand’s Palestinian community and Palestinian Youth Aotearoa are voicing alarm and disappointment with the lack of factual rigour present during the Israeli Ambassador’s appearance as a guest on TVNZ’s Q+A With Jack Tame Sunday (21/04). ...
Both ACT leader David Seymour, who played a key role in drawing up the assisted dying law, and hospice leaders say it's time the legislation was changed. ...
Public submissions on proposed gang control laws are being heard today. Rising gang membership has been cited as rationale for a crackdown – but what do we actually know about how many people belong to gangs in New Zealand?What’s all this then?A rise in the number of gang ...
Climate activists are setting their sights on an unpopular target, and hoping to bring lots of the public with them. It’s hard to miss the Majestic Princess: the enormous cruise ship, docked at Auckland’s Prince’s Wharf, looms over the nearby buildings. The ship, which can fit nearly 6,000 people, ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 23 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The following korero between Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, author of the newly published memoir Hine Toa, one of the year’s most important books, and Dale Husband from e-tangata, was first published in October. It traverses her involvement with the activist group Ngā Tamatoa at Auckland University in the early 1970s, her ...
In the 16 years since it was bought by the government for $690 million, KiwiRail has had several overhauls and turnaround plans worth billions of dollars. Its ambitions as a successful, profitable operator of tourism, freight and ferries have often been derailed by disasters from earthquakes to cyclones, mine explosions ...
Black Ferns trailblazer Kendra Cocksedge was on the verge of tears when her young protégé, Hannah King, unassumingly broke the news. Three-time Rugby World Cup winner Cocksedge and Lincoln agriculture student King meet every few weeks over a hot chocolate, in an enduring mentorship that’s spanned years. “Before we even ...
Opinion: We’ve kicked the tyres on the perception NZ’s economy is in a parlous state compared to Australia. We take a quick tour of relative trends in GDP, housing markets, labour markets, trade, the fiscal situation, and the outlooks for inflation and interest rates. We find the cyclical positions of ...
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By Russell Palmer, RNZ News digital political journalist New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters is putting off recognition of Palestine as a state, despite opposition Labour’s formal request that he make the move. Peters said diplomatic recognition of Palestine was a matter of “when not if”, but doing so now ...
The opposition has laid into the government's plan to reintroduce a "three strikes" regime, saying it's inequitable and there's very little evidence it works. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Nicholls, Senior research associate, University of Sydney Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has ordered social media platform “X” (formerly known as Twitter) to remove graphic videos of the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in Sydney last week from the site. The incident ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Sydney John Turnbull, CC BY-NC-ND In past bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef, the southern region has sometimes been spared worst of the bleaching. Not this time. This year’s intense underwater heat has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne Darren Gill/Mackey, Darling & Collaborators The relationship between witchcraft and teenage girls has been the subject of many books, films and television shows. Over time, the traditional image of witch as crone ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Becky Freeman, Associate Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney Andres Siimon/Unsplash There are no silver bullets, magic tricks or secret hacks to solving complex public health problems. Taking on the global tobacco industry and reducing the devastating consequences of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam B. Watts, Research Associate in galaxy evolution, The University of Western Australia ESO/A. Watts et al., CC BY We breathe oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere every day, but did you know that these gases also float through space, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Nielsen, Professor and Deputy Director, Monash Addiction Research Centre, Monash University Maxime Bhm/Unsplash A new group of drugs called nitazenes has been detected in Australia. They have been sold as heroin as well as other drugs like ketamine. Concerns ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Twomey, Professor emerita, University of Sydney Image from Bradlow + Bock campaign Can the job of being a federal member of parliament be shared by two or more persons? Two prospective candidates for the inner-Melbourne federal seat of Higgins, Lucy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zoe Rathus, Senior Lecturer in Law, Griffith University Shutterstock In October 2023, the federal parliament passed major changes to how children’s cases are decided under the Family Law Act, which kick in next month. Among other things, they repeal a ...
Can I surprise everyone by saying that I think that disciplinary action should be taken by David Shearer.
There is a member of caucus who has destabilized the party for the past few years by continuously leaking to the media. Last weekend was an example. In a clusterfuck of gigantic proportions he managed to undermine all the good that Shearer’s speech achieved by feeding the meme that Cunliffe is running a challenge.
Cunliffe did refuse to say how he would be voting in the future on the leadership as his right. Others also refused to say how they would vote, including one Trevor Mallard.
Loyalty to a leader should always be conditional on the interests of the party and a review is perfectly appropriate. Blind loyalty is not in the interests of the party.
But by continuing to feed this meme this leaker has not only sought to undermine Cunliffe’s future but has also undermined Shearer’s leadership.
I wonder if this is the intent?
Wonder who you have in your sights mickey?
Done Underestimate Careerist Knuckledraggers!
And the biggest joke of it all, is if Shearer just watched TV3’s destabalising of the Labour party he could then have a go at them. and know that Cunliffe was bending over backwards to be polite at the end. Hipkins should immediately be dumped as whip, and a back bencher he should be. As should Mallard, King, Dyson, and Goff, they should ALL be on the back bench for the LAST months of their political lives. And as to the leak to the media Dump that lot and the leaks should stop. but yesterday (Monday) on Firstline at 8.25am was the interesting bit.
Indeed! (I do hope I am allowed to comment, and my comment will not be removed… We’ll see!)
It is just QoT’s posts that you should avoid. Authors are allowed to moderate comments on their own posts. It serves two purposes.
Firstly, there is nothing as irritating to an author has someone sidetracking their posts from their intent in writing it. And you’ve got to admit that the arguments between you two are pretty full on and tend to take over the posts – which rather defeats the purpose of writing it. The editorial moderators probably wouldn’t interfere because generally the comments are acceptable but they may frustrate the hell out of authors. You’ll probably have noted that I have a different style of moderation in my own posts especially in science – that happens for much the same reasons.
Secondly, it is a useful way for authors to ease into moderating on a large site. Excessive moderation gets a certain amount of (very polite) blowback from other commentators.
So just think of it as a minor restriction and don’t get too worried.
Oh, I see… A minor restriction? Give me a break! What on earth gave her and you the idea that I would have side-tracked the post from her intent?
You wonder why the media and Shearer question the relevance of bloggers. Tricks such as QoT’s maybe? The posts she removed, were simply my sticking up for Shearer.
If the idea is to make it seem that Standardistas are unamimous in bagging Shearer, well, then, well done! 🙁
Ah – perhaps you should think about why bloggers write? They write because they want to express something. They seldom write because they want to be “relevant”. That is a politicians trait to always think of everything in terms of damage and influence. Those things are just by-products of the process.
And I suspect that she simply doesn’t want you on any of her posts regardless what you say. Live with it.
BTW: Mike Smith, r0b, Ben, etc. I guess I can’t organise – or you’re very unobservant.
[deleted]
[lprent: astroturfer ]
Mai Chen on Radio yesterday said that she respected the Garrent, a Australian Labour Ministers point, that how Australia chooses its policies is up to Australia. re. kids born to kiwis failing to get loans, welfare in Australia…
No for a lawyer, and one interested in civil rights, three thing strike,
i.) lawyers as a rule think about the consequences of statements all the time, so the fact that there is a growing population of individuals who have kiwi citizenship, are no afforded access to higher education, and cannot get welfare in Australia, and probably not citizenship if they have a criminal record in OZ, why would she not consider the tsunami of angry young people coming to NZ and welfare dependancy (where their parents have not been paying tax)!
ii.) that she is reinforcing a political stance yet could not see the Australian Minister saying that his constituiency isn’t interested in kiwis rights, so much for he claim to interest in civil rights,
iii.) and then to finally cap off, Chen thought it wise to cut Australian in NZ access to welfare, and exactly why would the ramification would be does she not understand the technical word, of reciprocal agreements, that many kiwis in Australia are on benefits too, and so there is no way the NZ government could end welfare to some, because the whole agreement was about the LARGE number of kiwis in Australia, and the SMALL number of Australians in NZ, and so the bigger cost to Australia,
So I’m totally perplex how did this person ever become a lawyer, or does NZ live under the rule of lawyers now, who think nothing of the law, letter or otherwise. Its just putty for extreme political muckracking? Could we please have real discussions about the effect on our economy of Kiwis turning up wanting welfare, wanting loans for Nz universities (only to return to Australia afterwards), who mayy have criminal records and been conditioned to mental, criminal, and other conditions by Australian authorities. Of course Key needs to grow some balls, how can he be serious worried about poverty amongst kiwi kids, if he does not include those in Australia – who will inevitable turn up here.
practicalities.this is an interesting demographic issue though
Yes, vote Green so they can sell out their supporters by coming to yet another ‘arrangement’ with the Tories. Brilliant idea, Einstein.
New Zealand’s Green Tourism Push Clashes With Realities
That’s in the NYT so our clean, green brand is history. Which is good, might give us a chance to reign in those filthy farmers and put in place better regulations to protect the environment.
Then there’s this one from the World Bank:
And what’s this government done? Oh, yeah, weakened the RMA, put in place the EPA which seems to be more about boosting business than protecting the environment and dropped out of the Kyoto Protocol.
Time we cleaned up our act.
Australia is far far cleaner than new Zealand. One of the reasons is probably as there are rubbish bins on every corner in the cities. You walk around Wellington and the bins are like hens teeth. Same goes for Auckland and other cities.
There’s also a possibility that immigrant cultures aren’t used to using bins. Visiting Samoa as I do every year, I remain constantly appalled at the amount of rubbish there. Apia park is always covered in plastic and food wrappers, mcds and kfc bags etc every afternoon.
The users of the ferry services just throw their rubbish overboard into the sea.
Absolutely terrible and one can see how that environment conditions those who move to Nz to carry on the fine littering tradition as espoused by their parents.
Nz is a dirty country, make no mistake.
Which is what I said a while back, National and Tourism New Zealand are living on another planet. New Zealanders view their nation differently to how it is viewed in the rest of the world, which is quite poorly on the environment front.
Tourism New Zealand is totally out of touch…so much so that the only increases in tourist numbers are coming from places like China, which has far worse pollution problems that New Zealand. Europe and America however have led big declines in visitor numbers here, and it can no longer be held to be because of ‘the difficult recession conditions’.
Time that NZ stopped branding itself ‘100% pure’ and instead focussed its attention on the multicultural society we have here, especially on our culture, music and art. Anyone can visit Finland, Sweden, Iceland etc and get similar scenery, why does Tourism NZ keep claiming the 100% Pure brand is working, when visitor numbers show a decline.
Thanks for the heads up Te Reo Putake.
Had too kick some witch in the head last night ……
Looks like Labour has a problem with Smacko male witches as well M8 🙂
Thank God that’s all over. Until February.
interesting
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10848680
Auckland Canton-ese
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10848593
love pacifica
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10848652
hardly surprising
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10848644
Can you actually give some context for what these links are about?
sociocultural-political patterns to consider, from a leftish political position if interested
The world, and Aotearoa’s place within, it is changing at an ever-increasing rapidity, exponentially, I believe.
salience (not assuming that TS readers do not keep abreast of current affairs, but links kept me returning to the site when I began)
lprent can give me feedback, he knows how unorthodox I can be
This chappie, whose thought I am learning about, was active academically across a wide range of fields / disciplines- law, politics, history, philosophy and theology.
I think that the promotion of such a wide critical gaze is helpful
Re Auckland Canton-ese: Good lord, another bit of racism from our news-makers for no reason. Central story: people with less money can’t compete in an auction-like environment with people who have more money. Wow. Insightful stuff. But wait, what’s this? Oh the rich people are Chinese? That explains it then. Everyone knows Chinese money has special evil mega powers. uh? 😯
Reminds me of last night’s news story that, and I’m paraphrasing, “maori and pacific people are refusing to wear life jackets, even though they have been repeatedly told to do as us whities say. Education can’t reach them, they are unteachable!” uh? 😯
The reason I caught that piece of stupid was because I’d just finished watching Moneyball. Behind the simpering of Brad Pitt and the unsurprising end that comes from projecting ones own problems onto one’s job, was a message of the importance of a healthy skepticism of the norm, dismissing outward appearances and identifying the various ways inferior traits can be applied.
Hi Uturn. Always good exchanging with you. I been doing it all year under four earlier pseudonyms (from memory, can ya list them?). The thing about this site, the only one I have time to read, is the critical thinking often displayed; TINA is bullshit, but then, if I may be a little immodest, all my life I wondered what had prevented a wider dissemination of international thought and subsequent influence on policy in Aotearoa, and concluded very early on, that it was the dominant imported / colonial culture/s.
As I read Ellul, I find that his thought was matched by his experiences and offerings in the real world, down amongst the delinquents (french equivalent of teddy-boys), university politics, church politics, the war, revolutionary politics, family, community, parish and so on. Yet, everywhere his great mind was directed politically, he was met by power and self-interest ( sorta like this debacle playing out within New Zealand politics), yet, he still contributed and taught and published (gave away) thousands of newspaper and journal articles and wrote approximately fifty books.
Well, after a lifetime of exposure to MSM in this country, what the majority of the electorate consume, I personally conclude it is absolute rubbish, and that is saying something as I have spent literally years in time consuming music, film, fiction, MSM current events, Sky documentaries, and what has passed for television for four decades.
Now, I feel liberated, as I can only bear flicking through the news on television and skimming the local and international press for the zeitgeist (thats what the context is Lanth, the zeitgeist).The television and what passes for the majority of journalism and socially acceptable commentary in this country is like another, more primal, language to me now
Thinkers such as Ellul are very critical of the implications of technology for social well-being, harmony, yet, reading this blog and the links provided by thinkers such as Draco and others has had one identifiable personal positive outcome; it has opened up, and made more efficient, my cognitive processes, so that when I do think about things, it is precise, and draws on my exposure to both life and many disciplines. Also, there are many things / most things, that I do not even have to give any thought, or worry, to at all now.Furthermore, after frequent consideration of the many perspectives that are encountered on a political blog such as this, the MSM is just too freakin narrow and slow; I imagine that this is the case with the politicians too, just too simple and self-serving; not you Julie Ann and Helen Kelly, You do Impress me!
As I once heard, sadly, people get the politicans they deserve (that is harsh, it feels harsh writing it, but really, what sort of people vote for a government that includes John Banks, Peter Dunne, Maggie Barry, Paula Bennet, Anne Tolley, Tremain et al; and that is without even starting on the opposition)
I am just very thankful that I was born here, and that we are well situated geo-politically, yet I tend to avoid what passes for polite discourse around us; Racism, Ageism, Xenophobia, Aquisitiveness, Consumption, Bigotry,Labelling (self-deprecation) 🙂 it takes strong filters to prevent these attitudes soaking in to one if around them.
Anyway, I am no saint; I literally lived the will-to-power White male New Zealand / American dream for two and a half decades, well-paying work, the toys I wanted, the experiences I sought; it was weighed, and found wanting; it was all on the backs of the billions of simple folk that populate the remainder of the planet, the people Tolstoy considered, and eventually understood.
I, like Ellul, agree with Kierkegaard; Faith (not virtue) overcomes “sin” (that’s “missing the mark”, not being right with “God”, for you atheists)
anyway, might head off to the “shop” and encourage some awareness of Mana while I’m there.
Great site lprent
Probably I could list the previous handles (I count five 😉 ), but that’d be rude. Ideas count, not labels. It’s strange you know, admin here are quick to say there is no hive mind, but since we all talk about the same thing and tend towards similar perspectives, there is often a natural flow to the ideas outlined here. While no one tells us what to think before we think it, many of us seem to arrive in the same place, more or less. Last night I was thinking of the source of the colonial culture we have and why it is still dominant and how certain other dominant psychological theories would either have to be completely wrong to allow for that cultural dominance, or the idea of culture being anything more than a failed brain process would have to be true. In which case, who exactly would “we” be at any given moment if everything in our past is just an illusion? What or which guidelines are we living if there is no such thing as culture and memory is a delusion?
I was impressed to see the link you offered a few days ago under the title of Logos; an element of western philosophy of a distinctly Eastern outlook that I was not aware existed; and seems to have little influence in global affairs these days. This also contributed to my thoughts last night that, somehow, a whole sphere of thinking has been suppressed by the western mind at a level that suggests something more powerful than the usual conspiracy theory of a shadowy group of patriarchal puppeteers controlling what rises and what doesn’t. Maybe “western mind” is too vague. Let’s say, Celtic. The mind of the people as a group who began in central Europe and spread outwards from there. It didn’t seem possible to me that for seven thousand years or so, people have only ever been behaving like animals – worse than that – mindless animals… not even looking after their own interests. Impossible. So why is a “colonial” attitude so entrenched in our collective psyche? I couldn’t answer that specifically. There were questions of inescapable evil, evils downgraded to popular virtues because everyone has to live them if they want to eat; and if you’re born into it, you’ll never find out what’s happening at least before fifteen years have passed. A blind spot in the psyche? How would we find and recognise something everyone has forgotten and how would we know what we were looking at was the real deal, not just some pipe dream to make us feel better?
Yeah, I agree this site is the only one I’ve found where the people can think in a way I can be bothered participating. (That might motivate them to change their style 😉 ). It’s a pity it’s centred around politics, because as you say, so much that goes on in politics isn’t politics and the polarisation of attitudes that our NZ style encourages makes me impatient. Not much humour and creativity in polarised arguments. I owe some debt of gratitude to regular contributors here for pushing me this way and that and helping to breaking down some of the hurdles that were proving difficult. It is a little embarrassing, and unethical, when I think about what they had to go through to give me an education I could have found myself, if I’d just been better at asking the right questions. But that’s the cost of self directed learning, learning through doing – no one comes out clean. It’s common now to realise that to argue for balance is an equally immoral interference as the aggression of a singular opinion, because of the way I came to know the difference. Supporting what is right, isn’t always right and so knowledge hits it’s useful limit.
I’ve been over a little of my past here already and like you, owing to a number of personal dispositions and unknowable motivations, it all fell apart. My level of reasonably assured comfort presently extends to 14 day periods, which is privileged, compared to many who ran out of food two days ago. I’ve had more and wasted too much, had almost nothing and still wasted some and at times been able to create something out of nothing. I still live the evils of our time: own gadgets, drive a car, live in a house surrounded by other houses – all things paid for by the on-going colonial mindset, the destructions of others. There’s even a lawn. What bizarre stately Victorian reality are we all condoning with our acceptance of lawns? Thank god the people in my new neighbourhood dig theirs up for vegetable gardens.
Life often bewilders me and the Christian God scares me. He appears to be one seriously unrelenting individual. So when I remember, I put my faith in “overshooting” the mark and hope that should we meet he’s in the mood for grace. It’s fair to note that I haven’t met anyone that can make him sound as reasonable as you often do. Have we sucked up enough space yet? I think I hear people snoring.
Not quite. On any one topic you’ll have the people who are interested in a particular discussion. People who aren’t interested or use a different ‘language’ for it tend to go to other discussions either here or elsewhere. So there is a certain amount of self-selection going on.
theology is often defined as “faith seeking understanding”
I have always valued Satre’s concept of “good faith”
I have just come from a walk around the city of the province and a read of the local paper
-more of that later
anyway, Thomas Mann said “when a man comes to know himself, he is never quite the same” and Mary Wollenscroft (sp probably) said “prejudice can make a psychology unstable and flow out in a flood when barriers are removed” or something like that (quotes at back of paper) and I see that with the flow of information in the “media”.
even people of faith have struggles, it is all in there (in Colossians at the moment); I never profess to understand how it works, but clearly faith was around for a long time before
“psychologizing” and man, has there been some rubbish psychology around (I understand the assertions and findings of neuroscience, I believe in the current findings of science, but as I think felix said “science is taught by telling lies to children”; like when I studied my degree and all those resources and time is wasted with the loitering around the foundations, when one finds when one is introduced to (drip-fed) advanced papers that the whole discipline has been examined in a post-modern, deconstructive sense, and that “philosophising” is the ascendent modality (hence health workers utilising “logotherapy” and “mindfulness” techniques, which are effective imo, ime,).
anyway, back to the walk, clearly we can become determined by the technology / tools/ la tecnique, via our relationship through the day to many forms of technology, utilitarian and recreational, and it is the involvement in virtual reality, vicarious living and fiction that interests me (and we are not alone, my best friend, who lives with dyslexia, gets these ideas, and we question why, a,young people are not taught how to be “human beings” and how to “drive their bodies” alongside preparation for economic contribution and, b, why they are not made more aware of the influence of economically-rationalised propaganda)
I value creativity in art (“creation” in the Hebrew was “created to create”), I just lament the capitalist prostitution
anyway, time will tell, I’m with the wide variety of environmentally aware Posters and commentators on here who warn us about climate and pollution, here is one for Draco
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proudhon
however The Chinese are very industrious people and they may take greater steps towards
a more sustainable future, yet for much of the people on the planet, the coming decades appear likely to be “dystopian” sadly,
back to the bay, Retail sales are down across all cities, some 5% down year-on-year and the local fishermen have been carrying out regular surveys of fish stocks (gurnard in particular) over a decade, and stocks are consistently, across a wide range of surveys, by a wide range of organizations, not looking healthy. Even Supermarkets report “same amount of people, generally spending less each”.
More and more different ethnicities though, especially people from or around the sub-continent, many men with long flowing beards, and these people remember their customers in retail and are easy to engage.(not good PR for the buddhists in Myanmar though, sadly, see when the teachings split into Theravada and Mahayana, and all these “scriptures” I started thinking wtf?, sorta like trying to understand Christian denominations, which I don’t, but I understood John Walton, and all the dynamics possible in a large loving family)
Like archetypes / myths influencing culture influencing archetypes, for example The Matrix (I must apologize and state my position on “gaming using information technology”; never been interested) I’ve looked at cyberpunk lit, but it is not really my thing, anything too culturally determined is bound to be prejudicial, don’t you think?
The editor of the local paper is a shill for the retailers though, while in the same editorial acknowledging what “a low-wage economy” the region is (we are in the bottom of employment, health and a few other lovely (not) socio-economic statistical indicators)
There is a great literary journalist at the local paper though-Mark Story, so not all is lost
Wittgenstein stated “that the meaning of the system, is outside the system”, however he also asserted, that faith is just another “language game” so either/or as Johannes /Judge Vilhelm would argue
however, readings recently strongly suggest that there are enough common referents and definitions between moderate Christian and Islamic scholars understanding of the monotheistic God of Abraham to allow discourse at the highest levels even with the Pope,
and over half the population of the planet acknowledge that understanding, or variations of it now, and have done across generations within the “advancing” cultures for more than Three millennia;
If the medical science priests could get away with it, they would seek a pathogen (of course, they would not look at food, or the socio-cultural-economic situation of peoples lives) and they would develop and trial a vaccine; they could call it a “cluster-munition”
I might be fortunate enough to get a wee flat soon, thanks to the provisions and foresight of earlier Labour governments, and then if I can get a job gardening, I will be more secure than many of our fellow people, one way or another (i’m gonna getcha, getcha getcha good) They ripped into Debbie too for her past, freakin paparazzi parasites
Imagine being Mick Fleetwood and having memories snorting you-know-what- off the bottom of you-know-who.With my memory, I do not think I would need to ever open my eyes again, just kidding
Blues-Gospel-Soul-R&B-Rock-Steady-Reggae-Rock-Punk-New Order-House-Grunge
Drum and Bass-Pulp-Blur-Radiohead-TripHop-Bluegrass-Grunge-Black Sabbath Worship
John Tamihere – Asshole of the Week
Tamihere might come across as a jovial kind of chap, but his recent statements have been entirely undiplomatic and show him to be just another political fool…
Very good post by Susun Krumdiek over at The Jackal. Practical suggestions presented in an easy to understand form. A couple of excerpts:
and
http://thejackalman.blogspot.co.nz/2012/11/a-guest-post-by-susan-krumdieck.html
How about focusing on the REAL issues folks?
REPEALING the legislative framework upon which the neo-liberal ROGERNOMICS model was based / OPENING THE BOOKS/ and supporting an ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2012/11/14/new-zealand-tops-list-of-the-best-countries-for-business/
(My comment- yet to be published.)
“OPEN LETTER SENT TO TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL BY NEW ZEALAND ‘ANTI-CORRUPTION’ CAMPAIGNER /’WHISTLEBLOWER’ Penny Bright:
31 October 2012
For the URGENT attention of Transparency International Secretariat, and global member ‘chapters’.
I, Penny Bright, from New Zealand, was an attendee at the Transparency International Anti-Corruption Conference 2010, in Bangkok, and widely distributed a ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ – which showed the lack of transparency and accountability in New Zealand, which is consistently ‘perceived’ to be ‘the least corrupt country in the world’ (according to the TI ‘Corruption Perception Index’).
In my considered opinion, if Transparency International is going to ignore the FACTS and EVIDENCE presented by ‘whistleblowers’ such as myself – then your ‘Corruption Perception Index’ is going to be seen as being effectively meaningless as a global indicator of global corruption.
(This ‘whistle-blowing’ NZ ‘Corruption Reality Checklist’ has since ‘morphed’ into the following:)
ACTION PLAN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION – ‘WHITE COLLAR’ CRIME & ‘CORPORATE WELFARE’ IN NZ:
1. Get our anti-corruption domestic legislative framework in place so NZ can ratify the UN Convention Against Corruption.
2. Set up an NZ independent anti-corruption body tasked with educating the public and PREVENTING corruption.
3. Change NZ laws to ensure genuine transparency in the funding of candidates for elected public office and political parties at central and local government level.
4. Legislate for an enforceable ‘Code of Conduct’ for NZ Members of Parliament (who make the rules foreveryone else).
5. Make it an offence under the Local Government Act 2002 for NZ Local Government elected representatives to breach their ‘Code of Conduct’.
6. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government elected representatives.
7. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Central Government staff responsible for property and procurement, (including the Ministry of Health), in order to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
8. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available ‘Register of Interests’ for NZ Local Government staff, and Directors and staff employed by ‘Council-Controlled Organisations (CCOs) responsible for property and procurement.
9. Make it a lawful requirement for details of ‘contracts issued’ – including the name of the contractor; scope, term and value of the contract to be published in NZ Central Government Public Sector, and Local Government (Council), and ‘Council-Controlled Organisation (CCO) Annual Reports so that they are available for public scrutiny.
10. Make it a lawful requirement that a ‘cost-benefit analysis’ of NZ Central Government, and Local Government public finances be undertaken to prove that private procurement of public services previously provided ‘in-house’ is cost-effective for the public majority. If not – then return public service provision to staff directly employed ‘in-house’ and cut out these private contractors who are effectively dependent on ‘corporate welfare’.
11. Legislate for a legally-enforcable ‘Code of Conduct’ for members of the NZ Judiciary, to ensure they are not ‘above the law’.
12. Ensure that ALL NZ Court proceedings are recorded, and audio records made available to parties who request them.
13. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ Judicial ‘Register of Interests’, to help prevent ‘conflicts of interest’.
14. Make it a lawful requirement for a publicly-available NZ ‘Register of Lobbyists’ and ‘Code of Conduct for Lobbyists’ at Central Government Ministerial level.
15. Make it a lawful requirement at NZ Central and Local Government level for a ‘post-separation employment quarantine’ period from the time officials leave the public service to take up a similar role in the private sector. (Help stop the ‘revolving door’).
16. Make it a lawful requirement that it is only a binding vote of the public majority that can determine whether public assets held at NZ Central or Local Government level are sold; or long-term leased via Public-Private –Partnerships (PPPs).
17. Make it unlawful for politicians to knowingly misrepresent their policies prior to election at central or local government level.
18. Make laws to protect individuals, NGOs and community-based organisations who are ‘whistleblowing’ against ‘conflicts of interest’ and corrupt practices at central and local government level and within the judiciary.
19. Legislate to help stop ‘State Capture’, a form of ‘grand corruption’ arguably endemic in NZ – where vested interests get their way at the ‘policy level’ before legislation is passed which serves their interests.
Prepared by Penny Bright, ‘Anti-corruption’ and ‘Anti-privatisation’ campaigner waterpressure@gmail.com)
_______________________________________________________________
CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE AUCKLAND $UPERCITY:
http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/SiteCollectionDocuments/aboutcouncil/governingbody/governingbodymin20121025.pdf
7.1 Penny Bright – Open letter to Auditor General
Ms Bright was present to address the meeting regarding her open letter to the Auditor-General on conflicts of interest.
_______________________________________________________________
This presentation was filmed, and can be viewed, (after registering – costs nothing to register) athttp://www.allaboutauckland.com/
“CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS” 25 October 2012: ”
_______________________________________________________________
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
(New Zealand)
[lprent: Frigging hell Penny. We need to get you onto the mandatory verbiage reduction diet. ]
Actually. Penny is doing good here. Reminding us of how corrupt our “leaders” really are.
It’s not ‘verbiage’ – these are concrete, sensible proposals that any political party with any brains would pick up?
In my considered opinion?
(You may prefer this ‘verbiage’? 🙂
“NZ Herald – News digest Tuesday 20 November 2012
Banks faces more counts
Act leader John Banks is facing two fresh charges in a private prosecution brought by political activist Graham McCready. The charges relate to Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP. ”
_____________________________________________________________
Graham McCready states that the Wellington Deputy Registrar ‘confirmed she would set them down for Banks to be Summons to appear on these two with the Local Elections Act charge on 11 December 2012 at 1:45.
The Court will ensure the Police serve all three summonses.’
So!
The arguably ‘Not-so Honorable’ John Banks will appear in the Wellington District Court, on Tuesday 11 December 2012, to face private prosecutions over alleged electoral fraud and ‘Mr Banks’ role at investment company Huljich Wealth Management before he became an Act MP’.
Bit of a sad day for the ‘perceived’ least corrupt country in the world, when individual citizens have to take private prosecutions in order to help ensure ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ actually does apply equally in New Zealand?
Where were the regulatory and statutory bodies when it came to applying ‘ONE LAW FOR ALL’ to fellow former Directors of Huljich Wealth Management(NZ) Ltd – current and former leaders of the ACT Party – John Banks and Don Brash?
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
About bloody time!
The count down has begun
http://transitionvoice.com/2012/11/a-farewell-to-arms/
A farewell to arms
By Guy McPherson November 19, 2012
In previous essays in this space I have mentioned two phenomena worth fighting for: the living planet and freedom based in anarchy. I surrender. I no longer believe the struggle matters on either front.
Kiss goodbye the living planet
I no longer think we’ll save the remaining shards of the living planet beyond another human generation. We’ll destroy every — or nearly every – species on Earth when the positive feedbacks associated with climate change come seriously into play (and I’ve not previously considered the increasingly dire prospects of methane release from Antarctica or the wildfire-induced release of carbon from Siberian peat bogs). Due to numerous positive feedbacks, climate change has become irreversible over temporal spans relevant to humans. Such is the nature of reaching the acceleration phase of the nonlinear system that is climate catastrophe.
The climate-change data, models and assessments keep coming at us, like waves crashing on a rocky, indifferent beach. The worst drought in 800 years in the western United States is met by levels of societal ignorance and political silence I’ve come to expect. I would be stunned if this valley — or any other area in the interior of a northern-hemisphere continent — will provide habitat for humans five years from now. And climate change is only part of the story.
My trademark optimism vanishes when I realize that, in addition to climate chaos, we’re on the verge of tacking on ionizing radiation from the world’s 444 nuclear power plants. Let’s ignore for now the radioactive waste we’ve left lying around without a plan or already dumped into the world’s oceans. When we choke on our own poison, we’ll be taking the whole ship down with us, spewing a global blanket of radiation in the wake of collapse. Can we kill every single species on Earth? Apparently we’re willing to give it a try, and I will not be surprised by our “success” at this omnicidal endeavor.
“My trademark optimism”
hahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhaahahahahahahhahahahaahahhaahahahahhaahahahahahahahhahahahahaahhahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa!
When you get up off the floor, read the rest of Guy’s essay. Its a real laugh.
Your excerpt was funny enough. It looked like you wrote that bit about optimism. And I have doubts about claims to optimism by people who are preaching 100% extinction of life on the planet. Blatant bollocks – or at least a massive bias towards higher life forms. Which makes me doubt the reliability of other predictions made by the same people.
Lazy thinking.
I think Guy has a clue, more so than anyone else I know anyway. But then I might have a small circle of stupid friends).
Guy’s bio – Academic B.S. Forest Resources, University of Idaho, 1982
M.S. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1984
Ph.D. Range Science, Texas Tech University, 1987
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia Institute of Ecology, 1987-1988
Visiting Assistant Professor, Texas A & M University Range Science Department, 1988-1989
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1989-1995
Visiting Associate Professor, University of California-Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, 1995-1996
Associate Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 1995-2000
Director, The Nature Conservancy David H. Smith Fellows Program, 1999-2000
Professor, University of Arizona School of Renewable Natural Resources, 2000-present
Professor, University of Arizona School of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 2002-present.
Guy in Auckland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk9I0peQOmg
Given that there are fungi growing inside the Chernobyl sarcophagus, I’m saying that:
… is a pretty massive call. Even human extinction is a big call – humans have managed to build communities is the harshest places on the planet. So worst case we’re looking at a significant reduction in the human population down to sustainable levels, maybe a bit of the old soylent green scenario as a transition period.
But sterilizing the planet? Not a hope.
Company executives receive bonuses after causing business to collapse in bankruptcy
Or attempt to but, still:
We aren’t exactly seeing great management here and it has been getting very well rewarded for trashing the company.
Hostess looted their employees pension fund too.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/18/1162786/-Inside-the-Hostess-Bankery
Also, private equity has sniffed blood.
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/19/hostess-sun-buyout/
A something awful post about the CEO Gregory Rayburn.
Correct. Let’s take a look at current Hostess CEO Gregory Rayburn’s executive resume, per Businessweek and LinkedIn:
CEO, Hostess Brands: February 2012 – Present (10 months)
CRO, Indiana Live Casino and Indiana Downs Racetrack: February 2011 – April 2012 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, NYCOTB: July 2010 – January 2011 (7 months)
CEO, Magna Entertainment Corp. March 2009 – May 2010 (1 year 3 months)
CEO, Muzak: 2005 – 2006 (1 year)
CRO, AAIPharma Services Corp.: 2004 – 2005 (1 year)
CRO, WorldCom: 2003 – 2004 (1 year)
CEO. Sunterra: 2002 – 2003 (1 year)
Co-Founder, Capstone Equity: 1999 – 2001 (2 years)
Huh. In ten years, he’s helped run eight (8) companies, yet his average tenure is just under one (1) year. Sounds like just the guy to provide some stability to a company that’s hemorrhaging cash (Hostess has had six CEOs in eight years, an obvious indicator of sensible and stable leadership; insert deck-chairs-on-Titanic metaphor here).
Arctic versus Antarctic Sea Ice.
Suggestions that modest increases in sea ice around Antarctica offset significant losses in Arctic sea ice are based on a bogus “apples and oranges” comparison. Through interviews with a range of respected experts, Peter Sinclair’s newest Yale Forum video explains why such suggestions do not stand up to scientific scrutiny.