The Coal Miners march to parliament tomorrow will be a political test for New Zealand’s Parliamentary Environmental Party the Greens.
Will they be up for the challenge?
Can the Greens make common cause with these workers?
Or will the Green Party MPs stand on the sidelines, defensive and impotent and leave the field free for the venal and opportunist, drill it, mine it, frack it lobby, to co-opt this workers movement for justice to their profit driven anti humanity ends?
Spring Creek miner and union delegate Trevor Bolderson said the plan showed the West Coast mine was viable, but the Government would need to provide some financial support to get the mine through the next couple of years.
“We’re travelling to Wellington because we want the Government to understand what closing Spring Creek will mean for the local community.”
The plan was not just about saving jobs, it was about “providing a future for Greymouth”, he said.
“We’re hoping to make them see that the economic and human cost of closing Spring Creek would be unconscionable.”
Huntly East miner and union delegate Brian Lynch said the long-term damage to his community could be just as great if the Government did not step up.
“Solid Energy’s proposal to cancel the Huntly East ventilation project is a very risky and short-term cost-saving strategy that could force the mine to stop production within two years.
“If Huntly East closes the community will suffer a body blow, and the downstream effects on the Glenbrook steel mill could be even greater . . . we’ll be encouraging the Government to see the bigger picture.”
The miners will arrive at Parliament at 12pm tomorrow.
Will the Greens be on the steps of parliament tomorrow at lunchtime to greet the miners and their representatives?
Will the Greens stand with these workers in demanding that the government put serious money into investing in these workers and their families and saving their communities from the failure of the coal industry?
Will the Greens go further and confidently speak from the platform to argue the case that these communities are finished anyway if they stick with coal, and that this money would better instead be used to support these workers into long term viable above ground green industry jobs?
Will the Green MPs have the courage to stand up before this hard and admittedly sceptical audience to expose the coal industry’s lies that the enviromental movement is the anti-jobs and anti-worker lobby?
Will the Greens take this unique opportunity to point out to these mine workers facing unemployment and hardship for their families, that it is a glaring self evident fact, that it is the fossil fuel lobby that cares nothing for jobs or workers? (Just as the fossil fuel lobby couldn’t care less about the environment or even these workers safety if it gets in the way of making profits out them).
Jenny, what is your gripe with the Greens? You sure do appear to be prejudging them. Are you implying that Labour (whom you omit to mention) will be “on the job in force”? How about we wait until tomorrow comes!
Terry I have no gripe with the Greens. In fact I sincerely hope that they do very well tomorrow.
As for not mentioning Labour, (or National). When it comes to, deep sea drilling, or coal mining, or fracking, you could slip a cigarette paper between party policy between these two when it comes to supporting these outmoded and dangerous climate damaging industries. I expect them both to try to make political capital in promising these workers huge future expansion in coal mining in this country, when the facts are, that such promises are simply not sustainable.
As the parliamentary party for the environment, the Greens must have a different approach – Care for the natural environment, balanced with protection of the human environment.
My fear is that in a highly charged emotional atmosphere like this protest at the steps of parliament is likely to be, that the Greens may be intimidated in not even trying to make common cause with these workers. The danger being – if the Greens let their voice be pushed to the sidelines tomorrow, they will be made a scapegoat for the fossil fuel industry’s own inability to provide secure employment.
At the very least, the Greens need to be there, to be able to defend themselves from any attempts at low political misdirection and dishonest scapegoating, by political opportunists of the rightwing fossil fuel lobby.
Even better if the Greens can forcefully make their case for permanent and secure sustainable future proofed jobs that can give these communities a real future in a rapidly changing world.
In the War Against Poverty meet a real Kiwi battler.
Mid-afternoon on RadioLive I caught up with Sam, a “first-time caller” from Kaikohe. Sam told us he’d smashed the windows of his local Work and Income office with a hammer after the staff refused to give him a food parcel. He has been trespassed from the Winz office……
Matt McCarten Herald on Sunday Sept. 9, 2012
Read the full story on the Herald website on WHY why this man twice rode 4Km on a mobility scooter to smash WINZ’s office windows. He is a multiple-amputee publicising his hunger-strike, after brutal WINZ policies resulted in his starvation.
Unfortunately being the technophobe I am having had trouble finding the proper way to link to Matt McCarten’s full article.
So help me out here people…
Believe me – ya gotta read this story.
It has everything, Pathos, Bathos, drama, indomitable courage, and the overcoming of all obstacles to make a life.
Sam did not commit a meaningless act of vandalism, instead he decided to make a political statement.
Read why WINZ were too cowardly to lay charges against Sam, which is what he wanted, least his cause get the oxygen of publicity. Instead WINZ in continuing their policy of silently starving him, (and others), to death in quiet desperation, having trespassed him from their office.
Forget the Para-Olympians this guy is a real Kiwi hero. He deserves to be celebrated in verse and song.
His marathon should be rerun every year so that his campaign against injustice perfidy and greed in a land of plenty is never forgotten.
“Can you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men…..”
So Paul said, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.'”
yeah, his story ran on 3news last night, what a trooper… whoever his case manager is, and the centre manager should face disciplinary hearings for cruelty and neglect… winz on the whole have a peculiar way of making you feel second class and it is unacceptable
Yeah but they will probably get a bonus usually. But someone will have to pay the piper for this getting out into the eyes of the public, probably the lowest on the totem pole, on to the dole with them, and not replaced due to savings target, so therefore making a saving at the same time. So really a win win for WINZ.
A University of Otago study using seven years of longitudinal survey data shows that the longer children are living in poor households the more vulnerable they are to poor social and health outcomes.
“The sad reality is that far too many Maori and Pasifika children are affected by poverty and a sure sign in our schools is kids not having lunch or unable to concentrate because they are hungry.
…
“Labour will work alongside community groups to tackle this issue …
…
“I want to encourage principals, parents and community groups to engage with the submission process on the Expert Advisory Group for the Children’s Commission – Solutions to Poverty Report.
– Julie Anne Genter on #justspeak camp for young people wanting a better justice system.
18 hours ago, Kevin Hague was grumpy because: While I’ve been away someone has borrowed my bike, meaning I’ve spent 2hrs putting another one together for my ride
An NZ Greens tweet on marriage equality: Marriage equality sacking is discrimination http://t.co/FBLVFKmA #nzpol
And Kevin Hague on the tobacco industry: The more tobacco industry anti-plain packaging advertising I see, the more excited I am that we are onto a winner
On the NZ First site, Barbara Stewart has a post from a few days about students with disabilities.:
New Zealand First is calling on the Government to urgently amend the criteria so that all students with reading and writing disabilities are able to access extra assistance to sit NCEA exams.
The call comes after it was revealed today that students with “invisible disabilities” such as dyslexia, ADHD and autism are being denied exam assistance by NZQA.
I’m reposting my comment from Bloggers and ripping off content because I posted it late last night, I put a lot of work into it and I want as many people on here to see it as possible. I won’t make a habit of this:
I entered the text of each of the last five posts (skipping the General Debates, Open Mikes, Mental Health Breaks and re-posts of YouTube clips etc) on a number of blogs into this readability index calculator. I didn’t include the blog comments. Wikipedia gives a good explanation of what the Flesch-Kincaid test measures. The lower the reading ease, the more complex. A reading ease score of 0.0-30.0 is best understood by university graduates, while 60.0-70.0 should be easily understood by 15 year-olds and 90.0-100.0 by 11 year-olds. The grade level corresponds to the number of years of education required by a reader to understand a passage.
There seems to be a correlation between the level of comprehension required to understand a post and where the author sits on the political spectrum. It should be remembered, though, that simplicity is not necessarily a vice. Especially when trying to communicate with a large community and trying to persuade them to a particular point of view. Hemmingway, for example, liked short bold sentences.
Edit, you’ll notice up above that some things appear out of order by reading ease level. I sorted the spreadsheet by grade. So obviously the two measures of grade and reading ease aren’t in exact alignment.
Lets not get too smart: if the “left” has to be more educated / literate / intelligent (whatever) to understand our blogs then just maybe we have cut out a large part of the audience we need?
Now thats interesting; Draco keeps referencing Bowally Road and having just read his article on
“Tolerating Islam” i am presently impressed; march on the fifth column
(people may consider the general abstinence from ethanol amongst followers as a Strength)
Josie Pagani for the left and Deborah Coddington for the right on pollie talk after 11am this morning radionz. Listen to the girls mud wrestle – just have to use your imagination. There might be nothing much that’s cerebral and illuminating from this two.
Radio NZ’s political spot just finished and I give credit where credit is due. Josie Pagani out-classed Deborah Coddington on all fronts. Some might say that wouldn’t be hard, but I was still impressed with the depth of her arguments. Deb baby came across quite shallow in comparison.
While I’ve contributed my share of criticism towards the Paganis, you have to be fair to Josie… she has been in a difficult place trying to debate on an equal footing with that bully boy Hooton.
Anne 7.1
Yes I was impressed with the points that Josie Pagani made. Deborah C was as expected. Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo? Pity he didn’t catch her and haul her off to his lair permanently.
Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo?
Yes, it was the one that died about six months ago. Forgotten his name already. He married the
former ACT president (forgotten her name too) who is currently running the Charter School programme set-up by Banksie boy.
She’s currently married to some fancy Wellington lawyer whose name also escapes me… 🙂
China’s in trouble currently. Ongoing social unrest in the interior which is very rarely reported upon. Overoptimistic economic statistics unashamedly falsified. Western consumer demand for Chinese made products nosediving. And then there seem to be a massively wealthy Chinese elite class, a large number of whom seem to be little more than spendthrift kleptocrats. But it looks like the good times are ending as major Chinese frauds are coming to light.
And of course its the ordinary people – even the younger well educated ones – who are getting the shaft from the people in charge. Tricking a younger generation with aspirational talk and then throwing them away.
sorry D. i know it shows my comparative ignorance, i only know how to copy and paste a link and i do not understand “this” instructions (all computerese to me)
if a helpful person with the time could iterate the necessary steps, i will be your friend long time 🙂
i only studied IT during a second degree (nursing; incomplete due to sociopolitical objections -they tend to bash medical doctors a bit which i found to be unbalanced, all things considered; anti-credentialism is merely a political position for me, i am a realist, most of the time anyway)
I just tried to post a step by step explanation of how to do it, but it is difficult to do because as soon as I put in the codes, the words turn blue and it doesn’t make sense.
I only learnt how to do this a month or so ago, I found this web page easy to understand…keep trying, once you get it, it is easy.
Just so you know…your post will look very messy before you post it, but once you click ‘submit comment’ the jumble disappears and your chosen words turn neatly blue.
Bastard thing, c what i mean that was 6 of them sheez ur mean M8
No 4 did not work, ur steakling them M8!
If I didn’t know better , i’d guess @ the author of that script
From now on I’m gonna delimit with …..
‘skdlthewryijgoehwsjgkphsdfg;phsetor8ghs//////\\***&&&&*!$#$@%#$#!^~(*’
That’ll catch it M8!
Try spaces instead M8!
I just realiased that one worked M8! 🙂
Hey heres an idea for ya, might save ya some grief
Why don’t u use an xml object layer to catch the A tag, it returns and error etc it’s just a comment.
If ya want a hand just mail me the script
write in 20 dif languages
do regexp in my sleep M8!
is it C?, looks like strtok gone wrong too me.
if(*(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
or …
/* a basic strtok, non destructive */
while( *(stringvar++)!=0 ) { /*null term*/
if((char) *(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
}
anyway,
from the CNBC coverage of World Economic Forum: China: The Road Ahead (weather forecast)
(recently moved to an uninsulated house, and man, does it get cold quickly when the clouds come)
Martin Sorrell-2012 5-yr Plan about domestic consumption (market research emphasized)
Lee Kai-Fu-social media instrumental role in China’s reforms-“Schrodingers Cat”
(the authorities do permit freedom of speech on their version of Twitter) and watch it “underwater”
-the projection of colonialist past by the West will stoke fires of ultra-nationalism
(“The Rape of Tokyo”?)
Interesting: Li Daoku-social media disciplining the behaviour of officials and bureaucrats
China’s “Soft Power”-securing food and resources from areas like Latin America, Africa and M.E
Ramzan Kadyrov; now there is an interesting man (u gotta long way to go to approach him Gerry)
“Accent of Money” was excellent imo; plenty of Tulips being erected in Auckland
“Accent of Money”..Ferguson is a total apologist and poster boy for the status quo. Read his book on Empire, he contends that the benefits outweigh the pain. He is of course seeing it from top down, it is mighty murky looking down to the slaves level.
Can someone explain the gap in realities that a western mind can’t see, in a way that a western mind can understand, that the justifiable reply to Innocence of the Muslims is rioting and killing? I understand the basic insults, I don’t understand how they translate into the reaction we’re seeing.
There are also geo-political reasons for the recent violence – long-enmity to the West, economic and social unrest, and agent provocateurs in the Muslim world who are trying to destabilise new Arab leadership. Muddying the water may be these provocateurs’ main game, using the film is just a catalyst for their violence.
Ordinary citizens, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, are caught between these extremes and left shocked by the sudden outpouring of violence, dousing for many what had been the hope of the Arab Spring.
Many Muslims are genuinely incensed by the “Innocence of Muslims”. They see it as blatant attack on their beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and as part of a series of “attacks” and hatred for their religious sanctity.
…
In fact, the overwhelming majority of Muslims do keep away from violence, even if their hearts are torn by deliberate denigration of their Prophet. Britain’s largest Muslim umbrella body, the Muslim Council of Britain (of which I was once head), has called on all parties to halt violence.
Unfortunately, it is the hotheads and idiots, those who act only from heart and not from head, who fall prey to the agent provocateurs.
Uturn: the western media driven propaganda (directed at us) says that the Muslim reaction is all around this video.
Of course that’s bullshit. As Carol suggests this is massively more complicated and has been simmering away close to a boil for many months. The much vaunted “Arab Spring” has left disillusionment and disarray while ongoing US support for dictators (and their replacements) as well as continual use of drone strikes and western military personnel in Muslim countries has angered.
Carol, this is good stuff. The only point I would make is that rather than acting from the heart (so often a caring thing), they are understandably reacting out of raw, bloody, and long frustrated emotion.
Perhaps Uturn we in the “west” being very used to a cultural and lingual tradition that includes such things as “enlightenment thinking”. Logic based upon our cultural framing / premises are where we view this from. It makes no sense to me that because some “western” trouble maker insults the Prophet that a number of Islamics get beaten / killed, but obviously to them it makes sense. So perhaps the frame of reference for Islamics is different to us and we should be very aware of it when blundering into this type of scenario.
Have a read of some European Reformation history, you will not be surprised we used to burn heretics alive, and persecute on a faith basis up until the late 1700s. We in the “west” (despite the “Enlightenment”, and probably because of it) sent millions to the gulag or the death camps based upon some skued logic less than 60 years since. Maybe we examine ourselves a little?
How about the gap in peopl’es minds that they can’t understand just how “mapped” out all this “chaos” is.
Most human beings just want to get along, and exist in peace, while being able to provide some sene of security for themselves/family etc. Those with the guns, money and the ability to reek havoc in such ways to “attempt” to make it to look like its “organic” = That’s your gap!
Our Corporate Media lenses have been honed closely into every detail of chaos, but little discussion in the mainstream around all of those who haven’t reacted that way, the development this weekend of the militia’s being turfed out of their bases by more moderate groups, the mascinations going on in a play for the Western created power vacuum – vested interests made sure the right groups saw this obscure clip, or the fact that again we’re dealing with blowback, the people we armed turning the guns on us once we’ve helped them achieve their / our short term goal or the IMF’s Shock Doctrine agenda in these countries and how these populations feel about the same economic “liberalisation” (read theft) they thought they’d thrown out.
This is seems to be closer to the mainstream view from where I am in the Middle East:
‘Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and one of the world’s most respected Islamic jurists, has called for greater dialogue and tolerance over the growing challenges created by the explosive growth of social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Too often, Sheikh Ali said, internet users trusted the information they were given without checking the facts and the authenticity of sources.’
and
‘He has called for fellow believers to respond to recent controversial portrayals of Mohammed — which he said “spread hatred” — just like the prophet himself would, “through patience and wisdom.’
Watched Keiser interview Mr Stallman re Open Source and what it really means. It is fascinating watching if you are attuned to the “corporate takeover” of our freedom.
1. Banks are “debanking” in the US the bottom 20% of people as they “cost too much to service”…the same is probably happening here. So “Why did we the taxpayer worldwide bail out the banks, yes all 100% of us?????”
2. ISPs are being forced by legislation in the US which we agree to through our trade agreements etc to suspend users “suspected” of breaking the regs / law. So “Are we guilty until proven innocent, guilty but uncharged etc (all sorts of permutations)? ” All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
Its a corporate kleptocracy. It been around for a while, but in the last 10 years it has taken on mammoth proportions. In the US there is no division between the political class and the corporate class.
All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
And all the while people nerdle about hoping that one day it will all miraculously change, without them having to get off their arses.
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
IMO, one of the downsides to an overly complex society is that people really don’t know what’s going on around them because it is too complex. This opens the way for the corruption and dictatorship we see today* as these immoral actions can easily be hidden within the complexity.
* We see it today because it’s become so commonplace over the decades that it can no longer be hidden.
Bored 11
Being compliant and being corrupt – there is probably not a great degree between them. The hint of an after politics directorship, consultancy etc may be enough to sway the decision in favour of the corporate and bye bye first thoughts of service to the people and the country.
Not really! Key has only launched an investigation by the Government Communications Security Bureau because he has to do something. The GCSB is his baby and any results could be highly questionable. As Ira Rothken said; “It all depends on what the results are,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is little to no transparency involved at all.
you may have considered my poetic emphasis on the primacy of Prophets then
(blessings and peace be upon their names)
Prophecy-meta-physics-values-ethics-behaviour-ethics-values-metaphysics-Prophecy
(well, i am still at peace with that, although “true” philosophers may find it too simple)
i am only a gardener, after all, which is what i am off to do now 🙂
Will wonders never cease! Lunch ended up all over my keyboard, when I read the Stuff article on this, still laughing but not really surprised having had some dealings with people from that agency.
“He is responsible as Prime Minister for signing off all intercept warrants by GSCB. While it’s been revealed that ‘some’ bugging was done illegally, it is not credible to think that other monitoring by the agency was not signed by the Prime Minister before the raid was carried out.
“This is not about national security. This is about John Key’s own word and whether he has told the truth to New Zealanders,” said David Shearer.
As you say, for once Shearer is quick of the mark and a well worded press release which gets right to the heart of the matter – the fact that Key as PM is the responsible Minister and is supposed to sign off on all intercepts.
Question Time tomorrow will be interesting, but I expect that Key will try and fob off questions on the grounds that it is a matter before the High Court and/or an investigation is underway. Hopefully Key’s claim to have know nothing until the day before the raid in his interview on Campbell Live will come back to haunt him. Must watch CL tonight – Campbell’s quisical look at the end of that interview has always had me wondering what else he knew but was holding back on.
Hope the “Ignorance gets us nowhere” line is also played back on Key!
Also liked the NZF press release which takes a different tack to Shearer’s. Peters will be loving it – and yet some people think that NZF could work with National next term – don’t think so, imo.
Exactly. Stuff now has an updated article saying the Dotcom’s lawyers say it is too early to know how this will affect his case. Halfway down the article also states the Judge Winklemann has called another hearing on Wednesday on the search warrants….
Already it does not ring true that Key had not heard about dot com. He has to be fibbing, big ones too, in the vicinity of liar liar pants on fire fibs …
“Mr Key appears not to care about the security of New Zealanders, and is instead more concerned with photo opportunities, three-way handshakes at rugby games, and prancing down fashion runways.”
This is going to be bigger then Ben Hur its being picked up US blogs (faster the mainstream it seems) it will go viral. Key needs a distraction ( A trade off ) Solid Energy perhaps? it needs equivalence weighting.To much negative news and its only Monday.
Another issue is that during the cross examination of the Police task force officer in charge of the operation,Davidson (dc lawyer) asked what was the ongoing inter officer communications,and from where was the operation being directed from ,he refused to answer and the reasons (where adjourned to chambers) and subsequently suppressed.
Frustratingly, it will be unlikely that we will know the full story. But Hager does say that Key has been a willing partner with the US on security issues.
Can’t wait to hear policy of the next Labour/Greens/Winston Government as to who is going to pay for all the largess once the TOW deals have been settled, so far and in the future.
This will be along with more money for everybody by way of new Winz benefits, along with new child benefits.
School meals (not only breakfast)
Keeping coal mines open (and not earning).
Keeping Railways and workshops open..
New minimum wage –
Keeping all schools open and reducing class ratio.
Reducing the exchange rate by control.
Paying for water, air, and flora and fauna.
No fracking or mineral exploration (no new coal mines).
Changing the fishing quota and not allowing foreign crewed vessels.
Paying for Auckland’s rail links and new lines.
Reducing fuel costs.
Getting rid of Overseas Banks.
And continuing to fund taxpayer money to Christchurch (to those uninsured also).
Am sure other expectations can be explored.
Well, we could stop borrowing $330 million a week to subsidise the rich for starters. Then we can probably afford most of the things on your list, Fortran.
Also please add buying Fisher & Paykal appliances and maybe the crafar farms after sale and also buying back the public share of the any assets. Quite a bit really.
Fartrain! It will work better than the brighter future
School meals < $19million
Railway work shops open< $20million
New minimum wage will increase job numbers treasury figures and increase tax take!
Reducing exchange rate will increase jobs profits and tax take
Paying for water right wing councils already want to some are!
Why have new coal mines when you are closing them now!
Fish and crews means our fish stocks will stay higher making them more sustainable more money for our economy in the long run!
Rail links and line will mean we can keep Infrastructure costs down and are between 18 and 50 times cheaper than private cars that's not including the cost of owning and maintaining a car!
Like the above reducing fuel costs will bring down our balance of payments deficit making our currency cheaper and more competitive!
Getting rid of overseas banks that won't happen they are way to powerful
We are already paying for CHCH we are also paying the interest on the $10 billion bill!
Im constantly amazed as to how Keys govt in the house refer to the faults of the previous govt as being Labours when they ,National, are the previous govt or was the election such a non event that they still feel no sense of responsibility for the shit they are dumping on those who have no way forward under this second term of right wing bullshit that is so far out of date in its policies that america will probably have to take us over to make sure we are still on the page over where we live in the world .
How can Key profess that he has not read the police report on Banks , is he not the minister in charge of the SIS ? Hello .
Then we have Bennett and her continual bee in her bonnet policies .Does she forget that poor people need a break from their toddlers as we as the rich and being poor walkin them to a child care and broadening the kids outlook cant be too costly because it only takes seven years to set a childs behaviour for life
How fucked up is her sense of values ?
Interesting that Phil Goff reckons that NZ should not give up the independence developed since the nuclear free stance. And he reckons the National government won’t go that far either:
Building on progress over the last decade, it was a welcome further move. A strong and warm relationship with the US makes sense given its influence in the world and shared commitments on values like democracy and human rights.
But from my and Labour’s perspective, it does not place us on a path to resume alliance commitments, or nuclear ship visits.
New Zealand has moved on from there. Labour’s strong belief in speaking with an independent voice based on our values and interests has become part of the mainstream New Zealand belief system.
That’s why even though it might prefer to do so, National won’t openly signal a move back to alliances and nuclear ship visits.
As a small country, New Zealand gains respect and influence not by echoing anyone else’s voice but by taking considered and principled stands on international issues.
Nuclear ship visits, return to ANZUS or permanent stationing of US troops here would not be compatible with New Zealand’s desire to be seen as having an independent voice.
Rejecting permanent stationing is good, but it leaves things open to temporary stationing of US troops here.
Building on progress over the last decade, it was a welcome further move. A strong and warm relationship with the US makes sense given its influence in the world and shared commitments on values like democracy and human rights.
Democracy and Human Rights….Phil shows he has actually lost his mind completely!
Send in the drones Goff they call him these days….Thats what Phil means when he refers to democracy and human rights.As I have posted some time back, Phil was on the radio saying that America should drone Syria, he was positively begging them to do so!
Piss off Phil you career leech, have the UN not offered you the crony career politician role yet!
I urge readers to take half an hour and read journalist Keith Hunter’s website story COUQ and his invitation to ex- Detective inspector Bruce Hutton to sue.
very sad this matter ( i choose not to watch the “investigator ” . his delivery puts me off
(same as that fool minority-basher Wishart; read a couple of his books and thought puh lease already!)
Agreed re Wishart, but Wishart is a serial conspiracy theorist, this appears to be a deliberate attempt to seriously mislead the NZ public, using public money, and the most likely instigators would appear to be the NZ police.
Unless you’re an Ostrich with your head firmly buried in the sand, you’ll be aware that New Zealand has a pervasive and growing poverty problem that is largely being ignored by the current government…
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David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
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 ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
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 ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
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 ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- 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. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
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 ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
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. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
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. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
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. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
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 ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
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 ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
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A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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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, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
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Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
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The Coal Miners march to parliament tomorrow will be a political test for New Zealand’s Parliamentary Environmental Party the Greens.
Will they be up for the challenge?
Can the Greens make common cause with these workers?
Or will the Green Party MPs stand on the sidelines, defensive and impotent and leave the field free for the venal and opportunist, drill it, mine it, frack it lobby, to co-opt this workers movement for justice to their profit driven anti humanity ends?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/7719822/Last-ditch-bid-to-save-mine-jobs
Will the Greens be on the steps of parliament tomorrow at lunchtime to greet the miners and their representatives?
Will the Greens stand with these workers in demanding that the government put serious money into investing in these workers and their families and saving their communities from the failure of the coal industry?
Will the Greens go further and confidently speak from the platform to argue the case that these communities are finished anyway if they stick with coal, and that this money would better instead be used to support these workers into long term viable above ground green industry jobs?
Will the Green MPs have the courage to stand up before this hard and admittedly sceptical audience to expose the coal industry’s lies that the enviromental movement is the anti-jobs and anti-worker lobby?
Will the Greens take this unique opportunity to point out to these mine workers facing unemployment and hardship for their families, that it is a glaring self evident fact, that it is the fossil fuel lobby that cares nothing for jobs or workers? (Just as the fossil fuel lobby couldn’t care less about the environment or even these workers safety if it gets in the way of making profits out them).
Jenny, what is your gripe with the Greens? You sure do appear to be prejudging them. Are you implying that Labour (whom you omit to mention) will be “on the job in force”? How about we wait until tomorrow comes!
Terry I have no gripe with the Greens. In fact I sincerely hope that they do very well tomorrow.
As for not mentioning Labour, (or National). When it comes to, deep sea drilling, or coal mining, or fracking, you could slip a cigarette paper between party policy between these two when it comes to supporting these outmoded and dangerous climate damaging industries. I expect them both to try to make political capital in promising these workers huge future expansion in coal mining in this country, when the facts are, that such promises are simply not sustainable.
As the parliamentary party for the environment, the Greens must have a different approach – Care for the natural environment, balanced with protection of the human environment.
My fear is that in a highly charged emotional atmosphere like this protest at the steps of parliament is likely to be, that the Greens may be intimidated in not even trying to make common cause with these workers. The danger being – if the Greens let their voice be pushed to the sidelines tomorrow, they will be made a scapegoat for the fossil fuel industry’s own inability to provide secure employment.
At the very least, the Greens need to be there, to be able to defend themselves from any attempts at low political misdirection and dishonest scapegoating, by political opportunists of the rightwing fossil fuel lobby.
Even better if the Greens can forcefully make their case for permanent and secure sustainable future proofed jobs that can give these communities a real future in a rapidly changing world.
It will be interesting to see what transpires.
Speaking truth to power
Matt McCarten hits one out of the park.
In the War Against Poverty meet a real Kiwi battler.
Read the full story on the Herald website on WHY why this man twice rode 4Km on a mobility scooter to smash WINZ’s office windows. He is a multiple-amputee publicising his hunger-strike, after brutal WINZ policies resulted in his starvation.
Unfortunately being the technophobe I am having had trouble finding the proper way to link to Matt McCarten’s full article.
So help me out here people…
Believe me – ya gotta read this story.
It has everything, Pathos, Bathos, drama, indomitable courage, and the overcoming of all obstacles to make a life.
Sam did not commit a meaningless act of vandalism, instead he decided to make a political statement.
Read why WINZ were too cowardly to lay charges against Sam, which is what he wanted, least his cause get the oxygen of publicity. Instead WINZ in continuing their policy of silently starving him, (and others), to death in quiet desperation, having trespassed him from their office.
Forget the Para-Olympians this guy is a real Kiwi hero. He deserves to be celebrated in verse and song.
His marathon should be rerun every year so that his campaign against injustice perfidy and greed in a land of plenty is never forgotten.
“Can you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men…..”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz-government/news/article.cfm?c_id=144&objectid=10835837
Hi Jenny,
I hope the above link to Matt’s column about Sam, from yesterday’s Herald works.
This article provides a bit of direct input from Sam.
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/news/hunger-strike-a-protest/1554152/
great post Jenny
oops, forgot (before a warming shower, brrrrgh!)
So Paul said, “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than receive.'”
Thanks, Jenny, now you are getting back on track!
yeah, his story ran on 3news last night, what a trooper… whoever his case manager is, and the centre manager should face disciplinary hearings for cruelty and neglect… winz on the whole have a peculiar way of making you feel second class and it is unacceptable
Yeah but they will probably get a bonus usually. But someone will have to pay the piper for this getting out into the eyes of the public, probably the lowest on the totem pole, on to the dole with them, and not replaced due to savings target, so therefore making a saving at the same time. So really a win win for WINZ.
As for the rest of us? whats next?
‘eres wots next; closing the likes of McKenzie Residential School (along with disability exam support)-eugenics by a 1000 cuts?
Not a lot on new on the opposition parties websites since yesterday morning.
Nanaia Mahuta on the Labour Party site has a statement about the links between poverty and education:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/poverty-hurting-our-kids%E2%80%99-education
No new posts on the Greens site, though the Green Feed on the right side of the screen has recent tweets
http://www.greens.org.nz/
– Julie Anne Genter on #justspeak camp for young people wanting a better justice system.
18 hours ago, Kevin Hague was grumpy because:
While I’ve been away someone has borrowed my bike, meaning I’ve spent 2hrs putting another one together for my ride
An NZ Greens tweet on marriage equality:
Marriage equality sacking is discrimination http://t.co/FBLVFKmA #nzpol
And Kevin Hague on the tobacco industry:
The more tobacco industry anti-plain packaging advertising I see, the more excited I am that we are onto a winner
On the NZ First site, Barbara Stewart has a post from a few days about students with disabilities.:
http://nzfirst.org.nz/news/students-learning-disabilities-snubbed-government
It is happening to students with disabilities in Aus too-Naplan test
Running late for a job, but here’s a good summary + link-fest on the major issue with the recent ENCODE paper:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/09/23/the-encode-delusion/
(Which I didn’t pick up fully as I skimmed the paper /herpderp)
Also I haz another science gripe, but work is at 9am.
I’m reposting my comment from Bloggers and ripping off content because I posted it late last night, I put a lot of work into it and I want as many people on here to see it as possible. I won’t make a habit of this:
I entered the text of each of the last five posts (skipping the General Debates, Open Mikes, Mental Health Breaks and re-posts of YouTube clips etc) on a number of blogs into this readability index calculator. I didn’t include the blog comments. Wikipedia gives a good explanation of what the Flesch-Kincaid test measures. The lower the reading ease, the more complex. A reading ease score of 0.0-30.0 is best understood by university graduates, while 60.0-70.0 should be easily understood by 15 year-olds and 90.0-100.0 by 11 year-olds. The grade level corresponds to the number of years of education required by a reader to understand a passage.
There seems to be a correlation between the level of comprehension required to understand a post and where the author sits on the political spectrum. It should be remembered, though, that simplicity is not necessarily a vice. Especially when trying to communicate with a large community and trying to persuade them to a particular point of view. Hemmingway, for example, liked short bold sentences.
Anyway, ranked from most complex to least:
Bowalley Road Grade: 15.8; Reading ease: 20
The Standard Grade: 14.4; Reading ease: 36.6
Gordon Campbell Grade: 14.2; Reading ease: 34.2
Bryce Edwards Grade: 13.8; Reading ease: 35.2
Frogblog Grade: 13.2; Reading ease: 38.8
Public Address Grade: 13; Reading ease: 40.2
Pundit Grade: 13; Reading ease: 41.2
Red Alert Grade: 13; Reading ease: 41.2
Tumeke Grade: 12.6; Reading ease: 40.6
John Armstrong Grade: 12.4; Reading ease: 40.2
John Roughan Grade: 12.4; Reading ease: 41
Whale Oil Grade: 11.6; Reading ease: 49.4
Kiwiblog Grade: 9.4; Reading ease: 53.8
A spreadsheet with links to the individual posts and their scores is here.
Pete also did a nice comparison example out of the Herald Online and Stuff 🙂
http://thestandard.org.nz/bloggers-and-ripping-off-content/comment-page-1/#comment-525188c
Lets not get too smart: if the “left” has to be more educated / literate / intelligent (whatever) to understand our blogs then just maybe we have cut out a large part of the audience we need?
workin on me parsimony
good to know. will keep short in time to come.
[ Flesch-Kincaid Grade level: 1. Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease score: 101.]
Now thats interesting; Draco keeps referencing Bowally Road and having just read his article on
“Tolerating Islam” i am presently impressed; march on the fifth column
(people may consider the general abstinence from ethanol amongst followers as a Strength)
Josie Pagani for the left and Deborah Coddington for the right on pollie talk after 11am this morning radionz. Listen to the girls mud wrestle – just have to use your imagination. There might be nothing much that’s cerebral and illuminating from this two.
Radio NZ’s political spot just finished and I give credit where credit is due. Josie Pagani out-classed Deborah Coddington on all fronts. Some might say that wouldn’t be hard, but I was still impressed with the depth of her arguments. Deb baby came across quite shallow in comparison.
While I’ve contributed my share of criticism towards the Paganis, you have to be fair to Josie… she has been in a difficult place trying to debate on an equal footing with that bully boy Hooton.
Anne 7.1
Yes I was impressed with the points that Josie Pagani made. Deborah C was as expected. Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo? Pity he didn’t catch her and haul her off to his lair permanently.
Didn’t she get in the news a decade ago for being actually chased by some Roundtable Romeo?
Yes, it was the one that died about six months ago. Forgotten his name already. He married the
former ACT president (forgotten her name too) who is currently running the Charter School programme set-up by Banksie boy.
She’s currently married to some fancy Wellington lawyer whose name also escapes me… 🙂
Anne
Got all of that. 😛
When China Rules The World
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_China_Rules_the_World:_The_End_of_the_Western_World_and_the_Birth_of_a_New_Global_Order
(testing link moderation)
China’s in trouble currently. Ongoing social unrest in the interior which is very rarely reported upon. Overoptimistic economic statistics unashamedly falsified. Western consumer demand for Chinese made products nosediving. And then there seem to be a massively wealthy Chinese elite class, a large number of whom seem to be little more than spendthrift kleptocrats. But it looks like the good times are ending as major Chinese frauds are coming to light.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-09-03/thieving-thieves
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/how-chinas-rehypothecated-ghost-steel-just-vaporized-and-what-means-world-economy
And of course its the ordinary people – even the younger well educated ones – who are getting the shaft from the people in charge. Tricking a younger generation with aspirational talk and then throwing them away.
http://www.economywatch.com/economy-business-and-finance-news/ant-tribe-china-university-grads-not-finding-jobs.16-02.html
The auto-moderator doesn’t like raw links which means you should be reading this.
sorry D. i know it shows my comparative ignorance, i only know how to copy and paste a link and i do not understand “this” instructions (all computerese to me)
if a helpful person with the time could iterate the necessary steps, i will be your friend long time 🙂
i only studied IT during a second degree (nursing; incomplete due to sociopolitical objections -they tend to bash medical doctors a bit which i found to be unbalanced, all things considered; anti-credentialism is merely a political position for me, i am a realist, most of the time anyway)
I just tried to post a step by step explanation of how to do it, but it is difficult to do because as soon as I put in the codes, the words turn blue and it doesn’t make sense.
I only learnt how to do this a month or so ago, I found this web page easy to understand…keep trying, once you get it, it is easy.
Just so you know…your post will look very messy before you post it, but once you click ‘submit comment’ the jumble disappears and your chosen words turn neatly blue.
I see what u mean , hey lp , i can’t ev
//(0-0)\\\
Bastard thing, c what i mean that was 6 of them sheez ur mean M8
No 4 did not work, ur steakling them M8!
If I didn’t know better , i’d guess @ the author of that script
From now on I’m gonna delimit with …..
‘skdlthewryijgoehwsjgkphsdfg;phsetor8ghs//////\\***&&&&*!$#$@%#$#!^~(*’
That’ll catch it M8!
Try spaces instead M8!
I just realiased that one worked M8! 🙂
Hey heres an idea for ya, might save ya some grief
Why don’t u use an xml object layer to catch the A tag, it returns and error etc it’s just a comment.
If ya want a hand just mail me the script
write in 20 dif languages
do regexp in my sleep M8!
Fixed a Chinese char laptop by pure feel once
It was all menu driven
is it C?, looks like strtok gone wrong too me.
if(*(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
or …
/* a basic strtok, non destructive */
while( *(stringvar++)!=0 ) { /*null term*/
if((char) *(stringvar)==’ ‘){} help much?
}
copy to null…
while( *(var1) != 0 ) *(var2) = *(var1++);
Thankyou. will look into it. 🙂
anyway,
from the CNBC coverage of World Economic Forum: China: The Road Ahead (weather forecast)
(recently moved to an uninsulated house, and man, does it get cold quickly when the clouds come)
Martin Sorrell-2012 5-yr Plan about domestic consumption (market research emphasized)
Lee Kai-Fu-social media instrumental role in China’s reforms-“Schrodingers Cat”
(the authorities do permit freedom of speech on their version of Twitter) and watch it “underwater”
-the projection of colonialist past by the West will stoke fires of ultra-nationalism
(“The Rape of Tokyo”?)
Interesting: Li Daoku-social media disciplining the behaviour of officials and bureaucrats
China’s “Soft Power”-securing food and resources from areas like Latin America, Africa and M.E
Ramzan Kadyrov; now there is an interesting man (u gotta long way to go to approach him Gerry)
“Accent of Money” was excellent imo; plenty of Tulips being erected in Auckland
“Accent of Money”..Ferguson is a total apologist and poster boy for the status quo. Read his book on Empire, he contends that the benefits outweigh the pain. He is of course seeing it from top down, it is mighty murky looking down to the slaves level.
and “they” intend to keep the slaves heads down, nose to the grindstone
Can someone explain the gap in realities that a western mind can’t see, in a way that a western mind can understand, that the justifiable reply to Innocence of the Muslims is rioting and killing? I understand the basic insults, I don’t understand how they translate into the reaction we’re seeing.
Try here Uturn. It’s a complex situation with various interwoben tensions and power-plays and strands of resistance:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/09/2012918112920274722.html
Extract from the article:
Uturn: the western media driven propaganda (directed at us) says that the Muslim reaction is all around this video.
Of course that’s bullshit. As Carol suggests this is massively more complicated and has been simmering away close to a boil for many months. The much vaunted “Arab Spring” has left disillusionment and disarray while ongoing US support for dictators (and their replacements) as well as continual use of drone strikes and western military personnel in Muslim countries has angered.
i am not worthy 🙁
Carol, this is good stuff. The only point I would make is that rather than acting from the heart (so often a caring thing), they are understandably reacting out of raw, bloody, and long frustrated emotion.
Perhaps Uturn we in the “west” being very used to a cultural and lingual tradition that includes such things as “enlightenment thinking”. Logic based upon our cultural framing / premises are where we view this from. It makes no sense to me that because some “western” trouble maker insults the Prophet that a number of Islamics get beaten / killed, but obviously to them it makes sense. So perhaps the frame of reference for Islamics is different to us and we should be very aware of it when blundering into this type of scenario.
Have a read of some European Reformation history, you will not be surprised we used to burn heretics alive, and persecute on a faith basis up until the late 1700s. We in the “west” (despite the “Enlightenment”, and probably because of it) sent millions to the gulag or the death camps based upon some skued logic less than 60 years since. Maybe we examine ourselves a little?
Uturn,
How about the gap in peopl’es minds that they can’t understand just how “mapped” out all this “chaos” is.
Most human beings just want to get along, and exist in peace, while being able to provide some sene of security for themselves/family etc. Those with the guns, money and the ability to reek havoc in such ways to “attempt” to make it to look like its “organic” = That’s your gap!
interpretation of the scripture and latent hostility to US/Western oppression?
“Lawyers, Guns and Money”-Warren Zevon
Our Corporate Media lenses have been honed closely into every detail of chaos, but little discussion in the mainstream around all of those who haven’t reacted that way, the development this weekend of the militia’s being turfed out of their bases by more moderate groups, the mascinations going on in a play for the Western created power vacuum – vested interests made sure the right groups saw this obscure clip, or the fact that again we’re dealing with blowback, the people we armed turning the guns on us once we’ve helped them achieve their / our short term goal or the IMF’s Shock Doctrine agenda in these countries and how these populations feel about the same economic “liberalisation” (read theft) they thought they’d thrown out.
http://world.time.com/2012/09/22/the-revolt-of-benghazis-moderates-will-the-rest-of-libya-follow/
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/free-libya-crowds-in-benghazi-rally-against-militias-drive-al-qaeda-out-of-city.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NI14Dj01.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2012/sep/21/egypt-turmoil-distraction-imf-economic-agenda?CMP=twt_gu
this is an interesting video of a Muslim talking about the reaction from his perspective
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/calm-muslim-berates-violent-muslims-for-defaming-islam-and-being-suckers.html
Greenwald on spin
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/20/obama-officials-spin-benghazi-attack
and another Muslim on the Salifist extremism fanning the flames
http://www.juancole.com/2012/09/tunisian-muslim-leader-warns-of-dangers-of-violent-fundamentalism.html
Some one insulted their Father bud.
Happens in a war torn country when you lose all your family.
Thanks for the links and insight, guys. Who needs the MSM when the TS team is on the case?
This is seems to be closer to the mainstream view from where I am in the Middle East:
‘Sheikh Ali Gomaa, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and one of the world’s most respected Islamic jurists, has called for greater dialogue and tolerance over the growing challenges created by the explosive growth of social-networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
Too often, Sheikh Ali said, internet users trusted the information they were given without checking the facts and the authenticity of sources.’
and
‘He has called for fellow believers to respond to recent controversial portrayals of Mohammed — which he said “spread hatred” — just like the prophet himself would, “through patience and wisdom.’
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/grand-mufti-calls-for-dialogue-about-the-internet
http://updatednews.ca/2012/09/23/egyptian-sunni-islam-leader-calls-for-peace/
excellent. social-networking nonsense will become increasingly state-moderated in our lifetimes, imo. What is going on at present is outraging
I like this video about the work of Edward Said and his concept of Orientalism.
Watched Keiser interview Mr Stallman re Open Source and what it really means. It is fascinating watching if you are attuned to the “corporate takeover” of our freedom.
http://maxkeiser.com/category/keiser-report-2/
A couple of questions / concepts from the show:
1. Banks are “debanking” in the US the bottom 20% of people as they “cost too much to service”…the same is probably happening here. So “Why did we the taxpayer worldwide bail out the banks, yes all 100% of us?????”
2. ISPs are being forced by legislation in the US which we agree to through our trade agreements etc to suspend users “suspected” of breaking the regs / law. So “Are we guilty until proven innocent, guilty but uncharged etc (all sorts of permutations)? ” All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
Its a corporate kleptocracy. It been around for a while, but in the last 10 years it has taken on mammoth proportions. In the US there is no division between the political class and the corporate class.
The introduction of account fees in the 90s was a form of ‘debanking’. Pay your way or go somewhere else was the philosophy.
All sort of adds up to having our freedoms removed with no redress…..
Correct, but the redress we have, seems to have been “bred” out of people, they seem to not see/want to see or understand what is going on around them, and what it will mean in coming years.
Seems to me the corporatist dictatorship has arrived, not a “black shirt” required. Enforced by legislation through the democratic process, our representatives too gullible or too compliant to resist.
And all the while people nerdle about hoping that one day it will all miraculously change, without them having to get off their arses.
IMO, one of the downsides to an overly complex society is that people really don’t know what’s going on around them because it is too complex. This opens the way for the corruption and dictatorship we see today* as these immoral actions can easily be hidden within the complexity.
* We see it today because it’s become so commonplace over the decades that it can no longer be hidden.
Bored 11
Being compliant and being corrupt – there is probably not a great degree between them. The hint of an after politics directorship, consultancy etc may be enough to sway the decision in favour of the corporate and bye bye first thoughts of service to the people and the country.
Elected dictatorship. Our representatives no longer represent us – if they ever did. They now represent the rich and the corporates.
BTW, which actual post were you referring to?
Oh, it was this one.
The downward spiral of our education system continues: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/national-standards-defy-logic.html
Thanks DK, an excellent link.
The page just vanished before – closed by remote server and a list of addresses with the word standard in them.
And on Stuff comes the headline, Key: ‘Ignorance takes us nowhere’ Just for a moment I was thinking he was talking about the government’s policy on poverty, or climate change, or maybe John Banks….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7721069/Key-on-National-Standards-Ignorance-takes-us-nowhere
Even Peter Williams (MSM) has been instructed to utter-“Oil prices are set to double in the next decade” …ridin’ along on my push-bike baby…
The Rebels have moved their Command Centre from the Turkish border into Syria
“Revolution” – John Butler Trio
“Walk the World”- Heather Nova
suns out, better do some gardening. Have a great day, wherever you all are (unless you are a Nact supporter, then Just do the best you can i s’pose)
BREAKING NEWS: GCSB intercepted Dotcom’s communications:
PM launches inquiry saying he was only informed of this a couple of days ago. I thought the PM was always kept informed of such things?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/PM-orders-Dotcom-spy-inquiry
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179
Is this a movie Sir PJ will be rushing to direct for his Warners’ mates?
Key being transparent for a change.
Not really! Key has only launched an investigation by the Government Communications Security Bureau because he has to do something. The GCSB is his baby and any results could be highly questionable. As Ira Rothken said; “It all depends on what the results are,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if there is little to no transparency involved at all.
The finger can only be pointed at Key. I now know where the threshold is with Key. I do not think it is the diversion Key wants concerning Banks.
I do not disagree with your comment either.
you may have considered my poetic emphasis on the primacy of Prophets then
(blessings and peace be upon their names)
Prophecy-meta-physics-values-ethics-behaviour-ethics-values-metaphysics-Prophecy
(well, i am still at peace with that, although “true” philosophers may find it too simple)
i am only a gardener, after all, which is what i am off to do now 🙂
Will wonders never cease! Lunch ended up all over my keyboard, when I read the Stuff article on this, still laughing but not really surprised having had some dealings with people from that agency.
The Herald has a longer article – http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179
As Poisson says at 17 below, what a mad hatters tea party!
And Shearer is calling Key on it – for once pretty quick off the mark:
http://www.labour.org.nz/news/key-must-come-clean-on-his-knowledge-of-dotcom
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00364/key-must-come-clean-on-his-knowledge-of-dotcom.htm
And NZ First also has a press release out.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1209/S00362/pm-shows-mega-disregard-to-ministerial-roles.htm
As you say, for once Shearer is quick of the mark and a well worded press release which gets right to the heart of the matter – the fact that Key as PM is the responsible Minister and is supposed to sign off on all intercepts.
Question Time tomorrow will be interesting, but I expect that Key will try and fob off questions on the grounds that it is a matter before the High Court and/or an investigation is underway. Hopefully Key’s claim to have know nothing until the day before the raid in his interview on Campbell Live will come back to haunt him. Must watch CL tonight – Campbell’s quisical look at the end of that interview has always had me wondering what else he knew but was holding back on.
Hope the “Ignorance gets us nowhere” line is also played back on Key!
Also liked the NZF press release which takes a different tack to Shearer’s. Peters will be loving it – and yet some people think that NZF could work with National next term – don’t think so, imo.
Yes, it’s either, Key was not telling the truth (Labour) or he has been slack and failed to carry out effective oversight of the GCSB (NZ First)
Exactly. Stuff now has an updated article saying the Dotcom’s lawyers say it is too early to know how this will affect his case. Halfway down the article also states the Judge Winklemann has called another hearing on Wednesday on the search warrants….
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/Dotcom-lawyers-eye-spy-inquiry
Key will probably have to resort to the “bit sloppy” line.
There’s no way he’ll admit lying when he said he’d never heard of Dotcom. Even though that’s the more likely reason.
Already it does not ring true that Key had not heard about dot com. He has to be fibbing, big ones too, in the vicinity of liar liar pants on fire fibs …
Big ups to you mickysavage, for picking the clusterfuck potential in this right from the start.
I think both Labour and NZ First are right.
Remember back to the Goff situation (about the Mossad briefing in August 2011) and the SIS; Key is the SIS minister. Key just does not learn
Winston wins Quote of the Day:
“Mr Key appears not to care about the security of New Zealanders, and is instead more concerned with photo opportunities, three-way handshakes at rugby games, and prancing down fashion runways.”
This is going to be bigger then Ben Hur its being picked up US blogs (faster the mainstream it seems) it will go viral. Key needs a distraction ( A trade off ) Solid Energy perhaps? it needs equivalence weighting.To much negative news and its only Monday.
Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread.
Surely the question is – Why now, and where is the pressure coming from.
Carol, a man who does not “read” important reports is just as likely to “hear nothing” (unless selecting only that which is complimentary).
He is as the PM is the head of the intelligence services in NZ.
Also both bomber and Idiot/Savant have asked on Twitter if our Governor General has responsibility as he was in charge of GCSB at the time.
http://www.tumeke.blogspot.co.nz/2012/09/was-our-new-governor-general-involved.html
key said no at the press conference.
Another issue is that during the cross examination of the Police task force officer in charge of the operation,Davidson (dc lawyer) asked what was the ongoing inter officer communications,and from where was the operation being directed from ,he refused to answer and the reasons (where adjourned to chambers) and subsequently suppressed.
Curiouser and curiouser!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7722082/PM-orders-Dotcom-spy-inquiry
There is a lot more to come on this or to put it another way the saga of mad hatters tea party is a feast to be had.
Interview with Nicky Hager on Checkpoint this evening, in which he gives his assessment of the issue:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2533518/john-key-says-a-top-level-inquiry-is-under-way.asx
Frustratingly, it will be unlikely that we will know the full story. But Hager does say that Key has been a willing partner with the US on security issues.
Can’t wait to hear policy of the next Labour/Greens/Winston Government as to who is going to pay for all the largess once the TOW deals have been settled, so far and in the future.
This will be along with more money for everybody by way of new Winz benefits, along with new child benefits.
School meals (not only breakfast)
Keeping coal mines open (and not earning).
Keeping Railways and workshops open..
New minimum wage –
Keeping all schools open and reducing class ratio.
Reducing the exchange rate by control.
Paying for water, air, and flora and fauna.
No fracking or mineral exploration (no new coal mines).
Changing the fishing quota and not allowing foreign crewed vessels.
Paying for Auckland’s rail links and new lines.
Reducing fuel costs.
Getting rid of Overseas Banks.
And continuing to fund taxpayer money to Christchurch (to those uninsured also).
Am sure other expectations can be explored.
Well, we could stop borrowing $330 million a week to subsidise the rich for starters. Then we can probably afford most of the things on your list, Fortran.
Also please add buying Fisher & Paykal appliances and maybe the crafar farms after sale and also buying back the public share of the any assets. Quite a bit really.
1billion for scf
Actually, that’s quite easy. Print the money and tax appropriately.
Mmmm. Tax cuts for the rich versus all the items on your list. Let me think. Mmmmm
Sounds OK to me.
Fartrain! It will work better than the brighter future
School meals < $19million
Railway work shops open< $20million
New minimum wage will increase job numbers treasury figures and increase tax take!
Reducing exchange rate will increase jobs profits and tax take
Paying for water right wing councils already want to some are!
Why have new coal mines when you are closing them now!
Fish and crews means our fish stocks will stay higher making them more sustainable more money for our economy in the long run!
Rail links and line will mean we can keep Infrastructure costs down and are between 18 and 50 times cheaper than private cars that's not including the cost of owning and maintaining a car!
Like the above reducing fuel costs will bring down our balance of payments deficit making our currency cheaper and more competitive!
Getting rid of overseas banks that won't happen they are way to powerful
We are already paying for CHCH we are also paying the interest on the $10 billion bill!
Im constantly amazed as to how Keys govt in the house refer to the faults of the previous govt as being Labours when they ,National, are the previous govt or was the election such a non event that they still feel no sense of responsibility for the shit they are dumping on those who have no way forward under this second term of right wing bullshit that is so far out of date in its policies that america will probably have to take us over to make sure we are still on the page over where we live in the world .
How can Key profess that he has not read the police report on Banks , is he not the minister in charge of the SIS ? Hello .
Then we have Bennett and her continual bee in her bonnet policies .Does she forget that poor people need a break from their toddlers as we as the rich and being poor walkin them to a child care and broadening the kids outlook cant be too costly because it only takes seven years to set a childs behaviour for life
How fucked up is her sense of values ?
America take us over? Who knows? It looks very much like they will have troops stationed here soon.
Interesting that Phil Goff reckons that NZ should not give up the independence developed since the nuclear free stance. And he reckons the National government won’t go that far either:
http://blog.labour.org.nz/2012/09/24/visit-by-leon-panetta/
Rejecting permanent stationing is good, but it leaves things open to temporary stationing of US troops here.
Democracy and Human Rights….Phil shows he has actually lost his mind completely!
Send in the drones Goff they call him these days….Thats what Phil means when he refers to democracy and human rights.As I have posted some time back, Phil was on the radio saying that America should drone Syria, he was positively begging them to do so!
Piss off Phil you career leech, have the UN not offered you the crony career politician role yet!
Please, nooooooooooooooooooooo! That just must not happen…
I urge readers to take half an hour and read journalist Keith Hunter’s website story COUQ and his invitation to ex- Detective inspector Bruce Hutton to sue.
http://www.hunterproductions.co.nz/?page=news#COPS1
The really murky stuff begins at episode 10.
Hunter’s book should be getting nationwide attention.
Something is very wrong here. Our media are suspiciously silent on recent developments in NZ’s greatest judicial disgrace.
very sad this matter ( i choose not to watch the “investigator ” . his delivery puts me off
(same as that fool minority-basher Wishart; read a couple of his books and thought puh lease already!)
Agreed re Wishart, but Wishart is a serial conspiracy theorist, this appears to be a deliberate attempt to seriously mislead the NZ public, using public money, and the most likely instigators would appear to be the NZ police.
Ignoring child poverty won’t make it go away
Unless you’re an Ostrich with your head firmly buried in the sand, you’ll be aware that New Zealand has a pervasive and growing poverty problem that is largely being ignored by the current government…
350 jobs gone at Spring Creek, 65 at Huntly East. Bastards.
Your too kind TRP. Soon according to RWNJ’s a large part of the west coast will be useless blugers.
When there are no jobs it makes it very easy to control the movement of people out of an area you might want them gone from eh!
very insightful muzza
Infographic: Financialised Pretend and Extend described in one easy picture
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2012/09-2/20120923_cric.png