Open mike 29/09/2011

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 29th, 2011 - 168 comments
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168 comments on “Open mike 29/09/2011 ”

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  1. tc 1
    29 September 2011 at 7:32 am

    Another kiwi dead in afghan land, pike river, etc etc but RNZ onto bigger issues this morning……TVNZ replacing coro st with chef show…..I feel informed now.

    • Bored 1.1
      29 September 2011 at 10:25 am

      Its just so fekkin predictable, us and our children as collateral damage, the media just dealing to the trivia we are brainwashed to accept.

      Meanwhile a family with a son to bury must be wondering why, what for. My sympathy is with them.

  2. mickysavage 2
    29 September 2011 at 7:33 am

    Great speech by David Cunliffe in general debate yesterday:

    Some highlights:

    Key complained that New Zealand did not have a debt problem in 2008, it had a growth problem.  Thirty seven billion dollars later it has both.

    We have a personality cult of a Prime Minister.

    They said that they would close the gap with Australia.  It is now 35% and was 30%.

    “Key runs like a rabbit from the hard problems.” 

    National is betting its next three years “on a smile and a vacuous waft”. 

    Under Labour unemployment was 3.4%, it is now 6.5%.

    “The rich have got richer with windfall tax cuts and the poor can’t feed their children.”

    • logie97 2.1
      29 September 2011 at 7:38 am

      Yeah but to his credit Joky Hen has one success. He can claim to have converted a mad butcher. And he also appears to have more clarity on what he thinks about rugby now that he is in his 50s.

  3. The Voice of Reason 3
    29 September 2011 at 8:10 am

    Some number crunching:
     
    154000. The number who don’t have a job despite the relentless focus on jobs from John Key.
     
    170000. The number of extra workers BHP Australia says it will hire over the next 5 years, half of whom will be construction workers.
     
    So if you know one end of hammer from the other, where would you rather be? Rebuilding Chch or repairing leaky homes in Auckland for fuck all, or pulling in 100k plus super in Queensland for a 37 hour working week?
     
     

    • higherstandard 3.1
      29 September 2011 at 8:27 am

      Yes but the retards in NZ (and that’s all of parliament) have so frightened the public that we can’t go down the track of mining – because it’s evil…… evil I tells ya !

      • Colonial Viper 3.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 8:53 am

        You’ll notice that in Australia, all the major coastal cities are experiencing economic slow downs, while it is the mining towns which remain booming.

        In other words, without widespread and varied high value industry, all mining will do (as dairy does) is focus wealth in specific communities, with only trickles down at the margin.

        BTW increased mining in NZ would not have been an issue if Key and Brownlee hadn’t completely misjudged the public and decided that they needed to try and fuck over schedule 4 land.

        i.e. some of the blame for the backlash against mining belongs to those two. (rereading your comment I see you think so as well).

        • mik e 3.1.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 5:26 pm

          lower standard their resources will run out sooner than later . The cost of retrieving minerals in this country is much higher 29 deaths for a start.Minerals are far more inaccessible, here Australia is a big ugly country and no one will notice a few holes in the ground while New Zealand is far more beautiful , and we don’t need idiots like you to stuff it up.It would be far better for our economy to add value through R&D to what we do well sustainable agriculture.However Nact have cut and re branded R&D and reduced the gains possible through consistent investment.

      • The Voice of Reason 3.1.2
        29 September 2011 at 10:25 am

        I think you missed my point, HS. I’m not bothered about the mining jobs, particularly, it’s the construction work that is going to knacker NZ. We already have many thousand less construction workers than are going to be needed for Chch and Ak in the next few years and very little work for those that are still here. We need to be training apprentices now and looking to both upskill and upgrade the pay and conditions of workers for the future or the rebuilds just won’t happen in a reasonable time frame.
         
         

      • tc 3.1.3
        29 September 2011 at 10:51 am

        Troll on, you can’t compare Oz’s mining industry which occupies desert wilderness with NZ who have no such areas to hid away the toxic lakes, sprawling worker camps etc and to play your game name some economically viable ore bodies we should be mining HS? just one will do, now’s good.

      • millsy 3.1.4
        29 September 2011 at 10:55 am

        Its not the mining mate, its the fact that people like you want it done in the Southern Alps, Mt Taranaki/Egmont (I have seen oil ooze out of the ground there..).

        Anyway, go to Central Otago, etc and look at all the ghost towns there. My point being is when the gold (or silver, platimum or whatever) runs out, the boom ends and it all falls over.

    • ianmac 3.2
      29 September 2011 at 9:54 am

      Key says often that they have created 45,000 jobs in NZ. Has anyone contested that figure?
      A bit like the claims of increasing the number of nurses by 1000 and teachers by 15000. Huh?

  4. lprent 4
    29 September 2011 at 8:21 am

    Oil Drum has a good reprint of an article on peak oil..

    http://www.theoildrum.com/node/8410

    Looks at both the geological and economic and it’s effects on price. I’d have liked to have seen more on the price tipping points to other tech. But it was a brief ( for economics ) article.

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      29 September 2011 at 8:45 am

      A group of economists is being taken on a tour of an underground gold mine when there is a terrible accident, sealing them all underground.

      They are not likely to be rescued for weeks, but luckily, there is an ample store of air and water down in the mine. But no food. All the economists become really quite anxious.

      One brightens considerably when he realises that he has two BLT sandwiches packed away in his briefcase. Looking at all the gold around, a cheer goes up from the economists who realise that they are all now saved.

      With no regulations, plenty of liquidity on hand, and keen buying interest, a busy market in BLT sandwiches was surely only moments away.

      • Jim Nald 4.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 8:57 am

        Haah, a speluncean hypothetical!

        The big question also is what happens next after the BLT gets swallowed down.

        Might the spelunkers be eyeing each other or stare down the most vulnerable-looking one and smack their lips?

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 9:17 am

          Well, when the market price of a BLT sandwich increases sufficiently due to sandwich scarcity, market forces will guarantee additional investment in BLT sandwich production because of the massive ROI present in that market.

          This means that the more BLT sandwich prices increase, the more BLT sandwich supply will also increase = problem solved, everyone can wait happily at the bottom of the mine for rescue.

          I bring you the miracle of the free market 🙂

          • Brett Dale 4.1.1.1.1
            29 September 2011 at 12:38 pm

            ColoNial Viper:

            BLT sansdwiches are going up in price? GRRRRR

          • Puddleglum 4.1.1.1.2
            29 September 2011 at 3:42 pm

            CV,  I hate to say this, but the logic of the market would still hold.

            It would very soon become obvious (information would be accurate and flow pretty rapidly, after all) that making BLT sandwiches was not the kind of production for which available resources could be switched to meet demand.

            That would mean another demand (e.g., ways of getting out of the mine) would become the focus of resources, and production would shift that way. The market may not last very long (as the last BLT nibble – which would probably become the ‘currency’ – goes gutwards) but a market may well make sure the last food went to the person with the best chance of providing the exit strategy for all – e.g., a chemistry hobbyist or economist turned garden shed engineer. But that doesn’t mean anyone will get out of the mine.

            As I understand it, markets don’t guarantee outcomes – they just respond to the greatest demand for resources and supposedly provide the ‘best bet’ for the desired (short term) outcomes. 

            Where the analogy does work, however, is that the market can very well lead us merrily into the closed off mine in the first place – but its principles would continue to work efficiently right till the last smug breath was drawn by the last surviving economist. 

            Schelling’s ‘Micromotives and Macrobehavior‘ makes a good case for the possibility of outcomes at the macro level – that no individual might actually desire – arising from the micro-level motives of people (especially acting in markets – e.g., resulting in racially segregated neighbourhoods).

            He got the Nobel prize in Economics for that kind of insight yet, for me, it’s like a big, flashing sign saying ‘beware of markets – they can give you what you don’t wish for’ – like being stuck in a goldmine with nothing to eat (a bit like today’s world for a significant number of people).

            • Draco T Bastard 4.1.1.1.2.1
              29 September 2011 at 4:30 pm

              ‘beware of markets – they can give you what you don’t wish for’

              Irrationality of the free-market

              It’s true and anyone who actually applies logic to it must realise that it is so. The market works at the micro level but fails at the macro level and yet our economists and politicians continue to try to apply it at the macro level and then become surprised when it fails.

      • Vicky32 4.1.2
        29 September 2011 at 6:46 pm

        😀 Colonial Viper…

  5. aerobubble 5
    29 September 2011 at 9:09 am

    so i have to tell my neighbor of my camera pointing into their backyard,
    under the privacy act, but the state soesn’t need a warrent to do the
    exact same thing, go figure?

  6. Brett Dale 6
    29 September 2011 at 9:12 am

    Top ten google searches for New Zealand in the past seven days.
    Take that NZRFU, go the Warriors.
    http://www.google.com/insights/search/#geo=NZ&date=today+7-d&cmpt=q&q=%22google+plus%22
    1 nrl grand final +1,000%
    2. google plus +400%
    3. x factor +400%
    4. grabaseat +150%
    5. nz time +150%
    6. daylight savings +120%
    7. nrl +100%
    8. warriors +100%
    9. companies office +90%
    10. grab a seat

    • Enough is Enough 6.1
      29 September 2011 at 1:15 pm

      Will the viewing figures top the Opening Night of the RWC. Thats the test Brett.

      I think it is great that Kiwi’s have two teams to support at the moment. There seems to be a bounce around town. We call forget about the economic gloom for a change.

    • Joe Bloggs 6.2
      29 September 2011 at 2:36 pm

      I see Owen Glenn’s been doing due diligence on the Warriors.

      Applying Fenton’s First Law, can we expect Labour to call for a total boycott on watching the Warriors, if the sale to Owen Glenn goes ahead?

    • Vicky32 6.3
      29 September 2011 at 6:50 pm

      Top ten google searches for New Zealand in the past seven days.

      How deeply depressing… It just confirms the idea I have had for many years (first shown by a useless ex-husband) that New Zealanders are generally rugby boofhead morons! Thankfully, I know that’s not true of all of them.)

  7. Wayne91 7
    29 September 2011 at 9:46 am

    Brett Dale – yes go the mighty Warriors and go the All Blacks – this is a fantastic Rugby World Cup

    • millsy 7.1
      29 September 2011 at 10:59 am

      Comparisons with 1956 are apt here. Go and find an old timer and ask him what the atmosphere was like during the 1956 tour. He’ll pretty much tell you it was the same as it is during RWC 2011, but with a bit more sophistication in terms of the bar and eatery scene.

  8. The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 8
    29 September 2011 at 10:08 am

    Pagani on the Urewera thing:

    http://johnpagani.posterous.com/call-of-duty

    “Were you part of the molotov throwing, semiautomatic firing group, or not? You cannot purport to be an anti war activist when you are throwing molotov cocktails.”

    • Joe Bloggs 8.1
      29 September 2011 at 1:19 pm

      Yup I’m calling Pagani out on this.

      Sucking up to the police. Big time. I’m never going near him again.

      He’s gone way out on a limb. It’s all about consumer choice. We don’t need sycophants like that…I’ll be buying my meat from another butcher now

  9. thejackal 9
    29 September 2011 at 10:18 am

    Steven Joyce… Failure!

    You may not be aware that we even have a Minister of Communications. It wouldn’t help much if you happen to use networking programs either… as the minister doesn’t have any online presence…

  10. millsy 10
    29 September 2011 at 10:51 am

    It get worse in the HCC. Not content with cutting funding for community groups and NGO’s, it plans to take an axe to parks and reserves, and hike rents at its pensioner housing by 70% (or flog the unit off to the highest bidder).

    Its offical. Julie Hardaker is New Zealand’s Michelle Bachmann.

  11. travellerev 11
    29 September 2011 at 11:10 am

    Yep, this really looks like pancaking to me!

    • Scotty 11.1
      29 September 2011 at 11:51 am

      Rev ,to me it looks like approx 20,000,000 cubic meters of air, being forced out of the building by approx 300,000 T of concrete and steel in 15 secs.

      • McFlock 11.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 12:27 pm

        But Scotty, you cannae break the laws of physics!

      • travellerev 11.1.2
        29 September 2011 at 4:26 pm

        Scotty,
        The time of each collapse was indeed 14-16 seconds. 180 floors collapsed in 15 seconds. Do you believe it pancaked? Here is a law of physics which can not be broken. It’s called the conservation of energy.
        If you watch the video you see these big black lumps shooting out from the building. Those are tons of steel who for no apparent reason decide to fly sideways at 70 miles per hour. That energy has to come from somewhere. Gravity does not explain the energy required for these huge beams to go flying of horizontally.
        Here is another video with some strange movements of flying objects which can not be explained away by planes and gravity.
        By the way NIST has deserted the pancake theory. Molten aluminum and water does not explode and most certainly does not cause a building to explode nor does it generate the force needed to separate tons of steel into truck sized lots and buildings do not explode outwards in 15 seconds just because of a plane impact. The fuel was mostly burned off within seconds and people were shown as standing in the hole the plane made while not being burned and holding on to the steel frame. So where did the energy come from to explode huge beams outward with the speed of 70 miles per hour?
         
         

  12. higherstandard 12
    29 September 2011 at 11:35 am

    Interesting piece from John Pagani.

    http://johnpagani.posterous.com/call-of-duty

    • ianmac 12.1
      29 September 2011 at 12:10 pm

      In itself making and throwing molotov cocktails into an old oven is not illegal I would have thought. (Years ago my brother tried putting lumps of carbide in a sealed bottle of water and watched it explode. He is a very peaceful chap.)
      Firing semi-automatic guns would be akin to the sort of people who enjoy paintball wars.
      On the face of the information given there is still not proof of crime (unless those guns are illegal.)
      Not making excuses and would hate to live near anyone who carried out those activities, but……

      • Anne 12.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 12:39 pm

        Years ago a (then) teenage brother along with a mate tried to blow up a bridge in Milford, North Shore. He became a successful businessman.

        • lprent 12.1.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 2:08 pm

          Mine was depth charges and rockets. Had quite a lot of fun making explosives. Of course after you get to play with plastic explosives you suddenly realize how ‘messy’ my home made stuff was. I really loved being able to carve my initials into Armour of an old bren gun carrier.

          • thejackal 12.1.1.1.1
            29 September 2011 at 5:26 pm

            I never graduated from the home made stuff that went pop. After meeting a guy who had blown his arm off, I kind of lost interest in the hobby.

      • Joe Bloggs 12.1.2
        29 September 2011 at 1:25 pm

        sharp observation IM – I particularly like the way that your logic reduces the whole Middle East conflict thingy to a large paint-ball war

      • davidc 12.1.3
        29 September 2011 at 4:15 pm

        None of the 18 had a “E” endorsement so all of the semi autos were illegal to possess.

    • The Voice of Reason 12.2
      29 September 2011 at 12:16 pm

      Indeed it is interesting, HS. I quite like Pagani’s blog, even though I don’t always agree with him. This time he has got it spot on, though.
       
      What a bunch of dreamers and tossers it turns out these people are. Reminds me of the sort of macho ‘defence of the homeland’ fantasies we normally associate with the likes of KKKyle Chapman. It’s a damn shame the coppers stuffed this up, because this lot should be explaining themselves in court, not excusing themselves on blogs.
       
      ps I see OOBB beat us to it, comment 8 above.
       
       

    • McFlock 12.3
      29 September 2011 at 1:32 pm

      I dunno. There goes a chap who never had fun with things that go “bang”, even if the police “evidence” is as clear cut as they would have us believe.

      • Vicky32 12.3.1
        29 September 2011 at 7:11 pm

        I dunno. There goes a chap who never had fun with things that go “bang”, even if the police “evidence” is as clear cut as they would have us believe.

        As a girl, with bad eyesight and only one brother (much younger) I never was a fan of things that go bang. My Dad who suffered from what I know now was PTSD, had an arsenal in the house, and was obsessed with the fear of invasion (he’d ‘fought all through t’second world war, and so taught we girls to fire guns – or tried to.)
        So, my feeling is with Pagani on this. My Dad was prosecuted for his arsenal, and ended up in dire straits (I won’t go into it all, just to say that the authorities were less than understanding!). So I am not sympathetic, which is not to say that I support prosecution on illegally gained evidence…

        • lprent 12.3.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 7:23 pm

          I have no real problem with persecuting based on actual unequivocal evidence about acts and intent.

          What I have a problem with is the police charging on what looks like quite circumstantial equivocal evidence (like similar clothing) for actions that are not in themselves unlawful, on the basis of a criminal intent that they have no actual proof of beyond what looks like people blatting the breeze. I really get irritated that it has taken more than 4 years to not get to trial because the police were so damn sloppy that they relied on unlawfully gathered evidence.

          Quite simply I think that the police who brought caused this travesty of a misuse of their powers should be kicked out of the force and a severe look taken at how in the hell their superiors allowed it to happen.

          Incidentally I know exactly how you feel. There was a family friend who always kind of got me giving him second looks. It was the arsenal of obsolete military hardware like missile launcher outside his house. But he was mostly legal…

        • Draco T Bastard 12.3.1.2
          29 September 2011 at 10:56 pm

          My Dad who suffered from what I know now was PTSD…

          Yeah, so did mine, but he didn’t have an arsenal – he took us boating instead. My father had a love planes (which is why he joined the RAF when war started) and a love of boats.

          • Vicky32 12.3.1.2.1
            30 September 2011 at 5:24 pm

            Yeah, so did mine, but he didn’t have an arsenal – he took us boating instead

            That would have been a lot better! My Dad was convinced that WW3 would happen in his lifetime, and we’d have to fight off invaders… Hence the self-sufficient lifestyle (growing all our own food, candles and gas stoves etc) and the shooting lessons.)
            I still loathe guns to this day as a result. If by some bizarre chance, we were invaded, I could never shoot anyone…

    • Draco T Bastard 12.4
      29 September 2011 at 2:12 pm

      Being a peacenik means that you can’t learn to defend yourself from those who aren’t?

  13. ianmac 13
    29 September 2011 at 11:59 am

    A compelling fullsome report on the idiocy of the Surveillance Bill. A must read.
    “The Law Society has attacked the government’s plan to pass extraordinary and objectionable surveillance legislation.”
    http://www.imperatorfish.com/2011/09/law-society-slams-police-spying-bill.html?showComment=1317249849178#c5726233854666049514

  14. thejackal 14
    29 September 2011 at 12:09 pm

    NZ Herald Complaint

    What really pisses me off about all this is that the cops are continually speculating on things without much evidence and some of the evidence they do have was illegally obtained. The entire case is farcical!

    • McFlock 14.1
      29 September 2011 at 12:46 pm

      Oh please, Jackal, it’s not like the police have an active media management / pr section – oh, wait…

  15. Treetop 15
    29 September 2011 at 1:02 pm

    I have had the misfortune of dealing with incompetent cops for 35 years. I was dragged into a situation due to a CIB inquisition in 1979 which pertained to an inquiry involving a politician in 1976. I was silenced and bullied by the police.

    In order for me to RECEIVE any justice by the police an inquiry would need to be held and only Key or Marshall have the power for this to occur. I would expose the police for misleading the last three ministers of police, for not adequately investigating my concerns, for making defamatory remarks on many occasions and for the loss of police documentation/files as well as with holding the full police evidence concerning the politician who was denied legal representation.

    Basically the politician gave four reasons for the incident with the cop. But the cop has given three different reasons for why he had me silenced and bullied because he told me of the incident with the politician before the incident was raised in parliament. Issues with the cop having name suppression which I did not know about for sometime and the CIB inquisition triggering historical sexual offending. The inquiry was about whether police breached the incident.

    My observation yesterday regarding a 10 second view on the news with Marshall, Drew and Hide was this:
    Drew was area commander in the Wairarapa, we have not heard back yet from the IPCA on whether or not Drew is responsible for child sexual violation cases languishing. (At some point Marshall was involved in the back log of the Wairarapa cases and has fobbed off being directly responsible). Police say they need more tools but appear to not be able to organise something as important as legally using video surveillance and then they cry and say we want to prevent crime. Hide got it right when he implied that the police knew what they were doing was illegal.

    About time that a Police Commissioner grows some balls and takes responsibility for MAJOR WEAKNESS within the police because Broad’s legacy was bad enough with C.R Rickards, sexual assaults on children (Wairarapa) and adults (by sworn police officers) and people like Patrick O’ Brien languishing concerning wanting to expose the police and to hold them to account. I predicted prior to Marshall taking up the post as commissioner of police that Marshall would be drawn into the Urewera raids. Even I did not foresee how compromised Marshall would be due to bozo Broad.

    I am a lone voice in the wilderness but I have balls of steel. I have had first class teachers (been a student for 35 years regarding devious cops). When I hear about major stuff ups by the police it only intensifies and prolongs the complex form of PTSD I have.

  16. thejackal 16
    29 September 2011 at 1:09 pm

    Asshole of the Week Award – Keith Abbott

    I sometimes wonder if the Police give a damn at all about what the public thinks… They stumble along from one PR disaster to another showing very little thought for the consequences of their actions…

    • The Voice of Reason 16.1
      29 September 2011 at 1:33 pm

      I like the Burroughs quote, Jackal. Mind you I like all Old Bill Lee’s quotes, including the one about society hating functioning junkies because it spoils the argument for the war on drugs.
       
      I also find this line interesting:
       
      “People simply don’t accept that because Abbott wasn’t convicted, he isn’t guilty”
       
      Do you also apply that reasoning to the wannabes running around the Ureweras with guns?

      • McFlock 16.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 1:39 pm

        lol

      • thejackal 16.1.2
        29 September 2011 at 1:44 pm

        Should read many people… have fixed it.

        Do you mean all those hunters who are after some grub and don’t have gun licenses? I can’t think why the cases are similar… the Urewera 18 haven’t killed anybody.

        • higherstandard 16.1.2.1
          29 September 2011 at 1:57 pm

          Not going to be much left of that grub after you’ve shot it with a semi-automatic and molotov cocktailed it.

          I suppose it’s a method for simultaneous cook and kill though – perhaps that’s what Valeri Morse was is practicing when she torches the NZ flag each ANZAC day.

          • thejackal 16.1.2.1.1
            29 September 2011 at 2:35 pm

            My word, this issue really gets people on edge. What Molotov’s and what semi-automatic weapons? Do you know what a semi-automatic weapon is?

            Don’t tell me you actually believe that NZ Herald article HS… I thought you had a bit more nous than that?

            • higherstandard 16.1.2.1.1.1
              29 September 2011 at 2:45 pm

              Well it would be nice to see the footage of what was going on.

              Anyhoo must I still admit to finding it odd that one needs to firebomb game.

              And as for nous shouldn’t you be directing that slur to the good Mr Pagani ?

              • Ianupnorth …
                29 September 2011 at 3:11 pm

                I thought they had a CD of gun shot sounds – I once had an album of BBC sound effects; can I charge the person in charge of making hoof sounds with coconut shells?

                • higherstandard …
                  29 September 2011 at 3:24 pm

                  “I once had an album of BBC sound effects; ”

                  Oh dear you sound like you were more of a nerd (didn’t think it possible) than me in your younger days….. although my younger days predate CDs somewhat.

                  • thejackal …
                    29 September 2011 at 3:30 pm

                    I still have a tape with BBC sound effects.

                    What’s up with editing the sounds anyway… perhaps the cops are attempting to get the gunshots closer together so they sound like a semi? Either way it proves nothing!

                    Firebomb game HS? There’s still no clear proof that they were even using Molotov cocktails, which isn’t a crime I might add.

                    • higherstandard …
                      29 September 2011 at 3:38 pm

                      Feck it really is quite amusing to see you trying to defend this lot.

                      S’pose it comes down to whether you think this is a reasonable thing for ‘adults” to be up to and if it is reasonable and it was merely a harmless get together for a bit of hunting practice why the need to withhold the videos – surely the defendants would be more than happy for the video footage to be made public or the very least be made available in court to vindicate their jolly japes.

                • insider …
                  29 September 2011 at 8:55 pm

                  Yikes. I had that album too or one in the series. Lots of horror sounds from memory. Squelching and twisting necks

    • lprent 16.2
      29 September 2011 at 2:02 pm

      Basically they do not. The police are thoroughly independent of any significant oversight

  18. Treetop 18
    29 September 2011 at 1:22 pm

    Oh Jackal the police give a dam about being caught, but they know that 99 % of individuals do not have the resources or influence to take out a civil case. This is why the government has to order an independent inquiry.

    If the commissioner of police gave a dam about what the public think about crooked cop practices he would order an inquiry.

  19. prism 19
    29 September 2011 at 2:11 pm

    In Open Mike yesterday I commented on a talk by Dick Smith and gave the basic link for it.. It was from May this year but not outdated. I have remembered that he referred to Oz news media being about 70% controlled by Rupert Murdoch who he said, is growth oriented and so dos not want to follow any other thinking or viewpoints. He criticises capitalism which DTB would affirm.

  20. Cloaca 20
    29 September 2011 at 2:12 pm

    What about TVNZ changing Coro Street to children’s tv time, and sanitising it.
    Forget the Uruweras crap, Rugby World Cup, BLT sandwiches and other insignificant irrelevances.
    Who wants more Masterchief at prime time. Will the overpaid PHD’s at TVNZ ever learn it’s the customer, not what they want. The Helen Clark era is dead – but mummy still knows best it appears.

    • Vicky32 20.1
      30 September 2011 at 4:45 pm

      What about TVNZ changing Coro Street to children’s tv time, and sanitising it.

      It’s not that I am serious Coro fan (I do watch it, but not fanatically), but what irked me, was the programmers’ comments – that the olds who watch Coro could watch at 5.30, or watch the omnibus on Saturday. What about Coro fans who are not olds? I like to work, and can’t get home by 5.30, and who on earth watches TV on a Saturday morning?

  21. Misanthropic Curmudgeon 21
    29 September 2011 at 2:18 pm

    The passing of the VSM bill is great news for those interested in freedom and social justice, as the bill in line with UN’s Declaration on Human Rights, which guarantees rights of association and non-association.

    ‘Free at last, free at last
    Thank God almighty
    We are free at last’

    Yesterday is a day that will be seen on a par with emancipation and women’s suffrage, and those who opposed this bill will be looked on as the oppressors of freedom that they are.

    • McFlock 21.1
      29 September 2011 at 3:17 pm

      Yep – Roger Douglas is NZ’s very own Nelson Mandela. /sarc
        
      “Oppressors”? You merely demonstrate, yet again, that ACToids have no sense of perspective at all. E.g: everyone in a students’ association got a vote, and all stdents got to vote on membership rules. This is not the same as half the population not having the vote. Actually, a better analogy would be saying that everyone in NZ should choose whether they get all the benefits of NZ citizenship/residency, or whether they get pretty much all the benefits of NZ citizenship/residency but pay no tax – regardless of the wishes of the rest of NZ.
        
      Yesterday was a great day for dictatorship and propoganda, but a shit day for students and freedom in general.
       
       

  22. lprent 22
    29 September 2011 at 2:38 pm

    Just in case it doesn’t survive there. I put this on Pagani’s site on his rather stupid post about the operation 8 court documents.

    Hey John – as a lefty I think you simply had a rather sheltered and unadventurous upbringing.

    I used semi automatics on the farm when I was a kid (and bolt-actions and shotguns). Making molotov cocktails would have been too easy. I used to make explosives for rocketry and for the sheer hell of making things explode. Not to mention building electric detonators to find out how it was done.

    I did all that before I went into the army at 18 and started using military grade weapons and explosives. Then I did a science degree where I had even more fun.

    When I looked at these reports I thought that they were too unremarkable to get wound up about. I guess you wasted your youth if you think that anything revealed was terrorism.

    If they’d started accumulating ammunition stockpiles or large quantities of seed chemicals for explosives or war gases then I’d have been interested.

    But feel free to make a even bigger dickhead of yourself.

    • lprent 22.1
      29 September 2011 at 2:39 pm

      Ummm can’t see it now. It is either moderated out or trashed…..

      If it doesn’t come back, then I may extend it into a post.

    • higherstandard 22.2
      29 September 2011 at 2:48 pm

      Perhaps you ran foul of his comments policy.

      “Anonymous comments don’t add much to the Internet.

      You can leave comments, but I moderate them hard.

      I use this blog to write about things that interest me. If comments aren’t interesting, they are not going on my blog.

      I encourage intelligent dispute and argument. If you feel like insulting me, there are a large number of places on the Internet where you can go to do that. If you want to insult others, than I encourage you to be funny, at least.

      Also, ‘x said y so therefore x is a bad person’ may be the standard for commenting elsewhere, but not here.

      You can send an email to post@posterous, and the machine will start a blog for you just like that, where you can say what you like. If you are interesting I might link to you.”

      Yep looks like you ticked most of those boxes.

      • lprent 22.2.1
        29 September 2011 at 5:07 pm

        Nope. Wasn’t anonymous, and I only called him a “dickhead” – which is as you know is rather mild for me, and I think it was in context…

        He did e-mail back. But since he’d asked for posts on the subject, I gave him one. Of course it wasn’t exactly what he was probably after…

    • The Voice of Reason 22.3
      29 September 2011 at 2:55 pm

      Jeez, Lprent, you’re way off the beam on this. These sad fucks were practising at being guerillas and some, at least, were apparently trying to learn how to kill people by throwing bombs through windows. They should be in jail. There is no excuse for this immature behaviour and it is now pretty clear that the raids were entirely justified, even if the cops cannot now use all the evidence gathered. What a bunch of gutless, whining cowards and thank fuck they were stopped before they killed someone.

      • clandestino 22.3.1
        29 September 2011 at 3:27 pm

        Eh??!?!!?

        A bunch of boys playing at being soldier in the bush! Terrorists??? Training to ‘kill people’, as you imply????

        You must have had a sad childhood indeed. Not so long ago, we used to buy sparklers from the Warehouse, tape them together and blow up rubbish bins along the Wellington waterfront and out the suburbs.

        Should we be in jail for being young and immature, but essentially harmless? Those bombs were definitely classed as dangerous, and restrictions were put in place on them.

        I have serious problems with people like you trying to turn this country into a police state and stifling people and punishing thousands disproportionately with no discretion.

        It will alienate people and result in more discontent.

        It’s pretty Orwellian to punish for something you think they ‘might’ do. It’s a bit like invading Afghanistan to defend NZ…a sane, rational person doesn’t see the link.

        I suggest you reassess this and think about whether it’s your paranoia or deluded thinking, or whether these people were planning an all out guerrilla war. Think of it as you think of 9/11 ‘truthers’, come on, which is the more likely?

        • The Voice of Reason 22.3.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 3:46 pm

          I didn’t use the word terrorist, Clandistino. I said guerillas. But these twats only have Che’s Tshirt, not his nous. I don’t care whether they were planning an all out war or just being muppets, but their immaturity has cost us all a right and a freedom. As a result of their stupidity, the police are soon going to able film us all whenever and however they feel like it. And I’m really pissed off about this because they have consistently said that there was nothing of substance to the police claims, but now it turns out the cops were right all along and the Urewera loons were lying to us all.
           
          As I said above, I’m just pleased there was an intervention before someone got killed, though I suppose there was more likelihood of them shooting themselves than mounting a credible attack on some poor sod whose politics they didn’t like. Hmmm, anyone seen Four Lions?

          • clandestino 22.3.1.1.1
            29 September 2011 at 11:45 pm

            It kind of fucks your argument that you agree they were not a credible threat, don’t ya think??

            Don’t believe the bullshit they come out with about how they have ‘evidence’ of plans to attack anyone. It’s called fucking BANTER and we are (mostly) all guilty of it every blimmin day!

      • lprent 22.3.2
        29 September 2011 at 5:17 pm

        TVOR: I have been on management ‘team’ exercises that, from the evidence I have seen, went further into the required training than what went on in the targets of Operation 8. I don’t see those camps being shut down – do you?

        For that matter, Gilchrist – the police spy who was rocky’s partner and whom she exposed, was running management training camps that did exactly this type of military style camp quite legally for those managers.

        Now I’ve done military training, management training, know a lot about the law (I had to suffer through my ex’s law) and I read a hell of a lot of material that is military history including insurgencies. I also know a lot of activists and most of them are to my mind extremely legal. There are a few bullshitters, but most of them appear to try to keep on the right side of the legal system.

        As far as I’m concerned, the really dangerous people in operation 8 appear to be the paranoids in the police building in Otahuhu. Stupid acts like this exercise appear to be more driven by creating dangerous activism than preventing it.

        • The Voice of Reason 22.3.2.1
          29 September 2011 at 8:56 pm

          Been away and I see there is another related post now, so I guess I might have more to say there.
           
          However, yes, I have seen military style camps shut down. You’ll recall the NZ Army was snapped running shoot ’em up days on the side a couple of years ago and they got shut down pronto. Sometimes it’s just not appropriate, eh.
           
          And I bet that flea Gilchrist did not teach the suits how to chuck molotov’s on those courses either. But that’s not the point. This was military training for a political purpose. And have we forgotten where arming politically motivated people can take us?

    • thejackal 22.4
      29 September 2011 at 3:00 pm

      Were you part of the molotov throwing, semiautomatic firing group, or not? You cannot purport to be an anti war activist when you are throwing molotov cocktails.

      Jesus! What a plonker! When I was younger, we used to make bombs out of fireworks and let them off down at the beach. We used to make our own guns etc for something to do. We also used real guns with adult supervision… and shock horror non of us kids had licenses. That’s how I learnt to hunt at the age of seven. People like Pagani must have grown up mollycoddled in cotton wool to not realize that thousands of New Zealand kids do this sort of thing.

      • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 22.4.1
        29 September 2011 at 3:18 pm

        When I was younger, we used to make bombs out of fireworks and let them off down at the beach. We used to make our own guns etc for something to do. We also used real guns with adult supervision…

        OK. Your misanthropic streak is starting to make sense.

        • thejackal 22.4.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 3:25 pm

          FFS! I wasn’t doing it to prepare to hurt anybody gormless!

          • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 22.4.1.1.1
            29 September 2011 at 3:27 pm

            How old were you?

            • McFlock 22.4.1.1.1.1
              29 September 2011 at 3:30 pm

              What has that got to do with anything?
              Next they’ll be raiding capoeira classes because everyone there is “learning how to kill”.

              • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                29 September 2011 at 3:33 pm

                I enquire because thejackal made something of the fact that he was “younger”, presumably to explain his love of blowing things up as youthful exuberance, or something.

                Valerie Morse is a 36 year old librarian.

                Bit old to be blowing things up for fun, don’t you think?

                • McFlock …
                  29 September 2011 at 4:26 pm

                  Why? Ever been to a fireworks display? It’s not just kids in the audience.

                  Again, I know martial artists older than that. Should they all be illegally filmed and held at gunpoint?

                  • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                    29 September 2011 at 5:22 pm

                    That’s right, McFlock. Running around in the bush lobbing molotov cocktails left, right and centre is just like setting off a catherine wheel for the kids.

                    I think the woman’s reluctance to offer an innocent explanation speaks volumes about her motives.

                    • lprent …
                      29 September 2011 at 5:29 pm

                      Ummm, from the police evidence it looks like the alleged molotov cocktails were done in a single place. Lemme see what is online – I seem to have seen something..

                      Det Sgt Pascoe was to give evidence that he believed she threw the Molotov cocktail into an outdoor oven, where police later found remnants of Molotov cocktails.

                      It doesn’t look like you are being even a teeny bit accurate. In fact reading what the the police have said (rather than your levels of fiction) it seems like the range area was not dangerous.

                      Tell me again why I called you a gormless fool?

                    • McFlock …
                      29 September 2011 at 5:32 pm

                      I think that your insistence people should prove their innocence just shows the totalitarianism that lurks beneath the tory surface.

                    • lprent …
                      29 September 2011 at 5:33 pm

                      She will have been advised by her lawyers not to say anything. Apart from anything else if I was her, I’d be in the midst of preparing a civil case against the police and against some individual police.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  29 September 2011 at 6:12 pm

                  Bit old to be blowing things up for fun, don’t you think?

                  Pretty sure half the SAS soldiers we have in Afghanistan are around that age or older.

                  • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                    29 September 2011 at 6:55 pm

                    lprent, you are right of course, this whole thing turns on how widely the molotov cocktails (yes, molotov cocktails) were thrown. If she was throwing them in a narrow area everything is just peachy because she was clearly throwing them for the amusement of small children whose love of violent explosions and firearms is both legendary and to be encouraged.

                    • McFlock …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:10 pm

                      Let’s see, the article lprent linked to above said […]”holding an object believed to be a Molotov cocktail.
                      Det Sgt Pascoe was to give evidence that he believed she threw the Molotov cocktail into an outdoor oven, where police later found remnants of Molotov cocktails. ”

                      So – they have a burned out oven with glass in it. They have a photo of someone who might or might not be Morse holding a molotov bottle. Maybe even throwing it in the direction of the oven (but no explosion etc on camera). 
                       
                      Yep, let’s lock away the key.

                    • lprent …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:16 pm

                      Not really. The biggest issue for the police would have been to prove that she was doing it – something that they clearly had little direct evidence for since they were relying on evidence of similar clothing.

                      The second would have been to prove that the activity was unlawful. Now that isn’t as easy as you’d probably like to guess because I don’t think that there are any that many laws against lighting fires on private land in a old fridge (regardless of the means). In much the same way as there aren’t that many laws against having old fridges, burning old fence posts, or indeed most activities.

                      As I was pointing out in the post the police would have to prove a criminal intent. So far they have singularly failed to even get close to it outside of the fevered imagination of Aaron Pascoe and the presumptive judgement of Pagani.

            • higherstandard 22.4.1.1.1.2
              29 September 2011 at 3:33 pm

              Judging by his blog he must have been playing with guns as a foetus because no-one over the age of three could write the shite that he does.

              Either that or it’s all puff and bluster like his delusions of being a bit of a ladies man.

              • thejackal …
                29 September 2011 at 4:29 pm

                What are you talking about? Calling HS… Come back to planet earth.

                • Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                  29 September 2011 at 7:22 pm

                  Except, Lprent, she does not even deny it.

                  • Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                    29 September 2011 at 7:26 pm

                    BTW, I seem to recall Bomber Bradbury (remind me why the only the right are called out for using violent language?) having a lot to say about how shocking the actions of these delightful people were at the time of the raids. Has he resiled from that or does lprent need to give him a slap?

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    29 September 2011 at 7:27 pm

                    Superb, OBB taking silence as an indication of guilt.

                    Who’d you study law from, Dick Cheney?

                    • Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:30 pm

                      There’s silence and then there’s going out of your way not to try to offer a rational explanation for throwing molotov cocktails around.

                  • lprent …
                    29 September 2011 at 7:31 pm

                    She are you saying that she has confirmed it? Point to where she does…

                    She is under no obligation to confirm or deny that except in court if and only if she takes the stand and sits under oath. Doing it for your prurient interest is probably no high on her list of things to do.

                    But lets start with you under the same basis. I hereby say that you are a wanker – do you wish to confirm or deny that? And I have about 50 more questions of an increasingly severe nature that you remaining silent on will just confirm your guilt.

                    Basically that is not an argument by you. It is an excuse for your gormless foolish behavior

                    • higherstandard …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:43 pm

                      I would have thought she would have had an absolute defense if she was not in the Urewera’s – I s’pose she could have decided not to mount a defense to get as much to moan and bitch about for her ongoing campaign against ‘the man’.

                      Personally I find it disappointing no one knobbled the silly bint during her ANZAC day flag burning.

                    • lprent []
                      29 September 2011 at 7:49 pm

                      Talk about a side-issue.

                      But you mean the flag burning that the court decided was not unlawful and not dangerous (as I seem to remember that was the decision) ? The decision that really brings into question the silliness of the police in bringing forward a case that they were unlikely to convict on?

                      In fact just like the current case.

                    • lprent []
                      29 September 2011 at 8:03 pm

                      She probably was somewhere, there or elsewhere. The question in that case is probably proving it absolutely.

                      I really couldn’t prove where I am absolutely anytime when I’m not at work. I’m always amused when people look at electronic records as proof because after doing work for the payments industry and thinking about how others could spoof our systems, it all becomes a matter of cost and effort.

                      But the question for the police even with the unlawfully obtained evidence would have been to prove that their accusations were correct.

                      Standing rule for any activist usually is that if the police wish to charge you, then they should have to prove their accusation. Typically they are unable to convict.

                      In rocky’s case she has literally had dozens of charges against her. She has defended them all, and they only managed to convict her without being overturned on appeal once because the police kept postponing the trial until she was unable to keep having defense witnesses or herself attending court. For the same reason she was unable to take it to appeal.

                      That is the standard that some of these police descend to….. Some of the charges were about as useful as the flag burning. “Intimidation by loitering”, “using a megaphone” is a favorite, etc etc

                    • Oleolebiscuitbarrell …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:48 pm

                      I hereby say that you are a wanker – do you wish to confirm or deny that.

                      I confirm it. It is a beautiful act of love.

                      When will you start asking me about the violence I have committed?

                    • lprent []
                      29 September 2011 at 7:51 pm

                      I think that you have assaulted someone…. and primary school and kindergarten count (since you don’t seem to be bothered about if a conviction is possible).

                    • higherstandard …
                      29 September 2011 at 7:54 pm

                      Wasn’t the court decision not to convict due to no-one in the vicinity causing a disturbance – i’e if someone had been pissed off enough to clout her she would have been convicted for causing a disturbance ……. I may be wrong…… old age memory failing .. wine with dinner etc .

    • Treetop 22.5
      29 September 2011 at 3:43 pm

      The moral high ground Paganai is using when it comes to being anti war and molotov cocktails reminds me of how a woman may be made to feel in a rape trial. Her sexual history is bared for all to examine, she then is on trial for her sexual history and being raped is considered as being probable or not probable even though consent was absent.

      Focus must be on the charge and not using moral high ground. Paganai needs to apologise for using a person’s personal beliefs and linking them to being charged with an alleged offence which is before the court.

      • Treetop 22.5.1
        29 September 2011 at 8:03 pm

        22.5 “… which is before the court.” I over looked that Bailey (another female) is to stand trial and not Morse, however Morse could appear as a witness or could take out a civil case against the police.

    • insider 22.6
      29 September 2011 at 9:16 pm

      Re stockpiling ammunition, apparantly they were

      • Adele 22.6.1
        29 September 2011 at 9:39 pm

        From my understanding they were found with about 200 rounds of ammunition and about half a dozen firearms in various stages of useability. Knowing the socio-economic status of Māori, as I do, it probably took them over 10 years to amass this horde of weaponry, and from Trademe.

        Your paranoia is fed by ignorance of the world outside of the bubble you occupy. Pop that cherry and explore the real New Zealand.

        • Colonial Viper 22.6.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 9:56 pm

          From my understanding they were found with about 200 rounds of ammunition and about half a dozen firearms in various stages of useability.

          Anyone who has been farming for longer than 2 seconds typically has anywhere between 10-20 serviceable firearms (from .22’s all the way through to various shotguns) and a thousand plus rounds of ammo for said firearms.

      • Adele 22.6.2
        29 September 2011 at 9:41 pm

        Insider

        From my understanding they were found with about 200 rounds of ammunition and about half a dozen firearms in various stages of useability. Knowing the socio-economic status of Māori, as I do, it probably took them over 10 years to amass this horde of weaponry, and from Trademe.

        Your paranoia is fed by ignorance of the world outside of the bubble you occupy. Why don’t you pop that cherry and explore the real New Zealand.

      • Zetetic 22.6.3
        29 September 2011 at 9:46 pm

        yeah, right.

        Who said that?

        Oh, yeah, the police. Whose charges have been thrown out again and again.

        What interests me is how the Police are now denying the remaining accused a fair trial by leaking this stuff to the media. They must know what they’re doing. Seems like pure vengeance. And an admission they have no case.

      • Treetop 22.6.4
        30 September 2011 at 7:33 pm

        Insider I was being specific about Morse. The Supreme Court has ruled that video camera surveillance is not admissable where she is concerned.

        Go and Google what Ross Meurant says about cops and the forest. I learnt at age 16 about how cops were. I worked at a police barracks and accommodation was supplied due to the three split shifts.

        • Treetop 22.6.4.1
          30 September 2011 at 8:08 pm

          Can’t supply a link but try Deep in the forest: Ross Meurant – Sunday Star – Times

          Meurant is honest about how cops are conditioned to tow the line when it comes to them and us.

          I have a general distrust where cops are concerned but there are some honest ones. The longer service or the higher rank are usually the worst. A lot of the good ones get out due to knowing that they cover for their mates, have assaulted people they apprehend and know that they are there to serve and protect the public and not themselves.

  23. thejackal 23
    29 September 2011 at 2:52 pm

    DOC was Bribed

    A few days ago the Otago Daily Times reported that the Department of Conservation will receive $100,000 from gold-miner Oceana Gold in return for taking a neutral stance on an application to expand the East Otago gold mine. This is a blatant bribe as DOC had already made its position known…

  24. Anne 24
    29 September 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Do the Nats need to bother with asset sales to foreign owned companies with this goon around?
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/5704264/Owen-Glenn-linked-with-Warriors-buyout

    First he tries to buy his popularity and get his name up in lights, now he’s going to try and buy up NZ starting with the top sporting teams. Key and Glenn make a good pair of sociopaths!

    • higherstandard 24.1
      29 September 2011 at 3:29 pm

      Why is he a goon Anne ?

      Is it just because he dared tell the truth about Winnie and put your beloved Labour party in an embarrassing position ?

      Is it because of his charitable donations and philanthropy ?

      Do tell.

      • The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 24.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 3:37 pm

        I think Anne believes that the Warriors is presently an SOE.

    • Joe Bloggs 24.2
      29 September 2011 at 4:21 pm

      Anne, wakey, wakey, that was covered at 6.2 above.

      However just in case you missed it … applying Fenton’s First Law, can we expect Labour to call for a total boycott on watching the Warriors, if the sale to Owen Glenn goes ahead?

  25. Joe Bloggs 25
    29 September 2011 at 4:39 pm

    Speaking of Gormless Fools – no personal reflections TGFKAO – when will Charles Chauvel withdraw his crap press release:

    A report showing air pollution in Auckland is double that of Sydney’s and on a par with Tokyo’s is another blot on National’s ever-expanding not very environmental copybook, Labour’s Environment spokesperson Charles Chauvel says.

    World Health Organisation data out today reveals New Zealand cities trail all major Australian cities in terms of air quality, with Auckland the worst.

    “Our largest city is just now getting a glimpse of the real cost of Steven Joyce’s anti-rail, more roads-at-all-cost policies – increased air pollution,” Charles Chauvel said.

    Epic fail Charles Chauvel says!

    Turns out the WHO report is almost as full of hot air as Labour’s policy cupboard. The report’s been pulled and a new set of numbers posted that show all main centres are within WHO safety guidelines.

    Look’s like the real cost of Joyces anti-rail, more-roads-at-all-costs policies is – clean air!

    Charles Chauvel says? A PR disaster!

    • Draco T Bastard 25.1
      29 September 2011 at 6:07 pm

      Oh noes, the WHO made a mistake.

      Now, does that actually undermine the ACC report that indicates that 700 people per year are dying to air pollution in Auckland? No, it doesn’t. Nor does it excuse Nationals drive to increase that pollution and death by putting in roads most of Auckland don’t want.

      • insider 25.1.1
        29 September 2011 at 9:07 pm

        Well only four years ago it was 900 deaths for the whole country and pollution levels have remained static if not dropped since then. The acc report is based on 2006 data. That to me undermines it a tad…

        • Draco T Bastard 25.1.1.1
          29 September 2011 at 11:14 pm

          Still doesn’t undermine the report considering that the conclusion would be based on probabilities defined by years of research around the world, ie, population thus, pollution thus, estimated level of premature deaths caused by pollution approximately this. It’ll be fairly close even if it was based on 2006 data. Pollution levels may have remained static but population hasn’t, especially Auckland, and the estimates probably have probably changed as well.

    • Ianupnorth 25.2
      29 September 2011 at 7:37 pm

      Oh, an MP that admits a mistake, now there’s a thing; still waiting for Key to admit his stuff ups; I anticipate a long wait as he has yet to retract any of his lies.

      • higherstandard 25.2.1
        29 September 2011 at 7:50 pm

        Yeah it is a rare thing indeed was perhaps one of Helen’s greatest weaknesses.

        I reckon the public warm to politicians who admit they f’up and I’m surprised they don’t do mea culpas more often.

      • Joe Bloggs 25.2.2
        29 September 2011 at 9:19 pm

        So you want to play dodgeball, huh, Ian?

        Of course Charles won’t recant – it’s not in his nature and it’s not in the nature of the party he represents. Much easier to blame the whole thing on some dastardly right wing plot.

        • insider 25.2.2.1
          29 September 2011 at 10:18 pm

          To be fair to chauvel, he was using data from a reputable source that he had no reason to doubt. Who have admitted the flaw so it’s a bit pointless doing a retraction now

  26. Paul 26
    29 September 2011 at 8:11 pm

    [lprent: Dumping identical comments across posts just pisses off moderators. ]

  27. prism 27
    29 September 2011 at 9:13 pm

    Intermittent signal September 2011/7 (last 15/9)
    There was a great interview today about helping parents with their onerous tasks, something I
    believe is vital and needs to happen. So there are positives coming through the fog of unpleasant news that we shouldn’t overlook.

    On 9 to Noon today – Parenting with Matthew Sanders
    Professor of parenting studies at the University of Auckland and University of Queensland. He was co-investigator of a major study carried out in South Carolina which found that there were lower rates of confirmed abuse cases, child out-of-home placements, and hospitalisations and emergency room visits for child injuries in countries where parenting support was implemented. (17′30″)
    Download: Ogg Vorbis MP3 | Embed
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2499133/parenting-with-matthew-sanders.asx

    And it sounds as if its being done with no patronising or authoritarian attitudes to parents either.

  28. eurozone 28
    29 September 2011 at 9:56 pm

    There is a Telecom roadshow at lunchtime tomorrow — supposedly the biggest thing goin on in our market right now – which means this market sucks!!!!

    …… although there are some really good yields out there

  29. eurozone 29
    29 September 2011 at 10:02 pm

    Ok – here are some NZ div yields

    Hallensteins 12%
    Telecom 12%
    Restaurant Brands 11.5%
    Methven 10%

    Not bad – assuming they don’t cut the divy

  30. John 30
    2 October 2011 at 11:48 pm

    “The Herald is just now catching up with the online outrage against such a shallow and nasty attack against a Kiwi icon.” – Campbell Slater

    How can Slater look at himself in the mirror at night. “Shallow and Nasty” attacks are all he fucking does. He’s a clinical depressive who seems to think the only way he can be happy is have his daddy bankroll his unemployment by having a blog that is set up for him to tell the world how fucking much he hates it. “Shallow and Nasty” and Salter are the same thing.

    The Mad Butcher can fuck off, he knows what he was doing, stop licking Nationals balls , it makes your workingman brand look a joke. He plays in the media, that’s all he does, his butcheries went broke a long time ago and he doesn’t run them. He’s just the briscoe lady of cheap meat. Don’t play innocence. Leitch is just one of a long line of businessman who have opened butcheries in Auckland and like him, most fail and are bought out.

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    New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 hours ago

  • Brainwashed People Think Everyone Else is Brainwashed
    Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 hours ago

  • Peters’ real foreign policy threat is Helen Clark
    Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    7 hours ago

  • NZ’s trans lobby is fighting a rearguard action
    Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    14 hours ago

  • Your mandate is imaginary
    This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    19 hours ago

  • 14,000 unemployed under National
    The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    22 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Discontent and gloom dominate NZ’s political mood
    Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    22 hours ago

  • Taking Tea with 42 & 38.
    National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    23 hours ago

  • Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
    Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”. As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Winding back the hands of history’s clock
    Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    23 hours ago

  • Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
     Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    24 hours ago

  • Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
    Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • New HOP readers for future payment options
    Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago

  • 2024 Reading Summary: April (+ Writing Update)
    Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'
    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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Road photos
    Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
    The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    Holding On To The Present: The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    Stuck In The Middle With You: As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    Buzz  from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example.  This shows National down ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    It Takes A Train To Cry: Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    Chris Trotter writes –  New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    4 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    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. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    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 ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice 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 ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Stronger oversight for our most vulnerable children
    The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 hour ago

  • Streamlining Building Consent Changes
    The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says.      “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    Good evening –   Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
    The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government to boost public EV charging network
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