If you are still needing a reason to vote Green, here is evidence of why we need to act on climate change urgently.
What do we want to leave for our children and grandchildren?
“Southern Alps snow, ice vanishing
Retreating glaciers and uncovered rocks evidence of swift change in climate with implications for sea level.
A third of the permanent snow and ice on the Southern Alps has vanished in less than four decades, according to an analysis of aerial surveys.
In an article published on Australian website The Conversation, three Kiwi researchers describe the story of the alps’ disappearing ice as very dramatic.
The analysis, by climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger, Otago University Professor Emeritus Blair Fitzharris and glaciologist Dr Trevor Chinn, follows on from a paper published by Dr Chinn last year documenting the retreat of our postcard glaciers.”
Compared with the now unstoppable collapse of the West Antartic Ice Sheet, the ice disappearing from the Southern Alps is piffling. And there is nothing the Greens can do about either even if they had a 100% majority in Parliament so you might as well vote National, grab your share of the money-go-round and party while you still can.
There are things that can be done to mitigate disasters.
For example I live in a coastal area and yet there are still people building substantial houses and businesses within metres of a coastline that has issues with eroding storm damage . People who invest their money into buildings and businesses on the coastline complain bitterly about RMA regulations yet are the first to go crying to Council to fix the problem when a storm occurs. This type of behaviour costs Councils a lot of time and money and I repeat: the people conducting themselves in such ways are the same people who are not prepared to create distance between the shoreline and their buildings from the outset. It is bloody ridiculous.
“There are things that can be done to mitigate disasters.” – Blue leopard.
Go tell it to the President.
US President B. M. Obama, 14/6/2014
“[S]ince this is a very educated group, you already know the science. Burning fossil fuels release carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps heat. Levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are higher than they’ve been in 800,000 years. …
We know the trends. The 18 warmest years on record have all happened since you graduates were born. We know what we see with our own eyes. Out West, firefighters brave longer, harsher wildfire seasons; states have to budget for that. Mountain towns worry about what smaller snowpacks mean for tourism. Farmers and families at the bottom worry about what it will mean for their water. In cities like Norfolk and Miami, streets now flood frequently at high tide. Shrinking icecaps have National Geographic making the biggest change in its atlas since the Soviet Union broke apart.
So the question is not whether we need to act. The overwhelming judgment of science, accumulated and measured and reviewed over decades, has put that question to rest. The question is whether we have the will to act before it’s too late. For if we fail to protect the world we leave not just to my children, but to your children and your children’s children, we will fail one of our primary reasons for being on this world in the first place."
“As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, BOEM…today announced that the bureau will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.”
You shouldn’t solely base your views on what America is doing. They are screwed politically just now.
We are a much smaller country with a different political system (namely our voting system). We have more opportunity to get a shift happening. The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.
“The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.”
Er, yeah. Like Europe’s Green powerhouse Germany, now importing coal from the USA to burn for power generation so it can abandon nice ‘clean’ nuclear.
But my original point in response to the thread starter was that voting Green in New Zealand isn’t going to make any difference to the loss of snow and ice on the Southern Alps as that problem doesn’t originate in New Zealand.
“The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.”
And exactly how many countries are taking that rational stance? China, India, the EU, Australia.
The hot air emanating from politicians about tackling Global Warming is just adding to the problem.
Great article you linked to there. It was really informative, thanks.
Yes your original point was that voting Greens wasn’t going to make any difference to the snow and ice loss on the Southern Alps and I responded by saying that having a Greener approach works on many different levels for example as it stands the RMA, which has really good guidelines for mitigating disaster, is being undermined by our current government. This means that people are less likely to be personally affected by the very real issues that are likely to arise in the not so distant future due to climate and pollution issues. Their behaviour and attitudes, therefore, don’t change and this not only means any sea-level rise will cause more disruption than it needs to, it also lowers peoples’ awareness of the issue and drops any pressure for change on a larger scale.
I am not too informed about what countries are taking strong actions on the issue of climate change (hopefully someone who is will jump in … Jenny? I am vaguely aware of perhaps Scandinavian countries, maybe the Netherlands? doing well with greener technology) – it is a pity to hear that about Germany re coal – however that article does indicate that they haven’t given up and perhaps see the use of coal as a way of avoiding nuclear power while they certainly sound like they are investing a lot into finding alternatives. So it is not like they have given up on their aim.
When countries become successful with Greener technologies – they are bound to catch on. We have an opportunity to be part of that process. Moreso than larger countries.
One thing for sure – simply following those countries that are captured by big money and are accordingly not making sincere efforts in that regard certainly won’t address the issue. Nor will defeatism.
Your logic is flawed Tom, if you really believe nothing can be done – Then you should have not commented here, and should be sniffing coke off Keys ass.
I don’t believe nothing CAN be done. I strongly suspect nothing WILL be done, until it is far too late to prevent disaster. After all, we are already locked in to a 2 – 5’c temperature rise and a minimum 15ft sea-level rise and what has actually been done to ameliorate worse?.
However I’m sorry my expressed opinion disturbed the harminious circle-wank you clearly come here for and won’t waste my time putting up alternative views that might frighten the horses, as I don’t come to The Standard to be insulted.
There are others that express similar concerns on the Standard that you have, Tom – I hope you don’t get completely put off commenting here. I enjoy a variety of opinions as I am sure others do too.
I don’t think that staying down at 2C by the end of the century has about as much hope of happening as a icicle has of surviving the night in hell. Pretty much on track for about 4C or higher and I’d be assuming something closer to 15 metres sea level rise than 5 metres after the WAIS starts getting undercut and lubricated. I suspect from the previous deglaciation evidence, that once it starts, it is very fast emptying the basin area of ice and a bit slower after that.
But those are pretty minor provided you don’t live in the tropics, on an atoll or in a coastal plain like Bangladesh. They take time enough for people to adapt.
It is the rapid weather pattern shifts that are going to be much more problematic. Those will impact directly on to food production. They will do so much earlier than sea level rises or heat prostration. Most people fail to understand exactly how reliant we as a civilization are on the settled weather of the current interglacial in our farming practices.
I dont normally warm to much to Latta, but I thought that program last night was excellant if you still vote National after watching this program you have to be a loaf short of a picnic.
I am not usually a fan of Nigel Latta either but this time he made a great job of presenting the realities of the huge difference between the haves and the havenots. Since Key English are in denial about this, no doubt they will be very angry little boys. TVNZ please explain! http://tvnz.co.nz/nigel_latta/video
I was impressed with Nigel Latta’s show – very good indeed. I also share others’ misgivings of Mr Latta – but this show is really something else. Exciting to witness something so informative on TV.
Just saw this and although so, so, many worthy topics of discussion it is imo important and shocking
Director Ridley Scott’s new biblical blockbuster, Exodus: Gods and Kings, has come under fire for “whitewashing” African history, casting four white leads to tell a story of Israelites and Egyptians.
I am SICK of politicians claiming we should treat everyone the same “under the law” and that is why Maori shouldn’t get Maori seats of whatever. The TREATY of Waitangi is (arguably I know) a legal document. It is “under the law”
A partnership agreement made when Maori were 99% of the population and the british 1%. NOW that our dominance is assured, it’s a piece of law, an agreement that group, and others don’t want any more.
Many of us white folk seem to choose to forget the incredible generosity of the Maori folk back in 1840. Im not to sure that it was 99/1 but there were certainly way more Maori being generous than there were English receiving it at the time.
No doubt, there was an area of misunderstanding between the parties, as to what the other interpreted it to mean (each side interpreting it by their own culture) but that did not excuse the wrongs that were subsequently done to the Maori people.
When you do a wrong, you need to put it right. Hence the Waitangi Tribunal.
contra proferentum my friend. its all allowed for under the law.
Contra proferentem (Latin: “against [the] offeror”),[1] also known as “interpretation against the draftsman”, is a doctrine of contractual interpretation providing that, where a promise, agreement or term is ambiguous, the preferred meaning should be the one that works against the interests of the party who provided the wording.[2] The doctrine is often applied to situations involving standardized contracts or where the parties are of unequal bargaining power, but is applicable to other cases.[3] However, the doctrine is not directly applicable to situations where the language at issue is mandated by law, as is often the case with insurance contracts and bills of lading.[4] wiki
+11111 Tracey – I was not happy when Dame Susan Devoy was appointed Race Relations Commissioner. She did say though that she had a bit of catching up/reading to do about what had gone before, but she certainly has ripped into the ACT leader’s comments and rightly so.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301500
Goodness me, first Nigel Latta and now Dame Susan – whoever next.
I imagineshe has learned stuff, like facts, since taking up the position. Previously she, like others only tuned into shallow rhetoric and thought it was “true”
You’ll have to point out to me in the Treaty where is says anything about Maori seats. The Maori Representation Act 1867 was a bribe to Crown loyalists during the land wars and now seem only to exist to prop up National and maybe get Kim Dotcom influence in Parliament.
Oh I do like listening to jamie Whyte. He is so articulate and you always know what he stands for. The people of Epsom must be jumping up and down with joy at having him represent them in parliament. /sarc.
The people of Epsom must be saying oh fuuuucccckkkkkkk. Oh why, do we have these fools foisted on us by TricKey.
Whtye is on the ACT list, and he will get into parliament if any red buttons are found and pushed.
Unfortunately even the richest people are seeing that National no longer is representing their interests. Wealth can be undermined, by boardrooms, by market failures but also by governments undermine the society that underwrites the whole economy.
Why would a wealthy person want to support others to get wealthy, cheat on their taxes, get incentives than undermine their consumers buying power, etc, etc. Its just dumb to want tax cuts, its socialism for the rich, an easy rich for those who are supposed to make their wealth by hard work, or harder risk taking.
National is corrupted by its neo-liberal ideological heart. I still can’t find an example of this high minimum wages causes job loses ideal, the closest I can find is a slave economy, where slave owners raise the amount of money they give the slaves. The slaved then buy themselves out of slavery and push up the unemployment numbers.
i have to wonder then Gosman why the pathetic racially divisive idiot is then given airtime anywhere on the TeeVee or my wireless,
The 7 Maori electorates, in my opinion, being a physical manifestation of Tinorangatiratanga, would suggest that until such time as Maori enrolled to vote in such electorates agree to not have them they will be a major feature of our political landscape…
just like they understand the rule of law, contract law and property rights 🙂
for a party that is chock full of crims, doesnt want to honour legal contracts and wants to remove property rights from a group of people, they have some funny policies
ACT’s Whyte is in some ways correct, Maori do have a legal privilege here in Aotearoa/New Zealand,
Its called the Treaty of Waitangi and the only racial problem ever created from the existence of this legal privilege was in fact the ignoring of its provisions once the colonials got the upper hand militarily over the tribal Maori nations…
Interesting that the Treaty is considered a “race” based document. It is between the chiefs and tribes of NZ and the Crown. The former are the owners of property and property rights allowing usage over the same. It just so happens that these “owners” and “sellers” happened to be Maori, the “buyers” non Maori. Under British law we are talking property rights that are inherited by through genealogical linkage. Is that “race” based?
Watch out. Auckland home owners, surely, could argue that they have special treasure in the liveability of Auckland and so stop the councils from raising the building heights.
There was a lilt in his voice, an inflection that screamed out loud and clear his class position: there was an assumed authority that underlined the former. In short a privileged prat. He sounded like Don Brash Mark 2.
His logic on race was quite precise: which all goes to prove that a logical argument can be made for anything in isolation. That in a nutshell is where ACT are, ideologically logical in isolation of any facts or realities that challenge their dogma.
I hope someone takes the time soon, live, to destroy Unclecousin’s facile conceit that his sophistry qualifies as philosophy, while he splutters and rages like the lying entitled wretch he is.
How fascinating. You appear to regard people with Don Brash’s “class position” as being privileged prats.
Presumably you regard David Cunliffe as being a “privileged prat” also. After all Don’s father was a Presbyterian Minister and David’s an Anglican one. Both apparently favoured the Labour Party. Hard to see any difference really.
One would have to say they come from the same class, wouldn’t one?
@ alwyn 3.10
How fascinating. That you have not noticed that people from the same class can behave in a variety of ways. There is a general behaviour that people adopt within a class system, with extremes at the fringes. So David Cunliffe can be different from Don Brash on that basis.
Then within each church referred to there are differing attitudes to achieving righteousness. If Don’s parents were Calvinists and David’s were from the liberal side of the Anglican church they would be quite different in their outlooks, though they would be aware of the attitudes likely coming from those positions. The Anglicans have a broad church – the Presbyterians inclined to be more demanding to be worthy of heaven.
The whole core of the rich prick class brought in by Thatcher, was of a socialist party for the rich, and privatizism for the everyone else. They’re the rich so they can cheat on their taxes, and force our taxes up while screaming how we aren’t paying enough.
ACT is not a libertarian party. Its a socialist elite party. Nearest thing a western country comes to a communist politburo. Always dictating how others aren’t shaping up.
Can you perhaps tell me how the class they come from is different?
Just what class do you think each one was born into if it isn’t the same one?
Claiming say that the Presbyterian church is a higher class than the Anglican which in turn is higher than The Salvation Army which is higher than the Baptist doesn’t really cut it.
Brash became a commercial – a blind servant of mammon – 2nd class. Cunliffe seems to subscribe to a notion of public service that resembles to some degree the synthetic ideals of Hutcheson. As an accountant Brash may have had some virtue, as a statesman he had none. You might also consider Brash’s degree (Canterbury?) vs Cunliffe’s (Harvard?).
I suppose I could consider Don Brash’s degrees, since you have no idea.
Canterbury BA and MA in Economics. That’s economics, not accounting.
ANU PhD. That is a more highly rated University than any of the NZ ones.
Cunliffe has one economics qualification I suppose. A diploma from Massey.
Doesn’t really seem much does it?
Did Brash learn his racism at ANU? The university at which someone gets their qualifications has very little to do with how well they do in their chosen career. I’ve seen many examples of this.
But I have, greywarbler, I have. It was ennui who appears to regard peoples behaviour as being due to the class into which they were born. If you are born in one class he seems to think your behaviour is pre-ordained.
I think that Don and Dave were born into a very similar class background. It didn’t really matter though. Whatever class Don came from I think he would always have been successful and would have contributed greatly to New Zealand, particularly as he did from his time as Reserve Bank Governor. David Cunliffe on the other hand was always going to be a prat.
I will take your word for the religious attitudes of the various churches. I regard all those who profess to believe in a god as being idiots. You are allowed to take the easy way out and say, as Helen Clark did, that you are an agnostic, or come out and say you are an atheist. Anything else is for people who believe in fairies.
Greywarbler – in defence of some Presbyterian friends I have, it is also a fairly broad church. Standard Calvinism is pretty rigid stuff, but my friends (one a reverend) have been in favour of “worldly” things like gay marriage and marijuana legalisation for years. My impression was that it was broader than the Anglicans, with some of the more traditional Anglicans being able to swap easily to Catholicism.
@ Murray Olsen 1.43
Trying to classify religions as I did was a mistake. I remember now one interesting book by I think, a chap Greenwood, which referred to the high Anglican church and its rites being so near Catholicism, setting its style apart from the practice of the major part of the church. Actually there are some quite good crime stories that weave religious practices and styles in and it is a fascinating theme within the genre.
And alwyn I think you are looking down on the goings on of pollies, while I am the reverse, looking up. And I see Don Brash as a prat who probably got too much praise at school for being precise and clever while never learnign much about actual human behaviour, and David Cunliffe as being successful, highly trained, experienced and yet human-oriented, less statistical and theory biased and more ground-based than Brash.
I don’t like fervent idealists and theory based, utopian followers whether its in economic theory squeezing life to comply, or socially based humanitarian ones who announce the world belongs to the people in fervent tones, or knock-it-all-down and rebuild fresh and new stirrers, or religious ones whose hymn is I Did it my Way, and there is no other, and anyway it is the next life that counts. A pox on all their houses.
John Key says that water quality is not that bad, all it means is that we can’t swim in some rivers on some days.
Show us the money John. It’s your policy, so you should understand the costs by now. Tell us which rivers and which days. Or is it more like which catchments and which months or seasons?
Paul Fish & Game are so unimpressed that they have (collectively as a Council that is) called for Nick Smith’s resignation – the resignation of their very own Minister.
And these are sensible calm rational people (the f&g folk that is, not smith of course)
Fantastic cartoon by Murdoch in the Press this morning showing Nick Smith at a restaurant refusing a glass of water “strained lovingly through cows” while he eats fish.
Someone described this as not the “rock star economy” but the “pollution economy”, which is most apt. John Key’s pollution economy.
Given the newspaper rage aimed at Mr Cunliffe about the Liu affair, does it seem strange that newspapers seem to have almost avoided the clean water/Smith issue?
From my wireless, RadioNZ National, 550+ pack out the hall at the Rotorua InternetMana roadshow, the sniff of 5% of the vote for InternetMana i had last week just got as pungent as that from one of the many mud-pools up there in Waiariki,
Those numbers say to me Annette Sykes will be the new Member of Parliament for that electorate, the tangi for the Maori Party begins….
“someone” should not have put Curtis in the media mix till he had at least fronted the event. Always easier to let a cat out of the bag than add one.
I don’t know the inside story here yet, but do know that there are a number of whanau still split along Mana/Māori Party lines that take it seriously which is why Hone was still reaching out for some kind of rapprochement last year.
Curtis is just doing a nice turn of supporting his bollocks with a fence rail.
And now for the next act… surprise surprise folks … (drum roll) … bring you hands together for Simon Bridges…… (applause) … our latest LIAR from John Key’s government.
Yesterday Bridges admitted spending $240,000 on oil execs in NZ for the rugby world cup
The result?… is this … “Only one of those companies had so far been granted a petroleum exploration permit but had committed to spending almost $20 million here,”
BUT folks here is the clanger, the lie, the deceit and the dishonesty that you have all been waiting for …… I give you again …. Siiiimmon Bridgeessssss…. (applause) …
“But Energy Minister Simon Bridges defended the spending: “the sums expended were very modest …. and has resulted in billions of dollars of international investment in New Zealand.”
…. ta daa
$20million the reality
$billions the liar claims.
Simon Bridges please take your place alongside all the other liars in your government….
(the audience is nearly all gone at this point …)
Yep, six oil companies, that’s a 40 grand piss up, accommodation, and, you can just about bet with certainty free tickets to the rugby for each of those oil companies, only one of which has taken up the right to explore here, all paid for by us the taxpayers,
i wonder if that was one executive per company that such largesse was bestowed upon by Slippery’s National Government, if so, the expense would suggest that they got flown around the country on one very long drunken tour of our rugby stadia,
Meanwhile, those of us living life within the small means brushed our way as crumbs off of the table got to watch ‘live’ from the big screens at the pub…
I’m pretty sure these three companies will make investment decisions on factors other than sychophantic governments. A nice presentation to the Boards would have done the trick if NZ had solid investment potential. I’ keen toknow whhether thre other three companies are established players or cowboy companies. Also if any of them operate here already, or have up sticks and left.
The oil and gas sector currently earns the Government about $800m in royalties and taxes each year which are used to fund roads, schools and hospitals.
Yes, let’s point out what taxes are for, while somehow implying that if not for oil exploration we’d not have roads, schools and hospitals.
Yes clever clogs, well aware of the place of the mining and oil sector in NZ …. but you missed the deception. The point of the comment was not the place of oil and mining, it was the dishonesty of Simon Bridges…. can you see it here?
“the sums expended were very modest …. and has resulted in billions of dollars of international investment “
i was just about to indulge in my favorite breakfast when i read that, 2 toasts, i each with a swipe of marmite and peanut butter, both then lashed with guacamole,
Think i might wait for your image of Banks indulging in His dogs dinner to fade…
That’s my standard munch at breakfast Chooky, laugh, six months ago i had never even made guacamole now its become a staple replacing butter or margarine which are both off the menu here,(and strangely enough not missed at all),
i have just moved to supplying myself with milk for $1.20 a liter via buying in the skim milk powder and purchasing a couple of liter bottles with screw top lids which resemble the milk bottles of my hugely misspent youth,(takes all of five minutes to mix, and is best accomplished by mixing half the liter and then leaving overnight for the froth from the shaking to dissipate),
Soy milk which tastes yummy has been put through my testing regime and found wanting in a number of areas including cost,(anyone thinking of shifting to obtaining their milk via powder should buy the kilo pack as there is no savings involved from buying the smaller packages)…
Well you could put your sign out as a local breakfast cafe as far as i am concerned! …breakfast is the meal of the day i enjoy most i think ( probably because i havent eaten for a while….food tastes so much better on an empty stomach)
Lolz, i have a breakfast menu, including a couple of slices of one of the poor little piggies rear end that is the ultimate in Delish, works as dinner as well…
…you won’t be arguing with Phillip over breakfast then!
..once when I was in an isolated fish and chip shop with my 8 year old son a Mongrel Mob looking guy walked in and my 8 year old red head said “Mum, what do people taste like?”….the Mongrel Mob guy looked interested ….I said “I dont know but your sister would!”…there was the teenage daughter cool as a cucumber …she would have scared any Mongrel Mob!…the guy smiled ever so slightly…I said “I have heard people taste a bit like bacon that is why they were called ‘long pig’ ”
Maybe some NACTS will come knocking at your door and you could have them in for breakfast
Just watched BamBam on the Whitehouse Lawn “givin them damned godless Ruskies” a tongue lashing. Absolute pity about the whole thing was that nothing he said could be backed up by solid evidence, it was all be implication. What the limp rag Uncle Tom was announcing was more sanctions against Russia on behalf of US corporate energy and agricultural corporates. The Russians of course are better placed because they don’t have to rely upon “faith” in the Greenback..they have the real oil and gas that Europe so desperately needs. Merkel wont risk German wealth just to help out a US oil company that cant supply her industry.
Somehow I think the whole issue is going to blow up in our faces with much higher oil prices: the timing is such a pit because along with the drop in dairy receipts, pressure on petrol prices might just have given Key and his cronies a massive electoral headache.
To say that Obama doesnt care is pretty harsh. To say that on the important stuff, he doesnt actually have much of a say, would be far more accurate.
The things he did push, like ObamaCare (he promised “You can keep your existing plan”) may or may not have been a good policy move, but its upsetting a bunch of his middle income voters who already had an existing plan and couldnt keep it, despite the promise.
Those who got cover for the first time, were overwhelmingly likely to support the Democratic nominee in any case.
Laila Harre is standing in Helensville for the Internet/Mana Party.
Hopefully, this will encourage Prime Minister John Key to participate in Helensville electorate candidate debates.
I look forward to voters who support candidates who are members of political parties, giving them their PARTY vote, and giving me their ELECTORATE vote as the (fiercely) Independent MP for Helensville.
So, Slippery the Prime Minister has spun the roulette wheel and bet the ‘House’ on Winston Peters, that’s some gamble from the money trader who in His former life always got to play the game with the deck having been previously stacked by the bigger money boys on the floors of the ‘trading house’ above,
There’s a huge prospect in play here where NZFirst and Colon’s Conservatives become entwined in a lose/lose battle for party vote %’s each chiseling not only votes from each other but crucially nibbling at the soft rump of the National Governments own party vote,
A minus for NZFirst in September will be the loss of support from those who in election 2011 voted for that party solely on the basis that Slippery the PM ruled Peters out of inclusion in a National coalition, and, in the chess game of MMP politics voted as a ‘check’, which incidently nearly became ‘check-mate’, to ensure National as all the media polls were suggesting at the time, could not ‘Govern alone’,
Unfortunately this ‘tactical vote’ which helped NZFirst re-enter the Parliament in 2011 cannot be measured, but, my opinion says, a 3% Conservative vote along with the loss of that 2011 ‘tactical vote’ will see NZFirst fall again, as the party did in 2008, agonizing short of the 5%,
If Anette Sykes wins Waiariki, and, last nights standing room only InternetMana meeting in that electorate has me giving Her a 70/30 advantage over the dying Maori Party’s Flavell there, then Nationals chances of forming a third term Government look even more remote,
Kick ACT from Epsom and/or Dunne from Ohariu and it becomes virtually impossible for the Tory’s to gain that third term,
The left? despite the media polls, looking good, by that i mean looking GOOD, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, not too big an ask at all i would suggest….
i always seen you as confused Puckish, add to that conflicted and we await the addition of a few more words beginning with the consonant C, above four letters please, and we may have you described to a T as opposed to simply describing you in simpler form via C with few other letters added….
(Condensed springs to mind as an addition to confused/conflicted)…
In 2006 Weissglass was just as frank about Israel’s policy towards Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants: ‘The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.’ He was not speaking metaphorically: it later emerged that the Israeli defence ministry had conducted detailed research on how to translate his vision into reality, and arrived at a figure of 2279 calories per person per day – some 8 per cent less than a previous calculation because the research team had originally neglected to account for ‘culture and experience’ in determining nutritional ‘red lines’
The regularity of Israel’s perceived need to use force is illustrated by the notorious expression, “mowing the lawn,” that one of its military officers used to describe strategy toward Gaza. It is reminiscent of the advice that Thrasybulus gave Periander of Corinth, recounted in Herodotus. Walking through a field, Thrasybulus broke off the tallest ears of grain by way of showing Periander’s envoy the best way to rule violently. The envoy couldn’t figure out his meaning, but Periander, the prototype of the ancient tyrant, understood immediately on hearing the envoy’s report. The analogy showed that violence could not be a one-time affair. New stalks would grow up. It would remain necessary to keep lopping off the top ones—i.e. mowing the lawn.
Twelve days after the shoot-down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, your administration still has issued no coordinated intelligence assessment summarizing what evidence exists to determine who was responsible – much less to convincingly support repeated claims that the plane was downed by a Russian-supplied missile in the hands of Ukrainian separatists.
Your administration has not provided any satellite imagery showing that the separatists had such weaponry, and there are several other “dogs that have not barked.” Washington’s credibility, and your own, will continue to erode, should you be unwilling – or unable – to present more tangible evidence behind administration claims. In what follows, we put this in the perspective of former intelligence professionals with a cumulative total of 260 years in various parts of U.S. intelligence:
What the professional’s think of the ‘evidence’ against Russia can only be termed scathing. They’re particularly nasty in their condemnation of Senator Kerry.
I just read on another blog a post by someone complaining about Key’s WWI speech yesterday, and was pleased to see someone felt the same as I did. Other pollies spoke with emotion and as this person said, from the heart. But John Key read his speech without any emotion or emphasis. He looked bored and he sounded it and as if it was all just too tiring and bothersome. I felt it was insulting that he didn’t take the time to familiarize himself with the material someone else had written for him. I can only think the subject was just not important enough to him personally. Our veterans weren’t worth the bother of him learning his speech and speaking with the level of commitment the commemoration deserved. Why are so many blinded by this fake?
Don’t take it personally. He’s always like that. There is nothing warm or genuine about him, he’s just going through the motions. Enter room, shake hands with Important Person One, smile, shake hands with Important Person two, smile. Give canned speech written by someone else. Wait until applause dies down. Move away for media standup. Exit. Move on to next event.
As to why so many are blinded, there is a lot that power, money and superficial charm can convince people to overlook.
..the Israeli government has gone mad …it is hell of a PR for Israelis around the world …they are beginning to look more and more like the Nazi government…they will be called to account by history and future generations for crimes against humanity ….and the rest of the world had better not look on and do nothing about it!…because we also will be called to account!
Daniel Barenboim is one Israeli who has spoken out
I met Mirak Smisek several times ….a New Zealand potter of repute, an a opponent of the Nazis and a refugee from Nazi torn Europe …and he told me that it is art that will save us…it was art that gave him hope and art that helped him transcend the evil he had witnessed
Yep it really grates when the right of the party side with the Herald to tell us there is no bias to see and to move along when we spend so much time detailing the concerns. Their choice is a dead giveaway. If the Herald wanted a debate it would select a leftie not an apologist for the right.
I also wish Quin would get his stuff right. The comment about how Labour is only going for the missing million has been replied to on numerous occasions but he still trots out the wrong line …
Just remember that after the next election and you’re scrambling around for excuses as to why Labour did so badly you were told time and time again whats wrong with Labour
I’ll tell you what I have had a gut full of – people who are so lacking in respect that they think they can turn the Labour Party into a vehicle for whatever suits them. For God’s sake, this guy cites the opinion of Shane Jones, who has decamped to work for National. Having taken a glance at other headlines of Quin’s, I assume he is one of the eighties’ influx of aspiring “young men of the city” who sought a vehicle for themselves under Douglas’s wing. And Josie and her ilk appear to think the party exists to allow nice, talented people like themselves to retain a foothold among the political/media elite. To these people I say, read the party’s bloody principles, and try to refrain from dissembling to yourself as you do so! You would not become a priest because the Catholic church could do with more atheists. You would not join the Greens to contribute a much-needed voice in favour of fracking. Why do you think it is OK to do this kind of thing to Labour?
Labours a broad church so i’m guessing their views are valid otherwise why would you have the likes of Mallard, Cosgrove, Goff , King etc etc still hanging around
About six weeks before Helen Clark finally cemented her grip on NZ Labour – one which she maintains to this day, even in absentia – I had finally convinced Phil Goff to topple her.
Phil Quin was someone who tried to get rid of Helen Clark prior to her gaining the government for 9 years.
Perhaps that is why he is an ex Labour adviser?
Not someone’s advice who I would listen to.
It is about time those further right (centrists) created a new party. As it stands it appears that the ‘right-wing’ faction of Labour are pissing on our chances of a decent left-wing government gaining power. Those who are ‘centrists’ in the party need to realise that Labour have very much been presenting themselves to appeal to the centre whilst still attempting to appeal to those further left too. It is ultraistic to push Labour’s current stance any other way. I wish those right-wing /’centrist’ types connected to Labour would stop their squawking and get real.
[Additionally in his article Quin cited, amongst other things, the Dong Liu saga as ‘mismanaged’ by Labour – omitting to mention the story was fictitious and yet propagated by our media. There has been no apology for that nonsense. The problem there was Labour took the story seriously – how were they to know that the media would grab something so unsubstantiated and report it as fact? I think most people who followed that story were truly shocked by how lacking in facts that story was.]
Interesting BL. So according to Quin Helen’s reign and the fifth Labour Government was an abject disaster for the party and we should be led by Shane Jones, no doubt with Josie Pagani as deputy.
It is certainly looking like that although I think it is important to acknowledge the many Labourites who are loyal and are working diligently. Those loyal people need to speak firmly to the ones that are wrecking things for Labour and tell them in no uncertain terms how unacceptable their behaviour is.
i think Richard is flailing, sadly, in the wrong place at the wrong time, it really is too late in the piece for us to be attempting to exploit that which we see as not quite right in the policy arena,
The 3 years just passed were the times to be talking thus, with the campaign proper having overtaken such concerns the vote itself now becomes the imperative,
i like these numbers, for me they have a certain resonance, an inevitability if you will, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, my little gaze into the crystal ball of the 2014 election…
A dreadful comment on Radionz this morning about the ballooning tragedy and the defects of the CAA. They knew lots about the guy, binge drinker, marijuana smoker, incidents. But they all know each other, and cosset each other apparently. The CAA put hot air balloons low on the dangerous list! They are not only not doing their job properly, they are under their own control and espouse apparently, that stupid, irresponsible free market crap about businesses should control and regulate themselves.
And they are one of these pseudo-government entities that are free to operate as they wish without control, oversight or discipline from government.
It is time that we demanded a complete overhaul and sacking of these pompous, diseased shits. The disease of arrogant position, so that they feel no shame when accidents occur, just throwing excuses, statistics and technical jargon in everyone’s eyes when actually the source of the fault is quite obvious to the naive, unpropagandised enquirer. And a Royal Commission to establish the fault properly. These so and so’s in CAA should be jailed and fined as well. The interview with David Still sets out the situation well.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Balloon death families call for government to act ( 12′ 43″ )
09:08 David Still’s daughter Alexis was one of 10 passengers who died in a hot air balloon crash in Carterton in 2012, along with pilot Lance Hopping. He says the Civil Aviation Authority failed to act despite repeated complaints about Hopping prior to the accident, and he’s calling for the government to force change upon the aviation safety regulator.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport
CAA failed to take action over balloon pilot complaints ( 3′ 11″ )
08:23 An inquest has been told several complaints had been made to the Civil Aviation Authority about the pilot of a hot-air balloon which crashed in Wairarapa in 2012 killing all 11 people on board.
Preventable accidents in NZ –
Crash survivors sue Ansett for $3 million – Tony Stickley – NZ … http://www.nzherald.co.nz/tony-stickley/news/article.cfm?a_id=143...
Dec 23, 1999 – … Dash-8 flight which smashed into a hill while trying to land at Palmerston North in June 1995. Two passengers and one crew member died in the tragedy. … The airline had also made a deliberate decision not to replace faulty landing gear, … on flying the plane, said Mr Miles, the captain was helping the co-pilot lower the …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=192796
As evidence would show, this was not as alarming as it may sound. Landing gear problems on the Dash-8s had become so frequent that pilots had stopped reporting them to Ansett.
But what Captain Sotheran and First Officer Brown had failed to notice was that their aircraft was perilously close to the foothills of the Tararua Ranges, to the east of Palmerston North.
Interestingly, i gather the market response is that now that business will fail, and others will see their failure, due to deaths, and do stuff to avoid people dying… But look how many have to die
Job interview at 2pm.
Only a fixed term contract through January 31st 2015, but a bit of breathing space from Mr Wolf when he comes a knocking.
Don’t know what to say about my last employment when asked, but I’ll burn that bridge when I’ve crossed it.
I went with honesty being the best policy. Whether it works or not is out of my hands now.
I was happy enough with my performance. I’ll just have to keep my trotters crossed.
Labour had some concerns about the proposals, but agreed to back the bill into law because it felt urgent measures were needed to relieve house prices. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2014/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503581&objectid=11301094
And many wonder what the difference between Nat and Lab are ? Well for developers IMO they allow for profits to increase as they transfer costs to the rate payer, and I defie anyone to prove anything different.
If anyone has any ideas that transferring council contributions to rate payers will reduce the price of property, they are misguided. The price we pay for a house is “market driven” not as cost plus basis.
If you look to the last major building industry crisis, leaky homes, developers took profits, shut down the company, avoided any liability and have had NO legislation aimed at them… Builders, yes. Designers? Yes. Developers no, and this govt wants to give them more money, less regulation and still no tightening of liability.
And they get full support from Labour. Next year when rates have increased it is not all the fault of our local govt, they have been given a hospital pass from Wellington.
Many of the services that are to now be funded by “other ” sources like libraries, sports grounds, community facilities, there are vast amounts that have been already collected by council & to be spent in the future, but under the LTCCP are deferred., part of the reason is the squeeze on councils increasing debt. Also talking of the LTCCP , councils spent huge resources, $ and time in preparing these and in one wee stroke all the work and planning of funding and timing has been undone. What a waste
Now that Stephen Joyce has confirmed that he will be nationalising Novopay from Talent2, can some one tell me whether Michelle Boag is a shareholder in Talent2?
This expensive re–look at the 4 decades old Crewe murders is only significant for more arse covering and fingers in ears from the blue bellies. They do manage to find space to retry the case and smear pardoned and compensated Arthur Thomas again and let one early suspect off the hook.
RIP to those who perished in the Wairarapa ballooning tragedy, it could be said that to be the passenger of a balloon pilot so affected is even worse,
Obviously, at some point in the future when the Parliament comes to look at the decriminalization/legalization of that particular substance such concerns as how to address the use of such vis a vis employment/public safety issues will have to be an inherent part of such Legislation,
The recent ‘running aground’ of a Tranzrail passenger train at the Melling station here in Wellington has been attributed to either a too high speed limit rounding the bend into that particular end of the line station and/or the Marijuana use of the driver…
“in the future when the Parliament comes to look at the decriminalization/legalization of that particular substance such concerns as how to address the use of such vis a vis employment/public safety issues”
Not to make light of that shocking preventable tragedy, but a literacy test might be a start.
i laughs,(but only quietly up my sleeve), gee Alien for once i am a little disappointed in the Wiki,
my Collins English ‘book of words’ is far more descriptive and explanatory when the words puckering up are considered previous to a reference to condyloma,
i am of course far to polite to go into the minute detail here, and besides, its dinner time…
David Cunliffe’s facebook page just sent a message:
“Multinationals must pay their fair share of tax, just like ordinary working people. Labour will ’embed’ IRD auditors in corporations that have a history of tax avoidance #forabetterNZ”
Yes, just like a political commissionar in the old soviet union. All decisions will be then be able to be vetoed if they don’t meet certain “National interest” criteria.
Unions will get no more of a ‘free pass’ on tax than any New Zealand-based business or other organisation currently does.
This policy is an additional tax enforcement strengthening measure and not the removal of all tax enforcement for everyone other than some errant multinationals.
Puckish, David Cunliffe as far as i know does not collect taxes, the IRD involve themselves in that activity,
i see no suggestion from you or the Labour Party that Trade Unions will be absolved from taxes by altering of the current Legislation which makes your comment somewhat deserving of a multiple lettered epithet starting with the consonant, (you choose)…
Those right-wing hacks/commenters are so irrational…and yet they are the type to trust that ‘markets players are rational’ – you couldn’t make this stuff up.
People such as the writer of this article apparently fall outside the expected group of low income folk, people in debt or worried about immigration status, etc.
I think this group who just don’t want their details bought and sold for business gain is growing.
Anyone got a good reason for the roll to be published at all? I can’t see why and I bet the turnout would go through the roof if voters were allowed to remain anonymous, just as the vote they cast is.
Anyone got a good reason for the roll to be published at all?
Not that I know of.
That said, it was possibly an idea that someone had that people would be able to look at the role and see if there were people on it that shouldn’t be. It may have worked if communities stayed below about 1000 people and everyone knew everyone else. Won’t work in any community above that size though.
And these days we have better options to ensure that people are registered where they should be without having to make the role publicly available.
It’s up to the EC to decide who should and should not be on the roll, not the public. So at the moment you have to register by paper, or online using RealMe. Even using RealMe you have to open an account then go to a postshop and have your photo taken.
Even after all of this I cannot see a reason for publishing unless the EC have been given a directive to fund themselves by selling voters’ information to third parties.
Ie, user pays, even when voting, a basic right in any democracy.
News from my wireless, RadioNZ National, the Government has announced it will establish a private company to take over the Education Payroll from Novopay,
Novopay is said to be paying the Government an undisclosed amount as penalty payment for a system that still fails to fulfill its expectations,
Gee only how many years too late and the ‘problems’ in the system will still have to be addressed by this ‘private company’…
From, I think, the same item on Checkpoint Stephen Joyce admitted that the taxpayer was picking up the larger share of the tab because there was “blame on both sides”. The Ministry had, apparently, bungled some things too. He didn’t mention who the negligent Minister was who has just cost us this coin.
Then, when asked if this was a case of the public sector being better than the private sector Joyce said words to the effect of ‘not at all, it simply happens that the government holds one side of the contract in this case and is taking over’.
But I thought that governments and their bureaucracies just can’t do this sort of stuff. Wouldn’t they be the last type of organisation you’d therefore turn to for a safe pair of hands in this kind of situation?
Aren’t things like payrolls just too tricky by half for them to get their heads around. The private sector, on the other hand …
Do we need another Henare voted into Parliament? The last one was bad enough. Is it not time for labour supporters to start voting for greens and other candidates in electorates? Labour activist here and elsewhere, keep begging the left not to split the vote. The gall to ask people to hold there noses and vote for some Tory scum in red clothing.
How about all those so called supporters of working people advise/aid/direct, or just be honest about some of the candidates that the labour party have put up. Phil Goff, Stuart (I think your grandfather is rolling in his grave) Nash, I’m sure others can be added to this list.
These are the evil shits we need to remove, the elephant in the room – how much longer labour people, how much longer you going to push the dead donkey?
Why do labour supporters keep putting up with these scum?
In the interests of working people any chance we can have an honest debate about the dead chaff in Labour who are hell bent on losing this election? Or am I going to get called a right wing troll – stupid or some other slagging off? Are the labour faithful going to go into fits of there own self-righteousness, and cling to any old Tory wannabe?
You say you like David Cunliff, yet he keeps being treated like shit. Labour have finally put up a leader who will make a bloody decent PM. And it is these MP wannabes who seem to me the happiest to poop in their own nest. Quite frankly, it reeks of the politics of self interest.
Everyone is accusing Jamie Whyte from the Act Party of being a racist.
Hypothetically speaking, if his partner was black, like I mean black black, would that change anything?
[lprent: Everybody? Don’t be a fool. There are usually thousands of people reading this site every day and a few hundred commenting. I guess you can’t count or have the common neolib inflationary view that expands the few fools in Act into a “movement”. I’d suggest that if you’re going to indulge in hyperbole, that you don’t do it about this site. That draws my attention to the dickheads doing it because I will answer for the site.
I really hate wasting time on peewees who measure their dicks using a magnifying glass for that extra size inflation. Read the policy. ]
No. Notwithstanding his personal family situation, to claim Maori are unjustly privileged is unhelpful to New Zealand, and racist. We intend to be different to African and American history here.
In addition, to describe someone as black is one thing, silverbullet, but to then describe someone as “black black” is…
Go put your Stalinist comrade uniform on – oh hang on, you are already wearing it.
[lprent: I suggest that you read the policy. You appear to be wearing a troll uniform. Lets be nice and imagine that it is like this…
This is your one warning about being a dickhead jerking off on our site. Engage with the conversation or leave before I have to toss you off the site. Leading up to an election, I really can’t be bothered being tolerant of mindless fools who try to imagine that they are sophisticated smartarses. ]
If any current NZ leader could be compared to Stalin it is John Key. Figuratively, the similarities between Key’s rejuvenation drive to the great purge in the 1920’s are alarming.
Your Far Left ideology is grounded in the philosophy of Marxism, with its “class consciousness”, “class conflict” and some future “workers paradise” type utopia.
Seeing as you asked silverbullet, NO, racism is not confined within one racial grouping, a white male for instance with an African American partner could for instance express hatred for Maori and rightly be labeled a racist,
The term racist does not presuppose that there is hatred of all the races other than that of the racist, the racist might only be so concerning one race other than his own to be a racist…
Seriously? Its always been about white vs the rest. So it does bring into question hypothetically that Whyte really is racist if he is married to someone of African descent and has kids too…
I’m really sorry this exchange didn’t go the way you planned, and that’s left you arguing against a case that no-one seems to be making, but what’s happening here is obvious. Jamie Unclecousin is attacking maori so racists will vote for ACT.
Now that might be a racist thing to do, or it might just be a selfish stupid short-sighted evil nasty cynical divisive corrosive thing to do. But either way, it has nothing to do with his wife, just as it had nothing to do with Don Brash’s wife when he pulled the exact same stunt 10 years ago.
What we do know is that no good can come of it. It will make some people in our society angry about other people in our society. It will hurt people. It will hurt race relations. And it will not achieve a single positive thing.
“tough on crime” is their main clarion call in Epsom, despite the Govt, of which they were a part, until their only member committed… a crime… tells us crime is falling and we are safer than ever.
So
Tough on crime
2.Maori are too privileged
AND they will get a seat in parliament… Over 17% of their sitting MPs have committed crimes…People of Epsom worship at the later of money
Just heard on the TV that we’ve paid x millions to Talent2 for the Novapay fuckup and that we’re then going to paying another nine million over the next six years as well. Wish I could get a job like that – paid for fucking it up, paid to be fired from it and then 6 year multi-million dollar redundancy package.
@ Weepus beard 6.55
“Where is the minister of Education in all of this?She has learned when to keep her mouth shut.”
These words by Graham Nash have substance and they say what we are all thinking here! And we need to rouse them and ourselves and follow our dreams during the day and night – dreams for a happy, functioning society. I think there might be an odd word in it.
From musixmatch
“Teach Your Children”
You, who are on the road must have a code that you can live by.
And so become yourself because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well, their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of the tender years can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
This extract from Chris Trotter’s reply to Phil Quin referred to in Puddleglum 6.45 carries forward my comment about the necessity for igniting the dream. I fear that the generations since 1984 have been unable to imbibe enough of that message from their parents, and certainly not from school or any other formal or informal education. One reason they may not feel like voting.
The people whose precarious position of privilege vis-a-vis the working poor and beneficiaries renders them unashamedly reluctant to redistribute even a little of the wealth they have “worked for”.
Beneath a superficial “concern” for the disadvantaged, these voters conceal a visceral contempt for the poor. They are terrified of being forced to share their resources with the “underserving” and will have absolutely no truck with any political party which suggests that, as citizens, they have a moral obligation to put an end to inequality and poverty. –
See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/07/30/the-40-percent-solution-chris-trotter-responds-to-phil-quin/#sthash.0TbWppqF.dpuf
I have to admit that I am stunned that there is still such a thing as a ‘Labour Right’ that extends so far to the right that its apparent members (Pagani, Quin, Jones) are essentially pushing an economic approach that actively undermines the welfare of just those people that Labour Parties around the world were set up to represent and advance.
How on earth is such an economic policy orientation part of any ‘Labour’ approach?
You can thank the Post Modernists for the meaningless of language these days, they are after all the bastard children of ‘Progressive’ Left Neo Marxist ideology.
I think you need to distinguish between postmodernism as an intellectual current and postmodernity as a hypothesised economic, social and cultural transformation of modernity.
The latter is exemplified by ‘late consumer capitalism’ and all of its attendant industries (marketing, advertising, media, design, etc.) and the emergence of a supposedly new social class (highly educated, high income, usually employed in the industries just mentioned) for whom ‘cultural capital’ is an additional boasting right (on top of other forms of capital).
To be honest, I think it is postmodernity (or the cultural and economic conditions that that term usually refers to) that is responsible for any loss of meaning in our use of language. That loss of meaning is present in managerialism-speak, marketing-speak, neoliberalism-speak (which is increasingly commerce-speak) and, sadly, political-speak.
This morphing flexibility in linguistic meaning comes very close, of course, to old-fashioned lying – semantic relativism taken to its logical conclusion.
For me that logical conclusion is forever epitomised by John Key’s one-time reference to ‘the dynamic environment’ to explain why the meaning of his words change over time (or something like that).
By comparison, I think the influence of postmodernist theorists over the actual loss of meaning in everyday practice is infinitesimal.
I’m afraid your ‘silverbullet’ just missed what should have been its real target.
@Puddleglum 7.42
Your comment on ‘the dynamic environment’ and changes in meaning reminds me of something that Thomas Belmonte wrote and I think called it protean, about the changing, sometimes conflicting and changing beliefs of people rather lost in a changing society. He was impressed how people could be Catholic and Communist at the same time etc.
I looked up protean and came on this psycholgist who has done work on Nasties and their psychology and the Holocaust. Then he has posited two streams of people management – one called totalism and has presented proteanism as being the opposite.
Indeed. I made a similar remark at 21.1.1.2. The broad church concept is meaningful where someone like, say, Damien O’Connor, is concerned, beavering away on behalf of the West Coast. He is often considered to be of the right of the party, but he still able to say he sees social justice and regional development as his missions. However, the people you list seem to want to remain in the Labour Party while casting aside everything it stands for.
The real schism in the Labour Part is between the traditional working class and the academic Identity Politics crowd – the latter having a strangle hold on the Labour Party which is a shadow of its former self.
No, the most significant parting of the ways will always be when one faction believes that it should be serving the interests of the powerful and entrenched rather than the powerless, dispossessed and marginalised.
Clever justifications for serving powerful interests (trickle-down, etc.) will never resolve that betrayal, I’m afraid.
I have no problems with someone like O’Connor being ‘Labour’. And I’m even enough of a pragmatist to accept that some in the Labour caucus would want to make some sort of ‘truce’ or compromise with the ‘neo-liberal consensus’.
What I really can’t fathom is people who are not satisfied with ‘accommodating’ neoliberalism but seem bent on actively extending its reach and pushing it further into our social and economic arrangements – just because that’s what National is doing and ‘Ooo, look how popular National are!’.
It’s just mind-boggling that someone wishing to do that would even want to be in the Labour Party.
I just wish that when the media went for people who can talk intelligently on the Labour Party they would choose people that I knew! Mike Williams can do it. He has a grassroots understanding of the party.
Pagani and Quin cannot. Honest I have been heavily involved in the party for the past 15 years and I have not met either of them. I met John Pagani but this does not qualify him as someone who can talk intelligibly on the party.
There are people who come and go at the “upper” level but they have no comprehension about what is happening at the activist level.
Pagani and Quin cannot. Honest I have been heavily involved in the party for the past 15 years and I have not met either of them. I met John Pagani but this does not qualify him as someone who can talk intelligibly on the party
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve met John Pagani once and wasn’t that impressed. His campaigning felt like it was out of the ark (mind you most of the MPs are worse). Never met the other two that I am aware of. And I’ve been to the majority of the conferences and congresses in one capacity or another over the last 25 years which is where you’d expect to meet Labour party people. I still do even though I’m in the media room rather than the remit floor.
That is truly horrible that the people commenting in the media as though they are informed about Labour – or as though they are insiders – may not be even actively involved in the Party – that really is terrible to hear.
Why can’t the media find more informed voices to comment on these political current affairs? (Not really a question – more of a plea).
Basically because damn near everyone who is suitable is also actively working during the day for a variety of private and public organisations and volunteering at night. Generally companies like my current employers have contract clauses that limit how much time I can take during paid hours and conflict of interest clauses that limit me in the rest. I also have many claims on my “free” time.
It takes time to write articles, prep for interviews and panels, or anything else.
Hell the one interview I have ever done involved me in a 3 hour hole in the middle of my working day driving from Albany to Newmarket, doing a segment, and then going back to work. I then worked 3 hours extra that day, which interfered with the volunteer work for the rest of the week as I caught up.
The people who are left over to become talking heads are those who aren’t particularly actively involved, those developing careers as talking heads, or who are semi-retired.
For everyone else who works a lot, the whole thing is a confounded nuisance.
Well written from Chris Trotter, thanks for the link as i forget sometimes to cast an eye over the daily offering from that direction,
40% as far as the vote goes is totally unnecessary in the enviroment of MMP, these numbers, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, are hardly wildly optimistic, they do tho shout out 50% at the September vote…
I have a little anecdote. Talking to an older woman with health problems. Mentioned that it was very hard for unemployed and mentioned the recent comment that people are required to apply for 5 jobs a day and may still have their benefit withdrawn.
She said that was awful but she couldn’t cope with it, she needed to just manage and carry on quietly. I said well don’t vote for National will you. But I like John Key she said, he seems nice, (or something of that nature). She said with a smile, is that the end of the lecture. We smiled and went on with our day.
greywarbler …that is very depressing when you meet idiots like that…however after her encounter with you this timid soul may change her vote once she gets in the voting booth
Interesting you should say that, because i had a similar, but more disturbing experience. The person I was talking to was a 50 plus year old primary school teacher who said that she would be voting National because she said, she likes key! I was very surprised that she was so naive. I try to change her reasoning, but she actually was peeved with me and did not want to discus the issue.
Shows that lots of people have been fooled and conned so very easily by the smiling assassin!
Nats know this. No wonder they have chosen #Team Key as their slogan.
People are in pretty bad, sad political/enlightened state in modern NZ!
@ Chooky 10.54 and Clemgeopin
“that is very depressing when you meet idiots like that”
Trouble is she is not an idiot. But I think one of many NZs who want to leave the pollies to govern, as that being their job, and have never been taught how fragile democracy is, and our firm opinions are (not firm at all – able to be changed fast with a propaganda campaign.) To many NZs, having an interest in politics is a hobby, it is akin to stamp collecting, or it is for go-getters who are pushing their wheelbarrow not for ordinary people.
Then there are those who can hardly bring themelves to complain about anything apart from blocks to whatever is dear to their heart. What right do we have to disagree with the confident con men and fabulists who tell us all they want us to know, and are never guilty of wrongdoing, at worst whatever – was a little mistake – just a tiny, teeny one. We all have a little cringe built-in. We have got confused, don’t have a dream for NZ, don’t have even a workable vision – given up on pollies substance and just see the candy floss. Poem for today’s pollies, there for us at election time with hearts on sleeves, and then after the election – a different story.
W. H. Mearns – Antigonish
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
“It’s not just radicalised Islamists – what about foreign fighters who flock to the IDF?
Is the Government interested in UK citizens who have been fighting in Israeli uniform in Gaza in the past couple of weeks?…
Let me be frank. Dozens of British supporters of Israel do serve in the Israeli army. The same applies for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. And they don’t necessarily gravitate to being war criminals. This may not be what an Arab would say – and it is certainly not what Israelis would suggest. But there is plenty of evidence – from 1982 in Lebanon, from 1996 in Qana, from 2008-9 in Gaza and again in Gaza these past two weeks – that individual Israeli soldiers and pilots have committed acts which, under international law, are war crimes…
It will hit you sooner or later, what goes on in Ukraine, in Middle and Near East, and many other parts of the world, New Zealand is not insulated and will be affected.
After Ukips success in the UK and EU elections NZ polictions are trying to jump on the bandwagon but NZ has only a limited number of racist so it will be slim pickings for Winnie the poo ,in reading whyte supremacist and Crazy Colon Craig.
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
Mariupol, on the Azov Sea coast, was one of the first cities to suffer almost complete destruction after the start of the Ukraine War started in late February 2022. We remember the scenes of absolute destruction of the houses and city structures. The deaths of innocent civilians – many of ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
Climate change is expected to generate more and more extreme events, delivering a sort of structural shock to inflation that central banks will have to react to as if they were short-term cyclical issues. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s ...
It’s a simple deal. We pay taxes in order to finance the social services we want and need. The carnage now occurring across the public sector though, is breaking that contract. Over 3,000 jobs have been lost so far. Many are in crucial areas like Education where the impact of ...
Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
This is a re-post from Andrew Dessler at the Climate Brink blogIn 2023, the Earth reached temperature levels unprecedented in modern times. Given that, it’s reasonable to ask: What’s going on? There’s been lots of discussions by scientists about whether this is just the normal progression of global warming or if something ...
The schools are on holiday and the sun is shining in the seaside village and all day long I have been seeing bunches of bikes; Mums, Dads, teens and toddlers chattering, laughing, happy, having a bloody great time together. Cheers, AT, for the bits of lane you’ve added lately around the ...
Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. ...
Citizen Science writes – Last week saw two significant developments in the debate over the treatment of trans-identifying children and young people – the release in Britain of the final report of Dr Hilary Cass’s review into gender healthcare, and here in New Zealand, the news that the ...
One night while sleeping in my bed I had a beautiful dreamThat all the people of the world got together on the same wavelengthAnd began helping one anotherNow in this dream, universal love was the theme of the dayPeace and understanding and it happened this wayAfter such an eventful day ...
This is a guest post by Oscar Simms who is a housing activist, volunteer for the Coalition for More Homes, and was the Labour Party candidate for Auckland Central at the last election. ...
Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
David Farrar writes – The Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled: Comments by radio host Kate Hawkesby suggesting Māori and Pacific patients were being prioritised for surgery due to their ethnicity were misleading and discriminatory, the Broadcasting Standards Authority has found. It is a fact such patients are prioritised. ...
PRC and its proxies in Solomons have been preparing for these elections for a long time.A lot of money, effort and intelligence have gone into ensuring an outcome that won’t compromise Beijing’s plans. Cleo Paskall writes – On April 17th the Solomon Islands, a country of ...
Is speeding up the trip to and from Wellington airport by 12 minutes worth spending up more than $10 billion? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me in the last day to 8:26 am today are:The Lead: Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced ...
You're a fraud, and you know itBut it's too good to throw it all awayAnyone would do the sameYou've got 'em goingAnd you're careful not to show itSometimes you even fool yourself a bitIt's like magicBut it's always been a smoke and mirrors gameAnyone would do the sameForty six billion ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The June general election in Mexico could mark a turning point in ensuring that the country’s climate policies better reflect the desire of its citizens to address the climate crisis, with both leading presidential candidates expressing support for renewable energy. Mexico is the ...
2024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?When I say 2024 I really mean the state of humanity in 2024.Saturday night, we watched Civil War because that is one terrifying cliff we've ...
Buzz from the Beehive A pet project and governmental tunnel vision jump out from the latest batch of ministerial announcements. The government is keen to assure us of its concern for the wellbeing of our pets. It will be introducing pet bonds in a change to the Residential Tenancies Act ...
A recent report generated from a Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) survey of 1,224 rangatahi Māori aged 11-12 found: Cultural connectedness was associated with fewer depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms and better quality of life. That sounds cut and dry. But further into the report the following appears: Cultural connectedness is ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: From the gory details of job-cuts news, you’d think the public service was being eviscerated. While the media’s view of the cuts is incomplete, it’s also true that departments have been leaking the particulars faster than a Wellington ...
Remember the good old days, back when New Zealand had a PM who could think and speak calmly and intelligently in whole sentences without blustering? Even while Iran’s drones and missiles were still being launched, Helen Clark was live on TVNZ expertly summing up the latest crisis in the Middle ...
Costello did not pass on analysis of the benefits of the smokefree reforms to Cabinet, emphasising instead the extra tax revenues of repealing them. Photo: Hagen Hopkins, Getty Images TL;DR: The six news items that stood out to me at 7:26 am today are:The Lead: Casey Costello never passed on ...
True loveYou're the one I'm dreaming ofYour heart fits me like a gloveAnd I'm gonna be true blueBaby, I love youI’ve written about the job cuts in our news media last week. The impact on individuals, and the loss to Aotearoa of voices covering our news from different angles.That by ...
While commentators, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark, are noting a subtle shift in New Zealand’s foreign policy, which now places more emphasis on the United States, many have missed a key element of the shift. What National said before the election is not what the government is doing now. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 7, 2024 thru Sat, April 13, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week is about adults in the room setting terms and conditions of ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Changes to minimum wage and benefit indexation means many New Zealanders will get less this year, as the Government gives a big tax break to landlords instead. ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further New Zealand cooperation with the United States in the Pacific Islands region through $16.4 million in funding for initiatives in digital connectivity and oceans and fisheries research. “New Zealand can achieve more in the Pacific if we work together more urgently and ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
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If you are still needing a reason to vote Green, here is evidence of why we need to act on climate change urgently.
What do we want to leave for our children and grandchildren?
“Southern Alps snow, ice vanishing
Retreating glaciers and uncovered rocks evidence of swift change in climate with implications for sea level.
A third of the permanent snow and ice on the Southern Alps has vanished in less than four decades, according to an analysis of aerial surveys.
In an article published on Australian website The Conversation, three Kiwi researchers describe the story of the alps’ disappearing ice as very dramatic.
The analysis, by climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger, Otago University Professor Emeritus Blair Fitzharris and glaciologist Dr Trevor Chinn, follows on from a paper published by Dr Chinn last year documenting the retreat of our postcard glaciers.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301095
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children”
+100…
Compared with the now unstoppable collapse of the West Antartic Ice Sheet, the ice disappearing from the Southern Alps is piffling. And there is nothing the Greens can do about either even if they had a 100% majority in Parliament so you might as well vote National, grab your share of the money-go-round and party while you still can.
http://time.com/96173/antarctic-glacier-loss-is-unstoppable-study-says
There are things that can be done to mitigate disasters.
For example I live in a coastal area and yet there are still people building substantial houses and businesses within metres of a coastline that has issues with eroding storm damage . People who invest their money into buildings and businesses on the coastline complain bitterly about RMA regulations yet are the first to go crying to Council to fix the problem when a storm occurs. This type of behaviour costs Councils a lot of time and money and I repeat: the people conducting themselves in such ways are the same people who are not prepared to create distance between the shoreline and their buildings from the outset. It is bloody ridiculous.
“There are things that can be done to mitigate disasters.” – Blue leopard.
Go tell it to the President.
US President B. M. Obama, 14/6/2014
“[S]ince this is a very educated group, you already know the science. Burning fossil fuels release carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide traps heat. Levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere are higher than they’ve been in 800,000 years. …
We know the trends. The 18 warmest years on record have all happened since you graduates were born. We know what we see with our own eyes. Out West, firefighters brave longer, harsher wildfire seasons; states have to budget for that. Mountain towns worry about what smaller snowpacks mean for tourism. Farmers and families at the bottom worry about what it will mean for their water. In cities like Norfolk and Miami, streets now flood frequently at high tide. Shrinking icecaps have National Geographic making the biggest change in its atlas since the Soviet Union broke apart.
So the question is not whether we need to act. The overwhelming judgment of science, accumulated and measured and reviewed over decades, has put that question to rest. The question is whether we have the will to act before it’s too late. For if we fail to protect the world we leave not just to my children, but to your children and your children’s children, we will fail one of our primary reasons for being on this world in the first place."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/14/1307018/-President-Obama-s-remarks-at-UC-Irvine-commencement-ceremony
US President B. M. Obama, 17/7/2014
“As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, BOEM…today announced that the bureau will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.”
http://www.boem.gov/press07172014a
Do you wonder that I’ve given up?
You shouldn’t solely base your views on what America is doing. They are screwed politically just now.
We are a much smaller country with a different political system (namely our voting system). We have more opportunity to get a shift happening. The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.
“The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.”
Er, yeah. Like Europe’s Green powerhouse Germany, now importing coal from the USA to burn for power generation so it can abandon nice ‘clean’ nuclear.
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/on_the_road_to_green_energy_germany_detours_on_dirty_coal/2769
But my original point in response to the thread starter was that voting Green in New Zealand isn’t going to make any difference to the loss of snow and ice on the Southern Alps as that problem doesn’t originate in New Zealand.
“The more countries, such as ourselves, that take rational stances toward the problem – the more pressure there will be on America and other more captured countries to make a shift.”
And exactly how many countries are taking that rational stance? China, India, the EU, Australia.
The hot air emanating from politicians about tackling Global Warming is just adding to the problem.
@ Tom Bradford
Great article you linked to there. It was really informative, thanks.
Yes your original point was that voting Greens wasn’t going to make any difference to the snow and ice loss on the Southern Alps and I responded by saying that having a Greener approach works on many different levels for example as it stands the RMA, which has really good guidelines for mitigating disaster, is being undermined by our current government. This means that people are less likely to be personally affected by the very real issues that are likely to arise in the not so distant future due to climate and pollution issues. Their behaviour and attitudes, therefore, don’t change and this not only means any sea-level rise will cause more disruption than it needs to, it also lowers peoples’ awareness of the issue and drops any pressure for change on a larger scale.
I am not too informed about what countries are taking strong actions on the issue of climate change (hopefully someone who is will jump in … Jenny? I am vaguely aware of perhaps Scandinavian countries, maybe the Netherlands? doing well with greener technology) – it is a pity to hear that about Germany re coal – however that article does indicate that they haven’t given up and perhaps see the use of coal as a way of avoiding nuclear power while they certainly sound like they are investing a lot into finding alternatives. So it is not like they have given up on their aim.
When countries become successful with Greener technologies – they are bound to catch on. We have an opportunity to be part of that process. Moreso than larger countries.
One thing for sure – simply following those countries that are captured by big money and are accordingly not making sincere efforts in that regard certainly won’t address the issue. Nor will defeatism.
Your logic is flawed Tom, if you really believe nothing can be done – Then you should have not commented here, and should be sniffing coke off Keys ass.
“..and should be sniffing coke off Keys ass…”
heh..!
I don’t believe nothing CAN be done. I strongly suspect nothing WILL be done, until it is far too late to prevent disaster. After all, we are already locked in to a 2 – 5’c temperature rise and a minimum 15ft sea-level rise and what has actually been done to ameliorate worse?.
However I’m sorry my expressed opinion disturbed the harminious circle-wank you clearly come here for and won’t waste my time putting up alternative views that might frighten the horses, as I don’t come to The Standard to be insulted.
There are others that express similar concerns on the Standard that you have, Tom – I hope you don’t get completely put off commenting here. I enjoy a variety of opinions as I am sure others do too.
I don’t think that staying down at 2C by the end of the century has about as much hope of happening as a icicle has of surviving the night in hell. Pretty much on track for about 4C or higher and I’d be assuming something closer to 15 metres sea level rise than 5 metres after the WAIS starts getting undercut and lubricated. I suspect from the previous deglaciation evidence, that once it starts, it is very fast emptying the basin area of ice and a bit slower after that.
But those are pretty minor provided you don’t live in the tropics, on an atoll or in a coastal plain like Bangladesh. They take time enough for people to adapt.
It is the rapid weather pattern shifts that are going to be much more problematic. Those will impact directly on to food production. They will do so much earlier than sea level rises or heat prostration. Most people fail to understand exactly how reliant we as a civilization are on the settled weather of the current interglacial in our farming practices.
Nigel Latta on the ‘The New Haves And Have Nots’
Good to see a discussion about inequality
http://tvnz.co.nz/nigel-latta/s1-ep4-video-6025283
I dont normally warm to much to Latta, but I thought that program last night was excellant if you still vote National after watching this program you have to be a loaf short of a picnic.
I am not usually a fan of Nigel Latta either but this time he made a great job of presenting the realities of the huge difference between the haves and the havenots. Since Key English are in denial about this, no doubt they will be very angry little boys. TVNZ please explain!
http://tvnz.co.nz/nigel_latta/video
+100 Nigel Latta is a good guy
Just keep him away from all that “darklands” nonsense.
lol +1 agree!
Some very interesting responses to his programme on face book. Like what Paula Benefit wrote in the Vic Uni magazine in 1996
I was impressed with Nigel Latta’s show – very good indeed. I also share others’ misgivings of Mr Latta – but this show is really something else. Exciting to witness something so informative on TV.
Thanks Nigel Latta and the team that made it.
whyte doing his race-baiting rant on tvnz..
..the man is unintelligible….
..he makes shearer look like a lucid speaker/wordsmith…
..and every appearance whyte makes..
..just confirms how much of an odious-oink he actually is…
Yep odious describes him well.
Just saw this and although so, so, many worthy topics of discussion it is imo important and shocking
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/10324082/Racist-casting-claim-for-Ridley-Scotts-Exodus
check out this tweet – it really is blatant and it is also rewriting history
https://twitter.com/TheeSouthside/status/493509410288041985/photo/1
I am SICK of politicians claiming we should treat everyone the same “under the law” and that is why Maori shouldn’t get Maori seats of whatever. The TREATY of Waitangi is (arguably I know) a legal document. It is “under the law”
A partnership agreement made when Maori were 99% of the population and the british 1%. NOW that our dominance is assured, it’s a piece of law, an agreement that group, and others don’t want any more.
Have some honour
Many of us white folk seem to choose to forget the incredible generosity of the Maori folk back in 1840. Im not to sure that it was 99/1 but there were certainly way more Maori being generous than there were English receiving it at the time.
No doubt, there was an area of misunderstanding between the parties, as to what the other interpreted it to mean (each side interpreting it by their own culture) but that did not excuse the wrongs that were subsequently done to the Maori people.
When you do a wrong, you need to put it right. Hence the Waitangi Tribunal.
contra proferentum my friend. its all allowed for under the law.
Contra proferentem (Latin: “against [the] offeror”),[1] also known as “interpretation against the draftsman”, is a doctrine of contractual interpretation providing that, where a promise, agreement or term is ambiguous, the preferred meaning should be the one that works against the interests of the party who provided the wording.[2] The doctrine is often applied to situations involving standardized contracts or where the parties are of unequal bargaining power, but is applicable to other cases.[3] However, the doctrine is not directly applicable to situations where the language at issue is mandated by law, as is often the case with insurance contracts and bills of lading.[4] wiki
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/graph/36364/maori-and-european-population-numbers-1840-1881
+11111 Tracey – I was not happy when Dame Susan Devoy was appointed Race Relations Commissioner. She did say though that she had a bit of catching up/reading to do about what had gone before, but she certainly has ripped into the ACT leader’s comments and rightly so.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301500
Goodness me, first Nigel Latta and now Dame Susan – whoever next.
I imagineshe has learned stuff, like facts, since taking up the position. Previously she, like others only tuned into shallow rhetoric and thought it was “true”
You’ll have to point out to me in the Treaty where is says anything about Maori seats. The Maori Representation Act 1867 was a bribe to Crown loyalists during the land wars and now seem only to exist to prop up National and maybe get Kim Dotcom influence in Parliament.
go read it..
and then we have that racist piece of shit on tvone breakfast..rawdon christie..
..with his blond sidekick..
..defending/(translating?) whyes’ racist diatribe..
..’he’s got a point there’..
(the only point whyte has..is his fucken conehead..)
..and then reading out emails from aggrieved-whites who have suffered from these excessive privileges maori enjoy..(!)..(who fucken knew..?..eh.?..)
..and after reading out an email noting the 150 yrs of maori having their land stolen etc..
..’rawdy’ airily waves his hand..and sneers:..’that’s looking back’…
..just who is the bigger odious-oink..?..whyte or christie..?
whyte accused Guyon of being “all over the place.”
Whyte was the one very much all over the place. Incoherent!
Seems to have done the trick about getting publicity though. Winston even joined in the fun.
yeah..if yr happy about that ‘publicity’ being widespread laughing-at/piss-taking…
..confirmation of what an inarticulate-idiot whyte is..
..i mean..cd the man give instructions on how to get to a bus-stop..?
..without thoroughly confusing the listener..?
not quite – even though i disagree with winston he was far more articulate and he fired some shots at act and nat at the same time
all jamie whyte power did was further confirm hes not very smart – just like most racists
Jamie Whyte wasn’t much better on RNZ this morning. Again, Espiner was asking some good questions. A nice surprise.
Oh I do like listening to jamie Whyte. He is so articulate and you always know what he stands for. The people of Epsom must be jumping up and down with joy at having him represent them in parliament. /sarc.
The people of Epsom must be saying oh fuuuucccckkkkkkk. Oh why, do we have these fools foisted on us by TricKey.
whyte is not the act candidate..he is the party ‘president’..
..(what do you call ‘the president’ of such a small motley-crew as act..?..delusional..?..)
..the actual candidate is a super-dweeb called seymour..
..and yet they keep him well under wraps..(since those unfortunate junping out from behind hedges and scaring people..and video-taping it..episodes..)
..and they wheel whyte out for act public-appearances….because he handles the media better..?..(!)..
(a talent-pool as deep as a petrie-dish..)
..seymour is walking proof of the dictum..’keep them wondering..!..don’t open yr mouth..and prove what an idiot you are!’..
..those lucky lucky epsom-voters…!..eh..?
..aren’t they spoilt..?
Whtye is on the ACT list, and he will get into parliament if any red buttons are found and pushed.
Unfortunately even the richest people are seeing that National no longer is representing their interests. Wealth can be undermined, by boardrooms, by market failures but also by governments undermine the society that underwrites the whole economy.
Why would a wealthy person want to support others to get wealthy, cheat on their taxes, get incentives than undermine their consumers buying power, etc, etc. Its just dumb to want tax cuts, its socialism for the rich, an easy rich for those who are supposed to make their wealth by hard work, or harder risk taking.
National is corrupted by its neo-liberal ideological heart. I still can’t find an example of this high minimum wages causes job loses ideal, the closest I can find is a slave economy, where slave owners raise the amount of money they give the slaves. The slaved then buy themselves out of slavery and push up the unemployment numbers.
Jamie Whyte is not standing as a candidate in Epsom so the people there won’t have him represent them.
But if Act get enough party votes he will get in won’t he?
Yes but you can hardly claim he is representing Epsom in that situation.
well apart from the fact that its only because of epsom he would be there
Then the same would apply to Laila Harre and Te Tai Tokerau if she gets in as a result of Hone winning that seat.
indeed.
Are any parties intentionally throwing the TTT electorate campaign in order to get an overhang on their side? No?
Epsom must be proud.
i have to wonder then Gosman why the pathetic racially divisive idiot is then given airtime anywhere on the TeeVee or my wireless,
The 7 Maori electorates, in my opinion, being a physical manifestation of Tinorangatiratanga, would suggest that until such time as Maori enrolled to vote in such electorates agree to not have them they will be a major feature of our political landscape…
Because it is newsworthy apparently. Winston and Tariana Turia also thought so as they both commented on the subject.
Nah Gos, the people of Epsom understand personal responsibility, surely?
just like they understand the rule of law, contract law and property rights 🙂
for a party that is chock full of crims, doesnt want to honour legal contracts and wants to remove property rights from a group of people, they have some funny policies
ACT’s Whyte is in some ways correct, Maori do have a legal privilege here in Aotearoa/New Zealand,
Its called the Treaty of Waitangi and the only racial problem ever created from the existence of this legal privilege was in fact the ignoring of its provisions once the colonials got the upper hand militarily over the tribal Maori nations…
Interesting that the Treaty is considered a “race” based document. It is between the chiefs and tribes of NZ and the Crown. The former are the owners of property and property rights allowing usage over the same. It just so happens that these “owners” and “sellers” happened to be Maori, the “buyers” non Maori. Under British law we are talking property rights that are inherited by through genealogical linkage. Is that “race” based?
Watch out. Auckland home owners, surely, could argue that they have special treasure in the liveability of Auckland and so stop the councils from raising the building heights.
There was a lilt in his voice, an inflection that screamed out loud and clear his class position: there was an assumed authority that underlined the former. In short a privileged prat. He sounded like Don Brash Mark 2.
His logic on race was quite precise: which all goes to prove that a logical argument can be made for anything in isolation. That in a nutshell is where ACT are, ideologically logical in isolation of any facts or realities that challenge their dogma.
I hope someone takes the time soon, live, to destroy Unclecousin’s facile conceit that his sophistry qualifies as philosophy, while he splutters and rages like the lying entitled wretch he is.
@ oan..
..tidily put…
Precisely:
That being despite all the evidence proving that it’s farming that is ruining our waterways.
How fascinating. You appear to regard people with Don Brash’s “class position” as being privileged prats.
Presumably you regard David Cunliffe as being a “privileged prat” also. After all Don’s father was a Presbyterian Minister and David’s an Anglican one. Both apparently favoured the Labour Party. Hard to see any difference really.
One would have to say they come from the same class, wouldn’t one?
@ alwyn 3.10
How fascinating. That you have not noticed that people from the same class can behave in a variety of ways. There is a general behaviour that people adopt within a class system, with extremes at the fringes. So David Cunliffe can be different from Don Brash on that basis.
Then within each church referred to there are differing attitudes to achieving righteousness. If Don’s parents were Calvinists and David’s were from the liberal side of the Anglican church they would be quite different in their outlooks, though they would be aware of the attitudes likely coming from those positions. The Anglicans have a broad church – the Presbyterians inclined to be more demanding to be worthy of heaven.
The whole core of the rich prick class brought in by Thatcher, was of a socialist party for the rich, and privatizism for the everyone else. They’re the rich so they can cheat on their taxes, and force our taxes up while screaming how we aren’t paying enough.
ACT is not a libertarian party. Its a socialist elite party. Nearest thing a western country comes to a communist politburo. Always dictating how others aren’t shaping up.
gw
Yes alwyn is really fascinating. My god I think DC and DB have the same size shoes too.
“One would have to say they come from the same class, wouldn’t one?’ (No one wouldn’t).
Isn’t torylogic great.
Can you perhaps tell me how the class they come from is different?
Just what class do you think each one was born into if it isn’t the same one?
Claiming say that the Presbyterian church is a higher class than the Anglican which in turn is higher than The Salvation Army which is higher than the Baptist doesn’t really cut it.
Brash became a commercial – a blind servant of mammon – 2nd class. Cunliffe seems to subscribe to a notion of public service that resembles to some degree the synthetic ideals of Hutcheson. As an accountant Brash may have had some virtue, as a statesman he had none. You might also consider Brash’s degree (Canterbury?) vs Cunliffe’s (Harvard?).
I suppose I could consider Don Brash’s degrees, since you have no idea.
Canterbury BA and MA in Economics. That’s economics, not accounting.
ANU PhD. That is a more highly rated University than any of the NZ ones.
Cunliffe has one economics qualification I suppose. A diploma from Massey.
Doesn’t really seem much does it?
Did Brash learn his racism at ANU? The university at which someone gets their qualifications has very little to do with how well they do in their chosen career. I’ve seen many examples of this.
But I have, greywarbler, I have. It was ennui who appears to regard peoples behaviour as being due to the class into which they were born. If you are born in one class he seems to think your behaviour is pre-ordained.
I think that Don and Dave were born into a very similar class background. It didn’t really matter though. Whatever class Don came from I think he would always have been successful and would have contributed greatly to New Zealand, particularly as he did from his time as Reserve Bank Governor. David Cunliffe on the other hand was always going to be a prat.
I will take your word for the religious attitudes of the various churches. I regard all those who profess to believe in a god as being idiots. You are allowed to take the easy way out and say, as Helen Clark did, that you are an agnostic, or come out and say you are an atheist. Anything else is for people who believe in fairies.
Greywarbler – in defence of some Presbyterian friends I have, it is also a fairly broad church. Standard Calvinism is pretty rigid stuff, but my friends (one a reverend) have been in favour of “worldly” things like gay marriage and marijuana legalisation for years. My impression was that it was broader than the Anglicans, with some of the more traditional Anglicans being able to swap easily to Catholicism.
@ Murray Olsen 1.43
Trying to classify religions as I did was a mistake. I remember now one interesting book by I think, a chap Greenwood, which referred to the high Anglican church and its rites being so near Catholicism, setting its style apart from the practice of the major part of the church. Actually there are some quite good crime stories that weave religious practices and styles in and it is a fascinating theme within the genre.
And alwyn I think you are looking down on the goings on of pollies, while I am the reverse, looking up. And I see Don Brash as a prat who probably got too much praise at school for being precise and clever while never learnign much about actual human behaviour, and David Cunliffe as being successful, highly trained, experienced and yet human-oriented, less statistical and theory biased and more ground-based than Brash.
I don’t like fervent idealists and theory based, utopian followers whether its in economic theory squeezing life to comply, or socially based humanitarian ones who announce the world belongs to the people in fervent tones, or knock-it-all-down and rebuild fresh and new stirrers, or religious ones whose hymn is I Did it my Way, and there is no other, and anyway it is the next life that counts. A pox on all their houses.
John Key says that water quality is not that bad, all it means is that we can’t swim in some rivers on some days.
Show us the money John. It’s your policy, so you should understand the costs by now. Tell us which rivers and which days. Or is it more like which catchments and which months or seasons?
Fish and Game sound really unimpressed by the government on this issue.
As am I.
Paul Fish & Game are so unimpressed that they have (collectively as a Council that is) called for Nick Smith’s resignation – the resignation of their very own Minister.
And these are sensible calm rational people (the f&g folk that is, not smith of course)
National, firstly they bought us carless days now its rivers we cant swim in. Time for real change.
Fantastic cartoon by Murdoch in the Press this morning showing Nick Smith at a restaurant refusing a glass of water “strained lovingly through cows” while he eats fish.
Someone described this as not the “rock star economy” but the “pollution economy”, which is most apt. John Key’s pollution economy.
And Tom Scott in the Dom, Nick screaming that no one will get away with accusing him of bullying!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/cartoons/
Given the newspaper rage aimed at Mr Cunliffe about the Liu affair, does it seem strange that newspapers seem to have almost avoided the clean water/Smith issue?
OOps. Found some items in the Newspapers today though muted criticism of Old Nick.
I think the swimming in Hawaii is great. Key probably wonders why people dont just there on holidays to swim.
I want to see on what days Key and his family are prepared to swim in which rivers?
From my wireless, RadioNZ National, 550+ pack out the hall at the Rotorua InternetMana roadshow, the sniff of 5% of the vote for InternetMana i had last week just got as pungent as that from one of the many mud-pools up there in Waiariki,
Those numbers say to me Annette Sykes will be the new Member of Parliament for that electorate, the tangi for the Maori Party begins….
Clarification from yesterdays open mike
I posted this
“Actor Cliff Curtis has become the latest celebrity to publicly declare support for the Mana Movement.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10320814/Cliff-Curtis-supports-Mana
today this
“But Curtis today clarified his position, saying that “while I respect my cousin Annette Sykes’ commitment in engaging in the political process, I do not endorse or support any political party”.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/10324758/Cliff-Curtis-denies-Mana-support
Hope that’s all sorted now 🙂
Not to split hairs but the second piece was published yesterday and last updated at 18:58 and not today. It was also on TV3’s site at 5:44p.m.
lol thanks allen
No worries Mars, I know you’re a stickler for accuracy and stuff.
“someone” should not have put Curtis in the media mix till he had at least fronted the event. Always easier to let a cat out of the bag than add one.
I don’t know the inside story here yet, but do know that there are a number of whanau still split along Mana/Māori Party lines that take it seriously which is why Hone was still reaching out for some kind of rapprochement last year.
Curtis is just doing a nice turn of supporting his bollocks with a fence rail.
And now for the next act… surprise surprise folks … (drum roll) … bring you hands together for Simon Bridges…… (applause) … our latest LIAR from John Key’s government.
Yesterday Bridges admitted spending $240,000 on oil execs in NZ for the rugby world cup
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10326838/Oil-exec-junket-needed-Govt
The result?… is this … “Only one of those companies had so far been granted a petroleum exploration permit but had committed to spending almost $20 million here,”
BUT folks here is the clanger, the lie, the deceit and the dishonesty that you have all been waiting for …… I give you again …. Siiiimmon Bridgeessssss…. (applause) …
“But Energy Minister Simon Bridges defended the spending: “the sums expended were very modest …. and has resulted in billions of dollars of international investment in New Zealand.”
…. ta daa
$20million the reality
$billions the liar claims.
Simon Bridges please take your place alongside all the other liars in your government….
(the audience is nearly all gone at this point …)
Yep, six oil companies, that’s a 40 grand piss up, accommodation, and, you can just about bet with certainty free tickets to the rugby for each of those oil companies, only one of which has taken up the right to explore here, all paid for by us the taxpayers,
i wonder if that was one executive per company that such largesse was bestowed upon by Slippery’s National Government, if so, the expense would suggest that they got flown around the country on one very long drunken tour of our rugby stadia,
Meanwhile, those of us living life within the small means brushed our way as crumbs off of the table got to watch ‘live’ from the big screens at the pub…
Chevron, Statoil, Apache and? ??
I’m pretty sure these three companies will make investment decisions on factors other than sychophantic governments. A nice presentation to the Boards would have done the trick if NZ had solid investment potential. I’ keen toknow whhether thre other three companies are established players or cowboy companies. Also if any of them operate here already, or have up sticks and left.
This is a nice touch at the end:
Yes, let’s point out what taxes are for, while somehow implying that if not for oil exploration we’d not have roads, schools and hospitals.
Yes clever clogs, well aware of the place of the mining and oil sector in NZ …. but you missed the deception. The point of the comment was not the place of oil and mining, it was the dishonesty of Simon Bridges…. can you see it here?
“the sums expended were very modest …. and has resulted in billions of dollars of international investment “
Yes, I can, I was being sarcastic about the need to include that tidbit at the end.
oh woops so you were – burning the candles at all ends makes for weary brain. Time for time out.
And if we didnt spend 250k wining and dining they would walk away from their drills…
And remember this Government buying votes for the Security Council bid with junkets to NZ/Queenstown.
question for the day:
..can john banks drive..talk on cellphone..and pick ‘n eat earwax…at the same time..?
i was just about to indulge in my favorite breakfast when i read that, 2 toasts, i each with a swipe of marmite and peanut butter, both then lashed with guacamole,
Think i might wait for your image of Banks indulging in His dogs dinner to fade…
sounds like a yummy breakfast…i also have avocado on my toast when i can ….what about the black coffee?
just read pu’s comment …disguisting….glad i have finished my vege/peanut butter toast
That’s my standard munch at breakfast Chooky, laugh, six months ago i had never even made guacamole now its become a staple replacing butter or margarine which are both off the menu here,(and strangely enough not missed at all),
i have just moved to supplying myself with milk for $1.20 a liter via buying in the skim milk powder and purchasing a couple of liter bottles with screw top lids which resemble the milk bottles of my hugely misspent youth,(takes all of five minutes to mix, and is best accomplished by mixing half the liter and then leaving overnight for the froth from the shaking to dissipate),
Soy milk which tastes yummy has been put through my testing regime and found wanting in a number of areas including cost,(anyone thinking of shifting to obtaining their milk via powder should buy the kilo pack as there is no savings involved from buying the smaller packages)…
Well you could put your sign out as a local breakfast cafe as far as i am concerned! …breakfast is the meal of the day i enjoy most i think ( probably because i havent eaten for a while….food tastes so much better on an empty stomach)
Lolz, i have a breakfast menu, including a couple of slices of one of the poor little piggies rear end that is the ultimate in Delish, works as dinner as well…
…you won’t be arguing with Phillip over breakfast then!
..once when I was in an isolated fish and chip shop with my 8 year old son a Mongrel Mob looking guy walked in and my 8 year old red head said “Mum, what do people taste like?”….the Mongrel Mob guy looked interested ….I said “I dont know but your sister would!”…there was the teenage daughter cool as a cucumber …she would have scared any Mongrel Mob!…the guy smiled ever so slightly…I said “I have heard people taste a bit like bacon that is why they were called ‘long pig’ ”
Maybe some NACTS will come knocking at your door and you could have them in for breakfast
Just watched BamBam on the Whitehouse Lawn “givin them damned godless Ruskies” a tongue lashing. Absolute pity about the whole thing was that nothing he said could be backed up by solid evidence, it was all be implication. What the limp rag Uncle Tom was announcing was more sanctions against Russia on behalf of US corporate energy and agricultural corporates. The Russians of course are better placed because they don’t have to rely upon “faith” in the Greenback..they have the real oil and gas that Europe so desperately needs. Merkel wont risk German wealth just to help out a US oil company that cant supply her industry.
Somehow I think the whole issue is going to blow up in our faces with much higher oil prices: the timing is such a pit because along with the drop in dairy receipts, pressure on petrol prices might just have given Key and his cronies a massive electoral headache.
Uncle Tom….
really ?
The election of a “black” President does not seem to have done any good for “his” people. One can only surmise that Obama is powerless to change the way things are for African Americans OR he does not care. Both would be Uncle Tom traits.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/03/obama-african-americans-paradox
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/28/these-seven-charts-show-the-black-white-economic-gap-hasnt-budged-in-50-years/
http://blackagendareport.com/content/expansion-black-american-misery-under-barack-obama%E2%80%99s-watch
To say that Obama doesnt care is pretty harsh. To say that on the important stuff, he doesnt actually have much of a say, would be far more accurate.
The things he did push, like ObamaCare (he promised “You can keep your existing plan”) may or may not have been a good policy move, but its upsetting a bunch of his middle income voters who already had an existing plan and couldnt keep it, despite the promise.
Those who got cover for the first time, were overwhelmingly likely to support the Democratic nominee in any case.
Laila Harre is standing in Helensville for the Internet/Mana Party.
Hopefully, this will encourage Prime Minister John Key to participate in Helensville electorate candidate debates.
I look forward to voters who support candidates who are members of political parties, giving them their PARTY vote, and giving me their ELECTORATE vote as the (fiercely) Independent MP for Helensville.
All good!
Penny Bright
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
It will confirm Key as a no show in Hellensville. WHY would he debate he has won that seat.
“nternet Mana leader Laila Harre will take on Prime Minister John Key in the Helensville electorate.
Harre says she wants to debate Key at candidate meetings and says he has “some explaining to do.”
Key had a 21,000 majority at the last election and has held the seat since 2002.
“I want to wake New Zealanders up from the anaesthetic trance that John Key has induced with his soothing words,” Harre said.
A spokesman for Key said, “the Prime Minister has said Ms Harre is free to stand wherever she likes.” “
Why would he waste his time.
You capture Key’s arrogance quite well..
with his electorate? – beats me too – its not like he lives there or ever visits is it
Yet people know this and are still happy to vote for him in overwhelming numbers.
Accountability?
+100 Penny …Go Girl!
Penny! Don’t stand in Helensville . You and Laila will split the left vote and allow John Key to come through the middle. Yeah Nah.
That would be about 20 votes each would it?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10324092/Peters-No-deal-with-Maori-Mana
Do keep up will ya.
So, Slippery the Prime Minister has spun the roulette wheel and bet the ‘House’ on Winston Peters, that’s some gamble from the money trader who in His former life always got to play the game with the deck having been previously stacked by the bigger money boys on the floors of the ‘trading house’ above,
There’s a huge prospect in play here where NZFirst and Colon’s Conservatives become entwined in a lose/lose battle for party vote %’s each chiseling not only votes from each other but crucially nibbling at the soft rump of the National Governments own party vote,
A minus for NZFirst in September will be the loss of support from those who in election 2011 voted for that party solely on the basis that Slippery the PM ruled Peters out of inclusion in a National coalition, and, in the chess game of MMP politics voted as a ‘check’, which incidently nearly became ‘check-mate’, to ensure National as all the media polls were suggesting at the time, could not ‘Govern alone’,
Unfortunately this ‘tactical vote’ which helped NZFirst re-enter the Parliament in 2011 cannot be measured, but, my opinion says, a 3% Conservative vote along with the loss of that 2011 ‘tactical vote’ will see NZFirst fall again, as the party did in 2008, agonizing short of the 5%,
If Anette Sykes wins Waiariki, and, last nights standing room only InternetMana meeting in that electorate has me giving Her a 70/30 advantage over the dying Maori Party’s Flavell there, then Nationals chances of forming a third term Government look even more remote,
Kick ACT from Epsom and/or Dunne from Ohariu and it becomes virtually impossible for the Tory’s to gain that third term,
The left? despite the media polls, looking good, by that i mean looking GOOD, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, not too big an ask at all i would suggest….
I’m conflicted, on the one hand National in power = good but Winston with some form of power = bad
i always seen you as confused Puckish, add to that conflicted and we await the addition of a few more words beginning with the consonant C, above four letters please, and we may have you described to a T as opposed to simply describing you in simpler form via C with few other letters added….
(Condensed springs to mind as an addition to confused/conflicted)…
[lprent: Approaching pointless again. ]
Well thats just plain rude 🙂
i have some manual labour to attend to, be assured Puckish, later there is more such ‘rudeness’ to be supplied and applied…
I used to do manual labour but I prefer to work inside now, much better on the body
the nz herald features in the huffington post..
..but not to be praised/for good reasons…
“..Newspaper Runs Image Of ‘Jackass’ Star Instead Of Killed Israeli Soldier..”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/29/newspaper-gaza-ryan-dunn-jackass-new-zealand_n_5629828.html?ref=topbar
Starve them and mow the lawn.
In 2006 Weissglass was just as frank about Israel’s policy towards Gaza’s 1.8 million inhabitants: ‘The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger.’ He was not speaking metaphorically: it later emerged that the Israeli defence ministry had conducted detailed research on how to translate his vision into reality, and arrived at a figure of 2279 calories per person per day – some 8 per cent less than a previous calculation because the research team had originally neglected to account for ‘culture and experience’ in determining nutritional ‘red lines’
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n15/mouin-rabbani/israel-mows-the-lawn
The regularity of Israel’s perceived need to use force is illustrated by the notorious expression, “mowing the lawn,” that one of its military officers used to describe strategy toward Gaza. It is reminiscent of the advice that Thrasybulus gave Periander of Corinth, recounted in Herodotus. Walking through a field, Thrasybulus broke off the tallest ears of grain by way of showing Periander’s envoy the best way to rule violently. The envoy couldn’t figure out his meaning, but Periander, the prototype of the ancient tyrant, understood immediately on hearing the envoy’s report. The analogy showed that violence could not be a one-time affair. New stalks would grow up. It would remain necessary to keep lopping off the top ones—i.e. mowing the lawn.
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-thrasybulus-syndrome-israel%E2%80%99s-war-gaza-10968
Following the destruction of the sole power station 90% of Gazans are without electricity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpekJnM7Zpg&feature=youtu.be
American Intelligence Officers Who Battled the Soviet Union for Decades Slam the Flimsy “Intelligence” Against Russia
What the professional’s think of the ‘evidence’ against Russia can only be termed scathing. They’re particularly nasty in their condemnation of Senator Kerry.
I just read on another blog a post by someone complaining about Key’s WWI speech yesterday, and was pleased to see someone felt the same as I did. Other pollies spoke with emotion and as this person said, from the heart. But John Key read his speech without any emotion or emphasis. He looked bored and he sounded it and as if it was all just too tiring and bothersome. I felt it was insulting that he didn’t take the time to familiarize himself with the material someone else had written for him. I can only think the subject was just not important enough to him personally. Our veterans weren’t worth the bother of him learning his speech and speaking with the level of commitment the commemoration deserved. Why are so many blinded by this fake?
Don’t take it personally. He’s always like that. There is nothing warm or genuine about him, he’s just going through the motions. Enter room, shake hands with Important Person One, smile, shake hands with Important Person two, smile. Give canned speech written by someone else. Wait until applause dies down. Move away for media standup. Exit. Move on to next event.
As to why so many are blinded, there is a lot that power, money and superficial charm can convince people to overlook.
Gaza: hell on earth. http://i.imgur.com/H0NSLBk.jpg
..the Israeli government has gone mad …it is hell of a PR for Israelis around the world …they are beginning to look more and more like the Nazi government…they will be called to account by history and future generations for crimes against humanity ….and the rest of the world had better not look on and do nothing about it!…because we also will be called to account!
Daniel Barenboim is one Israeli who has spoken out
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/07/29/bare-j29.html
I met Mirak Smisek several times ….a New Zealand potter of repute, an a opponent of the Nazis and a refugee from Nazi torn Europe …and he told me that it is art that will save us…it was art that gave him hope and art that helped him transcend the evil he had witnessed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirek_Sm%C3%AD%C5%A1ek
Daniel Barenboim is transcendent in a similar way
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2013/apr/04/beethoven-and-quality-courage/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5OaSju0qNc
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11301000
Looks like Phil Quin, like Jones, Pagani and Steve Kilgallon’s mysterious “insider”, is a paid-up member of the ABC club.
Yep it really grates when the right of the party side with the Herald to tell us there is no bias to see and to move along when we spend so much time detailing the concerns. Their choice is a dead giveaway. If the Herald wanted a debate it would select a leftie not an apologist for the right.
I also wish Quin would get his stuff right. The comment about how Labour is only going for the missing million has been replied to on numerous occasions but he still trots out the wrong line …
Just remember that after the next election and you’re scrambling around for excuses as to why Labour did so badly you were told time and time again whats wrong with Labour
that there was a bunch of turncoats who are in the wrong party and who couldnt swallow thier egos and get in behind the boss?
yeah we know that one already
+100 Framu
That they arent National enough?
I’ll tell you what I have had a gut full of – people who are so lacking in respect that they think they can turn the Labour Party into a vehicle for whatever suits them. For God’s sake, this guy cites the opinion of Shane Jones, who has decamped to work for National. Having taken a glance at other headlines of Quin’s, I assume he is one of the eighties’ influx of aspiring “young men of the city” who sought a vehicle for themselves under Douglas’s wing. And Josie and her ilk appear to think the party exists to allow nice, talented people like themselves to retain a foothold among the political/media elite. To these people I say, read the party’s bloody principles, and try to refrain from dissembling to yourself as you do so! You would not become a priest because the Catholic church could do with more atheists. You would not join the Greens to contribute a much-needed voice in favour of fracking. Why do you think it is OK to do this kind of thing to Labour?
Labours a broad church so i’m guessing their views are valid otherwise why would you have the likes of Mallard, Cosgrove, Goff , King etc etc still hanging around
As opposed to National which is a Cult.
For the money, I suppose !
Mickey
What does it take to get chucked out of Labour? Surely scuttling the ship is not a good thing?
We had a conversation about Phil Quin on another Open Mike.
It resulted in Karen sharing this article.
Phil Quin was someone who tried to get rid of Helen Clark prior to her gaining the government for 9 years.
Perhaps that is why he is an ex Labour adviser?
Not someone’s advice who I would listen to.
It is about time those further right (centrists) created a new party. As it stands it appears that the ‘right-wing’ faction of Labour are pissing on our chances of a decent left-wing government gaining power. Those who are ‘centrists’ in the party need to realise that Labour have very much been presenting themselves to appeal to the centre whilst still attempting to appeal to those further left too. It is ultraistic to push Labour’s current stance any other way. I wish those right-wing /’centrist’ types connected to Labour would stop their squawking and get real.
[Additionally in his article Quin cited, amongst other things, the Dong Liu saga as ‘mismanaged’ by Labour – omitting to mention the story was fictitious and yet propagated by our media. There has been no apology for that nonsense. The problem there was Labour took the story seriously – how were they to know that the media would grab something so unsubstantiated and report it as fact? I think most people who followed that story were truly shocked by how lacking in facts that story was.]
Here is a working link to that other Open Mike:
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-06072014/#comment-845221
Interesting BL. So according to Quin Helen’s reign and the fifth Labour Government was an abject disaster for the party and we should be led by Shane Jones, no doubt with Josie Pagani as deputy.
Words fail me …
I am thinking, broadly, the difference between nats and labs is
Nats are driven by self interest and that drive will lead them to a collective lie cos they think it will benefit them in the long run
Labs are driven by self interest and if they think they wont get what they want, they will burn the house down
It is certainly looking like that although I think it is important to acknowledge the many Labourites who are loyal and are working diligently. Those loyal people need to speak firmly to the ones that are wrecking things for Labour and tell them in no uncertain terms how unacceptable their behaviour is.
Agreed.
Anything theydois undermined by the type i describe.
Former labour seems to mean when roger dpuglas was in power, so having them as commentator for the left is a joke cos they probably vote ACT now
😆 …. yes it beggars belief…
… and yet Quin gets his platform as a left-supportive commentator….?
I’m sure that a few of them would be quite comfortable in ACT.
Or united future… The right wing party pretending to care but bobbing its head in agreement to policies that are unfair
Yes it’s true that this is someone’s OPINION, well spotted 🙄
Even this crap: “Supporters and activists find it much easier to blame straw-men, presumably along with a mandatory 50 per cent of straw-women……”
This could be the most relevant part: “Phil Quin is a FORMER Labour Party adviser and a strategic communications consultant”
Yep, unemployed ‘strategic communications consultant’ touting for work.
yet another rightwing labour-trout..eh..?
..hardly an endangered-species…
He’s certainly no Mighty Quin, but he’s possesses a lame schoolboy humour Key
would beis proud of.I think Labour is failing, sadly, on several issues…
one of which is tax policy…
as an example:
http://i.imgur.com/Qp9MVmr.jpg
Your image proves you an idiot.
Stylee 😆
i think Richard is flailing, sadly, in the wrong place at the wrong time, it really is too late in the piece for us to be attempting to exploit that which we see as not quite right in the policy arena,
The 3 years just passed were the times to be talking thus, with the campaign proper having overtaken such concerns the vote itself now becomes the imperative,
i like these numbers, for me they have a certain resonance, an inevitability if you will, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, my little gaze into the crystal ball of the 2014 election…
A dreadful comment on Radionz this morning about the ballooning tragedy and the defects of the CAA. They knew lots about the guy, binge drinker, marijuana smoker, incidents. But they all know each other, and cosset each other apparently. The CAA put hot air balloons low on the dangerous list! They are not only not doing their job properly, they are under their own control and espouse apparently, that stupid, irresponsible free market crap about businesses should control and regulate themselves.
And they are one of these pseudo-government entities that are free to operate as they wish without control, oversight or discipline from government.
It is time that we demanded a complete overhaul and sacking of these pompous, diseased shits. The disease of arrogant position, so that they feel no shame when accidents occur, just throwing excuses, statistics and technical jargon in everyone’s eyes when actually the source of the fault is quite obvious to the naive, unpropagandised enquirer. And a Royal Commission to establish the fault properly. These so and so’s in CAA should be jailed and fined as well. The interview with David Still sets out the situation well.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon
Balloon death families call for government to act ( 12′ 43″ )
09:08 David Still’s daughter Alexis was one of 10 passengers who died in a hot air balloon crash in Carterton in 2012, along with pilot Lance Hopping. He says the Civil Aviation Authority failed to act despite repeated complaints about Hopping prior to the accident, and he’s calling for the government to force change upon the aviation safety regulator.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport
CAA failed to take action over balloon pilot complaints ( 3′ 11″ )
08:23 An inquest has been told several complaints had been made to the Civil Aviation Authority about the pilot of a hot-air balloon which crashed in Wairarapa in 2012 killing all 11 people on board.
Preventable accidents in NZ –
Crash survivors sue Ansett for $3 million – Tony Stickley – NZ …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/tony-stickley/news/article.cfm?a_id=143...
Dec 23, 1999 – … Dash-8 flight which smashed into a hill while trying to land at Palmerston North in June 1995. Two passengers and one crew member died in the tragedy. … The airline had also made a deliberate decision not to replace faulty landing gear, … on flying the plane, said Mr Miles, the captain was helping the co-pilot lower the …
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=192796
As evidence would show, this was not as alarming as it may sound. Landing gear problems on the Dash-8s had become so frequent that pilots had stopped reporting them to Ansett.
But what Captain Sotheran and First Officer Brown had failed to notice was that their aircraft was perilously close to the foothills of the Tararua Ranges, to the east of Palmerston North.
Interesting from CAA 1990s
NZ Fixed Wing Aviation Accidents 1995-2004
Seven Crop and Food deaths.:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3506293
Interestingly, i gather the market response is that now that business will fail, and others will see their failure, due to deaths, and do stuff to avoid people dying… But look how many have to die
Job interview at 2pm.
Only a fixed term contract through January 31st 2015, but a bit of breathing space from Mr Wolf when he comes a knocking.
Don’t know what to say about my last employment when asked, but I’ll burn that bridge when I’ve crossed it.
Good luck
Cheers mate
I bought fake job references on the Internet—and it worked
http://www.dailydot.com/business/career-excuse-fake-job-references/
http://www.careerexcuse.com/
By almost any measure, I have an impeccable résumé.
I went with honesty being the best policy. Whether it works or not is out of my hands now.
I was happy enough with my performance. I’ll just have to keep my trotters crossed.
Labour had some concerns about the proposals, but agreed to back the bill into law because it felt urgent measures were needed to relieve house prices.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2014/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503581&objectid=11301094
And many wonder what the difference between Nat and Lab are ? Well for developers IMO they allow for profits to increase as they transfer costs to the rate payer, and I defie anyone to prove anything different.
If anyone has any ideas that transferring council contributions to rate payers will reduce the price of property, they are misguided. The price we pay for a house is “market driven” not as cost plus basis.
If you look to the last major building industry crisis, leaky homes, developers took profits, shut down the company, avoided any liability and have had NO legislation aimed at them… Builders, yes. Designers? Yes. Developers no, and this govt wants to give them more money, less regulation and still no tightening of liability.
And they get full support from Labour. Next year when rates have increased it is not all the fault of our local govt, they have been given a hospital pass from Wellington.
Many of the services that are to now be funded by “other ” sources like libraries, sports grounds, community facilities, there are vast amounts that have been already collected by council & to be spent in the future, but under the LTCCP are deferred., part of the reason is the squeeze on councils increasing debt. Also talking of the LTCCP , councils spent huge resources, $ and time in preparing these and in one wee stroke all the work and planning of funding and timing has been undone. What a waste
Now that Stephen Joyce has confirmed that he will be nationalising Novopay from Talent2, can some one tell me whether Michelle Boag is a shareholder in Talent2?
dunno about boag…but banks was…
Beyond Reasonable Doubt?–police culture is still reactionary no doubt about that.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11301287
This expensive re–look at the 4 decades old Crewe murders is only significant for more arse covering and fingers in ears from the blue bellies. They do manage to find space to retry the case and smear pardoned and compensated Arthur Thomas again and let one early suspect off the hook.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10328036/Labour-pledges-2-rise-in-minimum-wage-to-16-25
no..this was heralded before..
..and gee..!..shock horror..!..labour party promises to raise minimum wage..
..the story wd be if they weren’t promising to do that..
..um..!..do you ever say anything that could be of the slightest interest to anyone..?
..do you ever take the sneer off yr face..
..are you really as thick/simplistic as you appear in yr postings here..?..
..or is it a routine/act that you do..?
I apoligise if I sound rude but I’m having trouble following you
first step..join the mana party..
..second step:..stop eating animals..and their bye-products..
..third step..stop drinking booze..smoke pot instead..
..(then get back to me..and i’ll give you some more ‘following’-tips..)
..oh..!..and go to the pound..and get a dog or two…eh..?
first step..join the mana party..
..second step:..stop eating animals..and their bye-products..
..third step..stop drinking booze..smoke pot instead..
..oh..!..and go to the pound..and get a dog or two…eh..?
“The problem is it doesn’t matter if you vote left or vote right bacon is delicious”
Aint that the truth of it.
“I don’t think smoking pot is all that good for you either”
If you’re a balloon pilot it really isn’t.
RIP to those who perished in the Wairarapa ballooning tragedy, it could be said that to be the passenger of a balloon pilot so affected is even worse,
Obviously, at some point in the future when the Parliament comes to look at the decriminalization/legalization of that particular substance such concerns as how to address the use of such vis a vis employment/public safety issues will have to be an inherent part of such Legislation,
The recent ‘running aground’ of a Tranzrail passenger train at the Melling station here in Wellington has been attributed to either a too high speed limit rounding the bend into that particular end of the line station and/or the Marijuana use of the driver…
“in the future when the Parliament comes to look at the decriminalization/legalization of that particular substance such concerns as how to address the use of such vis a vis employment/public safety issues”
Not to make light of that shocking preventable tragedy, but a literacy test might be a start.
You will have to be far more lucid than this comment Alien if such ”literacy test’ were directed my way,
Of course as a general comment thought of as directed ‘elsewhere’ it becomes far clearer to understand,
Phillip below seems to have, perhaps mastered the art of the oblique when referencing a particular commenter,
Of course as ‘it’ is never ever engaging with me again here at the Standard that comment surely cannot be aimed my way,
i would have really liked to spark a discussion about puckering up to relieve some commenters of their condyloma but don’t dare…
“You will have to be far more lucid than this comment Alien if such ”literacy test’ were directed my way,”
Nah, I mostly get what you’re going on about.
“Of course as a general comment thought of as directed ‘elsewhere’ it becomes far clearer to understand,”
Bullseye. …Ah!!!..the rambling prose…
“condyloma”
I had to google.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condyloma
i laughs,(but only quietly up my sleeve), gee Alien for once i am a little disappointed in the Wiki,
my Collins English ‘book of words’ is far more descriptive and explanatory when the words puckering up are considered previous to a reference to condyloma,
i am of course far to polite to go into the minute detail here, and besides, its dinner time…
@ pouting ‘bad-boy’..
well at least you have got yr ‘following’ sorted out..eh..?
..that was a particularly silly conceit on yr part to claim that..eh..?
Those on The Standard who read women’s magazines will enjoy this one:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/lessons-in-capitalism-from-kim-kardashian/375252/
David Cunliffe’s facebook page just sent a message:
https://www.facebook.com/david.cunliffe.labour
excellent idea…
Yes, I thought so too 🙂
Yes, just like a political commissionar in the old soviet union. All decisions will be then be able to be vetoed if they don’t meet certain “National interest” criteria.
Do you think multinationals shouldn’t pay their fair share of tax or not, Gosman?
no gossie..just ensuring they pay their tax…
..r u ‘relaxed’ about these thieving-bastards ripping us blind…?
…Gosman has suddenly come over all coy about responding. Funny thing that.
[lprent: Could be working? After all that is why my moderation sweeps have gotten more intermittent. ]
He probably is one of those thieving bastards.
😆 😯
“Yes, just like a political commissionar in the old soviet union.”
Or like a political commissar in Radio New Zealand: the purpose Richard Griffin has been fulfilling for the past few years.
Will that include unions that don’t pay their fair share as well?
Are unions ‘multinationals’?
So unions get a free pass on tax, good to know
Don’t know how you arrive at that conclusion
Oh, for goodness’ sake.
Unions will get no more of a ‘free pass’ on tax than any New Zealand-based business or other organisation currently does.
This policy is an additional tax enforcement strengthening measure and not the removal of all tax enforcement for everyone other than some errant multinationals.
Yes I can just see Cunliffe going after the unions for tax money…
Do you think multinationals shouldn’t have to pay their fair share of tax?
pouting ‘bad-boy’ is like gossie..
..he won’t answer that question..
..they both ‘duck and cover’..
..that is their answer..
Tell us about a vegan’s stance on possum/rat/weasel/stoat control any time.
Puckish, David Cunliffe as far as i know does not collect taxes, the IRD involve themselves in that activity,
i see no suggestion from you or the Labour Party that Trade Unions will be absolved from taxes by altering of the current Legislation which makes your comment somewhat deserving of a multiple lettered epithet starting with the consonant, (you choose)…
Those right-wing hacks/commenters are so irrational…and yet they are the type to trust that ‘markets players are rational’ – you couldn’t make this stuff up.
You need to pop away and research multinational. Clue its not a terms for national mps who change their positions on things many times
Further to the decreasing voter turnout debate…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/will-you-be-voting-in-this-election/10327597/I-value-my-privacy-more-than-my-vote
People such as the writer of this article apparently fall outside the expected group of low income folk, people in debt or worried about immigration status, etc.
I think this group who just don’t want their details bought and sold for business gain is growing.
Anyone got a good reason for the roll to be published at all? I can’t see why and I bet the turnout would go through the roof if voters were allowed to remain anonymous, just as the vote they cast is.
Not that I know of.
That said, it was possibly an idea that someone had that people would be able to look at the role and see if there were people on it that shouldn’t be. It may have worked if communities stayed below about 1000 people and everyone knew everyone else. Won’t work in any community above that size though.
And these days we have better options to ensure that people are registered where they should be without having to make the role publicly available.
It’s up to the EC to decide who should and should not be on the roll, not the public. So at the moment you have to register by paper, or online using RealMe. Even using RealMe you have to open an account then go to a postshop and have your photo taken.
Even after all of this I cannot see a reason for publishing unless the EC have been given a directive to fund themselves by selling voters’ information to third parties.
Ie, user pays, even when voting, a basic right in any democracy.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10326510/Ron-Mark-eyes-return-to-parliament
News from my wireless, RadioNZ National, the Government has announced it will establish a private company to take over the Education Payroll from Novopay,
Novopay is said to be paying the Government an undisclosed amount as penalty payment for a system that still fails to fulfill its expectations,
Gee only how many years too late and the ‘problems’ in the system will still have to be addressed by this ‘private company’…
From, I think, the same item on Checkpoint Stephen Joyce admitted that the taxpayer was picking up the larger share of the tab because there was “blame on both sides”. The Ministry had, apparently, bungled some things too. He didn’t mention who the negligent Minister was who has just cost us this coin.
Then, when asked if this was a case of the public sector being better than the private sector Joyce said words to the effect of ‘not at all, it simply happens that the government holds one side of the contract in this case and is taking over’.
But I thought that governments and their bureaucracies just can’t do this sort of stuff. Wouldn’t they be the last type of organisation you’d therefore turn to for a safe pair of hands in this kind of situation?
Aren’t things like payrolls just too tricky by half for them to get their heads around. The private sector, on the other hand …
Do we need another Henare voted into Parliament? The last one was bad enough. Is it not time for labour supporters to start voting for greens and other candidates in electorates? Labour activist here and elsewhere, keep begging the left not to split the vote. The gall to ask people to hold there noses and vote for some Tory scum in red clothing.
How about all those so called supporters of working people advise/aid/direct, or just be honest about some of the candidates that the labour party have put up. Phil Goff, Stuart (I think your grandfather is rolling in his grave) Nash, I’m sure others can be added to this list.
These are the evil shits we need to remove, the elephant in the room – how much longer labour people, how much longer you going to push the dead donkey?
Why do labour supporters keep putting up with these scum?
In the interests of working people any chance we can have an honest debate about the dead chaff in Labour who are hell bent on losing this election? Or am I going to get called a right wing troll – stupid or some other slagging off? Are the labour faithful going to go into fits of there own self-righteousness, and cling to any old Tory wannabe?
You say you like David Cunliff, yet he keeps being treated like shit. Labour have finally put up a leader who will make a bloody decent PM. And it is these MP wannabes who seem to me the happiest to poop in their own nest. Quite frankly, it reeks of the politics of self interest.
Everyone is accusing Jamie Whyte from the Act Party of being a racist.
Hypothetically speaking, if his partner was black, like I mean black black, would that change anything?
[lprent: Everybody? Don’t be a fool. There are usually thousands of people reading this site every day and a few hundred commenting. I guess you can’t count or have the common neolib inflationary view that expands the few fools in Act into a “movement”. I’d suggest that if you’re going to indulge in hyperbole, that you don’t do it about this site. That draws my attention to the dickheads doing it because I will answer for the site.
I really hate wasting time on peewees who measure their dicks using a magnifying glass for that extra size inflation. Read the policy. ]
No. Notwithstanding his personal family situation, to claim Maori are unjustly privileged is unhelpful to New Zealand, and racist. We intend to be different to African and American history here.
In addition, to describe someone as black is one thing, silverbullet, but to then describe someone as “black black” is…
racist.
Go put your pointy white hat on.
Go put your Stalinist comrade uniform on – oh hang on, you are already wearing it.
[lprent: I suggest that you read the policy. You appear to be wearing a troll uniform. Lets be nice and imagine that it is like this…
This is your one warning about being a dickhead jerking off on our site. Engage with the conversation or leave before I have to toss you off the site. Leading up to an election, I really can’t be bothered being tolerant of mindless fools who try to imagine that they are sophisticated smartarses. ]
If any current NZ leader could be compared to Stalin it is John Key. Figuratively, the similarities between Key’s rejuvenation drive to the great purge in the 1920’s are alarming.
Your Far Left ideology is grounded in the philosophy of Marxism, with its “class consciousness”, “class conflict” and some future “workers paradise” type utopia.
Nothing other than the slight possibility of making fellow racists less likely to vote for him.
Seeing as you asked silverbullet, NO, racism is not confined within one racial grouping, a white male for instance with an African American partner could for instance express hatred for Maori and rightly be labeled a racist,
The term racist does not presuppose that there is hatred of all the races other than that of the racist, the racist might only be so concerning one race other than his own to be a racist…
Seriously? Its always been about white vs the rest. So it does bring into question hypothetically that Whyte really is racist if he is married to someone of African descent and has kids too…
You were the one who brought up white vs “the rest” (ie brown, black, yellow).
You might want to stop digging.
Who are you kidding? The meme has always been white oppressors vs the oppressed ethnics, Comrade Weepy.
I’m really sorry this exchange didn’t go the way you planned, and that’s left you arguing against a case that no-one seems to be making, but what’s happening here is obvious. Jamie Unclecousin is attacking maori so racists will vote for ACT.
Now that might be a racist thing to do, or it might just be a selfish stupid short-sighted evil nasty cynical divisive corrosive thing to do. But either way, it has nothing to do with his wife, just as it had nothing to do with Don Brash’s wife when he pulled the exact same stunt 10 years ago.
What we do know is that no good can come of it. It will make some people in our society angry about other people in our society. It will hurt people. It will hurt race relations. And it will not achieve a single positive thing.
plus bloody 1
“tough on crime” is their main clarion call in Epsom, despite the Govt, of which they were a part, until their only member committed… a crime… tells us crime is falling and we are safer than ever.
So
2.Maori are too privileged
AND they will get a seat in parliament… Over 17% of their sitting MPs have committed crimes…People of Epsom worship at the later of money
🙄 Continuing the conversation with you would be an exercise in legitimizing abject stupidity, yours that is, 🙄 …
Wow, just wow, you really have been triggered.
Just heard on the TV that we’ve paid x millions to Talent2 for the Novapay fuckup and that we’re then going to paying another nine million over the next six years as well. Wish I could get a job like that – paid for fucking it up, paid to be fired from it and then 6 year multi-million dollar redundancy package.
In short, does that mean they’re being paid to keep their mouth’s shut?
Key spun it as the sensible thing to do. Might have been sensible 2 years ago, but not now. Now it looks like the Minister of fix-its didn’t fix it.
Where is the minister of Education in all of this?
@ Weepus beard 6.55
“Where is the minister of Education in all of this?She has learned when to keep her mouth shut.”
These words by Graham Nash have substance and they say what we are all thinking here! And we need to rouse them and ourselves and follow our dreams during the day and night – dreams for a happy, functioning society. I think there might be an odd word in it.
From musixmatch
“Teach Your Children”
You, who are on the road must have a code that you can live by.
And so become yourself because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well, their father’s hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of the tender years can’t know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth, they seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well, their children’s hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix,the one you’ll know by.
Don’t you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
This extract from Chris Trotter’s reply to Phil Quin referred to in Puddleglum 6.45 carries forward my comment about the necessity for igniting the dream. I fear that the generations since 1984 have been unable to imbibe enough of that message from their parents, and certainly not from school or any other formal or informal education. One reason they may not feel like voting.
The people whose precarious position of privilege vis-a-vis the working poor and beneficiaries renders them unashamedly reluctant to redistribute even a little of the wealth they have “worked for”.
Beneath a superficial “concern” for the disadvantaged, these voters conceal a visceral contempt for the poor. They are terrified of being forced to share their resources with the “underserving” and will have absolutely no truck with any political party which suggests that, as citizens, they have a moral obligation to put an end to inequality and poverty. –
See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/07/30/the-40-percent-solution-chris-trotter-responds-to-phil-quin/#sthash.0TbWppqF.dpuf
Chris Trotter’s response to Phil Quin.
I have to admit that I am stunned that there is still such a thing as a ‘Labour Right’ that extends so far to the right that its apparent members (Pagani, Quin, Jones) are essentially pushing an economic approach that actively undermines the welfare of just those people that Labour Parties around the world were set up to represent and advance.
How on earth is such an economic policy orientation part of any ‘Labour’ approach?
Do words mean nothing anymore?
You can thank the Post Modernists for the meaningless of language these days, they are after all the bastard children of ‘Progressive’ Left Neo Marxist ideology.
Nope, the language has been screwed over by the RWNJs to further their own goals against the majority of people.
I’m not sure it’s that straightforward.
I think you need to distinguish between postmodernism as an intellectual current and postmodernity as a hypothesised economic, social and cultural transformation of modernity.
The latter is exemplified by ‘late consumer capitalism’ and all of its attendant industries (marketing, advertising, media, design, etc.) and the emergence of a supposedly new social class (highly educated, high income, usually employed in the industries just mentioned) for whom ‘cultural capital’ is an additional boasting right (on top of other forms of capital).
To be honest, I think it is postmodernity (or the cultural and economic conditions that that term usually refers to) that is responsible for any loss of meaning in our use of language. That loss of meaning is present in managerialism-speak, marketing-speak, neoliberalism-speak (which is increasingly commerce-speak) and, sadly, political-speak.
This morphing flexibility in linguistic meaning comes very close, of course, to old-fashioned lying – semantic relativism taken to its logical conclusion.
For me that logical conclusion is forever epitomised by John Key’s one-time reference to ‘the dynamic environment’ to explain why the meaning of his words change over time (or something like that).
By comparison, I think the influence of postmodernist theorists over the actual loss of meaning in everyday practice is infinitesimal.
I’m afraid your ‘silverbullet’ just missed what should have been its real target.
@Puddleglum 7.42
Your comment on ‘the dynamic environment’ and changes in meaning reminds me of something that Thomas Belmonte wrote and I think called it protean, about the changing, sometimes conflicting and changing beliefs of people rather lost in a changing society. He was impressed how people could be Catholic and Communist at the same time etc.
I looked up protean and came on this psycholgist who has done work on Nasties and their psychology and the Holocaust. Then he has posited two streams of people management – one called totalism and has presented proteanism as being the opposite.
I don’t know whether this is useful towards understanding what is exercising people’s minds at present but it is interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Jay_Lifton
Indeed. I made a similar remark at 21.1.1.2. The broad church concept is meaningful where someone like, say, Damien O’Connor, is concerned, beavering away on behalf of the West Coast. He is often considered to be of the right of the party, but he still able to say he sees social justice and regional development as his missions. However, the people you list seem to want to remain in the Labour Party while casting aside everything it stands for.
The real schism in the Labour Part is between the traditional working class and the academic Identity Politics crowd – the latter having a strangle hold on the Labour Party which is a shadow of its former self.
No, the most significant parting of the ways will always be when one faction believes that it should be serving the interests of the powerful and entrenched rather than the powerless, dispossessed and marginalised.
Clever justifications for serving powerful interests (trickle-down, etc.) will never resolve that betrayal, I’m afraid.
Who in the current Labour caucus would you say is part of the “academic Identity Politics crowd”?
I’m struggling to make seense of that.
I suspect you are muddling a range of concepts.
I’m with pg. It’s more about those who’ve bought into the third way pandering to the comfortable middle classes as a route to electoral victory.
Agreed.
I have no problems with someone like O’Connor being ‘Labour’. And I’m even enough of a pragmatist to accept that some in the Labour caucus would want to make some sort of ‘truce’ or compromise with the ‘neo-liberal consensus’.
What I really can’t fathom is people who are not satisfied with ‘accommodating’ neoliberalism but seem bent on actively extending its reach and pushing it further into our social and economic arrangements – just because that’s what National is doing and ‘Ooo, look how popular National are!’.
It’s just mind-boggling that someone wishing to do that would even want to be in the Labour Party.
Aye.
I just wish that when the media went for people who can talk intelligently on the Labour Party they would choose people that I knew! Mike Williams can do it. He has a grassroots understanding of the party.
Pagani and Quin cannot. Honest I have been heavily involved in the party for the past 15 years and I have not met either of them. I met John Pagani but this does not qualify him as someone who can talk intelligibly on the party.
There are people who come and go at the “upper” level but they have no comprehension about what is happening at the activist level.
Pagani and Quin cannot. Honest I have been heavily involved in the party for the past 15 years and I have not met either of them. I met John Pagani but this does not qualify him as someone who can talk intelligibly on the party
I know exactly what you mean. I’ve met John Pagani once and wasn’t that impressed. His campaigning felt like it was out of the ark (mind you most of the MPs are worse). Never met the other two that I am aware of. And I’ve been to the majority of the conferences and congresses in one capacity or another over the last 25 years which is where you’d expect to meet Labour party people. I still do even though I’m in the media room rather than the remit floor.
@ MS & lprent,
That is truly horrible that the people commenting in the media as though they are informed about Labour – or as though they are insiders – may not be even actively involved in the Party – that really is terrible to hear.
Why can’t the media find more informed voices to comment on these political current affairs? (Not really a question – more of a plea).
Basically because damn near everyone who is suitable is also actively working during the day for a variety of private and public organisations and volunteering at night. Generally companies like my current employers have contract clauses that limit how much time I can take during paid hours and conflict of interest clauses that limit me in the rest. I also have many claims on my “free” time.
It takes time to write articles, prep for interviews and panels, or anything else.
Hell the one interview I have ever done involved me in a 3 hour hole in the middle of my working day driving from Albany to Newmarket, doing a segment, and then going back to work. I then worked 3 hours extra that day, which interfered with the volunteer work for the rest of the week as I caught up.
The people who are left over to become talking heads are those who aren’t particularly actively involved, those developing careers as talking heads, or who are semi-retired.
For everyone else who works a lot, the whole thing is a confounded nuisance.
Well written from Chris Trotter, thanks for the link as i forget sometimes to cast an eye over the daily offering from that direction,
40% as far as the vote goes is totally unnecessary in the enviroment of MMP, these numbers, Labour 33%, Greens 12%, InternetMana 5%, are hardly wildly optimistic, they do tho shout out 50% at the September vote…
I have a little anecdote. Talking to an older woman with health problems. Mentioned that it was very hard for unemployed and mentioned the recent comment that people are required to apply for 5 jobs a day and may still have their benefit withdrawn.
She said that was awful but she couldn’t cope with it, she needed to just manage and carry on quietly. I said well don’t vote for National will you. But I like John Key she said, he seems nice, (or something of that nature). She said with a smile, is that the end of the lecture. We smiled and went on with our day.
greywarbler …that is very depressing when you meet idiots like that…however after her encounter with you this timid soul may change her vote once she gets in the voting booth
Interesting you should say that, because i had a similar, but more disturbing experience. The person I was talking to was a 50 plus year old primary school teacher who said that she would be voting National because she said, she likes key! I was very surprised that she was so naive. I try to change her reasoning, but she actually was peeved with me and did not want to discus the issue.
Shows that lots of people have been fooled and conned so very easily by the smiling assassin!
Nats know this. No wonder they have chosen #Team Key as their slogan.
People are in pretty bad, sad political/enlightened state in modern NZ!
@ Chooky 10.54 and Clemgeopin
“that is very depressing when you meet idiots like that”
Trouble is she is not an idiot. But I think one of many NZs who want to leave the pollies to govern, as that being their job, and have never been taught how fragile democracy is, and our firm opinions are (not firm at all – able to be changed fast with a propaganda campaign.) To many NZs, having an interest in politics is a hobby, it is akin to stamp collecting, or it is for go-getters who are pushing their wheelbarrow not for ordinary people.
Then there are those who can hardly bring themelves to complain about anything apart from blocks to whatever is dear to their heart. What right do we have to disagree with the confident con men and fabulists who tell us all they want us to know, and are never guilty of wrongdoing, at worst whatever – was a little mistake – just a tiny, teeny one. We all have a little cringe built-in. We have got confused, don’t have a dream for NZ, don’t have even a workable vision – given up on pollies substance and just see the candy floss. Poem for today’s pollies, there for us at election time with hearts on sleeves, and then after the election – a different story.
W. H. Mearns – Antigonish
Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away
When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
By Robert Fisk
“It’s not just radicalised Islamists – what about foreign fighters who flock to the IDF?
Is the Government interested in UK citizens who have been fighting in Israeli uniform in Gaza in the past couple of weeks?…
Let me be frank. Dozens of British supporters of Israel do serve in the Israeli army. The same applies for Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. And they don’t necessarily gravitate to being war criminals. This may not be what an Arab would say – and it is certainly not what Israelis would suggest. But there is plenty of evidence – from 1982 in Lebanon, from 1996 in Qana, from 2008-9 in Gaza and again in Gaza these past two weeks – that individual Israeli soldiers and pilots have committed acts which, under international law, are war crimes…
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/its-not-just-radicalised-islamists–what-about-foreign-fighters-who-flock-to-the-idf-9634260.html
Maybe NZ needs some of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZCRaOnqefI
It will hit you sooner or later, what goes on in Ukraine, in Middle and Near East, and many other parts of the world, New Zealand is not insulated and will be affected.
MORE to come!
After Ukips success in the UK and EU elections NZ polictions are trying to jump on the bandwagon but NZ has only a limited number of racist so it will be slim pickings for Winnie the poo ,in reading whyte supremacist and Crazy Colon Craig.