THE ENVIRONMENT….
“Fracking. I’ve read a few articles in the Economist on it, and I’m okay with it, as long as it’s done safely.”— Larry Williams, 29 August 2012
THE NEED FOR INTELLIGENT PUBLIC DEBATE….
“I’m here to make people think. That’s all I want.” — Mike Hosking, 30 August 2012
THE GAY MARRIAGE BILL….
“All this talk about rights. Do I have the right to walk into a women’s toilet?”—Leighton Smith, 30 August 2012
He wouldn’t be able to be such a shit stirrer if he hadn’t been treated so abysmally by the Auckland National Party elite, who have been shown to be a bunch of craven cads and dishonourable in their dealings. The whole shameful treatment of Mr. Dotcom by people he clearly considered were his friends but who were really only mongrels with cupboard love and nice suits to my my mind cracks the edge of the manhole cover and allows us a glimpse into the sewer that is the inner machinations of that class of rich, conservative Aucklanders who assume to rule the city.
I am sure there is something there. It is beyond comprehension that the Minister in charge of the SIS would only have been told about a pending raid on the day of the raid.
It is also unbelievable that a free spending multi millionaire who made a major donation to a right wing politician would not have wanted to meet the PM. I quite like Kim and mean this in the nicest way but he does appear to be the sort of person who wants to mix with the rich and powerful and why wouldn’t he have met Key?
Two questions that I would love to have the answers to:
1. Did he actually meet Key and when?
2. Has he donated money to the National Party?
Excellent, I have maintained for months that ShonKey lied on “Campbell Live” about being unaware of Mr Dotcom’s existence till the day of the raid because of his SIS link and the FBI involvement.
And he dropped himself in it with his earlier remarks that he definitely didn’t meet Dotcom and if he had, he definitely would have remembered such an unusual name.
Key said he had never heard of Dotcom till the day before the raids. So according to the hearing I went to, the FBI were here in New Zealand in September and October 2011, we have the copyright dude and lots of others travelling here, and not one person mentioned this to the Prime Minister?
Also just about everyone in Auckland knew Dotcom had paid for the New Years eve fireworks at SkyCity (you know, Sky City, good friends of the PM), yet John Key hadn’t heard that?
And that’s not even to mention the gymnastics that took place so John Key could avoid any constituency work relating to Dotcom.
Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to see dotcom expose Key – but he’s always known the score.
There is no love lost between rich and powerful men when one of them is scorned. Dotcom is that one. He’s as bad as the rest, it’s just his interests coincide with ours at the moment. It doesn’t make him some sort of Everyman hero.
Dotcom will be the gift that keeps on giving, he’s smart, well resourced and understands the necessity of backup and redundancy in times of disaster.
Santuary sums it up nicely and what an arrogant foolish lot if they thought they could treat him like this, guess that’s what happens when you didn’t go to the right schools and clubs and have that automatic ‘get off scot free’ card that Blinky carries.
Wonder if Kim has some evidence that proves beyond all doubt Key’s a lying SOB he’d like to share with us all, come on Kim they will never ever be trustworthy but you know that already.
Brilliant! Thanks for that. The comments section underneath it is interesting: that bloke calling himself UNI (“Another impressive interview in a row by John Key..”) seems so bewildered and doctrinaire that I suspect he is actually our friend “Gosman”.
This article takes up most of the front page of today’s hard copy of the west Auckland paper, Western Leader. It’s about the dire housing shortage, especially affordable and safe housing for families in west Auckland – and the inadequate government plans to deal with it.
A whopping $45 million being spent on state housing in Auckland within the next three years won’t lead to more homes.
Housing New Zealand is spending the funds on refurbishing and upgrading 80 existing houses, including 68 in West Auckland. It’ll then subdivide the land and sell to developers to build private rental properties and community housing.
Half of the homes will be refurbished and others will be demolished and rebuilt, meaning the number of state houses available remains the same.
…
Henderson Salvation Army operations manager Rhondda Middleton says Housing New Zealand’s latest project does not help what she describes as the worst housing crises she’s ever seen.
“We have four or five families come in here every week who are in desperate need of affordable housing and there just isn’t enough to go around,” she says.
“Some people are taking months to find houses and in the meantime they have to resort to caravan parks or living in incredibly cramped situations with extended family.”
Carol, yesterday I was wondering if MSM are very slowly waking up to the fact we have a crisis in NZ. In the space of a week the Dom Post had 2 stories about families in Porirua who are living in dire circumstances due to poverty wages and two weeks prior to that the Dom had Deborah Russell’s welcome and refreshing piece regarding our prejudiced attitudes around beneficiaries. In each three instances however, fairfax had the comments section turned on which unleashed the usual contempt and misunderstanding that is prevelant within a sector of the public. It’s so upsetting to read those vile comments. Its highlights the selfish nastiness within our society. With voters like no wonder we have a National govt.
Yes, it’s dispiriting to read some of those nasty comments, Rosie.
I think decades of neoliberal propaganda has fed such beliefs – not just through direct bennie-bashing by politicians and the MSM, but through the underlying myths about individualism, meritocracy etc.
It’ll take a long time to turn the general public away from such destructive ways of thinking.
Advancing on merit ended with Thatcher, when monetarism forced on us by gushing cheap middle eastern oil emerged to dominant the polis. Better government would have been the
answer, but instead we got thirty years of right and left wing government bad, profits good.
If we keep dumb-ing down government any parent can eventually sell their kid into slavery,
well we have, we just did not do it explicitly, we just borrowed and borrowed…
…neo-liberals didn’t just build endless inefficient sprawl but also elevated zombies into power.
The global market failure is due to the mismatch between the perceived needs and the
real current results of current socio-economics. The demand-supply mismatch. We
as a people do not want to gift our children a hell on earth.
New from International Labour Rights Forum: Freedom at work: Democracy and ecomony for all
This will be a good resource to read if you’re interested in global Labour Rights/Union news. This is fresh from the inbox this am, so have just had a skim read. Interesting stat on page 5 though. The chart shows that voter turnout is higher in areas that have greater union density. If this is a factor in voter turnout it could be part of the reason,of which there are several, that our voters strayed away from the polling booths last year.
Gina Rinehart represents the ALP’s best chance of retaining power in Australia. Because she is really, really scary. Her particular mix of belligerent stupidity and gross superiority is bad enough, but her desire to affect Australian politics makes Rupert Murdoch look like a weak wristed Social Democrat.
Her latest pronouncements include:
1. Those who are jealous of the wealthy should start working harder and cut down on drinking, smoking and socializing, and although not mentioned it helps if their father leaves them valuable mineral rights;
2. Billionaires like herself who were doing more than anyone to help the poor by investing their money and creating jobs;
3. The government should lower the minimum wage of $606.40 a week and cut taxes to stimulate employment.
I guess this sense of superiority is necessary because otherwise she would, or should, feel deeply ashamed for hoarding so much of the world’s wealth beyond any conceivable need.
Rinehart makes the common assumption of the disgustingly (fat) and rich, that we lowly people actually envy them. Probably a majority simply despise them. Not everybody, by any means, has a singular desire to be hugely wealthy. Most are content if they can support themselves and/or dependents without a struggle (which, of course, many NZ’ers have to do) and manage something by way of savings (or ability to meet mortgage payments).
I would want to be like Rinehart? My gosh, I would rather have never lived.
Scary physically, financially and emotionally. Born with the biggest silver spoon in Oz , sued her stepmother (Rose) , threatening her kids if they don’t come to heel so the Oz governments and the media don’t frighten her one little bit, she’s as hard as a coffin nail.
So far she’s looking like she’s destroyed Fairfax, whose management had done a fair job of ruining it under Kirk etc. 2 possibilities a) It’s likely to be split up which would make for bigger enemies with the separately rescued and owned Age (melbourne) and Sydney MH by locals keen to keep the heritage. b) she’ll sweep back in and buy the whole lot for a song.
You get a fair go in OZ, it’s part of the convict pysche that bred the ‘Aussie battler’ image or suffer the consequences and she’s pushed it out way to far.
Thanks, ’tis always good to be reminded that we do have some allies on the right, if even they can be rather fickle on expanding civil rights some times 😉
Fortunately for Australia she’s too damn thick to play teh politics properly and has a bad case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. So her rather vocal support will likely carry with it potentially negative effects 😉
This just reminds us that we “never have seen it all”. Does apartheid and its laws continue even under black African leadership? Some of us paid dearly to install this current government.
Of the 34 miners killed at Marikana, no more than a dozen of the dead were captured in news footage shot at the scene. The majority of those who died, according to surviving strikers and researchers, were killed beyond the view of cameras at a nondescript collection of boulders some 300 metres behind Wonderkop
[…]
…It is becoming clear to this reporter that heavily armed police hunted down and killed the miners in cold blood. A minority were killed in the filmed event where police claim they acted in self-defence. The rest was murder on a massive scale.
If the “World” demands Justice these charges cannot go ahead. Translate this into the NZ situation where strikes happen and could we accept it? Bizzare!
A friend has put together a site to discuss the claims the tobacco companies are making about the upcoming regulation of their packaging. For example, they think they are the thin end of the wedge: what other products might have mandated packaging requirements? Personally I’m thinking food for one, and medicine for another! (oh and booze, but that’s a whole other website 🙂
Now that we have controlled substances like laudanum, lead based makeup and sippin’ meths, cigarettes are the obvious next risky thing to control. Maybe growing for personal use will be the way to go, I don’t know. But once the pointless and dangerous addictive tobacco is controlled, food will be next on the agenda – and that’s a good thing.
I don’t care anymore about the Latte labour party. They’re f*#k’d! Having the marriage bill front & centre at a time when the country’s on it’s knees and bleeding money/debt, real unemployment at 9.1% economy is dead, asset sales & water ri
ghts are the real battle ground, the TPPA being put together in secret and has killed off any new trade deals since 2008. An incompetent government that spends money on go nowhere programmes and the Latte club can’t get a target in their sites! Roll on the Greens & Mana,NZ First coalition!
The simple reply is that, yes, there are a lot of problems, but to solve those problems we need everyone knowing they belong, before we begin to tackle the problems. We may even find some problems go away naturally once people aren’t fighting themsleves. It’s foundational work, for small cost. Smart stuff.
I don’t care anymore about the Latte labour party. They’re f*#k’d! Having the marriage bill front & centre at a time when the country’s on it’s knees and bleeding money/debt, real unemployment at 9.1% economy is dead, asset sales & water rights..
Pretty much, although I don’t blame the whole Labour party for that.. If I did, I don’t know what I’d do – the Greens are dishonest, so what would that leave? 🙁
Well V32 I think a party with a leader like George Galloway would be a great start. A principled working class party would be great as well. I think if you watch this clip by George you’d kinda see what I mean, principled & leadership & values. Isn’t that what the Labour party use to be instead of what it’s morphed into? A bunch of white lily-livered middle class tossers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eB49BabRxk
Talking about British politicians, I just hope that he is more competent than these principled people who demand values and leadership in british politics…
It has been amusing me ever since I saw it, and I really can’t tell one british politician from another….
You must be talking about tories & the British Labour party …. with those two NZ’s Nat’s & Labour party have a lot in common? Completely f*#k’n useless!
Via the “Keeping Stock” blog, via “Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow” blog which keeps updated headlines from a variety of blogs, here is what Josie Pagani said in this week’s Listener:
“Someone on the internet says I’m a “post-modernist twit”. How would you text that insult? “U po mo”? I’ve also become an “ism”; Pagani-ism. I’d rather be a “nomics”. Do I have to destroy an economy to be known for Pagani-nomics? Those insults appeared on left-wing blogs after I defended Labour leader David Shearer when he said, and I paraphrase: “Someone who shouldn’t be on the dole shouldn’t be on the dole.” The political left needs to argue a principled case for welfare reform. People have a right to be looked after when they can’t provide for themselves, yet today if you are on a benefit, you live in poverty. You get stuck.
I’ve lived in a family where joining a gang was a way to make something of yourself. But by equating any reform with beneficiary bashing, the left has allowed the expression “welfare reform” to be owned by people who neither believe in welfare nor want to see it last another century. Postmodern Pagani-nomics stresses respect for responsibilities as well as rights.”
I have two things to say:
1. You have to wonder about the difference, if any, between PR spin and outright lies. Is there any limit to what those in the business may invent to manipulate public discourse. Josie Pagani knows perfectly well that the “anecdote” she says she was defending was not about whether “someone who shouldn’t be on the dole, shouldn’t be on the dole”. It was about whether neighbours should surveil sickness beneficiaries and assume they are fraudsters until proven otherwise. (yes I also paraphrase, but within the actual facts).
2. Given that Ms Pagani objected to Standard commenters allegedly making assumptions about her political views based on her husband’s political views, does anyone else find it ironic that she has usurped the title ‘Paganiism’ earned by her husband by his public expressions of his political views, as being due to her own efforts? I hadn’t heard of Josie Pagani until some while after I started using the phrase.
There is was so much wrong with that “man on the roof” speech, and the associated defence of it, that it is a dimspiration to us all.
The most stultifying aspect is that the defenders (well, some of them) clearly have the basic tools to examine their own arguments and find the errors and contradictions, but instead they use those basic tools to defend the errors and contradictions.
Yes, that bothers me. Shearer made a complete hash of it yesterday, trying to defend the thing but doing so in a way that had no logic whatsoever. It’s quite a twist to compromise one’s own intellectual capacity that way. God knows what that does to a person’s core self.
js’s point 1 – I think it is both – lies and spin. This isn’t just a disagreement about policy direction (although it could have been just that). She can keep defending Shearer and the path they are taking with all the spinlies she likes but Ms Pagani has no integrity at all, and there is no coming back from that.
As for welfare reform, here’s top of my list: do a proper review of the benefit abatement rules, making sure to consult with experts and stakeholders from outside the department. The biggest disincentive for sickness and other beneficiaries is the fact that taking part time work will cost them money.
Beyond that, review what contributing to society means in real terms, not just how it looks in the stats of unemployment or welfare payments. Put value on all the things that people do, not just the one’s that have a formal pay check.
<blockquoteShearer made a complete hash of it yesterday, trying to defend the thing but doing so in a way that had no logic whatsoever. It’s quite a twist to compromise one’s own intellectual capacity that way. God knows what that does to a person’s core self.
Could someone please give Shearer a light tap with a brass striker and and see if he rings.
Mentioned this a few days previous….if Pagani(s)=Labour……show over, Shonkey wins by default, or National Lite beat Shonkeys mob. We have a problem Houston.
B. Don’t forget the wishy washy middle class are a bit flakey and are starting to fall out of luv with PinoKeyo …. and are more likely to jump onto the green waka.
David Shearer’s cute little ‘sickness beneficiary’ story showed him blindly agreeing with a prejudiced bigot without knowing any of the facts of the situation.
He had no idea of the situation of the man painting his roof and made no attempt to find out his side of the story and whether he should or should not have been on a benefit. And no, painting his roof does not automatically mean he shouldn’t have been, as Bill’s excellent post here on The Standard demonstrated.
That anecdote is what you expect from the leader of the National Party, the natural home of benny bashing voters. You don’t expect it from the leader of Labour.
But the reason you don’t get all this is because, unbeknownst to you, you are in the wrong party yourself. The party that traditionally runs lines about ‘responsibility as well as rights’ is the right wing party, not the left wing one.
It’s never too late to correct your error and join National. I’m sure they will be glad to listen to Pagani-nomics.
The ‘rights and responsibilities’ bullshit needs demolishing. Beneficiaries are generally well aware of their responsibilities, or they find out pretty bloody quick – they lose income if they’re don’t. They’re also usually very aware of how much and how often their rights are disregarded by WINZ (and the Minister), because likewise, it directly affects their income. Often their right to personhood and human decency is ignored or overridden too.
What Pagani and Bennett mean by ‘responsibility’ is that beneficiaries are now supposed to take on the burden of proving they’re not a bludger. Everyone on SB is a bludger until proven otherwise just like the man painting his roof. Everyone on the dole is a bludger until they get a job. Apparently beneficiaries are now also responsible for there not being enough jobs, because if they just took on their responsibilities then there would be enough and society wouldn’t have a problem with welfare.
To give Shearer the benefit of the doubt, he probably was largely unaware of the damage done by the bludger meme to people on sickness benefit in particular. But you’d have to be a heartless bastard to not understand now that the issue has been raised.
I very much doubt Shearer has been acquainted with arguments like ours about how and why his anecdote was harmful to almost all sickness beneficiaries, and also about how his following National’s agenda in the manner he has been practising is harmful to the health of the Labour Party.
The Labour leadership could not function as it does if it was not wilfully disconnected from all centre left and left criticisms of it, and also from the wider centre-left/leftwing discourse.
There is a reason that Shearer is happy to engage with right-wing talkback audiences yet refuses to engage here or with any other wider-left medium, and why the leadership team and it’s hangers-on like to demonise us all as nasty and irrational and beyond the pale.
Js, do you mean that Ms Pagani won’t have discussed with Shearer or caucus why she is defending him or disparaging the left blogosphere over the issue?
Giovanni Tiso’s post (just linked) suggests that Shearer knows there is an issue. He interrupts the interviewer and then goes on to defend his speech without having to have the issue explained to him. Sounds like he knows enough to know there is an issue, so if he doesn’t know the detail by now, then that is willful ignorance.
He’s knows there’s an issue from a PR point of view. That’s different to understanding what the issues are.
As for Ms Pagani, if she has discussed this with Shearer at all, it will have been to sympathise with him about the “overreaction” from the likes of you and I, and possibly the best angles to mitigate the damage, imho.
I think it is difficult, from the transcript of Shearers words, to get any clear idea about what he thinks or knows about anything at all.
I very much doubt Shearer has been acquainted with arguments like ours about how and why his anecdote was harmful to almost all sickness beneficiaries
Because as as UN functionary, he was safely protected in the role as savour to the benighted, savage masses. He’s finding it really hard to realise that he’s not the white knight descending from high to save the poor savages, but a servant, a representative, put forward to champion citizens, and as such, beholden to listen to them, and if not, to be sacked.
Sorry Dave, but mago rinds tossed over the side of your truck aren’t enough. Don’t worry however, I’m sure the ghost of Marie Antoinette will console you. I’m sure that she felt that the peasants treated her unfairly too when she said some really, really sincerely intended things about eating brioche if there wasn’t enough bread to go around.
Postmodern Pagani-nomics stresses respect for responsibilities as well as rights.”
Yes, Josie, and that’s what makes you a fucking beneficiary-basher.
If I constantly add “but remember some men are rapists” to the end of every sentence I utter about sexual violence, I’m pretty sure people would start saying (not that they don’t already) “hey QoT, that sounds pretty man-hating, like you want to constantly reinforce the men = rapists idea in our heads.”
Likewise, if you feel the need to add “but people have responsibilities not to be evil bludgers!” to the end of literally every speech you make about our social welfare system, people might just start suspecting that you’re a little bit hyper-focused on the bludgers. Who aren’t actually a big problem, and whose criminality (such as exists) should never be used by an allegedly leftwing person to frame discussions of social welfare.
Because, and you know, I shouldn’t have to explain this to a politician, much less one married to a key political strategist (you know, the way the Briscoes Lady’s partner probably knows a lot about flatware), but when you frame shit in a way that benefits your opponent’s arguments, you make it easier for them to win. Duh.
If I constantly add “but remember some men are rapists” to the end of every sentence I utter about sexual violence, I’m pretty sure people would start saying (not that they don’t already) “hey QoT, that sounds pretty man-hating, like you want to constantly reinforce the men = rapists idea in our heads.”
Such a lovely self-aware sense of self deprecation.
You got it your Highness. She’s either thick as pig shit or a closet tory.
Every amoeba with half a milli-ounce of grey matter knows that the terms “individual responsibility” “welfare dependency” and “welfare reform” are the carefully-constructed propaganda-bites of the divide-and-conquer Right, to be repeated ad nauseam at each an every opportunity.
Instead of railing at the inanity and deliberate manipulation from the outset – all are as valid as, say, “employer dependency” or “taxpayer dependency” for workers and politicians – wee Jose and her cobbers have sat on their fat, worker-funded arses and now peddle the same steaming pus with bells on.
If it’s now entrenched in the voting public that you purport to woo, Josie, it means you failed. Since 1998. Either apologise and change or piss off. You too Trev, real people are hurting out here.
These members of the Labour Party who don’t mind dishing it out to beneficiaries seem oddly sensitive to criticism of themselves. Surely you only go into politics if you think you are up for facing some criticism and strongly worded disagreement. And there is something vulgar about sulking in salaried comfort because some people didn’t like the mean things you said about people whose everyday misery dwarfs your own hurt feelings.
According to an annual survey of global arms sales conducted by the Congressional Research Service, US arms sales have tripled between 2010 to 2011 to record levels. The US now accounts for over 75% of global arms deals. One commentator remarks:
“The tripling of US arms sales abroad to a record $66.3 billion is an accurate barometer of the accelerating drive to war in the Persian Gulf and on a world scale. This one violently surging sector of American exports reflects a diseased capitalist economy and society, whose financial-corporate elite resorts to militarism as a means of offsetting the overall economic decline of the United States.
…
The arms industry is massively subsidized by the American taxpayer. While the political establishment and media insist “there is no money” when it comes to jobs, decent wages, education and vital public services, endless billions are lavished on America’s merchants of death.”
This article also notes that of the US$66.3 billion in arms trades, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates account for a combined total of US$38.2 billion.
“The purchases by the monarchical regimes in the Arab world stem, on the one hand, from their reaction to the popular upheavals that were dubbed the “Arab Spring” and, on the other, from the buildup by the US and its allies for another war, this time against Iran.”
closer to home I listened to Chrtis Trotter yesterday express grave doubts about the constitutional advisory panel.googled it this morning and it
looks like they are going to try and dream one up of their own and then foist it on us with a bit of consultation at the end of their deliberations just to make it look good.
corporatist authoritarian post modernism at its worst.
just about to listen to Mitt Romney address the RNC. After listening to that snake Ryan yesterday I am looking forward to hearing Romney lie to me also.
Oh. OK. Washington Post wouldn’t make it up.
The underlying message though is “Beware of those who make great promises. They all do that but only a few actually intend to action let alone actually achieve what they promised.”
Watching his gruesome performance, it is clear that the doddering Eastwood has pretty much lost his marbles. However, whoever wrote his lines for him did insert some provocations that need to be addressed. I’ll deal with just the most idiotic of them….
You know they are all left wingers out there, left of Lenin.
“Left of Lenin”? Clearly Eastwood’s script-writer knows nothing about Lenin’s politics. Lenin’s utter contempt for democracy has far more in common with the braindead flag-wavers in that convention hall than it does with any Hollywood “liberals”.
OK, I thought maybe it was just because somebody had the stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown New York City.
Eastwood clearly doesn’t have a clue, and could not care less, but surely his scriptwriter (David Frum? Donald Trump? Gerry Seinfeld?) knows that many, perhaps most, of the captives in Guantanamo Bay are not terrorists. They are captives, illegally held without charges in defiance of international law. Not that Clint Eastwood or the zombies in the audience would care, of course.
Of course we all now Biden is the intellect of the Democratic party.
(LAUGHTER)
Kind of a grin with a body behind it.
(LAUGHTER)
Whoever wrote those unfunny quips was pretty cheeky to write them for someone best summed up as a scowl with a body behind it.
Earlier on in the week yeshe posted a link to a herald article about a govt funded gene technology agri business meeting going on with all the big players from the various bio tech companies. We had a bit of a chat about it.
Gee. I wonder if they sat around the table and said “theres a bit of an image problem with introducing GE food crops to NZ, what shall we do?” “I know, we’ll get our buddies at Fearfux to write some pro GE PR material and label those who oppose it ‘luddites’ to make them look bad”
I think that article translates to: All these other countries are doing it and so we should to despite the fact that some of our largest markets (the EU) is predominantly against GMO and the fact that using natural plants doesn’t come with a patent cost. Also the fact that research is showing that GMO crops aren’t as good as advertised either.
Unfortunately this kind of corrupt judgement makes people lose all faith in the justice system as it clearly shows there’s one law for the rich and another for the rest of us…
Unfortunately this kind of corrupt judgement makes people lose all faith in the justice system as it clearly shows there’s one law for the rich and another for the rest of us…
Absolutely! I read the account in the Herald – what a disgusting man – did he have no idea how he sounded?
An eye witness has also come out and slammed the idiot judge. I really do hope Kim takes up Dr Michael Kidd’s offer to appeal Raoul Neave’s decision. What a travesty of justice.
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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 ...
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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. ...
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 ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
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. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
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Great Minds Grapple With The Great Issues
THE ENVIRONMENT….
“Fracking. I’ve read a few articles in the Economist on it, and I’m okay with it, as long as it’s done safely.”— Larry Williams, 29 August 2012
THE NEED FOR INTELLIGENT PUBLIC DEBATE….
“I’m here to make people think. That’s all I want.” — Mike Hosking, 30 August 2012
THE GAY MARRIAGE BILL….
“All this talk about rights. Do I have the right to walk into a women’s toilet?”—Leighton Smith, 30 August 2012
NewstalkZB. Tune Your Mind.
Three dimwitted, dismal and doleful dunces there, Morrissey.
Two questions: How on earth can you listen to such dopey fellows? And: Why do you listen to them?
That Mr DotCom appears to be somewhat of an epic shitstirrer au.
https://twitter.com/KimDotcom/status/241239891843878912
He wouldn’t be able to be such a shit stirrer if he hadn’t been treated so abysmally by the Auckland National Party elite, who have been shown to be a bunch of craven cads and dishonourable in their dealings. The whole shameful treatment of Mr. Dotcom by people he clearly considered were his friends but who were really only mongrels with cupboard love and nice suits to my my mind cracks the edge of the manhole cover and allows us a glimpse into the sewer that is the inner machinations of that class of rich, conservative Aucklanders who assume to rule the city.
I am sure there is something there. It is beyond comprehension that the Minister in charge of the SIS would only have been told about a pending raid on the day of the raid.
It is also unbelievable that a free spending multi millionaire who made a major donation to a right wing politician would not have wanted to meet the PM. I quite like Kim and mean this in the nicest way but he does appear to be the sort of person who wants to mix with the rich and powerful and why wouldn’t he have met Key?
Two questions that I would love to have the answers to:
1. Did he actually meet Key and when?
2. Has he donated money to the National Party?
Sounds like we may know soon.
Excellent, I have maintained for months that ShonKey lied on “Campbell Live” about being unaware of Mr Dotcom’s existence till the day of the raid because of his SIS link and the FBI involvement.
He was mummbling so he was lying.
Just like when he lied about armoured vehicles he looked very old and shifty eyed when lied there.
Well if he didn’t know about it I’m Vladimir Putin !
So he’s a cheap little fibber and one day he gonna get caught out bad.
Sir Kiwi Kim Dotcom may well be the lie detector.
Definitely lying on Campbell Live.
And he dropped himself in it with his earlier remarks that he definitely didn’t meet Dotcom and if he had, he definitely would have remembered such an unusual name.
Key said he had never heard of Dotcom till the day before the raids. So according to the hearing I went to, the FBI were here in New Zealand in September and October 2011, we have the copyright dude and lots of others travelling here, and not one person mentioned this to the Prime Minister?
Also just about everyone in Auckland knew Dotcom had paid for the New Years eve fireworks at SkyCity (you know, Sky City, good friends of the PM), yet John Key hadn’t heard that?
And that’s not even to mention the gymnastics that took place so John Key could avoid any constituency work relating to Dotcom.
but he does appear to be the sort of person who wants to mix with the rich and powerful
Should read: was the sort of person who wants to mix with the rich and powerful.
Now he knows what s—ts the rich and powerful are, he might like to throw a few campaign dimes in the way of the opposition parties. 🙂
Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to see dotcom expose Key – but he’s always known the score.
There is no love lost between rich and powerful men when one of them is scorned. Dotcom is that one. He’s as bad as the rest, it’s just his interests coincide with ours at the moment. It doesn’t make him some sort of Everyman hero.
Dotcom will be the gift that keeps on giving, he’s smart, well resourced and understands the necessity of backup and redundancy in times of disaster.
Santuary sums it up nicely and what an arrogant foolish lot if they thought they could treat him like this, guess that’s what happens when you didn’t go to the right schools and clubs and have that automatic ‘get off scot free’ card that Blinky carries.
Wonder if Kim has some evidence that proves beyond all doubt Key’s a lying SOB he’d like to share with us all, come on Kim they will never ever be trustworthy but you know that already.
Brilliant! Thanks for that. The comments section underneath it is interesting: that bloke calling himself UNI (“Another impressive interview in a row by John Key..”) seems so bewildered and doctrinaire that I suspect he is actually our friend “Gosman”.
This article takes up most of the front page of today’s hard copy of the west Auckland paper, Western Leader. It’s about the dire housing shortage, especially affordable and safe housing for families in west Auckland – and the inadequate government plans to deal with it.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/western-leader/7578075/Desperate-for-a-home
Carol, yesterday I was wondering if MSM are very slowly waking up to the fact we have a crisis in NZ. In the space of a week the Dom Post had 2 stories about families in Porirua who are living in dire circumstances due to poverty wages and two weeks prior to that the Dom had Deborah Russell’s welcome and refreshing piece regarding our prejudiced attitudes around beneficiaries. In each three instances however, fairfax had the comments section turned on which unleashed the usual contempt and misunderstanding that is prevelant within a sector of the public. It’s so upsetting to read those vile comments. Its highlights the selfish nastiness within our society. With voters like no wonder we have a National govt.
Yes, it’s dispiriting to read some of those nasty comments, Rosie.
I think decades of neoliberal propaganda has fed such beliefs – not just through direct bennie-bashing by politicians and the MSM, but through the underlying myths about individualism, meritocracy etc.
It’ll take a long time to turn the general public away from such destructive ways of thinking.
Advancing on merit ended with Thatcher, when monetarism forced on us by gushing cheap middle eastern oil emerged to dominant the polis. Better government would have been the
answer, but instead we got thirty years of right and left wing government bad, profits good.
If we keep dumb-ing down government any parent can eventually sell their kid into slavery,
well we have, we just did not do it explicitly, we just borrowed and borrowed…
…neo-liberals didn’t just build endless inefficient sprawl but also elevated zombies into power.
The global market failure is due to the mismatch between the perceived needs and the
real current results of current socio-economics. The demand-supply mismatch. We
as a people do not want to gift our children a hell on earth.
Go read Debunking Economics. In it Keen points out that the supply curve of neo-liberalism doesn’t apply.
Has Collins at last been shown to be fluff?
Looks like a complete fail on her “get tough” on alcohol measures.
No change, by all accounts,
Didn’t she say once “You know me, I never back down” or was that someone else.
She will be crushing ice for her cock tails
Don’t be silly, the crushed ice will just magically appear in her cocktails when she speaks to the air.
New from International Labour Rights Forum: Freedom at work: Democracy and ecomony for all
This will be a good resource to read if you’re interested in global Labour Rights/Union news. This is fresh from the inbox this am, so have just had a skim read. Interesting stat on page 5 though. The chart shows that voter turnout is higher in areas that have greater union density. If this is a factor in voter turnout it could be part of the reason,of which there are several, that our voters strayed away from the polling booths last year.
http://laborrights.org/sites/default/files/publications-and-resources/FAW2012.pdf
Gina Rinehart represents the ALP’s best chance of retaining power in Australia. Because she is really, really scary. Her particular mix of belligerent stupidity and gross superiority is bad enough, but her desire to affect Australian politics makes Rupert Murdoch look like a weak wristed Social Democrat.
Her latest pronouncements include:
1. Those who are jealous of the wealthy should start working harder and cut down on drinking, smoking and socializing, and although not mentioned it helps if their father leaves them valuable mineral rights;
2. Billionaires like herself who were doing more than anyone to help the poor by investing their money and creating jobs;
3. The government should lower the minimum wage of $606.40 a week and cut taxes to stimulate employment.
I guess this sense of superiority is necessary because otherwise she would, or should, feel deeply ashamed for hoarding so much of the world’s wealth beyond any conceivable need.
Gina Rinehart’s formula for success:
1. Work harder.
2. Drink less.
3. Inherit a billion dollars.
Rinehart makes the common assumption of the disgustingly (fat) and rich, that we lowly people actually envy them. Probably a majority simply despise them. Not everybody, by any means, has a singular desire to be hugely wealthy. Most are content if they can support themselves and/or dependents without a struggle (which, of course, many NZ’ers have to do) and manage something by way of savings (or ability to meet mortgage payments).
I would want to be like Rinehart? My gosh, I would rather have never lived.
Inherit billions that was a fluke of her farther landing his plane on the hammersley ranges in a violent rain storm an accidently finding iron ore.
Scary physically, financially and emotionally. Born with the biggest silver spoon in Oz , sued her stepmother (Rose) , threatening her kids if they don’t come to heel so the Oz governments and the media don’t frighten her one little bit, she’s as hard as a coffin nail.
So far she’s looking like she’s destroyed Fairfax, whose management had done a fair job of ruining it under Kirk etc. 2 possibilities a) It’s likely to be split up which would make for bigger enemies with the separately rescued and owned Age (melbourne) and Sydney MH by locals keen to keep the heritage. b) she’ll sweep back in and buy the whole lot for a song.
You get a fair go in OZ, it’s part of the convict pysche that bred the ‘Aussie battler’ image or suffer the consequences and she’s pushed it out way to far.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/revolt-of-the-rich/
Yep
Thanks, ’tis always good to be reminded that we do have some allies on the right, if even they can be rather fickle on expanding civil rights some times 😉
Look who she inherited the mines from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-RV9reCDbY
Fortunately for Australia she’s too damn thick to play teh politics properly and has a bad case of foot-in-mouth syndrome. So her rather vocal support will likely carry with it potentially negative effects 😉
Crazy shit, several hundred SA miners get arrested and charged with murder re the striking miners the cops shot!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19424484
Yep and using the old apartheid law of “common purpose”. There is something deeply unsettling here.
This just reminds us that we “never have seen it all”. Does apartheid and its laws continue even under black African leadership? Some of us paid dearly to install this current government.
The elite will not have their rule challenged, no matter what colour they are.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss 🙁
The unacceptable face of capitalism never left.
http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-08-30-the-murder-fields-of-marikana-the-cold-murder-fields-of-marikana
Of the 34 miners killed at Marikana, no more than a dozen of the dead were captured in news footage shot at the scene. The majority of those who died, according to surviving strikers and researchers, were killed beyond the view of cameras at a nondescript collection of boulders some 300 metres behind Wonderkop
[…]
…It is becoming clear to this reporter that heavily armed police hunted down and killed the miners in cold blood. A minority were killed in the filmed event where police claim they acted in self-defence. The rest was murder on a massive scale.
edit: http://news.linktv.org/videos/police-open-fire-on-south-african-miners-dramatic-footage
If the “World” demands Justice these charges cannot go ahead. Translate this into the NZ situation where strikes happen and could we accept it? Bizzare!
A friend has put together a site to discuss the claims the tobacco companies are making about the upcoming regulation of their packaging. For example, they think they are the thin end of the wedge: what other products might have mandated packaging requirements? Personally I’m thinking food for one, and medicine for another! (oh and booze, but that’s a whole other website 🙂
its at http://www.agree2disagree.co.nz/ (witty, n’est pas?)
Cool – have posted some apt comments already! Great to see some web activism against big tobacco.
plain packaging on harmful foods and alcohol would be great
Now that we have controlled substances like laudanum, lead based makeup and sippin’ meths, cigarettes are the obvious next risky thing to control. Maybe growing for personal use will be the way to go, I don’t know. But once the pointless and dangerous addictive tobacco is controlled, food will be next on the agenda – and that’s a good thing.
There be dragons: been there this week. We’ve had a show trial: subject closed.
The simple reply is that, yes, there are a lot of problems, but to solve those problems we need everyone knowing they belong, before we begin to tackle the problems. We may even find some problems go away naturally once people aren’t fighting themsleves. It’s foundational work, for small cost. Smart stuff.
culture deceptive
nations instruments
(welcome the PRC; is on the Way round)
Ah, I see you don’t understand how Parliament works. Carry on then.
Pretty much, although I don’t blame the whole Labour party for that.. If I did, I don’t know what I’d do – the Greens are dishonest, so what would that leave? 🙁
Well V32 I think a party with a leader like George Galloway would be a great start. A principled working class party would be great as well. I think if you watch this clip by George you’d kinda see what I mean, principled & leadership & values. Isn’t that what the Labour party use to be instead of what it’s morphed into? A bunch of white lily-livered middle class tossers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eB49BabRxk
Talking about British politicians, I just hope that he is more competent than these principled people who demand values and leadership in british politics…
It has been amusing me ever since I saw it, and I really can’t tell one british politician from another….
You must be talking about tories & the British Labour party …. with those two NZ’s Nat’s & Labour party have a lot in common? Completely f*#k’n useless!
You must be talking about tories & the British Labour party
Not if the number plates and Brit nationalistic graphics are anything to go by.
Note also the short haircuts, T-shirts and bovver boots.
Yep, it’s the BNP. When you’re the master race you don’t need to read no stinking signs, eh!
Yes, indeed! I do favour Galloway… Thanks for the link.. 🙂
Via the “Keeping Stock” blog, via “Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow” blog which keeps updated headlines from a variety of blogs, here is what Josie Pagani said in this week’s Listener:
“Someone on the internet says I’m a “post-modernist twit”. How would you text that insult? “U po mo”? I’ve also become an “ism”; Pagani-ism. I’d rather be a “nomics”. Do I have to destroy an economy to be known for Pagani-nomics? Those insults appeared on left-wing blogs after I defended Labour leader David Shearer when he said, and I paraphrase: “Someone who shouldn’t be on the dole shouldn’t be on the dole.” The political left needs to argue a principled case for welfare reform. People have a right to be looked after when they can’t provide for themselves, yet today if you are on a benefit, you live in poverty. You get stuck.
I’ve lived in a family where joining a gang was a way to make something of yourself. But by equating any reform with beneficiary bashing, the left has allowed the expression “welfare reform” to be owned by people who neither believe in welfare nor want to see it last another century. Postmodern Pagani-nomics stresses respect for responsibilities as well as rights.”
I have two things to say:
1. You have to wonder about the difference, if any, between PR spin and outright lies. Is there any limit to what those in the business may invent to manipulate public discourse. Josie Pagani knows perfectly well that the “anecdote” she says she was defending was not about whether “someone who shouldn’t be on the dole, shouldn’t be on the dole”. It was about whether neighbours should surveil sickness beneficiaries and assume they are fraudsters until proven otherwise. (yes I also paraphrase, but within the actual facts).
2. Given that Ms Pagani objected to Standard commenters allegedly making assumptions about her political views based on her husband’s political views, does anyone else find it ironic that she has usurped the title ‘Paganiism’ earned by her husband by his public expressions of his political views, as being due to her own efforts? I hadn’t heard of Josie Pagani until some while after I started using the phrase.
There is was so much wrong with that “man on the roof” speech, and the associated defence of it, that it is a dimspiration to us all.
The most stultifying aspect is that the defenders (well, some of them) clearly have the basic tools to examine their own arguments and find the errors and contradictions, but instead they use those basic tools to defend the errors and contradictions.
Yes, that bothers me. Shearer made a complete hash of it yesterday, trying to defend the thing but doing so in a way that had no logic whatsoever. It’s quite a twist to compromise one’s own intellectual capacity that way. God knows what that does to a person’s core self.
js’s point 1 – I think it is both – lies and spin. This isn’t just a disagreement about policy direction (although it could have been just that). She can keep defending Shearer and the path they are taking with all the spinlies she likes but Ms Pagani has no integrity at all, and there is no coming back from that.
As for welfare reform, here’s top of my list: do a proper review of the benefit abatement rules, making sure to consult with experts and stakeholders from outside the department. The biggest disincentive for sickness and other beneficiaries is the fact that taking part time work will cost them money.
Beyond that, review what contributing to society means in real terms, not just how it looks in the stats of unemployment or welfare payments. Put value on all the things that people do, not just the one’s that have a formal pay check.
<blockquoteShearer made a complete hash of it yesterday, trying to defend the thing but doing so in a way that had no logic whatsoever. It’s quite a twist to compromise one’s own intellectual capacity that way. God knows what that does to a person’s core self.
Could someone please give Shearer a light tap with a brass striker and and see if he rings.
Mentioned this a few days previous….if Pagani(s)=Labour……show over, Shonkey wins by default, or National Lite beat Shonkeys mob. We have a problem Houston.
Membership revolt
B. Don’t forget the wishy washy middle class are a bit flakey and are starting to fall out of luv with PinoKeyo …. and are more likely to jump onto the green waka.
Dear Josie,
David Shearer’s cute little ‘sickness beneficiary’ story showed him blindly agreeing with a prejudiced bigot without knowing any of the facts of the situation.
He had no idea of the situation of the man painting his roof and made no attempt to find out his side of the story and whether he should or should not have been on a benefit. And no, painting his roof does not automatically mean he shouldn’t have been, as Bill’s excellent post here on The Standard demonstrated.
That anecdote is what you expect from the leader of the National Party, the natural home of benny bashing voters. You don’t expect it from the leader of Labour.
But the reason you don’t get all this is because, unbeknownst to you, you are in the wrong party yourself. The party that traditionally runs lines about ‘responsibility as well as rights’ is the right wing party, not the left wing one.
It’s never too late to correct your error and join National. I’m sure they will be glad to listen to Pagani-nomics.
We mustn’t criticise the Labour leader. He is doing a great job. because … well, because he’s the Labour leader. QED.
If you criticise, Captain Hook will call you an “agent provocateur”. Always remember – our leaders are wise, and we are the real problem.
The ‘rights and responsibilities’ bullshit needs demolishing. Beneficiaries are generally well aware of their responsibilities, or they find out pretty bloody quick – they lose income if they’re don’t. They’re also usually very aware of how much and how often their rights are disregarded by WINZ (and the Minister), because likewise, it directly affects their income. Often their right to personhood and human decency is ignored or overridden too.
What Pagani and Bennett mean by ‘responsibility’ is that beneficiaries are now supposed to take on the burden of proving they’re not a bludger. Everyone on SB is a bludger until proven otherwise just like the man painting his roof. Everyone on the dole is a bludger until they get a job. Apparently beneficiaries are now also responsible for there not being enough jobs, because if they just took on their responsibilities then there would be enough and society wouldn’t have a problem with welfare.
To give Shearer the benefit of the doubt, he probably was largely unaware of the damage done by the bludger meme to people on sickness benefit in particular. But you’d have to be a heartless bastard to not understand now that the issue has been raised.
I very much doubt Shearer has been acquainted with arguments like ours about how and why his anecdote was harmful to almost all sickness beneficiaries, and also about how his following National’s agenda in the manner he has been practising is harmful to the health of the Labour Party.
The Labour leadership could not function as it does if it was not wilfully disconnected from all centre left and left criticisms of it, and also from the wider centre-left/leftwing discourse.
There is a reason that Shearer is happy to engage with right-wing talkback audiences yet refuses to engage here or with any other wider-left medium, and why the leadership team and it’s hangers-on like to demonise us all as nasty and irrational and beyond the pale.
If anyone missed it, here’s the transcript of Shearer being interviewed about the “roof bludger” … scroll down:
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2012/08/the-man-on-roof.html#addendum
Js, do you mean that Ms Pagani won’t have discussed with Shearer or caucus why she is defending him or disparaging the left blogosphere over the issue?
Giovanni Tiso’s post (just linked) suggests that Shearer knows there is an issue. He interrupts the interviewer and then goes on to defend his speech without having to have the issue explained to him. Sounds like he knows enough to know there is an issue, so if he doesn’t know the detail by now, then that is willful ignorance.
He’s knows there’s an issue from a PR point of view. That’s different to understanding what the issues are.
As for Ms Pagani, if she has discussed this with Shearer at all, it will have been to sympathise with him about the “overreaction” from the likes of you and I, and possibly the best angles to mitigate the damage, imho.
I think it is difficult, from the transcript of Shearers words, to get any clear idea about what he thinks or knows about anything at all.
I very much doubt Shearer has been acquainted with arguments like ours about how and why his anecdote was harmful to almost all sickness beneficiaries
Because as as UN functionary, he was safely protected in the role as savour to the benighted, savage masses. He’s finding it really hard to realise that he’s not the white knight descending from high to save the poor savages, but a servant, a representative, put forward to champion citizens, and as such, beholden to listen to them, and if not, to be sacked.
Sorry Dave, but mago rinds tossed over the side of your truck aren’t enough. Don’t worry however, I’m sure the ghost of Marie Antoinette will console you. I’m sure that she felt that the peasants treated her unfairly too when she said some really, really sincerely intended things about eating brioche if there wasn’t enough bread to go around.
Postmodern Pagani-nomics stresses respect for responsibilities as well as rights.”
Yes, Josie, and that’s what makes you a fucking beneficiary-basher.
If I constantly add “but remember some men are rapists” to the end of every sentence I utter about sexual violence, I’m pretty sure people would start saying (not that they don’t already) “hey QoT, that sounds pretty man-hating, like you want to constantly reinforce the men = rapists idea in our heads.”
Likewise, if you feel the need to add “but people have responsibilities not to be evil bludgers!” to the end of literally every speech you make about our social welfare system, people might just start suspecting that you’re a little bit hyper-focused on the bludgers. Who aren’t actually a big problem, and whose criminality (such as exists) should never be used by an allegedly leftwing person to frame discussions of social welfare.
Because, and you know, I shouldn’t have to explain this to a politician, much less one married to a key political strategist (you know, the way the Briscoes Lady’s partner probably knows a lot about flatware), but when you frame shit in a way that benefits your opponent’s arguments, you make it easier for them to win. Duh.
Such a lovely self-aware sense of self deprecation.
You got it your Highness. She’s either thick as pig shit or a closet tory.
Every amoeba with half a milli-ounce of grey matter knows that the terms “individual responsibility” “welfare dependency” and “welfare reform” are the carefully-constructed propaganda-bites of the divide-and-conquer Right, to be repeated ad nauseam at each an every opportunity.
Instead of railing at the inanity and deliberate manipulation from the outset – all are as valid as, say, “employer dependency” or “taxpayer dependency” for workers and politicians – wee Jose and her cobbers have sat on their fat, worker-funded arses and now peddle the same steaming pus with bells on.
If it’s now entrenched in the voting public that you purport to woo, Josie, it means you failed. Since 1998. Either apologise and change or piss off. You too Trev, real people are hurting out here.
Not mutually exclusive, mate.
These members of the Labour Party who don’t mind dishing it out to beneficiaries seem oddly sensitive to criticism of themselves. Surely you only go into politics if you think you are up for facing some criticism and strongly worded disagreement. And there is something vulgar about sulking in salaried comfort because some people didn’t like the mean things you said about people whose everyday misery dwarfs your own hurt feelings.
+1
I feel like getting out the violins for poor Ms P.
Pagani-ism is a wonderful neologism
NZ MSM-spectacle
TS-community
anyway,
Relativity-“exploded the myth of common-sense”-Polkinghorne
‘because we cannot perceive the structure of space-time with our senses, it encourages humility towards surprising events’-T.F Torrance
Today, gardening, washing, wood chopped, boil-up, and something else but oh, the stm aint what it used to be, aint what it used to be…
According to an annual survey of global arms sales conducted by the Congressional Research Service, US arms sales have tripled between 2010 to 2011 to record levels. The US now accounts for over 75% of global arms deals. One commentator remarks:
“The tripling of US arms sales abroad to a record $66.3 billion is an accurate barometer of the accelerating drive to war in the Persian Gulf and on a world scale. This one violently surging sector of American exports reflects a diseased capitalist economy and society, whose financial-corporate elite resorts to militarism as a means of offsetting the overall economic decline of the United States.
…
The arms industry is massively subsidized by the American taxpayer. While the political establishment and media insist “there is no money” when it comes to jobs, decent wages, education and vital public services, endless billions are lavished on America’s merchants of death.”
This article also notes that of the US$66.3 billion in arms trades, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates account for a combined total of US$38.2 billion.
“The purchases by the monarchical regimes in the Arab world stem, on the one hand, from their reaction to the popular upheavals that were dubbed the “Arab Spring” and, on the other, from the buildup by the US and its allies for another war, this time against Iran.”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/pers-a30.shtml
closer to home I listened to Chrtis Trotter yesterday express grave doubts about the constitutional advisory panel.googled it this morning and it
looks like they are going to try and dream one up of their own and then foist it on us with a bit of consultation at the end of their deliberations just to make it look good.
corporatist authoritarian post modernism at its worst.
too much!
just about to listen to Mitt Romney address the RNC. After listening to that snake Ryan yesterday I am looking forward to hearing Romney lie to me also.
After that you will need a laugh. Get over to Pundit Kitchen for some low brow humour. It’s Mittens galore
http://roflrazzi.cheezburger.com/news
Here’s the transcript of Eastwood’s speech, WTF?.
Yeah, that was really bizarre. He interviewed an empty chair.
#Eastwooding.
edit: Obama Eastwooding.
http://www.salon.com/2012/08/31/clint_eastwood_tells_chair_to_get_out_of_afghanistan/
http://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/241392153148915712/photo/1
I am confused. Did Eastwood give the speech to the Republicans or was it a spoof? Either way it is fun and or serious.
Oh. OK. Washington Post wouldn’t make it up.
The underlying message though is “Beware of those who make great promises. They all do that but only a few actually intend to action let alone actually achieve what they promised.”
Here’s the transcript of Eastwood’s speech, WTF?.
Watching his gruesome performance, it is clear that the doddering Eastwood has pretty much lost his marbles. However, whoever wrote his lines for him did insert some provocations that need to be addressed. I’ll deal with just the most idiotic of them….
You know they are all left wingers out there, left of Lenin.
“Left of Lenin”? Clearly Eastwood’s script-writer knows nothing about Lenin’s politics. Lenin’s utter contempt for democracy has far more in common with the braindead flag-wavers in that convention hall than it does with any Hollywood “liberals”.
OK, I thought maybe it was just because somebody had the stupid idea of trying terrorists in downtown New York City.
Eastwood clearly doesn’t have a clue, and could not care less, but surely his scriptwriter (David Frum? Donald Trump? Gerry Seinfeld?) knows that many, perhaps most, of the captives in Guantanamo Bay are not terrorists. They are captives, illegally held without charges in defiance of international law. Not that Clint Eastwood or the zombies in the audience would care, of course.
Of course we all now Biden is the intellect of the Democratic party.
(LAUGHTER)
Kind of a grin with a body behind it.
(LAUGHTER)
Whoever wrote those unfunny quips was pretty cheeky to write them for someone best summed up as a scowl with a body behind it.
Earlier on in the week yeshe posted a link to a herald article about a govt funded gene technology agri business meeting going on with all the big players from the various bio tech companies. We had a bit of a chat about it.
Check out this:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/7583448/Luddite-approach-to-GE-hampering-NZ-Inc
Gee. I wonder if they sat around the table and said “theres a bit of an image problem with introducing GE food crops to NZ, what shall we do?” “I know, we’ll get our buddies at Fearfux to write some pro GE PR material and label those who oppose it ‘luddites’ to make them look bad”
I think that article translates to: All these other countries are doing it and so we should to despite the fact that some of our largest markets (the EU) is predominantly against GMO and the fact that using natural plants doesn’t come with a patent cost. Also the fact that research is showing that GMO crops aren’t as good as advertised either.
Raoul Neave – Asshole of the Week
Unfortunately this kind of corrupt judgement makes people lose all faith in the justice system as it clearly shows there’s one law for the rich and another for the rest of us…
Absolutely! I read the account in the Herald – what a disgusting man – did he have no idea how he sounded?
An eye witness has also come out and slammed the idiot judge. I really do hope Kim takes up Dr Michael Kidd’s offer to appeal Raoul Neave’s decision. What a travesty of justice.
AND Findlayson has been VERY critical of a QC who thought the sentence was rubbish too.
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/outraged-finlayson-says-judge-critic-tony-molloy-should-quit-qc-rank
Am I to understand that Hallwright was the victim here ??????
The Sensible Sentencing Trust is strangely quiet…….lost your tongue McVicar ?
Hallright the victim? No, but the judge would like you to think so.
Wolfhart Pannenberg. now there is an interesting man
Upsetting .
http://alturl.com/wa59i
all ways
Jean Luc says…frak you , Apple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rAtje5weAU0
“Apple” not by chance
“What business are u in?…This is the apple-pickin business massah.”-Irving (paraphr.)