Relationships are a prerequisite for a culture of respect for human rights to flourish, but they don’t guarantee them. If nobody is listening, or worse, those concerned have conflicting interests then Human Rights are ignored and sidelined.
Debt in moderation is good for a country. But when families can’t afford milk how can being the premium milk producer matter to every day Kiwis?
Consistent with the study of Senatorial trading activity, we find stocks purchased by Representatives also earn significant positive abnormal returns (albeit considerably smaller returns). A portfolio that mimics the purchases of House Members beats the market by 55 basis points per month (approximately 6% annually).
Between this stuff, the revolving doors, the computer traded ticket clippers and the lack of any real reform, I’m starting to suspect that this cake might be a bit fictional.
Anybody going to follow up on the $2.4 million untendered gift of taxpayers’ money to a ‘Christian’ parenting group in the Budget? Sounds like that donation to a National Party-aligned Pacific business in the Budget last year.
Anyone else notice how she bounces to her feet when answering questions in the House, especially when she has a smart rejoinder to deliver. One of these days her upper body may continue on up and whack her in the face.
The GOP, just like our own conservatives (National, Act, mP), are only there to transfer public wealth into the hands of themselves and their rich mates.
Greywolf Mining want to exploit/explore Golden Bay for oil, gas and coal. But as TV3 have said they are a bit more of a grey ghost not a grey wolf – why?
emails bounce
the chinese company listed as a partner on the website is not their partner
hard to find company offices
are greywolf a sham – just another dirty company involved in dirty business? IMO yes. But who is going to make the money – that’s the trail to follow.
Cynthia McKinney is one of my heroes. She is black, educated and of a high moral fiber. It was she who confronted Rumsfeld about the child slave ring run by Dynacore, the missing trillions of the Pentagon budget and travelled to the Gaza strip two years ago on one of the boats trying to break the siege.
She travelled to Libya to see with her own eyes what is happening there. She wrote a Counterpunch piece about the “kinetic, humanitarian” action called Feast of Blood.
Alex Jones is also one of my heroes. Considered by many a vile, redneck, truther birther, teapartier, nutcase but as he is one of the most outspoken anti war activists who calls out both Bush and Obama and their puppet masters on their lie based illegal wars of aggression and resource robbery he has to be one of my heroes even if I don’t agree with his gun toting, anti abortionist views to name a few.
Today only here is the link to the page which contains a link to his radio show in which he interviews US Congress woman McKinny who at this moment is in Tripoli Libya awaiting the nightly “kinetic, humanitarian” bombings.
So for those of you who thought that the intervention was a good use of NATO and the US army I would challenge you to listen to this interview between Cynthia McKinny, black (sort of) leftist black women (She is the leader of the American green party) and white male Texas, gun toting, birther 911 truther Alex Jones and educate yourself. (A word of warning; The radio show is about three hours and streaming so you might have to wait for the interview to air again.)
THE HEADLINE…. ************************************************************
Obama: UK, US lead fight for peace and just world
************************************************************ http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3227321.htm
National Party MP Tau Henare has shown what a complete douche bag he is once again on his Twitter feed. The Jackal doesn’t like to see such atrocious behaviour like this and has therefore included Tau Henare in the Parliament’s Wall of Shame.
In October 2005, Taito Philip Field lost his ministerial posts following controversies around allegations that he had improperly used his influence as an MP to receive material gain.In October 2005, Taito Philip Field lost his ministerial posts following controversies around allegations that he had improperly used his influence as an MP to receive material gain.
Phil Heatley announced his resignation from his portfolios on 25 February 2010, citing further problems with his ministerial credit card spending. Mr Heatley said his decision to quit came after he had looked closely at his ministerial credit card expenses for the past 18 months.
Unless you are especially interested in charting the tortured and unhappy progress of crazed far-right lunatics, you probably haven’t heard of PHILIPPE KARSENTY, a minor-league French fringe-dweller. Karsenty is a conspiracy theorist who has become the darling of the
Israeli extreme right, following his determined effort to cast doubt on the veracity of television film of a routine killing by Israeli troops of a Gazan boy on Sunday, September 30, 2000.
Karsenty has as much respect amongst sane and honest people as a flat earther, a moon-landing “skeptic”, a 9/11 Truther, or a global warming denier. As you will see in the video (Part 3) this is very much a sore point for Kasenty. Luckily for him however, he had the perfect interlocutor, an empty vessel called JAMIE GLAZOV, when he appeared on the very first edition of FrontPage Close-Up…. http://frontpagemag.com/2010/12/09/the-premiere-of-frontpage-close-up-with-jamie-glazov/
Part 1
Jamie Glazov: “We are honored to have as our guest a HERO of our time: Philip Karsenty, who exposed the infamous Mohammed Al-Dura hoax. Mr Karsenty, what support are you receiving for exposing what is obviously a lie and a hoax?”
Philippe Karsenty: “This is a case for democracy. You need to have media which are conveying the truth, not lying. … It was a state- sponsored blood libel. …Chirac decided to demonize Israel.”
Karsenty then launches into a hysterical denunciation of Charles Enderlin. This is problematic, because Enderlin, like so many of the most trenchant and courageous opponents of Israeli criminality, is Jewish, so he can’t simply be smeared with the routine “anti-Semitism”
baloney. But Karsenty is obviously incapable of thinking of any other strategy, and so he says, risibly, that Enderlin was “responsible for the blood libel.” He derides Enderlin for complaining about the way that fanatical Zionists attacked him, and forced him out of his apartment.
Glazov continues: “The wounds on the father are not gunshot wounds. The boy himself has never been found. Is that correct? How is it possible to be shot fifteen times and for there to be no blood?” The answer, of course, is easy: it’s all “incitement against Israel”.
Glazov then tries to pour cold water on the exhaustively documented fact that Israeli troops routinely fire thousands of bullets at unarmed protestors. It just doesn’t make SENSE, he reasons:”If you said that an American policeman shot for 45 minutes just to kill someone, it wouldn’t make sense. Brainwashing makes them believe that Israelis would shoot at them for 45 minutes. French intellectuals won’t listen to Holocaust-deniers, and they won’t listen to us. Their
main argument is to refuse to debate.”
Part 2
Maybe, just maybe, you’re extremely indulgent, and inclined to give anyone a fair go. Perhaps you need more evidence that Glazov is not only a denier of evidence, but a crank and a fool? Well then, please watch the first thirty seconds of Part 2: Glazov assures us that not only do our eyes deceive us when we watch film of the Mohammed al-Dura killing, but that global warming is a hoax.
Karsenty returns to talking about the shooting video, and raves on and on: “Ten years of insane lies… Israel has been poorly treated by the U.S. over the years….No matter how many facts you will prove, this is about deeply entrenched Jew-hatred. …More lies and more lies and more lies. What you have to understand is that the lies didn’t stop after the death of Mohammed al Dura. Lies about the Lebanon war, the Gaza war, the so-called peace flotilla, lies, lies, lies. There is no anti-
Semitism, it’s anti-Israel. Be clear. There is no anti-Zionism, it’s anti-Semitism.”
Part 3
Jamie Glazov assures Karsenty that “forensic scientists have delegitimized the evidence of this shooting. Beyond reasonable doubt!” Karsenty: “Our worst opponents in this were extreme left
Jews.”
Glazov is obsessed with the fact that not one Palestinian has supported Karsenty. “You have Jews on the side of Palestinians,” he points out. “So why don’t some Palestinians support you?” Karsenty expresses his indignation that French intellectuals don’t respect his intellect. He rails against “Jewish journalists” who “demonize and bash Israel”. It’s all “brainwashing. Brainwashing is the worst thing that can happen.”
Part 4
Karsenty: “I know that I have the truth. We are moving forward. We will win at the end. Because nobody can fight against the truth.”
Glazov: “Let’s say that tomorrow the boy and the father show up. Do you think the world will apologize to you?”
Karsenty: “Of COURSE some boys die in the middle east, of COURSE some die. It doesn’t make sense, when you think of the rules of engagement of the Israeli soldiers.”
Glazov: “You’re not waiting for an apology for this faked report?”
Karsenty: “I tell you, the truth will come out some day. It’s so obvious.”
———————————————-
Note that nearly the whole video is a free-ranging denunciation of critics of Israel. The “hoax” is not dealt with in any detail. Karsenty does not present even one piece of evidence to back up his
outlandish claims.
If you want a contrast to this lunacy, you can watch a measured report, by a reputable and highly respected TV station, on the killing of Mohamed Al Dura HERE…
I wish my connection allowed me to see videos Morrissey, but thank you for the summary… I used look at Frontpagemagazine occasionally, but it was no good for my BP. What a bunch of nutmegs!
In summary, Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand are talking out of their arses on a recent bit of research. While I don’t like the term scaremongering, it’s the easiest and simplest way of describing their claims, which basically ignore any prior research on the toxicity of glyphosphates and modified Cry toxins from bt bacteria, and basic toxicology 101. i.e. that toxicity is in the dosage and mechanisms of action and that mere presence alone isn’t a indicator of impending doom.
And their support of various pseudo-science groups, such as NZ based anti-fluoridation groups, an alt-med group masquerading as “health-choice”. Plus ye olde anti-1080 kiddies who don’t understand basic organic chemistry and lack of any actively publishing NZ GMO researchers makes Nick rather suspicious about their ability to interpret teh literature without making first year mistakes.
And one thing I forgot to add is a link to the successor to the NZ Institute of Gene Ecology, The Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety based out of Canterbury uni, staffed by people who are actually trained and currently researching issues to do with GMO’s. Who TVNZ should have gone to for an opinion on this instead…
Here’s some fantastic CGI videos. Although, you do have ask just what happened to all the traffic that those roads are supposed to be transporting went to. Perhaps they all disappeared with the oil…
On Afternoons today, Jim-I-so-value-and-admire-the-Penguin-Mora has quoted the blog as a source for information and valid comment today. What it does seem to suggest is that Jim dwells in the sewers for some of his browsing.
Peak Oil was in 2006 Dr Fatih Birol on National Radio yesterday http://www.youtube.com/user/oilcrash1?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/k22q5KZibtI
Dr. Fatih Birol is Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division of the Paris-based International Energy Agency. He is organiser and director of the World Energy Outlook series, the IEA’s flagship publication. He is also responsible for providing regular briefing to the Executive Director and Governing Board of the IEA on the economic impact of energy market and industry developments.
Gerry Brownlee New Zealand Minster of Energy and Resources signed off on this statement on 1 June 2010
“The Government’s position on peak oil, therefore, continues to be that oil production will not change significantly until 2030, or until some date beyond this. ”
Brownlee signed off his credibility in that statement showing how out of touch and blinkered and plain dim he is!Mind you life is a lot less stressful being a Donkey, but! he’s paid a lot of money to wake up, care and be alert as to NZ’s future prospects or threats to those prospects.
Infratil – a company that is a likely buyer of our energy companies/ public infrastructure, creating a deliberately provocative distraction in the form a of stupid sign to try and get us to forget about a bullshit budget and the lies and corruption that is going on right in front of our eyes.
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We see regular stories from farmers and orchards complaining that no-one wants to work long hours in terrible conditions for poor pay in their shitty industry. And now, its fishers. But in the process, they neatly explain why:"It's a hard ...
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The Youth Declaration document from UN Youth New Zealand, created by 250 rangatahi at the Aotearoa Youth Declaration conference outlines the biggest challenges young people see in our society and the solutions they propose to tackle them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese says he has legal advice to back his move to have John Setka expelled from the ALP, warning him against wasting union members’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowse, Director, Defence Research and Engagement, Edith Cowan University At a conference last week, Australia’s defence minister Linda Reynolds and Defence Force chief Angus Campbell referred to national security risks using ...
In the weekend, Act leader David Seymour relaunched his party in a way that will polarise the electorate, triggering both hate and respect. At the centre of this latest attempt to reinvent the party is a firm concentration on political ...
By Tulia Thompson A minister of a Pacific church in Auckland has spoken out against rugby star Israel Folau’s homophobic attack. Samoan Minister Apelu Tielu from the Pacific Island Presbyterian Church has criticised Folau’s misuse of the Bible, saying ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Byrne, Director, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University The latest protests in Hong Kong on Sunday, which organisers said brought some 2 million people to the streets, represented yet another striking show ...
The $800 per ticket, council-funded festival of ‘creative collisions’ has been cancelled and the company behind it has gone bust. Alex Casey reports. The first problem was that nobody knew how to say it. Without any discernible vowels, pronouncing WLG-X, ...
Interviewed by satirical comedy show White Man Behind a Desk about climate change, politics, and his career as a journalist, Newshub national correspondent Patrick Gower did not hold back.At the start of May, the White Man Behind A Desk team ...
Pacific Media Watch NewsdeskThe movie Rocketman is likely to be banned in the Cook Islands, despite having already been in the cinema for a week, reports the Cook Islands News.The film, a biography of English pop singer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Stewart, Professor, Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University As Australians seek to control rising energy costs and tackle the damaging impacts of climate change, rooftop solar has boomed. To manage the ...
Today, longtime White House photographer Callie Shell releases a book of intimate images taken over more than a decade as a trusted insider of the Obamas. Hope, Never Fear is not a love-fest, she insists: “it is, instead, my personal ...
Sound the alarm, evacuate the building and douse the entire city of Auckland in flame-proof retardant, because The Block NZ is back, and this season is: Firehouse!The Block NZreturns tonight for its eighth glorious season, which Mark Richardson promises will be “the most challenging ...
As of 2018, the Independent Police Conduct Authority had zero Māori employees. For a police system that loudly embraces diversity, that’s not good enough, writes Carrie Buckmaster.We have known that Māori do not receive a fair go from the justice ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Lecturer, Languages and Literature of Ancient Israel, Macquarie University Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...
Climate change and a warming ocean are putting immense stress on coral reefs in the Pacific. But some locals are refusing to passively accept the death of such vital ecosystems, reports Radio NZ Pacific’s Jamie Tahana.Listen to more on this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Belgrave, Lecturer in Politics and Citizenship, Massey University In most countries, the question of whether to produce guns or butter is a metaphor for whether a country should put its efforts ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentEducation Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Teacher deadlock proves there’s always ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will J Grant, Senior Lecturer, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University In an ideal world, people would look at issues with a clear focus only on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mihiri Silva, Paediatric dentist, Senior Lecturer and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute If you imagine a teething child, what do you see? An irritable tot with a fever, in pain, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This essay is part of a series of articles ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Higher Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Enrolments to Australian public universities boomed during the last decade. This was due to a government policy known as “demand driven funding”, which between ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Slonim, Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you ...
A commercial pilot academy based at Whanganui Airport has struck a $50 million deal with India's largest passenger airline to train hundreds of pilots. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia When the Australian constitution was written in the 1890s, the authors did not envision an independent nation, but a self-governing dominion of the British ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Australians love our iconic coastal lifestyle. So many of our settlements are spread along our huge coastline. Real estate prices soar where ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University The payment for ecosystem services (PES) model is supporting a new wave of self-determined construction on Aboriginal homelands. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England The New York Times has announced it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: ACT looks to the past with new policies, unions recommend new pay offer to teachers, and spies keeping oversight watchdog out in the cold.It was probably fitting Richard Prebble was there ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government almost certainly would have to obtain the support of Tasmanian crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie to amend or repeal the medevac legislation. Home Affairs ...
Our three month celebrity charity journey is over! Sam Brooks power-ranks the finale of Dancing with The Stars.Can I just say what an honestly strange event the last episode of this kind of reality show is? It’s one hour and 59 ...
From the debating chamber, to estimates hearings, to question time, to a first reading debate, Budget 2019 is all over Parliament at the moment despite being unveiled last month. Here's the financial scrutiny process. ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey borrows a dog and goes on a magical journey. Look, I had extremely high hopes for the day that pets were finally allowed ...
Auckland is great – but, argues Catherine McGregor, Melbourne’s restaurants, cafes and bars still have the edge.Long before ‘cool’ even existed, Melbourne was cooler than wherever you lived. Take it from me: if you’d stopped a 19th century dandy flaneur-ing ...
Auckland musician Joshua Hetherington used to tremble at the thought of reading Ulysses. But in this personal essay published on Bloomsday – the annual celebration of James Joyce – he discovers a kind of spirit guide. ...
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.Amanda Thompson: A love letter to my crockpotOnce when I was younger and stupider I thought I didn’t need a crockpot. I thought they were the laughable domain of Tupperware-hoarding suburban ...
Seven years on from his arrest, the extradition battle between Kim Dotcom and the United States reached New Zealand’s Supreme Court this week. RNZ‘s Kate Newton went to court to find out whether anyone seems to be winning.Ron Mansfield – ...
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the ...
Open mike 26/05/2011 
There’s so much one could say about Key’s assessment of Hisco right now…
Suffice to say it was definitely the following: A) Perfectly reflective of the ... 9 hours ago
A story on Scoop from NZ Energy and Environment Business Week about how the government had "ignored advice" when setting its methane target caught my eye last night. The story is based on a week-old press release from National climate ...14 hours ago
. . This morning, a little after 4am, Sharlene lost her brave fight against cancer. Rest in peace, Sharlene. You were always one of my brightest stars… . . Advertisements ...1 day ago
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeffrey Kiehl Life makes us wake up to needed changes. A visit to the doctor’s office and accompanied tests indicate you have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Your doctor indicates two pathways to ...3 days ago
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Director-General of OPCW Fernando Arias Gonzales admits Douma engineers report was legit and he was part of the FFM – but attempts to justify suppression of the report. France 24 reports that the head of the Organisation for the ...4 days ago
Arundhati Roy is speaking at the Auckland Writers Festival on July 17. In this interview in The Guardian Roy discusses her writing and political activism. Gary Younge: One of the things I’m intrigued by at this moment is the way ...4 days ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne The record-breaking 2018 summer heatwave in Japan in which more than 1,000 people died “could not have happened without human-induced global warming”, a study finds. And the extreme heat felt in ...4 days ago
I've had a bit to say of late about YouTube, its algorithms and the escalating allure of certain facile "creators" to young men. I worry about this stuff. But I think it's also important to acknowledge that the alt-lite and ...4 days ago
There are a number of ways of reading Sarah Gaitanos’s biography Shirley Smith: An Examined Life. In my view – I knew Shirley a little – she would want to you to read it as her struggle to be recognised, ...5 days ago
Jonathan Bamber, Professor of Physical Geography, University of Bristol and Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Antarctica is further from ...6 days ago
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss Political lobbying in the US that helped block the progress of proposed climate regulation a decade ago led to a social cost of $60bn, according to a new study. Environmental economists Dr ...7 days ago
The Wellbeing Budget opens with, “What is wellbeing?”, a question that has been widely posed and little understood. Treasury says “Wellbeing is when people are able to lead fulfilling lives with purpose, balance and meaning to them.” Long-term challenges facing ...7 days ago
Who would have thought that so many different groups of public sector workers would have discovered at roughly the same time that they have been underpaid and under-resourced to such an extent? No one doubts that teachers of different kinds ...1 week ago
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I was interviewed as part of an Al Jazeera documentary on the aftermath of the March 15 terrorist attacks in Christchurch. The program is well worth watching because it addresses subjects that most of the NZ media do not want ...1 week ago
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The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, has been in the news over the past year for its proposals to restructure the number and roles of staff managing its collections. Scientists, both local and overseas, voiced their opposition, and ...2 weeks ago
Last month, when the government released its Zero Carbon Bill, I highlighted how it contained an odious expansion of secrecy which throw a veil over practically all decisions made by the Independent Climate Change Commission. I wanted to see how ...2 weeks ago
So, the “Wellbeing Budget” that the New Zealand Government signaled would be a marked shift in the priorities of the country under this Coalition Government has finally come out. What did it tick? What did it steer away from? If ...2 weeks ago
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Why are young – and not so young – people becoming more vociferous in their protests about global warming? Why has climate change become a political and partisan issue at democratic elections? Why do ‘greenies’ try to stop the development of new ...2 weeks ago
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Commercial fishing vessels at greatest risk of encountering the rare Māui dolphin will be required to operate with on-board cameras from 1 November, as the next step to strengthen our fisheries management system. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Fisheries Minister ...2 weeks ago
Thought-leaders to share plans to improve the walking experience at second New Zealand Walking Summit ...7 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Anthony Albanese says he has legal advice to back his move to have John Setka expelled from the ALP, warning him against wasting union members’ ...5 hours ago
ACT's tax changes would increase income taxes on more people than even the Green Party's 2017 policy, but there is merit to the flat tax. ...6 hours ago
Ministers always want more money, and the education minister shares where his bids fell short. ...8 hours ago
The country's spy agencies failed to provide the internal emails to an inquiry into controversial New Zealand operations in Afghanistan. ...8 hours ago
By Tulia Thompson A minister of a Pacific church in Auckland has spoken out against rugby star Israel Folau’s homophobic attack. Samoan Minister Apelu Tielu from the Pacific Island Presbyterian Church has criticised Folau’s misuse of the Bible, saying ...10 hours ago
The government is proposing a new scheme to help farmers in financial distress deal with their lenders. ...10 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Byrne, Director, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University The latest protests in Hong Kong on Sunday, which organisers said brought some 2 million people to the streets, represented yet another striking show ...11 hours ago
The $800 per ticket, council-funded festival of ‘creative collisions’ has been cancelled and the company behind it has gone bust. Alex Casey reports. The first problem was that nobody knew how to say it. Without any discernible vowels, pronouncing WLG-X, ...11 hours ago
Interviewed by satirical comedy show White Man Behind a Desk about climate change, politics, and his career as a journalist, Newshub national correspondent Patrick Gower did not hold back.At the start of May, the White Man Behind A Desk team ...11 hours ago
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk The movie Rocketman is likely to be banned in the Cook Islands, despite having already been in the cinema for a week, reports the Cook Islands News. The film, a biography of English pop singer ...12 hours ago
As employers grapple with visa delays, Immigration New Zealand is blaming its slow processing times on unforeseen demand. ...12 hours ago
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, it’s all about African swine fever and the pending aporkalypse.TL;DR: It’s “the biggest animal disease outbreak the planet the planet has ever faced”, and ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rodney Stewart, Professor, Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University As Australians seek to control rising energy costs and tackle the damaging impacts of climate change, rooftop solar has boomed. To manage the ...13 hours ago
Today, longtime White House photographer Callie Shell releases a book of intimate images taken over more than a decade as a trusted insider of the Obamas. Hope, Never Fear is not a love-fest, she insists: “it is, instead, my personal ...14 hours ago
Sound the alarm, evacuate the building and douse the entire city of Auckland in flame-proof retardant, because The Block NZ is back, and this season is: Firehouse!The Block NZ returns tonight for its eighth glorious season, which Mark Richardson promises will be “the most challenging ...14 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Lecturer, Languages and Literature of Ancient Israel, Macquarie University Curious Kids is a series for children. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to ...15 hours ago
Climate change and a warming ocean are putting immense stress on coral reefs in the Pacific. But some locals are refusing to passively accept the death of such vital ecosystems, reports Radio NZ Pacific’s Jamie Tahana.Listen to more on this ...16 hours ago
The head of ANZ bank's local operation has left after an investigation into his expenses. ...16 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mihiri Silva, Paediatric dentist, Senior Lecturer and Post-doctoral Research Fellow, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute If you imagine a teething child, what do you see? An irritable tot with a fever, in pain, ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Zaphir, Researcher for the University of Queensland Critical Thinking Project; and Online Teacher at Education Queensland’s IMPACT Centre, The University of Queensland This essay is part of a series of articles ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Higher Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Enrolments to Australian public universities boomed during the last decade. This was due to a government policy known as “demand driven funding”, which between ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Slonim, Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Do you think you are paying more than you should for energy, banking, insurance, internet and phone services? You are not alone, and you ...19 hours ago
A commercial pilot academy based at Whanganui Airport has struck a $50 million deal with India's largest passenger airline to train hundreds of pilots. ...19 hours ago
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, Western Sydney University Australians love our iconic coastal lifestyle. So many of our settlements are spread along our huge coastline. Real estate prices soar where ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash University The payment for ecosystem services (PES) model is supporting a new wave of self-determined construction on Aboriginal homelands. ...19 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Scully, Associate Professor of Modern European History, University of New England The New York Times has announced it will no longer be running daily political cartoons in its international edition, amid ...19 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: ACT looks to the past with new policies, unions recommend new pay offer to teachers, and spies keeping oversight watchdog out in the cold.It was probably fitting Richard Prebble was there ...20 hours ago
Many who go through the current family justice system feel alienated and disrespected, an expert panel says. ...21 hours ago
Brown marmorated stink bugs would pose a risk to crops and exports and might ruin red wine if they establish themselves in NZ. ...22 hours ago
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Our three month celebrity charity journey is over! Sam Brooks power-ranks the finale of Dancing with The Stars.Can I just say what an honestly strange event the last episode of this kind of reality show is? It’s one hour and 59 ...1 day ago
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Casey borrows a dog and goes on a magical journey. Look, I had extremely high hopes for the day that pets were finally allowed ...1 day ago
Auckland is great – but, argues Catherine McGregor, Melbourne’s restaurants, cafes and bars still have the edge.Long before ‘cool’ even existed, Melbourne was cooler than wherever you lived. Take it from me: if you’d stopped a 19th century dandy flaneur-ing ...2 days ago
Auckland musician Joshua Hetherington used to tremble at the thought of reading Ulysses. But in this personal essay published on Bloomsday – the annual celebration of James Joyce – he discovers a kind of spirit guide. ...2 days ago
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website.Amanda Thompson: A love letter to my crockpotOnce when I was younger and stupider I thought I didn’t need a crockpot. I thought they were the laughable domain of Tupperware-hoarding suburban ...2 days ago
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In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Guy Howard-Willis, formerly of Torpedo7 and now founder of Manta5, makers of the ...2 days ago
Relationships are a prerequisite for a culture of respect for human rights to flourish, but they don’t guarantee them. If nobody is listening, or worse, those concerned have conflicting interests then Human Rights are ignored and sidelined.
Debt in moderation is good for a country. But when families can’t afford milk how can being the premium milk producer matter to every day Kiwis?
Plutocracy watch:
http://www.bepress.com/bap/vol13/iss1/art4/
Between this stuff, the revolving doors, the computer traded ticket clippers and the lack of any real reform, I’m starting to suspect that this cake might be a bit fictional.
Anybody going to follow up on the $2.4 million untendered gift of taxpayers’ money to a ‘Christian’ parenting group in the Budget? Sounds like that donation to a National Party-aligned Pacific business in the Budget last year.
The Petulant Bean may have some serious questions to answer over this perceived abuse of procedure.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/5055820/Queries-over-2-4m-parenting-contract
Anyone else notice how she bounces to her feet when answering questions in the House, especially when she has a smart rejoinder to deliver. One of these days her upper body may continue on up and whack her in the face.
And when is that privacy act business going to get resolved?
The last I heard ‘that privacy case’ is going to court – sometime after the election.
Good grief. The court should issue damages based on how much we’ve paid Bennett in the interim.
The US deficit: ( The GOP should shut up about it if they had any self respect edition)
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/05/chart-bush-policies-dominant-cause-of-debt.php?ref=fpblg
The GOP, just like our own conservatives (National, Act, mP), are only there to transfer public wealth into the hands of themselves and their rich mates.
Greywolf Mining want to exploit/explore Golden Bay for oil, gas and coal. But as TV3 have said they are a bit more of a grey ghost not a grey wolf – why?
emails bounce
the chinese company listed as a partner on the website is not their partner
hard to find company offices
are greywolf a sham – just another dirty company involved in dirty business? IMO yes. But who is going to make the money – that’s the trail to follow.
http://mars2earth.blogspot.com/2011/05/murky-mining-attempt.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/5053379/Mining-firms-credentials-brought-into-doubt
Cynthia McKinney is one of my heroes. She is black, educated and of a high moral fiber. It was she who confronted Rumsfeld about the child slave ring run by Dynacore, the missing trillions of the Pentagon budget and travelled to the Gaza strip two years ago on one of the boats trying to break the siege.
She travelled to Libya to see with her own eyes what is happening there. She wrote a Counterpunch piece about the “kinetic, humanitarian” action called Feast of Blood.
Alex Jones is also one of my heroes. Considered by many a vile, redneck, truther birther, teapartier, nutcase but as he is one of the most outspoken anti war activists who calls out both Bush and Obama and their puppet masters on their lie based illegal wars of aggression and resource robbery he has to be one of my heroes even if I don’t agree with his gun toting, anti abortionist views to name a few.
Today only here is the link to the page which contains a link to his radio show in which he interviews US Congress woman McKinny who at this moment is in Tripoli Libya awaiting the nightly “kinetic, humanitarian” bombings.
So for those of you who thought that the intervention was a good use of NATO and the US army I would challenge you to listen to this interview between Cynthia McKinny, black (sort of) leftist black women (She is the leader of the American green party) and white male Texas, gun toting, birther 911 truther Alex Jones and educate yourself. (A word of warning; The radio show is about three hours and streaming so you might have to wait for the interview to air again.)
Here is the Youtube link to the first part of the interview edited out of the radio program
What is worth less and can be sacrificed?
Lives or Profits?
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/the-real-danger-to-air-passengers-is-not-the-ash-cloud-ndash-its-these-men-2289097.html
Obama: UK, US lead fight for peace and just world
THE HEADLINE….
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Obama: UK, US lead fight for peace and just world
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http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3227321.htm
THE REALITY BEHIND THE HEADLINE….
http://www.travelersdigest.com/war_pics/knife_torture.jpg
http://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/02/gallery_abu_ghraib/abu.jpg
http://moviereviewh2one2.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/abu-ghraib-tm.jpg
http://rexcurry.net/dog-torture-terrorism-abu-ghraib1b.jpg
http://files.blog-city.com/files/A05/141484/p/f/abughraib1.jpg
http://infowars.net/pictures/news_files/Nov05/281105AbuG.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1J11lnNV_GI/RsWpTZL9o7I/AAAAAAAAAXg/EfdENAgD_M8/s1600/Iraqi%2BCivilians.jpg
Parliament’s Wall of Shame #3
http://thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/05/parliaments-wall-of-shame-3.html
National Party MP Tau Henare has shown what a complete douche bag he is once again on his Twitter feed. The Jackal doesn’t like to see such atrocious behaviour like this and has therefore included Tau Henare in the Parliament’s Wall of Shame.
In October 2005, Taito Philip Field lost his ministerial posts following controversies around allegations that he had improperly used his influence as an MP to receive material gain.In October 2005, Taito Philip Field lost his ministerial posts following controversies around allegations that he had improperly used his influence as an MP to receive material gain.
Phil Heatley announced his resignation from his portfolios on 25 February 2010, citing further problems with his ministerial credit card spending. Mr Heatley said his decision to quit came after he had looked closely at his ministerial credit card expenses for the past 18 months.
Like your walls of shame – good job.
Loon Watch No. 1: Philippe Karsenty
Unless you are especially interested in charting the tortured and unhappy progress of crazed far-right lunatics, you probably haven’t heard of PHILIPPE KARSENTY, a minor-league French fringe-dweller. Karsenty is a conspiracy theorist who has become the darling of the
Israeli extreme right, following his determined effort to cast doubt on the veracity of television film of a routine killing by Israeli troops of a Gazan boy on Sunday, September 30, 2000.
Karsenty has as much respect amongst sane and honest people as a flat earther, a moon-landing “skeptic”, a 9/11 Truther, or a global warming denier. As you will see in the video (Part 3) this is very much a sore point for Kasenty. Luckily for him however, he had the perfect interlocutor, an empty vessel called JAMIE GLAZOV, when he appeared on the very first edition of FrontPage Close-Up….
http://frontpagemag.com/2010/12/09/the-premiere-of-frontpage-close-up-with-jamie-glazov/
Part 1
Jamie Glazov: “We are honored to have as our guest a HERO of our time: Philip Karsenty, who exposed the infamous Mohammed Al-Dura hoax. Mr Karsenty, what support are you receiving for exposing what is obviously a lie and a hoax?”
Philippe Karsenty: “This is a case for democracy. You need to have media which are conveying the truth, not lying. … It was a state- sponsored blood libel. …Chirac decided to demonize Israel.”
Karsenty then launches into a hysterical denunciation of Charles Enderlin. This is problematic, because Enderlin, like so many of the most trenchant and courageous opponents of Israeli criminality, is Jewish, so he can’t simply be smeared with the routine “anti-Semitism”
baloney. But Karsenty is obviously incapable of thinking of any other strategy, and so he says, risibly, that Enderlin was “responsible for the blood libel.” He derides Enderlin for complaining about the way that fanatical Zionists attacked him, and forced him out of his apartment.
Glazov continues: “The wounds on the father are not gunshot wounds. The boy himself has never been found. Is that correct? How is it possible to be shot fifteen times and for there to be no blood?” The answer, of course, is easy: it’s all “incitement against Israel”.
Glazov then tries to pour cold water on the exhaustively documented fact that Israeli troops routinely fire thousands of bullets at unarmed protestors. It just doesn’t make SENSE, he reasons:”If you said that an American policeman shot for 45 minutes just to kill someone, it wouldn’t make sense. Brainwashing makes them believe that Israelis would shoot at them for 45 minutes. French intellectuals won’t listen to Holocaust-deniers, and they won’t listen to us. Their
main argument is to refuse to debate.”
Part 2
Maybe, just maybe, you’re extremely indulgent, and inclined to give anyone a fair go. Perhaps you need more evidence that Glazov is not only a denier of evidence, but a crank and a fool? Well then, please watch the first thirty seconds of Part 2: Glazov assures us that not only do our eyes deceive us when we watch film of the Mohammed al-Dura killing, but that global warming is a hoax.
Karsenty returns to talking about the shooting video, and raves on and on: “Ten years of insane lies… Israel has been poorly treated by the U.S. over the years….No matter how many facts you will prove, this is about deeply entrenched Jew-hatred. …More lies and more lies and more lies. What you have to understand is that the lies didn’t stop after the death of Mohammed al Dura. Lies about the Lebanon war, the Gaza war, the so-called peace flotilla, lies, lies, lies. There is no anti-
Semitism, it’s anti-Israel. Be clear. There is no anti-Zionism, it’s anti-Semitism.”
Part 3
Jamie Glazov assures Karsenty that “forensic scientists have delegitimized the evidence of this shooting. Beyond reasonable doubt!” Karsenty: “Our worst opponents in this were extreme left
Jews.”
Glazov is obsessed with the fact that not one Palestinian has supported Karsenty. “You have Jews on the side of Palestinians,” he points out. “So why don’t some Palestinians support you?” Karsenty expresses his indignation that French intellectuals don’t respect his intellect. He rails against “Jewish journalists” who “demonize and bash Israel”. It’s all “brainwashing. Brainwashing is the worst thing that can happen.”
Part 4
Karsenty: “I know that I have the truth. We are moving forward. We will win at the end. Because nobody can fight against the truth.”
Glazov: “Let’s say that tomorrow the boy and the father show up. Do you think the world will apologize to you?”
Karsenty: “Of COURSE some boys die in the middle east, of COURSE some die. It doesn’t make sense, when you think of the rules of engagement of the Israeli soldiers.”
Glazov: “You’re not waiting for an apology for this faked report?”
Karsenty: “I tell you, the truth will come out some day. It’s so obvious.”
———————————————-
Note that nearly the whole video is a free-ranging denunciation of critics of Israel. The “hoax” is not dealt with in any detail. Karsenty does not present even one piece of evidence to back up his
outlandish claims.
If you want a contrast to this lunacy, you can watch a measured report, by a reputable and highly respected TV station, on the killing of Mohamed Al Dura HERE…
I wish my connection allowed me to see videos Morrissey, but thank you for the summary… I used look at Frontpagemagazine occasionally, but it was no good for my BP. What a bunch of nutmegs!
The pleasure is all mine.
Too lazy to copy and redo the links:
In summary, Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand are talking out of their arses on a recent bit of research. While I don’t like the term scaremongering, it’s the easiest and simplest way of describing their claims, which basically ignore any prior research on the toxicity of glyphosphates and modified Cry toxins from bt bacteria, and basic toxicology 101. i.e. that toxicity is in the dosage and mechanisms of action and that mere presence alone isn’t a indicator of impending doom.
And their support of various pseudo-science groups, such as NZ based anti-fluoridation groups, an alt-med group masquerading as “health-choice”. Plus ye olde anti-1080 kiddies who don’t understand basic organic chemistry and lack of any actively publishing NZ GMO researchers makes Nick rather suspicious about their ability to interpret teh literature without making first year mistakes.
And one thing I forgot to add is a link to the successor to the NZ Institute of Gene Ecology, The Centre for Integrated Research in Biosafety based out of Canterbury uni, staffed by people who are actually trained and currently researching issues to do with GMO’s. Who TVNZ should have gone to for an opinion on this instead…
And just to try and drive people to distraction, here’s the instructional video for an origami kiwi. Muwahahaha
Here’s some fantastic CGI videos. Although, you do have ask just what happened to all the traffic that those roads are supposed to be transporting went to. Perhaps they all disappeared with the oil…
On Afternoons today, Jim-I-so-value-and-admire-the-Penguin-Mora has quoted the blog as a source for information and valid comment today. What it does seem to suggest is that Jim dwells in the sewers for some of his browsing.
Even worse, it suggests he believes as well.
Peak Oil was in 2006 Dr Fatih Birol on National Radio yesterday http://www.youtube.com/user/oilcrash1?feature=mhee#p/a/u/1/k22q5KZibtI
Dr. Fatih Birol is Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division of the Paris-based International Energy Agency. He is organiser and director of the World Energy Outlook series, the IEA’s flagship publication. He is also responsible for providing regular briefing to the Executive Director and Governing Board of the IEA on the economic impact of energy market and industry developments.
Gerry Brownlee New Zealand Minster of Energy and Resources signed off on this statement on 1 June 2010
“The Government’s position on peak oil, therefore, continues to be that oil production will not change significantly until 2030, or until some date beyond this. ”
Its the end of the world as we know it …
Brownlee signed off his credibility in that statement showing how out of touch and blinkered and plain dim he is!Mind you life is a lot less stressful being a Donkey, but! he’s paid a lot of money to wake up, care and be alert as to NZ’s future prospects or threats to those prospects.
Can we afford an increased minimum wage? Yes!
Can we afford capitalists? No!
Originality, creativity and innovation captured in one word for Wellingtonians:
Wellywood
Movies aren’t even made in Hollywood any more.
Infratil – a company that is a likely buyer of our energy companies/ public infrastructure, creating a deliberately provocative distraction in the form a of stupid sign to try and get us to forget about a bullshit budget and the lies and corruption that is going on right in front of our eyes.
Fuck the sign.