” Media celebrity arrest as part of Comancheros raid “. Oh please let it be ………, fill in the one you would most like it to be, preferably any of the sanctimonious arsehole variety.
For all Hoskings blowhard kiwifruit workers spiel – workers sit idle in Te Puke waiting for brix levels to rise in the fruit so they can actually start.
I recall driving 30 mins at my cost to be rained off and sent home or sit there for half a day waiting for the fruit to dry . For no money .
Loved it so much i never picked fruit again.
Just been reading about Jessica Boyce who is still missing after being turned away twice for mental health treatment. Can’t help but feel instead of the almost exclusive gun focus we should be looking at holistic changes including that of our mental health system 🙁
the gun issue has nothing to do with our mental health neglect.
the one came about due to murder and the other one was years in the making and was not made better during the nine years of fuck all under National. In saying that i hope that labour will throw oodles of money at that sector as it really is a big big issue here.
I think you miss the point Sabine. I read A saying that at present there is an almost exclusive gun focus. True.
Then A thought instead we should be looking at holistic changes including that of our mental health system.
What’s wrong with that? Why are we so quick to jump on other commenters who have a positive focus. We need to run good discussions with interested concerned people, heaven knows there don’t seem to be many attempting it in everyday society. We lead the way I think. Or would someone, apart from the practised poppy cullers, think I’m wrong and tell me their experience.
OK thanks Sabine. Feel free to direct me on better lines when you feel it as I take you seriously. I am aware that there are so many minds putting in here and possibly achieving the highest level of discussion in NZ and I want us to keep the conversation sharp. We aren’t used to debating and thinking in NZ – we just go to our favourite gobsmacker and suck on it exclusively. Just trying to explain myself and why I go on about things.
In other words, “it wasn’t one of our fellow gun toting fascists”. “It was nothing to do with us”.
Your initial reaction, Sabine, is correct. More help for mental illness, while welcome, has nothing to do with terrorism or what happened in Christchurch.
Tempting as it may be to say that the gun man was an insane aberration. He was totally in possession of his marbles, when he did it.
We all know mental health is at the top of this Governments priorities. It’ll just take them two terms to implement if they can agree on how to repair it.
Xu left China in the 1980s and settled in New Zealand which he said had been a “paradise a to enjoy shooting”.
Farkinell, no matter what we might say about the current criteria for immigration into this country, they at least top the criteria of the 1980s. If Mr Xu finds Aotearoa/NZ has betrayed his fantasy of being a “paradise to enjoy shooting” and he feels obliged to move elsewhere, oh what a shame that would be.
Funny thing is I’ve no interest in shooting at all but if I had the money I’d love to collect all the different bits of war weaponry, especially ww2 german stuff, they were just light years of everyone else.
Russian stuff was also pretty impressive, really awesome engineering, indestructible.
I reminder reading that Migs were designed to land in a swamp and still be able to take off
Russian stuff was also pretty impressive, really awesome engineering, indestructible.
Certainly gave the Jerries a nasty shock in 1941. The myth of the woefully backward and ill-equipped Red Army in WW2 really annoys me, their weaponry made the Germans look ill-equipped, let alone the comically-awful stuff the British Army was kitted out with.
That’s the shit alright – Red Army machinenpistole is so good the German soldiers are picking them up and scavenging for ammo, in the meantime the British soldiers are wondering what a machinenpistole is.
Finns were pretty good at it, they could defend against the Red Army at 35 below 0 – mind you, the Red Army could conduct offensive operations at 35 below 0, that’s some serious shit…
Are we going to be subject to a visit from the chattels police to see that what we have is appropriate and right according to the latest edicts from the scrupulous scrutineers?
There could be money in it like for Trinny and Susannah. Some people love to be told what to do, and what is right and fashionable so they fit in nicely. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinny_and_Susannah
Then there is the clean up the clutter trend – get ready in case there is a sudden invitation to go into space and they have chosen You for the ride. It’s a bit like what I face, going to die before too long, and off into space or somewhere, amgetting rid of some of my books, and stuff I have been meaning to get round to.
Ooh-er. Why clutter is bad for your brain
Bursting cupboards and piles of paper stacked around the house may seem harmless enough. But research shows disorganisation and clutter have a cumulative effect on our brains.
Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus.
The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.
Isn’t it incredible that Kim Dotcom has helicopters and special services landing on his lawn in a dawn raid for hosting a few pirated movies on his website, while Mark Zuckerberg gets off scot-free for live-streaming the mass murder of 50 Muslim worshippers?
As with the case of Julian Assange, it’s all about what is in the interests of The United States of America.
Dotcom’s an arsehole, like all the other rich prick arseholes, who only ever stand with the common man when they want something from them.
As for MZ, I guess he get’s off scot free because he didn’t, to my knowledge, live stream the terror attack, so hasn’t broken any law I’m aware of.
Just like the ghost of Alexander Graham Bell doesn’t get prosecuted for nuisance phone calls.
Like Philippe Kahn isn’t held responsible for upskirt phone camera pictures.
Of course, new laws could be coming, which would be a good thing but I doubt they’d be retrospective.
That’s just a bit silly, Alien. You can’t prosecute a ghost otherwise Michael Jackson’s ghost would be serving several consecutive life sentences right now.
I’m drawing parallels between the hosting responsibilities of Kim Dotcom and the hosting responsibilities of Mark Zuckerberg.
In the context of the post I commented on, it’s not an inaccurate long draw of the bow, more a to the point, accurate observation.
MZ made the tool, not the content, nor did he to my knowledge, personally host a live stream of the murder video.
Should there be provision to prevent this happening, sure, something we probably all agree on, but to conflate a dodgy illegal content sharer, someone who knew what he was doing, when he was doing it, is the real twang of the cat gut.
For the same reason Shkreli went to jail for defrauding shareholders, and not for pricing life-saving medications out of the grasp of thousands if not millions:
Capitalism doesn’t care if you kill people, but it goes apeshit if you steal someone else’s profit from murder.
Remember when Chorus outsourced its installer tech jobs to smaller contractors and it was supposed to be awesome (according to neo-liberal economics at least)?
Yep. This has been known on the streets for at least those three years now. Chorus using untrained immigrants who for whatever reason weren’t properly supervised and did shoddy work.
Its the same as the education rort the National government promoted which has lead to widespread abuse of young student immigrants.
Indeed. We’re street front and as such had the fibre cable put in overhead and whoever did it did a good job. That’s the only personal experience I’ve had with fibre installers I have to say.
But I do know the underground work from the street front to right-of-way houses is a different story and if you are squeezing workers to keep costs down then you are going to both damage workers and produce a crappy result.
The old bastard left his ties and his suitA brown box, mothballs and bowling shoesAnd his opinion so you'd never have to choosePretty soon, you'll be an old bastard tooYou get smaller as the world gets bigThe more you know you know you don't know shit"The whiz man" will never ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Numbers2024 could easily have been National’s “Annus Horribilis” and 2025 shows no signs of a reprieve for our Landlord PM Chris Luxon and his inept Finance Minister Nikki “Noboats” Willis.Several polls last year ...
This Friday afternoon, Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced an overhaul of the Waitangi Tribunal.The government has effectively cleared house - appointing 8 new members - and combined with October’s appointment of former ACT leader Richard Prebble, that’s 9 appointees.[I am not certain, but can only presume, Prebble went in ...
The state of the current economy may be similar to when National left office in 2017.In December, a couple of days after the Treasury released its 2024 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HEYFU24), Statistics New Zealand reported its estimate for volume GDP for the previous September 24 quarter. Instead ...
So what becomes of you, my love?When they have finally stripped you ofThe handbags and the gladragsThat your poor old granddadHad to sweat to buy you, babySongwriter: Mike D'aboIn yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed sadness at seeing Golriz Ghahraman back on the front pages for shoplifting. As someone who is no ...
It’s Friday and time for another roundup of things that caught our attention this week. This post, like all our work, is brought to you by a largely volunteer crew and made possible by generous donations from our readers and fans. If you’d like to support our work, you can join ...
Note: This Webworm discusses sexual assault and rape. Please read with care.Hi,A few weeks ago I reported on how one of New Zealand’s richest men, Nick Mowbray (he and his brother own Zuru and are worth an estimated $20 billion), had taken to sharing posts by a British man called ...
The final Atlas Network playbook puzzle piece is here, and it slipped in to Aotearoa New Zealand with little fan fare or attention. The implications are stark.Today, writes Dr Bex, the submission for the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill closes: 11:59pm January 16, 2025.As usual, the language of the ...
Excitement in the seaside village! Look what might be coming! 400 million dollars worth of investment! In the very beating heart of the village! Are we excited and eager to see this happen, what with every last bank branch gone and shops sitting forlornly quiet awaiting a customer?Yes please, apply ...
Much discussion has been held over the Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB), the latest in a series of rightwing attempts to enshrine into law pro-market precepts such as the primacy of private property ownership. Underneath the good governance and economic efficiency gobbledegook language of the Bill is an interest to strip ...
We are concerned that the Amendment Bill, as proposed, could impair the operations and legitimate interests of the NZ Trade Union movement. It is also likely to negatively impact the ability of other civil society actors to conduct their affairs without the threat of criminal sanctions. We ask that ...
I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
Asia Pacific Report The United Nations tasked with providing humanitarian aid to the besieged people of Gaza — and the only one that can do it on a large scale — says it is ready to provide assistance in the wake of the ceasefire tomorrow but is worried about the ...
Asia Pacific Report About 200 demonstrators gathered in the heart of New Zealand’s biggest city Auckland today to welcome the Gaza ceasefire due to come into force tomorrow, but warned they would continue to protest until justice is served with an independent and free Palestinan state. Jubilant scenes of dancing ...
The Government has released the first draft of its long-awaited Gene Technology Bill, following through on the election promise to harness the potential of biotechnology by ending the de facto ban on genetic engineering in Aotearoa New Zealand.While the country does not and has never completely banned genetic engineering (GE), ...
Comment: Graduation ceremonies are energising. Attending one recently, I felt the positivity from being surrounded by hundreds of young people at their career-launching point.Among them was one of my sons. He struggled through school and left before his mates. As a 21-year-old he qualified as a sparky, and I was ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Byrne, Honorary Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Should a US president by judged by what they achieved, or by what they failed to do? Joe Biden’s administration is over. Though we have an extensive ...
COMMENTARY:By Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson and Junior S. Ami With just over a year left in her tenure as Prime Minister of Samoa, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa faces a political upheaval threatening a peaceful end to her term. Ironically, the rule of law — the very principle that elevated her to ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. A year ago I met a lovely older gentleman at a Christmas party who owned racehorses. He wasn’t “in the business”, as he said, he just enjoyed horses and so owned a couple as a hobby. After a dozen questions from me ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Grace Colcord, Shea Wātene and Devyn Baileh, co-founders of Brown Town.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.Brown Town is an Ōtautahi community ...
The actor and comedian takes us through her life in television, from early Shortland Street rejection to the enduring power of the Gilmore Girls. Browse local telly offerings and you’ll likely encounter Kura Forrester soon enough. Whether you know her best as loveable Lily in Double Parked or Puku the ...
Making rēwana is about more than just a recipe – it’s a journey of patience, care and persistence.A subtle smell is filling our living room as my son crawls around playing with his nana. It has the familiar scent of freshly baked bread, with a slight hint of sweetness. ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Saturday 18 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...
From dubious health claims to too-good-to-be-true deals to bizarre clickbait confessions from famous people, scam ads are filling Facebook feeds, sucking users in and ripping them off. So why won’t Meta do anything about it? I’ve had a Facebook account since 2006, when it first became available to the ...
A year out from leaving the bear pit that is the pinnacle of our democracy, I have returned to something familiar. A working life in litigation, mainly in employment law, has brought me full circle, refreshed old skills and exposed me to some realities and values which have stunned me.But ...
2025 is the Year of the Snake, so it should be another productive year for the David Seymours of the world by which I mean of course people with an enigmatic and introspective nature. Those born in previous Snake years – 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 – will flourish in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney The acclaimed American filmmaker David Lynch has died at the age of 78. While a cause of death has yet to be publicly announced, Lynch, a lifelong tobacco enthusiast, revealed ...
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Asia Pacific Report Four researchers and authors from the Asia-Pacific region have provided diverse perspectives on the media in a new global book on intercultural communication. The Sage Handbook of Intercultural Communication published this week offers a global, interdisciplinary, and contextual approach to understanding the complexities of intercultural communication in ...
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The poll, conducted between 9-13 January, shows National down 4.6 points to 29.6%, while Labour have risen 4.0 points from last month, overtaking them with30.9%. ...
As the world farewells visionary director David Lynch, we return to this 2017 piece by Angela Cuming about escaping into the haunting world of Twin Peaks. I was only 10 years old when Twin Peaks – and the real world – found me.Once a week, in the dark, I ...
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The outgoing and incoming presidents have both claimed credit for the historic deal, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund for The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
” Media celebrity arrest as part of Comancheros raid “. Oh please let it be ………, fill in the one you would most like it to be, preferably any of the sanctimonious arsehole variety.
For all Hoskings blowhard kiwifruit workers spiel – workers sit idle in Te Puke waiting for brix levels to rise in the fruit so they can actually start.
Is this code for your choice? I’m on your side.
I like what you did there.
No doubt not getting paid a cent and unable to easily get winz help . But hay they should feel privileged to be on call.
Yep. Nephew told there’s work, that there’s a WORKER SHORTAGE, goes to Te Puke, no work yet. They’re in a cheap hotel, losing money, waiting…
Lad’s a freaking legend. Strong, fit, honest. takes no BS. I bet he, or the mates he organised, never go back.
The orchardists and Hosking should owe them all back-pay for talking shite.
call someone from the media and let them know about the workers loosing money waiting for the jobs that the orchardists can’t fill.
Seriously do it.
Just for balance you know.
you can fool most people once….after that they know who you are.
I recall driving 30 mins at my cost to be rained off and sent home or sit there for half a day waiting for the fruit to dry . For no money .
Loved it so much i never picked fruit again.
Just been reading about Jessica Boyce who is still missing after being turned away twice for mental health treatment. Can’t help but feel instead of the almost exclusive gun focus we should be looking at holistic changes including that of our mental health system 🙁
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111921794/she-knew-she-needed-help-missing-woman-wanted-mental-health-treatment
Hope they find her so there is closure for the family x
the gun issue has nothing to do with our mental health neglect.
the one came about due to murder and the other one was years in the making and was not made better during the nine years of fuck all under National. In saying that i hope that labour will throw oodles of money at that sector as it really is a big big issue here.
Two different pair of shoes i would say.
I hope they find her soon. Just so much sadness.
I think you miss the point Sabine. I read A saying that at present there is an almost exclusive gun focus. True.
Then A thought instead we should be looking at holistic changes including that of our mental health system.
What’s wrong with that? Why are we so quick to jump on other commenters who have a positive focus. We need to run good discussions with interested concerned people, heaven knows there don’t seem to be many attempting it in everyday society. We lead the way I think. Or would someone, apart from the practised poppy cullers, think I’m wrong and tell me their experience.
i agree i might have mistranslated to figuratively.
and thanks for the lecture.
OK thanks Sabine. Feel free to direct me on better lines when you feel it as I take you seriously. I am aware that there are so many minds putting in here and possibly achieving the highest level of discussion in NZ and I want us to keep the conversation sharp. We aren’t used to debating and thinking in NZ – we just go to our favourite gobsmacker and suck on it exclusively. Just trying to explain myself and why I go on about things.
It is a common cop out line for the US gun lobby.
“It wasn’t the gun it was a mentally Ill person”
In other words, “it wasn’t one of our fellow gun toting fascists”. “It was nothing to do with us”.
Your initial reaction, Sabine, is correct. More help for mental illness, while welcome, has nothing to do with terrorism or what happened in Christchurch.
Tempting as it may be to say that the gun man was an insane aberration. He was totally in possession of his marbles, when he did it.
We all know mental health is at the top of this Governments priorities. It’ll just take them two terms to implement if they can agree on how to repair it.
Mr Xu thinks he’s special, that he should be allowed to keep his gold plated semi-automatic because…well…he loves it.
“From the moment you enter Xu’s household it is glaringly apparent he has an enthusiasm for all things military – camouflage stripes mark the front door, a German World War II uniform is modelled by a mannequin in the lounge and a stack of books about guns sit on the coffee table.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/111900486/military-enthusiast-with-oneofakind-gold-plated-ak47-not-ready-to-give-up-his-guns
This guy comes across with the attitude “but…but…I’m rich so rules don’t apply right?”
Xu left China in the 1980s and settled in New Zealand which he said had been a “paradise a to enjoy shooting”.
Farkinell, no matter what we might say about the current criteria for immigration into this country, they at least top the criteria of the 1980s. If Mr Xu finds Aotearoa/NZ has betrayed his fantasy of being a “paradise to enjoy shooting” and he feels obliged to move elsewhere, oh what a shame that would be.
He can probably afford to move to the USA…
Nah, dude just loves his guns.
Funny thing is I’ve no interest in shooting at all but if I had the money I’d love to collect all the different bits of war weaponry, especially ww2 german stuff, they were just light years of everyone else.
Russian stuff was also pretty impressive, really awesome engineering, indestructible.
I reminder reading that Migs were designed to land in a swamp and still be able to take off
For some reason that really appeals to me.
Russian stuff was also pretty impressive, really awesome engineering, indestructible.
Certainly gave the Jerries a nasty shock in 1941. The myth of the woefully backward and ill-equipped Red Army in WW2 really annoys me, their weaponry made the Germans look ill-equipped, let alone the comically-awful stuff the British Army was kitted out with.
The British stuff(apart from the Bren) was just embarrassing.
That’s the shit alright – Red Army machinenpistole is so good the German soldiers are picking them up and scavenging for ammo, in the meantime the British soldiers are wondering what a machinenpistole is.
the germans were ill equipped for russia.
as were any other army invading before them.
No one has ever defeated General Frost. No one.
A little bracing weather didn’t bother Subetai & Batu Khan 😉
The Germans blew it when Hitler got fixated over Stalingrad.
If they bypassed Stalingrad and went after Moscow they would have beaten the Russians.
Getting bogged down in Stalingrad was the antithesis of what the German fighting machine was all about.
Stalingrad was the equivalent of WW1 trench warfare, a battle of attrition, the complete opposite of what the Germans had evolved their military into.
No one has ever defeated General Frost.
Finns were pretty good at it, they could defend against the Red Army at 35 below 0 – mind you, the Red Army could conduct offensive operations at 35 below 0, that’s some serious shit…
My older brother was super obsessed with ww2 german stuff too. I learned some german just from listening to him playing war games.
Are we going to be subject to a visit from the chattels police to see that what we have is appropriate and right according to the latest edicts from the scrupulous scrutineers?
There could be money in it like for Trinny and Susannah. Some people love to be told what to do, and what is right and fashionable so they fit in nicely.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinny_and_Susannah
Then there is the clean up the clutter trend – get ready in case there is a sudden invitation to go into space and they have chosen You for the ride. It’s a bit like what I face, going to die before too long, and off into space or somewhere, amgetting rid of some of my books, and stuff I have been meaning to get round to.
Ooh-er.
Why clutter is bad for your brain
Bursting cupboards and piles of paper stacked around the house may seem harmless enough. But research shows disorganisation and clutter have a cumulative effect on our brains.
Our brains like order, and constant visual reminders of disorganisation drain our cognitive resources, reducing our ability to focus.
The visual distraction of clutter increases cognitive overload and can reduce our working memory.
Pseudo-science expert No.1. There are plenty of p-s experts who think differently, as Mr Key commented about legal advisors.
https://theconversation.com/time-for-a-kondo-clean-out-heres-what-clutter-does-to-your-brain-and-body-109947
Good to see Corbyn , beleaguered as he is , sticking up for Assange
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47904837
Isn’t it incredible that Kim Dotcom has helicopters and special services landing on his lawn in a dawn raid for hosting a few pirated movies on his website, while Mark Zuckerberg gets off scot-free for live-streaming the mass murder of 50 Muslim worshippers?
As with the case of Julian Assange, it’s all about what is in the interests of The United States of America.
Mark Zuckerberg may be the “face” of Facebook but he’s only one part of it (28.2%)
http://whoownsfacebook.com/
Ok, so he’s 28.2% responsible for live-streaming the mass murder of 50 Muslim worshippers.
Still no dawn raid?
28.2%< 50%
Zuckerberg has no control over what Facebook does, he’s just a shareholder.
Charge them all then for failing to provide safeguards for the users of their website.
Australia (bless them) appear to be moving towards this.
Be careful what you wish for.
The girl at Mai Lai, couldn’t be shown under the proposed laws.
Or the helicopter gunship massacre exposed by Manning and Wikileaks.
MZ is Chairman, Founder, and CEO of FB.
Dotcom’s an arsehole, like all the other rich prick arseholes, who only ever stand with the common man when they want something from them.
As for MZ, I guess he get’s off scot free because he didn’t, to my knowledge, live stream the terror attack, so hasn’t broken any law I’m aware of.
Just like the ghost of Alexander Graham Bell doesn’t get prosecuted for nuisance phone calls.
Like Philippe Kahn isn’t held responsible for upskirt phone camera pictures.
Of course, new laws could be coming, which would be a good thing but I doubt they’d be retrospective.
That’s just a bit silly, Alien. You can’t prosecute a ghost otherwise Michael Jackson’s ghost would be serving several consecutive life sentences right now.
I’m drawing parallels between the hosting responsibilities of Kim Dotcom and the hosting responsibilities of Mark Zuckerberg.
There’s nothing retrospective about those two.
Allen
You draw a long bow, and seem way off the mark. (Which is comforting for Mark Zuckerberg!).
In the context of the post I commented on, it’s not an inaccurate long draw of the bow, more a to the point, accurate observation.
MZ made the tool, not the content, nor did he to my knowledge, personally host a live stream of the murder video.
Should there be provision to prevent this happening, sure, something we probably all agree on, but to conflate a dodgy illegal content sharer, someone who knew what he was doing, when he was doing it, is the real twang of the cat gut.
Oh, and it’s The Al1en, to you 😉 😆
For the same reason Shkreli went to jail for defrauding shareholders, and not for pricing life-saving medications out of the grasp of thousands if not millions:
Capitalism doesn’t care if you kill people, but it goes apeshit if you steal someone else’s profit from murder.
The key (see what I did there) difference between KDC and Zuckerburg is not many folk used Megaupload.
Users of FB are enablers of Zuckerburg.
Remember when Chorus outsourced its installer tech jobs to smaller contractors and it was supposed to be awesome (according to neo-liberal economics at least)?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111922886/chorus-promises-improvement-after-failing-to-prevent-exploitation
Big fuckin surprise: it resulted in most of the contractors breaching employment law with lots of under-paid & under-trained foreign workers on temporary visas.
And the board knew about it 3yrs ago but didn’t do anything to fix it.
In other words it was a terrible terrible thing that Chorus was allowed to do that.
Yep. This has been known on the streets for at least those three years now. Chorus using untrained immigrants who for whatever reason weren’t properly supervised and did shoddy work.
Its the same as the education rort the National government promoted which has lead to widespread abuse of young student immigrants.
it has been know about in the boardrooms (and parliament) as well…..just conveniently ignored
Indeed. We’re street front and as such had the fibre cable put in overhead and whoever did it did a good job. That’s the only personal experience I’ve had with fibre installers I have to say.
But I do know the underground work from the street front to right-of-way houses is a different story and if you are squeezing workers to keep costs down then you are going to both damage workers and produce a crappy result.
I wonder what punishment the Board & Senior Management will suffer?
Do the Crime, Do the Time as a bunch round here have been saying a lot lately.