Gives 4 hours notice of contract cancellation and then won't even say where the people using the service should go …and now 6 weeks later someone says oops?
She was one of my reasons for going into left-wing politics.
Without her vindictiveness, I would have been a placid sort of teenage person with some vague sympathies for anti-landlord politics and some drug legalisation politics, and thought nothing more of it.
With her vindictiveness, I was suddenly aware of how fragile my position was and I realised that being merely being part of a gentle opposition of the status quo was not enough and my voting & political activities shifted to a more active sort of politics (as far as my disabilities would have let me take)
And now with the coalition, I've gone even further left as I got older. I'm now taking a participatory view of politics. I am trying to change things with what I call a dialectic of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary politics.
Right now, I am making another shift in my politics, I am trying to mature my politics amongst the peoples who I am part of (and sometimes outside of) and finding a synthesis of such situations so I can move onto a new set of dialectics of the sort of politics peculiar to my life situation.
And Paula Bennett (and life experience) set this all into motion so I nowadays think she did a favour to me even if I still strongly despise her.
You could be right there adam. Chhour is making false claims about counselling services and has already been pulled up by the Children's Commissioner over it.
I once had a teeny weeny bit of sympathy for her. Its gone now.
I had none, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi 's remarks were mild and direct. Mariameno could have unleashed a much harsher remark about being a puppet – she chose the mild idiom. I'd argue that the idiom Kapa-Kingi chose, is idiom designed to make you think, not a full on attack.
Not a 100% polite by any means, but nothing in the ball park that many/most of the Labour/Green/NZfirst/Te Pāti Māori women MP's have faced. And a world away from the down right nasty misogynist BS that was directed at Nanaia.
The Battle of the Standard, … took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David I of Scotland.
The King of Scots claimed his niece was rightful Queen of England (her son was Henry of Anjou) but Stephen of Blois was influenced by the Salic law of France in the matter of her claim.
This proved that Stephen was no true English monarch … of its common law.
Geoffrey of Anjou (husband of an emperors widow) was known for the flowering plant he wore on his hat and so in the 15thC a Duke of York re-named his (and the royal) house, the House of Plantagenet (and so the War of the Roses).
At this time, Cosimo of Florence patron of its library collected books from far and wide (areas he finance trade to), including one that consisted of plants not of this earth with description in a language that no one could read (an inside joke about Kabbalah Jews who travelled to other worlds where they were not persecuted).
The Kabbalah colour code – white then red then black then purple then blue then yellow then green.
"This proved that Stephen was no true English monarch … of its common law."
None of those Norman monarchs was English by birth (except Henry I) or culture, so never could have been "true". And the formulation/evolution of common law is usually credited to that Henry of Anjou you mention, some time after he'd become Henry II..
David Farrar has resigned from Research Association New Zealand, the only industry body with any oversight of pollsters in this country. It's not even a regulatory body because the polling industry here seems, like the real estate industry, to fly under the radar of any applicable rules, heaven forbid.
But they do have some sort of charter which Farrar has recently and repeatedly fallen foul of.
Up until around two years there had been no issues. But over the last two years the complaints process has been weaponised against me. I can’t even count up how many complaints there have been. I will cover in some detail the significant ones.
People have finally decided to complain about you. Wow.
But these numerous complaints have caused me huge stress. I won’t go into the details of it here, but it has been very significant.
Cry me a river. As a partisan political activist against governmental social support, every single word and post from you causes vulnerable people stress. Welcome to the club!
Yesterday I saw an e-mail from RANZ that, not only had the PSG upheld the latest complaint against me, but that it was considering a recommendation that could involve suspension to expulsion.
I was absolutely stunned. I could not believe how what I saw as a subjective dispute over question design could possibly meet the threshold for such a move. I’ll get into the details later, but basically it was over whether a client should be allowed to ask:
The UK health service (the NHS) has stopped the use of puberty blockers, which begin the gender transition process, for children under 16 as it deemed they are too young to consent. Do you support or oppose a similar ban in New Zealand on the use of puberty blockers for young people 16 or younger?
So, the question his client insisted on asking was a leading question which, I believe, reputable pollsters are not supposed to do. Interesting that he distanced himself from his client and failed to inform them that the question was not appropriate. Also, it was a question asked on behalf of some unnamed transphobic organisation.
It appears the upshot of all this is David Farrar will now self-regulate and be really transparent. That's like asking a drug addict to watch his own usage.
I asked the question a few months ago in the wake of some dodgy Curia poll whether RANZ should be taking a closer look at David Farrar and the fact that he is both pollster and political activist. This is a clear conflict of interest and no industry body should be happy with it.
Time to arrest and lock up every gang member in NZ. Till the person or persons who did this, is found, charged and beaten by the innocent gang members.
Manufactured offshore and imported here. The purpose would be to addict a targeted youth market. Someone (presumably supposed to share them out to mates) donated them to a food bank and thus the methodology is now a known.
If it was that pure they'd kill – people would want to cut it down to feed their greed.
So maybe with cock theory on this one?
But we need to punish them for giving it to the poor all the same – Sorry vengeful Christian comes out sometimes. I feel the same way about this government too, with their attacks on the poor.
Which does mean, I do have to wonder does our PM desire a heresy trial for his utter disregard of the Gospels?
Given that they are both unsweetened (according to RNZ this morning, this was the reason they tasted 'funny' and were reported) – and of a much higher meth content than would ever be supplied to an individual – it seems almost certain that they are the result of packaging of meth to evade customs scrutiny – which has gone astray and accidentally being gifted to a food bank.
In the original plan, the individual sweets would have been de-packaged, ground down, cut with neutral material – and then supplied in standard packages.
Just from a revenue potential – there is no way this was ever intended to be the actual supply-to-customer mechanism.
Someone deliberately contaminating lollies with meth is likely to be a very disturbed individual and probably not a gang member.
Almost certainly an import mechanism (to evade customs scrutiny) rather than a supply mechanism.
Given that gangs are the primary drivers of the meth import and supply business in NZ – it's unlikely to be anyone else importing this.
I suspect the situation is the result of a package going astray. And the actual person gifiting it to the the food bank would have been entirely unaware of the actual contents.
Reading reports over the last few years it almost always seems as though the local gangs are the receivers from the mostly Asian and some South American manufacturers and exporters. Last weeks big raid read as though the Mexicans were even doing their own distribution here, if they had cut in on gang distribution a local jail sentence is not going to be much fun.
President Trump’s hopes of ending the war in Ukraine seemed more driven by ego than realistic analysis. Professor Vladimir Brovkin’s latest video above highlights the internal conflicts within the USA, Russia, Europe, and Ukraine, which are currently hindering peace talks and clarity. Brovkin pointed out major contradictions within ...
In the cesspool that is often New Zealand’s online political discourse, few figures wield their influence as destructively as Ani O’Brien. Masquerading as a champion of free speech and women’s rights, O’Brien’s campaigns are a masterclass in bad faith, built on a foundation of lies, selective outrage, and a knack ...
The international challenge confronting Australia today is unparalleled, at least since the 1940s. It requires what the late Brendan Sargeant, a defence analyst, called strategic imagination. We need more than shrewd economic manoeuvring and a ...
This year's General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) will take place as a fully hybrid conference in both Vienna and online from April 27 to May 2. This year, I'll join the event on site in Vienna for the full week and I've already picked several sessions I plan ...
Here’s a book that looks not in at China but out from China. David Daokui Li’s China’s World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict is a refreshing offering in that Li is very much ...
The New Zealand National Party has long mastered the art of crafting messaging that resonates with a large number of desperate, often white middle-class, voters. From their 2023 campaign mantra of “getting our country back on track” to promises of economic revival, safer streets, and better education, their rhetoric paints ...
A global contest of ideas is underway, and democracy as an ideal is at stake. Democracies must respond by lifting support for public service media with an international footprint. With the recent decision by the ...
It is almost six weeks since the shock announcement early on the afternoon of Wednesday 5 March that the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr, was resigning effective 31 March, and that in fact he had already left and an acting Governor was already in place. Orr had been ...
The PSA surveyed more than 900 of its members, with 55 percent of respondents saying AI is used at their place of work, despite most workers not being in trained in how to use the technology safely. Figures to be released on Thursday are expected to show inflation has risen ...
Be on guard for AI-powered messaging and disinformation in the campaign for Australia’s 3 May election. And be aware that parties can use AI to sharpen their campaigning, zeroing in on issues that the technology ...
Strap yourselves in, folks, it’s time for another round of Arsehole of the Week, and this week’s golden derrière trophy goes to—drumroll, please—David Seymour, the ACT Party’s resident genius who thought, “You know what we need? A shiny new Treaty Principles Bill to "fix" all that pesky Māori-Crown partnership nonsense ...
Apple Store, Shanghai. Trump wants all iPhones to be made in the USM but experts say that is impossible. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortist from our political economy on Monday, April 14:Donald Trump’s exemption on tariffs on phones and computers is temporary, and he wants all iPhones made in the ...
Kia ora, readers. It’s time to pull back the curtain on some uncomfortable truths about New Zealand’s political landscape. The National Party, often cloaked in the guise of "sensible centrism," has, at times, veered into territory that smells suspiciously like fascism.Now, before you roll your eyes and mutter about hyperbole, ...
Australia’s east coast is facing a gas crisis, as the country exports most of the gas it produces. Although it’s a major producer, Australia faces a risk of domestic liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply shortfalls ...
Overnight, Donald J. Trump, America’s 47th President, and only the second President since 1893 to win non-consecutive terms, rolled back more of his“no exemptions, no negotiations”&“no big deal” tariffs.Smartphones, computers, and other electronics1are now exempt from the 125% levies imposed on imports from China; they retain ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 6, 2025 thru Sat, April 12, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
Just one year of loveIs better than a lifetime aloneOne sentimental moment in your armsIs like a shooting star right through my heartIt's always a rainy day without youI'm a prisoner of love inside youI'm falling apart all around you, yeahSongwriter: John Deacon.Morena folks, it feels like it’s been quite ...
“It's a history of colonial ruin, not a history of colonial progress,”says Michele Leggott, of the Harris family.We’re talking about Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris, in which she and Catherine Field-Dodgson recall a near-forgotten and fascinating life, thefemale speck in the history of texts.Emily’s ...
Hitherto, 2025 has not been great in terms of luck on the short story front (or on the personal front. Several acquaintances have sadly passed away in the last few days). But I can report one story acceptance today. In fact, it’s quite the impressive acceptance, being my second ‘professional ...
Six long stories short from our political economy in the week to Saturday, April 12:Donald Trump exploded a neutron bomb under 80 years of globalisation, but Nicola Willis said the Government would cut operational and capital spending even more to achieve a Budget surplus by 2027/28. That even tighter fiscal ...
On 22 May, the coalition government will release its budget for 2025, which it says will focus on "boosting economic growth, improving social outcomes, controlling government spending, and investing in long-term infrastructure.” But who, really, is this budget designed to serve? What values and visions for Aotearoa New Zealand lie ...
Lovin' you has go to be (Take me to the other side)Like the devil and the deep blue sea (Take me to the other side)Forget about your foolish pride (Take me to the other side)Oh, take me to the other side (Take me to the other side)Songwriters: Steven Tyler, Jim ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Hi,Back in 2022 I spent a year reporting on New Zealand’s then-biggest megachurch, Arise, revealing the widespread abuse of hundreds of interns.That series led to a harrowing review (leaked by Webworm) and the resignation of its founders and leaders John and Gillian Cameron, who fled to Australia where they now ...
All nation states have a right to defend themselves. But do regimes enjoy an equal right to self-defence? Is the security of a particular party-in-power a fundamental right of nations? The Chinese government is asking ...
A modest attempt to analyse Donald Trump’s tariff policies.Alfred Marshall, whose text book was still in use 40 years after he died wrote ‘every short statement about economics is misleading with the possible exception of my present one.’ (The text book is 719 pages.) It’s a timely reminder that any ...
If nothing else, we have learned that the economic and geopolitical turmoil caused by the Trump tariff see-saw raises a fundamental issue of the human condition that extends beyond trade wars and “the markets.” That issue is uncertainty and its centrality to individual and collective life. It extends further into ...
To improve its national security, South Korea must improve its ICT infrastructure. Knowing this, the government has begun to move towards cloud computing. The public and private sectors are now taking a holistic national-security approach ...
28 April 2025 Mournfor theDead FightFor theLiving Every week in New Zealand 18 workers are killed as a consequence of work. Every 15 minutes, a worker suffers ...
The world is trying to make sense of the Trump tariffs. Is there a grand design and strategy, or is it all instinct and improvisation? But much more important is the question of what will ...
OPINION:Yesterday was a triumphant moment in Parliament House.The “divisive”, “disingenous”, “unfair”, “discriminatory” and “dishonest” Treaty Principles Bill, advanced by the right wing ACT Party, failed.Spectacularly.11 MP votes for (ACT).112 MP votes against (All Other Parties).As the wonderful Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke said: We are not divided, but united.Green ...
The Pacific Response Group (PRG), a new disaster coordination organisation, has operated through its first high-risk weather season. But as representatives from each Pacific military leave Brisbane to return to their home countries for the ...
The Treaty Principles Bill has been defeated in Parliament with 112 votes in opposition and 11 in favour, but the debate about Te Tiriti and Māori rights looks set to stay high on the political agenda. Supermarket giant Woolworths has confirmed a new operating model that Workers First say will ...
1. What did Seymour say after his obnoxious bill was buried 112 to 11?a. Watch this spaceb. Mea culpac. I am not a crookd. Youse are all such dumbasses2. Which lasted longest?a. Liz Trussb. Trump’s Tariffsc. The Lettuced. Too soon to say but the smart money’s on the vegetable 3. ...
And this is what I'm gonna doI'm gonna put a call to you'Cause I feel good tonightAnd everything's gonna beRight-right-rightI'm gonna have a good time tonightRock and roll music gonna play all nightCome on, baby, it won't take longOnly take a minute just to sing my songSongwriters: Kirk Pengilly / ...
The Indonesian military has a new role in cybersecurity but, worryingly, no clear doctrine on what to do with it nor safeguards against human rights abuses. Assignment of cyber responsibility to the military is part ...
The StrategistBy Gatra Priyandita and Christian Guntur Lebang
Another Friday, another roundup. Autumn is starting to set in, certainly getting darker earlier but we hope you enjoy some of the stories we found interesting this week. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday we ran a guest post from the wonderful Darren Davis about what’s happening ...
Long stories shortest:The White House confirms Donald Trump’s total tariffs now on China are 145%, not 125%. US stocks slump again. Gold hits a record high. PM Christopher Luxon joins a push for a new rules-based trading system based around CPTPP and EU, rather than US-led WTO. Winston Peters ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics and climate, including Donald Trump’s shock and (partial) backflip; and,Health Coalition Aotearoa Chair ...
USAID cuts and tariffs will harm the United States’ reputation in the Pacific more than they will harm the region itself. The resilient region will adjust to the economic challenges and other partners will fill ...
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Australia should follow international examples and develop a civilian cyber reserve as part of a whole-of-society approach to national defence. By setting up such a reserve, the federal government can overcome a shortage of expertise ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Life Jackets for Children and Young Persons Bill (Cameron Brewer) Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Restrictions on Issue of Off-Licences and Low and No Alcohol Products) Amendment Bill (Mike Butterick) Crown ...
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Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has repeatedly asserted the country’s commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy. But can Indonesia still credibly claim neutrality while tacitly engaging with Russia? Holding an unprecedented bilateral naval drills with Moscow ...
The NZCTU have launched a new policy programme and are calling on political parties to adopt bold policies in the lead up to the next election. The Government is scrapping the 30-day rule that automatically signs an employee up to the collective agreement when they sign on to a new ...
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This is a re-post from The Electrotech Revolution by Daan Walter Last week, UK Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took the stage to advocate for slowing the rollout of renewables, arguing that they ultimately lead to higher costs: “Huge amounts are being spent on switching round how we distribute electricity ...
That there, that's not meI go where I pleaseI walk through wallsI float down the LiffeyI'm not hereThis isn't happeningI'm not hereI'm not hereSongwriters: Philip James Selway / Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood / Edward John O'Brien / Thomas Edward Yorke / Colin Charles Greenwood.I had mixed views when the first ...
(A note to subscribers:I’m going to keep these daily curated news updates shorter in future to ensure an earlier and more regular delivery.Expect this format and delivery around 7 am Monday to Friday from now on. My apologies for not delivering yesterday. There was too much news… This ...
As Donald Trump zigs and zags on tariffs and trashes America’s reputation as a safe and stable place to invest, China has a big gun that it could bring to this tariff knife fight. Behind Japan, China has the world’s second largest holdings of American debt. As a huge US ...
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Australia is in a race against time. Cyber adversaries are exploiting vulnerabilities faster than we can identify and patch them. Both national security and economic considerations demand policy action. According to IBM’s Data Breach Report, ...
The ever brilliant Kate Nicholls has kindly agreed to allow me to re-publish her substack offering some under-examined backdrop to Trump’s tariff madness. The essay is not meant to be a full scholarly article but instead an insight into the thinking (if that is the correct word) behind the current ...
In the Pacific, the rush among partner countries to be seen as the first to assist after disasters has become heated as part of ongoing geopolitical contest. As partners compete for strategic influence in the ...
The StrategistBy Miranda Booth, Henrietta McNeill and Genevieve Quirk
We’ve seen this morning the latest step up in the Trump-initiated trade war, with the additional 50 per cent tariffs imposed on imports from China. If the tariff madness persists – but in fact even if were wound back in some places (eg some of the particularly absurd tariffs on ...
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Hi,Back in September of 2023, I got pitched an interview:David -Thanks for the quick response to the DM! Means the world. Re-stating some of the DM below for your team’s reference -I run a business called Animal Capital - we are a venture capital fund advised by Noah Beck, Paris ...
I didn’t want to write about this – but, alas, the 2020s have forced my hand. I am going to talk about the Trump Tariffs… and in the process probably irritate nearly everyone. You see, alone on the Internet, I am one of those people who think we need a ...
Maybe people are only just beginning to notice the close alignment of Russia and China. It’s discussed as a sudden new phenomenon in world affairs, but in fact it’s not new at all. The two ...
The High Court has just ruled that the government has been violating one of the oldest Treaty settlements, the Sealord deal: The High Court has found the Crown has breached one of New Zealand's oldest Treaty Settlements by appropriating Māori fishing quota without compensation. It relates to the 1992 ...
Darwin’s proposed Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct is set to be the heart of a new integrated infrastructure network in the Northern Territory, larger and better than what currently exists in northern Australia. However, the ...
Local body elections are in October, and so like a lot of people, I received the usual pre-election enrolment confirmation from the Orange Man in the post. And I was horrified to see that it included the following: Why horrified? After all, surely using email, rather ...
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More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
Today, the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill has passed its third and final reading, but there is one more stage before it becomes law. The Governor-General must give their ‘Royal assent’ for any bill to become legally enforceable. This means that, even if a bill gets voted ...
Abortion care at Whakatāne Hospital has been quietly shelved, with patients told they will likely have to travel more than an hour to Tauranga to get the treatment they need. ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
COMMENTARY:By Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab“Wherever Palestinians have control is barbaric.” These were the words from New Zealand’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow. During a meeting with Philippa Yasbek from Jewish Voices for Peace, Dr Rainbow allegedly told her that information from the NZ Security Intelligence Services (NZSIS) threat assessment ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A leaked “working paper” on New Caledonia’s future political status is causing concern on the local stage and has prompted a “clarification” from the French government’s Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls. Details of the document, which was supposed to remain confidential, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Political leaders’ kids are routinely put on display to share the glory or the pain of election night. Earlier, they’re often at campaign launches to “humanise” the candidates. Peter Dutton pulled out all stops ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Case, Lecturer in Musicology, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney Stephen Wilson Barker/Belvoir With Big Girls Don’t Cry, Gumbaynggirr/Wiradjuri playwright Dalara Williams proves herself to be a formidable talent. Cheryl (Williams), Queenie (Megan Wilding) and Lulu (Stephanie Somerville) are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karin Hammarberg, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University KateStudio/Shutterstock The news of a woman unknowingly giving birth to another patient’s baby after an embryo mix-up at a Brisbane IVF lab ...
Axing a $118 million scheme that provides extra pay for thousands of teachers is an "ill-considered decision", says one principal, but another says most school leaders in Auckland will back the move. ...
Alex Casey farewells a truly confounding season of the reality television juggernaut. (To be read aloud in traditional Married at First Sight final vows style, aka with the cadence and confidence of an eight-year-old doing a school speech about the invention of the telephone.)Married at First Sight Australia, From ...
Winston Peters called the previous guideline "woke" and "out of touch" but the Education Minister says Peters has had no influence over the new framework. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dylan Irvine, Outstanding Future Researcher – Northern Water Futures, Charles Darwin University Lizzie Lamont/Shutterstock If you scoop a bucket of water out of the ocean, does it get lower? –Ellis, 6 and a half, Hobart This is a great ...
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Yucky bunny at channel 7 in Australia
It's shit for women across the ditch as well. Even in the glamour of the media.
Worse, I'd suspect. Especially in the glamour of the media.
The CoC's punching down as usual
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350376643/ot-apologises-acting-well-below-expectations-after-auckland-counsellor-scrapped
Gives 4 hours notice of contract cancellation and then won't even say where the people using the service should go …and now 6 weeks later someone says oops?
IMO The CoC is in the service of evil.
it would be a very interesting study on how people like chour and bennet (paula) become complete class traitors .
Karen Chour is easy, shes a product of a very broken system and has decided to essentially burn the system down. Pretty understandable imho.
Paula is a nasty, vindictive sociopath who enjoyed the power trip. Easy.
She was one of my reasons for going into left-wing politics.
Without her vindictiveness, I would have been a placid sort of teenage person with some vague sympathies for anti-landlord politics and some drug legalisation politics, and thought nothing more of it.
With her vindictiveness, I was suddenly aware of how fragile my position was and I realised that being merely being part of a gentle opposition of the status quo was not enough and my voting & political activities shifted to a more active sort of politics (as far as my disabilities would have let me take)
And now with the coalition, I've gone even further left as I got older. I'm now taking a participatory view of politics. I am trying to change things with what I call a dialectic of parliamentary and extra-parliamentary politics.
Right now, I am making another shift in my politics, I am trying to mature my politics amongst the peoples who I am part of (and sometimes outside of) and finding a synthesis of such situations so I can move onto a new set of dialectics of the sort of politics peculiar to my life situation.
And Paula Bennett (and life experience) set this all into motion so I nowadays think she did a favour to me even if I still strongly despise her.
Beat me to it. Its got beyond comment except to say: the first thing that needs to happen: The Chhour woman has got to go. She's mad!
Bruce Jesson.
You could be right there adam. Chhour is making false claims about counselling services and has already been pulled up by the Children's Commissioner over it.
I once had a teeny weeny bit of sympathy for her. Its gone now.
I had none, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi 's remarks were mild and direct. Mariameno could have unleashed a much harsher remark about being a puppet – she chose the mild idiom. I'd argue that the idiom Kapa-Kingi chose, is idiom designed to make you think, not a full on attack.
Not a 100% polite by any means, but nothing in the ball park that many/most of the Labour/Green/NZfirst/Te Pāti Māori women MP's have faced. And a world away from the down right nasty misogynist BS that was directed at Nanaia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Standard
9 days to the 886th anniversary.
The King of Scots claimed his niece was rightful Queen of England (her son was Henry of Anjou) but Stephen of Blois was influenced by the Salic law of France in the matter of her claim.
This proved that Stephen was no true English monarch … of its common law.
Geoffrey of Anjou (husband of an emperors widow) was known for the flowering plant he wore on his hat and so in the 15thC a Duke of York re-named his (and the royal) house, the House of Plantagenet (and so the War of the Roses).
At this time, Cosimo of Florence patron of its library collected books from far and wide (areas he finance trade to), including one that consisted of plants not of this earth with description in a language that no one could read (an inside joke about Kabbalah Jews who travelled to other worlds where they were not persecuted).
The Kabbalah colour code – white then red then black then purple then blue then yellow then green.
"This proved that Stephen was no true English monarch … of its common law."
None of those Norman monarchs was English by birth (except Henry I) or culture, so never could have been "true". And the formulation/evolution of common law is usually credited to that Henry of Anjou you mention, some time after he'd become Henry II..
Good news, Methanex can be used as source of gas in dry years.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/524995/methanex-temporarily-shutting-new-zealand-methanol-plants
Bad news, corporate GE farming
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525030/greens-labour-not-ruling-out-supporting-genetic-engineering-law-change
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KRu1liiq7Ho
Farrar watch:
David Farrar has resigned from Research Association New Zealand, the only industry body with any oversight of pollsters in this country. It's not even a regulatory body because the polling industry here seems, like the real estate industry, to fly under the radar of any applicable rules, heaven forbid.
But they do have some sort of charter which Farrar has recently and repeatedly fallen foul of.
People have finally decided to complain about you. Wow.
Cry me a river. As a partisan political activist against governmental social support, every single word and post from you causes vulnerable people stress. Welcome to the club!
So, the question his client insisted on asking was a leading question which, I believe, reputable pollsters are not supposed to do. Interesting that he distanced himself from his client and failed to inform them that the question was not appropriate. Also, it was a question asked on behalf of some unnamed transphobic organisation.
It appears the upshot of all this is David Farrar will now self-regulate and be really transparent. That's like asking a drug addict to watch his own usage.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/08/why_i_have_resigned_from_the_research_association_of_new_zealand.html
I asked the question a few months ago in the wake of some dodgy Curia poll whether RANZ should be taking a closer look at David Farrar and the fact that he is both pollster and political activist. This is a clear conflict of interest and no industry body should be happy with it.
It seems they are not. Bye, David.
Time to arrest and lock up every gang member in NZ. Till the person or persons who did this, is found, charged and beaten by the innocent gang members.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-city-mission-finds-lethal-levels-of-meth-in-donated-lollies-handed-out-in-food-parcels/JUWLGY5X4BDZLFINI6RCUGNETI/
Are you 100% sure a gang member is responsible.
Well if it's a Eugenicist, I still want the gangs to beat them.
Manufactured offshore and imported here. The purpose would be to addict a targeted youth market. Someone (presumably supposed to share them out to mates) donated them to a food bank and thus the methodology is now a known.
So gangsters got them on shore. They should be considered guilty too, and charged.
Wonder if mark mitchell MP has the balls to go after the makers though, doubt it, the man has none.
It is distributed out of Malaysia and the place has a local youth with meth addiction problem.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=meth+in+malaysia
Supply chains for this crap are all over the Pacific now.
I still blame Scomo.
It's possible someone imported them in bulk to extract the meth.
Or it was just the method to create (and then control) their own “youth” market.
The reckons on reddit are that the amount of meth involved is such that it was a form for importing, not distribution.
If it was that pure they'd kill – people would want to cut it down to feed their greed.
So maybe with cock theory on this one?
But we need to punish them for giving it to the poor all the same – Sorry vengeful Christian comes out sometimes. I feel the same way about this government too, with their attacks on the poor.
Which does mean, I do have to wonder does our PM desire a heresy trial for his utter disregard of the Gospels?
Given that they are both unsweetened (according to RNZ this morning, this was the reason they tasted 'funny' and were reported) – and of a much higher meth content than would ever be supplied to an individual – it seems almost certain that they are the result of packaging of meth to evade customs scrutiny – which has gone astray and accidentally being gifted to a food bank.
In the original plan, the individual sweets would have been de-packaged, ground down, cut with neutral material – and then supplied in standard packages.
Just from a revenue potential – there is no way this was ever intended to be the actual supply-to-customer mechanism.
It's just that your first sentence implied a gang member was responsible. I'm fine with the second sentence.
Someone deliberately contaminating lollies with meth is likely to be a very disturbed individual and probably not a gang member.
Almost certainly an import mechanism (to evade customs scrutiny) rather than a supply mechanism.
Given that gangs are the primary drivers of the meth import and supply business in NZ – it's unlikely to be anyone else importing this.
I suspect the situation is the result of a package going astray. And the actual person gifiting it to the the food bank would have been entirely unaware of the actual contents.
How else did the drugs get into the country? Apart from gangs?
Reading reports over the last few years it almost always seems as though the local gangs are the receivers from the mostly Asian and some South American manufacturers and exporters. Last weeks big raid read as though the Mexicans were even doing their own distribution here, if they had cut in on gang distribution a local jail sentence is not going to be much fun.