In schools around the world, bullying weak people is just a sensible thing to do. It sounds shocking, but then step back and look at wider society—is it really much different? We have whole sections of the media dedicated to identifying and bullying people who don’t conform to our specific ideals. Adults harass and abuse people they disagree with online. We treat politicians and public figures with contempt, while politicians in turn enact brutal crackdowns on the sick and the vulnerable. Is it really that surprising that being a bully is a good way to start out in life?
It’s a disturbing thought and it does some ring of truth to it. Perhaps we really are a sick society.
“both Hosking’s and Henry’s jowls are up the Prime Minister’s cheeks”
Well said!
…on the cheeks of his backside.
I would love to see an artist/cartoonist draw that scene pictorially….and auction it on Trade Me for a worthy cause….like Jane Kelsy’s ‘Give-A-Little fund for legal challenge to TPPA secrecy’
There was the time he emceed at John Key’s state of the nation speech. The gig was for a charitable organisation. “They get different speakers along, one of whom happened to be Key. So there was no association with the National Party at all.” Well, Hosking gave it a ringing endorsement. “Yeah, absolutely. Why not? I’m allowed to. I didn’t actually say they should be re-elected, I don’t think.” He was reported in the Herald as saying, “We have bright prospects for the future, so long as you keep them in Government.”…
and from the man himself…
…it’s a fine line. “Yeah, it’s a fine line but that doesn’t mean you don’t walk down it, otherwise what’s the purpose of me being here?” It’s why he loves commercial radio. “If I was, say, on Morning Report I’d be in all sorts of bother. For obvious reasons. But that’s because there are just too many rules around that.”
… “I’m allowed to say what I want, I’m allowed to think what I want, I’m allowed to express my opinion. Which is, apart from anything, fundamentally why I’m employed.”
… “I’m allowed to say what I want, I’m allowed to think what I want, I’m allowed to express my opinion. Which is, apart from anything, fundamentally why I’m employed.”
Going by other media hirings and firings, if his opinions did not not fit so well with Key’s, he would not be so free to express it, and his employment situation would be far more tenuous.
Why does this child of privilege get so much media attention for his social media output?
Is it because the Herald,( like Hosking, Christie, Henry, Williams ) is Key’s stooge?
“We ask the banks themselves how they see things and they have on numerous occasions say they stress test their balance sheets, they’ve done significant stress testing when it comes to the Auckland property market, including really ramping up their models in terms of unemployment, interest rates and the like, and they’re quite confident their lending is stable and secure,” Key told his weekly post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington. “They tell me ‘look we’ve stress tested our books every which way and we’re very confident that our lending is appropriate and well placed’.”
Yeah, because asking the fraudster if they’re defrauding you is always going to get an honest answer.
I know of one bank who recently had a staff conference on the Auckland Housing market and how to make the most out of it. The premise is that it has – at most- two years of good pickings yet. They were discussing how to access the continuing high profits until that time, from the ever increasing values in Auckland.
This may be true if nothing changes, as we watch Auckland being bought up by foreign investors. Similar has happened in other inflationary housing markets across the globe, London, Vancouver etc. There are also other measures in place that would ensure the the population of NZ can live in the country of their residence or citizenship.
Stable state provided social housing, land tax, perpetual affordability liens, co-housing and considered papakaianga development.
How can the banks be regarded as financially sound. An important piece of advice given to investors by prudent financial advisors is to have a diversified portfolio. A business is advised to limit its exposure by diversifying. Banks are in NZ heavily into dairying and housing. Is that healthy for them or us? What is their exposure in these two sectors? Does anyone here know, authoritatively.?
Wikipedia on market exposure –
“Market exposure (or exposure) is a financial term which measures the proportion of money invested in the same industry sector. For example, a stock portfolio with a total worth of $500,000, with $100,000 in semiconductor industry stocks, would have a 20% exposure in “chip” stocks.”
A little difficult to say as there doesn’t appear to be any straight out figures on it. It’s probably ‘commercially sensitive’. Anyway, this article implies about 50% on mortgages alone – unless I’m completely misreading it. Still, the UK has mortgages at around 60% of bank lending so I think it’s ballpark.
A video has emerged of the Turkish husband and wife who shared their wedding feast with 4,000 Syrian refugees serving food in an act of kindness that made headlines around the world.
The probleem with National is they are still the govt and Hoseclip and Basil Brush will just be as right wing as they are with impunity and endorsements, commercial krauts
Thanks to Da FUHRER
..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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
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 ...
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 ...
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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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Ferguson, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health, University of South Australia People presenting at emergency with mental health concerns are experiencing the longest wait times in Australia for admission to a ward, according to a new report from the Australasian College of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan University We’re nearing the halfway point of this year’s Australian Open and players like the United States’ Reilly Opelka (ranked 170th in the world ) and France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (ranked 30th) captured plenty of ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin T. Jones, Senior Lecturer in History, CQUniversity Australia In his farewell address, outgoing US President Joe Biden warned “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy”. The comment suggests ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hrvoje Tkalčić, Professor, Head of Geophysics, Director of Warramunga Array, Australian National University A map showing the ‘Martian dichotomy’: the southern highlands are in yellows and oranges, the northern lowlands in blues and greens.NASA / JPL / USGS Mars is home ...
A new poem by Niamh Hollis-Locke.Field-notes: Midsummer, 9pm, walking barefoot in the reserve after a storm, the sky still light, the city strung out across backs of the hills Dunes of last week’s cut grass washed downslope against the bracken, drifts of pale wet stems rotting into one ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marc C-Scott, Associate Professor of Screen Media | Deputy Associate Dean of Learning & Teaching, Victoria University Screenshot/YouTube The 2025 Australian Open (AO) broadcast may seem similar to previous years if you’re watching on the television. However, if you’re watching online ...
By Anish Chand in Suva A Fiji community human rights coalition has called on Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to halt his “reckless expansion” of government and refocus on addressing Fiji’s pressing challenges. The NGO Coalition on Human Rights (NGOCHR) said it was outraged by the abrupt and arbitrary reshuffling of ...
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Toby Manhire tells you everything you need to know ahead of season two of Severance.After an agonising wait – nearly three years between waffles, thanks to US actor and writer strikes and, some say, creative squabbles – Severance returns today, Friday January 17. For my money the first season ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talia Fell, PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland The Los Angeles wildfires are causing the devastating loss of people’s homes. From A-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton to an Australian family living in LA, thousands ...
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. ...
Finally, some good fucking news. The Friday Poem is back! Last year, The Spinoff leveled with its audience about the financial reality it faced and called for support from its audience. Some tough decisions were made at the time including cuts to our commissioning budget and the discontinuation of The ...
The soon-to-be deputy PM has already had a crucial win behind the scenes. First published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. Margaret Thatcher used to love prime minister’s questions. If you’re not familiar, the UK parliamentary system has a weekly procedure where the prime minister is subject to at least ...
Summer reissue: The current coalition not lasting beyond this parliamentary term is an idea that’s been seized on by its opponents. History suggests it’s unlikely – but not impossible. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Port Vila More than 180,000 registered voters are expected to cast their votes today with polls now open in Vanuatu. It is remarkable the snap election is even able to happen with Friday marking one month since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Do School Bullies Really Grow Up to Be Sexier Than the Nerds?
It’s a disturbing thought and it does some ring of truth to it. Perhaps we really are a sick society.
From the post, http://thestandard.org.nz/parsing-john-key-on-tppa/,
“both Hosking’s and Henry’s jowls are up the Prime Minister’s cheeks”
Well said!
…on the cheeks of his backside.
I would love to see an artist/cartoonist draw that scene pictorially….and auction it on Trade Me for a worthy cause….like Jane Kelsy’s ‘Give-A-Little fund for legal challenge to TPPA secrecy’
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/tppnosecrecy/
Poll on Stuff : Is Mike Hosking politically biased?
73% Yes, clearly. (8252 Votes)
12% On some issues, yes. (1399 Votes)
15% No, he’s an outstanding journalist. (1629 Votes)
The article and poll is here:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/71179822/opposition-political-leaders-accusing-mike-hosking-of-political-bias
Of course he’s biased. From the Listener
http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/the-artistry-of-mike-hosking/
and from the man himself…
… “I’m allowed to say what I want, I’m allowed to think what I want, I’m allowed to express my opinion. Which is, apart from anything, fundamentally why I’m employed.”
Going by other media hirings and firings, if his opinions did not not fit so well with Key’s, he would not be so free to express it, and his employment situation would be far more tenuous.
That is fairly conclusive. That’s what the people think. Key and Joyce think otherwise.
Why does this child of privilege get so much media attention for his social media output?
Is it because the Herald,( like Hosking, Christie, Henry, Williams ) is Key’s stooge?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11498507
Chanelling Patrick Bateman, there.
http://www.rouge18.com/category/patrick-bateman/
Haha, New Zealand Psycho you think?
Ok, I’m convinced now I’m having a bad dream.
Key backs banks after S&P warning over Auckland property market
Yeah, because asking the fraudster if they’re defrauding you is always going to get an honest answer.
And what would his mates tell him? Sounds like the banks are about as clued up about their portfolios as they were prior to 2008.
I know of one bank who recently had a staff conference on the Auckland Housing market and how to make the most out of it. The premise is that it has – at most- two years of good pickings yet. They were discussing how to access the continuing high profits until that time, from the ever increasing values in Auckland.
This may be true if nothing changes, as we watch Auckland being bought up by foreign investors. Similar has happened in other inflationary housing markets across the globe, London, Vancouver etc. There are also other measures in place that would ensure the the population of NZ can live in the country of their residence or citizenship.
Stable state provided social housing, land tax, perpetual affordability liens, co-housing and considered papakaianga development.
How can the banks be regarded as financially sound. An important piece of advice given to investors by prudent financial advisors is to have a diversified portfolio. A business is advised to limit its exposure by diversifying. Banks are in NZ heavily into dairying and housing. Is that healthy for them or us? What is their exposure in these two sectors? Does anyone here know, authoritatively.?
Wikipedia on market exposure –
“Market exposure (or exposure) is a financial term which measures the proportion of money invested in the same industry sector. For example, a stock portfolio with a total worth of $500,000, with $100,000 in semiconductor industry stocks, would have a 20% exposure in “chip” stocks.”
A little difficult to say as there doesn’t appear to be any straight out figures on it. It’s probably ‘commercially sensitive’. Anyway, this article implies about 50% on mortgages alone – unless I’m completely misreading it. Still, the UK has mortgages at around 60% of bank lending so I think it’s ballpark.
Best of the week.
A video has emerged of the Turkish husband and wife who shared their wedding feast with 4,000 Syrian refugees serving food in an act of kindness that made headlines around the world.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkish-wedding-video-husband-and-wife-share-wedding-feast-with-4000-refugees-10440235.html
Yes – that was good, and HUGELY different from the grossness of the Indian guy who bailed up Sydney streets for his wedding parade !
Dude was of Arab descent.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2015/08/17/Lavish-Arab-wedding-in-Australia-wows-spectators-irks-residents-.html
I stand corrected – thought they said Indian on TV3 news tonight.
Cartoon: Erasing you profile
John Oliver revisits the NZ flag debate.
https://youtu.be/m_2tL–HMIo
LOL. Funny.
This one too about Key’s best friend, The religious Aussie Rasputin:
https://youtu.be/c3IaKVmkXuk
The probleem with National is they are still the govt and Hoseclip and Basil Brush will just be as right wing as they are with impunity and endorsements, commercial krauts
Thanks to Da FUHRER