Daily review 25/11/2019
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5:30 pm, November 25th, 2019 - 36 comments
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- Beijing finally slices off Sandy Cay
The Financial Times reported last week that China’s coast guard has declared China’s sovereignty over Sandy Cay, posting pictures of personnel holding a Chinese flag on a strip of sand. The landing apparently took place ...4 hours ago - National’s Stalling New Zealand’s Electric Future
You might not know this, but New Zealand’s at the bottom of the global league table for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and the National government’s policies are ensuring we stay there, choking the life out of our clean energy transition.According to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Global EV Outlook, we’ve ...4 hours ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our collaborations
As mentioned in the recently published prolog to EGU2025 article, I submitted an abstract to talk about some of the collaborations we've had with other groups and websites over the years. This blog post is a "companion article" to that presentation in session EOS1.1 Science and Society: Science Communication Practice, Research, and ...5 hours ago - Rudd and Shearer aren’t enough. Washington needs to see more Australian heavy hitters
We need more than two Australians who are well-known in Washington. We do have two who are remarkably well-known, but they alone aren’t enough in a political scene that’s increasingly influenced by personal connections and ...5 hours ago
- “Protecting frontline services”
When National embarked on slash and burn cuts to the public service, Prime Minister Chris Luxon was clear that he expected frontline services to be protected. He lied: The government has scrapped part of a work programme designed to prevent people ending up in emergency housing because the social ...6 hours ago - Climate Change: National supports pollution subsidies
When the Emissions Trading Scheme was originally introduced, way back in 2008, it included a generous transitional subsidy scheme, which saw "trade exposed" polluters given free carbon credits while they supposedly stopped polluting. That scheme was made more generous and effectively permanent under the Key National government, and while Labour ...7 hours ago
- Atlas Network Makes Australian Mainstream
Australia Shows The WayAustralian media and their investigative journalists have published two articles on the Atlas Network’s modus operandi in recent weeks:‘Copied the MAGA model’: The ‘grassroots’ lobby group funded by some of Australia’s richestHow Atlas Network amassed a global network of free market think tanks and reached into Australia ...10 hours ago - Australia’s defence readiness—a critical assessment
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 ...10 hours ago
- The Suspicious Death of Virginia Giuffre
The news of Virginia Giuffre’s untimely death has been a shock, especially for those still seeking justice for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims. Giuffre, a key figure in exposing Epstein’s depraved network and its ties to powerful figures like Prince Andrew, was reportedly struck by a bus in Australia. She then apparently ...12 hours ago
- Bernard’s Dawn Chorus & Pick ‘n’ Mix for Monday, April 28
An official briefing to the Health Minister warns “demand for acute services has outstripped hospital capacity”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe key long stories short in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, April 28 are: There’s a nationwide shortage of 500 hospital beds and 200,000 ...12 hours ago - Deep sea mining is the new front in Pacific competition
We should have been thinking about the seabed, not so much the cables. When a Chinese research vessel was spotted near Australia’s southern coast in late March, opposition leader Peter Dutton warned the ship was ...13 hours ago
- Gordon Campbell On A Neglected, Enduring Aspect Of The Francis Era
Now that the formalities of saying goodbye to Pope Francis are over, the process of selecting his successor can begin in earnest. Framing the choice in terms of “liberal v conservative” is somewhat misleading, given that all members of the College of Cardinals uphold the core Catholic doctrines – which ...19 hours ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
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- Governments Are Letting Big Tech Trash Our Planet
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- In Loving Memory Of Kyle Whorrall
When I first saw press photos of Mr Whorrall, an America PhD entomology student & researcher who had been living out a dream to finish out his studies in Auckland, my first impression, besides sadness, was how gentle he appeared.Press released the middle photo from Mr Whorrall’s Facebook pageBy all ...1 day ago - National’s Betrayal of Renters and First-Time Buyers
It's definitely not a renters market in New Zealand, as reported by 1 News last night. In fact the housing crisis has metastasised into a full-blown catastrophe in 2025, and the National Party Government’s policies are pouring petrol on the flames. Renters are being crushed under skyrocketing costs, first-time buyers ...1 day ago
- Would I Lie to You?
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...2 days ago - Fact brief – Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific c...
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- A culture of cruelty.
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...2 days ago - Northern Australia: fortress, gateway and resource powerhouse
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- Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to April 26
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...3 days ago - Debt Is A Form Of Government Control
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...3 days ago
- The 2025 Budget in a World of Trade Warfare
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...3 days ago - EGU2025 – Presentation about our translation activities
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- The drums of war revisited
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...3 days ago
- Cameron Slater’s New Website: Same Old Defamation
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- David Seymour’s Atlas Network Receiving Unwanted Attention
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- Nicola Willis To Blame For Family Boost Debacle
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...3 days ago
- Editors’ pick: ‘On the value of military service’
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- Rest easy, my friend.
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...4 days ago - The Hoon around the week to April 25
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Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...4 days ago - Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2025
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- Fiscal failure
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- What’s secret? When is it secret? Well, that’s complicated
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- Today’s Headlines: David Seymour’s ECE Risks & Coalition Government Lies
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- When in Rome
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...4 days ago - Thursday 24 April
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...4 days ago - John Campbell Investigates Brian Tamaki’s Destiny Church
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- The one who left
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...5 days ago - Gordon Campbell On The Trump Upside, And Peters Persecution Of Trans People
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...5 days ago
- Is Mark Mitchell a racist?
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...5 days ago
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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 ...5 days ago
- J.K. Rowling – Arsehole of the Week
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...5 days ago
- The rotten, unaccountable crown
Between 1950 and 1993 the New Zealand government tortured and abused up to 250,000 children in residential care facilities. They then proceeded to cover it up in order to minimise their liability, dragging out cases, slandering their victims and ultimately denying redress. In its final report, the Inquiry into Abuse ...5 days ago
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Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...5 days ago
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Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...5 days ago - Simeon Brown Doesn’t Consider Abortion To Be Healthcare As Services Scaled Back
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...5 days ago - Another Munich crisis? Understanding the limits of policymaking by analogy
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- Wednesday 23 April
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...5 days ago
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For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...6 days ago - Britain recasts AUKUS for a new era
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On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...6 days ago
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Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...6 days ago - One of the Good Ones
7 days ago - AI is reshaping security, and the intelligence review sets good direction
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...7 days ago
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Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...7 days ago - Gordon Campbell On Papal Picks, And India As A Defence Ally
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- The National Party’s Prison Pipeline Ruining New Zealand
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...1 week ago
- Don Brash’s NZME Power Grab Must Be Rejected
1 week ago
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- Ban on engineered stone essential to protect workers
The Green Party has renewed its call for the Government to ban the use, supply, and manufacture of engineered stone products, as the CTU launches a petition for the implementation of a full ban. ...10 hours ago - Release: Anzac Day a time to recommit to veterans
This Anzac Day, Labour recognises veterans and the service they have given to our country. ...3 days ago - Education Should be Led by Experts-Not Economists
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt’s flagship cost of living policy a failure
After promising $250 a fortnight to many families, the Government has been forced to admit just a couple hundred families are receiving it. ...4 days ago
- Release: Transparency needed on changes to early childhood education
The Government is putting children at risk in early childhood education (ECE) by proposing to loosen the requirement for qualified teachers. ...4 days ago
- Release: Govt funding needed to combat invasive seaweed
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...6 days ago
- New Zealand First Introduces Bill Defining ‘Woman’ and ‘Man’ in Law
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...6 days ago - Release: Labour marks the passing of Pope Francis
Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins joins those mourning the passing of Pope Francis. ...7 days ago
- Release: Boot camps blog post fails to provide clarity
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Inflation rises and families feel the squeeze
Inflation is rising again and it’s landing hardest on families already stretched thin. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt doesn’t know how to fund new hospitals
The Government’s health infrastructure plan is big on promises but coy on where the money is coming from. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: $10 million for only 215 students in charter schools
David Seymour is pouring $10 million into charter schools that only have 215 students enrolled. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Food prices further stretching the family budget
Families already stretched by rising costs will struggle with the news food prices are going up again. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Mental health staff and patients at risk without plan
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. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Driver licensing proposal doesn’t put safety first
The Government’s proposal to change driver licensing rules is a mixed bag of sensible and careless. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Students struggling as Govt sits on hands
The Government is continuing to sit on its hands as students struggle to pay rent due to delays with StudyLink. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: More must be done to stop children going hungry
More children are going hungry and statistics showing children in material hardship continue to get worse. ...2 weeks ago
- Greens continue to call for Pacific Visa Waiver
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. ...2 weeks ago
- More children going hungry under Coalition govt
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Longer wait for treatment under National
New Zealanders have waited longer to get an appointment with a specialist and to get elective surgery under the National Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire- Ka ora te mana o Te Tiriti o Waitangi me te iwi Māori
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 ...3 weeks ago
- Chris Hipkins speech: Treaty Principles Bill second reading
Normally, when I rise in this House to speak on a bill, I say it's a great privilege to speak on the bill. That is not the case today. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: End to the Treaty Principles Bill, but challenges remain ahead for Aotearoa
Ka mate te pire I te rā neiThe bill dies today ...3 weeks ago
- Ka mate te Pire, ka ora Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty Principles Bill dead, Te Tiriti o Waitangi m...
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. ...3 weeks ago
- Member’s Bill an opportunity for climate action
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. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Bill to make trading laws fairer passes first hurdle
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. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Reserve Bank acts while Govt shrugs
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. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: Property Law Amendment Bill pulled from ballot
A Bill to protect first home buyers and others from bad faith property vendors has been drawn from the Member’s Ballot. ...3 weeks ago
- Release: More children at risk of losing family connections
Karen Chhour is proposing to scrap Oranga Tamariki targets which aim to connect more children under state care with family and their culture. ...3 weeks ago
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- Free Speech Union Submits On Phase 2 Of Covid-19 Inquiry: Speech Rights Undermined During Pandemic
Suppressing legitimate questions and professional judgments ultimately undermines public trust and weakens democratic institutions. ...51 minutes ago - Big and small spending included in Labor costings, but off-budget items yet to be revealed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra The federal budget will be stronger than suggested in last month’s budget, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers who released Labor’s costings on Monday. Many of the policies included in the costings were already detailed ...55 minutes ago - How much do election promises cost? And why have we had to wait so long to see the costings?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra With the May 3 federal election less than a week away, voters have only just received Labor’s costings and are yet to hear from the Coalition. At the 2022 election, the costings were not ...55 minutes ago
- A ketamine nasal spray will be subsidised for treatment-resistant depression. Here’s what you need...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University WPixz/Shutterstock An antidepressant containing a form of the drug ketamine has been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), making it much cheaper for the estimated 30,000 Australians with treatment-resistant depression. This ...2 hours ago
- Peter Dutton calling the ABC and the Guardian ‘hate media’ rings alarm bells for democracy
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne In front of a crowd of party faithful last weekend, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton referred to the ABC, Guardian Australia and other news platforms as “hate media”. The language ...2 hours ago
- Plans to stockpile critical minerals will help Australia weather global uncertainty – and encoura...
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That face looks familiar! Is it the new State Services Commissioner? or the gNatz' strategy advisor? I'm sure I know the guy from somewhere
Local bowls club, mate.
Lol.
For those that didn't see it,
https://twitter.com/nettieg3/status/1198728777175457793
50% more time for the greens*, see.
* (The flat grassy type, not the political movement)
He's for the gurgler. Not a moment too soon.
The Mail on Sunday has a quite comprehensive article covering the OPCW scandal , and includes an email leaked by OPCW FFM members.
I'm not sure this can be passed off as disinformation by Pro Assad/Kremlin stooge /contrarian/conspiracy theorists, but I'm sure there'll be those who try
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7718627/Sexed-dossier-furore-alleged-poison-gas-attack-Assad.html#comments
All in all, not a good look for the leadership at OPCW, who incidentally are drawn from diplomats rather than scientists
Also raises the question of how long this politicisation has been going on?
Then there is OAS, assisting in the imperial over-rule of the south.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-many-lies-and-untruths-were-being-told-about-the-bolivian-coup/
Thanks for that . That Syria gas thing was found to be dodgy from the start, from memory. And knowing how foreign intel services work to create new facts and the Iraq WMD thing meant the whole story had strong 'fake' overtones.
Blue Monday by Killer Klowns.
(New Order Cover and Freaky Music Video).
The freaky video is mopstly excerpts from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", 1927.
a good cover of a classic.
yes, this one also true to the original.
Thanks solkta. I enjoyed that version.
either he is very ill or he has found his true calling as a twitter blogger
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/24/trump-white-house-residence-power-epicenter-073139
Bogaletch Gebre: obit of Ethiopian woman who managed to do wonderful things for women like her mother who she said had been regularly beaten, had her legs, jaw broken and her sister who died in childbirth because of difficulties birthing her twins caused by the FGM she had received when young. Bogaletch did so much, very inspiring.
https://www.pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-dominion-post/20191125/282149293159821
thanks for sharing
Advocates are pushing for a much needed change to the way relationships are handled. No comments in the article about how the housing situation is being made worse and possibly costing MSD due to the fact people are fearful of living together. It's a policy ffs. Make some clear rules so everyone can tell the difference between flatmate vs partner. Really is it sooo very hard that MSD can't do that?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12288255
It actually gets right to the heart of freedom of association and moral oppression. Women who did the feminist thing believed that women should be respected and their roles respected. So the way to go would be women receiving money and help from the state if they were on their own, while their children were under school age, and then getting part-time work so they would be part of the enterprise society. That was how it was supposed to go.
But lack of commitment to women's advancement by politicians and community leaders, led to neglect of the principle of supporting mothers to fulfil their biological and social roles well, and giving support to them getting skills training so they could become almost self-sufficient as household heads.
So now it is back to thinking that these are sloppy, possibly amoral, losers that society looks down on because there is a growing anti-human, rigid and autocratic, snobbish and superior approach to all in society that don't conform to the narrow middle-class ideas of style over substance. Good people are being done down by the sisters-that-never-were, and those feminist sisters that did stay true to the belief of women having a special role of building and holding society together are few and often impotent in the fact of the Moral Brigade and the Anti-human Neolib economists and misanthropes.
The idea of respect is stamped out, and the solo women must be kept under control or shoved off to be some man's responsibility before they infest the earth with more brats! No respect for the wonderful women who struggle to manage all the conflicting requirements of a hypocritical society, and if they fail they are branded as inferior.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/404142/beast-of-blenheim-fails-latest-appeals-against-recent-sentence-and-convictions
Good hold that man – he is not fit to be in society and even as an old man will still try to prey on the vulnerable.
Birds of a feather…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117670461/auckland-port-move-helen-clark-and-john-key-back-northport-initiative
You must live an interesting life, Chris, if two different organisms with one similarity are perceived as the same……….
Doesn't context mean anything to you, Low Context MacLiteral?
Nah, just require more evidence for ornithological observations of substance.
Did your eagle-eye perceive a bird-brained deposit?
I believe it's called a distraction display.
You two should get a room.
Will you have chicks with me?
"I will build myself a bower, by yon clear and crystal fountain……….." Songs, singers and musicians like this make life a joy. Dick Gaughan would not leave Britain until he’d seen Thatcher gone, such was his commitment through song to the cause.
Thatcher – bower – there is a connection there. What a pity she couldn't keep her namesake's skill going. Instead she set out to destroy the nests of the peasants and was given a hero's send-off by the gratified barons and would-be aristos.
I was fascinated to see a video of her talking to Gorbachev, and see his amazement at her full espousal of the nuclear bomb, and the MAD balance she imagined could be successfully maintained. He looked with surprise at this unrealistic, immature, prissy woman full of hubris, still thinking like a Head Prefect from a conservative college.
And I think that description of Thatcher isn't far off from applying to Johnson, except the prissy bit.
That is a nice bit of harmony and quiet sweet folk thanks.
Evidence to prove something you've received the literal meaning of when context says that literal meaning wasn't intended? Fuck me.
Chris, birds of a feather is not a saying with a literal meaning. It is an analogy, a likening.
It was also a political jibe, saying in essence from a one-off context that Key and Clark are alike. I don't subscribe to such political memes that 'all politicians are alike'. That's a distraction technique, one deployed to lead people away from political activity, and benefits none but the status quo.
I don't need to do your last request.
I believe I may have well taken you the wrong way. As you can see, I have a reaction to politicians of opposite stripes being lumped together as it can be a political tool to persuade people not to engage in voting for example. The old "Don't vote for them. It only encourages them" meme. Similarly with "They're all the same".
So, my apologies for not seeing that your main point was about collaboration over an economic and social goal.
I might call that an own goal, even. Cheers 🙂
Fuck me.
I hope we have the same context here………
Fuck me.