It’s all about knowing which side of the bread is buttered…
75% of the evangelical right support the Chump.
The median age of Faux News viewers is around 80.
But the Chump is born again – He even knows there’s a “Book” and his second favourite viewing after Fox is!!!….
Trinity Broadcasting Network
Featuring Mike Huckerbee – Sarah’s dad
And..
Trump has appeared 11 times on CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) since his campaign began; in 2017 alone, he gave more interviews to CBN than to CNN, ABC or CBS.
“This is an evangelical Cabinet,” says Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters. “You’re looking at name-brand conservative evangelicals that are very comfortable talking to Christian media types.” Jeff Sessions, Scott Pruitt, Rick Perry, Ben Carson and Pence, all evangelical Christians who talk frequently about faith, are among those who have appeared on CBN since Trump took office. And CBN has closely covered what it calls a “spiritual awakening” at the White House, including Oval Office prayers and a weekly Bible study involving many Cabinet members, at one point including Betsy DeVos and the now-departed Tom Price.
Tourists are waking up to the fact that NZ is neither clean nor green.
“New Zealand is not some ideal country that’s found the balance between people and nature, like 100% Pure New Zealand advertises,” he wrote.
“Plastic and trash are abundant, and though there is recycling, it’s not engrained in the culture.
“As a byproduct, the culture creates a lot of trash and they haven’t found a sustainable solution for disposing it, or curbing its consumerist culture.”
He said New Zealand’s “excessive” meat and dairy consumption is creating environmental disasters because farmers don’t do enough to prevent cow manure from leaching into the waterways.
“While NZ boasts many of the world’s remaining clean rivers, they’re getting increasingly polluted. It seemed like the media seldom covered this, but the Kiwis I met were fully aware of it.”
This is not even controversial any more – fact is that we have some nice places left because it’s a relatively large landmass with relatively few people in some parts of it.
That’s all – it doesn’t mean we aren’t a dirty, greedy bunch just like everywhere else. I’ve been explaining this to tourists for 40 years and they all recognise the truth instantly.
Let’s hope Ardern doesn’t limit the “culture change” to trying to reduce the number of administrative blunders:
“For instance someone who didn’t realise they had a benefit, who subsequently had their benefit cut off, who went in to seek another appointment immediately to try and rectify the situation only to be told the books were full and they would have to come back in several weeks.”
I think we’re well beyond accepting that “a step in the right direction” is an appropriate response. Serious legislative change is what’s required. Anything less will quite justifiably be dismissed as more of the same.
National’s Social Development spokeswoman Louise Upston said any overhaul must not lessen incentives to find work.
The incentives to find work is, according to National and the economists, being paid. If that’s not working then perhaps employers need to pay more.
Then, of course, there’s the lack of jobs. If there aren’t enough jobs to go round then there’s going to be unemployment and there’s nothing that the unemployed can do about that.
So, why are National so determined to punish people for something that is beyond their control and is, as a matter of fact, in the governments control?
Is it, perhaps, to distract from the fact that the National government was purposefully keeping the number of jobs down so as to decrease wages?
“New Zealanders are a fair minded people who want to help those who fall on hard times. But they also believe that people should help themselves and when they can work they should,” Upston said.
People work when they can. Don’t need any punishments to get that happening.
“Anyone who needs access to welfare can get it. It’s only right that they in return they meet obligations including looking for work, turning up to appointments, staying drug free and being honest about their living arrangements.
“It’s the clear expectation of tax payers that if beneficiaries are not doing that, then there should be sanctions.”
People’s living arrangement should have nothing to do with getting an unemployment benefit or not. If they’re unemployed then they should simply get it. The incentives for going to work should be enough. If they’re not then punish the people who are making it that way – the employers.
That is representative of the bold, brave moves of so many parents across New Zealand who’ve made the decision to get off a benefit and into work.”
She, of course, means forced off under National’s oppressive regime with no knowledge of what actually happened to them.
“She, of course, means forced off under National’s oppressive regime with no knowledge of what actually happened to them.”
This government’s at no time talked about whether it’s committed to fixing this. The problem’s been around since the Shipley years – since the 1991 benefit cuts to be precise – but until something’s done about it current statistics about benefit numbers are meaningless.
Can’t sit at Starbucks. Can’t ask for utensils at Waffle House. Can’t use our gym memberships. And now, apparently, can’t use golf memberships either. Think about the psychic cost of being one of us in 2018. And, if your name is John Aravosis, consider shutting the fuck up. https://t.co/zIsbHexxBc— Not THAT Jamie, k? (@thewayoftheid) April 23, 2018
YORK, Pa. (AP) — A golf club in Pennsylvania has apologized for calling police on a group of black women after the co-owner and his father said they were playing too slowly and refused requests to leave the course.
“I felt we were discriminated against,” one of the women, Myneca Ojo, told the York Daily Record. “It was a horrific experience.
Russia could supply Syria with advanced S-300 missile systems in the near future, Russian military sources have told the Kommersant newspaper, warning Israel would “suffer catastrophic consequences” if it attacked the system.
The daily newspaper said experts believed Israel would react negatively to any decision to supply the missiles to Syria, and might bomb the area where they would be deployed.
“If Israel decides to carry out rocket strikes on the deployment locations of the S-300, the consequences will be catastrophic for all sides,” an unnamed military source said.
A Russian diplomat who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said Israel has asked Moscow not to supply the Syrian military with the S-300s. An Israeli government spokesman declined comment.
A Russian diplomat who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said Israel has asked Moscow not to supply the Syrian military with the S-300s. An Israeli government spokesman declined comment.
Well, according to Israel, the UK, the US and international law all countries have the right to defend themselves.
Seems to me that Israel is demanding that some countries not be able to.
Translated Russian language article with more details.
In addition to internal circumstances, there were external ones: the Syrian S-300 supply was constantly criticized by Israel, who believed that, having received such a powerful weapon, the Syrian military could control its airspace. Eventually, at the request of Tel Aviv, the contract was canceled. “The Israelis expressed concern about the delivery of the same S-300 systems to another country in the region, since the S-300 can get Israeli territory from its territory,” President Vladimir Putin said during a direct line on April 16, 2015 , clarifying that Russia’s concern has divided and returned to the customer about $ 400 million in advance. Subsequently, these S-300PMU-2 were adapted to the requirements of another customer – Iran, who bought them for $ 1 billion ( see “Kommersant” on November 10, 2015 ).
But the real treat? A series of images from inside the legendary vault at Paisley Park, which had been rumoured to exist for many years but which no one, outside of a select few, had ever seen, as well as amazing images of Prince’s collection of equipment, his studio, and his Paisley Park ‘club’.
In 2015, Prince’s former sound engineer Susan Rodgers told The Guardian: “When I left in 87, it was nearly full. Row after row of everything we’d done. I can’t imagine what they’ve done since then.”
Well, you can see for yourself below.
Only Prince himself knew the key code for the door, so it had to be drilled open, with the estate’s archivist apparently discovering enough unreleased music to release a new album “every year for the next century”.
Have to say I’m not surprised it read it was fentanyl that killed him. Scary stuff fentanyl, if half of what I’m hearing from disabled friends who have tried it say is true, we should not let it into NZ.
The coroner has ruled that a Whanganui electrician found dead with syringes beside him and a glass pipe in his hand died from an accidental overdose.
Paul Haydon Alexander Cook was found dead in a bedroom at his parents’ house in Whanganui about 5pm on April 2, 2016.
The direct cause of his death was multiple drug toxicity – the two drugs in his system were the opioid Fentanyl which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and Notriptyline.
Around eight years before his death, the 24-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in a quad bike accident.
Two and a half years later he aggravated his injury and underwent surgery, but remained in constant pain. His doctors were never able to diagnose the cause or treat it with anything other than pain medication.
Paul’s mother, Tina, said he suffered multiple overdoses in the last two and a half years of his life.
[…]
After the post-mortem, Dr Kate White concluded the cause of Cook’s death was multiple drug toxicity, as a result of intravenous injection of Fentanyl while Paul was also using transdermal patches containing Fentanyl.
Coroner Tim Scott ruled that it was unlikely Paul overdosed to commit suicide, instead he believed the most probable reason for him using the drugs was as self-administered pain relief.
Shoulder injuries of any kind are a bastard. Incredibly painful, debilitating, and they, if they ever do, take many, many, years to fully heal and I find your characterisation of that level of suffering as chronic pain syndrome a fucking insult.
Oh do go jump in a pile of your own sh*t joe90, I’m sick of you creating fake things to be offended by.
I’ve had chronic pain syndrome for over 35 years, it’s a broad medical description. Generally used to cover any condition the medical profession have difficult diagnosing when it comes to pain.
Ever few years it’s the term changes, for example “Complex regional pain syndrome” was popular there for a bit. Now back to chronic pain syndrome, because it’s a bit more clear especially when you break it into single words – chronic, pain, and syndrome.
Because basically at 24 the medical profession has a lot of options, not just hard core pain killers. It’s just we live in a world where they don’t look at those options because of expense, because it’s simpler and cheaper to just medicate.
Those option included, but are not excluded to: the pain service, mindfulness (which takes training) , relaxation (again proper training and analysis to find what form of relationation works for the individual) , counselling, physical therapy, and acupuncture just to name a few.
So if you think handing out fentanyl to a 24 year old without going through all the other options first joe90, and getting in a tiz over a medical description – then sorry for you.
I’m sorry, but the language, and terms used irritate the fuck out of me.
My own life time of bangs and knocks are mostly relieved by my activity levels but the god awful state of a couple of long suffering friends who’ve been victims of serious accidents incenses me.
Rather than financing commitments to intensive, hands on physical therapies, lifestyle changes, and supervised, monitored long term activity programmes, Pilates, yoga, cycle. swim and gym training, etc, assessors and their advisors gaslight folk struggling to find suitable pain relief by going down the syndrome track.
And then it’s here, have some psych help to develop mindfulness and other coping mechanisms because if you do, you can just think it all away.
I like the term because it is so FUBAR. If you get that label, it means the medical profession is bereft of ideas.
That said, pain management is a whole lot of coping mechanisms, there is no panacea. From day to day almost you have to adjust and do thing differently. It sucks. What worked for me years ago just aggravates things now.
My worry and concern is hard core painkillers are seen as a panacea, or at the very least sold as a panacea by the drug companies.
Personally I’d love to use cannabis leaf based products, like teas and poultices, to help with pain management. But I really can’t see that happening with this government.
“Twelve days later however, and Clark is still telling media that the process around Rabindran and Darrow’s future is still underway despite them already having their termination letters.”
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13.”
Sure, but who is literally saying that Clark had been telling porkies? Nobody in that article as far as I can tell but I seem to have misplaced my reading glasses 😉
Direct contradictions with Clark. No-one is required to literally say anything. The guys been caught out. But then there’s a number of regular contributors here who must be regretting their claims about Middlemore, seeing as they’ve been show to be a total exaggeration.
Umm as a language teacher, may I ask you what you mean by the expression ‘total exaggeration’? Can exaggeration be absolute? To my mind, no. Total is absolute. Exaggeration is making greater.
Making greatest is Maximisation, not Exaggeration.
You are a bit careless in your use of language, aren’t you?
If you are a language teacher, you will know that the term ‘total exaggeration’ is used for emphasis. Let me explain. A number of contributors here claimed all sorts of horrendous things were happening at Middlemore (as an example, this thread https://thestandard.org.nz/the-hidden-infrastructure-fiscal-crisis-gets-real/). Not it seems these claims were greatly exaggerated, some might even say fabricated. So, for emphasis, (and to politely avoid calling people liars or ignorant), I suggested their language was total exaggeration.
So, for emphasis, (and to politely avoid calling people liars or ignorant), I suggested their language was total exaggeration.
Oddly, you didn’t hold back accusing David Clark for “telling porkies” and pretended, bordering on alleged, that this was actually in and taken from the Stuff article. FYI, the stuff piece gives only one side of the story predominately based on person’s account. This person being a party in the ‘dispute’ and thus hardly objective or neutral. Yet, you have no qualms whatsoever to accept this account as true and correct. Odd, as I said; no critical assessment of facts (or lack thereof) and sound judgement plus use of odd English language “for emphasis”. Why is emphasis even relevant or necessary here? Very odd indeed.
“Oddly, you didn’t hold back accusing David Clark for “telling porkies” and pretended, bordering on alleged, that this was actually in and taken from the Stuff article. “
The lies are quoted in the article, as I have posted for you. Clearly you have a convenient case of comprehension deficit!!
“In the article, who said that David Clark had “lied”?
DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson.
Board Member Mark Darrow.
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13. She says Clark was specifically told there were “similar problems in multiple buildings”, which Clark denies. He says there was “no mention of any other urgent works” other than the Scott Building. Clark and his adviser were both given dossiers of information that day that included the full remediation plan and costings but Clark says only the Scott Building was drawn to his attention. Darrow wasn’t there the day of the visit but says he’s received emails and has spoken to other people who were there who say Johnson’s account of what happened was “accurate and consistent”. He says Clark’s office contacted DHB asking for another copy of the information that was provided at that visit on the same day Stuff asked questions about it. “I can’t confirm what was said but I can confirm what he was given and the fact he had to ask for another copy suggests he and his advisor both didn’t read it and lost the originals,” Darrow said.”
Two people have given accounts that contradict David Clark and MoH’s statements so far. But where, in the article, do these two people specifically say or state that David Clark has been lying. The obvious answer is: nowhere. It is obvious, because you would have quoted the line before I could blink. You haven’t because you can’t and you can’t because that line does not exist in the article.
So, it is you who interpreted and paraphrased the article in Stuff and concluded that Clark had been telling porkies. And then added a few other bits to it to create a smokescreen, as usual.
You see, a Professional Director would never be so stupid to make direct accusations against their Boss in MSM of the specific nature that you were alleging. In other words, you made up a whole heap of BS.
Obviously, the story is unfolding but you’ve jumped the gun and put your own words & spin into and onto it.
“Twelve days later however, and Clark is still telling media that the process around Rabindran and Darrow’s future is still underway despite them already having their termination letters.”
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13.”
So, you are implying that David Clark said, in said article, that he “had been telling porkies”!? Of course not!
Please state clearly, specifically, and, above all, slowly who stated in that article that “that Clark had been telling porkies” or said something with a very similar meaning. Saying that one story is at odds with another is not nearly as strong as saying “that Clark had been telling porkies” and I hope you do realise that even though you like to use emphasis for added drama and what have you but that doesn’t make it so. In other words, you’re overreaching and making up BS.
So far, the only person who has been making this claim is you.
BTW, the Stuff article only contains one side of the story, doesn’t? I guess there is no need to hear the other side, get more facts and information, and then make an informed judgement, is there? Odd.
Right, you cannot show, in the article, who specifically said that David Clark “had lied” or “had been telling porkies”. I can tell you why you cannot show this: because nobody actually did so.
It is all in your head; you made it up. Only you go on about “lies” and “porkies”. Do you hear voices telling you “that Clark had been telling porkies”? Do you see flying pigs?
BTW, words between quotation marks have a specific meaning; the word “specifically” has a specific meaning. I doubt that even In Vino could teach you, regardless of whether they are registered or not as Teacher®.
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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: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...
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 ...
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...
Photo by Beth Macdonald on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat with myself, and regular guests climate correspondent and on climate ...
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...
'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 ...
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 ...
Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025. The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP ...
The National Party’s announcement to reinstate a total ban on prisoner voting is a shameful step backwards. Denying the right to vote does not strengthen society — it weakens our democracy and breaches Te Tiriti o Waitangi. “Voting is not a privilege to be taken away — it is a ...
Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants. ...
The Government’s Budget looks set to usher in a new age of austerity. This morning, Minister of Finance Nicola Willis said new spending would be limited to $1.4 billion, cut back from the original intended $2.4 billion, which itself was already $100 million below what Treasury said was needed to ...
Right‑wing ministers are waging a campaign to erase Māori health equity by tearing out its very foundations. ACT’s Todd Stephenson dismisses Treaty‑based nursing standards as “off‑track distractions” and insists nurses only need “skill and a kind heart,” despite clear evidence that cultural competence saves lives. Health Minister Simeon Brown’s funding cuts, hiring ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Cornell, Research Fellow, Flinders University shutterstockbeeboys/Shutterstock It would be impossible at this stage in the election campaign to be unaware that housing is a critical, potentially vote-changing, issue. But the suite of policies being proposed by the major parties largely ...
Unless your workplace is already utopia – and we haven’t come across one yet – there is a good reason for all union members to come to this hui. Union members and delegates from many different unions and workplaces have told us why they and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Daria Nipot/Shutterstock Australia’s headline inflation rate held steady at a four-year low of 2.4% in the March quarter, according to official data, adding to the case for ...
Our targets aren’t ambitious enough. Supported by seven independent experts, we’re arguing that the targets are not aligned with what’s required to limit warming to 1.5°C, and the Commission didn’t carry out its analysis in the way the law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Micah Boerma, Researcher, School of Psychology and Wellbeing, University of Southern Queensland Nitinai Thabthong/Shutterstock One of the highlights of the school year is an overnight excursion or school camp. These can happen as early as Year 3. While many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Edwell, Associate Professor in Ancient History, Macquarie University SvetlanaVV/Shutterstock Something tells me US president Donald Trump would love to be a Roman emperor. The mythology of unrestrained power with sycophants doing his bidding would be seductive. But in fact, ...
It is an unjustifiable limit on the electoral rights of New Zealand citizens that will disproportionately harm Māori, writes law lecturer Carwyn Jones.The government has announced that it intends to resurrect the ill-conceived, Bill of Rights-breaching blanket ban on prisoner voting. This policy was previously implemented by a law ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 30, 2025. Locked up for life? Unpacking South Australia’s new child sex crime lawsSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Xanthe Mallett, Criminologist, CQUniversity Australia Melnikov Dmitriy/Shutterstock It’s election time, which means the age old ...
“The promise was for this to be revenue neutral, to reduce congestion and improve efficiency. But if the funds can be spent elsewhere, we’ll call it what it is—another tax.” ...
With just a few days to polls-time, Ben McKay joins Toby Manhire to chat about the Albo v Dutto denouement. This Saturday Aussies will (compulsorily) head to the polls. At the start of the year, Labor under Anthony Albanese was staring down the barrel of defeat and the first one-term ...
Palestinians do not have the luxury to allow Western moral panic to have its say or impact. Not caving in to this panic is one small, but important, step in building a global Palestine network that is urgently needed, writes Dr Ilan PappéANALYSIS:By Ilan Pappé Responses in the ...
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“New Zealand is now running the worst primary deficit of any advanced economy. Net core Crown debt has exploded from $59 billion in 2017 to a projected $192 billion this year.” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert G. Patman, Professor of International Relations, University of Otago GettyImagesGetty Images Is it possible to reconcile increased international support for Ukraine with Donald Trump’s plan to end the war? At their recent meeting in London, Christopher Luxon and his British ...
John Campbell’s new TVNZ+ docuseries is a gripping and unsettling look at how Destiny Church has amassed money and power – and why its growing aggression should alarm us all.As I sat down for dinner with my fiancée last Friday night, we faced the age-old question of deciding what ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: Graci Kim, author of new middle grade novel, Dreamslinger.On 7 April Graci Kim announced on her social media channels that she wasn’t going to be touring the ...
Access Community Health support workers will strike from 12-2pm on Thursday, 1 May - International Workers’ Day - the same day as senior doctors and Auckland City Hospital’s perioperative nurses will also walk off the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Gagliano, Research Associate Professor in Evolutionary Biology, Southern Cross University Zenit Arti Audiovisive Earth’s cycles of light and dark profoundly affect billions of organisms. Events such as solar eclipses are known to bring about marked shifts in animals, but do ...
By Reza Azam Greenpeace has condemned an announcement by The Metals Company to submit the first application to commercially mine the seabed. “The first application to commercially mine the seabed will be remembered as an act of total disregard for international law and scientific consensus,” said Greenpeace International senior campaigner ...
No good thing ever lasts and this week, the Samoan call was lost to the corporate world forever. Everybody’s heard a cheehoo before. Certainly if you’ve ever been in the vicinity of two or more Samoans, you’ll have heard one whether you wanted to or not. It soundtracks every sports ...
The largest iwi in Aotearoa has yet to settle its Treaty claim. As debate continues, Pene Dalton makes the case for clarity and courage. And settlement. Ngāpuhi is the largest iwi in Aotearoa, with over 180,000 people connected by whakapapa – and our population is growing. That growth brings pride ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Briony Hill, Deputy Head, Health and Social Care Unit and Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Kate Cashin Photography According to a study from the United States, women experience weight stigma in maternity care at almost every visit. We expect this experience ...
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The associate education minister has appealed for mayors’ support on improving school attendance. But should it really be part of their job, asks Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Mayors unimpressed by Seymour’s call to arms Associate education ...
Multinational Methanex’s Kiwi subsidiary has claimed to be unprofitable and paid no tax in New Zealand for the past two years – yet found the cash to pay a $70 million dividend to its Vancouver-based parent company this year.The dividend is disclosed in a note to this month’s Methanex NZ ...
The newly confirmed US Secretary of State.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/01/mike_pompeo_trump_s_pick_for_the_cia_wants_a_holy_war.html
It’s all about knowing which side of the bread is buttered…
75% of the evangelical right support the Chump.
The median age of Faux News viewers is around 80.
But the Chump is born again – He even knows there’s a “Book” and his second favourite viewing after Fox is!!!….
Trinity Broadcasting Network
Featuring Mike Huckerbee – Sarah’s dad
And..
Trump has appeared 11 times on CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) since his campaign began; in 2017 alone, he gave more interviews to CBN than to CNN, ABC or CBS.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/22/trump-christian-evangelical-conservatives-television-tbn-cbn-218008
Well they do need prayers
The 50 year project to turn the US into a theocracy is almost complete.
FIFY
heh
https://twitter.com/bungdan/status/988562157338951680
Tourists are waking up to the fact that NZ is neither clean nor green.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/04/i-feel-cheated-us-backpacker-says-nz-s-clean-green-image-is-a-myth.html
This is not even controversial any more – fact is that we have some nice places left because it’s a relatively large landmass with relatively few people in some parts of it.
That’s all – it doesn’t mean we aren’t a dirty, greedy bunch just like everywhere else. I’ve been explaining this to tourists for 40 years and they all recognise the truth instantly.
+1
“New Zealand’s ‘excessive’ meat and dairy consumption ”
*Production* for export.
If we’re still using that 100% Pure then it’s a lie and should probably be taken to court as false advertising.
You didn’t corner the poor bugger in a pub for an hour did you eddy?
Hasler would be good for the Kiwis.
Toovey could take on the Silver Ferns 🙂 with a stepladder.
Sadly we don’t have a shitshow tomorrow.
Let’s hope Ardern doesn’t limit the “culture change” to trying to reduce the number of administrative blunders:
“For instance someone who didn’t realise they had a benefit, who subsequently had their benefit cut off, who went in to seek another appointment immediately to try and rectify the situation only to be told the books were full and they would have to come back in several weeks.”
Way more than that needs an “overhaul”.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103365045/prime-minister-says-welfare-overhaul-is-imminent
Well its a start.
I think we’re well beyond accepting that “a step in the right direction” is an appropriate response. Serious legislative change is what’s required. Anything less will quite justifiably be dismissed as more of the same.
I agree.
And of course it was common for years and not just a recent Labour event. Take a while to disinfect.
Good stuff, let’s hope they ask the people that use the service for feedback, as well as those who work there.
There was a thread on here awhile back with some awesome suggestions for improvements.
The incentives to find work is, according to National and the economists, being paid. If that’s not working then perhaps employers need to pay more.
Then, of course, there’s the lack of jobs. If there aren’t enough jobs to go round then there’s going to be unemployment and there’s nothing that the unemployed can do about that.
So, why are National so determined to punish people for something that is beyond their control and is, as a matter of fact, in the governments control?
Is it, perhaps, to distract from the fact that the National government was purposefully keeping the number of jobs down so as to decrease wages?
People work when they can. Don’t need any punishments to get that happening.
People’s living arrangement should have nothing to do with getting an unemployment benefit or not. If they’re unemployed then they should simply get it. The incentives for going to work should be enough. If they’re not then punish the people who are making it that way – the employers.
She, of course, means forced off under National’s oppressive regime with no knowledge of what actually happened to them.
“She, of course, means forced off under National’s oppressive regime with no knowledge of what actually happened to them.”
This government’s at no time talked about whether it’s committed to fixing this. The problem’s been around since the Shipley years – since the 1991 benefit cuts to be precise – but until something’s done about it current statistics about benefit numbers are meaningless.
To some degree but the last iteration of National government made it far worse.
There are plenty of jobs, but employers are pretty picky these days.
Then explain unemployment. Explain why when a job is advertised that there’s more people applying for it than the job requires.
The evidence refutes that there’s enough jobs available.
Surely another pro-Western and anti-Russian CIA Zionist backed coup.
//
https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-bloodless-uprising-in-armenia-just-forced-the-president-to-resign-will-new-peaceful-revolutions-follow?
Not if it was bloodless…
‘Murica
.
YORK, Pa. (AP) — A golf club in Pennsylvania has apologized for calling police on a group of black women after the co-owner and his father said they were playing too slowly and refused requests to leave the course.
“I felt we were discriminated against,” one of the women, Myneca Ojo, told the York Daily Record. “It was a horrific experience.
https://apnews.com/amp/95e02521b2884a2abd1470fd9b6fecbb?__twitter_impression=true
#LivingWhileBlack
Were Starbucks in collusion with the golf club owners joey?
Holy shit…Salvation Army says its getting 300 new families each week seeking assistance.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018642099
The inevitable result of National’s policies.
This is going to end well, right?
Russia could supply Syria with advanced S-300 missile systems in the near future, Russian military sources have told the Kommersant newspaper, warning Israel would “suffer catastrophic consequences” if it attacked the system.
The daily newspaper said experts believed Israel would react negatively to any decision to supply the missiles to Syria, and might bomb the area where they would be deployed.
“If Israel decides to carry out rocket strikes on the deployment locations of the S-300, the consequences will be catastrophic for all sides,” an unnamed military source said.
A Russian diplomat who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said Israel has asked Moscow not to supply the Syrian military with the S-300s. An Israeli government spokesman declined comment.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/russia-syria-israel-missile-systems-army-air-strikes-assad-regime-a8318256.html?
Well, according to Israel, the UK, the US and international law all countries have the right to defend themselves.
Seems to me that Israel is demanding that some countries not be able to.
Hypocrisy aside, I guess maybe they didn’t shoot down all those jizzm-ers a few days back.
Translated Russian language article with more details.
In addition to internal circumstances, there were external ones: the Syrian S-300 supply was constantly criticized by Israel, who believed that, having received such a powerful weapon, the Syrian military could control its airspace. Eventually, at the request of Tel Aviv, the contract was canceled. “The Israelis expressed concern about the delivery of the same S-300 systems to another country in the region, since the S-300 can get Israeli territory from its territory,” President Vladimir Putin said during a direct line on April 16, 2015 , clarifying that Russia’s concern has divided and returned to the customer about $ 400 million in advance. Subsequently, these S-300PMU-2 were adapted to the requirements of another customer – Iran, who bought them for $ 1 billion ( see “Kommersant” on November 10, 2015 ).
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kommersant.ru%2Fdoc%2F3612197&edit-text=&act=url
I knew the man was prolific, but an album every year for the next century, wow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpGA0azFdCs
But the real treat? A series of images from inside the legendary vault at Paisley Park, which had been rumoured to exist for many years but which no one, outside of a select few, had ever seen, as well as amazing images of Prince’s collection of equipment, his studio, and his Paisley Park ‘club’.
In 2015, Prince’s former sound engineer Susan Rodgers told The Guardian: “When I left in 87, it was nearly full. Row after row of everything we’d done. I can’t imagine what they’ve done since then.”
Well, you can see for yourself below.
Only Prince himself knew the key code for the door, so it had to be drilled open, with the estate’s archivist apparently discovering enough unreleased music to release a new album “every year for the next century”.
https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/music/prince-underground-music-vault-photos-images-paisley-park/354202
Thanks for links joe90.
Have to say I’m not surprised it read it was fentanyl that killed him. Scary stuff fentanyl, if half of what I’m hearing from disabled friends who have tried it say is true, we should not let it into NZ.
It’s already here as an analgesic of last resort.
.
The coroner has ruled that a Whanganui electrician found dead with syringes beside him and a glass pipe in his hand died from an accidental overdose.
Paul Haydon Alexander Cook was found dead in a bedroom at his parents’ house in Whanganui about 5pm on April 2, 2016.
The direct cause of his death was multiple drug toxicity – the two drugs in his system were the opioid Fentanyl which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and Notriptyline.
Around eight years before his death, the 24-year-old suffered a shoulder injury in a quad bike accident.
Two and a half years later he aggravated his injury and underwent surgery, but remained in constant pain. His doctors were never able to diagnose the cause or treat it with anything other than pain medication.
Paul’s mother, Tina, said he suffered multiple overdoses in the last two and a half years of his life.
[…]
After the post-mortem, Dr Kate White concluded the cause of Cook’s death was multiple drug toxicity, as a result of intravenous injection of Fentanyl while Paul was also using transdermal patches containing Fentanyl.
Coroner Tim Scott ruled that it was unlikely Paul overdosed to commit suicide, instead he believed the most probable reason for him using the drugs was as self-administered pain relief.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503426&objectid=11964125
I thought it was only last resort to people at death’s door, not to a 24 year old, suffering with chronic pain syndrome.
Shoulder injuries of any kind are a bastard. Incredibly painful, debilitating, and they, if they ever do, take many, many, years to fully heal and I find your characterisation of that level of suffering as chronic pain syndrome a fucking insult.
Oh do go jump in a pile of your own sh*t joe90, I’m sick of you creating fake things to be offended by.
I’ve had chronic pain syndrome for over 35 years, it’s a broad medical description. Generally used to cover any condition the medical profession have difficult diagnosing when it comes to pain.
Ever few years it’s the term changes, for example “Complex regional pain syndrome” was popular there for a bit. Now back to chronic pain syndrome, because it’s a bit more clear especially when you break it into single words – chronic, pain, and syndrome.
.
Because basically at 24 the medical profession has a lot of options, not just hard core pain killers. It’s just we live in a world where they don’t look at those options because of expense, because it’s simpler and cheaper to just medicate.
Those option included, but are not excluded to: the pain service, mindfulness (which takes training) , relaxation (again proper training and analysis to find what form of relationation works for the individual) , counselling, physical therapy, and acupuncture just to name a few.
So if you think handing out fentanyl to a 24 year old without going through all the other options first joe90, and getting in a tiz over a medical description – then sorry for you.
I’m sorry, but the language, and terms used irritate the fuck out of me.
My own life time of bangs and knocks are mostly relieved by my activity levels but the god awful state of a couple of long suffering friends who’ve been victims of serious accidents incenses me.
Rather than financing commitments to intensive, hands on physical therapies, lifestyle changes, and supervised, monitored long term activity programmes, Pilates, yoga, cycle. swim and gym training, etc, assessors and their advisors gaslight folk struggling to find suitable pain relief by going down the syndrome track.
And then it’s here, have some psych help to develop mindfulness and other coping mechanisms because if you do, you can just think it all away.
I like the term because it is so FUBAR. If you get that label, it means the medical profession is bereft of ideas.
That said, pain management is a whole lot of coping mechanisms, there is no panacea. From day to day almost you have to adjust and do thing differently. It sucks. What worked for me years ago just aggravates things now.
My worry and concern is hard core painkillers are seen as a panacea, or at the very least sold as a panacea by the drug companies.
Personally I’d love to use cannabis leaf based products, like teas and poultices, to help with pain management. But I really can’t see that happening with this government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103342738/green-party-will-stand-candidate-in-northcote-byelection
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/103249836/middlemore-hospital-what-really-went-down-between-health-minister-and-counties-manukau-dhb
So Clark has been telling porkies, eh. Surprise, surprise.
Says who?
Read the article. And there have been others. He’s been caught out big time.
I did read the article but nowhere did it say that Clark had been telling porkies.
Must be my bad reading comprehension again 😉
Must be.
“Twelve days later however, and Clark is still telling media that the process around Rabindran and Darrow’s future is still underway despite them already having their termination letters.”
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13.”
Sure, but who is literally saying that Clark had been telling porkies? Nobody in that article as far as I can tell but I seem to have misplaced my reading glasses 😉
Direct contradictions with Clark. No-one is required to literally say anything. The guys been caught out. But then there’s a number of regular contributors here who must be regretting their claims about Middlemore, seeing as they’ve been show to be a total exaggeration.
Umm as a language teacher, may I ask you what you mean by the expression ‘total exaggeration’? Can exaggeration be absolute? To my mind, no. Total is absolute. Exaggeration is making greater.
Making greatest is Maximisation, not Exaggeration.
You are a bit careless in your use of language, aren’t you?
If you are a language teacher, you will know that the term ‘total exaggeration’ is used for emphasis. Let me explain. A number of contributors here claimed all sorts of horrendous things were happening at Middlemore (as an example, this thread https://thestandard.org.nz/the-hidden-infrastructure-fiscal-crisis-gets-real/). Not it seems these claims were greatly exaggerated, some might even say fabricated. So, for emphasis, (and to politely avoid calling people liars or ignorant), I suggested their language was total exaggeration.
Oddly, you didn’t hold back accusing David Clark for “telling porkies” and pretended, bordering on alleged, that this was actually in and taken from the Stuff article. FYI, the stuff piece gives only one side of the story predominately based on person’s account. This person being a party in the ‘dispute’ and thus hardly objective or neutral. Yet, you have no qualms whatsoever to accept this account as true and correct. Odd, as I said; no critical assessment of facts (or lack thereof) and sound judgement plus use of odd English language “for emphasis”. Why is emphasis even relevant or necessary here? Very odd indeed.
“Oddly, you didn’t hold back accusing David Clark for “telling porkies” and pretended, bordering on alleged, that this was actually in and taken from the Stuff article. “
The lies are quoted in the article, as I have posted for you. Clearly you have a convenient case of comprehension deficit!!
Crikey! You are a stubbornly slow learner, aren’t you?
In the article, who said that David Clark had “lied”? This is rhetorical now because you’ve already proven that you cannot answer the question.
“In the article, who said that David Clark had “lied”?
DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson.
Board Member Mark Darrow.
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13. She says Clark was specifically told there were “similar problems in multiple buildings”, which Clark denies. He says there was “no mention of any other urgent works” other than the Scott Building. Clark and his adviser were both given dossiers of information that day that included the full remediation plan and costings but Clark says only the Scott Building was drawn to his attention. Darrow wasn’t there the day of the visit but says he’s received emails and has spoken to other people who were there who say Johnson’s account of what happened was “accurate and consistent”. He says Clark’s office contacted DHB asking for another copy of the information that was provided at that visit on the same day Stuff asked questions about it. “I can’t confirm what was said but I can confirm what he was given and the fact he had to ask for another copy suggests he and his advisor both didn’t read it and lost the originals,” Darrow said.”
Oh boy, we are lethargically slow!
Two people have given accounts that contradict David Clark and MoH’s statements so far. But where, in the article, do these two people specifically say or state that David Clark has been lying. The obvious answer is: nowhere. It is obvious, because you would have quoted the line before I could blink. You haven’t because you can’t and you can’t because that line does not exist in the article.
Basta così!
“But where, in the article, do these two people…“
Who claimed they did? I never claimed they said he lied. But he did lie, and their comments just provide evidence.
Sigh
So, it is you who interpreted and paraphrased the article in Stuff and concluded that Clark had been telling porkies. And then added a few other bits to it to create a smokescreen, as usual.
You see, a Professional Director would never be so stupid to make direct accusations against their Boss in MSM of the specific nature that you were alleging. In other words, you made up a whole heap of BS.
Obviously, the story is unfolding but you’ve jumped the gun and put your own words & spin into and onto it.
Yes Incognito – it looks a bit like total exaggeration to me. Or a load of Babblegab.
“Twelve days later however, and Clark is still telling media that the process around Rabindran and Darrow’s future is still underway despite them already having their termination letters.”
“Earlier this month Stuff revealed the DHB acting chief executive Gloria Johnson was at odds with Clark over what he was told about the state of Middlemore Hospital’s problems when he visited on March 13.”
I didn’t interpret or paraphrase. I quoted the article directly. You seem to have been caught by this https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24-04-2018/#comment-1478544.
The article specifically calls Clark out. And for good reason.
Nice spin with ‘unfolding’ though. I’d say it was Clark’s credibility that was unfolding.
So, you are implying that David Clark said, in said article, that he “had been telling porkies”!? Of course not!
Please state clearly, specifically, and, above all, slowly who stated in that article that “that Clark had been telling porkies” or said something with a very similar meaning. Saying that one story is at odds with another is not nearly as strong as saying “that Clark had been telling porkies” and I hope you do realise that even though you like to use emphasis for added drama and what have you but that doesn’t make it so. In other words, you’re overreaching and making up BS.
So far, the only person who has been making this claim is you.
BTW, the Stuff article only contains one side of the story, doesn’t? I guess there is no need to hear the other side, get more facts and information, and then make an informed judgement, is there? Odd.
“Please state clearly, specifically, and, above all, slowly who stated in that article that “that Clark had been telling porkies” “
Why would someone need to? Because you’re in denial. The two lies are documented here:
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24-04-2018/#comment-1478602
Right, you cannot show, in the article, who specifically said that David Clark “had lied” or “had been telling porkies”. I can tell you why you cannot show this: because nobody actually did so.
It is all in your head; you made it up. Only you go on about “lies” and “porkies”. Do you hear voices telling you “that Clark had been telling porkies”? Do you see flying pigs?
BTW, words between quotation marks have a specific meaning; the word “specifically” has a specific meaning. I doubt that even In Vino could teach you, regardless of whether they are registered or not as Teacher®.
Right, you cannot show, in the article, who specifically said that David Clark “had lied” or “had been telling porkies”.”
1. I didn’t claim anyone specifically said that. Why would they need to when it is so obvious? But by using that criteria, you’re clearly nervous about the lies Clark has told.
2. https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-24-04-2018/#comment-1479102
Clark is telling porkies.
Finally!
You made it up, repeatedly. They are your words and your words only.
Thank you for stating the obvious.
What took you so long? That’s rhetorical.
Does it hurt to tell the truth? That’s rhetorical too.
This is the end of the line for me.
Ciao!