I read somewhere recently that the blue whale resides in just one or two places on the planet, and that there were a few more than feared which is a relief.
Blue whales can be up to 30m long and can appear up to 33% bigger underwater, because of refraction. They also swim past the Maui gas fields and areas where Simon Bridges has decided sonic exploration can happen. Despite their colour, they are rumoured to not vote NAct.
Great image, presumably a blue whale, and a big one at that.
Have a read of Mathew Hooton in the NBR (24 April) on his speculation of Winston Peters ambition to be PM. It is pretty much my view and I was setting forth about it to closely connected political figures just before the article was published ( Ihad no knowledge of the article). From my investigations over the last few weeks it is a broader NZF goal.
Look Wayne, if you mean ‘David DP Farrar reckons we should spread fear of Winston among the left to destabilise the Green/Labour relationship’, then just say ‘David DP Farrar reckons we should spread fear of Winston among the left to destabilise the Green/Labour relationship.’
Dyslexic Wayne – do all your DP’ing before you get on the wines because your sentences quickly become incomprehensible as the evening draws on. Lucky for you that felix is sharp.
Nothing about spreading fear. More an observation of future coalition dynamics.
Winston will want the deal from either side. If he does well in the provinces he could get more than a third of the votes of the two larger parties (ie 12% v 36%). That would give him real negotiating power.
I would agree about Winston getting leverage out of the provinces northland has shown them another option.
In the last week I’ve had one farmer admit that they do better under labour than the nats and I’ve heard another grumping about key letting nz get sold to offshore interests.
There’s lots of votes ripe for the picking for any party that can see past the city limits. Mine included.
In the last week I’ve had one farmer admit that they do better under labour than the nats and I’ve heard another grumping about key letting nz get sold to offshore interests.
Yep. That’d be right up Winston’s and NZ1sts alley.
If I explain why your observations are so irrelevant to coalition dynamics will you promise to go back to drinking and leave this thread alone?
A National govt reliant on Winston’s good favour would be a vast improvement on the current mish-mash of one-man-bands and principle-free pretenders.
A Labour/Green govt reliant on Winston would, likewise, be a vast improvement on the current mess.
Of course a Labour/Green govt without Winston would be better still, but that’s for all intents impossible for the foreseeable future so not worth worrying about.
There is really nothing much for the left to lose from Winston’s re-emergence that they weren’t going to lose anyway.
I’ve also heard that David Seymour wants to be prime minister in 2017, utilising the legions of support he’ll have when finally he’s able to win an electorate all by himself, just like a big-boy politician.
This is a tremendous danger to National, and I am sitting under my bridge feeling concerned, very concerned, that you guys just aren’t taking the ACT threat seriously enough…
I’m concerned that the National Party is so concerned about ACT’s concern about being PM that they ACT Party might, concerningly, extract some policy promises from the very concerned PM (I’m cynically laughing on the inside re Charter Schools etc).
Just anticipating where this speculation goes. Tail wagging the dog and all that. Hmm – actually that sounds weird right now.
Wayne, have you made any comments yet about Key’s hair touching/pulling/assaulting creepy behaviour? If not, why not? If yes, sorry I must have missed it.
Do you approve his conduct or condemn it?
It’s bothered me that the emphasis is pretty much all on Keys treatment on Amanda Bailey and overlooking the very sinister fondling and ” grooming” of young girls hair.
Baileys treatment was appalling but she did have a little more age and experience to fall back on, not so the younger girls.
Ironicly it was arch excusist Hooten in a throwaway line on 9 to 12 that reminded me of that strange habit of Keys of turning up at certain girls schools to be mobbed by the ( non-voting ) students.
Don’t recall him at many boys schools.
Were these visits at Keys instigation? If so the implications are really,really sinister.
Gotta be very careful about making those sorts of allegations, unless you have strong evidence. False accusations surrounding anything that approaches paedophilia / hebephilia are not only unethical in themselves but also, of course, risk a severe backlash from voters.
There are various innocent explanations for Key’s behaviour in regard to the younger girls’ ponytails. Danyl at The Dim Post, for example, argues:
“…but that doesn’t make it a sexual fetish. Key is also a dad and I really feel like he’s interacting with these girls and women on that level, not as the bizarre fledgling pedophile serial killer he’s now regarded as…it seems like the kind of physical contact fathers have with their daughters. Dad stuff…It’s not trivial, but it is less serious than all the ugly rhetoric about sexual assault that people are throwing around.”
Below the post, at comment 40, Danyl then quotes from a 2011 Claire Trevett article: “Key’s other technique is touch. He has patted his way around the country – tickling toddlers’ stomachs, chucking chins, ruffling hair, rubbing women on the upper arm and patting shoulders, clasping men’s arms…It appears casual, but is too frequent and too obvious to be anything but deliberate. This prime ministerial laying on of hands is something he did not do in 2008. It is aimed at reinforcing a personal connection.”
Danyl then concludes: So it’ calculated. It’s something he’s told to do. And, on the campaign trail he makes these physical connections with hundreds of people a day. So when you’re looking at footage of him touching lots of young girls’ hair, you’re looking at footage selected from thousands of hours of campaign footage of Key touching countless people.”
Doesn’t mean Danyl’s right (I’d say certainly not in regard to Amanda Bailey) but we shouldn’t automatically ignore innocent explanations (in regards to the girls) for mere political expediency. When I look at that footage, sometimes, yeah, I think it’s genuinely creepy, sometimes I – a bit like Danyl – I think it’s Key trying to impress mother and father voters by playing ‘Father of the Nation’.
I thought about this too swordfish. Aside from the fact that going overboard on the ‘creepy/sicko/perv/fetish’ angle could backfire, Key’s touchy casual guy often seems quite calculated and deliberate. It’s just that it doesn’t come naturally to him, so it looks awkward. It’s an act.
It could be that that the waitress incident is partly a function, as Hooton was saying on the radio, of Key, having played the part publicly for so long, losing touching with the fact that the touchy photo-op time Key is not how normal people behave in everyday social interactions. But of course that alone isn’t sufficient to explain it. The bullying display of power over others aspect is impossible to ignore.
He knows what he did was legally wrong, but I don’t think he understands why it’s morally wrong. Understanding that would require the ability to empathize. He refused to acknowledge the power imbalance to Gower, and repeated his ‘good relationship banter’ lines. I.e. she misunderstood, she took offense, and he apologized (sort of) for causing offense.
I think he really doesn’t get it. He’s clueless. And that’s the creepy part.
Not convinced, swordy. A pat on the upper back is just tactile, or even a pat on the upper arm. Fondling hair is not what you do to with other people’s children. Even if Crosby Textor have instructed him to touch people at every opportunity, there are innocent ways of doing it. What he does is bad touching.
my abuser… white male over 60… used to cut my hair as a favour to my mum. to help save money. he would always cut my brothers hair first leaving me in the garage alone wiyh him. am not saying Key is an abuser.just telling my story.
Agree. The sustained act of pulling the hair of Amanda Bailey puts this firmly in the unacceptable and illegal field.
Bringing that knowledge into context with the touching of young girls hair on the campaign trail, does not fit the criteria of just “coached personal touching” – if that is what he has been doing.
In addition, as a NZer it is culturally inappropriate for many in our Māori and Pasifika cultures to touch someone’s head. It would surprise me if a PR specialist in NZ politics did not know that, and if they had proposed physical contact, they surely would have specified this prohibition.
thanks for this. and to be clear to those about to use this article as a way to wave it all away. it is wrong. to touch anyone in such a personal way without permission. his PR gurus are probably male and/or over 55…
Ive been realising lately that the terminology of “right wing” and “left wing” has really only entered public consciousness since 2006 onwards. I can’t find any earlier examples where it was used en masse to categorise political leanings. Prior to 2006 it was typically “socialist” or “capitalist”. Therefore, my mind wanders down the path of wondering whether the terms RIGHT and LEFT have formulated as a tool to give over to people gravitating towards those political parties labelled as “right” because they can’t be wrong if they’re right, right? Afterall, being left is wrong when you could be right.
With Republicans controlling the Senate, the House, and the White House and enjoying a large margin of victory for California Governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger, it’s clear that the Democratic Party is in crisis. George Lakoff, a UC Berkeley professor of linguistics and cognitive science, thinks he knows why. Conservatives have spent decades defining their ideas, carefully choosing the language with which to present them, and building an infrastructure to communicate them, says Lakoff.
The work has paid off: by dictating the terms of national debate, conservatives have put progressives firmly on the defensive.
It may not be as simple as James put it but the right-wing have been manipulating the language for decades and it’s paying off for them. It doesn’t help when people say that they aren’t doing that when it’s actually fairly obvious that they are.
I think the far more interesting shift in the political lexicon is from socialist vs. Tory/capitalist to liberal vs conservative.
The latter is the American version of ‘left’ and ‘right’ rather than the former British/European version.
The terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ go back a very long way (French Parliament). The Wikipedia entry on it is useful enough.
I remember seeing Bill Rowling describe himself as a socialist (specifically a ‘Christian socialist’) in an interview before the 1975 election – the last time a New Zealand Labour Party leader has called themselves a socialist as far as I’m aware.
The shift to liberal versus conservative is a telling one. Anything actually resembling socialism would now require a major paradigm shift – our current system simply cannot accommodate it and is designed to make sure it cannot get a foothold. What’s more, the liberal side of the new political axis tends to be legalistic more than liberating, while the conservative side is rather rapacious and averse to conserving anything.
Not at all. MSM in NZ have only really hammered home those two political differentiations since 2006. Right about the time Crosby Textor started advising National and FJK became national party leader. Given how few kiwis seriously think about politics, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the “right” terminology has slowly and insidiously been ingrained into daily consciousness. How else to explain the ongoing popularity of the “right wing” when it’s plainly abundant NZ has no capacity to absorb such wanton capitalist desires, and socialism works far better for smaller populations.
A political party named “National” is helpful.Kirk was always mindful of the National party brand and how the electorate could be drawn to the patriotic connotations of it.
Treason Part 1: Casino Capitalism
Adam Smith branded those who pocketed the nation’s rents as “The Public Enemy”. But today, governments celebrate the privatisation of the income that we all help to create. The result, reports Fred Harrison in Part 1 of The Treason Trilogy, is a house of cards built on debt. He forecasts the next property boom/bust, and accuses politicians of betraying their duty of care to their people.
[lprent: Freaking odd. First I couldn’t embed a youtube this morning in a post without immense pissing about. This evening you can do them in comments. I can’t win..
So far the wordpress 4.2 release is proving to be a real pain. IfI’d paid for it, I’d be complaining. Since I didn’t, I might have to go and start irritating the clowns removing and inserting features into the core.
Especially when they are bugs. This only works if the URL is on the last line and there is no end of line.
You can use it for the moment. I will donate a months holiday to the first person to misuse it.]
thanks for that video ropata…quite coincidental that Baltimore features so prominently…Bernard Hickey advocates a land tax,and the commentators on this vid endorse it, as the answer to a more equable and fairer taxation system.One that rewards productivity as opposed to speculation.
You’re welcome. Sadly, history shows that these kind of laws will probably only be implemented by a mass uprising, and will be rolled back in another generation as new elites take power
When nonviolence is preached as an attempt to evade the repercussions of political brutality, it betrays itself. When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse. When nonviolence is preached by the representatives of the state, while the state doles out heaps of violence to its citizens, it reveals itself to be a con. And none of this can mean that rioting or violence is “correct” or “wise,” any more than a forest fire can be “correct” or “wise.” Wisdom isn’t the point tonight. Disrespect is. In this case, disrespect for the hollow law and failed order that so regularly disrespects the rioters themselves.
The police initiated violent oppression over an extended time and are now surprised by the violent reaction. Thus they call for non-violence just not from their own people but from the people they have been oppressing. This is, of course, a sham – they themselves won’t stop their violence.
The people are now reacting to that violent oppression and the forces who initiated that violence and excused it are going to get pounded. This is the normal path for oppressive regimes.
Stuff is such a damaging website. The reader comment section is nothing but (for all intents and purposes) an anonymous right wing ideology marketing vehicle.
This, from some property speculating bitch pretending to be on the side of the ever increasing lot of tenants, while remorselessly attacking the idea of a rental property WOF.
Kareena Lundy is a real estate agent, private investigator, and founder of http://www.landlordassistnz.co.nz which is a tenant vetting service for landlords.
A bit of research illustrates how firmly Kareena Lundy is in the camp of the runaway property speculator and the lazy slumlord but Stuff.co.nz does not at any point cite the affiliations of their “reader commentators”
These articles are free infomercials for those who use them and Stuff could care less.
Not really surprised. Back when I was a manager there we were encouraged to discourage any attempts to have a union start and then, while claiming to be the best employer in the country, they consistently exploited the employees.
It seems that the NZ press – particularly those accompanying Key on his Middle East trade mission – are seething about being left out of the loop. Key did not bother to let them know that NZ troops bound for Iraq were in Dubai when they were there. They found out by reading the local newspapers!
In the ongoing PR debacle of the Iraq deployment, John Key tells Dubai journo our troops are there – keeps it secret from NZ media.— Patrick Gower (@patrickgowernz) April 28, 2015
Key is getting not just creepy but dumb it seems!
Now await the spin, explanation and cover up that will follow.
It is well known that it is often the cover up that does more damage.
nz journos are so used to being handed a press release, maybe while they are over there they should be doing some … ummm, whats the word i’m looking for? oh yes, JOURNALISM! do some digging, ask some questions, say ‘no’ to the free bottles of wine ya lazy bastards. imo this latest kerfuffle (which isn’t anywhere on the nz web news sites this morning, except the herald tells us that john key is still ever so popular, nzrs love having a hair pulling pm) proves how useless & under served we are by our own media. for shame, go back to pr guys.
I wouldn’t have thought a wise man would deliberately wish to inflame his media pack quite so much at this very specific point .. much too casual for me 🙂
Lost the plot – or given up? I roared with laughter when I found these tweets. Time to go to bed on a high. And have you seen the submissive Bronagh coming off the plane in Saudia Arabia?
Boag is apparently representing the New Zealand Middle East Business Council, one of her many “hats”.
Re Bronagh, I agree. She hasn’t seemed that happy on this trip from the few photos etc I have seen of her at Gallipoli etc. Mustn’t mention the other female Key/Lazar or we might incur the SR (there is only one view allowed – mine) wrath ……
[lprent: My wrath and just about every other moderators as well.
We have had a general policy forever that excludes politicians kids and family from debate unless a clear public interest can be shown. At this point I can’t see one in either of Bronagh and John Key’s kids. Nor can Stephanie or any other author who has looked at it so far.
We’ll let it ride a bit when it is ‘news’ as raised by the gossip rag – The NZ Herald and therefore sort of in the public interest. But if we feel that it exceeds the limits of public interest or if the commenting heads off as if they were politicians (ie as kids and family aren’t part of the Lange vs Atkinson decision), then we quell it. Some in a more kindly fashion than others.
You should be thankful that I don’t have much time to moderate at present. I tend towards the draconian solutions when I feel that comments overstepped the bounds when it comes to families. From what I have seen Stephanie and probably others headed off my darker sword with a set of warnings.
But never fear. I also have some pretty draconian responses to people making snide comments about moderators as well. I’d suggest that if you want to find out what they are, then make them after this warning. ]
On the matter of the Middle East, I posted the following in the Saudi thread, but I was so surprised by what Key was quoted as saying that I’ll repost it here too.
“New Zealand stands ready to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process,” he said.
As New Zealand prepares for its presidency of the UN Security Council in July, it must set an example by focusing particularly on regional turmoil that has hampered peace and security of the Middle East, including the Gulf states….”
Poor Bronagh, so sad. And I think it is valid to mention Bronagh’s daughter in this instance. Bronagh would have been arrested if she chose to carry with her to Saudi Arabia a copy of the flyer for her daughter’s Paris exhibition.
That’s how thin the ice is in Saudi Arabia. Things melt when least expected.
Did this poll appear here for discussion? I missed this email, and just opened it tonight. Interesting results. All around surveillance and how people feel about it.
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Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
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Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
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Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
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Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
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I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
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A new poem by Freya Turnbull. Hunger Song – After Kaveh Akbar (Untitled With Hunger And Matcheads) I hold my age in ripped fishnet hold an empty vessel oldyoung body cracks like gunshot like killa i was a father ...
what is that image please ??
Blue whale with a boat dwarfed by its size
I’m wondering if the people in the boat could actually see the whale.
that’s a big blue !! thx micky :happysmile:
That’s not a blue whale under a boat. The scales are all out.
C’mon, vto, It’s a mammal not a fish. It doesn’t have scales.
hee, well something is not right. That is either a ten foot tinnie or a five hundred foot mammal fish beast… which has just done its morning business…
I suspect the perspective and the refractive effect of the water is throwing you off. The Blue Whale is a truly magnificent beast.
And, yes, my first thought was that the boat was a small dinghy and probably less than 10′.
I read somewhere recently that the blue whale resides in just one or two places on the planet, and that there were a few more than feared which is a relief.
Blue whales can be up to 30m long and can appear up to 33% bigger underwater, because of refraction. They also swim past the Maui gas fields and areas where Simon Bridges has decided sonic exploration can happen. Despite their colour, they are rumoured to not vote NAct.
Blue-greens, then?
Plaid Cymru, surely ?
Great image, presumably a blue whale, and a big one at that.
Have a read of Mathew Hooton in the NBR (24 April) on his speculation of Winston Peters ambition to be PM. It is pretty much my view and I was setting forth about it to closely connected political figures just before the article was published ( Ihad no knowledge of the article). From my investigations over the last few weeks it is a broader NZF goal.
Look Wayne, if you mean ‘David DP Farrar reckons we should spread fear of Winston among the left to destabilise the Green/Labour relationship’, then just say ‘David DP Farrar reckons we should spread fear of Winston among the left to destabilise the Green/Labour relationship.’
The “centre-right” has good reason to be concerned about Winston 😈
+101 (bonus point for nixing that one early).
Dyslexic Wayne – do all your DP’ing before you get on the wines because your sentences quickly become incomprehensible as the evening draws on. Lucky for you that felix is sharp.
Nothing about spreading fear. More an observation of future coalition dynamics.
Winston will want the deal from either side. If he does well in the provinces he could get more than a third of the votes of the two larger parties (ie 12% v 36%). That would give him real negotiating power.
As I understand it NBR is paywalled.
I would agree about Winston getting leverage out of the provinces northland has shown them another option.
In the last week I’ve had one farmer admit that they do better under labour than the nats and I’ve heard another grumping about key letting nz get sold to offshore interests.
There’s lots of votes ripe for the picking for any party that can see past the city limits. Mine included.
Yep. That’d be right up Winston’s and NZ1sts alley.
If I explain why your observations are so irrelevant to coalition dynamics will you promise to go back to drinking and leave this thread alone?
A National govt reliant on Winston’s good favour would be a vast improvement on the current mish-mash of one-man-bands and principle-free pretenders.
A Labour/Green govt reliant on Winston would, likewise, be a vast improvement on the current mess.
Of course a Labour/Green govt without Winston would be better still, but that’s for all intents impossible for the foreseeable future so not worth worrying about.
There is really nothing much for the left to lose from Winston’s re-emergence that they weren’t going to lose anyway.
+1
moved from your weeks of investigation to dynamic observations inside 35 minutes Wayne
lol
or post the guts of your investigations
can’t you post a link Wayne? blog manners and all that ….
A political party has a goal of making its leader PM. This fact is so banal I wonder what Dr. Mapp’s agenda is in raising it.
:LOL:
The mapp is a airy tory?
Thanks for posting that, I thought I was on drugs.
I’ve also heard that David Seymour wants to be prime minister in 2017, utilising the legions of support he’ll have when finally he’s able to win an electorate all by himself, just like a big-boy politician.
This is a tremendous danger to National, and I am sitting under my bridge feeling concerned, very concerned, that you guys just aren’t taking the ACT threat seriously enough…
😀
I’m concerned that the National Party is so concerned about ACT’s concern about being PM that they ACT Party might, concerningly, extract some policy promises from the very concerned PM (I’m cynically laughing on the inside re Charter Schools etc).
Just anticipating where this speculation goes. Tail wagging the dog and all that. Hmm – actually that sounds weird right now.
has anyone asked David would-be-pm Seymour what he thinks about Pry Minister Key’s creepy unlawful behaviour ? In his electorate after all ?
Interesting question there yeshe. I went and had a look at ACT’s press releases and there’s nothing there on hair-pulling.
However, this could be a bargaining chip that a concerned Nat could live with (with a bit of arm-twisting /sarc)
It’s headline is “ACT’s plan to boost wages”
No end of laughs with this lot.
You won’t find these three words in ACT’s press releases either: Jamie-Whyte-incest.
the party of the real world has been doing a lit review of research into company tax
he is fighting the injustice of a gate at mt eden…
Wayne, have you made any comments yet about Key’s hair touching/pulling/assaulting creepy behaviour? If not, why not? If yes, sorry I must have missed it.
Do you approve his conduct or condemn it?
It’s bothered me that the emphasis is pretty much all on Keys treatment on Amanda Bailey and overlooking the very sinister fondling and ” grooming” of young girls hair.
Baileys treatment was appalling but she did have a little more age and experience to fall back on, not so the younger girls.
Ironicly it was arch excusist Hooten in a throwaway line on 9 to 12 that reminded me of that strange habit of Keys of turning up at certain girls schools to be mobbed by the ( non-voting ) students.
Don’t recall him at many boys schools.
Were these visits at Keys instigation? If so the implications are really,really sinister.
Gotta be very careful about making those sorts of allegations, unless you have strong evidence. False accusations surrounding anything that approaches paedophilia / hebephilia are not only unethical in themselves but also, of course, risk a severe backlash from voters.
There are various innocent explanations for Key’s behaviour in regard to the younger girls’ ponytails. Danyl at The Dim Post, for example, argues:
“…but that doesn’t make it a sexual fetish. Key is also a dad and I really feel like he’s interacting with these girls and women on that level, not as the bizarre fledgling pedophile serial killer he’s now regarded as…it seems like the kind of physical contact fathers have with their daughters. Dad stuff…It’s not trivial, but it is less serious than all the ugly rhetoric about sexual assault that people are throwing around.”
Below the post, at comment 40, Danyl then quotes from a 2011 Claire Trevett article:
“Key’s other technique is touch. He has patted his way around the country – tickling toddlers’ stomachs, chucking chins, ruffling hair, rubbing women on the upper arm and patting shoulders, clasping men’s arms…It appears casual, but is too frequent and too obvious to be anything but deliberate. This prime ministerial laying on of hands is something he did not do in 2008. It is aimed at reinforcing a personal connection.”
Danyl then concludes:
So it’ calculated. It’s something he’s told to do. And, on the campaign trail he makes these physical connections with hundreds of people a day. So when you’re looking at footage of him touching lots of young girls’ hair, you’re looking at footage selected from thousands of hours of campaign footage of Key touching countless people.”
Doesn’t mean Danyl’s right (I’d say certainly not in regard to Amanda Bailey) but we shouldn’t automatically ignore innocent explanations (in regards to the girls) for mere political expediency. When I look at that footage, sometimes, yeah, I think it’s genuinely creepy, sometimes I – a bit like Danyl – I think it’s Key trying to impress mother and father voters by playing ‘Father of the Nation’.
https://dimpost.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/good-grief-3/
Good points.
I thought about this too swordfish. Aside from the fact that going overboard on the ‘creepy/sicko/perv/fetish’ angle could backfire, Key’s touchy casual guy often seems quite calculated and deliberate. It’s just that it doesn’t come naturally to him, so it looks awkward. It’s an act.
It could be that that the waitress incident is partly a function, as Hooton was saying on the radio, of Key, having played the part publicly for so long, losing touching with the fact that the touchy photo-op time Key is not how normal people behave in everyday social interactions. But of course that alone isn’t sufficient to explain it. The bullying display of power over others aspect is impossible to ignore.
He knows what he did was legally wrong, but I don’t think he understands why it’s morally wrong. Understanding that would require the ability to empathize. He refused to acknowledge the power imbalance to Gower, and repeated his ‘good relationship banter’ lines. I.e. she misunderstood, she took offense, and he apologized (sort of) for causing offense.
I think he really doesn’t get it. He’s clueless. And that’s the creepy part.
+1 @ unable to empathize. he sees everything entirely from his own world view. something many of his supporters share.
Not convinced, swordy. A pat on the upper back is just tactile, or even a pat on the upper arm. Fondling hair is not what you do to with other people’s children. Even if Crosby Textor have instructed him to touch people at every opportunity, there are innocent ways of doing it. What he does is bad touching.
my abuser… white male over 60… used to cut my hair as a favour to my mum. to help save money. he would always cut my brothers hair first leaving me in the garage alone wiyh him. am not saying Key is an abuser.just telling my story.
Agree. The sustained act of pulling the hair of Amanda Bailey puts this firmly in the unacceptable and illegal field.
Bringing that knowledge into context with the touching of young girls hair on the campaign trail, does not fit the criteria of just “coached personal touching” – if that is what he has been doing.
In addition, as a NZer it is culturally inappropriate for many in our Māori and Pasifika cultures to touch someone’s head. It would surprise me if a PR specialist in NZ politics did not know that, and if they had proposed physical contact, they surely would have specified this prohibition.
thanks for this. and to be clear to those about to use this article as a way to wave it all away. it is wrong. to touch anyone in such a personal way without permission. his PR gurus are probably male and/or over 55…
I’m male and over 55 🙂
Plus ça change and all that. Simon Collins in the Herald reports that vouchers for social services are back. Here we go again.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11439734
Ive been realising lately that the terminology of “right wing” and “left wing” has really only entered public consciousness since 2006 onwards. I can’t find any earlier examples where it was used en masse to categorise political leanings. Prior to 2006 it was typically “socialist” or “capitalist”. Therefore, my mind wanders down the path of wondering whether the terms RIGHT and LEFT have formulated as a tool to give over to people gravitating towards those political parties labelled as “right” because they can’t be wrong if they’re right, right? Afterall, being left is wrong when you could be right.
Just came home after a long work day, reading this. Oh joy I still can lough. Thanks 🙂
Are you shitting me James?
Framing the issues: UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff tells how conservatives use language to dominate politics
It may not be as simple as James put it but the right-wing have been manipulating the language for decades and it’s paying off for them. It doesn’t help when people say that they aren’t doing that when it’s actually fairly obvious that they are.
No doubt they are. I just remember issues being discussed in terms of a left/right divide going back a few decades before James says it was a thing.
Springbok tour for one.
If memory serves, the term goes back to the French Revolution. The Royalists sat to the right of the chair, the liberals to the left.
I think the far more interesting shift in the political lexicon is from socialist vs. Tory/capitalist to liberal vs conservative.
The latter is the American version of ‘left’ and ‘right’ rather than the former British/European version.
The terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ go back a very long way (French Parliament). The Wikipedia entry on it is useful enough.
I remember seeing Bill Rowling describe himself as a socialist (specifically a ‘Christian socialist’) in an interview before the 1975 election – the last time a New Zealand Labour Party leader has called themselves a socialist as far as I’m aware.
The shift to liberal versus conservative is a telling one. Anything actually resembling socialism would now require a major paradigm shift – our current system simply cannot accommodate it and is designed to make sure it cannot get a foothold. What’s more, the liberal side of the new political axis tends to be legalistic more than liberating, while the conservative side is rather rapacious and averse to conserving anything.
bloody good picture, too
Not at all. MSM in NZ have only really hammered home those two political differentiations since 2006. Right about the time Crosby Textor started advising National and FJK became national party leader. Given how few kiwis seriously think about politics, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the “right” terminology has slowly and insidiously been ingrained into daily consciousness. How else to explain the ongoing popularity of the “right wing” when it’s plainly abundant NZ has no capacity to absorb such wanton capitalist desires, and socialism works far better for smaller populations.
Wow.
Sorry but I just can’t take this seriously. I have been familiar with those terms since my childhood in the 70s.
I can remember it in the late 1950’s. Maybe it depends on how political your parents were?
Madness, James. Those terms have been in use for a very long time.
A political party named “National” is helpful.Kirk was always mindful of the National party brand and how the electorate could be drawn to the patriotic connotations of it.
Winston didn’t choose NZ First by accident.
Treason Part 1: Casino Capitalism
Adam Smith branded those who pocketed the nation’s rents as “The Public Enemy”. But today, governments celebrate the privatisation of the income that we all help to create. The result, reports Fred Harrison in Part 1 of The Treason Trilogy, is a house of cards built on debt. He forecasts the next property boom/bust, and accuses politicians of betraying their duty of care to their people.
[lprent: Freaking odd. First I couldn’t embed a youtube this morning in a post without immense pissing about. This evening you can do them in comments. I can’t win..
So far the wordpress 4.2 release is proving to be a real pain. IfI’d paid for it, I’d be complaining. Since I didn’t, I might have to go and start irritating the clowns removing and inserting features into the core.
Especially when they are bugs. This only works if the URL is on the last line and there is no end of line.
You can use it for the moment. I will donate a months holiday to the first person to misuse it.]
https://youtu.be/SmsyoWCsxRY
thanks for that video ropata…quite coincidental that Baltimore features so prominently…Bernard Hickey advocates a land tax,and the commentators on this vid endorse it, as the answer to a more equable and fairer taxation system.One that rewards productivity as opposed to speculation.
You’re welcome. Sadly, history shows that these kind of laws will probably only be implemented by a mass uprising, and will be rolled back in another generation as new elites take power
Nonviolence as Compliance
The police initiated violent oppression over an extended time and are now surprised by the violent reaction. Thus they call for non-violence just not from their own people but from the people they have been oppressing. This is, of course, a sham – they themselves won’t stop their violence.
The people are now reacting to that violent oppression and the forces who initiated that violence and excused it are going to get pounded. This is the normal path for oppressive regimes.
Stuff is such a damaging website. The reader comment section is nothing but (for all intents and purposes) an anonymous right wing ideology marketing vehicle.
This, from some property speculating bitch pretending to be on the side of the ever increasing lot of tenants, while remorselessly attacking the idea of a rental property WOF.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/do-we-need-a-rental-warrant-of-fitness/11639021/Tenants-have-the-right-to-choose-where-they-live
Kareena Lundy is a real estate agent, private investigator, and founder of http://www.landlordassistnz.co.nz which is a tenant vetting service for landlords.
A bit of research illustrates how firmly Kareena Lundy is in the camp of the runaway property speculator and the lazy slumlord but Stuff.co.nz does not at any point cite the affiliations of their “reader commentators”
These articles are free infomercials for those who use them and Stuff could care less.
McDonald’s rejects zero hours deal
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11439986
Boycott them
I knew this day would come, so I’ve been boycotting them for twenty years.
I’ll take your 20 and raise it to 30
Not really surprised. Back when I was a manager there we were encouraged to discourage any attempts to have a union start and then, while claiming to be the best employer in the country, they consistently exploited the employees.
Glad I left the place.
How to win friends and influence people ….. NOT
Has John Key given up?
It seems that the NZ press – particularly those accompanying Key on his Middle East trade mission – are seething about being left out of the loop. Key did not bother to let them know that NZ troops bound for Iraq were in Dubai when they were there. They found out by reading the local newspapers!
https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/status/592953678891388928
https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/status/592958995775623168
https://twitter.com/barrysoper/status/592953401681448960
https://twitter.com/katieabradford/status/592973275233292288
https://twitter.com/avancenz/status/592953744867729408
https://twitter.com/avancenz/status/592954207679840256
And another earlier one from Gower. LOL!
https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/status/592953678891388928
Patrick Gower’s tweet:
Key is getting not just creepy but dumb it seems!
Now await the spin, explanation and cover up that will follow.
It is well known that it is often the cover up that does more damage.
nz journos are so used to being handed a press release, maybe while they are over there they should be doing some … ummm, whats the word i’m looking for? oh yes, JOURNALISM! do some digging, ask some questions, say ‘no’ to the free bottles of wine ya lazy bastards. imo this latest kerfuffle (which isn’t anywhere on the nz web news sites this morning, except the herald tells us that john key is still ever so popular, nzrs love having a hair pulling pm) proves how useless & under served we are by our own media. for shame, go back to pr guys.
I wouldn’t have thought a wise man would deliberately wish to inflame his media pack quite so much at this very specific point .. much too casual for me 🙂
Lost the plot – or given up? I roared with laughter when I found these tweets. Time to go to bed on a high. And have you seen the submissive Bronagh coming off the plane in Saudia Arabia?
http://www.3news.co.nz/nznews/john-key-lands-in-saudi-arabia-amid-yemen-bombing-2015042818
And Paddy’s latest – https://twitter.com/patrickgowernz/status/592985276990926849
And Michelle Boag landing in Saudia Arabia via Barry Soper – OMG!
https://twitter.com/barrysoper/status/592951458464542720
What a family contrast from Bronagh to her daughter’s ‘art’ exhibition in Paris !!! No wonder she looks so very, very miserable. I feel sad for her.
And pardon, but why is Boag there ????
Boag is apparently representing the New Zealand Middle East Business Council, one of her many “hats”.
Re Bronagh, I agree. She hasn’t seemed that happy on this trip from the few photos etc I have seen of her at Gallipoli etc. Mustn’t mention the other female Key/Lazar or we might incur the SR (there is only one view allowed – mine) wrath ……
[lprent: My wrath and just about every other moderators as well.
We have had a general policy forever that excludes politicians kids and family from debate unless a clear public interest can be shown. At this point I can’t see one in either of Bronagh and John Key’s kids. Nor can Stephanie or any other author who has looked at it so far.
We’ll let it ride a bit when it is ‘news’ as raised by the gossip rag – The NZ Herald and therefore sort of in the public interest. But if we feel that it exceeds the limits of public interest or if the commenting heads off as if they were politicians (ie as kids and family aren’t part of the Lange vs Atkinson decision), then we quell it. Some in a more kindly fashion than others.
You should be thankful that I don’t have much time to moderate at present. I tend towards the draconian solutions when I feel that comments overstepped the bounds when it comes to families. From what I have seen Stephanie and probably others headed off my darker sword with a set of warnings.
But never fear. I also have some pretty draconian responses to people making snide comments about moderators as well. I’d suggest that if you want to find out what they are, then make them after this warning. ]
On the matter of the Middle East, I posted the following in the Saudi thread, but I was so surprised by what Key was quoted as saying that I’ll repost it here too.
Judge for yourselves….
From The Arab News (Saudi Newspaper)
Visit of New Zealand PM to cement ties
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/737521
Key is quoted as saying:
“New Zealand stands ready to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process,” he said.
As New Zealand prepares for its presidency of the UN Security Council in July, it must set an example by focusing particularly on regional turmoil that has hampered peace and security of the Middle East, including the Gulf states….”
Hard to believe……
Poor Bronagh, so sad. And I think it is valid to mention Bronagh’s daughter in this instance. Bronagh would have been arrested if she chose to carry with her to Saudi Arabia a copy of the flyer for her daughter’s Paris exhibition.
That’s how thin the ice is in Saudi Arabia. Things melt when least expected.
Did this poll appear here for discussion? I missed this email, and just opened it tonight. Interesting results. All around surveillance and how people feel about it.
https://horizonpoll.co.nz/page/400/surveillance