One thing that has puzzled me over the past months is why Iran has been singled out as the bogey-man of the middle east, the funder of terrorists, the purveyor of extremist religious views?
I mean, at the very least, that role should be held by Saudi Arabia, shouldn’t it?
Until I heard Lee Camp (yes, on RT, automatically fake views, so I won’t link to it) point out that Iraq moved away from the petro-dollar shortly before WMD were ‘discovered’ in the country, which necessitated regime change.
And that Libya under Gaddafi was trying to bypass the dollar and the euro and set up a gold dinar for Africa. Which is why NATO and America needed to ‘liberate’ the country from a brutal dictator.
Now, Iran has begun trading in euros, bypassing the dollar. Which might explain why Macron defended the anti-nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump seems hell bent on scrapping. Now Israel has absolute ‘proof’ that Iran has been reneging on its nuclear deal! Regime change coming for Iran?
I have to ask, it this all about preserving America’s world banking domination? The almighty dollar? Or is this view too simplistic?
You are spot on.
China has also done the same and is creating the petro yuan.
We are looking at an Empre fighting to preeserve its preeminent position – at the end of its Empire.
As in: some people in the decision-making loop would think about the weakening of US soft power and the strengthening of European soft power, as represented by their currencies being hard currencies of international choice.
But it’s a massive stretch to regard it as being a significant motivator for invasion, because very few decision-makers would give a damn about it to that degree. Maybe a few State Department folks with a bee in their bonnets about the soft power value of USD being traded in Timbuktu, but not most people. The primary motivators are hard power: access to bases, access to resources (especially oil), access to markets, and having allied buffer states to head off other global powers.
And, in the case of Iran and Libya, hurt balls because those countries told the yanks to go fuck themselves.
I think you’re underestimating the importance to America of having the world’s ‘reserve currency,’ It enabled them to print money during the GFC with, up to now, no really bad effects.
But take away that position of strength, and America becomes just another indebted nation – so indebted that it could lead to the collapse of their monetary system.
The consequences to the bankers are enormous, well worth a few million deaths and untold suffering of ‘other people.’
What enabled them to print money was having the biggest pool of consumers in the world. Their hiccup dragged everyone else down, too, so the USD didn’t lose as much ground as it might have done, relative to other nations.
And half of corporate america like a weaker dollar, because it makes their offshore profits look better when transferred to the US.
As in: some people in the decision-making loop would think about the weakening of US soft power and the strengthening of European soft power, as represented by their currencies being hard currencies of international choice.
Except for the fact that they’re not hard currencies. Hard currencies would be backed by gold.
But it’s a massive stretch to regard it as being a significant motivator for invasion, because very few decision-makers would give a damn about it to that degree.
And what would happen if the US$ suddenly dropped to half it’s value?
How would USians respond when they could no longer afford to buy inexpensive imported stuff? National has a point about a decrease in exchange rates being a drop in wages.
So, yeah, I’m pretty sure that every single law maker in the US looks at way to keep the US$ as the Reserve Currency and to keep it highly valued. And as it’s been the Petro-dollar since the US dropped the Gold Standard against international agreements that means ensuring that all oil is priced in US dollars.
Which all means that invasion to keep it that way would definitely be a play that the US lawmakers would make.
What people speculate a currency is worth is no less or more abstract than what people speculate gold is worth.
Sure, dropping to half its value is an issue for an import-dominated economy. But we, for example (because you brought up national) to better with a low dollar. More export dollars flowing through the economy from the regions, while import dollars largely circulate around the urban and financial centers.
So there are swings and roundabouts to exchange rates. But even if being the primary reserve currency is an advantage, is it more or less of an advantage than guaranteed arms exports to a client state, market access, having a forward base for your forces, and your client state giving your companies cheap access to the state’s natural resources? Would all foreign policy decisionmakers prioritise primary reserve currency status ahead of all of those other factors?
Well, considering that the US’s seems to use invasion to get a client state as well as to control oil then it certainly looks like it’s a major part of it.
The US needs oil to be traded in US$ to maintain the demand for US$ so as to maintain Reserve status. Kill oil being traded in US$ and the demand for US$ drops and it’s reserve status questioned and, finally, dropped.
As I say, in reality it’s Reserve status should have been dropped when the US dropped the Gold Standard. Freely floating currencies don’t have any need for a Reserve Currency.
Yeah they do – they’re a hedge. Your lira goes down to levels unsuitable for your economy but you think it’ll bottom out soon, you can raise the seabed a little and temporarily by buying up lira with the francs you have in your vault. And vice versa.
Just like physical gold reserves. Nice shiny bricks.
Doesn’t help if your economy is tanking completely, but does help provide a modicum of stability, which makes your economy stronger in the long term.
We also need to remember that old Saddam tried to or did trade his oil in EUR dollars quite successfully until he was knocked off. If we going back prior to the 2nd or 3rd gulf war (depending on who you read on the subject btw). You would find that Iraq/ Saddam was getting more money from trading in EUR than if he was trading in USD which is the international norm for trading in commodities. The result was US was the biggest loser not in the short term, but when we now include the cost of resulting War as well then the US has been the biggest loser with Iraq 2nd by a nose so far and I get the feeling we haven’t heard the last of this either from economic POV or a further outbreak of conflict within the greater Middle East Region.
Even from Australian and New Zealand POV we have also have taken our eye off the ball within the Sth Pacific, Sth East Asia and Antarctic Regions as our focus has on the MER from an Aid, Trade Climate change and Defence POV.
I have to ask, it this all about preserving America’s world banking domination?
Nope. That’s about it.
Thing is, the US$ should have stopped being the world’s Reserve Currency when the US dropped the Gold Standard in 70/71. As soon as they did that the US$ was no longer the Gold Reserve that the Bretton Woods agreement called for.
I seriously doubt it. (Craven images and all that. Not to mention the potential to cement in bitter sectarian animosities with its construction).
Will the grotesque “I have come to save the world” statue of Jesus erected in Saydnaya which towers over the whole area including the notorious death camp, (even being visible from Jordan and Israel), become as notorious in the Moslem world as the ‘Work Makes Free’ sign in Auschwitz Poland. Both symbols being the last things that condemned prisoners saw before entering these two prospective death camps.
As usual Ed, you ignore and gloss over the fact that this giant statue to religious sectarianism is built outside the town of Saydnaya* within eyesight of the notorious Saydnaya extermination camp. Which in my opinion is about as brutal an act of sectarian triumphalism, as if the Germans built a big statue to Jesus in the Polish town of Auschwitz, within eyesight of the Auschwitz death camp at the height of the time that they were murdering people of Jewish faith there.
*There are several versions of the Arabic to English translation of this town’s name.
Another day.
Another day of head chopping Jihadist propaganda.
Ed
So Ed, going by the intemperate bigotted Islamphobic slur directed at me by you; Are Amnesty, by your reckoning, also, “head chopping Jihadist propagandists”?
A chilling new report by Amnesty International exposes the Syrian government’s calculated campaign of extrajudicial executions by mass hangings at Saydnaya Prison. Between 2011 and 2015, every week and often twice a week, groups of up to 50 people were taken out of their prison cells and hanged to death. In five years, as many as 13,000 people, most of them civilians believed to be opposed to the government, were hanged in secret at Saydnaya.
Human slaughterhouse: Mass hangings and extermination at Saydnaya prison, Syriaalso shows that the government is deliberately inflicting inhuman conditions on detainees at Saydnaya Prison through repeated torture and the systematic deprivation of food, water, medicine and medical care. The report documents how these extermination policies have killed massive numbers of detainees.
These practices, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, are authorized at the highest levels of the Syrian government.
“The horrors depicted in this report reveal a hidden, monstrous campaign, authorized at the highest levels of the Syrian government, aimed at crushing any form of dissent within the Syrian population,” said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Research at Amnesty International’s regional office in Beirut.
Let us know your view.
I know you won’t. And that you limit your ad hominem abuse to personal attacks only, rather than address the issues raised.
National’s environmental credentials are like a mayfly: it undergoes many changes and has a very short-lived latest form or stage but they do make good fish food.
More National party voters work on the environment here. Canterbury farmer Brent Thomas destroys a threatened native, a third of the surviving population in order to plant oats for feeding dairy herds.
Over-riding National’s environment policy is business. We’ll think about the environment and long as it doesn’t get in the way of business.
How pathetic have DOC become. From what I can make out there was only some old gentleman’s agreement to protect an endangered species from being wiped out.
Another organisation is bringing prosecution, not DOC infact they are calling the guy a ‘good guy’ basically for his actions. Now DOC propose to reward the farmer by giving him money so he doesn’t own other land that he will potentially destroy.
Agree, they are an embarrassment at the moment. Nats got DOC doing the tourist thing earning cash, yet reduced their scope and ability to y’know conserve.
So the Department of Conservation can’t do anything if someone wants to nearly wipe out an endangered species on their own land? That’s ridiculous. The fact it rings true in this case shows how much they’ve dropped the ball.
Muehlenbeckia astonii is not rare or threatened although local populations on Kaitorete Spit may have been affected by the reported development. The ideologues in DoC persist in trying to preserve flora and fauna in geographically limited locations whereas history shows diversification (of locations) has proven more successful.
The NZ Plant Conservation Network does list the plant as endangered but don’t state their criterion for that assessment. One can buy seed by the kilogram and I grow thousands of M. astonii a year for my revegetation projects – so in my view, the plant is not rare or endangered.
For a number of reasons, DoC has had limited success in conserving habitats. That of course should be the priority. But given the reality, growing the plant in a number of different locations, including botanic gardens, is preferable to extinction.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has a classification for species that are ‘extinct in the wild’, that classification comes after ‘endangered’ and ‘critically endangered’.
In conservation terms, if you have to put a species in a cage or in some potting mix to keep it alive then it’s basically extinct.
Some people buy a rare species like kakabeak at a garden centre and then go and put it in their garden. I’m sure some of these people think they’re doing a good thing by increasing their numbers, but all they’re doing is gardening, not anything to do conservation.
The IUCN also recognise the role of ‘conservation horticulture’ in the management of rare, threatened and endangered flora. I guess that’s why DoC have their Motukarara plant nursery. Sometimes, intervention is more effective than the alternative.
If you send me your postal address, I’ll courier you 10 Muehlenbeckia astonii that you can plant in your garden so you’ll be able to feel your restricted definition of ‘conservation’ is less futile.
If National is or had been more environmentally conscious and genuinely committed it might attract a greater share of the so-called (well off) green vote. On the other hand, National is much more conscious of and committed to votes, first and foremost, and will ‘adjust’ any policy and ‘adopt’ just about anything to get those votes – the end justifies the means. National has it all back to front: profit & growth before social equality and justice, businesses & economy before the environment & climate change, greed & entitlement before compassion & social welfare, and, above all, power & control. So, I respectfully disagree with you.
I was just pointing out why they are doing it. The reality is a lot of Green party votes come from very well off electorates which could be susceptible to going to them.
But will it work ?
Look up the election votes online , or do it by looking at Wikipedia for the electorates names. Most have the last few election results in detail.
Surely you dont have blinkers on to what has been plain for ages, its not a startling revelation.
Are Auckland Central and Wellington Central teeming with poverty and disadvantage or covered with $1.5 mill plus homes.
Another place to look is the huge difference in Dunedin North and Dunedin South. The poorer electorate has half the greens vote of its better off neighbor.
No, I don’t think so. In fact, raising awareness among those so-called blue-green voters might even cause blue voters to go green. They will have to run an extremely subtle and highly targeted campaign to make it work IMHO and I don’t believe the current Opposition as a whole can pull that off.
In my view, the well-off Green voter in Epsom will be well-off regardless of who’s in government. I think they generally are high & dry and likely to be more concerned about the future of the environment for their children and grandchildren. They realise that their vote is much more important for the Green Party and that this party is more likely to make policies that are positive for the environment than National. Think about it, your vote counts more for a small party like the Greens than for the largest party (National). Nobody likes to be just a number on an electoral role; we all want to make some kind of impact …
“mori”.
I suspect it may be a problem with the macron in the word.
It may not be acceptable in the link to the article. Anyone actually know what the limitations are?
I see that the macron is present throughout the article in the paper.
Might have been better to use the spelling “maori” without the macron though in the link. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30401962/what-are-the-legal-and-illegal-characters-in-url-link
Have you ever considered putting an apostrophe after the ‘o’ in your handle Mister Duke?
It’d more accurately describe that dainty wee disposition ( complete with its ideology ) you come from (going forward)
Duke o’ Furl perhaps ?
I came across this video, the footage taken in Damascus and this reporter’s experience of Damascus, which one person she spoke to likened to 1984, reminded me very strongly of my time in pre war Latakia. The suffocating presence of the dictator’s image everywhere. Weirdly the video footage filmed in Latakia of people holidaying at a beachside resort, is something that I don’t recognise at all as being of Latakia. Not even Latakia in peace time. The version of Latakia in this video is completely alien to me.
Not saying that this side of Latakia wasn’t there, I just never saw it. Of course this might be because I shared my time between the Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Latakia and the city centre and the featurless working class suburbs. Funnily enough the refugee camp in Latakia where I spent most of my time, was also on the seashore. No one spent anytime there however, and I never saw anyone swimming, maybe because the makeshift sewers from the camp flowed straight into the water.
Seeing the version of this other Syria in this video, I wouldn’t have minded spending a little time there, just to get away from the dreary and repressive reality of the rest of this town.
Hi Gabby, I was in Syria prior to the war, not during it. But even then there were a couple of times, I worried about that. Unnecessarily, as it turned out. But still, the all pervading claustrophobic almost suffocating feeling of being in a police state, that I felt, is well captured by this reporter’s visit to Damascus. The dictator’s image everywhere, the ever present armed police and army presence everywhere. The need by the citizens to pledge allegiance to the dictator at the mere mention of his name. If it wasn’t so tragic it would be funny, The rather portly man who pulls out a picture of the dictator and lays it on the hood of a car at a wedding, and feeling the camera on him, feels compelled, rather awkwardly I thought, to salute the dictator’s image, (presumably just in case he wasn’t perceived as being loyal enough).
The U.S. State Department acknowledged Monday it has been funding opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, following the release of secret diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks that document the funding.
The files show that up to $6.3 million US was funnelled to the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based dissident organization that operates the Barada TV satellite channel, which broadcasts anti-government news into Syria. Another $6 million went to support a variety of initiatives, including training for journalists and activists, between 2006 and 2010.
Asked point-blank by reporters whether the United States is funding Syrian opposition groups, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told a news conference Monday, “We are — we’re working with a variety of civil society actors in Syria with the goal here of strengthening freedom of expression.”
Then pressed to specify whether the U.S. provides satellite bandwidth for Barada TV’s broadcasts, Toner said: “I’d have to get details of what exactly technical assistance we’re providing them.”
Toner insisted the financing is not aimed at overthrowing Assad’s rule. “We are not working to undermine that government.”
However, an April 2009 diplomatic cable from the U.S. mission in Damascus recognizes the risky optics of the funding.
“Some programs may be perceived, were they made public, as an attempt to undermine the Assad regime.… The Syrian Arab Republic government would undoubtedly view any U.S. funds going to illegal political groups as tantamount to supporting regime change.”
Whistleblower website WikiLeaks provided the cables to the Washington Post newspaper, which first reported on them. The files are part of a haul of 251,000 secret U.S. diplomatic documents the website says it has obtained. It began disclosing them in November through partner media outlets and so far has released nearly 7,000.
So, if the US hadn’t funded the opposition would there still have been a civil war?
What I was referring to, was the stifling police state atmosphere captured by this video in Damascus, which I found very reminiscent of my time in Latakia, the omnipresence of dictator’s image everywhere, the omnipresence of police and army everywhere. This was the reality of Syria which I was familiar with and which, one off camera, Syrian likened to, being Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984.
What you are referring to, is the destruction wrought by the regime on the Syrian people in revolt, captured in the link you supplied.
With more than 300,000 Syrians killed and six million people who have fled or displaced, the war in Syria was last night described on Q&A as “the biggest story on the planet”. Host Tony Jones said “we rarely get to talk about it (because it) seems like a long way to affluent people”.
The war it seems, is also a long way from affluent people, even in Syria. The images of Latakia captured in the video I supplied, was of people holidaying at a luxury beach resort untouched by the war. This was a revelation to me, these images were completely alien to anything I experienced in Latakia. They were scenes completely unlike anything I ever saw during my time in that city, even in peace time.
To me Latakia was the grim featureless tower blocks in the working class suburbs with out a park or bit of greenery, or child’s playground, and the jumbled over-crowded Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the city which was later strafed and shelled by the regime from warships off the coast, which I witnessed as it was happening by live feed back in Auckland. (And don’t dare tell me that this live feed was faked, I knew this camp well).
More from the link you supplied:
Syria descended into full-scale civil war in 2012, causing about half the country’s pre-war population to be displaced as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other and jihadists.
And while the world now sees a country devastated by years of war and left in ruins, it wasn’t always this way……
…..Today Aleppo, one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, has all but been obliterated by barrel bombs, bullets, chemical attacks and air strikes in the war.
Once the beating heart of Syria’s industrial and commercial industries, it has witnessed some of the most brutal violence of the country’s six-year war.
Before and after photos of the Old City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, show the full extent of the catastrophic destruction which has taken place.
Aleppo was pummelled by air strikes last December, shrinking the rebel enclave just days ahead of parallel talks in France and Switzerland which aimed to save the Syrian city from “complete” destruction.
The city’s east — a rebel stronghold since 2012 — has been the target of a major assault by forces loyal to President Bashar’s Russian-backed regime.
During last December’s air strikes, Ibrahim Abu al-Leith, spokesman for the White Helmets rescue force inside Aleppo described the terror many left behind faced.
“The streets are full of people under the rubble. They are dying because we can’t get them out,” he told AFP.
“Keep that impatience in mind. Because after nine years of media complacency about the systematic underfunding of the health system by the National government – as signified by the steady erosion since 2010, of the share of GDP devoted to Vote Health – we are now being invited to have a cow because the coalition government isn’t fixing all the problems in public health within nine months!
Yes, on the campaign trail last year Labour had aimed to make doctors’ visits cheaper by July 1st 2018. But because of the raft of other problems that National left behind them in public health, this aim may need to be delayed a tad by the coalition government until sometime later during its first term. At that rate, it will still be achieving in one term what its predecessor failed to do in triple that time.”
I merely asked a question, Pat. Therefore, it is you that requires to chill.
But as for your defensive response, I’ll address it.
I don’t think most were expecting changes over night, but considering Labour are fully aware investing in primary care helps to avoid health problems worsening to the point where they need expensive hospital treatment, I think most would have expected it to be a high priority.
Leaving it to fester will add to the cost of public health Labour are trying to get on top of.
. Sea lioning (also spelled sealioning and sea-lioning) is a type of Internet trolling which consists of bad-faith requests for evidence, or repeated questions, the purpose of which is not clarification or elucidation, but rather an attempt to derail a discussion or to wear down the patience of one’s opponent
Labour claim they believe they have the balance about right, hence the question was relevant, thus legit. Presenting an opening for a discussion, which you attempted to derail with your off topic troll crap. And you are persisting to do so. Therefore, if anybody is trolling here, it’s you Joe.
The govt probably figure that improving the lot of those half million but phasing in direct action on GP fees has a higher chance of keeping the government stable and continuing those improvements after reelection, than lowering all those fees and being portrayed by you and other tories as forcing the country into bankruptcy through fiscal lunacy, losing the election, and having a nat government reintroduce those fees and then increase them further still.
Option a) concernobot says “half a million kiwis abandoned”;
Option b) concernobot says “country on brink of bankruptcy, TINA!!!”
But it didn’t, did it? You and national expressed concern for the poor, not the economic feasibility of the nation. The belated mention of cost was certainly not made in relation to the overall budget, maintainiing a surplus, or anything else.
It’s simply an observation that no matter what this government does, the nats and you find something to moan about. Today, a fiscally responsible act is criticised for supposedly hurting the poor. Tomorrow, a policy that helps the poor will have some other criticism levelled at it.
“Today, a fiscally responsible act is criticised for supposedly hurting the poor”
No, it’s far from fiscally responsible. Investing in primary health care now helps avoid health problems worsening to the point where they need expensive hospital treatment. And Labour know this.
Yes indeed. I’m shocked, shocked that you didn’t raise this very serious and honest concern immediately.
Why are you so lax on fiscal issues? If you want to be taken seriously when you raise these important concerns, you really shouldn’t make the amateurish mistake of leaving these very important issues until other people directly confront you.
I’m only pointing out your neglect of this issue so you can lift your game and really make an impact on political discourse in the country. The nation deserves better.
He knows he has a lot of money to spend and he’s going to make a difference.
My mental framing assisted if I think of this government located on a spectrum between Clark and English: nowhere near as bold or programmatic as Clark and Cullen, both National and Labour happy to spend public funding if it can be proven to work, but like English in that they are sufficiently fiscally disciplined to reach for surpluses. It’s impossible for any MSM commentator to disagree with.
They are very clearly going to throw everything they have at housing, transport, health, and education.
They are going to do little of note in tax.
They don’t have a integrated plan for government or for New Zealand.
They are going to spend towards what they state on the tin:
strong public services and networks.
The country will be sufficiently agreeable to that.
He might argue that ‘if elected, a labour govmnt will…’ promises would have more moral force had a labour govmnt been elected, which it wasn’t chairie.
“try and convince yourself that is what the normal person on the street thinks”
Oh there’s obviously scope for a public education campaign, including for a fair few ‘journalists’ editors and publishers who should know better by now.
The Sixth Labour Government is the current government of New Zealand. It is headed by Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It took office on 26 October 2017. [my bold]
From your link, James.
You know what “heading” means here, James?
And you know what a “coalition government” is, James, and a “confidence and supply agreement”?
Quite frankly, I am shocked by this blatant breaking of election promises when they got a vote majority (44.4%) and are the single largest party in Parliament. This is not good for democracy, I say.
I save my disappointments and concerns for my own personal shortcomings and missteps in life of which there are too many to mention. Life is one hell of a journey without destination …
I agree, it is a part but on its own it is rather inefficient and ineffective. Democracy can be so much more than justquestioning and expressing political concerns to others and waiting for an answer or reply from them. Do you see what I’m getting at and where I’m going with this?
It’s tends to be far more effective when large numbers express their concern or outrage. Thus, if we all took your personal stance of not expressing it, it would be totally ineffective.
And yes, a healthy democracy is more than that, hence why I said it was part of it.
They didn’t even know they were going to have the numbers to form a government of some description! NZF held the balance of power; only they were reasonably confident of being in the next government. That is the point. Once in Government you make different kinds of ‘promises’ because you can reasonably expect to be able to deliver on them.
“They didn’t even know they were going to have the numbers to form a government of some description!”
Yes, but they also knew there was little to no chance of them governing alone when the promise was made. Which is the point.
Once in Government there was no mention the promise wouldn’t be upheld until the other day when we were given some indication it is likely to be phased in. And this is after they made more from the tax take than was expected.
The way Labour are going (delaying policy implementation) they’ll be largely campaigning on the same policies at the next election as they did in the last one.
Yes, but they also knew there was little to no chance of them governing alone when the promise was made. Which is the point.
I see, they must only make promises that they are absolutely 100% certain and guaranteed to keep, no matter what, Scout’s Honour.
Actually, I can see where you’re coming from but it is way too rigid and legalistic to be practical. I think it would be less confusing if they campaigned more on values as the basis of policy decisions; the value system underpins everything.
In politics if a party promises something then fails to keep that promise, they lose their credibility, disappoint their supporters, thus risk losing their support.
“No Government should again make the mistake of launching economic reforms without a plan to compensate and help the losers. We are still living with the legacy of failing to help those who lost out in the last big reforms.”
“Act’s productivity commission has proposed penalising owners of older gas guzzlers to subsidise new electric vehicles as part of transitioning NZ to a lower-carbon economy”
Yes, and the Greens seem rather supportive and are considering it. Leaving their commitment to social justice looking rather hollow.
Why do we need to seriously curtail our carbon emissions?
Rail not road freight is a start here.
Firstly take a look at this startling video by a prominent scientists projection data just recovered from satellite long term data from 2008 till now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp5kK0Td-Vc
Pine Island Bay off South America.
This Pine Island glacier” is the size of Texas. – Total collapse will cause a 11ft of sea level rise.
We should all become seriously worried about why national never moved forward on rail or reducing CO2 emissions as they knew this study has going on since 2006 when it begun.
That was why Labour got serious on freight and bought back and was alleviated by this report National produced ; – called “The value of rail in New Zealand” Government report that was hidden by national 2 yrs ago but labour found it again. The study shows rail saves the country $1.5 Billion a year as is but would save vastly more if more rail was used. Report was produced for NZTA/Kiwirail in 2016 by Ernest Young accountants.
Labour should be admired and complimented by buying back our National rail system in 2008, but national has done nothing to move freight back to rail rather they spent their entire 9 yrs closing rail down.
May I ask why on earth we are going on about dictators in Arabia, Assassins in Russia, Egotists and Atomic Bombers in the USA,…..
when we have got awful problems of our own here in New Zealand.
Particularly in sluggish dead Auckland. Drugs, Murder, Violence; Illiteracy; Dishonesty in Parliament ; Obesity; Drugs; Drunkenness; Child neglect; Rape; Fraud; Inability to Build and construct ; Road Carnage; Foul Rivers nationwide; Prisons; Prisons and prisons.
Whilst all the time Aucklanders are pretending it is not happening.
We have a once in 70 yr opportunity to fix NZ up, with a new and young Government.
Let’s get out of the Auckland stupor. National Incompetence. Why on earth stuff around with old half pie wealthly dumb bums of old.
Can you please bin the anti Auckland diatribe – we like all other parts of NZ are composed of individuals with different values, beliefs and behaviours. I hope our new government can work to rectify the damage caused by the Natzional regime and hey I live in Auckland – please neuter that Bee stuck in your bonnet my friend.
The Am Show here we go all the negative storys about farms is just softening up small farmers to sell to big foreign corporation’s that will cut all the trees down destroy mother nature just to make a buck.
The Labour lead Coalition Government will deliver a budget that will deliver to all the peoples NEED’s and the wants mite have to wait a bit.
Yes that negative gearing is just handing more money to people who already have alot of money it needs to be stopped you know how it is the asset owners pay little tax on there income . and the wage earners pay the most.
Duncan my wife is my soul m8 we have been through our ups and downs but we see the big picture in my view and OUR mokopunas and children come first and the rest follow I know that I have a great future ahead of me leading us down the sustainable path it is my destiny.
Albatross are one of my favorite birds I use to watch them for ages gliding above Tangaroa they are great magnificent create who we need insure they have a great future. Ka kite ano .
Newshub Its good news that the ownership of the Warriors Rugby League club is staying in New Zealands hands as We are the only ones that have the best interest for the game and the club and players to prosper Ka pai.
Yes we need to keep up with the Jones on any technology and Artificial Intelligence will be a game changer the Government needs someone like Rod Jury to advise them on this new Technology or we will be left behind in the dust.
Kanye West either needs to take his meds or he is taking to much meds or he is bored and just boosting his twitter hits he has learnt the Trump way of getting noticed .
Eco Maori backs minimum alcohol pricing that will save lives.
One nite Eco Maori felt Ruaumoko in Rotorua the thing was no one else felt him.
Ka kite ano . P.S is that how much PEE is in New Zealand that that University is advising young people how to cope with it after use WTF.
The Crowd Goes Wild I have followed Eric Watson for a few years hes A good Kiwi Business man Many thanks to Eric for doing the right thing for the club game and players by selling to Kiwis ka pai.
James are you sure its your bunions that needs healing there was a episode of Mysfits that British comedy were a girl could heal it did not ened up very good
for her she caught his ailments lol.
That Turkish guy must realy love his soccer getting that crane so he could watch the good game hes a bit like Eco Maori never give up ka pai.
It will be good for the Kiwi run Americas cup having Dean Barker as helmsman for the New York yacht club the rivalry will be there and help promote the races . Ka pai
Ka kite ano P.S thats mean all right that guy riding down a skie slop on his bike
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
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 in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
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Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
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Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
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Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
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Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan resistance leader has condemned the United Nations role in allowing Indonesia to “integrate” the Melanesian Pacific region in what is claimed to be an “egregious act of inhumanity” on 1 May 1963. In an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Organisasi Papua Merdeka-OPM ...
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One thing that has puzzled me over the past months is why Iran has been singled out as the bogey-man of the middle east, the funder of terrorists, the purveyor of extremist religious views?
I mean, at the very least, that role should be held by Saudi Arabia, shouldn’t it?
Until I heard Lee Camp (yes, on RT, automatically fake views, so I won’t link to it) point out that Iraq moved away from the petro-dollar shortly before WMD were ‘discovered’ in the country, which necessitated regime change.
And that Libya under Gaddafi was trying to bypass the dollar and the euro and set up a gold dinar for Africa. Which is why NATO and America needed to ‘liberate’ the country from a brutal dictator.
Now, Iran has begun trading in euros, bypassing the dollar. Which might explain why Macron defended the anti-nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump seems hell bent on scrapping. Now Israel has absolute ‘proof’ that Iran has been reneging on its nuclear deal! Regime change coming for Iran?
I have to ask, it this all about preserving America’s world banking domination? The almighty dollar? Or is this view too simplistic?
You are spot on.
China has also done the same and is creating the petro yuan.
We are looking at an Empre fighting to preeserve its preeminent position – at the end of its Empire.
https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Experts-Chinese-Petro-Yuan-to-Threaten-US-Petrodollar-Dominance-20180407-0010.html
It’s possibly a small factor.
As in: some people in the decision-making loop would think about the weakening of US soft power and the strengthening of European soft power, as represented by their currencies being hard currencies of international choice.
But it’s a massive stretch to regard it as being a significant motivator for invasion, because very few decision-makers would give a damn about it to that degree. Maybe a few State Department folks with a bee in their bonnets about the soft power value of USD being traded in Timbuktu, but not most people. The primary motivators are hard power: access to bases, access to resources (especially oil), access to markets, and having allied buffer states to head off other global powers.
And, in the case of Iran and Libya, hurt balls because those countries told the yanks to go fuck themselves.
My question at the end of my post was rhetorical.
I think you’re underestimating the importance to America of having the world’s ‘reserve currency,’ It enabled them to print money during the GFC with, up to now, no really bad effects.
But take away that position of strength, and America becomes just another indebted nation – so indebted that it could lead to the collapse of their monetary system.
The consequences to the bankers are enormous, well worth a few million deaths and untold suffering of ‘other people.’
What enabled them to print money was having the biggest pool of consumers in the world. Their hiccup dragged everyone else down, too, so the USD didn’t lose as much ground as it might have done, relative to other nations.
And half of corporate america like a weaker dollar, because it makes their offshore profits look better when transferred to the US.
Except for the fact that they’re not hard currencies. Hard currencies would be backed by gold.
And what would happen if the US$ suddenly dropped to half it’s value?
How would USians respond when they could no longer afford to buy inexpensive imported stuff? National has a point about a decrease in exchange rates being a drop in wages.
So, yeah, I’m pretty sure that every single law maker in the US looks at way to keep the US$ as the Reserve Currency and to keep it highly valued. And as it’s been the Petro-dollar since the US dropped the Gold Standard against international agreements that means ensuring that all oil is priced in US dollars.
Which all means that invasion to keep it that way would definitely be a play that the US lawmakers would make.
What people speculate a currency is worth is no less or more abstract than what people speculate gold is worth.
Sure, dropping to half its value is an issue for an import-dominated economy. But we, for example (because you brought up national) to better with a low dollar. More export dollars flowing through the economy from the regions, while import dollars largely circulate around the urban and financial centers.
So there are swings and roundabouts to exchange rates. But even if being the primary reserve currency is an advantage, is it more or less of an advantage than guaranteed arms exports to a client state, market access, having a forward base for your forces, and your client state giving your companies cheap access to the state’s natural resources? Would all foreign policy decisionmakers prioritise primary reserve currency status ahead of all of those other factors?
Well, considering that the US’s seems to use invasion to get a client state as well as to control oil then it certainly looks like it’s a major part of it.
They don’t need the oil for the reserve currency. They need the oil for its own sake.
The US needs oil to be traded in US$ to maintain the demand for US$ so as to maintain Reserve status. Kill oil being traded in US$ and the demand for US$ drops and it’s reserve status questioned and, finally, dropped.
As I say, in reality it’s Reserve status should have been dropped when the US dropped the Gold Standard. Freely floating currencies don’t have any need for a Reserve Currency.
Yeah they do – they’re a hedge. Your lira goes down to levels unsuitable for your economy but you think it’ll bottom out soon, you can raise the seabed a little and temporarily by buying up lira with the francs you have in your vault. And vice versa.
Just like physical gold reserves. Nice shiny bricks.
Doesn’t help if your economy is tanking completely, but does help provide a modicum of stability, which makes your economy stronger in the long term.
We also need to remember that old Saddam tried to or did trade his oil in EUR dollars quite successfully until he was knocked off. If we going back prior to the 2nd or 3rd gulf war (depending on who you read on the subject btw). You would find that Iraq/ Saddam was getting more money from trading in EUR than if he was trading in USD which is the international norm for trading in commodities. The result was US was the biggest loser not in the short term, but when we now include the cost of resulting War as well then the US has been the biggest loser with Iraq 2nd by a nose so far and I get the feeling we haven’t heard the last of this either from economic POV or a further outbreak of conflict within the greater Middle East Region.
Even from Australian and New Zealand POV we have also have taken our eye off the ball within the Sth Pacific, Sth East Asia and Antarctic Regions as our focus has on the MER from an Aid, Trade Climate change and Defence POV.
Nope. That’s about it.
Thing is, the US$ should have stopped being the world’s Reserve Currency when the US dropped the Gold Standard in 70/71. As soon as they did that the US$ was no longer the Gold Reserve that the Bretton Woods agreement called for.
Can you post images here? Because the Sunday Times front page from the UK has to be seen to be believed…
Please do!
You can’t post images here but you can put them on to, say, Google drive (if you have a Google account) and then link to that.
“Jesus would have done it”
I seriously doubt it. (Craven images and all that. Not to mention the potential to cement in bitter sectarian animosities with its construction).
Will the grotesque “I have come to save the world” statue of Jesus erected in Saydnaya which towers over the whole area including the notorious death camp, (even being visible from Jordan and Israel), become as notorious in the Moslem world as the ‘Work Makes Free’ sign in Auschwitz Poland. Both symbols being the last things that condemned prisoners saw before entering these two prospective death camps.
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/muscovite-builds-record-breaking-jesus-statue-in-syria-28831
Though commissioned before the war, the regime ceased all military activity in the region to allow for the statue’s construction.
Amnesty International: Sednaya
Syria’s torture prisons
Wikipedia: Sednaya Prison
Another day.
Another day of head chopping Jihadist propaganda.
Very few people on this site are saying Assad’s regime is pleasant.
But they aren’t taking sides.
And the alternative is way worse.
The headchopping Jihadists aren’t doing Syrian civilians any favours.
Imagine an ISIS style Syria.
The barbarism would be something else.
And if Assad falls they take over.
Do you want that?
When Assad wins, he knows he is in debt to Russia.
And I would imagine Putin will move him on and find a replacement.
Yeah maybe, the Jesus of psychopaths.
As usual Ed, you ignore and gloss over the fact that this giant statue to religious sectarianism is built outside the town of Saydnaya* within eyesight of the notorious Saydnaya extermination camp. Which in my opinion is about as brutal an act of sectarian triumphalism, as if the Germans built a big statue to Jesus in the Polish town of Auschwitz, within eyesight of the Auschwitz death camp at the height of the time that they were murdering people of Jewish faith there.
*There are several versions of the Arabic to English translation of this town’s name.
So Ed, going by the intemperate bigotted Islamphobic slur directed at me by you; Are Amnesty, by your reckoning, also, “head chopping Jihadist propagandists”?
“HUMAN SLAUGHTERHOUSE: MASS HANGINGS AND EXTERMINATION AT SAYDNAYA PRISON, SYRIA”
Amnesty International
Let us know your view.
I know you won’t. And that you limit your ad hominem abuse to personal attacks only, rather than address the issues raised.
But surprise me.
Imperialism bad, Russian imperialism good, huh?
/
Tragic and necessary: https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356326/waitakere-ranges-closure-starts-from-today
A tragedy for kids. How are National’s environmental credentials looking now?
National’s environmental credentials are like a mayfly: it undergoes many changes and has a very short-lived latest form or stage but they do make good fish food.
More National party voters work on the environment here. Canterbury farmer Brent Thomas destroys a threatened native, a third of the surviving population in order to plant oats for feeding dairy herds.
Over-riding National’s environment policy is business. We’ll think about the environment and long as it doesn’t get in the way of business.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/356316/it-s-tragic-farmer-destroys-threatened-native-shrub
How pathetic have DOC become. From what I can make out there was only some old gentleman’s agreement to protect an endangered species from being wiped out.
Another organisation is bringing prosecution, not DOC infact they are calling the guy a ‘good guy’ basically for his actions. Now DOC propose to reward the farmer by giving him money so he doesn’t own other land that he will potentially destroy.
Agree, they are an embarrassment at the moment. Nats got DOC doing the tourist thing earning cash, yet reduced their scope and ability to y’know conserve.
DOC isn’t bringing a prosecution because, just like Forest & Bird, it isn’t a relevant party to any proceedings.
And on the face of it, what Thomas has done isn’t illegal, so there is that too.
So the Department of Conservation can’t do anything if someone wants to nearly wipe out an endangered species on their own land? That’s ridiculous. The fact it rings true in this case shows how much they’ve dropped the ball.
Muehlenbeckia astonii is not rare or threatened although local populations on Kaitorete Spit may have been affected by the reported development. The ideologues in DoC persist in trying to preserve flora and fauna in geographically limited locations whereas history shows diversification (of locations) has proven more successful.
So spraying the local population to make way for oats is the right thing to do? Sounds like a National Party approach to conservation.
In that case let’s kill off the remaining panda in the wild and just breed more of them in zoos because they do better under our watch 🙄
And the plant is endangered, look it up.
The NZ Plant Conservation Network does list the plant as endangered but don’t state their criterion for that assessment. One can buy seed by the kilogram and I grow thousands of M. astonii a year for my revegetation projects – so in my view, the plant is not rare or endangered.
For a number of reasons, DoC has had limited success in conserving habitats. That of course should be the priority. But given the reality, growing the plant in a number of different locations, including botanic gardens, is preferable to extinction.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has a classification for species that are ‘extinct in the wild’, that classification comes after ‘endangered’ and ‘critically endangered’.
In conservation terms, if you have to put a species in a cage or in some potting mix to keep it alive then it’s basically extinct.
Some people buy a rare species like kakabeak at a garden centre and then go and put it in their garden. I’m sure some of these people think they’re doing a good thing by increasing their numbers, but all they’re doing is gardening, not anything to do conservation.
The IUCN also recognise the role of ‘conservation horticulture’ in the management of rare, threatened and endangered flora. I guess that’s why DoC have their Motukarara plant nursery. Sometimes, intervention is more effective than the alternative.
If you send me your postal address, I’ll courier you 10 Muehlenbeckia astonii that you can plant in your garden so you’ll be able to feel your restricted definition of ‘conservation’ is less futile.
2017 election results
Epsom party vote Green 3263
Mangere party vote Green 760
Why wouldnt national go after a share of the ‘well off greens’ party vote?
If National is or had been more environmentally conscious and genuinely committed it might attract a greater share of the so-called (well off) green vote. On the other hand, National is much more conscious of and committed to votes, first and foremost, and will ‘adjust’ any policy and ‘adopt’ just about anything to get those votes – the end justifies the means. National has it all back to front: profit & growth before social equality and justice, businesses & economy before the environment & climate change, greed & entitlement before compassion & social welfare, and, above all, power & control. So, I respectfully disagree with you.
100% Incognito;
National wont care about the environment as they showed this for nine years and we now have poor water quality worse than other countries do.
I hoped that with Simon Bridges at the lead of national, they may become more environmentally savvy but no they haven’t sadly for NZ.
I think they are doing green camouflage too.
I was just pointing out why they are doing it. The reality is a lot of Green party votes come from very well off electorates which could be susceptible to going to them.
But will it work ?
“The reality is a lot of Green party votes come from very well off electorates”
Interesting – do you have a link for that?
Look up the election votes online , or do it by looking at Wikipedia for the electorates names. Most have the last few election results in detail.
Surely you dont have blinkers on to what has been plain for ages, its not a startling revelation.
Are Auckland Central and Wellington Central teeming with poverty and disadvantage or covered with $1.5 mill plus homes.
Another place to look is the huge difference in Dunedin North and Dunedin South. The poorer electorate has half the greens vote of its better off neighbor.
No, I don’t think so. In fact, raising awareness among those so-called blue-green voters might even cause blue voters to go green. They will have to run an extremely subtle and highly targeted campaign to make it work IMHO and I don’t believe the current Opposition as a whole can pull that off.
In my view, the well-off Green voter in Epsom will be well-off regardless of who’s in government. I think they generally are high & dry and likely to be more concerned about the future of the environment for their children and grandchildren. They realise that their vote is much more important for the Green Party and that this party is more likely to make policies that are positive for the environment than National. Think about it, your vote counts more for a small party like the Greens than for the largest party (National). Nobody likes to be just a number on an electoral role; we all want to make some kind of impact …
Racism in action. Huri seems like a good man who cares for the community
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/103137846/police-politics-and-race-long-and-anguished-tale-of-constabularys-relationship-with-mori
(Wait.. “mori”?!)
You should include the conclusion to make it clear for those just flicking through
ie “Measures designed to reduce the prosecution of maori for smaller offences seem to benefit pakeha more”
“mori”.
I suspect it may be a problem with the macron in the word.
It may not be acceptable in the link to the article. Anyone actually know what the limitations are?
I see that the macron is present throughout the article in the paper.
Might have been better to use the spelling “maori” without the macron though in the link.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30401962/what-are-the-legal-and-illegal-characters-in-url-link
The link is probably automatically generated upon the name of the article and also automatically removes illegal characters.
Yes. That would certainly make sense.
It fits exactly with the heading in the paper.
Man from the 1840’s debates Māori democratic representation with future race relations commissioner. Juddy you’re the man!
http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/politics/don-brash-and-andrew-judd-debate-maori-equality
Have you ever considered putting an apostrophe after the ‘o’ in your handle Mister Duke?
It’d more accurately describe that dainty wee disposition ( complete with its ideology ) you come from (going forward)
Duke o’ Furl perhaps ?
It comes from a song name num’skull
Still no sign of weka I think. Hope she’s ok.
And don’t recall oAB being around for a bit either
Bloke and Bill got involved in some biffo – he’s still on a ban I believe.
Re – Weka hope she’s fine, she may just have got fed up with the site and the moderating which is quite understandable.
Last post was the election of Marama , which she was excited about.
Maybe shes now working for Marama ??
Two Syrias
I came across this video, the footage taken in Damascus and this reporter’s experience of Damascus, which one person she spoke to likened to 1984, reminded me very strongly of my time in pre war Latakia. The suffocating presence of the dictator’s image everywhere. Weirdly the video footage filmed in Latakia of people holidaying at a beachside resort, is something that I don’t recognise at all as being of Latakia. Not even Latakia in peace time. The version of Latakia in this video is completely alien to me.
Not saying that this side of Latakia wasn’t there, I just never saw it. Of course this might be because I shared my time between the Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Latakia and the city centre and the featurless working class suburbs. Funnily enough the refugee camp in Latakia where I spent most of my time, was also on the seashore. No one spent anytime there however, and I never saw anyone swimming, maybe because the makeshift sewers from the camp flowed straight into the water.
Seeing the version of this other Syria in this video, I wouldn’t have minded spending a little time there, just to get away from the dreary and repressive reality of the rest of this town.
How did you get out alive?
Hi Gabby, I was in Syria prior to the war, not during it. But even then there were a couple of times, I worried about that. Unnecessarily, as it turned out. But still, the all pervading claustrophobic almost suffocating feeling of being in a police state, that I felt, is well captured by this reporter’s visit to Damascus. The dictator’s image everywhere, the ever present armed police and army presence everywhere. The need by the citizens to pledge allegiance to the dictator at the mere mention of his name. If it wasn’t so tragic it would be funny, The rather portly man who pulls out a picture of the dictator and lays it on the hood of a car at a wedding, and feeling the camera on him, feels compelled, rather awkwardly I thought, to salute the dictator’s image, (presumably just in case he wasn’t perceived as being loyal enough).
Was it like that before the US started a civil war there?
The US started the civil war?
Indications are that they certainly had a hand in it:
So, if the US hadn’t funded the opposition would there still have been a civil war?
It takes more than a TV station and a journalist to shoot hungry protestors.
The US has been supporting the FSA since sometime near the beginning as well as other armed groups.
Supporting groups after they’d armed themselves and started shooting isn’t starting the civil war, is it?
By that logic the Russians and Hezbollah started the civil war, too.
You mean, was it like that before the people revolted?
Yes it was.
So, a civil war that has raged for 6+ years has made absolutely no difference?
Yeah, no.
Draco,
What I was referring to, was the stifling police state atmosphere captured by this video in Damascus, which I found very reminiscent of my time in Latakia, the omnipresence of dictator’s image everywhere, the omnipresence of police and army everywhere. This was the reality of Syria which I was familiar with and which, one off camera, Syrian likened to, being Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984.
What you are referring to, is the destruction wrought by the regime on the Syrian people in revolt, captured in the link you supplied.
And thanks for supplying this.
From the link you supplied:
“Syria ‘before and after’ photos reveal war’s terrifying toll”
“WE’VE been accused of ignoring what’s going on in this once “normal” city. But the before and after photos are pretty hard to forget.”
The war it seems, is also a long way from affluent people, even in Syria. The images of Latakia captured in the video I supplied, was of people holidaying at a luxury beach resort untouched by the war. This was a revelation to me, these images were completely alien to anything I experienced in Latakia. They were scenes completely unlike anything I ever saw during my time in that city, even in peace time.
To me Latakia was the grim featureless tower blocks in the working class suburbs with out a park or bit of greenery, or child’s playground, and the jumbled over-crowded Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the city which was later strafed and shelled by the regime from warships off the coast, which I witnessed as it was happening by live feed back in Auckland. (And don’t dare tell me that this live feed was faked, I knew this camp well).
More from the link you supplied:
Grant Robertson promises a surplus
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/103510950/grant-robertson-promises-a-surplus-and-defends-budget-responsibility-rules
Wonder if that will appease the half a million or so Kiwis who can’t afford to see a doctor?
“Keep that impatience in mind. Because after nine years of media complacency about the systematic underfunding of the health system by the National government – as signified by the steady erosion since 2010, of the share of GDP devoted to Vote Health – we are now being invited to have a cow because the coalition government isn’t fixing all the problems in public health within nine months!
Yes, on the campaign trail last year Labour had aimed to make doctors’ visits cheaper by July 1st 2018. But because of the raft of other problems that National left behind them in public health, this aim may need to be delayed a tad by the coalition government until sometime later during its first term. At that rate, it will still be achieving in one term what its predecessor failed to do in triple that time.”
http://werewolf.co.nz/2018/05/gordon-campbell-on-health-promises-bp-and-the-white-house-correspondents-furore/
Chill Homer
I merely asked a question, Pat. Therefore, it is you that requires to chill.
But as for your defensive response, I’ll address it.
I don’t think most were expecting changes over night, but considering Labour are fully aware investing in primary care helps to avoid health problems worsening to the point where they need expensive hospital treatment, I think most would have expected it to be a high priority.
Leaving it to fester will add to the cost of public health Labour are trying to get on top of.
/
.
Sea lioning (also spelled sealioning and sea-lioning) is a type of Internet trolling which consists of bad-faith requests for evidence, or repeated questions, the purpose of which is not clarification or elucidation, but rather an attempt to derail a discussion or to wear down the patience of one’s opponent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_lioning
Cut out the troll crap. What’s your position on the matter?
Cat got your tongue, Joe?
Seeing as it seems you don’t want to partake in a discussion on the matter. Some may think you only posted that troll crap to derail the discussion.
That’s joe.
Usually a barbed comment about Russia.
Not those who have read your concern trolling for a while, Chairperson. They will think the video quite apt.
You’re JAQing off.
That little jab merely confirms my point, Joe. Thanks.
You post under the guise of I merely asked a question, Pat, so you fit the bill, you’re a concern troll JAQing off.
Labour claim they believe they have the balance about right, hence the question was relevant, thus legit. Presenting an opening for a discussion, which you attempted to derail with your off topic troll crap. And you are persisting to do so. Therefore, if anybody is trolling here, it’s you Joe.
Maximising the good.
The govt probably figure that improving the lot of those half million but phasing in direct action on GP fees has a higher chance of keeping the government stable and continuing those improvements after reelection, than lowering all those fees and being portrayed by you and other tories as forcing the country into bankruptcy through fiscal lunacy, losing the election, and having a nat government reintroduce those fees and then increase them further still.
Option a) concernobot says “half a million kiwis abandoned”;
Option b) concernobot says “country on brink of bankruptcy, TINA!!!”
As I highlighted above, leaving it to fester will add to the cost of public health Labour are trying to get on top of.
Which, as you put it, would be fiscal lunacy. Thus, would be more likely to attract the insinuation of bankruptcy you’re concerned about.
But it didn’t, did it? You and national expressed concern for the poor, not the economic feasibility of the nation. The belated mention of cost was certainly not made in relation to the overall budget, maintainiing a surplus, or anything else.
Very different to option b.
“But it didn’t, did it?”
It’s yet to happen. Moreover, attracting the insinuation of bankruptcy was your concern, not mine.
It’s not a concern, as such.
It’s simply an observation that no matter what this government does, the nats and you find something to moan about. Today, a fiscally responsible act is criticised for supposedly hurting the poor. Tomorrow, a policy that helps the poor will have some other criticism levelled at it.
“Today, a fiscally responsible act is criticised for supposedly hurting the poor”
No, it’s far from fiscally responsible. Investing in primary health care now helps avoid health problems worsening to the point where they need expensive hospital treatment. And Labour know this.
Yes indeed. I’m shocked, shocked that you didn’t raise this very serious and honest concern immediately.
Why are you so lax on fiscal issues? If you want to be taken seriously when you raise these important concerns, you really shouldn’t make the amateurish mistake of leaving these very important issues until other people directly confront you.
I’m only pointing out your neglect of this issue so you can lift your game and really make an impact on political discourse in the country. The nation deserves better.
I can only agree with McFlock’s fair and accurate assessment of your abysmal failings, Chairman.
Satire and reality are getting really blurred- Brilliant work by Dave Armstrong, but would it register with the people it needs to register with?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/103487100/dave-armstrong-the-reasons-why-work-and-income-doesnt-work
This is the Minister’s speech from this morning.
It is solid.
He remains confident that definitely has the money.
He also remains confident that he can achieve almost all of his campaign promises while also lowering debt.
http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1805/Grant_Robertson_preBudget_speech_1_May.pdf
There’s plenty to argue about in it, but also plenty that is rock solid.
I think that’s OK to expect in the first budget.
“He can achieve almost all of his campaign promises”
“Almost all” doesn’t sound all that “solid” to me.
Labour believe they have the balance (between debt repayment and expenditure) about right, hence it will be interesting to see if voters confirm that.
It’s definitely all on Roberston in 17 days.
But his performance was solid this morning.
He knows he has a lot of money to spend and he’s going to make a difference.
My mental framing assisted if I think of this government located on a spectrum between Clark and English: nowhere near as bold or programmatic as Clark and Cullen, both National and Labour happy to spend public funding if it can be proven to work, but like English in that they are sufficiently fiscally disciplined to reach for surpluses. It’s impossible for any MSM commentator to disagree with.
They are very clearly going to throw everything they have at housing, transport, health, and education.
They are going to do little of note in tax.
They don’t have a integrated plan for government or for New Zealand.
They are going to spend towards what they state on the tin:
strong public services and networks.
The country will be sufficiently agreeable to that.
To me “almost all” means what it says; to National it means 44.4%.
There has never been and there never will be a budget that pleases each and every voter.
How and when will voters confirm your concern?
“To me “almost all” means what it says”
Exactly, hence the problem.
No one expects them to please everybody. But many generally expect a promise to be kept.
“How and when will voters confirm your concern?”
From the decline in support we have seen in the polls before and will no doubt see again.
How many promises did they (Labour, NZF, and Greens as individual parties) make during the election campaign?
How many promises did they keep after the election and which they collectively agreed on in the coalition agreement and C & S agreement?
And remember, not all promises are equal.
Yes, I expected you to mention the polls; public polls, internal polls, anecdotal polls, personal feedback polls, C & W polls, etc.
He might argue that ‘if elected, a labour govmnt will…’ promises would have more moral force had a labour govmnt been elected, which it wasn’t chairie.
LOL brilliant – we cannot be held to any promised made by “labour” because a labour government has not been elected.
Best argument ever Gobby – I would love for them to come out and say that.
oh – and just to burst your bubble – it is a labour covernment – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Labour_Government_of_New_Zealand
So yeah – labour were elected. They just are continuing to break promises.
It’s MMP. Labour’s promises as a government are in the agreements they signed with NZ First and the Greens.
No party gets to implement their whole campaign platform, as the Nats and their supporters seem to be struggling to learn.
Yeah sure – try and convince yourself that is what the normal person on the street thinks.
“try and convince yourself that is what the normal person on the street thinks”
Oh there’s obviously scope for a public education campaign, including for a fair few ‘journalists’ editors and publishers who should know better by now.
Trolling glee? You are coming across a bit desperate James.
Not really glee.
But – if you are happy with the broken promises – then good for you.
James, your comments are becoming increasingly ridiculous. You really need to think more clearly if you want anyone to take you seriously.
James.
The election policy said:
Reduced Doctors fees From July 2018
Its politics to expand the policy ‘from’ whenever
or by NOT doing it ‘from’ July 2018 is a broken promise.
Simple really.
Jus puttin on my Ponyboy’s not the PM hat jimbo, I ashleigh don’t find wikipeda personally credible. Enithiday.
okaaaaaaaaaaay …. so you dont believe that that the country is being run by the 6th Labour government – then who is?
From your link, James.
You know what “heading” means here, James?
And you know what a “coalition government” is, James, and a “confidence and supply agreement”?
National has failed to deliver on all its election promises so far.
Are you disappointed? I’m not. I didn’t vote for them.
Quite frankly, I am shocked by this blatant breaking of election promises when they got a vote majority (44.4%) and are the single largest party in Parliament. This is not good for democracy, I say.
I save my disappointments and concerns for my own personal shortcomings and missteps in life of which there are too many to mention. Life is one hell of a journey without destination …
Questioning and expressing political concern is part of a healthy democracy.
I agree, it is a part but on its own it is rather inefficient and ineffective. Democracy can be so much more than justquestioning and expressing political concerns to others and waiting for an answer or reply from them. Do you see what I’m getting at and where I’m going with this?
It’s tends to be far more effective when large numbers express their concern or outrage. Thus, if we all took your personal stance of not expressing it, it would be totally ineffective.
And yes, a healthy democracy is more than that, hence why I said it was part of it.
“Promises would have more moral force had a labour govmnt been elected, which it wasn’t chairie.”
When Labour made that promise, it was largely accepted they wouldn’t govern alone.
Which is confirming the point that Gabby made @ 13.
No, it doesn’t. It highlights they knew there was little chance of them governing alone when the promise was made.
They didn’t even know they were going to have the numbers to form a government of some description! NZF held the balance of power; only they were reasonably confident of being in the next government. That is the point. Once in Government you make different kinds of ‘promises’ because you can reasonably expect to be able to deliver on them.
“They didn’t even know they were going to have the numbers to form a government of some description!”
Yes, but they also knew there was little to no chance of them governing alone when the promise was made. Which is the point.
Once in Government there was no mention the promise wouldn’t be upheld until the other day when we were given some indication it is likely to be phased in. And this is after they made more from the tax take than was expected.
The way Labour are going (delaying policy implementation) they’ll be largely campaigning on the same policies at the next election as they did in the last one.
I see, they must only make promises that they are absolutely 100% certain and guaranteed to keep, no matter what, Scout’s Honour.
Actually, I can see where you’re coming from but it is way too rigid and legalistic to be practical. I think it would be less confusing if they campaigned more on values as the basis of policy decisions; the value system underpins everything.
“I see, they must only make promises that they are absolutely 100% certain and guaranteed to keep, no matter what, Scout’s Honour.”
If they want to maintain their credibility, thus future support and not disappoint, then yes.
I don’t think binary thinking is a fruitful pursuit in general and most certainly not in politics.
How do you cope with the consensus approach of the Green Party?
In politics if a party promises something then fails to keep that promise, they lose their credibility, disappoint their supporters, thus risk losing their support.
Act’s productivity commission has proposed penalising owners of older gas guzzlers to subsidise new electric vehicles as part of transitioning NZ to a lower-carbon economy. Not so fast, writes Bernard Hickey:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/04/30/106833/help-the-old-bomb-owners-this-time
“No Government should again make the mistake of launching economic reforms without a plan to compensate and help the losers. We are still living with the legacy of failing to help those who lost out in the last big reforms.”
Poor people will have trains to look at. Chuff chuffing off to where they don’t work.
The full rail, tram and bus network will connect all over the region – but it is years away yet.
They just need to hang in there.
“Act’s productivity commission has proposed penalising owners of older gas guzzlers to subsidise new electric vehicles as part of transitioning NZ to a lower-carbon economy”
Yes, and the Greens seem rather supportive and are considering it. Leaving their commitment to social justice looking rather hollow.
Why do we need to seriously curtail our carbon emissions?
Rail not road freight is a start here.
Firstly take a look at this startling video by a prominent scientists projection data just recovered from satellite long term data from 2008 till now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp5kK0Td-Vc
Pine Island Bay off South America.
This Pine Island glacier” is the size of Texas. – Total collapse will cause a 11ft of sea level rise.
We should all become seriously worried about why national never moved forward on rail or reducing CO2 emissions as they knew this study has going on since 2006 when it begun.
That was why Labour got serious on freight and bought back and was alleviated by this report National produced ; – called “The value of rail in New Zealand” Government report that was hidden by national 2 yrs ago but labour found it again. The study shows rail saves the country $1.5 Billion a year as is but would save vastly more if more rail was used. Report was produced for NZTA/Kiwirail in 2016 by Ernest Young accountants.
http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/The%20Value%20of%20the%20Rail%20in%20New%20Zealand.pdf
Labour should be admired and complimented by buying back our National rail system in 2008, but national has done nothing to move freight back to rail rather they spent their entire 9 yrs closing rail down.
+1
Our Own Mess
May I ask why on earth we are going on about dictators in Arabia, Assassins in Russia, Egotists and Atomic Bombers in the USA,…..
when we have got awful problems of our own here in New Zealand.
Particularly in sluggish dead Auckland. Drugs, Murder, Violence; Illiteracy; Dishonesty in Parliament ; Obesity; Drugs; Drunkenness; Child neglect; Rape; Fraud; Inability to Build and construct ; Road Carnage; Foul Rivers nationwide; Prisons; Prisons and prisons.
Whilst all the time Aucklanders are pretending it is not happening.
We have a once in 70 yr opportunity to fix NZ up, with a new and young Government.
Let’s get out of the Auckland stupor. National Incompetence. Why on earth stuff around with old half pie wealthly dumb bums of old.
Can you please bin the anti Auckland diatribe – we like all other parts of NZ are composed of individuals with different values, beliefs and behaviours. I hope our new government can work to rectify the damage caused by the Natzional regime and hey I live in Auckland – please neuter that Bee stuck in your bonnet my friend.
I see more people from rural NZ ignoring the problems than I do those from Auckland.
Aucklanders know that we have problems. We also know that the rural areas have problems like dairying.
Can we please not be invited to any more Auckland Goff parties?
Hi Barfly
It is good that you are facing the facts. I admire you for that.
Our biggest city is defective – and need not be. Only Aucklanders can turn things around.
BLASTED LIMBS, BROKEN DREAMS
Israeli gunfire is taking a severe toll on the lower limbs of Palestinian protesters
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/04/30/even-awful-washington-post-better-than-the-new-york-sturmer-times/
That didn’t take long. A labour / nz first government up to its old tricks
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103508670/labour-mp-ruth-dyson-error-led-to-wrongful-spending-accusation
So easy to just pull it out of the drawer, dust it off, implement the plan but forget about the reaction
The Am Show here we go all the negative storys about farms is just softening up small farmers to sell to big foreign corporation’s that will cut all the trees down destroy mother nature just to make a buck.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/103518908/wealthy-australian-buys-more-rural-land-near-gisborne
The Labour lead Coalition Government will deliver a budget that will deliver to all the peoples NEED’s and the wants mite have to wait a bit.
Yes that negative gearing is just handing more money to people who already have alot of money it needs to be stopped you know how it is the asset owners pay little tax on there income . and the wage earners pay the most.
Duncan my wife is my soul m8 we have been through our ups and downs but we see the big picture in my view and OUR mokopunas and children come first and the rest follow I know that I have a great future ahead of me leading us down the sustainable path it is my destiny.
Albatross are one of my favorite birds I use to watch them for ages gliding above Tangaroa they are great magnificent create who we need insure they have a great future. Ka kite ano .
Newshub Its good news that the ownership of the Warriors Rugby League club is staying in New Zealands hands as We are the only ones that have the best interest for the game and the club and players to prosper Ka pai.
Yes we need to keep up with the Jones on any technology and Artificial Intelligence will be a game changer the Government needs someone like Rod Jury to advise them on this new Technology or we will be left behind in the dust.
Kanye West either needs to take his meds or he is taking to much meds or he is bored and just boosting his twitter hits he has learnt the Trump way of getting noticed .
Eco Maori backs minimum alcohol pricing that will save lives.
One nite Eco Maori felt Ruaumoko in Rotorua the thing was no one else felt him.
Ka kite ano . P.S is that how much PEE is in New Zealand that that University is advising young people how to cope with it after use WTF.
The Crowd Goes Wild I have followed Eric Watson for a few years hes A good Kiwi Business man Many thanks to Eric for doing the right thing for the club game and players by selling to Kiwis ka pai.
James are you sure its your bunions that needs healing there was a episode of Mysfits that British comedy were a girl could heal it did not ened up very good
for her she caught his ailments lol.
That Turkish guy must realy love his soccer getting that crane so he could watch the good game hes a bit like Eco Maori never give up ka pai.
It will be good for the Kiwi run Americas cup having Dean Barker as helmsman for the New York yacht club the rivalry will be there and help promote the races . Ka pai
Ka kite ano P.S thats mean all right that guy riding down a skie slop on his bike