Is the BandStand Gathering (/Many Voices/ No Megaphones) on for today at 1pm?
I’ve speculatively lined up a guest speaker from Oil Free Otago. They are scheduled to talk at 2pm though I don’t know who yet (will have more info later in morn). It would be good if someone (CV?) had an alternative guest speaker, or even prepared a speech themself – to provide a range of viewpoints even if not on the same topic.
“It would be good if someone (CV?) had an alternative guest speaker, or even prepared a speech themself – to provide a range of viewpoints even if not on the same topic.”
I personally like the idea of a promenade where different speakers give their talks at the same time on the large grass area in front of the BandStand; so that an audience can walk between them and choose that which most interests them. Not sure if we’ll have the logistics of that sorted out for this time though – even if anyone else does think it’s a good idea.
There were less than the; “Fewer than several dozen”, that CV reported for last week, but it was a bit of a grey day verging on drizzle. My speculative speaker was a no-show too this week, but we did hash out a provisional tikanga for such guest speakers in the future. I’d meant to convince someone to come along when I went along to welcome the SV Tiama into harbour, but misread 7:30am for 7:30pm (doh!). Trying to arrange someone to come talk with a group where I couldn’t give numbers or (then) even location with any certainty via email at a day’s notice wasn’t the most effective.
Anyway, the week after next (I’ll be out of town on Waitangi weekend) at 2pm on the lawn in front of the bandstand (or the duckpond pagoda if raining), there will be someone from OFO giving a brief talk about our activities; followed by a probably much longer q&a/ discussion. This will not be part of the; “Many Voices”, group proper, but as we will be meeting from 1pm onwards at the bandstand I imagine that many of us will head over to check that out.
Though with the Many Voices theme, I still like the idea of different speakers on the lawn at the same time. But that’s for others to arrange, I’m going to have full enough hands this next fortnight as it is.
I personally like the idea of a promenade where different speakers give their talks at the same time on the large grass area in front of the BandStand; so that audience can walk between them and choose that which most interests them. Not sure if we’ll have the logistics of that sorted out for this time though – even if anyone else does think it’s a good idea.
And; No Megaphones, goes for microphones too.
[Post moderator: I’m getting glitches trying to submit this comment – please delete any repetitions]
With the gazzillion bandwidths that the Government has been auctioning off in recent years, and the ample availabilty of transmission towers across the land, why does Radio New Zealand still have one of the smallest most pathetic broadcast strengths on the spectrum?
Run through the stations and you are carpet-bombed with strong clear commercial product and then, if you are very careful and able to fine tune with the delicate touch of a blind safecracker, you catch a murmur of our public broadcaster.
note: The fact it is available on-line is irrelevant to the question. If the web is broken, or you can no longer afford it, the radio is still required.
I agree I have terrible reception in the East Coast Bays for National Programme.
It used to be that the National Radio transmissions could be heard throughout New Zealand but now both AM & FM are hard to receive.
I have a memory that we had to reduce power of transmissions because it interfered with Australian stations but have no way of confirming if that is correct. Should we all be complaining to RNZ?
freedom
I have wondered this about RadioNZ bandwidth. It can be so hard to get full strength, a fraction of a millimetre, and the voice of a pop star or brain-dead announcer or advert floods your ears.
Also I feel that their equipment and budget is possibly a little low. Lately they get very poor connections with phone interviews, they can’t get the audio clips lined up in the right place, and the announcer is embarrassed by a hole where the announced audio doesn’t come, and there are breaks in transmission for some reason which they apologise for. I don’t mind fire drill where some wit has prerecorded items, like the song, Baby come back or some other appropriate waiting song.
Radionz and all that sail in it are precious, and I don’t want any harm to come to it, the buildings, or the people. So I am content for them to have fire drill.
I’ll not forgive the NACTs for denying them their purpose-built building so they could make some grossly inferior use of the space. Why I can’t remember. I think it was at the time that the NACTS had found the dosh to put the Olde Legislative building on rails and shift it sideways, so they could knock down the Beehive, or add to it so that they would have an edifice suitable for the glory of their golden eminences. I don’t know if they were thinking of something like the Guggenheimer gallery in Bilbao in Spain but I wouldn’t be surprised. http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81822284
I think it was a part of Nationals long term plans to remove public broadcasting. In Auckland they forced RNZ to sell the Durham Street Broadcasting House and RNZ was then dumped into rented premises in Cook Street. Incidentally the money from the sales did not go to RNZ but back to government.
Same thing happened in Wellington as mentioned above when it was decided to demolish Broadcasting House and RNZ was forced into rented premises. From memory Richard Prebble was involved in that fiasco. Of course once they got RNZ out of their own building and the building demolished it was decided the space was not needed. OF course the object was to harass RNZ and put them at the mercy of private landlords. Anything to weaken public broadcasting and remove an independent news media voice.
Labour needs to address this problem by strengthening public radio and giving it sufficient funding to carry out its functions. I would love to see it gain some form of charter to make it hard if not impossible for future governments to wreck public broadcasting without the people having a say.
RNZ should be directed to implement digital broadcasting and if it would help funding give them licences for a commercial network. After all they had one until National sold it off to its mates.
With the current mess that television is in I would not care if TVNZ was abolished and its licences transfered to a public body. I do not think it is possible for TVNZ ever to regain the ability to produce public service television.
Ron
I echo that bit about strengthening RadioNZ. make it hard if not impossible for future governments to wreck public broadcasting without the people having a say.
RNZ should be directed to implement digital broadcasting and if it would help funding give them licences for a commercial network.
Don’t know about commercial radio adjunct with public. There is such a gulf between the ‘thinking’ that goes on the commercial and public, I wouldn’t want to taint public radio.
I didn’t realise that about RNZ in Auckland. My family once had a house in Cook Street and I went hunting it a while back and saw the Radionz site at the top but unfortunately my family’s house had gone. There were soviet-style apartments in its place. So Richard Prebble was in the deal. The radio, the rail, the rahrah of rolling government and the unions. What a heady mix of maliciousness.
(Incidentally is Dr Mark Prebble his relative? I was looking at a 2005 nz Listener and it noted he was State Services Commissioner and had announced average 14% pay rises for state CEOs, with his own salary rising to nearly $400,000.)
And I agree that TVNZ is far away from having anything but the quick quid in its sights. Government of course, demanding its quid has ensured that. Timorous Labour last time could not bring itself to have a quality public service, and drove Ian Fraser mad with the charter constraints plus having their hand out.
I don’t know that we couldn’t have a channel for public and get someone in from even perhaps the USA where they might have quite a good service, behind the florid bushes of commercial and political patronage. You never know, USA is surprising sometimes. Australia is a bit close, I would like something fresh and untainted by our politicians on either side of the ditch.
And one more thing that I forgot. Radio NZ should be required to bring back a weekly intelligent journal. Now that The Listener has been sold off to German interests we need a good weekly that can investigate radio programmes, provide a platform for good literature and the arts as well as other articles of interest to the public. The Listener has long ceased to be anything more than a soap digest competing in the women’s magazine market.
Incidentally if my memory serves me correct when I used to work for Broadcasting when the Listener magazine was sold the Corporation retained the rights to The Listener masthead. It used to show in the balance sheet.
Don’t know if it still is owned by the people or was eventually sold off. Would be interesting if it was still publicly owned, maybe we could take it back. If not then we could call new magazine Radio Times maybe
Im guessing those in charge of cost cutting told them that voice uses less bandwidth and management adjusted appropriately.
It doesnt help that the quality of radio recivers that are sold has dropped, and that the deregulated environment has overcrowded the spectrum — I am no expert but I belive there are issues there.
Agree that demolishing Broadcasting House was a mistake. When built, was well ahead of its time (rather like a lot of things in this country — we seemed to lead the world in everything, right up until the 80’s), I belive even Richard Prebble (who imposed the current broadcasting model on us) opposed this.
What pray tell makes ACT’s Jamie Whyte a “philosopher” ?
“The 48-year-old philosopher, author and columnist returned from Britain last year to settle in Auckland with his wife and two daughters, aged 10 and 6.”
As distinct say from an electoral fraudster (alleged), a botoxer, a love perker, a perkbuster, a hollow man, a grave robber, an ex-Labour scab.
He’s still more of a Sophist than a Philosopher though, whatever his job description. Using the platonic distinction between; those who take money to disperse the conventional wisdom, versus; those who seek wisdom for its own sake.
Surely you wouldn’t claim that every PhD is a philosopher?
he reef is being threatened from all sides. Dredging for coal and gas ports. Increased shipping frequency. Run off from agricultural developments. Increased ocean acidity and rises in sea temperatures from fossil fuel burning. The threats have got the reef surrounded.
Now the government’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has decided to allow up to three million cubic metres of ocean bottom to be dredged and then dumped within the borders of the marine park and also the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage area.
The decision is another necessary block removed in order to liberate millions of tonnes of coal from Queensland’s Galilee Basin, where miners hope to then rail it to shore and load it onto containers at an expanded coal terminal at Abbot Point. The dredging is to make way for the ships as they weave their way through the Great Barrier Reef – a wondrous icon of the blue planet that doubles as the world’s most iconic coal shipping lane.
Most of the coal is destined for Asia and India, where it will be burned, releasing more greenhouse gases to warm the oceans and the atmosphere.
Lots of news outlets reporting this, including Aussie’s ABC: Queensland Resources Council spokesperson talks of “increasingly hysterical environmental activists”.
Xox
And then there is the tag team, Collins and Tolley, abetted by Key, in attacking Metiria, over her clothing. A cat fight . And the next distraction?
Au contraire, Collins and Tolley have been quite clear.
According to them, people who care for the poor should only be allowed to dress in opshop rags. It is hypocrisy to dress according to the code of your colleagues or workplace.
Of course none of these considerations apply to Collins or Tolley. They can wear what they like, as they have never given a rats about anyone but the rich.
Metiria is a Maori woman, who had a child young, so she “fitted” the stereotypical Maori profile.
“Problem” is Metiria has since gained an education – shock, horror – and become an M.P. – too much.
Metiria should have stayed at home, wearing a “grass skirt”, an ill-fitting bra, if one at all, had one child on the hip, and another one suckling, then she would have fitted the National stereotypical profile of how they like to see “poor people”. No, National will howl and protest, and malign anyone who tries to rise above their perceived glass ceiling.
As for being “race haters” – nailed it in one – some things never change – we learnt that in ’81. Tolley, Collins, Findlayson, and even Key are all hangovers from that generation who stood and chanted pro-tour.
Were I Metiria I would wear a tee – shirt with a print of Teina Pora on the front with the following wording, “Justice system is excruciating” and on the back, “Madness at its finest.”
I would also hold up a sign saying “Legal aid required for Privy Council.”
So, based on past years I guess we can all look forward to increasing dairy prices at the supermarket.
Although butter is about the only dairy I consume, I still say $6.50 (+- a bit) is ridiculous for 500g.
Funny thing is I thought the great rule of the market economy was meant to work in the opposite direction. When supply is increasing and production is made more efficient, costs are meant to decrease and customers are supposedly the recipients of the savings through reduced prices so as to have more disposable income to raise their own level of well-being.
That is the entire basis for trickle down right, or am I wrong?
Funny thing is I thought the great rule of the market economy was meant to work in the opposite direction.
I suppose that would apply if demand was static or decreasing but the reason for exports is to increase demand which inevitably results in higher inflation in the local market. No local market can support a growing economy when that growing economy is just doing more of the same thing. We really should have stopped the increase in farming once we were growing enough to feed all the population here and then we’d see the improvements that increased productivity promises.
Then there’s the fact that the supply and demand curve is total bollocks anyway as shown by Steve Keen.
“We really should have stopped the increase in farming once we were growing enough to feed all the population here and then we’d see the improvements that increased productivity promises.”
This must be the most stupid thing said in New Zealand today.
(said earnestly..hand-on-heart..fixed eye-contact with the (incredulous) journos he was trying to push this pile of stinking bullshit to..it was quite the moment..)
..and those journalists..long-trained to swallow/repeat whatever key thrusts at them..were clearly having problems swallowing this whopper..there was all-round journo-gagging..
..questioning..even..(whoar..!..how dare they..!..eh..?..their editors will be pulling them aside for a quick word:..’you know we always swallow..around here’..)
..and having done commentaries on questiontime for some time now..
..i can report that while all these mongrels are flinging crap at each other..the greens sit primly..(prissily even?)..on the sidelines..the most emotion displayed being pursed-lips..
..some would say they are just practising/honing their passive-aggression..and that may be so..
..but as for slinging-muck/personal-attacks on mp’s from other parties..?
..it just doesn’t happen..
..and this fact is why those journos were gagging at the latest thrusts from this member..
..eh..?
(but then again..key could be talking about being subsumed by the death-stare so perfected/mastered by green mp kennedy graham..
..if you were looking to cast a hang-’em-high judge..you couldn’t go past graham..
..(i keep watching..half-pie expected his eyes to start glowing red..eh..?
..it wouldn’t really surprise me if they did…
..but kennedys’ death-stare is the nearest the greens get to ‘fighting dirty’..
..and what this exercise in/attempt at smearing the greens..
..proves to all..
..is that there is nothing key will not lie about..
Hi Lprent. It seems that January was an extremely chatty month on The Standard with some articles running into the hundreds of comments, and it all started from Day One!
Is this standard for The Standard at this time of year?
Is there a sense of collective anticipation fuelling such chat?
Chris Trotter is on to some scarey stuff about the running of Auckland City by an ‘invisible’ group of corporate non Auckalnders….BIG International Business ….a corporate take over of Auckland….the Council and Mayor rendered insignificant ….Trotter acknowledges our very own anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright for alerting him to this shadow organisation
Perhaps It’s time the IRD made subscruptions to these sorts of entities non deductible for tax purposes and shareholders passed resolutions to forbid companies paying for these organisations that reflect the views of the few.
Ironically, the current Mayor of Auckland is giving the Right pretty much everything they want:
Support for the Skycity deal, “development”, the Glen Innes evictions, “keeping rates increases at inflation” (but not protecting/enhancing services), PPP’s ( I dont know how they will work for footpaths), and he is talking about tolling roads, even existing roads, which will hit the army of cleaners in his “home state” that travel into the city to clean up after the office workers each night. He also sat on the fence in the PoA dispute (leaning slightly to the employers), and has threatened to closed down libaries (before making an embarrasing u-turn after the media got hold of the story).
The guy has tacked to the right throughout his Mayoralty, im not too sure what his positions were during his tenure as Manukau Mayor/City Councillor though (anyone care to shed light).
Probably why the right didn’t put up a decent candidate against him last year, supporting some guy from Brooklyn who owned a couple of diners — Brown implemented 90% of their agenda. — probably why the government decided to back the rail loop.
So much for the Democracy of Auckland. No wonder the Right was pissed off that Brown was elected Mayor. Watch the next election for Mayor. Scary stuff.
I am wondering how the market’s ‘invisible hand’ can be said to be functioning as it is believed it does – supply is not ‘magically’ meeting demand at all; empty houses, lack of housing, lots of money for some, not enough for others.
Yet we keep following the misguided belief that our problems will all sort themselves out – simply by people following self interest – without any intervention….
It may be true that our system has been corrupted by a very wealthy and powerful section of people, yet I think that what you say re the ‘market working’ isn’t correct CV the theory was that the markets will sort out supply and demand without any need for rules and regulations (such as tax on imports etc). I have a nasty feeling this is still the accepted view despite it being clearly proven false.
This is an important point because our politicians are still speaking of approaches based on market theory when it is clearly being proven defunct before our very eyes…yet they still keep pursuing it.
…then again- perhaps you were simply being smart.
I agree re our culture & language changing more than we realise.
This is an important point because our politicians are still speaking of approaches based on market theory when it is clearly being proven defunct before our very eyes…yet they still keep pursuing it.
Well, apparently (I think Russell Brown covered it?) one of them is Cam Slater with a duck-caller, but another is Penny Bright with her usual poorly-photoshopped face/rat banners.
And also President Obama is going to pardon low level dope users who have been incarcerated for no good reason. That wouldn’t go down well here because the firm who gets the incarceration contracts would lose business and that is the most important thing for National to pay off its supporters.
Military commanders pledge support to Yanukovych, condemn protesters
Jan. 31, 8:40 p.m. — After two months of unrest, Ukraine’s army got involved in the ongoing political crisis, when the Ministry of Defense unexpectedly issued a Jan. 31 statement, asking President Viktor Yanukovych to “apply measures for stabilizing of situation in the country.”
The commanders called protesters’ occupation of government buildings “inadmissible” and said that “further escalation of confrontation threatens to integrity of the country.”
The decision to send Yanukovych a special letter was made at a general meeting of the ministry’s office the day before and, according to Anatoliy Hrytsenko, an opposition lawmaker and former defense minister, the officers had been pressured to support Yanukovych.
“I know for sure that officers, who were not agreeing to the ‘common approval’ are now being pressured by their commanders and chiefs,” Hrytsenko said on his Facebook page. In its separate statement, the Defense Ministry also denied the reports that army was allegedly involved in assisting the police during the ongoing political crisis. — Oksana Grytsenko
The main reason people gave for not voting in the 2011 General Election was they ‘didn’t get round to it, forgot or were not interested’ to vote. This accounted for 21 percent of the non-voters (and is included in the ‘disengaged’ category). Another 7.1 percent of the non-voters said they did not think their vote would have made a difference. This is a big increase from 3.9 percent in the 2008 election.
Ten percent of non-voters were ‘overseas or away on the election day’. This was the most frequently selected reason in the ‘perceived barriers’ category.
Over 12 percent of non-voters said they did not register for the 2011 election, which equates to just over 2 percent of the total population aged 18 years and over. About 15 percent of non-voters cited ‘other’ reasons for not voting in the 2011 election, including not being eligible because of their visa status, or for religious reasons.
There was a shocking item from joe 90 on OM yesterday (Jokeyhen OM31/1 24 1 1) about some Utah school children seeing their lunch time food thrown out because their parents hadn’t paid their school charges.
I looked up Utah on google to get an idea of what goes on. I wondered if we and Utah had anything in common. Had we been doing our usual trawling of the international policy waters for Ideas to a desert idea island, and met with Utah? For those interested in educational moves, I’ve picked out some links and some interesting quotes
It appears that we may be getting this new Key Education Leadership Policy from Utah.
It seems that education is a Big Business in Utah. The terminology is of big business and a drive for efficiency and successful test passing. It has a feeling of education, as part of the service economy forecast to be the only one we have, being a big player. And children being pawns in this mind-stuffing program that is part of a vicious circle where it will be a relatively meaningless ritual from the past – educating children for whom there are no jobs and limited life opportunities.
Information about the Utah Education Policy Center at the University of Utah. … for the Evaluation of Leadership Preparation and Practice · http://uepc.utah.edu/
Links . Utah Education Network http://www.uen.org/k12educator/uels/
It appears that Utah is raising its interest in digital education: –
A heading stated -Utah surpasses all others in digital education, new study finds | (There was a link but it is not available now say the Salt Lake Tribune with salty tears.)
and
Apr 1, 2013 – Utah ranks No. 1 when it comes to state policies dealing with online education, according to a new national study. (The link for this shows 404 Not Found. How very not transparent, open and available this ‘information’ is!))
Then other interesting policy surrounds ‘Common Core’ – which sounds better than the National Standards we seem to follow. This is from Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/common-core_n_4367550.html
I like the promising sound of the headline.- Common Core State Standards Focus On Critical Thinking Amid Political Debate
AP | By By PHILIP ELLIOTT Posted: 12/01/2013 8:05 am EST | Updated: 01/23/2014 6:58 pm EST Welcome to a classroom using the Common Core State Standards, one of the most politicized and misunderstood changes in education for students and their teachers in kindergarten through high school.
In 45 states and the District of Columbia, Lawson and other teachers are starting to use the standards to guide what skills students learn and when…
At the core of the standards is a reduced emphasis on memorization. Students now have to connect the dots and apply critical thinking. It’s what experts call higher-order thinking. Teachers say it’s preparing students for life after high school.
That has made classrooms much more of a hands-on proposition….
[Children are being pushed ahead faster.] For instance, subtraction is now introduced in kindergarten instead of first grade….
Coinciding with the new standards are new tests for students and evaluations for teachers. The tests, mandated under the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law, help states identify schools that are struggling and provide them extra help.
The teacher evaluations were not originally part of the Common Core. But in exchange for millions of federal dollars to help them avoid layoffs during the worst of the recession, states agreed to greater accountability for students and teachers. Many opted to go with the Common Core and linked students’ progress with teacher performance…..
To hear the standards’ critics — mainly tea party-aligned conservatives, but also some parents and teachers — tell it, there are few things more dangerous happening in the country.
Some interesting stats from Utah’s budget about education. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865591793/Gov-Gary-Herbert-unveils-133-billion-budget.html?pg=1 The governor released the budget at Utah Valley University, highlighting the focus on public and higher education spending, which adds up to more than $3.6 billion.
His budget would provide $64 million to pay for the 10,300 new students expected in the state’s public schools and increase the funding mechanism for schools — the weighted pupil unit — by $61.6 million, or 2.5 percent.
Herbert is also recommending $2 million to improve counseling aimed at lowering the state’s 22 percent high school dropout rate and $7.5 million for early intervention programs, including all-day kindergarten.
The $157 million in new spending going to public education is fair, said Martell Menlove, state superintendent of public instruction.
https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-s-school-turnaround-program-helps-salt-lake-city-schools-make-grade
Since its inception in 2003, the Darden-Curry Partnership has helped to turn around failing schools across 16 states, including Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Its goal is to work as a partner in helping school systems optimize classroom performance.
Positive Turnaround Through Collaboration “In the state of Utah, a number of districts had persistently low-achieving schools,” said Karl Wilson, state director of Title 1 and federal programs at the Utah State Office of Education. “We have seen these schools implement the principles that were developed through PLE, and they have achieved 20, 30 and 40 percent gains in areas such as reading, language arts and mathematics.”
(Explanation about the system) –
“They need to be willing to commit to dramatic growth, to make difficult changes to establish conditions for growth, and be able to demonstrate publicly to their stakeholders that dramatic success and growth are possible,” he said.
The Salt Lake City school system experienced growth in all four initial partnership schools during its first year with the program. Going forward, it must sustain its positive improvements so that all involved – especially students – continue to get high marks.
An ambitious retired education superintendent is among leaders pushing this. “We needed to intervene quickly and do things differently,” she said. “We sought quick wins by becoming data-driven, suspending beliefs and assumptions about children’s learning abilities (what does this mean – will it be positive for the children’s good education?) and regularly assessing the children’s mastery of what was taught.”…
“Now, the group will go after the harder goals,” she said. “They will further establish the ‘Salt Lake Way’ and take changes in the curriculum and the way success is measured into all of the district’s schools.”
(Note expertise, thrusting, demanding, efficiency business approach to education. Teachers will have leaders helping them to get constantly better results. Sounds like an awful, stressful sweat-shop situation to me.)
Ogden School District Puts UVA Training to Work
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Standard Examiner
The sweeping administrative changes Ogden School District made recently were aimed at getting strong leadership into struggling schools, Superintendent Brad Smith says. And the definition of strong leaders? That came largely from the training district officials have received from the University of Virginia School Turnaround program.
(Not teachers, not educational practitioners, but officials who will be virtual enforcers of the policy. This is actually a War for Education type of approach, like the War Against Drugs, and other communist style driven ‘five year’ plans that have been disdained by vocal capitalists. Odd.)
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Speaks to Educators in U.Va. School Turnaround Specialist Program
Darden School of Business
Monday, August 1, 2011
“You are doing some of the toughest, most controversial work in education in this country today, and I thank you for your courage” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the group of principals, state and school district leaders who were gathered for a weeklong event at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/darden-curry-ple/news/home/
(This means that the federal government is glad that it can turn people’s attention to education and improvements of outcomes therein, and therefore people may fail to notice that little positive is happening in the country and that it is actually failing as an entity. It is a patchwork of some successful and civilised states and many others falling into disorder and decadence.)
What a waste of food.
I don’t know whether they had paid their fees but in New Zealand of course we have had cases where the childrens’ lunchs were stolen by the teacher who then ate them herself. At least the food wasn’t discarded. The teacher is still in the profession, apparently.
Thank you.
I was sitting there looking at it and couldn’t see anything that was different.
As the Toyota ad’s went “Bugger”.
Not of course that it is terribly much importance in the scheme of things. It was just one of those weird stories that caught my attention.
The “first” of the principals jockeying for a position in John Key’s/Hekia Parata’s new principal leaders group has emerged. Up at Whangarei Boys High, 30 boys were taken out of class, and made to sit in the assembly hall while staff chased up “outstanding” monies owed.
These monies were for related costs, not course fees, the “education” there is free. So we now see education take a backward step, relegated to that of being subservient to “related fees”. This on the same day “our” first Charter School opened.
Hekia Parata denies any money demanded is part of her responsibility. “My hands are clean.”
It’s a poor area and a nasty thing to do. Of course this head teacher wants to challenge the way boy’s education is provided. looks like humiliating them is on the agenda
This has been going on under the radar for a while now.
Some years ago, a high school principal in Feilding did the same. The schools think that parents can some how shit out money, we are seeing that with the BYOD trend.
Nothing like reading yet another ‘Advertorial’ in the Herald online in the ongoing series giving blind,unbalanced support to the National Party to start the day the right way, hoicking a big one in the direction of Granny Herald and the Jonolist who wrote the rubbish,(Armstrong, who else),
Unbalanced seems to be the province of both the Herald and it’s tired old hack Armstrong as they try and talk up Slippery the Prime Minister and His flag waving as some form of vision for New Zealand,
”The trouble is the rhetoric simply does not wash”, unquote Armstrong, your absolutely right John, the rhetoric does not wash, neither your bullshit unbalanced Jonolism or Slippery the Prime Minister’s stupid empty heads ‘idea’ of changing the flag in the face of Labour’s first big policy announcement of the year,(perhaps in the face of the next major announcement from Labour we can expect from National a promise of a free flag in the letter box if only we vote for them),
”The trouble is YOUR rhetoric simply does not wash” Mr Armstrong when your writing shows more than just unbalanced jonolism, some might add that such is ‘simply’ the product of an unbalanced mind…
The media have been given their marching orders by the corporates.
“Deliver NZ to us.”
Gower, Garner, Armstrong, Hosking, Smith, Williams, Roughan, Murphy and all the others are paid 30 pieces of silver to betray their own country.
Shame.
Yes those evil “corporates”. Or maybe they are simply trying to save a failed business model in a tiny market. The average journalist in NZ is paid a pittance and over worked. So they right crap. That is more likely the explanation for poor journalism than your “corporate” conspiracy.
I don’t think you’re being quite fair to John Armstrong, Bad 12 – his column in today’s Herald (which I’ve only just picked up on) gives Cunliffe quite a few good points for the Best Start policy but does state that the media releases and fact sheets have to include all the facts, not just some of them, and he also is quite clear about Key’s behaviour on this matter :
“As it was, coverage of the baby bonus shifted markedly as Key – like a pig in muck – ruthlessly and sarcastically picked up on and picked over Labour’s …………. ”
I read that as both a warning to Labour to get a bit smarter, and its a very telling comment on how Key behaves.
Can’t agree with you there JK, ‘wing-nuts’ love such language, ruthless and sarcastic are the currency of those who think they are ‘real or hard men’
What i see Armstrong’s latest effort as is the ‘damning of David Cunliffe with faint praise’ approach where the hero in the form of Slippery the Prime Minister uses His sarcasm to ruthlessly expose Cunliffe’s weakness,
Unfortunately the mistake of not having David Parker,(who i assume knew the nuts and bolts of the policy inside out), on hand to give a follow up explanation of those details to the waiting media pack managed to give Slippery an opening which took a little of the gloss off of the initial announcement,
Incidently, i fully agree with the ‘explained’ policy it gives the most to those most in need not necessarily in terms of actual dollars, the increased parental leave component is of a far greater dollar value than the $60 ‘Best Start’, it is the fact that this policy doesn’t differentiate between those who have work and those who havn’t that pleases me…
okay Bad 12 – I’m seeing aspects a bit differently to you, but the essence of Best Start being for all pleases me too. Its a start (albeit smallish) against inequality ….
JK, oh i think that while we have capitalism we will always have inequality, once implemented tho $60 will be a huge boost to those who have kids while on a benefit or who find themselves on a benefit while they have babies, hopefully as finances improve ‘Best Start’ will be offered for these kids as they get older…
I was pondering the news about the Reserve Bank and the interest rate raising etc. What about, while we have our present system, we raise inflation levels to between 2 and 6 per cent. At present a cautious prudent RB aims at 2 per cent as a mid-level between 0 and 5 I think.
But below 2% it means that hardly anything is happening. And this inflation screwdown makes holding the value of savings more important than actual business activity and wage growth, (to keep up with the uncounted part of our economy where inflation is rampant – housing).
The system only partly works as it is, it actually detracts from having a strong thriving economy, and it worries about savings, which are modest and which if there were more would slow the economy down to a crawl or even leave it lying on the floor crying like a baby.)
So 2-6% with midpoint 3-4 say and allowing to 6% for some upsetting, spiking jolts. And include actions that tend to make the exchange rate, trend downwards. The Reserve Bank should have a few methods to do that.
We could stage a few strikes so that everything doesn’t seem so hunky-dory in this country of milk and honey, and hokey pokey ice cream, and gradually the exchange rate would go down. Exports and the economy would move upwards, interest rates could go a little upwards, thus cutting down the swingeing profit on playing with our dollar by those wankers who do that.
Imported goods would become a little dearer, but wage rises on a reasonable but still cautious scale would help that.
And a biggie, our government will encourage enterprise within the Nation. NATIONAL will proudly present itself as having National Interests at heart (as opposed to more money for themselves and some neat perks), and the two parties will fight for the hearts and minds and jobs of NZ.
We will then have energy left to face fully all the other challenges that can’t be properly attended to now because of the foul entropy of our major political parties, from which I hope that Labour is emerging, and we will all sing Jerusalem and then God Defend New Zealand with our hands on our hearts. (Which my grandchild’s child care centre is teaching the 3 year olds. How very yank-like!)
End of diatribe and too bad for any other dia effect you have experienced.
Everyone refuses to pay the extra rises, when the Reserve bank act deals it’s usual destruction.
A comment I made elsewhere.
“Time we stopped the sheer lunacy and destructiveness of gifting banks higher profits, and killing New Zealand’s export industries, small business and householders, with mortgages, in pursuit of the stupid idea that higher interest rates will drop Auckland house prices.
Haven’t you all figured it out yet, higher interest rates attracts even more hot lending money into the NZ housing market”.
kjt
True higher interest rates just increase the difference between the still very low US federal rates whereby someone can probably make a tidy sum just borrowing from them, and lending it out to us at a 5% differential or more just at the touch of a button.
And yet people who need some interest to provide a living capital formed from their savings, can’t survive on the US rates – their savings get eaten up by inflation and bank charges if interest is too low. So they have to raise their rates and we might get an even playing field. Have we actually ever had one since the neo libs glibly went on about it decades ago?
‘Interest rates’ are another Banksters con, consider for a moment where the current 2+% of ‘growth’ is calculated to be coming from within the economy,
(1), Christchurch and it’s rebuild, growth??? only in the system devised by a race of primitive ape like creatures or the world Banking Cartels,(very hard to tell the difference), without having accounted for the actual losses incurred from the series of earthquakes,(multiple billions),it is then stupid to simply add the spending on ‘replacements’ into the growth figures,
(2), House price inflation, the main center of this inflation occurring in Auckland with a lesser amount again the result of the Christchurch rebuild, who actually is suffering this inflation that the reserve Bank is hell bent upon controlling,
i do not live in either Auckland or Christchurch along with some 2.7 million other people so the over-inflation of the Auckland and Christchurch property markets affects me and 2 million seven hundred thousand other people HOW???,
The fact is that it doesn’t, house price over-inflation has pretty much no effect what-so-ever on the rest of the economy, the price of milk doesn’t rise because of house price over-inflation in Auckland and wages for the majority of New Zealand workers will not rise because of it either so including house price inflation, which in all reality financially effects only the buyer of a house, in the way we measure inflation is plainly stupid…
F off Noddy, only you seem to think i am talking in terms of new build housing when it is obvious that i am talking about the over-inflation in the price of existing houses,
Jesus, the economic un-genius speaks, such inflation in materials and services for house building is simply down to you ‘wing-nuts’, if you all were not intent on building monolithic structures instead of normal size housing as compensation for the lack of size in a certain of your appendages their would be no problem either in supply of labour or materials,
Please please economic un-genius give us all the proof of such an assertion…
Higher interest rates have the excellent effect, from Key’s sponsors point of view, of transferring wealth from ordinary working people, most of whom have net debt, to the already rich, and to the financial institutions, whose share of GDP has risen just as workers, and small and medium business owners/contractors, share, has dropped.
The reserve bank act, more than anything else, blatantly highlights the Neo-liberal indifference to the future of New Zealand.
Even a capitalist Government, one with principles, would be concerned that New Zealand businesses are dying, and thousands of jobs going, from the double whammy of higher interest rates than offshore competition, and the exchange rate pushed up by those same interest rates.
I can tell you from first hand experience, what happens when your US competition can get finance at 3%, while it costs you 12% or more. And, that’s if you can get any business finance, at all, beyound your mortgage.
“If you want more people on welfare, vote National”.
There is an interesting commentary over on the Pundit, Ganesh Nana, about why raising interest rates really isn’t necessary.
Imagine it’s being promoted so that all those RWNJ’s can get their money out of the country while the exchange rate is way up – no finer way to indicate that you know Nact will lose the election
Is the Independent really that? When there is a corporate with the equivalent wealth of a nation in its coffers, it can jiggle media to run a piece that attacks a worthwhile non-profit for the first two-thirds of its article, and for balance, an answer on the end of quite a thorough pasting. Greenpeace, however, said that vitamin supplements and the addition of green, leafy vegetables to the diet of vitamin-A deprived children has already shown to work in places such as the Philippines, where vitamin-A deficiency has fallen from 47 per cent to 15 per cent.
“Vitamin-A deficiency is already dropping so rapidly in the Philippines that it may have ceased to be a significant problem before golden rice comes onto the market,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace’s chief scientist.
This Canadian ecologist just looks like any well-fed fat-necked executive. He was in Greenpeace for a while in 1971. What has he been doing for it since then? Why did he not stay doing good things with it? Has he been following up more interesting and lucrative projects?
Decades ago there was a huge advance in rice growing Yields called the Green Revolution 1968+. The call was that hugely increased rice production could eliminate malnutrition and starvation. What actually happened was the landlords gathered the rice off the rice farmers and made pots of money with sales in foreign countries. Malnutrition and starvation was worse for S E Asian people.
(Funny how in NZ the better we are at producing meat/milk, the more we pay for it.)
When famine is talked about it often is not mentioned that there was a governing power that made it a disaster instead of a cyclical shortage. The Bengali one came to mind.I looked up google.
The first when the British East India Company was powerful. – out of the ordinary, occurred in 1768 and was followed in late 1769 by more severe conditions. By September 1769 there was a severe drought, and alarming reports were coming in of rural distress. These were, however, ignored by company officers.
By early 1770 there was starvation, and by mid-1770 deaths from starvation were occurring on a large scale. Later in 1770 good rainfall resulted in a good harvest and the famine abated. However, other shortfalls occurred in the following years, raising the total death toll.
About ten million people,[6][7] approximately one-third of the population of the affected area, are estimated to have died in the famine.
The second in 1943 – The Bengalis were denied help from their own countrymen, because of competition. The free market prevailed, everybody charged to the max, and there was also protectionism, to look after their own area and prevent civil unrest. There was refusal to act in an honest fashion from neighbouring provinces, with dark words of deliberate hoarding by Bengalis and disbelief in their statements. Transport carrying grain was refused egress, and numbers of barriers put up. Disgraceful stuff.
About 1.5 million people died.
The Government of India Act 1935 had removed most of the Government of India’s authority over the Provinces, so they had to rely on negotiation.
Thus, even when the Government of India decreed that there should be free trade in grain, politicians, civil servants, local government officers and police obstructed the movement of grain to famine areas.[38] In some cases Provinces seized grain in transit from other Provinces to Bengal.[39] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_famine_of_1943#Government_inaction
So any statements accusing of bad behaviour or finding reason to throw dirt when there is food production discussions, should be questioned. In this gold rice case, it probably means more of the big companies taking over and forcing the old varieties out so that their grain must be used and paid for instead of seed stocks being kept freely by prudent food producers.
They would be self sufficient and what the companies want is people who turn to them for their essential supplies and they hold their lives and money in the palm of the company’s owners and executives. There is of course that Monsanto scam whereby pollen carries their patented genes to mingle with the old varieties and then by growing their own grain, which has been tainted with Monsanto types, the farmers are breaking intellectual protection laws and illegally using Monsanto patented seed.
Great famine of Ireland. Another genocide perpetrated by the power elite. On white people, no less. If you were a coloured population, what chance would you have.
Red herring. Let’s fix the inequal situation we have where 10% of people have 40% of the wealth, and 50% of the people only have 1% of the wealth, then see if we need shiny science projects to make sure everyone eats.
If everyone isn’t voting for their favourite tv star and voting for Philomena Clunk on Charlie Booker Show then they should be. She is priceless. But then I think a proper value should be set on her in case the tv bosses try to use that line when naming her salary.
Charlie B says that some pub in Brit is offering drinks that will cause drink and drive problems. Charlie says it is the only pub in the land that comes with a police-car chaser.
could the herald be more craven-servants of the govt..?
..here is their online coverage of a damning united nations report on our human rights..
headline:..’NZ has ‘excellent’ human rights record’
(teaser/promo-paragraph..)
“..Justice Minister Judith Collins has welcomed the recommendations in a largely-positive United Nations report on New Zealand’s human rights records..”
just bold/bare-faced fucken lies..every word of it..
It turns out I derived something that is already known as a measure of inequality call the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve. My results were based on individual incomes rather than households but essentially they give the same result.
Have to say successive governments in the last 35 years have not done much to shift it since rogernomics and the 1987 crash which raised it dramatically. The lower this number the greater the equality. Why is OK to have a coefficient of around 33? Surely we’d want to reduce this?
I’d suggest that governments performance in addressing inequality can be measured thus. I’d expect the next government to make a significant shift in this before I believe they are interested in address inequality.
. . . here begineth the inaugural gathering of The Standard’s Chapel of the Printed Poster. It has been proposed that the Big List Of John Key’s Lies make the transition from cyber space into meat world by becoming a printed poster which shall be plastered up across the length and breadth of New Zealand.
At this inaugural meeting I would be grateful for any comments regarding whether or not
– this a good idea
– is it even legal
– who is interested in handling the operations side of this project (NOTE: lprent has agreed to act as Treasurer and, if this gets off the ground, donations can be made into a bank account he will manage, being made direct into said bank. This seems the easiest solution in terms of having someone we can trust run the books, and maintain anonymity in that donations can be made in person at any branch of the bank concerned) At this stage we first need to establish costs including cost of production and distribution. Also, are there any artistic types out there prepared to have a crack at submitting a design for consideration.
– how can we go about “spreading the word” and gathering the funds needed to make it happen.
Brilliant idea.
Perfectly legal – truth is a complete defence against libel.
However Key could bring a bogus suit and use every dirty trick to bankrupt you before it even got to court. However, I’m sure you’d find a lawyer willing to represent you for free. You couldn’t buy that sort of publicity for a legal practice.
Money from me yes. Practical suggestion – if trying to fit something onto a noticeboard, anything bigger than A4 is a nuisance.
It might be treated as a serial – make a joke, a trilogy in four parts – collect all the parts and your prize might be a change of government! lt might be divided into chapters for clarity running numerically and advise that the next chapter will be available next week. It would state on the first – this is the first of three/? chapters. It might make a funny (not suitable for bedtime stories for the young or sensitive.) Has it got a title – Remember the Wit and Widom of Muldoon or Richard Prebble’s I’ve Been Thinking.
It should be printed clearly. Certain colours don’t show up ie yellow. Royal blue is good, colour draws the eye blue/red? Black fine but would need something so the eye didn’t skip over it.
If meant to be on a large board then font would be bigger for that. But popping a number up and having them available at political stalls would surely be all right. It’s information and there would be no logo on it, and anybody could give it out surely. Though many wouldn’t.
Lolz, un-budgeted for political activism is always a hard one, count me in for an initial $100 Blip, if this looks like going ahead and then stumbles for any reason can i suggest that any collected donations go toward the future cost of running the Standard…
Certainly we are discussing this idea openly and that is a good thing, but we must acknowledge certain professional details will have to be kept from the public until any authorisation is given for release of any business or personal identities. I actually see no reason for the general public to know any of the details of those who are being paid for a service and this information is touched on later.
I believe we should have a target of May at the latest, for the beginning of distribution.
If it’s an early election, paste ups can be bigger, if later in the year a more measured approach would be best with funding being the obvious decider.
I believe there will be strong need for a certain amount of cross communication on topics where the public forum is ill suited and some suggestions for how best to mange this would be appreciated.
Perhaps Lprent would allow a specific group of permissions for a locked off ‘Poster Project Page’ (PPP) where those who eventually deal with the details can do so productively. This is not exclusion it is after the brainstorming, when stuff actually has to happen.
A place where the project can be discussed as per the normal public forum but you know-without the public. I do not even know if this is possible but I envisage a normal chat thread with a ‘PPP’ log-in required which can be distributed via our emails. Obviously this may involve a certain amount of moderation (by request) but let’s be honest here, if we cannot ignore tr–ls who decide it is funny to pop in and stir then why are we even bothering to put any effort in. We are grown ups and if we just work on the project and ignore their gibbering they will get bored and go away.
I also ask that if this idea has the support of The Standard’s operators, then a public post is opened once a week, a post is opened where those involved and those interested can go to to discuss, catch up and generally keep this rolling along for awhile.
At this point I make the following statement.
To my knowledge I am not involved with or associated with anyone in the paste up business in New Zealand. My reference to a certain company in the original proposal, (linked to above) was merely that, a reference to an existing paste up operation and I had no intention of implying any knowledge of this idea by the company referenced. Nor do i have, or am aware of, any association with or knowledge of the company, its staff, and or its interests that has not come from general observation of the businesses during its day to day public activities. (if that need further clarification from a legal point of view please let me know)
A Back to The List.
The legal issues are critical obviously, but as all information is sourced from publicly available resources I would guess we are clear. MMM… guessing, and the law , always a good combo.. So if one of the many lawyers out there could clarify the project’s legal position sooner rather than later, the better chance we have of making it all happen. This is what your contribution to actual activism can be about if you choose it.
B The next hurdle is the paste up.
I propose a letter/email is drafted inviting those in ownership of paste up services to view the list on The Standard, and view the proposal on the table. Then they are able to independanty decide if it is a project they are interested in. As a commercial gig they might not give a damn, but there is the serious issue of its content and its potential affects on their business. A theatre poster that pushes the boundaries of public decency is one thing, a list publicly critical of the PM is quite another.
If we get a green light at that point , it is a negotiation on cost and we will know our primary goal for fundraising.
C Service required.
I propose that the action is a once a fortnight paste up, incorporated into their existing rounds, and possibly with as few as a half dozen posters per round put up at locations of their discretion. These guys know their job and know which locations would suit for impact and duration ( public’s light fingers aside) Obviously there will be some care needed so as not to waste posters on environs not needing that much persuasion in questioning the PM’s integrity.
This does not have to be a blitz campaign. Simplicity is our friend here. As yet we don’t even have an Election date but If done in ten locations* nationwide with ten posters being distributed once a fortnight we could sustain a campaign up into November with a print run of under 2000 posters.
*ten locations is envisaged as being four to five centers with a couple of runs per location.
D Printing
Once progress with a paste up company is determined we can look at confirming printing prices and the associted freight requirements etc.
Whilst thinking about the initial idea of printing at different locations to avoid freight, I realised this is potentially problematic to the printer for obvious commercial reasons. So a more user-friendly printer might be required and we find funds for freighting the posters to the paste up operations. It seems the common sense solution and the original idea was an off the cuff effort. (So is this but at least it has more detail )
Is there a willing printer out there?
I will be making some enquiries with various people re printing and advise others to do the same.
Please though, be a bit discreet about it. If they are not someone you trust and know well, I would maybe wait a bit before making enquiries.
What are we looking at for the quotes are a variety of prices and we may as well cover the range so we know our options.
Quote per 1000 in A0, A1, A2 posters in three colours minimum.
That will give us options.
The posters must not be super flashy full colour look I have thirty thousand fonts type deals.
Two maybe three colours, clear text and practical fonts. i repeat : Simplicity is our friend on this.
As far as layout I beleive all submissions should be welcome and I do believe it should be an open discussion re the final design. If someone can pitch some ideas for that process please?
otherwise a simple webpage with designs and vote buttons?
Once we have relevant data of funding targets we will know if we have a practical chance of going forward and the design side can kick in.
but let’s take this one step at a time
To be clear
Simplicity is our friend on this endeavour.
People want this information, they are looking for it everywhere
they just don’t know it yet.
Quote per 1000 in A0, A1, A2 posters in three colours minimum.
Two maybe three colours, clear text and practical fonts.
All submissions welcome but let’s take this one step at a time
That’s it from me, thank you for your time and I hope we can make this happen.
-If I missed anything just say so, please forgive me if I have doubled up a bit on some topics, the brain is a bit frazzled. It has been a couple of months of very long hours in the studio, I have just hung a new show, I am knackered. I go sleep now.
I wish you all well and will catch this page for updates on Monday at the earliest.
I love the idea – a Poster Project Page – and labeling it PPP – shoving it right up John Key & co. With the exception of the few malingers from the right, most here will only be too happy to dig in and reach out to help. It is brilliant. BLiP has done a tremendous job, even the GCSB must be astounded at his knowledge, it probably trumps their capacity !!
Okay!!! I’m getting the vibe this could be a real goer. Please keep the comments rolling in. At this stage I feel suitably enthusiastic to get some data from some bill stickers re costs. Will get started on this first thing Monday – anyone got any contacts or recommendations? I’ll start with this group and see where I get to: http://www.0800phantom.co.nz/
I love the idea of making poster available for sale. Perhaps we could sweeten the deal by including a disc with the art work and page captures of all the links?? Then again, if the idea takes off and we get, say, a few thousand orders, that could prove to be a bit of a pain. Just brainstorming, I know about the KISS Principle.
In order to get the message across, should we stick to just the Top 100 Lies – the poster should, IMHO, have a link and one of those bar-code thingywotsits which send people to a internet site with details of all the lies anyway. Again, lprent has agreed to host that somewhere here.
Blip
You are firing. I was wondering about Facebook, if some could be released there. From time to time to keep up the profile and interest. I’m not a great facebook user, but others can handle it no trouble. And of course we need to be prepared for some nasty comments, on Facebook. It could give handy publicity.
I think a top fifty lies would be a practical and effective visual. perhaps there is a way to group it as a top ten over five categories. That would be a strong ‘on the street’ image of five paragraph blocks. Catches the eye of a passer by and immediately says ‘there is more to read here than the headline’ without being a tsunami of words. I am sure others will have ideas on what the categories should be, but ‘Lies in the House’ surely has to be one of them.
The full list will still be available on-line of course, and depending on final funding we may be able to swing different versions as the year progresses.
I will contact a few printers this week for some quotes, ( without sharing any real details about the content) just letting them know it is a text based three colour run. I will include A3 but for street pasting we should be in the A2 and above scale as outlined above.
There is obvious support for smaller posters for people to distribute amongst their own networks and again a top fifty list would fit most A3 and even A4 ‘office runs’
Please, can someone clarify our legal position on this project really soon?
If people are thinking of printing and distributing materials at or from their places of employment make sure you have checked any contractual obligations you may have signed. JK might not care about you keeping your job, but I and many others do.
NOTE: It would be good if people read both chains of comments that have been posted before adding new ideas. A PPP can work if we keep it simple and define its objectives as soon as we can. The last thing we want to see is two months of ‘what about ….???’ and no action. Those who have been involved in actual organization of activism before know that the one item no-one here needs to see is the ego. This project is about Blip’s List.
note: this last link was included for easy reference to the proposal, not because it is my idea. Ideas need discussion. It is merely a proposal containing practical workable ideas and relevant crucial questions.
Take a look at Karol’s post yesterday about the “How are you doing?” poster in South Korea. The poster maker make the point that posting online doesn’t have the same impact, it just disappears in 24 hours unless it happen to go viral, even then the impact is limited. But physical posters out there on the street cut through.
My thoughts:
– choose the ‘lies’ carefully, pick ones that have clear evidence to back up his bull. I.e. not ones where him stretching the truth could be a matter of opinion.
– talk to someone who knows what they are talking about re any possible legal issues. You might have to be careful about your ‘liar’ wording, I don’t know.
– talk to someone who knows design and/or marketing to make sure you maximize impact and message.
– there are plenty of knowledgable people here on this sight who would be very happy to steer you in the right direction on these points I’m sure.
This is such a brilliant idea. A few thoughts (haven’t read all the comments above yet, so sorry if am repeating something).
Get legal advice on content. Pretty sure you will be able to get this for free.
Make the posters available online for people to print out and put up where the live/work. A3, A4 and A5 minis. Not sure what format/size you are going for, so perhaps this could be an edited version?
I still reckon give the list its own wordpress site and get it linked to from all over the blogosphere/twitter/FB etc. That is alot more work of course, and I like the hardcopy poster as a priority.
Maybe some crowdsourced funding to make a paid position? There is real potential to use the left-wing social media network here.
What will the content of the poster be like eg how to transition from a list full of internet links to something that isn’t clickable?
You have done such a fantastic job BLiP that this poster idea should go ahead. It would be such an awful waste of your many hours of work if it isn’t advertised as widely as possible. I will certainly do my bit to spread the posters around my tiny corner of society.
If this project is handled well I am sure it will receive media attention although I suggest a certain political reporter from TV3 is left out of the loop for the time being.
My suggestion: there be bill boards erected in every town and city in the country by July of this year.
The SCotPP is NOT a registered political party so therefore does NOT come under the Electoral Finance Act. It is NOT an attempt to gather votes for a particular political party but rather an attempt to provide information to the public at large.
I’m willing to do my bit towards bringing this plan to fruition.
Great Radio doco celebrating Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday on RNZ (broadcast last night). Would have preferred a 2-hour tribute though. 1 hour a little too short.
Can whoever is moderating every day do us a favour and carry any comment about posters over to a thread that starts with the word Poster. I thought that Open Mike doesn’t get archived for long and anyway it is so diverse. We need to have permanent places for ideas so they don’t fall like autumn leaves and get covered with others and then trodden on. Reading others ideas can be a starter for more to pop up, or amendments to improve one, or allow for unforeseen problems.
So how about it? Yu fullas know how to do it. Good on you. I hope you see the advantage of what I am suggesting.
Apart from that, I don’t know what lprent thinks but Trademe on their community board have a sticky thread that never goes away and ideas just build up ion it and for useful information it is valuable to have one that appears every day. So that’s another idea. But still it would be useful to have ideas relating to one project on one thread rather than just jammed into a sticky thread in a mixed pile.
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After the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, and almost a year before the Soviet Union collapsed in late 1991, US President George H W Bush proclaimed a ‘new world order’. Now, just two months ...
Warning: Some images may be distressing. Thank you for those who support my work. It means a lot.A shopfront in Australia shows Liberal leader Peter Dutton and mining magnate Gina Rinehart depicted with Nazi imageryUS Government Seeks Death Penalty for Luigi MangioneMangione was publicly walked in front of media in ...
Aged care workers rallying against potential roster changes say Bupa, which runs retirement homes across the country, needs to focus on care instead of money. More than half of New Zealand workers wish they had chosen a different career according to a new survey. Consumers are likely to see a ...
The scurrilous attacks on Benjamin Doyle, a list Green MP, over his supposed inappropriate behaviour towards children has dominated headlines and social media this past week, led by frothing Rightwing agitators clutching their pearls and fanning the flames of moral panic over pedophiles and and perverts. Winston Peter decided that ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
The landedAnd the wealthyAnd the piousAnd the healthyAnd the straight onesAnd the pale onesAnd we only mean the male ones!If you're all of the above, then you're ok!As we build a new tomorrow here today!Lyrics Glenn Slater and Allan Menken.Ah, Democracy - can you smell it?It's presently a sulphurous odour, ...
US President Donald Trump’s unconventional methods of conducting international relations will compel the next federal government to reassess whether the United States’ presence in the region and its security assurances provide a reliable basis for ...
Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
Long story short:PMChristopher Luxon said in January his Government was ‘going for growth’ and he wanted New Zealanders to develop a ‘culture of yes.’ Yet his own Government is constantly saying no, or not yet, to anchor investments that would unleash real private business investment and GDP growth. ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
For decades, Britain and Australia had much the same process for regulating media handling of defence secrets. It was the D-notice system, under which media would be asked not to publish. The two countries diverged ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission.In this article, I make a not-entirely-serious case for ripping out Spaghetti Junction in Auckland, replacing it with a motorway tunnel, and redeveloping new city streets and neighbourhoods above it instead. What’s ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
In short this morning in our political economy:The Nelson Hospital crisis revealed by 1News’Jessica Roden dominates the political agenda today. Yet again, population growth wasn’t planned for, or funded.Kāinga Ora is planning up to 900 house sales, including new ones, Jonathan Milne reports for Newsroom.One of New Zealand’s biggest ...
The war between Russia and Ukraine continues unabated. Neither side is in a position to achieve its stated objectives through military force. But now there is significant diplomatic activity as well. Ukraine has agreed to ...
One of the first aims of the United States’ new Department of Government Efficiency was shutting down USAID. By 6 February, the agency was functionally dissolved, its seal missing from its Washington headquarters. Amid the ...
If our strategic position was already challenging, it just got worse. Reliability of the US as an ally is in question, amid such actions by the Trump administration as calling for annexation of Canada, threating ...
Small businesses will be exempt from complying with some of the requirements of health and safety legislation under new reforms proposed by the Government. The living wage will be increased to $28.95 per hour from September, a $1.15 increase from the current $27.80. A poll has shown large opposition to ...
Summary A group of senior doctors in Nelson have spoken up, specifically stating that hospitals have never been as bad as in the last year.Patients are waiting up to 50 hours and 1 death is directly attributable to the situation: "I've never seen that number of patients waiting to be ...
Although semiconductor chips are ubiquitous nowadays, their production is concentrated in just a few countries, and this has left the US economy and military highly vulnerable at a time of rising geopolitical tensions. While the ...
Health and Safety changes driven by ACT party ideology, not evidence said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. Changes to health and safety legislation proposed by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden today comply with ACT party ideology, ignores the evidence, and will compound New ...
In short in our political economy this morning:Fletcher Building is closing its pre-fabricated house-building factory in Auckland due to a lack of demand, particularly from the Government.Health NZ is sending a crisis management team to Nelson Hospital after a 1News investigation exposed doctors’ fears that nearly 500 patients are overdue ...
Exactly 10 years ago, the then minister for defence, Kevin Andrews, released the First Principles Review: Creating One Defence (FPR). With increasing talk about the rising possibility of major power-conflict, calls for Defence funding to ...
In events eerily similar to what happened in the USA last week, Greater Auckland was recently accidentally added to a group chat between government ministers on the topic of transport.We have no idea how it happened, but luckily we managed to transcribe most of what transpired. We share it ...
Hi,When I look back at my history with Dylan Reeve, it’s pretty unusual. We first met in the pool at Kim Dotcom’s mansion, as helicopters buzzed overhead and secret service agents flung themselves off the side of his house, abseiling to the ground with guns drawn.Kim Dotcom was a German ...
Come around for teaDance me round and round the kitchenBy the light of my T.VOn the night of the electionAncient stars will fall into the seaAnd the ocean floor sings her sympathySongwriter: Bic Runga.The Prime Minister stared into the camera, hot and flustered despite the predawn chill. He looked sadly ...
Has Winston Peters got a ferries deal for you! (Buyer caution advised.) Unfortunately, the vision that Peters has been busily peddling for the past 24 hours – of several shipyards bidding down the price of us getting smaller, narrower, rail-enabled ferries – looks more like a science fiction fantasy. One ...
Completed reads for March: The Heart of the Antarctic [1907-1909], by Ernest Shackleton South [1914-1917], by Ernest Shackleton Aurora Australis (collection), edited by Ernest Shackleton The Book of Urizen (poem), by William Blake The Book of Ahania (poem), by William Blake The Book of Los (poem), by William Blake ...
First - A ReminderBenjamin Doyle Doesn’t Deserve ThisI’ve been following posts regarding Green MP Benjamin Doyle over the last few days, but didn’t want to amplify the abject nonsense.This morning, Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister, answered the alt-right’s prayers - guaranteeing amplification of the topic, by going on ...
US President Donald Trump has shown a callous disregard for the checks and balances that have long protected American democracy. As the self-described ‘king’ makes a momentous power grab, much of the world watches anxiously, ...
They can be the very same words. And yet their meaning can vary very much.You can say I'll kill him about your colleague who accidentally deleted your presentation the day before a big meeting.You can say I'll kill him to — or, for that matter, about — Tony Soprano.They’re the ...
Back in 2020, the then-Labour government signed contracted for the construction and purchase of two new rail-enabled Cook Strait ferries, to be operational from 2026. But when National took power in 2023, they cancelled them in a desperate effort to make the books look good for a year. And now ...
The fragmentation of cyber regulation in the Indo-Pacific is not just inconvenient; it is a strategic vulnerability. In recent years, governments across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, have moved to reform their regulatory frameworks for cyber ...
Welcome to the March 2025 Economic Bulletin. The feature article examines what public private partnerships (PPPs) are. PPPs have been a hot topic recently, with the coalition government signalling it wants to use them to deliver infrastructure. However, experience with PPPs, both here and overseas, indicates we should be wary. ...
Willis announces more plans of plans for supermarketsYesterday’s much touted supermarket competition announcement by Nicola Willis amounted to her telling us she was issuing a 6 week RFI1 that will solicit advice from supermarket players.In short, it was an announcement of a plan - but better than her Kiwirail Interislander ...
This was the post I was planning to write this morning to mark Orr’s final day. That said, if the underlying events – deliberate attempts to mislead Parliament – were Orr’s doing, the post is more about the apparent uselessness of Parliament (specifically the Finance and Expenditure Committee) in holding ...
Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC’s plan to build a plant in the United States looks like a move made at the behest of local officials to solidify US support for Taiwan. However, it may eventually lessen ...
This is a Guest Post by Transport Planner Bevan Woodward from the charitable trust Movement, which has lodged an application for a judicial review of the Governments Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 Auckland is at grave risk of having its safer speed limits on approx. 1,500 local streets ...
We're just talkin' 'bout the futureForget about the pastIt'll always be with usIt's never gonna die, never gonna dieSongwriters: Brian Johnson / Angus Young / Malcolm YoungMorena, all you lovely people, it’s good to be back, and I have news from the heartland. Now brace yourself for this: depending on ...
Today is the last day in office for the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr. Of course, he hasn’t been in the office since 5 March when, on the eve of his major international conference, his resignation was announced and he stormed off with no (effective) notice and no ...
Treasury and Cabinet have finally agreed to a Crown guarantee for a non-Government lending agency for Community Housing Providers (CHPs), which could unlock billions worth of loans and investments by pension funds and banks to build thousands of more affordable social homes. Photo: Lynn GrievesonMōrena. Long stories shortest:Chris Bishop ...
Australia has plenty of room to spend more on defence. History shows that 2.9 percent of GDP is no great burden in ordinary times, so pushing spending to 3.0 percent in dangerous times is very ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Winston Peters will announce later today whether two new ferries are rail ‘compatible’, requiring time-consuming container shuffling, or the more efficient and expensive rail ‘enabled,’ where wagons can roll straight on and off.Nicola Willisthreatened yesterday to break up the supermarket duopoly with ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 23, 2025 thru Sat, March 29, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
For prospective writers out there, Inspired Quill, the publisher of my novel(s) is putting together a short story anthology (pieces up to 10,000 words). The open submission window is 29th March to 29th April. https://www.inspired-quill.com/anthology-submissions/ The theme?This anthology will bring together diverse voices exploring themes of hope, resistance, and human ...
Prime minister Kevin Rudd released the 2009 defence white paper in May of that year. It is today remembered mostly for what it said about the strategic implications of China’s rise; its plan to double ...
In short this morning in our political economy:Voters want the Government to retain the living wage for cleaners, a poll shows.The Government’s move to provide a Crown guarantee to banks and the private sector for social housing is described a watershed moment and welcomed by Community Housing Providers.Nicola Willis is ...
The recent attacks in the Congo by Rwandan backed militias has led to worldwide condemnation of the Rwandan regime of Paul Kagame. Following up on the recent Fabian Zoom with Mikela Wrong and Maria Amoudian, Dr Rudaswinga will give a complete picture of Kagame’s regime and discuss the potential ...
New Zealand’s economic development has always been a partnership between the public and private sectors.Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) have become fashionable again, partly because of the government’s ambitions to accelerate infrastructural development. There is, of course, an ideological element too, while some of the opposition to them is also ideological.PPPs come in ...
How Australia funds development and defence was front of mind before Tuesday’s federal budget. US President Donald Trump’s demands for a dramatic lift in allied military spending and brutal cuts to US foreign assistance meant ...
Questions 1. Where and what is this protest?a. Hamilton, angry crowd yelling What kind of food do you call this Seymour?b.Dunedin, angry crowd yelling Still waiting, Simeon, still waitingc. Wellington, angry crowd yelling You’re trashing everything you idiotsd. Istanbul, angry crowd yelling Give us our democracy back, give it ...
Two blueprints that could redefine the Northern Territory’s economic future were launched last week. The first was a government-led economic strategy and the other an industry-driven economic roadmap. Both highlight that supporting the Northern Territory ...
In December 2021, then-Climate Change Minister James Shaw finally ended Tiwai Point's excessive pollution subsidies, cutting their "Electricity Allocation Factor" (basically compensation for the cost of carbon in their electricity price) to zero on the basis that their sweetheart deal meant they weren't paying it. In the process, he effectively ...
Green MP Tamatha Paul has received quite the beat down in the last two days.Her original comments were part of a panel discussion where she said:“Wellington people do not want to see police officers everywhere, and, for a lot of people, it makes them feel less safe. It’s that constant ...
US President Donald Trump has raised the spectre of economic and geopolitical turmoil in Asia. While individual countries have few options for pushing back against Trump’s transactional diplomacy, protectionist trade policies and erratic decision-making, a ...
Jobs are on the line for back-office staff at the Department of Corrections, as well as at Archives New Zealand and the National Library. A “malicious actor” has accessed and downloaded private information about staff in districts in the lower North Island. Cabinet has agreed to its next steps regarding ...
Thousands of New Zealanders’ submissions are missing from the official parliamentary record because the National-dominated Justice Select Committee has rushed work on the Treaty Principles Bill. ...
Today’s announcement of 10 percent tariffs for New Zealand goods entering the United States is disappointing for exporters and consumers alike, with the long-lasting impact on prices and inflation still unknown. ...
The National Government’s choices have contributed to a slow-down in the building sector, as thousands of people have lost their jobs in construction. ...
Willie Apiata’s decision to hand over his Victoria Cross to the Minister for Veterans is a powerful and selfless act, made on behalf of all those who have served our country. ...
The Privileges Committee has denied fundamental rights to Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, breaching their own standing orders, breaching principles of natural justice, and highlighting systemic prejudice and discrimination within our parliamentary processes. The three MPs were summoned to the privileges committee following their performance of a haka ...
April 1 used to be a day when workers could count on a pay rise with stronger support for those doing it tough, but that’s not the case under this Government. ...
Winston Peters is shopping for smaller ferries after Nicola Willis torpedoed the original deal, which would have delivered new rail enabled ferries next year. ...
The Government should work with other countries to press the Myanmar military regime to stop its bombing campaign especially while the country recovers from the devastating earthquake. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to scrap proposed changes to Early Childhood Care, after attending a petition calling for the Government to ‘Put tamariki at the heart of decisions about ECE’. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill today that will remove the power of MPs conscience votes and ensure mandatory national referendums are held before any conscience issues are passed into law. “We are giving democracy and power back to the people”, says New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters. ...
Welcome to members of the diplomatic corp, fellow members of parliament, the fourth estate, foreign affairs experts, trade tragics, ladies and gentlemen. ...
In recent weeks, disturbing instances of state-sanctioned violence against Māori have shed light on the systemic racism permeating our institutions. An 11-year-old autistic Māori child was forcibly medicated at the Henry Bennett Centre, a 15-year-old had his jaw broken by police in Napier, kaumātua Dean Wickliffe went on a hunger ...
Confidence in the job market has continued to drop to its lowest level in five years as more New Zealanders feel uncertain about finding work, keeping their jobs, and getting decent pay, according to the latest Westpac-McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index. ...
The Greens are calling on the Government to follow through on their vague promises of environmental protection in their Resource Management Act (RMA) reform. ...
“Make New Zealand First Again” Ladies and gentlemen, First of all, thank you for being here today. We know your lives are busy and you are working harder and longer than you ever have, and there are many calls on your time, so thank you for the chance to speak ...
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
The Government’s new planning legislation to replace the Resource Management Act will make it easier to get things done while protecting the environment, say Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court. “The RMA is broken and everyone knows it. It makes it too hard to build ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has today launched a public consultation on New Zealand and India’s negotiations of a formal comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. “Negotiations are getting underway, and the Public’s views will better inform us in the early parts of this important negotiation,” Mr McClay says. We are ...
More than 900 thousand superannuitants and almost five thousand veterans are among the New Zealanders set to receive a significant financial boost from next week, an uplift Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says will help support them through cost-of-living challenges. “I am pleased to confirm that from 1 ...
Progressing a holistic strategy to unlock the potential of New Zealand’s geothermal resources, possibly in applications beyond energy generation, is at the centre of discussions with mana whenua at a hui in Rotorua today, Resources and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is in the early stages ...
New annual data has exposed the staggering cost of delays previously hidden in the building consent system, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I directed Building Consent Authorities to begin providing quarterly data last year to improve transparency, following repeated complaints from tradespeople waiting far longer than the statutory ...
Increases in water charges for Auckland consumers this year will be halved under the Watercare Charter which has now been passed into law, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. The charter is part of the financial arrangement for Watercare developed last year by Auckland Council ...
There is wide public support for the Government’s work to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity protections, says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. “The Ministry for Primary Industries recently completed public consultation on proposed amendments to the Biosecurity Act and the submissions show that people understand the importance of having a strong biosecurity ...
A new independent review function will enable individuals and organisations to seek an expert independent review of specified civil aviation regulatory decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Director of Civil Aviation, Acting Transport Minister James Meager has announced today. “Today we are making it easier and more affordable ...
The Government will invest in an enhanced overnight urgent care service for the Napier community as part of our focus on ensuring access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown has today confirmed. “I am delighted that a solution has been found to ensure Napier residents will continue to ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey attended a sod turning today to officially mark the start of construction on a new mental health facility at Hillmorton Campus. “This represents a significant step in modernising mental health services in Canterbury,” Mr Brown says. “Improving health infrastructure is ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has welcomed confirmation the economy has turned the corner. Stats NZ reported today that gross domestic product grew 0.7 per cent in the three months to December following falls in the June and September quarters. “We know many families and businesses are still suffering the after-effects ...
The sealing of a 12-kilometre stretch of State Highway 43 (SH43) through the Tangarakau Gorge – one of the last remaining sections of unsealed state highway in the country – has been completed this week as part of a wider programme of work aimed at improving the safety and resilience ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters says relations between New Zealand and the United States are on a strong footing, as he concludes a week-long visit to New York and Washington DC today. “We came to the United States to ask the new Administration what it wants from ...
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee has welcomed changes to international anti-money laundering standards which closely align with the Government’s reforms. “The Financial Action Taskforce (FATF) last month adopted revised standards for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism to allow for simplified regulatory measures for businesses, organisations and sectors ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he welcomes Medsafe’s decision to approve an electronic controlled drug register for use in New Zealand pharmacies, allowing pharmacies to replace their physical paper-based register. “The register, developed by Kiwi brand Toniq Limited, is the first of its kind to be approved in New ...
The Coalition Government’s drive for regional economic growth through the $1.2 billion Regional Infrastructure Fund is on track with more than $550 million in funding so far committed to key infrastructure projects, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. “To date, the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF) has received more than 250 ...
[Comments following the bilateral meeting with United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; United States State Department, Washington D.C.] * We’re very pleased with our meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio this afternoon. * We came here to listen to the new Administration and to be clear about what ...
The intersection of State Highway 2 (SH2) and Wainui Road in the Eastern Bay of Plenty will be made safer and more efficient for vehicles and freight with the construction of a new and long-awaited roundabout, says Transport Minister Chris Bishop. “The current intersection of SH2 and Wainui Road is ...
The Ocean Race will return to the City of Sails in 2027 following the Government’s decision to invest up to $4 million from the Major Events Fund into the international event, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown says. “New Zealand is a proud sailing nation, and Auckland is well-known internationally as the ...
Improving access to mental health and addiction support took a significant step forward today with Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey announcing that the University of Canterbury have been the first to be selected to develop the Government’s new associate psychologist training programme. “I am thrilled that the University of Canterbury ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened the new East Building expansion at Manukau Health Park. “This is a significant milestone and the first stage of the Grow Manukau programme, which will double the footprint of the Manukau Health Park to around 30,000m2 once complete,” Mr Brown says. “Home ...
The Government will boost anti-crime measures across central Auckland with $1.3 million of funding as a result of the Proceeds of Crime Fund, Auckland Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “In recent years there has been increased antisocial and criminal behaviour in our CBD. The Government ...
The Government is moving to strengthen rules for feeding food waste to pigs to protect New Zealand from exotic animal diseases like foot and mouth disease (FMD), says Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard. ‘Feeding untreated meat waste, often known as "swill", to pigs could introduce serious animal diseases like FMD and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held productive talks in New Delhi today. Fresh off announcing that New Zealand and India would commence negotiations towards a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, the two Prime Ministers released a joint statement detailing plans for further cooperation between the two countries across ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the forestry sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Agriculture and Trade Minister Todd McClay signed a new Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) today during the Prime Minister’s Indian Trade Mission, reinforcing New Zealand’s commitment to enhancing collaboration with India in the horticulture sector. “Our relationship with India is a key priority for New Zealand, and this agreement reflects our ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of two new Family Court Judges. The new Judges will take up their roles in April and May and fill Family Court vacancies at the Auckland and Manukau courts. Annette Gray Ms Gray completed her law degree at Victoria University before joining Phillips ...
Health Minister Simeon Brown has today officially opened Wellington Regional Hospital’s first High Dependency Unit (HDU). “This unit will boost critical care services in the lower North Island, providing extra capacity and relieving pressure on the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and emergency department. “Wellington Regional Hospital has previously relied ...
Namaskar, Sat Sri Akal, kia ora and good afternoon everyone. What an honour it is to stand on this stage - to inaugurate this august Dialogue - with none other than the Honourable Narendra Modi. My good friend, thank you for so generously welcoming me to India and for our ...
Starving public services of resources, gutting the workforce and then proposing private market solutions has been a key strategy of this government, says Vanessa Cole, spokesperson for Public Housing Futures. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
The government’s own Regulatory Impact Statement acknowledges that organic producers will bear the financial burden of adapting to the risks posed by GMO expansion. ...
The committee has "rammed it through with outrageous haste", with a report now expected tomorrow, but excluding thousands of submissions, Duncan Webb says. ...
The US president’s sweeping programme of global tariffs will hit every country abroad, including New Zealand, and dramatically raise prices at home. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here.In a dramatic, flag-draped address from the White ...
Alex Casey talks to Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi, the couple who launched a project to change 51 lives in honour of those lost in the Christchurch mosque attacks. When Bariz Shah and Saba Afrasyabi walked into Naeem’s house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, they knew immediately that he needed their help. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Deane, Professor of Trade Law, Taxation and Climate Change, Queensland University of Technology US President Donald Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on all products entering the US market, with Australian exports set to face a 10% tariff, effective April ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hayley Geyle, Ecologist, Charles Darwin University Sarah Maclagan/Author provided The greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) is one of Australia’s most iconic yet at-risk animals — and the last surviving bilby species. Once found across 70% of Australia, its range has contracted by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Shutterstock Recent media coverage in the Nine newspapers highlights a surge in non-medical ultrasound providers offering “reassurance ultrasounds” to expectant parents. The service has resulted in serious harms, such as misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancies and ...
The three MPs whose rule-breaking haka caught the world’s attention didn’t attend their scheduled hearing yesterday. Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis has the rundown of what happened, why, and what’s likely to come next. I see Te Pāti Māori and the privileges committee are in some sort of stand-off – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Turner, Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University The Eurasian and North American tectonic plates in Thingvellir National Park, Iceland.Nido Huebl/Shutterstock Earth is the only known planet which has plate tectonics today. The constant movement of these giant slabs of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra US President Donald Trump singled out Australia’s beef trade for special mention in his announcement that the United States would impose a 10% global tariff as well as “reciprocal tariffs” on many countries. In ...
Meta has stolen millions of books to train its AI, including books by kaituhi Māori. What does that mean for mātauranga and its status as taonga? New Zealand authors are among the millions whose books have been pirated and scraped by Meta to train its AI. The New Zealand Society of ...
Some hoped the open of the New Zealand markets would open with a bounce as certain tariffs fell short of the worst-case scenario, but investors were met with a deflated thud.The New Zealand market fell immediately as stock market darling Fisher & Paykel Healthcare’s shares were punished, with no update ...
Healthcare dominated the debate in an unusually sober and serious question time. “Hey David!” a group of high school students in the public gallery called out as Act leader David Seymour entered the debating chamber. Standing in the middle of the floor, before any other MPs had arrived, he happily ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Heaslip, Senior Lecturer in Naval History, University of Portsmouth How the Shuqiao barges may be used to ferry troops ashore. X (formerly Twitter) China’s intentions when it comes to Taiwan have been at the centre of intense discussion for years. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary University of London This spring, Babe is returning to cinemas to mark the 30th anniversary of its release in 1995. The much-loved family film tells the deceptively simple but emotionally powerful ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie King-Hill, Associate Professor at the Health Services Management Centre, University of Birmingham Netflix television series Adolescence follows a 13-year-old boy accused of the murder of his female classmate. It touches upon incel online hate groups, toxic influencers and the misogynistic online ...
I don’t want my neuroses about someone being ‘good enough’ to keep me from finding love. But choosing to be with someone who isn’t quite right seems like a death sentence.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,I’m a straight single woman in my late 20s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Reyes, Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University Pavel Gabzdyl / Shutterstock The “music” of starquakes – enormous vibrations caused by bursting bubbles of gas that ripple throughout the bodies of many stars – can reveal ...
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Is the BandStand Gathering (/Many Voices/ No Megaphones) on for today at 1pm?
I’ve speculatively lined up a guest speaker from Oil Free Otago. They are scheduled to talk at 2pm though I don’t know who yet (will have more info later in morn). It would be good if someone (CV?) had an alternative guest speaker, or even prepared a speech themself – to provide a range of viewpoints even if not on the same topic.
Of course.
“It would be good if someone (CV?) had an alternative guest speaker, or even prepared a speech themself – to provide a range of viewpoints even if not on the same topic.”
How about an Open Mike?
Weka
More of an Open Floor than an Open Mike.
I personally like the idea of a promenade where different speakers give their talks at the same time on the large grass area in front of the BandStand; so that an audience can walk between them and choose that which most interests them. Not sure if we’ll have the logistics of that sorted out for this time though – even if anyone else does think it’s a good idea.
And; No Megaphones, goes for microphones too.
Crikey, are there that many people going?
Open Bandstand?
Weka
There were less than the; “Fewer than several dozen”, that CV reported for last week, but it was a bit of a grey day verging on drizzle. My speculative speaker was a no-show too this week, but we did hash out a provisional tikanga for such guest speakers in the future. I’d meant to convince someone to come along when I went along to welcome the SV Tiama into harbour, but misread 7:30am for 7:30pm (doh!). Trying to arrange someone to come talk with a group where I couldn’t give numbers or (then) even location with any certainty via email at a day’s notice wasn’t the most effective.
Anyway, the week after next (I’ll be out of town on Waitangi weekend) at 2pm on the lawn in front of the bandstand (or the duckpond pagoda if raining), there will be someone from OFO giving a brief talk about our activities; followed by a probably much longer q&a/ discussion. This will not be part of the; “Many Voices”, group proper, but as we will be meeting from 1pm onwards at the bandstand I imagine that many of us will head over to check that out.
Though with the Many Voices theme, I still like the idea of different speakers on the lawn at the same time. But that’s for others to arrange, I’m going to have full enough hands this next fortnight as it is.
Cool, thanks for the update
Weka
More of an Open Floor than an Open Mike.
I personally like the idea of a promenade where different speakers give their talks at the same time on the large grass area in front of the BandStand; so that audience can walk between them and choose that which most interests them. Not sure if we’ll have the logistics of that sorted out for this time though – even if anyone else does think it’s a good idea.
And; No Megaphones, goes for microphones too.
[Post moderator: I’m getting glitches trying to submit this comment – please delete any repetitions]
get a taste of just how good little richard was…
(the clip is from an early rock-flick called ‘don’t knock the rock’..you will also see bill haley..
..in the audience..watching richard..)
phillip ure..
Here’s a question:
With the gazzillion bandwidths that the Government has been auctioning off in recent years, and the ample availabilty of transmission towers across the land, why does Radio New Zealand still have one of the smallest most pathetic broadcast strengths on the spectrum?
Run through the stations and you are carpet-bombed with strong clear commercial product and then, if you are very careful and able to fine tune with the delicate touch of a blind safecracker, you catch a murmur of our public broadcaster.
note: The fact it is available on-line is irrelevant to the question. If the web is broken, or you can no longer afford it, the radio is still required.
I agree I have terrible reception in the East Coast Bays for National Programme.
It used to be that the National Radio transmissions could be heard throughout New Zealand but now both AM & FM are hard to receive.
I have a memory that we had to reduce power of transmissions because it interfered with Australian stations but have no way of confirming if that is correct. Should we all be complaining to RNZ?
My answer is because National have frozen RNZ’s budget for several years now. They have to do “more with less”.
freedom
I have wondered this about RadioNZ bandwidth. It can be so hard to get full strength, a fraction of a millimetre, and the voice of a pop star or brain-dead announcer or advert floods your ears.
Also I feel that their equipment and budget is possibly a little low. Lately they get very poor connections with phone interviews, they can’t get the audio clips lined up in the right place, and the announcer is embarrassed by a hole where the announced audio doesn’t come, and there are breaks in transmission for some reason which they apologise for. I don’t mind fire drill where some wit has prerecorded items, like the song, Baby come back or some other appropriate waiting song.
Radionz and all that sail in it are precious, and I don’t want any harm to come to it, the buildings, or the people. So I am content for them to have fire drill.
I’ll not forgive the NACTs for denying them their purpose-built building so they could make some grossly inferior use of the space. Why I can’t remember. I think it was at the time that the NACTS had found the dosh to put the Olde Legislative building on rails and shift it sideways, so they could knock down the Beehive, or add to it so that they would have an edifice suitable for the glory of their golden eminences. I don’t know if they were thinking of something like the Guggenheimer gallery in Bilbao in Spain but I wouldn’t be surprised.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/81822284
I think it was a part of Nationals long term plans to remove public broadcasting. In Auckland they forced RNZ to sell the Durham Street Broadcasting House and RNZ was then dumped into rented premises in Cook Street. Incidentally the money from the sales did not go to RNZ but back to government.
Same thing happened in Wellington as mentioned above when it was decided to demolish Broadcasting House and RNZ was forced into rented premises. From memory Richard Prebble was involved in that fiasco. Of course once they got RNZ out of their own building and the building demolished it was decided the space was not needed. OF course the object was to harass RNZ and put them at the mercy of private landlords. Anything to weaken public broadcasting and remove an independent news media voice.
Labour needs to address this problem by strengthening public radio and giving it sufficient funding to carry out its functions. I would love to see it gain some form of charter to make it hard if not impossible for future governments to wreck public broadcasting without the people having a say.
RNZ should be directed to implement digital broadcasting and if it would help funding give them licences for a commercial network. After all they had one until National sold it off to its mates.
With the current mess that television is in I would not care if TVNZ was abolished and its licences transfered to a public body. I do not think it is possible for TVNZ ever to regain the ability to produce public service television.
Ron
I echo that bit about strengthening RadioNZ. make it hard if not impossible for future governments to wreck public broadcasting without the people having a say.
RNZ should be directed to implement digital broadcasting and if it would help funding give them licences for a commercial network.
Don’t know about commercial radio adjunct with public. There is such a gulf between the ‘thinking’ that goes on the commercial and public, I wouldn’t want to taint public radio.
I didn’t realise that about RNZ in Auckland. My family once had a house in Cook Street and I went hunting it a while back and saw the Radionz site at the top but unfortunately my family’s house had gone. There were soviet-style apartments in its place. So Richard Prebble was in the deal. The radio, the rail, the rahrah of rolling government and the unions. What a heady mix of maliciousness.
(Incidentally is Dr Mark Prebble his relative? I was looking at a 2005 nz Listener and it noted he was State Services Commissioner and had announced average 14% pay rises for state CEOs, with his own salary rising to nearly $400,000.)
And I agree that TVNZ is far away from having anything but the quick quid in its sights. Government of course, demanding its quid has ensured that. Timorous Labour last time could not bring itself to have a quality public service, and drove Ian Fraser mad with the charter constraints plus having their hand out.
I don’t know that we couldn’t have a channel for public and get someone in from even perhaps the USA where they might have quite a good service, behind the florid bushes of commercial and political patronage. You never know, USA is surprising sometimes. Australia is a bit close, I would like something fresh and untainted by our politicians on either side of the ditch.
And one more thing that I forgot. Radio NZ should be required to bring back a weekly intelligent journal. Now that The Listener has been sold off to German interests we need a good weekly that can investigate radio programmes, provide a platform for good literature and the arts as well as other articles of interest to the public. The Listener has long ceased to be anything more than a soap digest competing in the women’s magazine market.
Incidentally if my memory serves me correct when I used to work for Broadcasting when the Listener magazine was sold the Corporation retained the rights to The Listener masthead. It used to show in the balance sheet.
Don’t know if it still is owned by the people or was eventually sold off. Would be interesting if it was still publicly owned, maybe we could take it back. If not then we could call new magazine Radio Times maybe
Im guessing those in charge of cost cutting told them that voice uses less bandwidth and management adjusted appropriately.
It doesnt help that the quality of radio recivers that are sold has dropped, and that the deregulated environment has overcrowded the spectrum — I am no expert but I belive there are issues there.
Agree that demolishing Broadcasting House was a mistake. When built, was well ahead of its time (rather like a lot of things in this country — we seemed to lead the world in everything, right up until the 80’s), I belive even Richard Prebble (who imposed the current broadcasting model on us) opposed this.
What pray tell makes ACT’s Jamie Whyte a “philosopher” ?
“The 48-year-old philosopher, author and columnist returned from Britain last year to settle in Auckland with his wife and two daughters, aged 10 and 6.”
As distinct say from an electoral fraudster (alleged), a botoxer, a love perker, a perkbuster, a hollow man, a grave robber, an ex-Labour scab.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11195091
Ummm…. Jamie Whyte was a lecturer in philosophy.
K
He’s still more of a Sophist than a Philosopher though, whatever his job description. Using the platonic distinction between; those who take money to disperse the conventional wisdom, versus; those who seek wisdom for its own sake.
Surely you wouldn’t claim that every PhD is a philosopher?
Whyte? a JAPE–Just Another Privileged Egotist.
Surely you wouldn’t claim that every PhD is a philosopher?
Of course not. But someone who has been employed as a “philosopher” can be called one.
However, beyond academia, there are many other ways to earn the label ‘philosopher”.
But does he have an “s” in his name?
An affectation no less blindly conceited than that of David Round one time perhaps still of Canterbury University.
Er, waiter? This conversation’s not very good.
King Coal – all for profit and energy and trashing the environment. The Guardian:‘Death by sludge, coal and climate change for Great Barrier Reef?’
Lots of news outlets reporting this, including Aussie’s ABC: Queensland Resources Council spokesperson talks of “increasingly hysterical environmental activists”.
It boggles the mind how low some of these people are – they just don’t care, they will sacrifice the reef for coal, for money, for nothing.
I fully feel grief for the reef.
Remember – corporate systems are systems of life destruction. Such systems have only one philosophy: MORE.
+1
Xox
And then there is the tag team, Collins and Tolley, abetted by Key, in attacking Metiria, over her clothing. A cat fight . And the next distraction?
Au contraire, Collins and Tolley have been quite clear.
According to them, people who care for the poor should only be allowed to dress in opshop rags. It is hypocrisy to dress according to the code of your colleagues or workplace.
Of course none of these considerations apply to Collins or Tolley. They can wear what they like, as they have never given a rats about anyone but the rich.
Metiria is a Maori woman, who had a child young, so she “fitted” the stereotypical Maori profile.
“Problem” is Metiria has since gained an education – shock, horror – and become an M.P. – too much.
Metiria should have stayed at home, wearing a “grass skirt”, an ill-fitting bra, if one at all, had one child on the hip, and another one suckling, then she would have fitted the National stereotypical profile of how they like to see “poor people”. No, National will howl and protest, and malign anyone who tries to rise above their perceived glass ceiling.
As for being “race haters” – nailed it in one – some things never change – we learnt that in ’81. Tolley, Collins, Findlayson, and even Key are all hangovers from that generation who stood and chanted pro-tour.
The new right wing rule.
“Speaking up for the disadvantaged, if you are not one of them, is hypocritical”.
Convenient.
Ha! But is it a new rule?
Were I Metiria I would wear a tee – shirt with a print of Teina Pora on the front with the following wording, “Justice system is excruciating” and on the back, “Madness at its finest.”
I would also hold up a sign saying “Legal aid required for Privy Council.”
+10000 collins and tolley just ugly envious bullies
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11195104
So, based on past years I guess we can all look forward to increasing dairy prices at the supermarket.
Although butter is about the only dairy I consume, I still say $6.50 (+- a bit) is ridiculous for 500g.
Funny thing is I thought the great rule of the market economy was meant to work in the opposite direction. When supply is increasing and production is made more efficient, costs are meant to decrease and customers are supposedly the recipients of the savings through reduced prices so as to have more disposable income to raise their own level of well-being.
That is the entire basis for trickle down right, or am I wrong?
I suppose that would apply if demand was static or decreasing but the reason for exports is to increase demand which inevitably results in higher inflation in the local market. No local market can support a growing economy when that growing economy is just doing more of the same thing. We really should have stopped the increase in farming once we were growing enough to feed all the population here and then we’d see the improvements that increased productivity promises.
Then there’s the fact that the supply and demand curve is total bollocks anyway as shown by Steve Keen.
“We really should have stopped the increase in farming once we were growing enough to feed all the population here and then we’d see the improvements that increased productivity promises.”
This must be the most stupid thing said in New Zealand today.
It’s actually an extremely wise comment.
Anyways, what the fuck do you give a damn about NZ, you overseas foreigner?
awww, but sspylands wrote much of the policy that got us where we are today – broke, fucked infrastructure and the turds have risen to the top.
Like kids laughing while they smash shop windows
Like most people who think they understand economics you have NFI WTF higher productivity is for.
Higher productivity is so that a society can do other things, not more of the same. This then allows them to seek knowledge and innovation.
Today’s economics narrows the focus down solely to profit making society and the individuals that live within it less than what they could be.
my laugh-out-loud political-moment of the weak..
..was keys’ claims the greens ‘fight dirty’…
(said earnestly..hand-on-heart..fixed eye-contact with the (incredulous) journos he was trying to push this pile of stinking bullshit to..it was quite the moment..)
..and those journalists..long-trained to swallow/repeat whatever key thrusts at them..were clearly having problems swallowing this whopper..there was all-round journo-gagging..
..questioning..even..(whoar..!..how dare they..!..eh..?..their editors will be pulling them aside for a quick word:..’you know we always swallow..around here’..)
..and having done commentaries on questiontime for some time now..
..i can report that while all these mongrels are flinging crap at each other..the greens sit primly..(prissily even?)..on the sidelines..the most emotion displayed being pursed-lips..
..some would say they are just practising/honing their passive-aggression..and that may be so..
..but as for slinging-muck/personal-attacks on mp’s from other parties..?
..it just doesn’t happen..
..and this fact is why those journos were gagging at the latest thrusts from this member..
..eh..?
(but then again..key could be talking about being subsumed by the death-stare so perfected/mastered by green mp kennedy graham..
..if you were looking to cast a hang-’em-high judge..you couldn’t go past graham..
..(i keep watching..half-pie expected his eyes to start glowing red..eh..?
..it wouldn’t really surprise me if they did…
..but kennedys’ death-stare is the nearest the greens get to ‘fighting dirty’..
..and what this exercise in/attempt at smearing the greens..
..proves to all..
..is that there is nothing key will not lie about..
..q.e.d..)
..phillip ure
NOTHING !! ………..never has been …………never will be………….the consummate liar…….
stephen colbert..on pot..
v. funny..
http://www.alternet.org/puff-puff-pass-touchdown
phillip ure..
Hi Lprent. It seems that January was an extremely chatty month on The Standard with some articles running into the hundreds of comments, and it all started from Day One!
Is this standard for The Standard at this time of year?
Is there a sense of collective anticipation fuelling such chat?
I will have a look at the stats. It was pretty chatty last year as well. But I think the comments were well up.
Hmmm……….
Chris Trotter is on to some scarey stuff about the running of Auckland City by an ‘invisible’ group of corporate non Auckalnders….BIG International Business ….a corporate take over of Auckland….the Council and Mayor rendered insignificant ….Trotter acknowledges our very own anti-corruption campaigner Penny Bright for alerting him to this shadow organisation
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/31/falls-the-shadow-everything-you-didnt-know-about-the-committee-for-auckland/
where is Auckland for New Zealanders?
Chris Trotters article on the Daily blog deserves to be a guest post here
….and it deserves to be made a big election issue by the Labour Party and other Left politicians….Take BACK AUCKLAND FOR AUCKLAND and NEW ZEALANDERS
Perhaps It’s time the IRD made subscruptions to these sorts of entities non deductible for tax purposes and shareholders passed resolutions to forbid companies paying for these organisations that reflect the views of the few.
Ironically, the current Mayor of Auckland is giving the Right pretty much everything they want:
Support for the Skycity deal, “development”, the Glen Innes evictions, “keeping rates increases at inflation” (but not protecting/enhancing services), PPP’s ( I dont know how they will work for footpaths), and he is talking about tolling roads, even existing roads, which will hit the army of cleaners in his “home state” that travel into the city to clean up after the office workers each night. He also sat on the fence in the PoA dispute (leaning slightly to the employers), and has threatened to closed down libaries (before making an embarrasing u-turn after the media got hold of the story).
The guy has tacked to the right throughout his Mayoralty, im not too sure what his positions were during his tenure as Manukau Mayor/City Councillor though (anyone care to shed light).
Probably why the right didn’t put up a decent candidate against him last year, supporting some guy from Brooklyn who owned a couple of diners — Brown implemented 90% of their agenda. — probably why the government decided to back the rail loop.
Reduced to being a puppet.
So much for the Democracy of Auckland. No wonder the Right was pissed off that Brown was elected Mayor. Watch the next election for Mayor. Scary stuff.
This has been something that Penny Bright has been complaining about. So Trotter really must have picked it up from her.
More opposition to the TPP.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-swenson/tpp-job-creation-corporate-power-grab_b_4684746.html
Hundreds of millions worth of rotting, abandoned mansions in London
Saudis and other foreigners have more money and assets than they know what to do with.
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jan/31/inside-london-billionaires-row-derelict-mansions-hampstead
Vampire squids always succeed.
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-12-20/blackstones-big-bet-on-rental-homes.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-20/wall-street-unlocks-profits-from-distress-with-rental-revolution.html
Interesting article, CV
I am wondering how the market’s ‘invisible hand’ can be said to be functioning as it is believed it does – supply is not ‘magically’ meeting demand at all; empty houses, lack of housing, lots of money for some, not enough for others.
Yet we keep following the misguided belief that our problems will all sort themselves out – simply by people following self interest – without any intervention….
Remember that markets do indeed work – but only on behalf of the wealthy.
Neoliberalism has redefined both our culture and even our entire language in ways that ordinary people do not understand.
It may be true that our system has been corrupted by a very wealthy and powerful section of people, yet I think that what you say re the ‘market working’ isn’t correct CV the theory was that the markets will sort out supply and demand without any need for rules and regulations (such as tax on imports etc). I have a nasty feeling this is still the accepted view despite it being clearly proven false.
This is an important point because our politicians are still speaking of approaches based on market theory when it is clearly being proven defunct before our very eyes…yet they still keep pursuing it.
…then again- perhaps you were simply being smart.
I agree re our culture & language changing more than we realise.
QFT
I see in the morning paper that morons are following LB around and disrupting his meetings. I wonder who is paying them?
Well, apparently (I think Russell Brown covered it?) one of them is Cam Slater with a duck-caller, but another is Penny Bright with her usual poorly-photoshopped face/rat banners.
And also President Obama is going to pardon low level dope users who have been incarcerated for no good reason. That wouldn’t go down well here because the firm who gets the incarceration contracts would lose business and that is the most important thing for National to pay off its supporters.
@ hook..
..and here..the useless bastards who rule over us have signed a deal with this american private prison company..
..guaranteeing to provide them with enough prisoners to fill their cells..
..and that if the state does not deliver this quota of prisoners every year..
..the taxpayers of nz have to pay financial penalties to the prison company..
..y’know..!..vegans get accused of economic-treason..for opposing how the country exploits animals for money..
..but..without even going into how ‘treasonous’ it is to fuck the country/waterways in search of their white-gold.. and black gold..
..this gaggle of rightwing/rand-ite detritus .. are the real economic-traitors..
..phillip ure.
Looks like a bloody end is looming.
Military commanders pledge support to Yanukovych, condemn protesters
Jan. 31, 8:40 p.m. — After two months of unrest, Ukraine’s army got involved in the ongoing political crisis, when the Ministry of Defense unexpectedly issued a Jan. 31 statement, asking President Viktor Yanukovych to “apply measures for stabilizing of situation in the country.”
The commanders called protesters’ occupation of government buildings “inadmissible” and said that “further escalation of confrontation threatens to integrity of the country.”
The decision to send Yanukovych a special letter was made at a general meeting of the ministry’s office the day before and, according to Anatoliy Hrytsenko, an opposition lawmaker and former defense minister, the officers had been pressured to support Yanukovych.
“I know for sure that officers, who were not agreeing to the ‘common approval’ are now being pressured by their commanders and chiefs,” Hrytsenko said on his Facebook page. In its separate statement, the Defense Ministry also denied the reports that army was allegedly involved in assisting the police during the ongoing political crisis. — Oksana Grytsenko
http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/euromaidan-rallies-in-ukraine-jan-28-live-updates-335735.html
Reposting from yesterday, hat tip fender –
Full report and graphics here –
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/Well-being/civic-human-rights/non-voters-2008-2011-gen-elections.aspx
There was a shocking item from joe 90 on OM yesterday (Jokeyhen OM31/1 24 1 1) about some Utah school children seeing their lunch time food thrown out because their parents hadn’t paid their school charges.
I looked up Utah on google to get an idea of what goes on. I wondered if we and Utah had anything in common. Had we been doing our usual trawling of the international policy waters for Ideas to a desert idea island, and met with Utah? For those interested in educational moves, I’ve picked out some links and some interesting quotes
It appears that we may be getting this new Key Education Leadership Policy from Utah.
It seems that education is a Big Business in Utah. The terminology is of big business and a drive for efficiency and successful test passing. It has a feeling of education, as part of the service economy forecast to be the only one we have, being a big player. And children being pawns in this mind-stuffing program that is part of a vicious circle where it will be a relatively meaningless ritual from the past – educating children for whom there are no jobs and limited life opportunities.
Information about the Utah Education Policy Center at the University of Utah. … for the Evaluation of Leadership Preparation and Practice ·
http://uepc.utah.edu/
Links . Utah Education Network
http://www.uen.org/k12educator/uels/
It appears that Utah is raising its interest in digital education: –
A heading stated -Utah surpasses all others in digital education, new study finds | (There was a link but it is not available now say the Salt Lake Tribune with salty tears.)
and
Apr 1, 2013 – Utah ranks No. 1 when it comes to state policies dealing with online education, according to a new national study. (The link for this shows 404 Not Found. How very not transparent, open and available this ‘information’ is!))
Then other interesting policy surrounds ‘Common Core’ – which sounds better than the National Standards we seem to follow. This is from Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/01/common-core_n_4367550.html
I like the promising sound of the headline.- Common Core State Standards Focus On Critical Thinking Amid Political Debate
AP | By By PHILIP ELLIOTT Posted: 12/01/2013 8:05 am EST | Updated: 01/23/2014 6:58 pm EST
Welcome to a classroom using the Common Core State Standards, one of the most politicized and misunderstood changes in education for students and their teachers in kindergarten through high school.
In 45 states and the District of Columbia, Lawson and other teachers are starting to use the standards to guide what skills students learn and when…
At the core of the standards is a reduced emphasis on memorization. Students now have to connect the dots and apply critical thinking. It’s what experts call higher-order thinking. Teachers say it’s preparing students for life after high school.
That has made classrooms much more of a hands-on proposition….
[Children are being pushed ahead faster.] For instance, subtraction is now introduced in kindergarten instead of first grade….
Coinciding with the new standards are new tests for students and evaluations for teachers. The tests, mandated under the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law, help states identify schools that are struggling and provide them extra help.
The teacher evaluations were not originally part of the Common Core. But in exchange for millions of federal dollars to help them avoid layoffs during the worst of the recession, states agreed to greater accountability for students and teachers. Many opted to go with the Common Core and linked students’ progress with teacher performance…..
To hear the standards’ critics — mainly tea party-aligned conservatives, but also some parents and teachers — tell it, there are few things more dangerous happening in the country.
http://neatoday.org/2013/05/10/six-ways-the-common-core-is-good-for-students/?utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_medium=email&utm_content=core&utm_campaign=130515neatodayexpress
Some interesting stats from Utah’s budget about education.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865591793/Gov-Gary-Herbert-unveils-133-billion-budget.html?pg=1
The governor released the budget at Utah Valley University, highlighting the focus on public and higher education spending, which adds up to more than $3.6 billion.
His budget would provide $64 million to pay for the 10,300 new students expected in the state’s public schools and increase the funding mechanism for schools — the weighted pupil unit — by $61.6 million, or 2.5 percent.
Herbert is also recommending $2 million to improve counseling aimed at lowering the state’s 22 percent high school dropout rate and $7.5 million for early intervention programs, including all-day kindergarten.
The $157 million in new spending going to public education is fair, said Martell Menlove, state superintendent of public instruction.
https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-s-school-turnaround-program-helps-salt-lake-city-schools-make-grade
Since its inception in 2003, the Darden-Curry Partnership has helped to turn around failing schools across 16 states, including Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia. Its goal is to work as a partner in helping school systems optimize classroom performance.
Positive Turnaround Through Collaboration
“In the state of Utah, a number of districts had persistently low-achieving schools,” said Karl Wilson, state director of Title 1 and federal programs at the Utah State Office of Education. “We have seen these schools implement the principles that were developed through PLE, and they have achieved 20, 30 and 40 percent gains in areas such as reading, language arts and mathematics.”
(Explanation about the system) –
“They need to be willing to commit to dramatic growth, to make difficult changes to establish conditions for growth, and be able to demonstrate publicly to their stakeholders that dramatic success and growth are possible,” he said.
The Salt Lake City school system experienced growth in all four initial partnership schools during its first year with the program. Going forward, it must sustain its positive improvements so that all involved – especially students – continue to get high marks.
An ambitious retired education superintendent is among leaders pushing this.
“We needed to intervene quickly and do things differently,” she said. “We sought quick wins by becoming data-driven, suspending beliefs and assumptions about children’s learning abilities (what does this mean – will it be positive for the children’s good education?) and regularly assessing the children’s mastery of what was taught.”…
“Now, the group will go after the harder goals,” she said. “They will further establish the ‘Salt Lake Way’ and take changes in the curriculum and the way success is measured into all of the district’s schools.”
(Note expertise, thrusting, demanding, efficiency business approach to education. Teachers will have leaders helping them to get constantly better results. Sounds like an awful, stressful sweat-shop situation to me.)
Ogden School District Puts UVA Training to Work
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Standard Examiner
The sweeping administrative changes Ogden School District made recently were aimed at getting strong leadership into struggling schools, Superintendent Brad Smith says. And the definition of strong leaders? That came largely from the training district officials have received from the University of Virginia School Turnaround program.
(Not teachers, not educational practitioners, but officials who will be virtual enforcers of the policy. This is actually a War for Education type of approach, like the War Against Drugs, and other communist style driven ‘five year’ plans that have been disdained by vocal capitalists. Odd.)
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Speaks to Educators in U.Va. School Turnaround Specialist Program
Darden School of Business
Monday, August 1, 2011
“You are doing some of the toughest, most controversial work in education in this country today, and I thank you for your courage” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the group of principals, state and school district leaders who were gathered for a weeklong event at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
http://www.darden.virginia.edu/web/darden-curry-ple/news/home/
(This means that the federal government is glad that it can turn people’s attention to education and improvements of outcomes therein, and therefore people may fail to notice that little positive is happening in the country and that it is actually failing as an entity. It is a patchwork of some successful and civilised states and many others falling into disorder and decadence.)
What a waste of food.
I don’t know whether they had paid their fees but in New Zealand of course we have had cases where the childrens’ lunchs were stolen by the teacher who then ate them herself. At least the food wasn’t discarded. The teacher is still in the profession, apparently.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=108948774
If you’re going to provide a link to backup your allegation at least make sure it works.
I don’t see why it didn’t work. I’ve tried again. It looks identical
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10894874
It seems to work this time. Can anyone see any difference?
Yes, the first link has two 7s in it, the second only one.
Thank you.
I was sitting there looking at it and couldn’t see anything that was different.
As the Toyota ad’s went “Bugger”.
Not of course that it is terribly much importance in the scheme of things. It was just one of those weird stories that caught my attention.
The “first” of the principals jockeying for a position in John Key’s/Hekia Parata’s new principal leaders group has emerged. Up at Whangarei Boys High, 30 boys were taken out of class, and made to sit in the assembly hall while staff chased up “outstanding” monies owed.
These monies were for related costs, not course fees, the “education” there is free. So we now see education take a backward step, relegated to that of being subservient to “related fees”. This on the same day “our” first Charter School opened.
Hekia Parata denies any money demanded is part of her responsibility. “My hands are clean.”
It’s a poor area and a nasty thing to do. Of course this head teacher wants to challenge the way boy’s education is provided. looks like humiliating them is on the agenda
This has been going on under the radar for a while now.
Some years ago, a high school principal in Feilding did the same. The schools think that parents can some how shit out money, we are seeing that with the BYOD trend.
Nothing like reading yet another ‘Advertorial’ in the Herald online in the ongoing series giving blind,unbalanced support to the National Party to start the day the right way, hoicking a big one in the direction of Granny Herald and the Jonolist who wrote the rubbish,(Armstrong, who else),
Unbalanced seems to be the province of both the Herald and it’s tired old hack Armstrong as they try and talk up Slippery the Prime Minister and His flag waving as some form of vision for New Zealand,
”The trouble is the rhetoric simply does not wash”, unquote Armstrong, your absolutely right John, the rhetoric does not wash, neither your bullshit unbalanced Jonolism or Slippery the Prime Minister’s stupid empty heads ‘idea’ of changing the flag in the face of Labour’s first big policy announcement of the year,(perhaps in the face of the next major announcement from Labour we can expect from National a promise of a free flag in the letter box if only we vote for them),
”The trouble is YOUR rhetoric simply does not wash” Mr Armstrong when your writing shows more than just unbalanced jonolism, some might add that such is ‘simply’ the product of an unbalanced mind…
The media have been given their marching orders by the corporates.
“Deliver NZ to us.”
Gower, Garner, Armstrong, Hosking, Smith, Williams, Roughan, Murphy and all the others are paid 30 pieces of silver to betray their own country.
Shame.
Yes those evil “corporates”. Or maybe they are simply trying to save a failed business model in a tiny market. The average journalist in NZ is paid a pittance and over worked. So they right crap. That is more likely the explanation for poor journalism than your “corporate” conspiracy.
Very very dull.
I don’t think you’re being quite fair to John Armstrong, Bad 12 – his column in today’s Herald (which I’ve only just picked up on) gives Cunliffe quite a few good points for the Best Start policy but does state that the media releases and fact sheets have to include all the facts, not just some of them, and he also is quite clear about Key’s behaviour on this matter :
“As it was, coverage of the baby bonus shifted markedly as Key – like a pig in muck – ruthlessly and sarcastically picked up on and picked over Labour’s …………. ”
I read that as both a warning to Labour to get a bit smarter, and its a very telling comment on how Key behaves.
Can’t agree with you there JK, ‘wing-nuts’ love such language, ruthless and sarcastic are the currency of those who think they are ‘real or hard men’
What i see Armstrong’s latest effort as is the ‘damning of David Cunliffe with faint praise’ approach where the hero in the form of Slippery the Prime Minister uses His sarcasm to ruthlessly expose Cunliffe’s weakness,
Unfortunately the mistake of not having David Parker,(who i assume knew the nuts and bolts of the policy inside out), on hand to give a follow up explanation of those details to the waiting media pack managed to give Slippery an opening which took a little of the gloss off of the initial announcement,
Incidently, i fully agree with the ‘explained’ policy it gives the most to those most in need not necessarily in terms of actual dollars, the increased parental leave component is of a far greater dollar value than the $60 ‘Best Start’, it is the fact that this policy doesn’t differentiate between those who have work and those who havn’t that pleases me…
“this policy doesn’t differentiate between those who have work and those who havn’t that pleases me…”
But it should.
A point of view that would only have validity if the minimum wage was a living wage.
But thanks for the view from across the ditch, sspylands
SSLands, But it WONT, so suck it up, get ready to pay for it, and, know that i will be laughing at you every week while you do…
okay Bad 12 – I’m seeing aspects a bit differently to you, but the essence of Best Start being for all pleases me too. Its a start (albeit smallish) against inequality ….
JK, oh i think that while we have capitalism we will always have inequality, once implemented tho $60 will be a huge boost to those who have kids while on a benefit or who find themselves on a benefit while they have babies, hopefully as finances improve ‘Best Start’ will be offered for these kids as they get older…
I was pondering the news about the Reserve Bank and the interest rate raising etc. What about, while we have our present system, we raise inflation levels to between 2 and 6 per cent. At present a cautious prudent RB aims at 2 per cent as a mid-level between 0 and 5 I think.
But below 2% it means that hardly anything is happening. And this inflation screwdown makes holding the value of savings more important than actual business activity and wage growth, (to keep up with the uncounted part of our economy where inflation is rampant – housing).
The system only partly works as it is, it actually detracts from having a strong thriving economy, and it worries about savings, which are modest and which if there were more would slow the economy down to a crawl or even leave it lying on the floor crying like a baby.)
So 2-6% with midpoint 3-4 say and allowing to 6% for some upsetting, spiking jolts. And include actions that tend to make the exchange rate, trend downwards. The Reserve Bank should have a few methods to do that.
We could stage a few strikes so that everything doesn’t seem so hunky-dory in this country of milk and honey, and hokey pokey ice cream, and gradually the exchange rate would go down. Exports and the economy would move upwards, interest rates could go a little upwards, thus cutting down the swingeing profit on playing with our dollar by those wankers who do that.
Imported goods would become a little dearer, but wage rises on a reasonable but still cautious scale would help that.
And a biggie, our government will encourage enterprise within the Nation. NATIONAL will proudly present itself as having National Interests at heart (as opposed to more money for themselves and some neat perks), and the two parties will fight for the hearts and minds and jobs of NZ.
We will then have energy left to face fully all the other challenges that can’t be properly attended to now because of the foul entropy of our major political parties, from which I hope that Labour is emerging, and we will all sing Jerusalem and then God Defend New Zealand with our hands on our hearts. (Which my grandchild’s child care centre is teaching the 3 year olds. How very yank-like!)
End of diatribe and too bad for any other dia effect you have experienced.
Often pondered the idea of a mortgage strike.
Everyone refuses to pay the extra rises, when the Reserve bank act deals it’s usual destruction.
A comment I made elsewhere.
“Time we stopped the sheer lunacy and destructiveness of gifting banks higher profits, and killing New Zealand’s export industries, small business and householders, with mortgages, in pursuit of the stupid idea that higher interest rates will drop Auckland house prices.
Haven’t you all figured it out yet, higher interest rates attracts even more hot lending money into the NZ housing market”.
kjt
True higher interest rates just increase the difference between the still very low US federal rates whereby someone can probably make a tidy sum just borrowing from them, and lending it out to us at a 5% differential or more just at the touch of a button.
And yet people who need some interest to provide a living capital formed from their savings, can’t survive on the US rates – their savings get eaten up by inflation and bank charges if interest is too low. So they have to raise their rates and we might get an even playing field. Have we actually ever had one since the neo libs glibly went on about it decades ago?
‘Interest rates’ are another Banksters con, consider for a moment where the current 2+% of ‘growth’ is calculated to be coming from within the economy,
(1), Christchurch and it’s rebuild, growth??? only in the system devised by a race of primitive ape like creatures or the world Banking Cartels,(very hard to tell the difference), without having accounted for the actual losses incurred from the series of earthquakes,(multiple billions),it is then stupid to simply add the spending on ‘replacements’ into the growth figures,
(2), House price inflation, the main center of this inflation occurring in Auckland with a lesser amount again the result of the Christchurch rebuild, who actually is suffering this inflation that the reserve Bank is hell bent upon controlling,
i do not live in either Auckland or Christchurch along with some 2.7 million other people so the over-inflation of the Auckland and Christchurch property markets affects me and 2 million seven hundred thousand other people HOW???,
The fact is that it doesn’t, house price over-inflation has pretty much no effect what-so-ever on the rest of the economy, the price of milk doesn’t rise because of house price over-inflation in Auckland and wages for the majority of New Zealand workers will not rise because of it either so including house price inflation, which in all reality financially effects only the buyer of a house, in the way we measure inflation is plainly stupid…
“The fact is that it doesn’t, house price over-inflation has pretty much no effect what-so-ever on the rest of the economy,”
Thanks genuis – actually it does. Do you think the suppliers of materials and services for house building don’t supply those to other sectors?
Christ what would you know?
F off Noddy, only you seem to think i am talking in terms of new build housing when it is obvious that i am talking about the over-inflation in the price of existing houses,
Jesus, the economic un-genius speaks, such inflation in materials and services for house building is simply down to you ‘wing-nuts’, if you all were not intent on building monolithic structures instead of normal size housing as compensation for the lack of size in a certain of your appendages their would be no problem either in supply of labour or materials,
Please please economic un-genius give us all the proof of such an assertion…
Higher interest rates have the excellent effect, from Key’s sponsors point of view, of transferring wealth from ordinary working people, most of whom have net debt, to the already rich, and to the financial institutions, whose share of GDP has risen just as workers, and small and medium business owners/contractors, share, has dropped.
The reserve bank act, more than anything else, blatantly highlights the Neo-liberal indifference to the future of New Zealand.
Even a capitalist Government, one with principles, would be concerned that New Zealand businesses are dying, and thousands of jobs going, from the double whammy of higher interest rates than offshore competition, and the exchange rate pushed up by those same interest rates.
I can tell you from first hand experience, what happens when your US competition can get finance at 3%, while it costs you 12% or more. And, that’s if you can get any business finance, at all, beyound your mortgage.
“If you want more people on welfare, vote National”.
There is an interesting commentary over on the Pundit, Ganesh Nana, about why raising interest rates really isn’t necessary.
Imagine it’s being promoted so that all those RWNJ’s can get their money out of the country while the exchange rate is way up – no finer way to indicate that you know Nact will lose the election
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/former-greenpeace-leading-light-condemns-them-for-opposing-gm-golden-rice-crop-that-could-save-two-million-children-from-starvation-per-year-9097170.html
– Interesting
To you
Is the Independent really that? When there is a corporate with the equivalent wealth of a nation in its coffers, it can jiggle media to run a piece that attacks a worthwhile non-profit for the first two-thirds of its article, and for balance, an answer on the end of quite a thorough pasting.
Greenpeace, however, said that vitamin supplements and the addition of green, leafy vegetables to the diet of vitamin-A deprived children has already shown to work in places such as the Philippines, where vitamin-A deficiency has fallen from 47 per cent to 15 per cent.
“Vitamin-A deficiency is already dropping so rapidly in the Philippines that it may have ceased to be a significant problem before golden rice comes onto the market,” said Doug Parr, Greenpeace’s chief scientist.
This Canadian ecologist just looks like any well-fed fat-necked executive. He was in Greenpeace for a while in 1971. What has he been doing for it since then? Why did he not stay doing good things with it? Has he been following up more interesting and lucrative projects?
Decades ago there was a huge advance in rice growing Yields called the Green Revolution 1968+. The call was that hugely increased rice production could eliminate malnutrition and starvation. What actually happened was the landlords gathered the rice off the rice farmers and made pots of money with sales in foreign countries. Malnutrition and starvation was worse for S E Asian people.
(Funny how in NZ the better we are at producing meat/milk, the more we pay for it.)
When famine is talked about it often is not mentioned that there was a governing power that made it a disaster instead of a cyclical shortage. The Bengali one came to mind.I looked up google.
The first when the British East India Company was powerful. – out of the ordinary, occurred in 1768 and was followed in late 1769 by more severe conditions. By September 1769 there was a severe drought, and alarming reports were coming in of rural distress. These were, however, ignored by company officers.
By early 1770 there was starvation, and by mid-1770 deaths from starvation were occurring on a large scale. Later in 1770 good rainfall resulted in a good harvest and the famine abated. However, other shortfalls occurred in the following years, raising the total death toll.
About ten million people,[6][7] approximately one-third of the population of the affected area, are estimated to have died in the famine.
The second in 1943 – The Bengalis were denied help from their own countrymen, because of competition. The free market prevailed, everybody charged to the max, and there was also protectionism, to look after their own area and prevent civil unrest. There was refusal to act in an honest fashion from neighbouring provinces, with dark words of deliberate hoarding by Bengalis and disbelief in their statements. Transport carrying grain was refused egress, and numbers of barriers put up. Disgraceful stuff.
About 1.5 million people died.
The Government of India Act 1935 had removed most of the Government of India’s authority over the Provinces, so they had to rely on negotiation.
Thus, even when the Government of India decreed that there should be free trade in grain, politicians, civil servants, local government officers and police obstructed the movement of grain to famine areas.[38] In some cases Provinces seized grain in transit from other Provinces to Bengal.[39]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_famine_of_1943#Government_inaction
So any statements accusing of bad behaviour or finding reason to throw dirt when there is food production discussions, should be questioned. In this gold rice case, it probably means more of the big companies taking over and forcing the old varieties out so that their grain must be used and paid for instead of seed stocks being kept freely by prudent food producers.
They would be self sufficient and what the companies want is people who turn to them for their essential supplies and they hold their lives and money in the palm of the company’s owners and executives. There is of course that Monsanto scam whereby pollen carries their patented genes to mingle with the old varieties and then by growing their own grain, which has been tainted with Monsanto types, the farmers are breaking intellectual protection laws and illegally using Monsanto patented seed.
Great famine of Ireland. Another genocide perpetrated by the power elite. On white people, no less. If you were a coloured population, what chance would you have.
They forgot to mention all the small farmers in developing countries the so called Green revolution put out of business.
Making them dependant on imported rice forever.
Good for Goldman Sacks the world, though.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/goldman-bankers-get-rich-betting-on-food-prices-as-millions-starve-8459207.html
Or. “How Wall Street made money by starving millions”.
Red herring. Let’s fix the inequal situation we have where 10% of people have 40% of the wealth, and 50% of the people only have 1% of the wealth, then see if we need shiny science projects to make sure everyone eats.
+1
Exactly.
Plenty of food produced already. The monetary signals are not sending it to were it is needed.
I remember reading the amount required to end food poverty world wide. It was some small fraction of the world spending on weapons.
Early election coming up. Anyone surprised?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/234891/g20-forum-may-affect-election-date
Sounds like more arse kissing by Key of his heroes.
Regarding the Key’s ‘out of the blue’ flag change red herring during this election year:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/assignments/what-should-be-on-nzs-flag/9671710/Not-right-time-to-change-flag
If everyone isn’t voting for their favourite tv star and voting for Philomena Clunk on Charlie Booker Show then they should be. She is priceless. But then I think a proper value should be set on her in case the tv bosses try to use that line when naming her salary.
Charlie B says that some pub in Brit is offering drinks that will cause drink and drive problems. Charlie says it is the only pub in the land that comes with a police-car chaser.
Philomena Cunk aka Diane Morgan
could the herald be more craven-servants of the govt..?
..here is their online coverage of a damning united nations report on our human rights..
headline:..’NZ has ‘excellent’ human rights record’
(teaser/promo-paragraph..)
“..Justice Minister Judith Collins has welcomed the recommendations in a largely-positive United Nations report on New Zealand’s human rights records..”
just bold/bare-faced fucken lies..every word of it..
..phillip ure..
Not sure if this has been posted already but a draft copy of the un outcome report that lists the 155 human rights recommendations for New Zealand is avaliable at. http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1401/Draft%20report%20of%20the%20Working%20Group%20on%20the%20Universal%20Periodic%20Review.1.pdf
I did a post on how a UBI would address inequality here
http://thestandard.org.nz/ubi-addressing-inequality/
It turns out I derived something that is already known as a measure of inequality call the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve. My results were based on individual incomes rather than households but essentially they give the same result.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient#US_income_Gini_indices_over_time
This has a description of its limitations and how to interpret it.
To see NZ’s value over time this report has it
http://www.nzchildren.co.nz/income_inequality.php
Have to say successive governments in the last 35 years have not done much to shift it since rogernomics and the 1987 crash which raised it dramatically. The lower this number the greater the equality. Why is OK to have a coefficient of around 33? Surely we’d want to reduce this?
I’d suggest that governments performance in addressing inequality can be measured thus. I’d expect the next government to make a significant shift in this before I believe they are interested in address inequality.
The debate is carries on here
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9672616/Inequality-Is-it-growing-or-not
Other links
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/parl-support/research-papers/00PlibCIP181/household-incomes-inequality-and-poverty
A report that is worth a read
http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/household-incomes/
‘
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! . . .
. . . here begineth the inaugural gathering of The Standard’s Chapel of the Printed Poster. It has been proposed that the Big List Of John Key’s Lies make the transition from cyber space into meat world by becoming a printed poster which shall be plastered up across the length and breadth of New Zealand.
At this inaugural meeting I would be grateful for any comments regarding whether or not
– this a good idea
– is it even legal
– who is interested in handling the operations side of this project (NOTE: lprent has agreed to act as Treasurer and, if this gets off the ground, donations can be made into a bank account he will manage, being made direct into said bank. This seems the easiest solution in terms of having someone we can trust run the books, and maintain anonymity in that donations can be made in person at any branch of the bank concerned) At this stage we first need to establish costs including cost of production and distribution. Also, are there any artistic types out there prepared to have a crack at submitting a design for consideration.
– how can we go about “spreading the word” and gathering the funds needed to make it happen.
. . . the floor is open.
Brilliant idea.
Perfectly legal – truth is a complete defence against libel.
However Key could bring a bogus suit and use every dirty trick to bankrupt you before it even got to court. However, I’m sure you’d find a lawyer willing to represent you for free. You couldn’t buy that sort of publicity for a legal practice.
Brilliant!!!!!
very very good idea..
..tell me when and i will publicise/advertise it @whoar..
..why not give a koha option for copies..?
..phillip ure..
Money from me yes. Practical suggestion – if trying to fit something onto a noticeboard, anything bigger than A4 is a nuisance.
It might be treated as a serial – make a joke, a trilogy in four parts – collect all the parts and your prize might be a change of government! lt might be divided into chapters for clarity running numerically and advise that the next chapter will be available next week. It would state on the first – this is the first of three/? chapters. It might make a funny (not suitable for bedtime stories for the young or sensitive.) Has it got a title – Remember the Wit and Widom of Muldoon or Richard Prebble’s I’ve Been Thinking.
It should be printed clearly. Certain colours don’t show up ie yellow. Royal blue is good, colour draws the eye blue/red? Black fine but would need something so the eye didn’t skip over it.
If meant to be on a large board then font would be bigger for that. But popping a number up and having them available at political stalls would surely be all right. It’s information and there would be no logo on it, and anybody could give it out surely. Though many wouldn’t.
Do you have any idea how much $$ is needed?
Got a bank account number [that you are o.k about making public] for making deposits into?
Lolz, un-budgeted for political activism is always a hard one, count me in for an initial $100 Blip, if this looks like going ahead and then stumbles for any reason can i suggest that any collected donations go toward the future cost of running the Standard…
good idea!
present
Hello to all
Certainly we are discussing this idea openly and that is a good thing, but we must acknowledge certain professional details will have to be kept from the public until any authorisation is given for release of any business or personal identities. I actually see no reason for the general public to know any of the details of those who are being paid for a service and this information is touched on later.
I believe we should have a target of May at the latest, for the beginning of distribution.
If it’s an early election, paste ups can be bigger, if later in the year a more measured approach would be best with funding being the obvious decider.
I believe there will be strong need for a certain amount of cross communication on topics where the public forum is ill suited and some suggestions for how best to mange this would be appreciated.
Perhaps Lprent would allow a specific group of permissions for a locked off ‘Poster Project Page’ (PPP)
where those who eventually deal with the details can do so productively. This is not exclusion it is after the brainstorming, when stuff actually has to happen.
A place where the project can be discussed as per the normal public forum but you know-without the public. I do not even know if this is possible but I envisage a normal chat thread with a ‘PPP’ log-in required which can be distributed via our emails. Obviously this may involve a certain amount of moderation (by request) but let’s be honest here, if we cannot ignore tr–ls who decide it is funny to pop in and stir then why are we even bothering to put any effort in. We are grown ups and if we just work on the project and ignore their gibbering they will get bored and go away.
I also ask that if this idea has the support of The Standard’s operators, then a public post is opened once a week, a post is opened where those involved and those interested can go to to discuss, catch up and generally keep this rolling along for awhile.
At this point I make the following statement.
To my knowledge I am not involved with or associated with anyone in the paste up business in New Zealand. My reference to a certain company in the original proposal, (linked to above) was merely that, a reference to an existing paste up operation and I had no intention of implying any knowledge of this idea by the company referenced. Nor do i have, or am aware of, any association with or knowledge of the company, its staff, and or its interests that has not come from general observation of the businesses during its day to day public activities. (if that need further clarification from a legal point of view please let me know)
A
Back to The List.
The legal issues are critical obviously, but as all information is sourced from publicly available resources I would guess we are clear. MMM… guessing, and the law , always a good combo.. So if one of the many lawyers out there could clarify the project’s legal position sooner rather than later, the better chance we have of making it all happen. This is what your contribution to actual activism can be about if you choose it.
B
The next hurdle is the paste up.
I propose a letter/email is drafted inviting those in ownership of paste up services to view the list on The Standard, and view the proposal on the table. Then they are able to independanty decide if it is a project they are interested in. As a commercial gig they might not give a damn, but there is the serious issue of its content and its potential affects on their business. A theatre poster that pushes the boundaries of public decency is one thing, a list publicly critical of the PM is quite another.
If we get a green light at that point , it is a negotiation on cost and we will know our primary goal for fundraising.
C
Service required.
I propose that the action is a once a fortnight paste up, incorporated into their existing rounds, and possibly with as few as a half dozen posters per round put up at locations of their discretion. These guys know their job and know which locations would suit for impact and duration ( public’s light fingers aside) Obviously there will be some care needed so as not to waste posters on environs not needing that much persuasion in questioning the PM’s integrity.
This does not have to be a blitz campaign. Simplicity is our friend here. As yet we don’t even have an Election date but If done in ten locations* nationwide with ten posters being distributed once a fortnight we could sustain a campaign up into November with a print run of under 2000 posters.
*ten locations is envisaged as being four to five centers with a couple of runs per location.
D
Printing
Once progress with a paste up company is determined we can look at confirming printing prices and the associted freight requirements etc.
Whilst thinking about the initial idea of printing at different locations to avoid freight, I realised this is potentially problematic to the printer for obvious commercial reasons. So a more user-friendly printer might be required and we find funds for freighting the posters to the paste up operations. It seems the common sense solution and the original idea was an off the cuff effort. (So is this but at least it has more detail
)
Is there a willing printer out there?
I will be making some enquiries with various people re printing and advise others to do the same.
Please though, be a bit discreet about it. If they are not someone you trust and know well, I would maybe wait a bit before making enquiries.
What are we looking at for the quotes are a variety of prices and we may as well cover the range so we know our options.
Quote per 1000 in A0, A1, A2 posters in three colours minimum.
That will give us options.
The posters must not be super flashy full colour look I have thirty thousand fonts type deals.
Two maybe three colours, clear text and practical fonts. i repeat : Simplicity is our friend on this.
As far as layout I beleive all submissions should be welcome and I do believe it should be an open discussion re the final design. If someone can pitch some ideas for that process please?
otherwise a simple webpage with designs and vote buttons?
Once we have relevant data of funding targets we will know if we have a practical chance of going forward and the design side can kick in.
but let’s take this one step at a time
To be clear
Simplicity is our friend on this endeavour.
People want this information, they are looking for it everywhere
they just don’t know it yet.
Quote per 1000 in A0, A1, A2 posters in three colours minimum.
Two maybe three colours, clear text and practical fonts.
All submissions welcome but let’s take this one step at a time
That’s it from me, thank you for your time and I hope we can make this happen.
-If I missed anything just say so, please forgive me if I have doubled up a bit on some topics, the brain is a bit frazzled. It has been a couple of months of very long hours in the studio, I have just hung a new show, I am knackered. I go sleep now.
I wish you all well and will catch this page for updates on Monday at the earliest.
Hei konā
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^^^ Wise words are wise.
I love the idea – a Poster Project Page – and labeling it PPP – shoving it right up John Key & co. With the exception of the few malingers from the right, most here will only be too happy to dig in and reach out to help. It is brilliant. BLiP has done a tremendous job, even the GCSB must be astounded at his knowledge, it probably trumps their capacity !!
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Okay!!! I’m getting the vibe this could be a real goer. Please keep the comments rolling in. At this stage I feel suitably enthusiastic to get some data from some bill stickers re costs. Will get started on this first thing Monday – anyone got any contacts or recommendations? I’ll start with this group and see where I get to: http://www.0800phantom.co.nz/
I love the idea of making poster available for sale. Perhaps we could sweeten the deal by including a disc with the art work and page captures of all the links?? Then again, if the idea takes off and we get, say, a few thousand orders, that could prove to be a bit of a pain. Just brainstorming, I know about the KISS Principle.
In order to get the message across, should we stick to just the Top 100 Lies – the poster should, IMHO, have a link and one of those bar-code thingywotsits which send people to a internet site with details of all the lies anyway. Again, lprent has agreed to host that somewhere here.
Blip
You are firing. I was wondering about Facebook, if some could be released there. From time to time to keep up the profile and interest. I’m not a great facebook user, but others can handle it no trouble. And of course we need to be prepared for some nasty comments, on Facebook. It could give handy publicity.
Aw – the toilet roll idea not a goer then? Shucks. I’d have bought a six pack and then eaten a plethora of figs…just because
Hi Blip,
I think a top fifty lies would be a practical and effective visual. perhaps there is a way to group it as a top ten over five categories. That would be a strong ‘on the street’ image of five paragraph blocks. Catches the eye of a passer by and immediately says ‘there is more to read here than the headline’ without being a tsunami of words. I am sure others will have ideas on what the categories should be, but ‘Lies in the House’ surely has to be one of them.
The full list will still be available on-line of course, and depending on final funding we may be able to swing different versions as the year progresses.
I will contact a few printers this week for some quotes, ( without sharing any real details about the content) just letting them know it is a text based three colour run. I will include A3 but for street pasting we should be in the A2 and above scale as outlined above.
There is obvious support for smaller posters for people to distribute amongst their own networks and again a top fifty list would fit most A3 and even A4 ‘office runs’
Please, can someone clarify our legal position on this project really soon?
If people are thinking of printing and distributing materials at or from their places of employment make sure you have checked any contractual obligations you may have signed. JK might not care about you keeping your job, but I and many others do.
NOTE: It would be good if people read both chains of comments that have been posted before adding new ideas. A PPP can work if we keep it simple and define its objectives as soon as we can. The last thing we want to see is two months of ‘what about ….???’ and no action. Those who have been involved in actual organization of activism before know that the one item no-one here needs to see is the ego. This project is about Blip’s List.
BLIP’S LIST AND THE FIRST IDEAS
http://thestandard.org.nz/note-to-media-check-your-facts/#comment-765308
INAUGURAL GATHERING AND COMMENTS
(-which is this thread but handy for future reference)
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01022014/#comment-767017
THE PPP OUTLINED by freedom
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-01022014/#comment-767077
note: this last link was included for easy reference to the proposal, not because it is my idea. Ideas need discussion. It is merely a proposal containing practical workable ideas and relevant crucial questions.
Brilliant BLiP!
Take a look at Karol’s post yesterday about the “How are you doing?” poster in South Korea. The poster maker make the point that posting online doesn’t have the same impact, it just disappears in 24 hours unless it happen to go viral, even then the impact is limited. But physical posters out there on the street cut through.
My thoughts:
– choose the ‘lies’ carefully, pick ones that have clear evidence to back up his bull. I.e. not ones where him stretching the truth could be a matter of opinion.
– talk to someone who knows what they are talking about re any possible legal issues. You might have to be careful about your ‘liar’ wording, I don’t know.
– talk to someone who knows design and/or marketing to make sure you maximize impact and message.
– there are plenty of knowledgable people here on this sight who would be very happy to steer you in the right direction on these points I’m sure.
– do it!
‘site’ not ‘sight’ lol.
This is such a brilliant idea. A few thoughts (haven’t read all the comments above yet, so sorry if am repeating something).
Get legal advice on content. Pretty sure you will be able to get this for free.
Make the posters available online for people to print out and put up where the live/work. A3, A4 and A5 minis. Not sure what format/size you are going for, so perhaps this could be an edited version?
I still reckon give the list its own wordpress site and get it linked to from all over the blogosphere/twitter/FB etc. That is alot more work of course, and I like the hardcopy poster as a priority.
Maybe some crowdsourced funding to make a paid position? There is real potential to use the left-wing social media network here.
What will the content of the poster be like eg how to transition from a list full of internet links to something that isn’t clickable?
Would be good to get a few other National MPs, especially Blinglish, with either an outright lie or some contradictory statements.
Yahoo!!!
You have done such a fantastic job BLiP that this poster idea should go ahead. It would be such an awful waste of your many hours of work if it isn’t advertised as widely as possible. I will certainly do my bit to spread the posters around my tiny corner of society.
If this project is handled well I am sure it will receive media attention although I suggest a certain political reporter from TV3 is left out of the loop for the time being.
My suggestion: there be bill boards erected in every town and city in the country by July of this year.
The SCotPP is NOT a registered political party so therefore does NOT come under the Electoral Finance Act. It is NOT an attempt to gather votes for a particular political party but rather an attempt to provide information to the public at large.
I’m willing to do my bit towards bringing this plan to fruition.
Hats, badges, paraphernalia, all at a rip off price. So as Tories buy them all up!
Great Radio doco celebrating Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday on RNZ (broadcast last night). Would have preferred a 2-hour tribute though. 1 hour a little too short.
Swordfish You saw our tribute on the day did you? A few clips there. Nice.
Xox
Good to hear National Radio is still doing some quality broadcasting. It’s beginning to degrade.
Can whoever is moderating every day do us a favour and carry any comment about posters over to a thread that starts with the word Poster. I thought that Open Mike doesn’t get archived for long and anyway it is so diverse. We need to have permanent places for ideas so they don’t fall like autumn leaves and get covered with others and then trodden on. Reading others ideas can be a starter for more to pop up, or amendments to improve one, or allow for unforeseen problems.
So how about it? Yu fullas know how to do it. Good on you. I hope you see the advantage of what I am suggesting.
Apart from that, I don’t know what lprent thinks but Trademe on their community board have a sticky thread that never goes away and ideas just build up ion it and for useful information it is valuable to have one that appears every day. So that’s another idea. But still it would be useful to have ideas relating to one project on one thread rather than just jammed into a sticky thread in a mixed pile.