Has John Key’s slavish support of the US ( pimping for the TPP, sending soldiers to Iraq, slagging off Putin, joining in military exercises in the South China Sea) meant a lot of the world sees us now as merely a puppet of Uncle Sam ?
And as a consequence, they can think of better people to vote for leader of the UN than a New Zealander, Helen Clark.
Just wondering….
Your thought makes sense to me Paul. Key is so ego driven, he seems to suck up to anyone whom is famous or important. He was happy as to slam Helen when he was in opposition, but as soon as she wants to go for the top job he starts sucking up to her. He is a disgrace. Hopefully the wise will understand that Key is just a star struck fool and not all kiwis are like that.
Also our headline news in overseas newspapers about milk product contamination and China’s annoyance, also our Clean Green image rubbished on the world stage with 5,200 citizens poisoned by our city water supply, we seem to be in the headlines a bit lately and not with a good look for us. The PM doesn’t help when he makes an idiot of himself on the US TV channels and 3-way handshakes, cringe material for us. Poor Helen doesn’t look like she is in with a chance. Anything the PM touches turns to shit for us and with his hands off attitude to importers and business to do the job properly we have a reinforced steel class action in the making – all because the market will do its job properly for the Government, what a laugh that is.
By the way why isn’t OSH stepping in and helping the doctors in their long hours and stating it is a health and safety issue. Are they also in the pockets of big government, we need Helen Kelly bless her heart to be well enough to come to their aid, she sure helped the Forestry Sector and the mortality rate has now come down for their workers because of her determination.
I wonder how much money New Zealand has wasted on trying to get a deluded Helen her dream of being a leader on the world stage?
I think you are right about wanting her out of New Zealand. She left the Labour party in such a dire state that without her Key had no opposition at all.
Also, of course as long as she had her dream Key owned her. She couldn’t do anything if Key wouldn’t support it. It hasn’t been Key sucking up to Clark. For the last 8 years it has been Clark sucking up to Key.
Ooh! Another Labour-can-do-no-wronger! Thought you might’ve been, you little piece of poo. Alwyn might be a RWNJ or Alwyn might not be – I don’t know and right now I don’t care. But the analysis – this time – is spot on. It’s fuckwits like you who’re responsible for fucking this country. No analysis, no critical faculty. Just blind support for a neo-liberal opposition that fucks our democracy. I suggest it’s you who should fuck off to the sewer where you belong. Hey, you might even meet Leftie there. You two could snuggle up, keep warm, hope you’re not eaten.
Sucking up to bask in the glory of UN importance is what Key does well, only too happy to give her a push no doubt, good point, out of the way and all that.
Would love her to get the job, but i do wonder if ‘able to be manipulated’ is part of their judging criteria? Shame if it is
Next year may we please have a dignified, switched on, strong PM… please please.
Cinny- wait for it. From the Tory trolls here it’ll soon be ‘Crooked Helen’. They are so blatantly lacking in historical facts or even a semblance of truth. Very ideological Trumpish trolling.
Me too proud of Helen and If our present PM ever tried for the same office he’d quickly be jettisoned like the Aussie kevin. Blokiness is not leadership.
It’s utterly fake blokey-ness in the Weak Man of course. A man who repeatedly pulls a young woman’s hair in the face of her objections is no good bloke. Someone who giggles girlishly on global television about the escape of a murderer/child rapist from prison in the country of which he’s PM…….he’s no decent fulla. He’s an horrific embarrassment.
North..Yes. your ‘blokey-ness’ better spelling than my ‘blokiness’.
Hey the cloying (albeit one way) blokey relationship with Richie Mcaw seems to have lost its intensity.
Sir (no thanks) Richie must be relieved.
Kieran Read- be warned of fickle politicians seeking vicarious blokey-ness.
I think she just put herself forward, said what she thought she needed to say, tried her hardest and things played out accordingly. This of course includes looking at everything you’ve referred to, as well as the F&S debacle, accusations of bullying both here and in NY, her treatment of New Zealand’s poor when PM, and no doubt a whole bunch of other stuff, too.
Has John Key’s slavish support of the US ( pimping for the TPP, sending soldiers to Iraq, slagging off Putin, joining in military exercises in the South China Sea) meant a lot of the world sees us now as merely a puppet of Uncle Sam ?
the BRICS countries particularly. Remember the US strategy is not merely to isolate those nations, but to ensure that countries like NZ cannot relate to those nations independently.
OMG ! Did this facile crap from Herald’s deputy politicial editor Trev’ ‘need’ to be written at all. Main point – “Weeeee…….look at me I’ve been in The Big Apple !”. Almost preferable and certainly intellectually weightier – the headline (didn’t click) – “What it’s like to be a sex toy tester.” Herald and Trev’ are such shit.
Switch off the mainstream news.
There are good alternatives now.
Highly recommend Waatea 5th Estate. RNZ is the best of the MSM, although it sources it’s foreign news through propaganda outlets, do it’s reporting of the Syrian conflict, the Ukraine, the Olympics and the Yemen show a clear US bias.
Seemorerocks is good for environmental news.
To get independent UK news, try the Canary.
The following journalists are worth reading.
John Pilger.
Robert Fisk.
George Monbiot.
Bryan Bruce ( NZ)
Waatea fifth estate =real life in NZ .
The rest is an alternative reality called planet key.
The journalists you mention Paul represent what is real journalism and Bryan Bruce made a contribution on Waatea a few days ago and it was great to have his input.
Made the bypass some time ago and never looked back.
Stuff isn’t much better. Their main story yesterday was Crystal Chenery handing out “sex advice”. Front page, first thing you see — ex-bachelorette crapping on about sex. As “newspapers” go, they’re collectively about as much use as a roll of Purex 2-ply.
Maurice Williamson is to be our commissioner in LA. How embarrassing, sick of cushy jobs offshore for failed Nat Party Politicians. Winston is speaking out, saying if he is part of the next government that Williamson will be coming back to NZ and someone whom cares about our country will be placed there instead. Sounds like Winnie is not into backing Nationals jobs for the boys agenda. Well said Sir Winston, well said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83767989/outgoing-national-mp-maurice-williamson-picks-up-plum-la-diplomatic-posting
There is a reward given for serving the corporate multinational agenda.
Politicians who sell their souls get very comfortable pastures in return for the betrayal of the country and citizens’ interests.
Look at the sad list of ex MPs who now shill even more for the corporates.
I think Katherine Rich pimping for Coca Cola and Nestle must be the nadir.
Of course we don’t have anyone in NZ like Bill Clinton or Tony Blair.
They have made it an art form.
From Herald’s Deputy Trev’ – “Williamson, who has been an MP since 1987, follows in a long line of politicians appointed to diplomatic postings. In recent years that has included former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith to London, former Trade Minister Tim Groser to Washington and former Labour MP Shane Jones as a newly created Pacific Economic Ambassador.”
As though the mention of former “Labour” MP Shane Jones says we’re not squarely in dodgy, “share the spoils boys”, territory. Heightens the impression in my book.
From Herald’s Deputy Trev’ – “Williamson, who has been an MP since 1987, follows in a long line of politicians appointed to diplomatic postings. In recent years that has included former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith to London, former Trade Minister Tim Groser to Washington and former Labour MP Shane Jones as a newly created Pacific Economic Ambassador.”
As though the mention of former “Labour” MP Shane Jones says we’re not squarely in dodgy, “share the spoils boys”, territory. Heightens the impression in my book.
Winston hates Key and NZF’s policies seem to have mellowed (maybe not Ron Mark)…..so my rolling averages for the Roy Morgan polls show that we will have a new government next year regardless of the MP’s support for Key’s policies (not sure if ACT and UF are really parties as they poll well under 1%):
Lab/Gr/NZF 49.8%
Nats/UF/ACT/MP 48.3%
Governments lose elections rather than oppositions win them. The water and housing crises and the education reforms are the latest symptoms of a government out of touch with reality.
I don’t like the concept third-termitis. Governments are perfectly capable of operating as well in a third term as in a first term….but this government has lost it.
I doubt Winston will go into a coalition with anybody CV and will stay on the cross benches after agreeing to support the largest party on confidence and supply.
Labour is still polling to low and that has not changed, hardly in a position to gain the authority of parliament.
No one will want to go back to the country and fight an early election.
I think a series of significant policy concessions by National to NZF as well as a bunch of outside Cabinet posts may be sufficient for Winston to sign up to this.
Have you no ‘ashpirayshun’ CV ? Why aren’t you panting for a 6th nay 7th term for the National Party. You’d be well made up wouldn’t you ? The Left, not controlled/directed by you’d be despatched to the rubbish bin of history. Sweet !
My strategic analysis is simple. I’m sorry that you cannot understand it.
Allow me to restate: in this game, National needs to understand the benefits awaiting it if it chooses to bend over backwards and make a few significant concessions to Winston and NZ First. The goal would be to gain NZ First’s commitment as the National Party’s new, strong MMP partner.
With the 10% to 14% that Winston will bring to the table in 2017, as well as new policy energy, coming to such an arrangement will guarantee National not just a fourth term, but also a fifth term.
How many times does it have to be said? You cannot trust NZF.
What Winston says and what Winston does are poles apart. He makes the right populist noises but he takes his one man band where the pickings are best suited to his whims.Do not count on him backing the Left. NZF CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO SUPPORT US ON THE LEFT.
The difference Bearded Git with this third term government is the media is on side has been even before the 2008 election.
Normally even with third term National governments years past the media were always reminding us of how tired and out of touch they were and how prone the government was to a succession of disasters and their handling of them and being increasingly out of touch with the country and in the case of Labours last term we kept being told it was time for a change – but a change to what ? well we have found that one out.
The spin and manipulation with an aggressive PR machine and the loyal journalists to do their bidding this government is well placed to win next year and the National parties massive war chest is bursting with money to spend on the campaign.
Crosby Textor are still here advising them on strategy and Key will only respond to issues and how to handle them after he has polling data telling him what to think and how to play it.
Its not what they say , its how they say it.
This will be the first fourth term government scince 1969 when we had Mr holyoake followed of course with Big Norm Kirk and the watershed election of 1972.
Good to see the EU taking a stance against Apple.
Here’s a prediction.
Money man and corporate puppet Key will do absolutely nothing about these multinational bludgers.
And because these large internet companies don’t fulfil their part of the social contract, there will not be the taxes to pay for a civil society.
NZ companies ( who pay their taxes) will struggle to compete with these gigantic parasites. And some will go bust.
There will be fewer jobs.
And a lot more low quality precarious jobs. Working for Uber lacks the security of being employed in a regulated taxi industry.
The race to the bottom will accelerate.
More parts of the health, housing and education sectors will be privatised as a government without the necessary tax take will withdraw further from actually governing.
If you think New Zealand is bad now, it’s going to be a lot worse with 10 more years of neoliberal policies wreaking havoc.
As yet, the Labour Party is failing to offer a real alternative.
So Rousseff, leader of the Brazilian left has been impeached for “budget irregularities”. Surprise, surprise but what is interesting is the Senate vote (61 – 20). Considering the 2 opposition comminst parties (PCDoB and PT) are 12 of the opposition votes where did the majority of votes come from? Well the Centre/Centre Left screwed her (PSDP, PMDB, PDT etc). Hardly the political elite but more like the Left canabilising it’s own. Just like the left in NZ and UK, principals go out the door when it comes to money.
Righty @ 5 – “principals” ? Seems your’s didn’t do that well Righty. Guess you’d be a fan of results-based performance pay in the education sector. Can’t have shit product floating around can we ? Note…….you’re under recall Righty.
North, while I agree with you totally, you ought to be aware that your’s can mean only ‘your is’ or ‘your has’. And I find it hard to create a sentence where either could be used. Please be careful…
Turks lay siege to Rojava – Much like they did to the Christians in Constantinople in 1453, the Turks are now laying siege to the Syrian Kurdish automous region of Rojava in northern Syria. After the Kurds took the large city of Manbij from ISIS a couple of weeks ago (with the loss of 250 fighters) they were preparing to liberate Jarabulus west of Rojava and close to the Turkish border, which would have closed the corridor for Turkish assistance to ISIS and other jihadists groups. Instead, Turkey invaded with a proxy bunch of jihardist fighters, after prior agreement with ISIS who simply stayed in the city and were incorporated into the “liberating” forces (who have since reasserted Sharia law and murdered one of the city’s leaders one hour after he put out a press statement condemning the Turks and jihardists). The United States who assisted the Turkish forces with air strikes told the Kurds they had to retreat from Manbij back to across the Euphrates River to continue to get support from the US (mostly air support, small arms and advisors on the ground). Theoretically, the United States has managed to stop the Kurdish and Turkish forces from fighting but what is really happening is that the Turks are right now building a wall along Kobane (which is the originally Kurdish city that fought back at ISIS and expanded from there) so that no people or supplies can get in or out of there. It has its own jihardist forces blocking the Kurds in the west around Jarabulus (getting new fighters from the refugee camps in Turkey amongst other places, and using child solders), Assad’s Syrian government forces blocking them to the south (Russia, Iran, Turkey and Assad have come to an understanding over this) and ISIS blocking them from the east. The aim is to make sure the Kurds are completely isolated and then to wear them down by making life hell for everyone living in Rojava (Kurds, Arabs etc) and using Turkey’s proxy militias to wear them down militarily. If that doesn’t work, I expect the Turks will simply give up the veneer and simply go in with their full army.
To e.p. From current events, the Kurds have been prevented from gaining too much territory in Syria, despite these hard fighting men and women soldiers, unlike the Syrian army, are a real match for ISIS. The Turks have been playing a fast and loose game as a NATO member and ISIS associate, oil trade and slack border controls.
We hear very little of all those ISIS fighters now that they are beaten back. Where do they disappear to, back to Saudi Arabia, the Urals, Europe… no body count for them??? At the moment all we see on MSM is the discovery of mass graves of civilians killed by these ISIS thugs.
That’s the most depressing news I’ve heard in quite a while.
The “War on Terror”…. unless it’s ‘our’ “War with Terror” or terror being inflicted by ‘our’ many convenient friends.
If the peoples in Rojava are waiting for any international outcry or help, they’ll be waiting a long, long time. They don’t count. Worse, any ordinary person helping them out (eg Labor Party NT president Matthew Gardine), is deemed to be a terrorist sympathiser, threatened with many years in jail just for going to the region and regardless, subjected to what seems to have been, a very heavy handed gagging order .
And war pillocks like Hilary Ben have the gall to stand up in parliament and cynically evoke memories of the Spanish Civil War…
I wish I could contradict something in this to give some hope to the Kurds, but I can’t. I know they have the spirit to fight like hell, but why are they so alone? Utter corruption on the part of the West – our side. We started all this with the Sykes/Picot agreement, we are betraying them again, and their blood is on our hands.
Writing comments has been a bit painful so far this morning. I’m on ‘holiday’ doing a bit of maintenance. And we all know what that means…
I upgraded the firmware in the network WAN this morning. So the site was off for a while.
Just replaced a dodgy 120GB SSD on The Standard RAID with one where I am confident in the manufacturers ability to make good storage. The drive is copying and making writes really slow on TS. Should be done in 5 minutes.
Police calls from Oamaru are diverted to gawd knows where, so the locals are not bothering to report crime, & on the front page of the same paper was a story about crime rising in the south, go John Key rararara!!!!!
“”It’s bloody hopeless. We’ve had the situation in Oamaru where police have asked us to [keep an eye out] for someone who has gone missing, we find them, we end up trying to call them and you end up anywhere but Oamaru.””
With the police and social services budget being diverted to spying (65% budget increase to GCSB for terrorists here in NZ, sarc), and the police doing political ground work like investigating Nicky Hagar and investigative journalists rather than actually concentrating on law and order, the public are being left in the lurch and actually soon realise there is no point even reporting crime, especially if you don’t have an local police anymore (apart from revenue gathering traffic police).
All the cops are in South Auckland working through a backlog of burglaries as per Judith Collins instructions. I’m sorry ‘rest of New Zealand’, you’re just going to have to join the end of the queue. We’ll get to you eventually; try not to die in the meantime.
thats the thing, do most people think it’s handy or do they just have it lest the miss something from work or an update form something that actually does nothing to enhance their lifes?
One reason i believe the planet is so fucked up is this lack of quiet time, undisturbed me time or us time, time without beeps and bings.
It appears that folks end up quite addicted to their phones Sabine. They don’t take time to look around when they’re waiting at the bus stop, the train station etc and when they get on board their transport it’s all tap tap tap. Not looking at the scenery. They are not observing life passing by, noticing things, being aware of how they are feeling, except for maybe getting a crick in their neck for staring down at the god like screen for so long.
I got given an iphone as a gift recently. It’s my first one. It only gets used for taking photo’s and sending the odd message. It’s better that way. I don’t become reliant upon it. And the faceblab I keep on the P.C only. There’s a time for faceblab and a time for living life uninterrupted.
Then there’s that creepy stuff that CV was referring to, so best to keep as little info on your iphone/spy phone as possible.
“Now I have a smart phone and it mostly gets used for reading books”
lol the younger generation e by gum, when we were kids we had to HOLD the bloody books and they were on fucken paper and the skin of animals arrr but try telling that to the younguns now and they just laugh at ya
Yep your phone to produce is associated with slavery, exploitation, economic servitude, environmental destruction and toxic pollution. Yep real good device that one – as long as we close our ears and eyes to the immeasurable suffering created so you can read whilst holding your phone. And the comparison with books? Killing animals – if you were vegetarian your view may have a little wee wee merit – but you aren’t are you, so it doesn’t does it.
debatable in many ways, from many angles and certainly not true in any sense of the word true – let’s just say I disagree and find it amusing, your position that is.
“An 18-year-old black high school student in the United States was awarded just US$18 after being punched, Tasered and arrested over a crime he did not commit….
Local South Bend, Indiana pastor Reverend Mario Sims said the award sends an unfortunate message: “Your rights are worth a dollar.”
“To me it’s just solidifying that blacks in America, we have no rights,” says Mr Franklin’s nephew, Russell Thomas Jr.”
I see in the article that the police were at the right house, and mistook him for his brother (he matched the description fairly well) whom they were after for something serious (domestic violence related). They seem to have realised that they had the wrong man, but in the meantime he “resisted police”, and that is why they then arrested him.
Depending on what “resisted” actually means, and I expect the jury and judge heard the detail, then $18 might be $18 too much.
I guess you’re assuming the cops were white – or that just because he was black it is automatically a race issue.
Depending on the manner in which he resisted, he may well be lucky they did not empty a clip into him given the apparent American obsession with clip emptying (I think the report said he was tasered – shocking as it is).
Tauranga agencies struggling with growing number of homeless
A “tsunami” of homelessness has ripped through Tauranga, with more than 30 families seeking emergency accommodation each week, social agencies say.
i have been saying that for at least 3.5 years now. That shit is spreading like wildfire, and anyone who believes they are safe and it’s not gonna happen here cause its only AKL problem is in for a rude awaking.
This country is being sold, one house at a time and its not Kiwis that need a home doing the buying.
Yes ….New Zealand thought it could play USA off against China and get the best of both worlds .Instead we get the worst of both …. owned by American Corporates and overrun by immigrants.
So, so true. We are constantly lied to about what is the obvious takeover happening right in front of us. Kiwis have been betrayed by our elected leaders for 32 years. Now Pakehas get to feel what it’s like to be colonised.
not pakeha as in not of maori descend of whom many are not white?
I don’t understand at this comment as not all pakehas have been here when NZ was colonialised, and not all have been here literally like 25 years ago.
I do also believe that the ones to suffer the most in this recent sale of NZ is still the indigenous people of NZ as this is the only land they have, many pakehas can pack if and go back to where ever they came from if it gets to bad.
but for the Maori population and the what now up to 5th generation of born into NZ pakehas – many whom have maori family ties, where will they go?
So no, i don’t feel getting colonialised, I don’t feel angsty for mine self, but i do feel upset for those around me that only have this country to call Motherland or Fatherland if you are so inclined.
By Pakeha I mean NZers mainly of European descent who grew up here and assumed that by studying, working hard and saving they might have a future in NZ. But that has been taken away by Nat supporters’ greed for endless capital gains on housing, no matter the wider costs to the rest of society.
I am feeling pretty ripped off by prices inflating out of reach, driven by investors with zero stake in NZ and who have never paid 1c in tax here. I can’t go anywhere else, except perhaps Aussie, but they treat Kiwis like shit
Beware, beware……the persons quoted in the report are currently lined up, hand in each others pockets, with one of the biggest property developers in the area (who has a great cloak of ‘philanthropy’) to be gifted over 1000 State Houses..already making noises about wrong houses, wrong areas, big sections…this is a softening up exercise, a tilling of the ground.
I hope you’ll join the Boycott Wilson NZ Facebook group and come to the protest rally I’ve planned for Saturday. We aim to educate Kiwis that Wilson Parking, whom we all know for their extortionate prices, is a tentacle of the same corporate monster that operates Wilson Security, responsible for running Australia’s notorious offshore detention centres.
The rally (and call to boycott Wilson) is in solidarity with the Boycott Wilson campaign coordinated by Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance
(waca.net.au/boycott_wilson) which has already claimed some success for getting Transfield (now known as Broad Spectrum) to back away from the contract to run the camps, but Wilson was brought in as a subcontractor and has perpetuated the abysmal record of human rights abuses.
The aim is to pressure Wilson so that they won’t be inclined to bid outright for the contract when it comes up for renewal. Of course the ultimate aim is to force the Australian government itself to process asylum seekers in a humane, timely and transparent fashion on their own soil ie to close these modern day concentration camps.
Nelson Mandela said our Springbok protests were like the sun coming out for him and his imprisoned comrades. It is time for Kiwis who believe in justice and love to once again raise our voices so that those unjustly held and mistreated on Nauru and Manus Island can feel our sunshine.
Also have heard that one of the reasons why we are not getting rail to the Auckland airport is that the airport is making something like 1 million dollars a week in ripping off people through parking charges. They don’t want public transport to interfere with their profits. (I don’t think this is Wilson Parking at the airport), but just shows how high parking charges are stopping public transport growth and groups like Auckland Council and the airport are profiting from having bad transport links.
Still waiting for it Ad though and we are in 2016, bit like those affordable houses in Auckland. That’s the point. In the meantime the parking people many of those who actually are making the rail decisions are actually benefiting from the lack of rail, coming soon, coming soon, um hopefully coming soon, bit more talking and then maybe coming soon.
You can catch some of this detail on TransportBlog.
To save you the pain of dealing with the transport nerds, it’s looking like this:
– The only new funded capex on rail of any note in Auckland is the City Rail Link. This job is underway. Central government has promised to pay half of about $3billion, but no firm agreement has been formed and signed. It’s by a fair way the most expensive piece of infrastructure in New Zealand.
– Next off the blocks for the City is light rail up some of the main arterials like Dominion Road and Mt Eden Road. There’s huge momentum for it inside Auckland Transport, but no funding and not much enthusiasm for it in central government. It would take at least a decade to do.
– Next off the blocks would be a third rail line in central and southern Auckland. This will separate the freight rail from the passenger rail. Very congested currently. Sometime in the next decade.
– After that I suspect would come the tunnel to Auckland’s North Shore, currently on the books for 2025 start. Gov’t may push for faster, but I haven’t seen it. This will have rail capacity underneath it. The North Shore busway has grades for conversion to light rail, but not heavy rail.
– Somewhere in that is rail to the airport. It’s in the mix, but TBH it’s competing against a bunch of other stuff. And TBH the hardest thing about rail projects is getting the funding through. It seriously takes at least a decade of argument to make it.
Which is quite a lot of your life, if you’re prepared to devote yourself to it.
“Any foodie will tell you it’s all about the ingredients. Yet Auckland’s ingredients – so fresh, so flavoursome – have been processed by forces so negligent they should be in jail. It’s like they took wagyu and decided to make mince lasagne.
The people who’ve tied up Auckland for 40 or 50 years have methodically worked through a recipe to produce not an oasis, but an aneurism. Traffic that’s fractal: from overhead, it is a seizure.
Inside the driver’s head, yet another seizure. The economic cost of cars not moving – another seizure. But I’m sure the traffic looks good in photos.”
This is fascinating and the type of research which should be happening in NZ.
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.”
I see Raybon Kan is once again raising the finger to the Government in the Herald today about the state of the river water and how its acceptable to have a wading standard only. He really does sail close to the wind these days and I am amazed granny allows his columns to be published. He is either going to lose his job writing for the paper or Granny is becoming jaded with the Government and its lack lustre performance. He writes in such a funny way and I see he is a comedian – it shines through with his biting way he gets stuff across albeit it in a humorous way. The PR machine of the Government won’t be pleased.
Still funny though Paul – he’s channeling the government discourses so well…
“Then there’s Havelock North.
Of course Havelock North’s water is drinkable. Look how many people drank it.
A third of the population were laid low. But look on the bright side: while one third of the population of Havelock North were poisoned, that means two-thirds weren’t. And in a democracy, two-thirds is a majority, an absolute landslide, who support the local water and all its diverse populations of bacteria.”
Bears investigating, save nz. I’m believing my forest garden acts this way also and that’s why I champion it. No bears yet, though my wife said she saw an orangutan in the plum tree recently (but it was me:-)
Not if you read it: it’s probably largely the results of a publisher’s publicity arm.
Author of upcoming book (amazon link supplied) on US constitution is the main source for commentary on issue that the book “touches on” (lol of thirty-odd articles and amendments in constitution, four deal with the presidency) after rumours about Clinton’s health and Trump’s age/possibility of dropping out.
I am pleasantly surprised that Obama has made it thus far without someone taking a shot at him. When he was elected I thought it was only a matter of time before some redneck had a go.
Given their ages, the odds of either Trump or Clinton making it to the end of a term (let alone two) must be lower than most, and that is just from natural causes.
Converting the site to https is having a few quirks that didn’t show up on the test framework. Notable was the way that it lost all of the right hand site widgets.
Got the most of the tabs back, and the mobile theme is back again.
Just letting the database scan on the backend run at present.
Two Deeply Disliked Presidential Candidates
(Trigger warning: This may upset Clinton supporters of a nervous disposition)
From Time:
Hillary Clinton’s reputation among Americans has hit rock bottom, according to a new survey.
America’s Opinion of Hillary Clinton Hits Record Low
Daniel White @danielatlarge
Aug. 31, 2016
(But Donald Trump’s favorability rating is even lower)
A Washington Post–ABC News poll released Wednesday shows that 56% of Americans view Clinton unfavorably, while 41% have a favorable impression of the Democrat—the worst she’s been viewed in her time in public life.
Clinton’s previous low was in July when her favorable rating was 42%, according to the Post, while her previous unfavorable high was 55% in June.
Trump’s image, however, remains worse, with 63% of Americans holding an unfavorable opinion of him and only 35% having a favorable view.
Clinton’s image had managed to rebound a bit after the Democratic National Convention in July—48% favorable and 50% unfavorable—but things appear to have bottomed out.
The latest survey was conducted Aug. 24-28 among a national sample of 1,020 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.
The Week
At first glance, Clinton’s favorability rating might at least look better than Donald Trump’s. But, The Washington Post noted, when only registered voters are taken into consideration, “Clinton’s image is about as bad as Trump’s.” While Clinton sees a split of 38 percent favorable and 59 percent unfavorable, Trump’s split is 37 percent favorable and 60 percent unfavorable.
So, Clinton at minus 21 / Trump on minus 23.
A look through Real Clear Politics also suggests Clinton has suffered worse Favourability negs in recent months – minus 25 / minus 26 – and higher overall Unfavourability ratings – 60% / 61%.
Maybe, they’re simply comparing it with previous Washington Post–ABC News polls.
538 pointed out that at least some of the ‘dislike’ of Hillary probably stems from sexism, eg people don’t like to see successful women, or at least a woman like HIllary who is not typically feminine.
Probably true for social conservatives. But, you know, there are other reasons … for those who care to look at her record and policy proposals from a cold, hard, objective left-leaning stance, unencumbered by tribal sentimentality or the outrageous romanticisation of the Centre-Right / Neo-Liberal power-mongers at the top of the Democratic Party hierarchy.
The Democrats are a coalition – only some factions can be considered in any way social democratic.
Many who have little regard for uber-Hawkish, Wall St Girl, Hillary, have a great deal of time for Jill Stein and Elizabeth Warren.
What I can’t get my head around is those individuals that point to every flaw in Hillary’s records and positions (real, perceived, and outright debunked smear), claim to support Stein and Warren based on their positions, that then go on to claim Trump is a better choice than Clinton.
Looks to me like a massive case of blinding Hillary-hatred comes first, then an overdose of confirmation bias in evaluating any subsequent information about Clinton and Trump.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
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New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
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Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
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Has John Key’s slavish support of the US ( pimping for the TPP, sending soldiers to Iraq, slagging off Putin, joining in military exercises in the South China Sea) meant a lot of the world sees us now as merely a puppet of Uncle Sam ?
And as a consequence, they can think of better people to vote for leader of the UN than a New Zealander, Helen Clark.
Just wondering….
Your thought makes sense to me Paul. Key is so ego driven, he seems to suck up to anyone whom is famous or important. He was happy as to slam Helen when he was in opposition, but as soon as she wants to go for the top job he starts sucking up to her. He is a disgrace. Hopefully the wise will understand that Key is just a star struck fool and not all kiwis are like that.
Go for it Aunty Helen, proud of you.
Also our headline news in overseas newspapers about milk product contamination and China’s annoyance, also our Clean Green image rubbished on the world stage with 5,200 citizens poisoned by our city water supply, we seem to be in the headlines a bit lately and not with a good look for us. The PM doesn’t help when he makes an idiot of himself on the US TV channels and 3-way handshakes, cringe material for us. Poor Helen doesn’t look like she is in with a chance. Anything the PM touches turns to shit for us and with his hands off attitude to importers and business to do the job properly we have a reinforced steel class action in the making – all because the market will do its job properly for the Government, what a laugh that is.
By the way why isn’t OSH stepping in and helping the doctors in their long hours and stating it is a health and safety issue. Are they also in the pockets of big government, we need Helen Kelly bless her heart to be well enough to come to their aid, she sure helped the Forestry Sector and the mortality rate has now come down for their workers because of her determination.
+100 Whispering Kate.
This.
TPPA. Clark’s UN bid. Tea-towel flag. And those are just the things he’s touched personally.
Key backed Helen for her current UN position, partly to get her off the NZ stage.
I wonder how much money New Zealand has wasted on trying to get a deluded Helen her dream of being a leader on the world stage?
I think you are right about wanting her out of New Zealand. She left the Labour party in such a dire state that without her Key had no opposition at all.
Also, of course as long as she had her dream Key owned her. She couldn’t do anything if Key wouldn’t support it. It hasn’t been Key sucking up to Clark. For the last 8 years it has been Clark sucking up to Key.
Makes her shafting of labour on the tppa obvious .
Nasty little man/woman you are alwyn. Fuck off to the sewer where you belong.
Ooh! Another Labour-can-do-no-wronger! Thought you might’ve been, you little piece of poo. Alwyn might be a RWNJ or Alwyn might not be – I don’t know and right now I don’t care. But the analysis – this time – is spot on. It’s fuckwits like you who’re responsible for fucking this country. No analysis, no critical faculty. Just blind support for a neo-liberal opposition that fucks our democracy. I suggest it’s you who should fuck off to the sewer where you belong. Hey, you might even meet Leftie there. You two could snuggle up, keep warm, hope you’re not eaten.
There, there diddums.
Have a nice relaxing cup of herbal tea and a lie-down.
You’ll feel much better.
Sucking up to bask in the glory of UN importance is what Key does well, only too happy to give her a push no doubt, good point, out of the way and all that.
Would love her to get the job, but i do wonder if ‘able to be manipulated’ is part of their judging criteria? Shame if it is
Next year may we please have a dignified, switched on, strong PM… please please.
Time for a change
Cinny- wait for it. From the Tory trolls here it’ll soon be ‘Crooked Helen’. They are so blatantly lacking in historical facts or even a semblance of truth. Very ideological Trumpish trolling.
Me too proud of Helen and If our present PM ever tried for the same office he’d quickly be jettisoned like the Aussie kevin. Blokiness is not leadership.
Substance counts!
It’s utterly fake blokey-ness in the Weak Man of course. A man who repeatedly pulls a young woman’s hair in the face of her objections is no good bloke. Someone who giggles girlishly on global television about the escape of a murderer/child rapist from prison in the country of which he’s PM…….he’s no decent fulla. He’s an horrific embarrassment.
North..Yes. your ‘blokey-ness’ better spelling than my ‘blokiness’.
Hey the cloying (albeit one way) blokey relationship with Richie Mcaw seems to have lost its intensity.
Sir (no thanks) Richie must be relieved.
Kieran Read- be warned of fickle politicians seeking vicarious blokey-ness.
I think she just put herself forward, said what she thought she needed to say, tried her hardest and things played out accordingly. This of course includes looking at everything you’ve referred to, as well as the F&S debacle, accusations of bullying both here and in NY, her treatment of New Zealand’s poor when PM, and no doubt a whole bunch of other stuff, too.
Has John Key’s slavish support of the US ( pimping for the TPP, sending soldiers to Iraq, slagging off Putin, joining in military exercises in the South China Sea) meant a lot of the world sees us now as merely a puppet of Uncle Sam ?
You hit the nail on the head
the BRICS countries particularly. Remember the US strategy is not merely to isolate those nations, but to ensure that countries like NZ cannot relate to those nations independently.
OMG ! Did this facile crap from Herald’s deputy politicial editor Trev’ ‘need’ to be written at all. Main point – “Weeeee…….look at me I’ve been in The Big Apple !”. Almost preferable and certainly intellectually weightier – the headline (didn’t click) – “What it’s like to be a sex toy tester.” Herald and Trev’ are such shit.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11702315
The media sucks.
Lol Paul. Sex toy tester, the media sucks. Intentional?
Switch off the mainstream news.
There are good alternatives now.
Highly recommend Waatea 5th Estate. RNZ is the best of the MSM, although it sources it’s foreign news through propaganda outlets, do it’s reporting of the Syrian conflict, the Ukraine, the Olympics and the Yemen show a clear US bias.
Seemorerocks is good for environmental news.
To get independent UK news, try the Canary.
The following journalists are worth reading.
John Pilger.
Robert Fisk.
George Monbiot.
Bryan Bruce ( NZ)
We can bypass these corporate puppets.
May i add the “Listening Post” to that list? Richard Gizbert is worth watching, every sunday morning at 7;30am on Al Jazeera.
Best international media round up on the planet IMO
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/
yes i do enjoy this programme
The media sucks.
Switch off the mainstream news.
There are good alternatives now.
We can bypass these corporate puppets.
Good advice Paul.
You will be taking it?
No more wallowing in the filth of MSM lies for you?
Waatea fifth estate =real life in NZ .
The rest is an alternative reality called planet key.
The journalists you mention Paul represent what is real journalism and Bryan Bruce made a contribution on Waatea a few days ago and it was great to have his input.
Made the bypass some time ago and never looked back.
Stuff isn’t much better. Their main story yesterday was Crystal Chenery handing out “sex advice”. Front page, first thing you see — ex-bachelorette crapping on about sex. As “newspapers” go, they’re collectively about as much use as a roll of Purex 2-ply.
Wensleydale Stuff is a product of Fairfax media ( J M T P) just more tory propaganda and dumbed down crap.
Thank god the net has alternatives.
Maurice Williamson is to be our commissioner in LA. How embarrassing, sick of cushy jobs offshore for failed Nat Party Politicians. Winston is speaking out, saying if he is part of the next government that Williamson will be coming back to NZ and someone whom cares about our country will be placed there instead. Sounds like Winnie is not into backing Nationals jobs for the boys agenda. Well said Sir Winston, well said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/83767989/outgoing-national-mp-maurice-williamson-picks-up-plum-la-diplomatic-posting
There is a reward given for serving the corporate multinational agenda.
Politicians who sell their souls get very comfortable pastures in return for the betrayal of the country and citizens’ interests.
Look at the sad list of ex MPs who now shill even more for the corporates.
I think Katherine Rich pimping for Coca Cola and Nestle must be the nadir.
Of course we don’t have anyone in NZ like Bill Clinton or Tony Blair.
They have made it an art form.
Yes we do but you will not find out till he’s residing in the land of the free.
I would quite happily vote for you to go and take the job Paul
Williamson’s mouth will be kept well shut no doubt by the LA sinecure. And, oh joy !, he’ll have the time to catch up with Ellen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11702315
From Herald’s Deputy Trev’ – “Williamson, who has been an MP since 1987, follows in a long line of politicians appointed to diplomatic postings. In recent years that has included former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith to London, former Trade Minister Tim Groser to Washington and former Labour MP Shane Jones as a newly created Pacific Economic Ambassador.”
As though the mention of former “Labour” MP Shane Jones says we’re not squarely in dodgy, “share the spoils boys”, territory. Heightens the impression in my book.
Maybe Winnie will recall Groser as well. I’d love that lolololz.
Giving Jones the Pacific Economic Ambassador role, is a nice little distraction so national doesn’t look as biased as what they are.
Williamson’s mouth will be kept well shut no doubt by the LA sinecure. And, oh joy !, he’ll have the time to catch up with Ellen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11702315
From Herald’s Deputy Trev’ – “Williamson, who has been an MP since 1987, follows in a long line of politicians appointed to diplomatic postings. In recent years that has included former Speaker Sir Lockwood Smith to London, former Trade Minister Tim Groser to Washington and former Labour MP Shane Jones as a newly created Pacific Economic Ambassador.”
As though the mention of former “Labour” MP Shane Jones says we’re not squarely in dodgy, “share the spoils boys”, territory. Heightens the impression in my book.
Share the spoils sums it up.
Treasonous politicians.
They need an appointment in court.
And a long stay at their local Serco house of fun.
Key can tell that funny joke about the shower soap, the boys will love that one.
Winston hates Key and NZF’s policies seem to have mellowed (maybe not Ron Mark)…..so my rolling averages for the Roy Morgan polls show that we will have a new government next year regardless of the MP’s support for Key’s policies (not sure if ACT and UF are really parties as they poll well under 1%):
Lab/Gr/NZF 49.8%
Nats/UF/ACT/MP 48.3%
Governments lose elections rather than oppositions win them. The water and housing crises and the education reforms are the latest symptoms of a government out of touch with reality.
I don’t like the concept third-termitis. Governments are perfectly capable of operating as well in a third term as in a first term….but this government has lost it.
LAB/GR/NZF 3 party coalition trying to govern with a 2 seat majority at the start of their first term?
That’s the recipe for a short lived government and a snap election at the end of year 2.
I doubt Winston will go into a coalition with anybody CV and will stay on the cross benches after agreeing to support the largest party on confidence and supply.
Labour is still polling to low and that has not changed, hardly in a position to gain the authority of parliament.
No one will want to go back to the country and fight an early election.
I think a series of significant policy concessions by National to NZF as well as a bunch of outside Cabinet posts may be sufficient for Winston to sign up to this.
It will also guarantee a fifth National term.
Have you no ‘ashpirayshun’ CV ? Why aren’t you panting for a 6th nay 7th term for the National Party. You’d be well made up wouldn’t you ? The Left, not controlled/directed by you’d be despatched to the rubbish bin of history. Sweet !
My strategic analysis is simple. I’m sorry that you cannot understand it.
Allow me to restate: in this game, National needs to understand the benefits awaiting it if it chooses to bend over backwards and make a few significant concessions to Winston and NZ First. The goal would be to gain NZ First’s commitment as the National Party’s new, strong MMP partner.
With the 10% to 14% that Winston will bring to the table in 2017, as well as new policy energy, coming to such an arrangement will guarantee National not just a fourth term, but also a fifth term.
How many times does it have to be said? You cannot trust NZF.
What Winston says and what Winston does are poles apart. He makes the right populist noises but he takes his one man band where the pickings are best suited to his whims.Do not count on him backing the Left. NZF CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO SUPPORT US ON THE LEFT.
The difference Bearded Git with this third term government is the media is on side has been even before the 2008 election.
Normally even with third term National governments years past the media were always reminding us of how tired and out of touch they were and how prone the government was to a succession of disasters and their handling of them and being increasingly out of touch with the country and in the case of Labours last term we kept being told it was time for a change – but a change to what ? well we have found that one out.
The spin and manipulation with an aggressive PR machine and the loyal journalists to do their bidding this government is well placed to win next year and the National parties massive war chest is bursting with money to spend on the campaign.
Crosby Textor are still here advising them on strategy and Key will only respond to issues and how to handle them after he has polling data telling him what to think and how to play it.
Its not what they say , its how they say it.
This will be the first fourth term government scince 1969 when we had Mr holyoake followed of course with Big Norm Kirk and the watershed election of 1972.
Good to see the EU taking a stance against Apple.
Here’s a prediction.
Money man and corporate puppet Key will do absolutely nothing about these multinational bludgers.
And because these large internet companies don’t fulfil their part of the social contract, there will not be the taxes to pay for a civil society.
NZ companies ( who pay their taxes) will struggle to compete with these gigantic parasites. And some will go bust.
There will be fewer jobs.
And a lot more low quality precarious jobs. Working for Uber lacks the security of being employed in a regulated taxi industry.
The race to the bottom will accelerate.
More parts of the health, housing and education sectors will be privatised as a government without the necessary tax take will withdraw further from actually governing.
If you think New Zealand is bad now, it’s going to be a lot worse with 10 more years of neoliberal policies wreaking havoc.
As yet, the Labour Party is failing to offer a real alternative.
Is that an acorn I felt or the sky falling, Mr Little?
So Rousseff, leader of the Brazilian left has been impeached for “budget irregularities”. Surprise, surprise but what is interesting is the Senate vote (61 – 20). Considering the 2 opposition comminst parties (PCDoB and PT) are 12 of the opposition votes where did the majority of votes come from? Well the Centre/Centre Left screwed her (PSDP, PMDB, PDT etc). Hardly the political elite but more like the Left canabilising it’s own. Just like the left in NZ and UK, principals go out the door when it comes to money.
Another unreported corporate coup.
New Zealand 1984 fronted by the puppet Douglas.
Brazil 2016 fronted by the puppet Temer.
And all the pseudo left polticiNs who stabbed Roussef in the back will be expecting their cushy job at Petrobas or diplomatic posting to Washington.
And neoliberalism will continue to put money above people in Brazil.
Righty @ 5 – “principals” ? Seems your’s didn’t do that well Righty. Guess you’d be a fan of results-based performance pay in the education sector. Can’t have shit product floating around can we ? Note…….you’re under recall Righty.
North, while I agree with you totally, you ought to be aware that your’s can mean only ‘your is’ or ‘your has’. And I find it hard to create a sentence where either could be used. Please be careful…
Thanks In Vino. As I wrote the question of its correctness did cross my mind. I blame my ‘principle’ of course.
Good job Brazil, the woman is a disgrace
Research the topic in more detail than what the msm tells you.
From what I’ve been reading and hearing, the entire impeachment process was total corruption from the right-wing.
US sponsored effort to break up the BRICS
Turks lay siege to Rojava – Much like they did to the Christians in Constantinople in 1453, the Turks are now laying siege to the Syrian Kurdish automous region of Rojava in northern Syria. After the Kurds took the large city of Manbij from ISIS a couple of weeks ago (with the loss of 250 fighters) they were preparing to liberate Jarabulus west of Rojava and close to the Turkish border, which would have closed the corridor for Turkish assistance to ISIS and other jihadists groups. Instead, Turkey invaded with a proxy bunch of jihardist fighters, after prior agreement with ISIS who simply stayed in the city and were incorporated into the “liberating” forces (who have since reasserted Sharia law and murdered one of the city’s leaders one hour after he put out a press statement condemning the Turks and jihardists). The United States who assisted the Turkish forces with air strikes told the Kurds they had to retreat from Manbij back to across the Euphrates River to continue to get support from the US (mostly air support, small arms and advisors on the ground). Theoretically, the United States has managed to stop the Kurdish and Turkish forces from fighting but what is really happening is that the Turks are right now building a wall along Kobane (which is the originally Kurdish city that fought back at ISIS and expanded from there) so that no people or supplies can get in or out of there. It has its own jihardist forces blocking the Kurds in the west around Jarabulus (getting new fighters from the refugee camps in Turkey amongst other places, and using child solders), Assad’s Syrian government forces blocking them to the south (Russia, Iran, Turkey and Assad have come to an understanding over this) and ISIS blocking them from the east. The aim is to make sure the Kurds are completely isolated and then to wear them down by making life hell for everyone living in Rojava (Kurds, Arabs etc) and using Turkey’s proxy militias to wear them down militarily. If that doesn’t work, I expect the Turks will simply give up the veneer and simply go in with their full army.
http://aranews.net/2016/08/turkey-building-barrier-wall-border-kobane-syrian-kurds-protest/
To e.p. From current events, the Kurds have been prevented from gaining too much territory in Syria, despite these hard fighting men and women soldiers, unlike the Syrian army, are a real match for ISIS. The Turks have been playing a fast and loose game as a NATO member and ISIS associate, oil trade and slack border controls.
We hear very little of all those ISIS fighters now that they are beaten back. Where do they disappear to, back to Saudi Arabia, the Urals, Europe… no body count for them??? At the moment all we see on MSM is the discovery of mass graves of civilians killed by these ISIS thugs.
That’s the most depressing news I’ve heard in quite a while.
The “War on Terror”…. unless it’s ‘our’ “War with Terror” or terror being inflicted by ‘our’ many convenient friends.
If the peoples in Rojava are waiting for any international outcry or help, they’ll be waiting a long, long time. They don’t count. Worse, any ordinary person helping them out (eg Labor Party NT president Matthew Gardine), is deemed to be a terrorist sympathiser, threatened with many years in jail just for going to the region and regardless, subjected to what seems to have been, a very heavy handed gagging order .
And war pillocks like Hilary Ben have the gall to stand up in parliament and cynically evoke memories of the Spanish Civil War…
The world’s a long time fucking fucked
RT have just done a good show on what the hell Turkey is up to
Whew EP! You mean there is a plan? Whose plan do you reckon?
good post e.p…….who in this world would ever trust Erdogan?
Better to just regime change him out…whoops that was tried recently
There’s no surprise here – the Turks will carry out genocide on the Kurds just like they did on the Armenians.
I’m just surprised the yankers haven’t shafted the Kurds yet. They will: they always do.
I wish I could contradict something in this to give some hope to the Kurds, but I can’t. I know they have the spirit to fight like hell, but why are they so alone? Utter corruption on the part of the West – our side. We started all this with the Sykes/Picot agreement, we are betraying them again, and their blood is on our hands.
Writing comments has been a bit painful so far this morning. I’m on ‘holiday’ doing a bit of maintenance. And we all know what that means…
I upgraded the firmware in the network WAN this morning. So the site was off for a while.
Just replaced a dodgy 120GB SSD on The Standard RAID with one where I am confident in the manufacturers ability to make good storage. The drive is copying and making writes really slow on TS. Should be done in 5 minutes.
Should be back to normal now (Testing)
Yep – the delay has reverted to merely annoying – not like “get another cup of coffee” of the last 40 minutes.
lemmie guess, you are running some consumer level ssd in raid? samsung evo?
I do wonder if self-hosting is really a false economy these days.
For your smoko……..twisted sister Ann Coulter. Emblem of US right wing sociopathy. Debating the intelllect of George Dubya Bush. Not a large topic…….
Police calls from Oamaru are diverted to gawd knows where, so the locals are not bothering to report crime, & on the front page of the same paper was a story about crime rising in the south, go John Key rararara!!!!!
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/angry-calls-police-diverted
“”It’s bloody hopeless. We’ve had the situation in Oamaru where police have asked us to [keep an eye out] for someone who has gone missing, we find them, we end up trying to call them and you end up anywhere but Oamaru.””
With the police and social services budget being diverted to spying (65% budget increase to GCSB for terrorists here in NZ, sarc), and the police doing political ground work like investigating Nicky Hagar and investigative journalists rather than actually concentrating on law and order, the public are being left in the lurch and actually soon realise there is no point even reporting crime, especially if you don’t have an local police anymore (apart from revenue gathering traffic police).
All the cops are in South Auckland working through a backlog of burglaries as per Judith Collins instructions. I’m sorry ‘rest of New Zealand’, you’re just going to have to join the end of the queue. We’ll get to you eventually; try not to die in the meantime.
Face Book now geotracking mobile phones of everyone you are near/that you visit/that visit you
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-31/facebook-just-got-whole-lot-creepier
don’t have a mobile phone. seriously. we used to live quite well without phones.
Nice one. Now today I feel trapped by these technological “conveniences”.
No need to feel trapped by them CV. You don’t need to let them be your master. An “aid”. That’s all they are.
We used to live quite well without writing either, but most people find it very handy.
thats the thing, do most people think it’s handy or do they just have it lest the miss something from work or an update form something that actually does nothing to enhance their lifes?
One reason i believe the planet is so fucked up is this lack of quiet time, undisturbed me time or us time, time without beeps and bings.
I pity people on their phones. I do.
It appears that folks end up quite addicted to their phones Sabine. They don’t take time to look around when they’re waiting at the bus stop, the train station etc and when they get on board their transport it’s all tap tap tap. Not looking at the scenery. They are not observing life passing by, noticing things, being aware of how they are feeling, except for maybe getting a crick in their neck for staring down at the god like screen for so long.
I got given an iphone as a gift recently. It’s my first one. It only gets used for taking photo’s and sending the odd message. It’s better that way. I don’t become reliant upon it. And the faceblab I keep on the P.C only. There’s a time for faceblab and a time for living life uninterrupted.
Then there’s that creepy stuff that CV was referring to, so best to keep as little info on your iphone/spy phone as possible.
if face book get a hold of your mobile phone number they can track your movements with your smartphone even if you don’t have Face Book on your phone.
“I pity people on their phones. I do.”
Me too.
I have one (not smart) which I conveniently leave at home unless I feel the need to carry it for safety reasons. A $20 top up lasts me about 6 months.
It’s useful if travelling abroad and then only because you have to supply contact phone for bookings etc.
I used to use one of those (still have it actually). A $20 top up would last me a full year.
Now I have a smart phone and it mostly gets used for reading books and using public transport. Unfortunately, the data costs me $6/month.
“Now I have a smart phone and it mostly gets used for reading books”
lol the younger generation e by gum, when we were kids we had to HOLD the bloody books and they were on fucken paper and the skin of animals arrr but try telling that to the younguns now and they just laugh at ya
Strange, I still seem to have to hold the phone. Thankfully it’s no longer necessary to kill unnecessarily to produce the book.
Yep your phone to produce is associated with slavery, exploitation, economic servitude, environmental destruction and toxic pollution. Yep real good device that one – as long as we close our ears and eyes to the immeasurable suffering created so you can read whilst holding your phone. And the comparison with books? Killing animals – if you were vegetarian your view may have a little wee wee merit – but you aren’t are you, so it doesn’t does it.
Lol – silliest comment of the day, so far
Only if you failed to understand it.
“We used to live quite well without writing either, but most people find it very handy.”
there it is, explain away big brain…
and don’t forget this is in the context of Sabine’s comment which pm replied to
“don’t have a mobile phone. seriously. we used to live quite well without phones.”
way you go Bastard, the floor is yours
Keyboards and touchscreens, mate 🙂
no, still don’t get it – my bad 🙁
It’s simple.
Writing has allowed us to learn more and live better. Phones and the internet are now doing the same as writing did ~5000 years ago.
debatable in many ways, from many angles and certainly not true in any sense of the word true – let’s just say I disagree and find it amusing, your position that is.
“For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?”.
Some interesting stuff in here:
http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/income-and-work/employment_and_unemployment/improving-labour-market-statistics/union-memship-emplymt-agmt.aspx
“An 18-year-old black high school student in the United States was awarded just US$18 after being punched, Tasered and arrested over a crime he did not commit….
Local South Bend, Indiana pastor Reverend Mario Sims said the award sends an unfortunate message: “Your rights are worth a dollar.”
“To me it’s just solidifying that blacks in America, we have no rights,” says Mr Franklin’s nephew, Russell Thomas Jr.”
http://www.newshub.co.nz/world/innocent-man-awarded-18-after-punched-and-tasered-2016083121?ref=newshubFB
I see in the article that the police were at the right house, and mistook him for his brother (he matched the description fairly well) whom they were after for something serious (domestic violence related). They seem to have realised that they had the wrong man, but in the meantime he “resisted police”, and that is why they then arrested him.
Depending on what “resisted” actually means, and I expect the jury and judge heard the detail, then $18 might be $18 too much.
I guess the Black kid should be thankful he didn’t get a clip emptied into him, eh.
I guess you’re assuming the cops were white – or that just because he was black it is automatically a race issue.
Depending on the manner in which he resisted, he may well be lucky they did not empty a clip into him given the apparent American obsession with clip emptying (I think the report said he was tasered – shocking as it is).
Racist right wing Scott on the block again. Like he never heard about the spectacular brutalisation of blacks by US police.
” I guess you’re assuming the cops were white – or that just because he was black it is automatically a race issue.”
No, just saying you think the kid should thank his lucky stars that the cops didn’t empty a clip into him.
Beware ‘trickle up’ is spreading”
Tauranga agencies struggling with growing number of homeless
A “tsunami” of homelessness has ripped through Tauranga, with more than 30 families seeking emergency accommodation each week, social agencies say.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/201814355/tauranga-agencies-struggling-with-growing-number-of-homeless
i have been saying that for at least 3.5 years now. That shit is spreading like wildfire, and anyone who believes they are safe and it’s not gonna happen here cause its only AKL problem is in for a rude awaking.
This country is being sold, one house at a time and its not Kiwis that need a home doing the buying.
New Zealanders has been sold.
The fight is over who owns us.
China or the US.
Yes ….New Zealand thought it could play USA off against China and get the best of both worlds .Instead we get the worst of both …. owned by American Corporates and overrun by immigrants.
So, so true. We are constantly lied to about what is the obvious takeover happening right in front of us. Kiwis have been betrayed by our elected leaders for 32 years. Now Pakehas get to feel what it’s like to be colonised.
with pakeha you mean white people?
not pakeha as in not of maori descend of whom many are not white?
I don’t understand at this comment as not all pakehas have been here when NZ was colonialised, and not all have been here literally like 25 years ago.
I do also believe that the ones to suffer the most in this recent sale of NZ is still the indigenous people of NZ as this is the only land they have, many pakehas can pack if and go back to where ever they came from if it gets to bad.
but for the Maori population and the what now up to 5th generation of born into NZ pakehas – many whom have maori family ties, where will they go?
So no, i don’t feel getting colonialised, I don’t feel angsty for mine self, but i do feel upset for those around me that only have this country to call Motherland or Fatherland if you are so inclined.
By Pakeha I mean NZers mainly of European descent who grew up here and assumed that by studying, working hard and saving they might have a future in NZ. But that has been taken away by Nat supporters’ greed for endless capital gains on housing, no matter the wider costs to the rest of society.
I am feeling pretty ripped off by prices inflating out of reach, driven by investors with zero stake in NZ and who have never paid 1c in tax here. I can’t go anywhere else, except perhaps Aussie, but they treat Kiwis like shit
Beware, beware……the persons quoted in the report are currently lined up, hand in each others pockets, with one of the biggest property developers in the area (who has a great cloak of ‘philanthropy’) to be gifted over 1000 State Houses..already making noises about wrong houses, wrong areas, big sections…this is a softening up exercise, a tilling of the ground.
Glen Innes/Tamaki on repeat
I hope you’ll join the Boycott Wilson NZ Facebook group and come to the protest rally I’ve planned for Saturday. We aim to educate Kiwis that Wilson Parking, whom we all know for their extortionate prices, is a tentacle of the same corporate monster that operates Wilson Security, responsible for running Australia’s notorious offshore detention centres.
The rally (and call to boycott Wilson) is in solidarity with the Boycott Wilson campaign coordinated by Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance
(waca.net.au/boycott_wilson) which has already claimed some success for getting Transfield (now known as Broad Spectrum) to back away from the contract to run the camps, but Wilson was brought in as a subcontractor and has perpetuated the abysmal record of human rights abuses.
The aim is to pressure Wilson so that they won’t be inclined to bid outright for the contract when it comes up for renewal. Of course the ultimate aim is to force the Australian government itself to process asylum seekers in a humane, timely and transparent fashion on their own soil ie to close these modern day concentration camps.
Nelson Mandela said our Springbok protests were like the sun coming out for him and his imprisoned comrades. It is time for Kiwis who believe in justice and love to once again raise our voices so that those unjustly held and mistreated on Nauru and Manus Island can feel our sunshine.
Protest event details: https://www.facebook.com/events/861707600640405/
+1 Julia Schiller
Maybe they can pay some tax too, for their outrageous charges
http://www.smh.com.au/business/wilson-parkings-tax-numbers-appear-to-defy-economic-reality-20160408-go1w4u.html
Also have heard that one of the reasons why we are not getting rail to the Auckland airport is that the airport is making something like 1 million dollars a week in ripping off people through parking charges. They don’t want public transport to interfere with their profits. (I don’t think this is Wilson Parking at the airport), but just shows how high parking charges are stopping public transport growth and groups like Auckland Council and the airport are profiting from having bad transport links.
The airport has designed for the future around light rail.
You can see their plans on line.
Still waiting for it Ad though and we are in 2016, bit like those affordable houses in Auckland. That’s the point. In the meantime the parking people many of those who actually are making the rail decisions are actually benefiting from the lack of rail, coming soon, coming soon, um hopefully coming soon, bit more talking and then maybe coming soon.
You can catch some of this detail on TransportBlog.
To save you the pain of dealing with the transport nerds, it’s looking like this:
– The only new funded capex on rail of any note in Auckland is the City Rail Link. This job is underway. Central government has promised to pay half of about $3billion, but no firm agreement has been formed and signed. It’s by a fair way the most expensive piece of infrastructure in New Zealand.
– Next off the blocks for the City is light rail up some of the main arterials like Dominion Road and Mt Eden Road. There’s huge momentum for it inside Auckland Transport, but no funding and not much enthusiasm for it in central government. It would take at least a decade to do.
– Next off the blocks would be a third rail line in central and southern Auckland. This will separate the freight rail from the passenger rail. Very congested currently. Sometime in the next decade.
– After that I suspect would come the tunnel to Auckland’s North Shore, currently on the books for 2025 start. Gov’t may push for faster, but I haven’t seen it. This will have rail capacity underneath it. The North Shore busway has grades for conversion to light rail, but not heavy rail.
– Somewhere in that is rail to the airport. It’s in the mix, but TBH it’s competing against a bunch of other stuff. And TBH the hardest thing about rail projects is getting the funding through. It seriously takes at least a decade of argument to make it.
Which is quite a lot of your life, if you’re prepared to devote yourself to it.
I agree more with Raybon Kan…
“Any foodie will tell you it’s all about the ingredients. Yet Auckland’s ingredients – so fresh, so flavoursome – have been processed by forces so negligent they should be in jail. It’s like they took wagyu and decided to make mince lasagne.
The people who’ve tied up Auckland for 40 or 50 years have methodically worked through a recipe to produce not an oasis, but an aneurism. Traffic that’s fractal: from overhead, it is a seizure.
Inside the driver’s head, yet another seizure. The economic cost of cars not moving – another seizure. But I’m sure the traffic looks good in photos.”
So in short nobody knows when rail will get to the airport, it’s a talk fest subject.
This is fascinating and the type of research which should be happening in NZ.
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.”
https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other
I see Raybon Kan is once again raising the finger to the Government in the Herald today about the state of the river water and how its acceptable to have a wading standard only. He really does sail close to the wind these days and I am amazed granny allows his columns to be published. He is either going to lose his job writing for the paper or Granny is becoming jaded with the Government and its lack lustre performance. He writes in such a funny way and I see he is a comedian – it shines through with his biting way he gets stuff across albeit it in a humorous way. The PR machine of the Government won’t be pleased.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11702398
Faux balance.
That’s all.
Still funny though Paul – he’s channeling the government discourses so well…
“Then there’s Havelock North.
Of course Havelock North’s water is drinkable. Look how many people drank it.
A third of the population were laid low. But look on the bright side: while one third of the population of Havelock North were poisoned, that means two-thirds weren’t. And in a democracy, two-thirds is a majority, an absolute landslide, who support the local water and all its diverse populations of bacteria.”
Bears investigating, save nz. I’m believing my forest garden acts this way also and that’s why I champion it. No bears yet, though my wife said she saw an orangutan in the plum tree recently (but it was me:-)
Candidate death may delay or eliminate Presidential election
What a weird article from the US mainstream MSM
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-08-30/candidate-death-could-delay-or-eliminate-presidential-election
Not if you read it: it’s probably largely the results of a publisher’s publicity arm.
Author of upcoming book (amazon link supplied) on US constitution is the main source for commentary on issue that the book “touches on” (lol of thirty-odd articles and amendments in constitution, four deal with the presidency) after rumours about Clinton’s health and Trump’s age/possibility of dropping out.
I am pleasantly surprised that Obama has made it thus far without someone taking a shot at him. When he was elected I thought it was only a matter of time before some redneck had a go.
Given their ages, the odds of either Trump or Clinton making it to the end of a term (let alone two) must be lower than most, and that is just from natural causes.
yeah, apparently more than a couple had a go (beyond just mouthing off in bars). Fortunately they never got there.
Converting the site to https is having a few quirks that didn’t show up on the test framework. Notable was the way that it lost all of the right hand site widgets.
Got the most of the tabs back, and the mobile theme is back again.
Just letting the database scan on the backend run at present.
Font seems to have changed (seem to remember that happening in the past too). Looks like a different font, and it’s a bit blurry.
Yep.
That is because the font was a google font, and the code called for a http rather than a https.
Just got the replies tab back. I really don’t know how it was working before. It must have been picking up on some other plugin that I removed.
It’s back, but still just as broken.
Getting there. I have a few days away from work.
‘Replies’ Tab is working again for me, after quite a while not.
Thanks!
Yeah, looks like it’s fixed now. Thanks!
Two Deeply Disliked Presidential Candidates
(Trigger warning: This may upset Clinton supporters of a nervous disposition)
From Time:
The Week
So, Clinton at minus 21 / Trump on minus 23.
A look through Real Clear Politics also suggests Clinton has suffered worse Favourability negs in recent months – minus 25 / minus 26 – and higher overall Unfavourability ratings – 60% / 61%.
Maybe, they’re simply comparing it with previous Washington Post–ABC News polls.
I’m still picking an easy win by Trump…
Care to wager a lazy $100 on it……………charity of your choice ?
Already have skin in the game thanks 🙂
Clinton is 5% ahead on the Real Clear Politics site poll of polls. And she is ahead in all of the key battleground states.
And this changes the fact that most people don’t actually like her how?
538 pointed out that at least some of the ‘dislike’ of Hillary probably stems from sexism, eg people don’t like to see successful women, or at least a woman like HIllary who is not typically feminine.
Probably true for social conservatives. But, you know, there are other reasons … for those who care to look at her record and policy proposals from a cold, hard, objective left-leaning stance, unencumbered by tribal sentimentality or the outrageous romanticisation of the Centre-Right / Neo-Liberal power-mongers at the top of the Democratic Party hierarchy.
The Democrats are a coalition – only some factions can be considered in any way social democratic.
Many who have little regard for uber-Hawkish, Wall St Girl, Hillary, have a great deal of time for Jill Stein and Elizabeth Warren.
What I can’t get my head around is those individuals that point to every flaw in Hillary’s records and positions (real, perceived, and outright debunked smear), claim to support Stein and Warren based on their positions, that then go on to claim Trump is a better choice than Clinton.
Looks to me like a massive case of blinding Hillary-hatred comes first, then an overdose of confirmation bias in evaluating any subsequent information about Clinton and Trump.
” … then go on to claim Trump is a better choice than Clinton.”
I’d take that up with Trump supporters if I were you.
” … every flaw in Hillary’s records and positions (real, perceived, and outright debunked smear)”
You’re indulging in the usual minimisation / outright denial.