Waking up and listening to the news and Morning Report, my first thoughts were ‘Timing is everything’ and ‘Karma’.
First – the new/revised/amalgamated search powers under the Search and Surveillance Act come into force today. How appropriately timed in relation to the revelations of the last week in respect of the Kim Dotcom fiasco! Could not have been better timing if it had been planned.
Then, popped onto Stuff and the first headline/article:
I had been wondering whether Key would be going to Hawaii or elsewhere overseas during the recess and it seems a quick trip to Hollywood is on the agenda. Again, what a wonderful bit of timing!
Agreed. Interstingly, the Stuff article has been updated since I first read it and posted it here. The original was very short and simply mentioned the trip,but now covers Key defending the trip and also Key defending English for not telling him about signing the GCSB suppression order.
The latter quotes Key as saying that English only had a “30 second” conversation with the GCSB!
Key today said English had a “30 second” conversation with the spy agency about the certificate but it was not up to his deputy to tell him about it.
“I agree GCSB should have told me when I came back to New Zealand,” he told Radio Live. “Bill English wouldn’t do that. That’s not his job.”
Asked if it should have been part of an update from English, Key said: “A lot of things happen when you are away.”
“He would have assumed, and did assume rightfully so, that there would be a process where the ministry would tell me and they just didn’t.”
If this is how they do business, God help us all. Key should really stop digging the hole.
Yep. Key’s weakness is now being displayed. He is totally disorganised and does not know what is going on and it seems he does not care.
The Nats spent huge amounts of time and effort developing “nanny state”. This was an effective and ultimately successful attack on Helen Clark’s strengths. It subtly but directly attacked her for being in control and for being a childless woman.
Hi Mickey. Off topic here but Helen Clark chose not to have to children didn’t she? The term ‘childless’ refers to loss: less=loss, which could also imply grief at not having children.
The term being used now and one that I think appropriate is ‘child free’. A person or couple who choose not to have children have not lost what they did not want to start with. Another term is ‘non parenter’ but this sounds a bit naff, (to my ears) Either way its worded being child free still carries enormous stigma in our society, and you’re right, Helen Clark was stigmatised for her child free status for political gain.
It’s another example that NACTs don’t really want to allow people free-choice. They want you to conform to their vision of society and if you don’t you will be oppressed in some way.
His strengths are that he’s spent his life in the real world of currency trading and derivatives where men are real men.
Consequently he:
A) is richer than astronauts and doesn’t really need the job, which means he
B) seems relaxed about things, doesn’t mind laving a laugh, and doesn’t take the job too seriously like some of those other stuffy politicians who have been in politics for long enough to know what they’re doing.
Like David Brent, he sees himself less as a boss and more as a “chilled out entertainer.”
Problem is if you remind people constantly that he is loaded then the question gets asked – why would he want to be primeminister with the huge workload and annoying problems?
It has to be either a) he genuinely wants to make a difference and make NZ a better place or b) Its all about ego.
Most normal people come to the conclusion that if it was ego one term would have done and he would be lording it up in the sun somewhere by now.
(d) his bosses have promised him something rilly good the longer he stays the distance.
(e) his contract states that he has to stay in the job even if he screws up and looks like a complete twat (the bosses have a bigger agenda, and making NZ a better place isn’t on it. Making NZ a better place isn’t even on the same planet).
KK, the answer is b), that and his misplaced ‘ambushin’. Rember the hilarious video clip “Ambitious for New Zealand”? He was also ambushus for his busnuss mates and giving them all he can in the position on PM. The reason he’s still here and not lording it up as you suspect he might be if he was only in it for the ego is that he is stuck here. He has no choice. Who else within the Nat Party would be popular enough to be PM? He’s only here because his fading smile and wave ‘charm’ was enough to fool some major suckers at the last election. Just watch his expressions when he’s interviewed on the telly. His face his full of contempt, boredom and indifference. He’s here because he has to be, not because he wants to be.
How naive are you? It is all about ego, and being a one-term PM is not good for anyone’s ego. If you want to sit around the table with the other bigshots and lord it about that you were the PM of a small South Pacific banana republic, you can’t just say you did it for one term.
At least two, minimum. One term is a failure in politics. Three, ideally, but I don’t think Key can hang on that long. He’s publicly longing for golf courses and holidays, so he’s not much longer for being forced to defend John Banks and being bothered by the details of governing.
KK: “Problem is if you remind people constantly that he is loaded then the question gets asked – why would he want to be primeminister with the huge workload and annoying problems?
It has to be either a) he genuinely wants to make a difference and make NZ a better place or b) Its all about ego.”
Err no, those are the only two reasons you can think of.
But even if that were the case, you apparently didn’t read my comment as far as “B)”. I’m pointing to the fact that he doesn’t seem to give a shit about the job, the bit in “A)” about him not needing to be there was just a possible part explanation as to why he doesn’t seem to give a shit.
Of course yours is a typical response from a two-bit tory. As soon as I mention that someone has a few bucks you stop reading because that’s about all you could imagine being relevant.
Well he has to get “Have movie made of my life” ticked off the CV. So this is probably to arrange the hand over of Kim to the forces of evil. So he can get the movie made…
One would hope Key would suggest that Hollywood come here in order to make seriously truthful DOCUMENTARIES covering the messes under his reign – tons of work there, they could make a whole series.
Or maybe Hollywood are planing to do a modern day remake of Laurel & Hardy. Calling it John & Bill, so the phrase ” Well here’s another nice mess youve gotten me into” can be used in abundance with absolute truth and conviction.
Yesterday, Mr Meurant said he believed charges should be laid over the GCSB’s actions.
However, that would not happen, he said. A long-standing police culture of avoiding court scrutiny over serious matters had now become entrenched in other agencies, including the GCSB.
“They will avoid at all costs having to account for their actions before a court of law. They’ll put the preservation of themselves above the rule of law.
“The probability of the state being called to account for this shocking behaviour is zero.”
I think NZ may be starting to wake up to how corrupt some of our institutions actually are.
Mill- ” If Nature (red in tooth and claw-Tennyson) and Man are both the work of a Being of perfect goodness, that being intended Nature as a scheme to be AMENDED, not imitated, by man”
“that is precisely what the rabbis had in mind when they spoke of people becoming “God’s partner in the work of creation” -Sacks
The Secretary of Cabinet has been appointed to carry out a capability, governance and performance review of the Government Communications Security Bureau after it was found to be spying on Kim Dotcom illegally.
Chief executive of the department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Andrew Kibblewhite Director of the GCSB Ian Fletcher announced today that Secretary of Cabinet Rebecca Kitteridge will be seconded immediately to the GCSB for an initial period of up to three months in the new role of Associate director of the Bureau.
Ms Kitteridge will be responsible to the director of the GCSB for the immediate review.
Ms Kitteridge’s responsibilities will include:
# Review the systems, processes and capabilities underpinning the GCSB’s collection and reporting,
# Build capability and provide assurance to the GCSB director that the compliance framework has been reviewed, improved and is fit for purpose.
# She will establish new, specific approval processes for activity in support of police and other law enforcement agencies.
Ms Kitteridge was appointed as secretary of the Cabinet and clerk of the executive council in April 2008.
She is a senior public servant who is responsible for the security and integrity of the Cabinet decision-making system and the New Zealand Royal Honours systems.
She provides advice on ethics and conduct in relation to Ministers of the Crown, and is a key constitutional advisor to the Governor-General and the Prime Minister of the day.
Ms Kitteridge is a lawyer and a focus in private practice was on legal compliance for corporate entities.
Since joining the public service she has specialised in constitutional matters at both the Cabinet Office and in the legal division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. While in Cabinet Office she has advised four Prime Ministers and four Governors-General.
Sorry to quote it in full, but thought is was not too long to do so.
While Ms Ketteridge’s qualifications etc appear ideal for the job of an internal revamp of the agency, it remains to be seen as to whether this will satisfy calls for a fully independent review of the circumstances and issues leading to the review (the GCSB’s involvement in the KDC fiasco, and that of Ministers including the PM) or public reporting on these.
Absolutely, Ianmac. This is an attempt to head the latter off at the pass – I doubt that it will succeed and IMO it shouldn’t.
I usually avoid watching Key on TV but watched the Breakfast interview this morning with Key trying to make light of the whole issue – and twisting one or two points. For example, he quite deliberately (IMO) misquoted what happened when Wormald was questioned in court by stating that KDC’s lawyer asked whether the GCSB had been involved. Davidson did not – he asked whether any other agencies were involved and did not name the GCSB specifically. Although the seating arrangement was such that the two were not looking directly at the cameras, not once did Key actually look directly at the camera.
Not looking at the camera, Scared of Daemons.
Shouldn’t have done that boody w’craft aye John Key?.
Little Coven feeling a bit Headachey are they ?
How bout you Gerry?
Maybe yas should watch “The Men Who Stare At Goats” again.
I’ve had several people complain about it now. Generally they have fixed with cookie cleanups or reinstalls.
I did see it yesterday – it showed up on my workstation at home. Spent an entertaining hour trying to track down the source and what it affects.
As far as I can tell it appears to be a problem only with desktop Chrome. I tested across multiple platforms while it was showing up on the workstation. Doesn’t show up on firefox or rekong on my workstation. Didn’t show up in IE, chrome, firefox, or safari on my laptop’s vista boot. Nor on chrome or anything else on laptops ubuntu boot. Nor on iOS safari or chrome. Nor on chrome of safari on Lyn’s OS/X….
Testing with remote website test tools operating as multiple different browsers and operating systems didn’t reveal it.
The chrome debugger didn’t reveal the source problem – and nor did any other diagnostic tool. It was happening on many pages which tends to indicate that it was for the whole site (rather than linked to a specific image).
Cache clearing chrome on the workstation didn’t clear it. What eventually removed the problem was clearing the cookies on chrome on the workstation. I can’t tell you which one as I cleared the lot and the damn problem disappeared. Checking the new cookies did not reveal anything obvious.
The only redirection that are in the code for the site at the server level is from http://www.thestandard.org.nz to thestandard.org.nz and for the advertising. The latter is where I think that the problem probably is. But it is probably for a specific advert….
I have only seen it on one system so far so I’m waiting for it to reproduce so I can go through the cookies in more detail.
It started happening to me after I made a “Reply” comment.
It maybe something to do with scrolling to the comment in the thread after posting a Reply perhaps?
I always laugh at obituaries for capitalism and finance: they are always premature. A better way of looking at it are for signs of senescence, or a zombie state. Europe is a financial zombie.
Today Europe is a ghost train economically, lots of screamy scary unreal things in the dark…then you come out into the light and see reality, very scary indeed. Be very worried.
The giant consumer goods company Unilever has announced that it has begun employing its “third-world” marketing strategy in Europe. This is eloquent testimony to the growing social inequality now besetting the continent.
Jan Zijderveld, head of European operations, stated bluntly that the decision had been made because “poverty is returning to Europe”.
It is possible to manage the exchange rate, John Key a liar
“The primary objective of monetary policy is to ensure low inflation as a
sound basis for sustained economic growth. In Singapore, monetary policy
is centered on the management of the exchange rate, rather than money
supply or interest rates. This reflects the fact that, in the small and open
Singapore economy, the exchange rate is the most effective tool in
maintaining price stability.2”
IMF Working Paper
Asia and Pacific Department
Singapore’s Unique Monetary Policy: How Does It Work?
Prepared by Eric Parrado1
Authorized for distribution by Joshua Felman
January 2004
I believe Singapore are actively involved in managing their exchange rate, by buying and selling foreign and local currencies?
When people (John Key) say that it’s impossible to manage the exchange rate, what they really mean is “pegging the exchange rate is too expensive for a country like New Zealand”. Perhaps Singapore can do it because they started much earlier and have closer trade routes etc – certainly they’d get economy of scale for infrastructure in a way that NZ just can’t match.
Cunliffe has recently highlighted that there are many many different policy options that range from our current policy framework all the way to simple currency pegging and that using such broad language to imply nothing except our currency policy works is wrong.
Singapore considering the imposition of stricter controls on the inflow of migrant workers to reduce the impact on struggling infrastructure and to attempt to raise the wages of citizens-WSJ
While I was out and about during the weekend I heard a man talking to his young children in maori, in a shop, nothing special going on, completely unselfconscious, natural as you or anyone else uses their own dialect. Sounds considerably different to the stuff heard at official meetings or on TV. I can’t remember the last time I heard anything like it, here in the middle of Auckland. Dunno if they thought it special, maybe never considered it, but it made me feel like the world had made a change for the better.
While I was out and about during the weekend I heard a man talking to his young children in maori, in a shop, nothing special going on, completely unselfconscious, natural as you or anyone else uses their own dialect.
When I lived in the BofP decades ago, I used to hear that all the time! One on occasion, when my son and I were waiting at the bus station, we were the only people speaking English!
“1st October Press Release National Day of Action Sep 30 by againstwelfarereforms
National Day of Action Against Welfare Reforms, National Press Release
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice , you have chosen the side of the oppressor”.
Bishop Desmond Tutu
The aim of the National Day of Action against Welfare Reform on the 5th of oct 2012 is to hold The NZ National Party accountable for implementing detrimental welfare policies that stigmatise and vilify the poor also to expose the unethical tactics used to fast track legislation of these policies. In April 2012 Chief Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford criticised the submissions process, saying “the constrained timeframe of just 11 working days undermined the principles of democracy”.
Because of this we believe they are in breach of the NZ Bill of Rights Act in May 23, this year Green MP Jan Logie made these comments
“It has been noted that the proposed welfare reforms will breach ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) articles 2,3,4,6,9,10,11 and 12 and concerns have been raised by the Human Rights Commission and many others noting breaches to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention of Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.”
New Zealand deserves integrity and honesty from its leaders. We request not only an enquiry but also more dialogue and transparency from NZ Government also that the Attorney General’s Report in to these matters be released to the public as we believe the Welfare Reform Bill to be invalid not only for human rights breaches
but also for the breach of Article 2 of the Treaty
We believe the National party has utilised beneficiaries as the scapegoats of NZ which is unfair considering the tax cuts that they gave to the rich and there is already subsidised contraception available at family planning clinics the only real solution to poverty is education not vilification. Studies have proven that raising children is the equivalent of having 2 fulltime jobs.
This day is not only about dignity for all New Zealand families whether rich or poor it is also about the challenge to save ethics and humanity in New Zealand.
Just heard one of the best Radio NZ political jousts between Mike Williams and Matthew Hooton.
Red Alert!
Guess what the new Nat.strategy is…re-the undermining of the Labour Party. Hooton has given it away:
Drive a deep wedge between the Shearer and Cunliffe leadership camps by spreading false memes!!
He claimed today that Cunliffe has spent all year undermining David Shearer. It’s bull-shit, crap and anything else you may wish to call it. My observation suggests the truth is the opposite.
Matthew sweetheart… you insult the most highly intelligent member of parliament we have in this country. Is he going to be so foolish as to try on a trick like that? No, he is not.
Message to fellow Labour supporters (past and present): DON’T fall into the trap!
Can someone put the link up when it becomes available?
I dunno – methinks he doth protest too much. Act all scared of Cunliffe makes C look more like the big gun in Labour. This encourages division within labour demanding that Shearer be dumped to unleash Cunliffe (like we see here every so often).
I reckon that Labour under Shearer is making steady progress, enough so that replacing Shearer with Cunliffe might mean that Cunliffe’s possible greater skill at gathering votes still won’t make up the ground from a “redo from start” change in leadership and policy approach.
But then again, maybe Hooten really is worried about Cunliffe. Sometimes it can be so difficult to tell the difference between a stupid prick and a cunning bastard…
Anne, As I have said many a time the likes of O Sullivan, prat Hooten and the fuckwits on the right are shit scared of Cunliffe as they know he will take it to them. That is why they are “supportive” of Shearer as he is not a threat to their cosy fuckwit make belief right wing world.
“Yep. Just a cheap political stunt from Labour. Just ignore them. I ignore them and concentrate on the important stuff, like how to improve Planet Key,” smirked John Key as he boarded the Warner Brothers private jet.
And Anne. Notice how Mr Hooton managed to slip in the “Dotcom of course has some criminal convictions etc.” Suggests that even Hooton sees Mr Dotcom as a threat.
The way I see it, we have three Davids – David S, David C and David P. Each one brings to the Labour table their own particular talents. All three are exceptionately intelligent and it’s the job of the parliamentary team to harness those talents in the interest of the Party and not themselves.
In the end, it may not really matter which one is the leader. That is why I think Labour supporters – including some of the parliamentarians – need to stop airing their differences of opinion where the leadership is concerned. As evidenced by Hooton on Radio NZ today, all they are doing is playing into the hands of the Nat. strategy team.
I sincerely hope the ABC club has disbanded… never to be formed again!
Bored Unlucky 13!
Gee I always look for you and a few others so I can see something pithy well thought out interesting informative sourced etc. What about being a guest blogger from time to time about things of your particular interest and where others will involve in reasoned discussion (not on feminism and slutwalks for instance). I value getting an overview from people like you here, there are too many that just drop a short opinion with unswerving confidence in its sanctity like small gods. I thought of stopping then I thought I’ve been wasting time debating ideologies and like banging brick walls, it is so much nicer when you stop.
I’ve decided that the intention of the blog is good, the opportunity to communicate items of concern and interest on Open Mike and the authored threads is good, the moderation is good, control good without being too heavy. I don’t have a source of intelligent political conversation other than here, and I like to say a rude word now and then here which frightens the horses if I let fly on the daily round. So I thought I would continue but try to be careful on use of time. (Making a point, with accompanying links, eats up my half hours and it’s possible that no one is interested at that time on that day.)
The blog puts out ideas, explains and supports them during discussion which is great. Mummified ideas though get preserved for ever and no fresh air can enter. But the most of the commenters are people who are thoughtful and bear to look around, behind, rethink – the past, present and the possible future. People who are good to read have dropped off from blogging here for many reasons no doubt, but they are missed.
Prism agreed. Those who were the giving comments from the point of view of those opposed to the “Left”, were well worth the effort even though some hammered them for their different viewpoint. To see the World as others see it is valuable don’t you think especially for those like me who only know little bits of Life.
Bored Just a thought. I referred to guest blogging but even just dropping in regularly as BLIP and ianmac and Jim Nald do would be good. Hope to see you back in a while.
I know that feeling of time seeping away blogging (or usenet or BBS) though. It usually pays to back off for a while and think about how you’re using the systems. I do it regularly three or four times a decade.
Agreed with everyone else. I always enjoy your thought provoking independent comments. Have a break and come back when you want. Personas are built with care and should not be wasted.
Darn, you were always one of the commenters here that I held with higher regard than others (no skim reading at all). Proud leftwingism from a business perspective is hard to come across and you will be sorely missed. All the best for the future Bored, with a bit of luck we will cross fishing lines one day.
I want to relisten to that interview as I was otherwise preoccupied at the time but Helen stopped me in my tracks with her first comments (praising Key etc) and then went on to set out her opinions very succinctly IMO. Listening to Key subsequently trying to justify his visit to Hollywood left me with yet another Tui moment. Presumably we (NZ taxpayers) are paying for this trip including his entourage.
Shearer – would have fumbled and mumbled. Nice guy but out of his depth.
Most appropriate for the PM’s second name to be eponymous with the country’s celebrated beer brand that is known for the world-famous-in-NZ billboards.
Its strapline can, likewise, be lent to John Tui to read:
“Distracting the nation from the task at hand since 2008”
Which edit window? The tinyMCE one? If so then it is likely to be fixed in the next release of WordPress (looked at beta 1 this weekend) which will be phrasing in the latest version of tinyMCE library. Much of which is fixes for various vagaries of browsers. The ETA for that is in a few months. The main use of tinyMCE is for authors editor. The one on the comments is mostly there as a convenience.
Which version of which browser and OS? If it is Internet Explorer then you will find that I really only support version 8 or later and don’t like that much either. IE is less than 30% of the browsers us on the site at present and less than 15% for it’s most popular variant under the IE name.
By pressing one arrow key getch will push tree values into the buffer:
•’33’
•'[‘
•’A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘D’
So the code will be something like this:
if (getch() == ’33’) { // if the first value is esc
getch(); // skip the [
switch(getch()) { // the real value
case ‘A’
// code for arrow up
break;
case ‘B’:
// code for arrow down
break;
case ‘C’:
// code for arrow right
break;
case ‘D’
// code for arrow left
break;
}
}
ya should drop the ‘ around th escape code it returns an int.
the rest should be ok, from memory the other codes just go up the alphabet
If ya want to find one just use a
while(1) { printf(“%c,%c,%c”, getch();getch();getch();); }
In a sh or bash or whatever shell
pearl would do
use wisely ObiOne the above is a keyboard grabber! if ya use add check for enter
What version of what browser and what OS? Which icons are jiggling?
Almost all the JS and CSS there is direct from Facebook which changes it from their side for the recommend.. The code for the other icons has been in since 2010. It is likely that you’re getting browser problems. I’d suggest checking with Firefox.
Can’t see any problems in Chrome, Firefox, IE7, and safari on Linux, mac or windows.
ie 9.0.8 , windows 7 and the “Share this article block down below the comment window
(the whole thing disapears and re appera a couple of times)
I haven’t tried FFox since the reinstall
Just kept using IE9
Refeesh the page at the top and press the end key too see the behaviour.
Doesn’t happen in FFox
I haven’t had any reports of oddities in IE9 since the betas last year. Tested the release 9.08.something on vista over Xmas. Have you rebooted your system. IE’s JavaScript is a bit notorious for state engine issues that cure themselves after reboots.
Back to our rehabilitated panel speakers who bravely shared with the audience their unique efforts to turn their lives around. Josh from Te Ara Hou, a drug and alcohol residential treatment centre in South Auckland, makes a commitment to “walk recovery every day”. Ben, who used to “always look over the fence and wonder what it’ll be like”, is now discovering “a totally different buzz” as a peer support worker at Te Ara Hou while Ray, a recent graduate from the centre, says his strength comes from needing to find who he is. And Matt, who “didn’t think [he’d] be here today”, is now Treatment Advocate and an expert in long-term recovery programmes. The most compelling stories told were not of what these individuals did to break the law but the strength with which they willed to overcome their addictions and live a meaningful life.
Seems like a good idea. Instead of treating people as criminals treat them as people and give them the necessary support to turn their lives around.
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This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
Melted ice of the past answers question today? Kate Ashley and a large crew of coauthors wind back the clock to look at Antarctic sea ice behavior in times gone by, in Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat. For armchair scientists following the Antarctic sea ice situation, something jumps out in ...
Christina SzalinskiWhen Martha Field became pregnant in 2005, a singular fear weighed on her mind. Not long before, as a Cornell University graduate student researching how genes and nutrients interact to cause disease, she had seen images of unborn mouse pups smaller than her pinkie nail, some with ...
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidates for President and Vice President respectively for the US 2020 Election, may have dispensed with the erstwhile nemesis, Trump the candidate – but there are numerous critical openings through which much, much worse many out there may yet see fit to ...
I don’t know Taupō well. Even though I stop off there from time to time, I’m always on the way to somewhere else. Usually Taupō means making a hot water puddle in the gritty sand followed by a swim in the lake, noticing with bemusement and resignation the traffic, the ...
Frances Williams, King’s College LondonFor most people, infection with SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – leads to mild, short-term symptoms, acute respiratory illness, or possibly no symptoms at all. But some people have long-lasting symptoms after their infection – this has been dubbed “long COVID”. Scientists are ...
Last night, a British court ruled that Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the US. Unfortunately, its not because all he is "guilty" of is journalism, or because the offence the US wants to charge him with - espionage - is of an inherently political nature; instead the judge accepted ...
Is the Gender Identity Movement a movement for human liberation, or is it a regressive movement which undermines women’s liberation and promotes sexist stereotypes? Should biological males be allowed to play in women’s sport, use women-only spaces (public toilets, changing rooms, other facilities), be able to have access to everything ...
Ian Whittaker, Nottingham Trent University and Gareth Dorrian, University of BirminghamSpace exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth. The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of ...
Michael Head, University of SouthamptonThe UK has become the first country to authorise the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for public use, with roll-out to start in the first week of 2021. This vaccine is the second to be authorised in the UK – following the Pfizer vaccine. The British government ...
So, Boris Johnson has been footering about in hospitals again. We should be grateful, perhaps, that on this occasion the Clown-in-Chief is only (probably) getting in the way and causing distractions, rather than taking up a bed, vital equipment and resources and adding more strain and danger to exhausted staff.Look at ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Many Scientists Now Say Global Warming Could Stop Relatively Quickly After Emissions Go to ZeroThat’s one of several recent ...
The situation in the UK is looking catastrophic.Cases: over *70,000* people who were tested in England on 29th December tested positive. This is *not* because there were more tests on that day. It *is* 4 days after Christmas though, around when people who caught Covid on Christmas Day might start ...
by Don Franks For five days over New Year weekend, sixteen prisoners in the archaic pre WW1 block of Waikeria Prison defied authorities by setting fires and occupying the building’s roof. They eventually agreed to surrender after intervention from Maori party co-leader Rawiri Waititi. A message from the protesting men had stated: ...
Lost Opportunity: The powerful political metaphor of the Maori Party leading the despised and marginalised from danger to safety, is one Labour could have pre-empted by taking the uprising at Waikeria Prison much more seriously. AS WORD OF Rawiri Waititi’s successful intervention in the Waikeria Prison stand-off spreads, the Maori ...
Dear friends, it’s been a covidious year,A testing time for all of us here—Citizens of an island nationIn a state of managed isolation,A team (someone said) five million strong,Making it up as we went along:Somehow in typical Kiwi fashion,Without any wild excess ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 27, 2020 through Sat, Jan 2, 2021Editor's Choice7 Graphics That Show Why the Arctic Is in Trouble Arctic Sea Ice: NSIDC It’s no secret that the Arctic is ...
One of the books I read in 2020 was She, by H. Rider Haggard (1887). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as being an exemplar of a good old-fashioned adventure story. I also noted with amusement ...
Scottish doctor Malcolm Kendrick looks at the pandemic and the responses to it 30th December 2020 I have not written much about COVID19 recently. What can be said? In my opinion the world has simply gone bonkers. The best description can be found in Dante’s Inferno, written many hundreds of ...
I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is unexpectedly missing or the numbers seem very low please check this out. After correcting send me the URL for your ...
The deed is done, the doers undoneHad I been a Brit, I would have voted ‘Remain’ rather than Brexit (or ‘Leave’). Instead, I have been bemused by the comic theatre of British politics, fascinated by what the Brits actual think and professionally interested by the revelations of the complexity of ...
As we welcome in the new year, our focus is on continuing to keep New Zealanders safe and moving forward with our economic recovery. There’s a lot to get on with, but before we say a final goodbye to 2020, here’s a quick look back at some of the milestones ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has added her warm congratulations to the New Zealanders recognised for their contributions to their communities and the country in the New Year 2021 Honours List. “The past year has been one that few of us could have imagined. In spite of all the things that ...
Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment David Parker has congratulated two retired judges who have had their contributions to the country and their communities recognised in the New Year 2021 Honours list. The Hon Tony Randerson QC has been appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the New Year’s Honours List 2021 highlights again the outstanding contribution made by Pacific people across Aotearoa. “We are acknowledging the work of 13 Pacific leaders in the New Year’s Honours, representing a number of sectors including health, education, community, sports, the ...
The Government’s investment in digital literacy training for seniors has led to more than 250 people participating so far, helping them stay connected. “COVID-19 has meant older New Zealanders are showing more interest in learning how to use technology like Zoom and Skype so they can to keep in touch ...
New virus variants and ongoing high rates of diseases in some countries prompt additional border protections Extra (day zero or day one) test to be in place this week New ways of reducing risk before people embark on travel being investigated, including pre-departure testing for people leaving the United Kingdom ...
Pacific Media Watch correspondent The pro-independence conflict in West Papua with a missionary plane reportedly being shot down at Intan Jaya has stirred contrasting responses from the TNI/POLRI state sources, church leaders and an independence leader. A shooting caused a plane to catch fire on 6 January 2021 in the ...
“Last year ACT warned that rewarding protestors at Ihumātao with taxpayer money would promote further squatting. We just didn’t think it would happen as quickly as it is in Shelly Bay” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “The prosperity of all ...
Our kindly PM registered her return to work as leader of the nation with yet another statement on the Beehive website, the second in two days (following her appointment of Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council on Wednesday). It’s great to know we don’t have to check with ...
A Pūhoi pub is refusing to remove a piece of memorabilia bearing the n-word from its walls. Dr Lachy Paterson looks at the history of the word here, and New Zealand’s complicity in Britain’s shameful slave trading past.Content warning: This article contains racist language and images.On a pub wall in ...
Supermarket shoppers looking for citrus are seeing a sour trend at the moment – some stores are entirely tapped out of lemons. But why? Batches of homemade lemonade will be taking a hit this summer, with life not giving New Zealand shoppers lemons. Prices are high at supermarkets and grocers that ...
You’re born either a cheery soul or a gloomy one, reckons Linda Burgess – but what happens when gene pools from opposite ends of the spectrum collide?In our shoeboxes of photos that we have to sort out before we die or get demented – because who IS that kid on ...
Summer reissue: Prisoner voting rights are something that few in government seem particularly motivated to do anything about. Could a catchy charity single help draw attention to the issue?First published September 1, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Hundreds more Cook Islanders are expected to begin criss-crossing the Pacific, Air NZ will triple the number of flights to Rarotonga next week, and about 300 managed isolation places will be freed up for Kiwis returning from other parts of the world. When Thomas Tarurongo Wynne took a job in Wellington at ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Ena Manuireva in Auckland It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80. The local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Turnbull, Postdoctoral research associate, UNSW A global coalition of more than 50 countries have this week pledged to protect over 30% of the planet’s lands and seas by the end of this decade. Their reasoning is clear: we need greater protection ...
The Reserve Bank Governor’s apology and claim he will ‘own the issue’ is laughable given the lack of answers and timing of its release. Jordan Williams, a spokesman for the Taxpayers’ Union said: “It’s been five days since they came clean, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Kokshagina, Researcher – Innovation & Entrepreneurship, RMIT University Are too many online meetings and notifications getting you down? Online communication tools – from email to virtual chat and video-conferencing – have transformed the way we work. In many respects they’ve made ...
The Reserve Bank acknowledges information about some of its stakeholders may have been breached in a malicious data hack. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has commissioned an independent inquiry into how stakeholders' information was compromised when hackers breached a file sharing service used by the bank. “We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland This story contains spoilers for Ammonite Palaeontologist Mary Anning is known for discovering a multitude of Jurassic fossils from Lyme Regis on England’s Dorset Coast from the age of ten in 1809. ...
A tribute to the sitcoms of old? In the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Yup. Sam Brooks reviews the audacious WandaVision.Nothing sends a chill up my spine like the phrase “Marvel Cinematic Universe”. Since launching in 2008 with Iron Man, the MCU has become a shambling behemoth, with over 23 films (not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University The alt-right, QAnon, paramilitary and Donald Trump-supporting mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 claimed they were only doing what the so-called “founding fathers” of the US had done in ...
The Point of Order Ministerial Workload Watchdog and our ever-vigilant Trough Monitor were both triggered yesterday by an item of news from the office of Conservation Minister Kititapu Allan. The minister was drawing attention to new opportunities to dip into the Jobs for Nature programme (and her statement was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Kupz, Senior Research Fellow, James Cook University In July 1921, a French infant became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), after the mother had died from the disease. The vaccine, known as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), is ...
The first Friday Poem for 2021 is by Wellington poet Rebecca Hawkes.While you were partying I studied the bladeI your ever-loving edgelord God-emperorof the bot army & bitcoin mine subsistingon an IV drip of gamer girl bathwaterfinally my lonelinessis your responsibility………. you seeI need a girlfriend assigned to me by the ...
The arming of police officers in Canterbury was inevitable with the growing numbers and brazenness of the gangs across the country – this should be a permanent step, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is unfortunate that we have come to the point ...
Celebrations in Aotearoa New Zealand to mark the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) will begin on Thursday 21 January with ICAN Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wellington and online event, and continue on Friday ...
Hardly anyone is using their Covid Tracer app. Something needs to change.As the mercury approaches 30°C in Aotearoa, there is a good deal of slipping and slopping, but, let’s face it, piss-all scanning. As few as around 500,000 QR codes are being scanned by users of the NZ Covid Tracer ...
On the East Coast, a group of Māori-owned enterprises is innovating to create new revenue streams while doing what they love.New Zealand’s remote and sparsely populated regions are typically not the best places to create thriving brick-and-mortar businesses. In small communities miles away from any major centres, there are so ...
As we reach the height of summer, it’s not too late to do a safety check on your gas bottle. The Environmental Protection Authority’s Safer Homes programme has some tips and tricks to keep in mind before you fire up the grill. "If you’ve ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold by Stephen Fry (Michael Joseph, $37)If you’re in any way unsure about ...
“We may as well knock on the gang headquarters around this country and tell them we all give up," says Darroch Ball co-leader of Sensible Sentencing Trust. “It is simply outrageous that violent offender, James Tuwhangai, has been released from ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Ireland, Israel, and Lebanon. Chart by Keith Rankin. The countries with the most recent large outbreaks of Covid19 are those with large numbers of recent recorded cases, but yet to record the deaths that most likely will result. In this camp, this time, are Ireland, Israel ...
RuPaul is in Aotearoa, kicking back in managed isolation to await the filming of an Australasian version of her hugely popular reality show Drag Race. But not everyone is happy about, explains Eli Matthewson. The world’s most famous drag queen, RuPaul, is in New Zealand, the government confirmed earlier this week ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong What can we make of Clive Palmer? This week, he announced his United Australia Party (UAP) would not contest the upcoming West Australian state election on March 13. After a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gisela Kaplan, Emeritus Professor in Animal Behaviour, University of New England Have you ever seenmagpies play-fighting with one another, or rolling around in high spirits? Or an apostlebird running at full speed with a stick in its beak, chased by a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Jackson, Program Director, Centre for Policy Development, and Associate Professor of Education, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University Childcare centres across Australia are suffering staff shortages, which have been exacerbated by the COVID crisis. Many childcare workers across Australia left when parents started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Barrett, Senior Lecturer in Taxation, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Rhetoric plays an important role in tax debate and therefore tax policy. If your side manages to gain traction in the public imagination with labels such as “death ...
*This article was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission* Whoever leads the Republican Party post-Trump will need to consider how they will maintain the rabid support of his “base”, while working to regain more moderate voters who defected from the party in the 2020 election. In a historic ...
Covid-19 fears accelerated banks’ moves towards cashless transactions. But the Reserve Bank is fighting to protect cash, and those who still use it. ...
Good morning and welcome to this one-off edition of The Bulletin, covering major stories from the last few weeks.A quick preamble to this: Today’s special edition of The Bulletin is all about filling you in on some of the stories you might have missed over the summer period. Perhaps you had ...
Summer reissue: In this episode of Bad News, Alice Snedden is forced to confront her own mortality before hosting a very special dinner party to get to grips with the euthanasia debate.First published August 27, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
The contrast between the words of John F Kennedy and today’s anti-democratic demagogue is inescapable, writes Dolores Janiewski I still remember three eloquent speeches by an American president. One happened in January 1961 and spoke about a “torch being passed to a new generation”. Two years later and one day apart, ...
The debate over cutting down a large macrocarpa to make way for a new residential development has highlighted a wider agreement between developers and protesters: that we also need to be planting far more trees. At the corner of Great North Road and Ash Street in Avondale, a 150-year-old macrocarpa stands its ground ...
More infectious variants of Covid-19 are increasingly being intercepted at the country’s borders, but the minister running New Zealand’s response is resisting pressure to accelerate vaccination plans despite demands from health experts as well as political friends and foes, Justin Giovannetti reports.New Zealand’s first Covid-19 jabs will be administered in ...
As CEO of her iwi rūnanga, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was on the frontline protecting her community during the first outbreak of Covid-19. Now that more virulent strains threaten to breach our borders, the Māori Party co-leader calls on the government to introduce much stricter measures.As we enter the New Year I ...
The Prada Cup challenger series starts today. Suzanne McFadden goes behind the scenes of the world's only live yachting regatta to see what's in store for the next five weeks. At 6am on race days, Iain Murray wakes up and immediately checks the weather outside his Auckland window. “It’s all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Raquel Peel, Lecturer, University of Southern Queensland This story contains spoilers for Bridgerton The first season of Bridgerton, Netflix’s new hit show based on Julia Quinn’s novels, premiered on December 25 last year. The show is set in London, during the ...
The New Zealand government believes its own negotiations with Rio Tinto will be resolved "fairly quickly" now there is certainty about the future of the Tiwai Point smelter. ...
Amanda Thompson and her family are attempting to cut back on the meat, so they gave all the vego sausies the local supermarket had to offer a hoon on the barbie. Here are the results.I was a vegetarian once. Even the best of us take a well-meaning wrong turn on ...
The Taxpayers’ Union welcomes the call by Wellington City Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons for a shift to land value based rates charges. Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Local government leaders across the country should join in Fitzsimons’s call ...
It’s been described as ‘pointless revenge’, but impeaching the president has a firm moral purpose, argues Michael Blake – setting a limit to what sorts of action a society will accept.A House majority, including 10 Republicans, voted today to impeach President Trump for “incitement of insurrection”. The vote will initiate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bryan Cranston, Lead Academic Teacher – Politics & Social Science (Swinburne Online), Swinburne University of Technology In a historic vote today, Donald Trump became the only US president to be impeached twice. By a margin of 232–197, the Democrat-controlled US House of ...
Hurrah. The PM is back to posting her announcements on the government’s official website, her deputy is back in the business of self-congratulation, Rio Tinto is back in the business of sucking up cheap electricity to produce aluminium at Tiwai Point, near Bluff. And overseas students (some, anyway) can come ...
The electricity sector, Government and people of Southland are rejoicing after Tiwai Point aluminium smelter owner Rio Tinto announced the major industrial would be open until the end of 2024, Marc Daalder reports Stakeholders in the electricity sector and across Southland are celebrating the extension of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's ...
If you’ve been on social media this week, you may well have come across a surge in interest in sea shanties. We asked a veteran of the style why. In case you missed it, soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. If that sentence is even ...
“It is basic human decency to speak up and protect any vulnerable child from harm, so withholding information in child abuse cases and allowing the abuse to happen by not speaking up is, put simply, a cowardly move,” says Jess McVicar Co-Leader ...
Allowing 1,000 returning international students back to New Zealand is the right move by the Government, and hopefully we will be able to welcome more, says ExportNZ Executive Director Catherine Beard. "International education has contributed ...
A majority of the House of Representatives have voted to make Donald Trump the first US president ever to be impeached twice, formally charging him in his waning days in power with inciting an insurrection just a week after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. Follow the ...
The Youth of NZ will be standing up for climate action once again on January 26th outside of Parliament for School Strike 4 Climate NZ’s 100 Days 4 Action campaign rally. “We believe it is vital to hold our new Labour-led government to account ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on Rotorua Lakes District Council to urgently release the engineering report on the public safety and structural integrity of the visible foundation-misalignment and lean of the City’s Hemo Gorge monument to government ...
Changes in income and movement in and out of poverty over time are only weakly associated with higher rates of child hospitalisation in New Zealand, according to a new University of Auckland study. Published today in PLOS ONE, the collaborative study led by Dr ...
With a long, hot summer upon us, pet owners are urged to be extra mindful of their pet’s health and safety. Unusually warm weather can quickly take its toll on furry family members, who aren’t well equipped for dealing with blazing heat. The National ...
The Council for Civil Liberties is challenging a claim by former National Party leader Simon Bridges that people should have total freedom of expression on Twitter. ...
A century of sexual abuse of women in New Zealand is analysed in a University of Auckland study. The newly-published research looks back as far as 1922 by analysing interviews with thousands of women about their lifetime experiences. The study indicates ...
62,686 more native trees will be planted in New Zealand in 2021 thanks to generous Kiwis who chose to go green for Christmas gifting. <img src="https://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/2101/cf409712f141732a8543.jpeg" width="720" height="540"> Trees That Count, a programme ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By Arturo López-LevyOakland, CaliforniaUnfortunately, the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, encouraged by the Inciter-in-Chief, will not be the last act of mischief. Trump is insisting on causing as much damage as possible to the interests and values ...
The threatened Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will keep operating through to the end of December 2024, in a new deal just announced to the New Zealand stock exchange. Mining conglomerate Rio Tinto announced last year it was closing Tiwai due to high energy and transmission costs. Meridian Energy said that ...
The lack of Māori language or symbolism on the SuperGold Card isn’t just a design issue – it’s emblematic of the overwhelming whiteness of Aotearoa’s superannuant population, writes former race relations commissioner Joris de Bres.I’ve enjoyed the SuperGold Card since I retired eight years ago. I appreciate the free public ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Brumm, Professor, Griffith University The dating of an exceptionally old cave painting of animals that was found recently on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi is reported in our paper out today. The painting portrays images of the Sulawesi warty pig (Sus ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Garrick, University Fellow in Law, Charles Darwin University Just over a year has gone by since the novel coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan and the world still has many questions about where and how it originated. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Helen Young, Lecturer, Deakin University Medievalist references littered the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6th. Rudy Giuliani called for a “trial by combat”; the “Q Shaman”, Jacob Chansley (also known as Jake Angeli), was covered in Norse tattoos; rioters brandished ...
A Whakatāne therapist says the Whakaari eruption and Christchurch mosque shooting reveal a health system unable to deal with mass casualty events. Whakaari after its eruption in 2019. Photo: Supplied/Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust This comes amid calls for millions of dollars of promised mental health funding to be urgently re-routed to Canterbury ...
Waking up and listening to the news and Morning Report, my first thoughts were ‘Timing is everything’ and ‘Karma’.
First – the new/revised/amalgamated search powers under the Search and Surveillance Act come into force today. How appropriately timed in relation to the revelations of the last week in respect of the Kim Dotcom fiasco! Could not have been better timing if it had been planned.
Then, popped onto Stuff and the first headline/article:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7749691/PMs-Hollywood-trip-will-face-close-political-scrutiny
I had been wondering whether Key would be going to Hawaii or elsewhere overseas during the recess and it seems a quick trip to Hollywood is on the agenda. Again, what a wonderful bit of timing!
The Herald cartoon this morning says it all
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10837551
So a trip back to the mansion via Hollywood to talk to his bosses.
Politics is timing and luck. And Key’s timing here is appalling.
Agreed. Interstingly, the Stuff article has been updated since I first read it and posted it here. The original was very short and simply mentioned the trip,but now covers Key defending the trip and also Key defending English for not telling him about signing the GCSB suppression order.
The latter quotes Key as saying that English only had a “30 second” conversation with the GCSB!
Key today said English had a “30 second” conversation with the spy agency about the certificate but it was not up to his deputy to tell him about it.
“I agree GCSB should have told me when I came back to New Zealand,” he told Radio Live. “Bill English wouldn’t do that. That’s not his job.”
Asked if it should have been part of an update from English, Key said: “A lot of things happen when you are away.”
“He would have assumed, and did assume rightfully so, that there would be a process where the ministry would tell me and they just didn’t.”
If this is how they do business, God help us all. Key should really stop digging the hole.
Yep. Key’s weakness is now being displayed. He is totally disorganised and does not know what is going on and it seems he does not care.
The Nats spent huge amounts of time and effort developing “nanny state”. This was an effective and ultimately successful attack on Helen Clark’s strengths. It subtly but directly attacked her for being in control and for being a childless woman.
I wonder what the Key version is?
Ninny State.
Hi Mickey. Off topic here but Helen Clark chose not to have to children didn’t she? The term ‘childless’ refers to loss: less=loss, which could also imply grief at not having children.
The term being used now and one that I think appropriate is ‘child free’. A person or couple who choose not to have children have not lost what they did not want to start with. Another term is ‘non parenter’ but this sounds a bit naff, (to my ears) Either way its worded being child free still carries enormous stigma in our society, and you’re right, Helen Clark was stigmatised for her child free status for political gain.
It’s another example that NACTs don’t really want to allow people free-choice. They want you to conform to their vision of society and if you don’t you will be oppressed in some way.
Sorry Rosie
Valid points. I used the phrase and did not even think about it.
His strengths are that he’s spent his life in the real world of currency trading and derivatives where men are real men.
Consequently he:
A) is richer than astronauts and doesn’t really need the job, which means he
B) seems relaxed about things, doesn’t mind laving a laugh, and doesn’t take the job too seriously like some of those other stuffy politicians who have been in politics for long enough to know what they’re doing.
Like David Brent, he sees himself less as a boss and more as a “chilled out entertainer.”
Distill that into meme-sized phrasing and repeat.
Problem is if you remind people constantly that he is loaded then the question gets asked – why would he want to be primeminister with the huge workload and annoying problems?
It has to be either a) he genuinely wants to make a difference and make NZ a better place or b) Its all about ego.
Most normal people come to the conclusion that if it was ego one term would have done and he would be lording it up in the sun somewhere by now.
(c) he likes playing the game.
(d) his bosses have promised him something rilly good the longer he stays the distance.
(e) his contract states that he has to stay in the job even if he screws up and looks like a complete twat (the bosses have a bigger agenda, and making NZ a better place isn’t on it. Making NZ a better place isn’t even on the same planet).
No doubt, the answer is e). He’s PM to screw NZ over for his USian masters.
One term doesn’t get you a knighthood, or ‘prove’ that you really are PM material.
KK, the answer is b), that and his misplaced ‘ambushin’. Rember the hilarious video clip “Ambitious for New Zealand”? He was also ambushus for his busnuss mates and giving them all he can in the position on PM. The reason he’s still here and not lording it up as you suspect he might be if he was only in it for the ego is that he is stuck here. He has no choice. Who else within the Nat Party would be popular enough to be PM? He’s only here because his fading smile and wave ‘charm’ was enough to fool some major suckers at the last election. Just watch his expressions when he’s interviewed on the telly. His face his full of contempt, boredom and indifference. He’s here because he has to be, not because he wants to be.
How naive are you? It is all about ego, and being a one-term PM is not good for anyone’s ego. If you want to sit around the table with the other bigshots and lord it about that you were the PM of a small South Pacific banana republic, you can’t just say you did it for one term.
At least two, minimum. One term is a failure in politics. Three, ideally, but I don’t think Key can hang on that long. He’s publicly longing for golf courses and holidays, so he’s not much longer for being forced to defend John Banks and being bothered by the details of governing.
KK: “Problem is if you remind people constantly that he is loaded then the question gets asked – why would he want to be primeminister with the huge workload and annoying problems?
It has to be either a) he genuinely wants to make a difference and make NZ a better place or b) Its all about ego.”
Err no, those are the only two reasons you can think of.
But even if that were the case, you apparently didn’t read my comment as far as “B)”. I’m pointing to the fact that he doesn’t seem to give a shit about the job, the bit in “A)” about him not needing to be there was just a possible part explanation as to why he doesn’t seem to give a shit.
Of course yours is a typical response from a two-bit tory. As soon as I mention that someone has a few bucks you stop reading because that’s about all you could imagine being relevant.
Well he has to get “Have movie made of my life” ticked off the CV. So this is probably to arrange the hand over of Kim to the forces of evil. So he can get the movie made…
One would hope Key would suggest that Hollywood come here in order to make seriously truthful DOCUMENTARIES covering the messes under his reign – tons of work there, they could make a whole series.
Or maybe Hollywood are planing to do a modern day remake of Laurel & Hardy. Calling it John & Bill, so the phrase ” Well here’s another nice mess youve gotten me into” can be used in abundance with absolute truth and conviction.
Speaking of the Dotcom case:
I think NZ may be starting to wake up to how corrupt some of our institutions actually are.
Mill- ” If Nature (red in tooth and claw-Tennyson) and Man are both the work of a Being of perfect goodness, that being intended Nature as a scheme to be AMENDED, not imitated, by man”
“that is precisely what the rabbis had in mind when they spoke of people becoming “God’s partner in the work of creation” -Sacks
Kaitiakitanga
(Tino rangitiratanga; Te mauri ora)
He!
BREAKING NEWS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10837715
The Secretary of Cabinet has been appointed to carry out a capability, governance and performance review of the Government Communications Security Bureau after it was found to be spying on Kim Dotcom illegally.
Chief executive of the department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Andrew Kibblewhite Director of the GCSB Ian Fletcher announced today that Secretary of Cabinet Rebecca Kitteridge will be seconded immediately to the GCSB for an initial period of up to three months in the new role of Associate director of the Bureau.
Ms Kitteridge will be responsible to the director of the GCSB for the immediate review.
Ms Kitteridge’s responsibilities will include:
# Review the systems, processes and capabilities underpinning the GCSB’s collection and reporting,
# Build capability and provide assurance to the GCSB director that the compliance framework has been reviewed, improved and is fit for purpose.
# She will establish new, specific approval processes for activity in support of police and other law enforcement agencies.
Ms Kitteridge was appointed as secretary of the Cabinet and clerk of the executive council in April 2008.
She is a senior public servant who is responsible for the security and integrity of the Cabinet decision-making system and the New Zealand Royal Honours systems.
She provides advice on ethics and conduct in relation to Ministers of the Crown, and is a key constitutional advisor to the Governor-General and the Prime Minister of the day.
Ms Kitteridge is a lawyer and a focus in private practice was on legal compliance for corporate entities.
Since joining the public service she has specialised in constitutional matters at both the Cabinet Office and in the legal division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. While in Cabinet Office she has advised four Prime Ministers and four Governors-General.
Sorry to quote it in full, but thought is was not too long to do so.
While Ms Ketteridge’s qualifications etc appear ideal for the job of an internal revamp of the agency, it remains to be seen as to whether this will satisfy calls for a fully independent review of the circumstances and issues leading to the review (the GCSB’s involvement in the KDC fiasco, and that of Ministers including the PM) or public reporting on these.
To look at and recommend improvements is good dueto.
But the elephant to us, the inquiry into recent events.
Absolutely, Ianmac. This is an attempt to head the latter off at the pass – I doubt that it will succeed and IMO it shouldn’t.
I usually avoid watching Key on TV but watched the Breakfast interview this morning with Key trying to make light of the whole issue – and twisting one or two points. For example, he quite deliberately (IMO) misquoted what happened when Wormald was questioned in court by stating that KDC’s lawyer asked whether the GCSB had been involved. Davidson did not – he asked whether any other agencies were involved and did not name the GCSB specifically. Although the seating arrangement was such that the two were not looking directly at the cameras, not once did Key actually look directly at the camera.
Not looking at the camera, Scared of Daemons.
Shouldn’t have done that boody w’craft aye John Key?.
Little Coven feeling a bit Headachey are they ?
How bout you Gerry?
Maybe yas should watch “The Men Who Stare At Goats” again.
Thos cats were onto it M8!
It sounds like she is well qualified to get the Job done.
As long as she’s not trying/forced too plaster over ShonKeys crap.
Brilliant cartoon! Someone shared it on Facebook….
Hi LPrent, There seems to be another problem with the site. I’ve been getting an error message:
Clearing cookies does seem to fix it, but I have to do it every day to be able to visit the Standard. Would appreciate you looking into it. Thanks.
yes, me too; thx jackal, thought it was only me !
Is anyone else having trouble with the smilies? I posted in another thread and they didn’t work, but they do in this one…
🙄 😕
[lprent: See my note on http://thestandard.org.nz/a-vision-for-manufacturing/comment-page-1/#comment-528571. In this one you put the roll before the ‘:-?’ which BTW looks like this 😕 ]
😀
Me too. Only happens with Chrome. Gone back to Safari for now.
I’ve had several people complain about it now. Generally they have fixed with cookie cleanups or reinstalls.
I did see it yesterday – it showed up on my workstation at home. Spent an entertaining hour trying to track down the source and what it affects.
As far as I can tell it appears to be a problem only with desktop Chrome. I tested across multiple platforms while it was showing up on the workstation. Doesn’t show up on firefox or rekong on my workstation. Didn’t show up in IE, chrome, firefox, or safari on my laptop’s vista boot. Nor on chrome or anything else on laptops ubuntu boot. Nor on iOS safari or chrome. Nor on chrome of safari on Lyn’s OS/X….
Testing with remote website test tools operating as multiple different browsers and operating systems didn’t reveal it.
The chrome debugger didn’t reveal the source problem – and nor did any other diagnostic tool. It was happening on many pages which tends to indicate that it was for the whole site (rather than linked to a specific image).
Cache clearing chrome on the workstation didn’t clear it. What eventually removed the problem was clearing the cookies on chrome on the workstation. I can’t tell you which one as I cleared the lot and the damn problem disappeared. Checking the new cookies did not reveal anything obvious.
The only redirection that are in the code for the site at the server level is from http://www.thestandard.org.nz to thestandard.org.nz and for the advertising. The latter is where I think that the problem probably is. But it is probably for a specific advert….
I have only seen it on one system so far so I’m waiting for it to reproduce so I can go through the cookies in more detail.
Thx lprent .. jst confirming, mine was Chrome. Got back here via IE9.
I have kicked Chrome too. Was stuffing my system up by trying to take over.
I haven’t seen a report that wasn’t chrome yet.
It started happening to me after I made a “Reply” comment.
It maybe something to do with scrolling to the comment in the thread after posting a Reply perhaps?
You should just scroll the comment being replied to into view+200px instead maybe.
So how about that financial collapse we were warned about in September?
Oh well, I guess there’s always next September.
I always laugh at obituaries for capitalism and finance: they are always premature. A better way of looking at it are for signs of senescence, or a zombie state. Europe is a financial zombie.
Today Europe is a ghost train economically, lots of screamy scary unreal things in the dark…then you come out into the light and see reality, very scary indeed. Be very worried.
http://theautomaticearth.com/Finance/youre-dreaming-if-you-think-the-euro-crisis-is-resolved.html
http://www.scoopit.co.nz/story.php?title=%E2%80%9Cpoverty-is-returning-to-europe%E2%80%9D
Yeah I would say that’s a strong indicator Bored!
Yep Muzza
Lanth, don’t be mean. Poor Ev was just about to explain how HAARP is being used to bolster market confidence.
Lanthanide – how about the on-going moral collapse under National?
What about it?
It is possible to manage the exchange rate, John Key a liar
“The primary objective of monetary policy is to ensure low inflation as a
sound basis for sustained economic growth. In Singapore, monetary policy
is centered on the management of the exchange rate, rather than money
supply or interest rates. This reflects the fact that, in the small and open
Singapore economy, the exchange rate is the most effective tool in
maintaining price stability.2”
IMF Working Paper
Asia and Pacific Department
Singapore’s Unique Monetary Policy: How Does It Work?
Prepared by Eric Parrado1
Authorized for distribution by Joshua Felman
January 2004
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2004/wp0410.pdf
I believe Singapore are actively involved in managing their exchange rate, by buying and selling foreign and local currencies?
When people (John Key) say that it’s impossible to manage the exchange rate, what they really mean is “pegging the exchange rate is too expensive for a country like New Zealand”. Perhaps Singapore can do it because they started much earlier and have closer trade routes etc – certainly they’d get economy of scale for infrastructure in a way that NZ just can’t match.
Cunliffe has recently highlighted that there are many many different policy options that range from our current policy framework all the way to simple currency pegging and that using such broad language to imply nothing except our currency policy works is wrong.
Singapore considering the imposition of stricter controls on the inflow of migrant workers to reduce the impact on struggling infrastructure and to attempt to raise the wages of citizens-WSJ
The Monetary Future?
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GX/global/press/global-press-releases-en/e160ad190c2c7310VgnVCM1000001956f00aRCRD.htm?
Spend some time in the desert; Muslim women held, tortured and raped by the Assad regime.
Feargal Keane, BBC
While I was out and about during the weekend I heard a man talking to his young children in maori, in a shop, nothing special going on, completely unselfconscious, natural as you or anyone else uses their own dialect. Sounds considerably different to the stuff heard at official meetings or on TV. I can’t remember the last time I heard anything like it, here in the middle of Auckland. Dunno if they thought it special, maybe never considered it, but it made me feel like the world had made a change for the better.
🙂
When I lived in the BofP decades ago, I used to hear that all the time! One on occasion, when my son and I were waiting at the bus station, we were the only people speaking English!
Have folks seen this?
“1st October Press Release National Day of Action Sep 30 by againstwelfarereforms
National Day of Action Against Welfare Reforms, National Press Release
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice , you have chosen the side of the oppressor”.
Bishop Desmond Tutu
The aim of the National Day of Action against Welfare Reform on the 5th of oct 2012 is to hold The NZ National Party accountable for implementing detrimental welfare policies that stigmatise and vilify the poor also to expose the unethical tactics used to fast track legislation of these policies. In April 2012 Chief Human Rights Commissioner David Rutherford criticised the submissions process, saying “the constrained timeframe of just 11 working days undermined the principles of democracy”.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10800260
The ministry of justice has also admitted that the welfare reforms are discriminatory
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10800260
Because of this we believe they are in breach of the NZ Bill of Rights Act in May 23, this year Green MP Jan Logie made these comments
“It has been noted that the proposed welfare reforms will breach ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) articles 2,3,4,6,9,10,11 and 12 and concerns have been raised by the Human Rights Commission and many others noting breaches to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention of Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People.”
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/05/23/government-on-the-way-to-making-human-rights-a-cliche/
New Zealand deserves integrity and honesty from its leaders. We request not only an enquiry but also more dialogue and transparency from NZ Government also that the Attorney General’s Report in to these matters be released to the public as we believe the Welfare Reform Bill to be invalid not only for human rights breaches
but also for the breach of Article 2 of the Treaty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tino_rangatiratanga
and the breach of the UNDRIP which was endorsed by government in 2010
http://posttreatysettlements.org.nz/long-standing-implications-the-undrip-and-nz/
We believe the National party has utilised beneficiaries as the scapegoats of NZ which is unfair considering the tax cuts that they gave to the rich and there is already subsidised contraception available at family planning clinics the only real solution to poverty is education not vilification. Studies have proven that raising children is the equivalent of having 2 fulltime jobs.
This day is not only about dignity for all New Zealand families whether rich or poor it is also about the challenge to save ethics and humanity in New Zealand.
The Peoples Collective NZ
The.Peoples.Collective.NZ@gmail.com “
Just heard one of the best Radio NZ political jousts between Mike Williams and Matthew Hooton.
Red Alert!
Guess what the new Nat.strategy is…re-the undermining of the Labour Party. Hooton has given it away:
Drive a deep wedge between the Shearer and Cunliffe leadership camps by spreading false memes!!
He claimed today that Cunliffe has spent all year undermining David Shearer. It’s bull-shit, crap and anything else you may wish to call it. My observation suggests the truth is the opposite.
Matthew sweetheart… you insult the most highly intelligent member of parliament we have in this country. Is he going to be so foolish as to try on a trick like that? No, he is not.
Message to fellow Labour supporters (past and present): DON’T fall into the trap!
Can someone put the link up when it becomes available?
Ooops… I forgot to mention the best bit.
Hooton called for Cunliffe to be sacked!
Wow… they must be so scared of him.
I dunno – methinks he doth protest too much. Act all scared of Cunliffe makes C look more like the big gun in Labour. This encourages division within labour demanding that Shearer be dumped to unleash Cunliffe (like we see here every so often).
I reckon that Labour under Shearer is making steady progress, enough so that replacing Shearer with Cunliffe might mean that Cunliffe’s possible greater skill at gathering votes still won’t make up the ground from a “redo from start” change in leadership and policy approach.
But then again, maybe Hooten really is worried about Cunliffe. Sometimes it can be so difficult to tell the difference between a stupid prick and a cunning bastard…
Anne, As I have said many a time the likes of O Sullivan, prat Hooten and the fuckwits on the right are shit scared of Cunliffe as they know he will take it to them. That is why they are “supportive” of Shearer as he is not a threat to their cosy fuckwit make belief right wing world.
FranKey goes to Hollywood………”Relax don’t do it……..Scheme those schemes………Dream those dreams”.
PrimeMincerMan is a preposterous, illiterate arsehole on the scale of George Bush and his vacations.
Uncomfortable as it feels I want to invoke Paul Henry.
We need a REAL Kiwi for PM, not some plastic boxed-up Ken doll you’d find in the discount basement at JC Penney.
Maybe it was really Cuniliffe that was behind the dotcom debacle.
Yeah… that might be the next meme. 🙂
Awesome, bring it on DC must be quaking in his boots, especially fearful of Mr Shouty Hooten.
Oohh look out here comes blubber and the fatman, you’ll know it’s done the rounds if shills like armstrong, franny etc run it.
North, hit me with those laser beeeeeeeeeeams.
“Yep. Just a cheap political stunt from Labour. Just ignore them. I ignore them and concentrate on the important stuff, like how to improve Planet Key,” smirked John Key as he boarded the Warner Brothers private jet.
And Anne. Notice how Mr Hooton managed to slip in the “Dotcom of course has some criminal convictions etc.” Suggests that even Hooton sees Mr Dotcom as a threat.
ianmac 😀
The way I see it, we have three Davids – David S, David C and David P. Each one brings to the Labour table their own particular talents. All three are exceptionately intelligent and it’s the job of the parliamentary team to harness those talents in the interest of the Party and not themselves.
In the end, it may not really matter which one is the leader. That is why I think Labour supporters – including some of the parliamentarians – need to stop airing their differences of opinion where the leadership is concerned. As evidenced by Hooton on Radio NZ today, all they are doing is playing into the hands of the Nat. strategy team.
I sincerely hope the ABC club has disbanded… never to be formed again!
Its Monday at 1.30ish..and I have decided there is a “problem”. It has symptoms that manifest as:
too much time wasted blogging at work instead of making the dosh which needs to get redistributed to those who need it.
too much time blogging which I can use directly to help others.
too much blogging on this site by myself (and others) in which things are said we would not dare face to face.
too many bloggers on this site acting as commissars and using it for show trials.
too many “?leftist?” bloggers on this site driving me into the arms of the RWNJs…heaven forbid.
To cure the problem is simple, I will take responsibility for the problem and “fekk off”. For good.
Inspiration for this, Prism a month ago (thanks P, I have been dwelling on it).
Bored is officially retired, gone. If you want reminder of my name QOT has it “beefhooked” in lights on the ego wall of her blog.
Goodbye.
another one bites the dust…..
Sad to see you go, Bored.
Bored Unlucky 13!
Gee I always look for you and a few others so I can see something pithy well thought out interesting informative sourced etc. What about being a guest blogger from time to time about things of your particular interest and where others will involve in reasoned discussion (not on feminism and slutwalks for instance). I value getting an overview from people like you here, there are too many that just drop a short opinion with unswerving confidence in its sanctity like small gods. I thought of stopping then I thought I’ve been wasting time debating ideologies and like banging brick walls, it is so much nicer when you stop.
I’ve decided that the intention of the blog is good, the opportunity to communicate items of concern and interest on Open Mike and the authored threads is good, the moderation is good, control good without being too heavy. I don’t have a source of intelligent political conversation other than here, and I like to say a rude word now and then here which frightens the horses if I let fly on the daily round. So I thought I would continue but try to be careful on use of time. (Making a point, with accompanying links, eats up my half hours and it’s possible that no one is interested at that time on that day.)
The blog puts out ideas, explains and supports them during discussion which is great. Mummified ideas though get preserved for ever and no fresh air can enter. But the most of the commenters are people who are thoughtful and bear to look around, behind, rethink – the past, present and the possible future. People who are good to read have dropped off from blogging here for many reasons no doubt, but they are missed.
Prism agreed. Those who were the giving comments from the point of view of those opposed to the “Left”, were well worth the effort even though some hammered them for their different viewpoint. To see the World as others see it is valuable don’t you think especially for those like me who only know little bits of Life.
Bored Just a thought. I referred to guest blogging but even just dropping in regularly as BLIP and ianmac and Jim Nald do would be good. Hope to see you back in a while.
Sorry to see your exit Bored. How about a Born Again event and you could come back as “Angelic” or the “Optimist?”
ditto…
I know that feeling of time seeping away blogging (or usenet or BBS) though. It usually pays to back off for a while and think about how you’re using the systems. I do it regularly three or four times a decade.
Bored, I’m sorry to see you go too, and hope that this might be a break rather than a finality. All the best.
Is that an honour? I must check out her blog… 😀
(She hates me so much – surely she condemns me somewhere?) 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
No, Vicky. I just quote you. Which is pretty condemning, I admit.
Link please! (It’s not that I don’t trust you so much as – oh, frak it, I don’t trust you! )
😀
All the best Bored, you input will be missed.
It has been good reading yer comments. Will miss ya.
Agreed with everyone else. I always enjoy your thought provoking independent comments. Have a break and come back when you want. Personas are built with care and should not be wasted.
Your not leavin are ya? …… we just sprayed for Gnats’ M8!
Darn, you were always one of the commenters here that I held with higher regard than others (no skim reading at all). Proud leftwingism from a business perspective is hard to come across and you will be sorely missed. All the best for the future Bored, with a bit of luck we will cross fishing lines one day.
WOW, Great Big Applause For LPRENT!
(*clap**clap**clap**clap**clap**clap* ……)
This site seems to be so fast, it makes me knees go weak 🙂
Just that jittery reply thingy left , I got some javascript that may help ?
In all honesty u should jst default the hights to a static number that’s appropriate, but ….
SubMenuObj.height = SubMenuObj.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight < 1000 ? 1000 : SubMenuObj.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight;
It's an immediate if , which u may have known about, but bloody handy for IE problem I described.
The 1000 is effectiverly the default height, u should use 4000+- for the comment frame
PS SubMenu is a frame
Helen Kelly nails John Key on his latest Hollywood Film Studio Holiday
I wonder what points Shearer would have made, given the same 5 minutes on the topic.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2534217/ctu-fears-more-deals-to-undermine-labour-laws-with-key-visit
I want to relisten to that interview as I was otherwise preoccupied at the time but Helen stopped me in my tracks with her first comments (praising Key etc) and then went on to set out her opinions very succinctly IMO. Listening to Key subsequently trying to justify his visit to Hollywood left me with yet another Tui moment. Presumably we (NZ taxpayers) are paying for this trip including his entourage.
Shearer – would have fumbled and mumbled. Nice guy but out of his depth.
Most appropriate for the PM’s second name to be eponymous with the country’s celebrated beer brand that is known for the world-famous-in-NZ billboards.
Its strapline can, likewise, be lent to John Tui to read:
“Distracting the nation from the task at hand since 2008”
Message For LPRent: u broke the uparrow in the edit window.
Which edit window? The tinyMCE one? If so then it is likely to be fixed in the next release of WordPress (looked at beta 1 this weekend) which will be phrasing in the latest version of tinyMCE library. Much of which is fixes for various vagaries of browsers. The ETA for that is in a few months. The main use of tinyMCE is for authors editor. The one on the comments is mostly there as a convenience.
Which version of which browser and OS? If it is Internet Explorer then you will find that I really only support version 8 or later and don’t like that much either. IE is less than 30% of the browsers us on the site at present and less than 15% for it’s most popular variant under the IE name.
Yeah it would be tinyMCE, the rss one’s fine
It’s iexplore 9.0.8, win 7
A snippet from msdn bing search …
By pressing one arrow key getch will push tree values into the buffer:
•’33’
•'[‘
•’A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ or ‘D’
So the code will be something like this:
if (getch() == ’33’) { // if the first value is esc
getch(); // skip the [
switch(getch()) { // the real value
case ‘A’
// code for arrow up
break;
case ‘B’:
// code for arrow down
break;
case ‘C’:
// code for arrow right
break;
case ‘D’
// code for arrow left
break;
}
}
ya should drop the ‘ around th escape code it returns an int.
the rest should be ok, from memory the other codes just go up the alphabet
If ya want to find one just use a
while(1) { printf(“%c,%c,%c”, getch();getch();getch();); }
In a sh or bash or whatever shell
pearl would do
use wisely ObiOne the above is a keyboard grabber! if ya use add check for enter
ciao
Howdy 🙂
Ya know it’s this bleedin “Share this Article” thng down here thats jigglin?
What version of what browser and what OS? Which icons are jiggling?
Almost all the JS and CSS there is direct from Facebook which changes it from their side for the recommend.. The code for the other icons has been in since 2010. It is likely that you’re getting browser problems. I’d suggest checking with Firefox.
Can’t see any problems in Chrome, Firefox, IE7, and safari on Linux, mac or windows.
ie 9.0.8 , windows 7 and the “Share this article block down below the comment window
(the whole thing disapears and re appera a couple of times)
I haven’t tried FFox since the reinstall
Just kept using IE9
Refeesh the page at the top and press the end key too see the behaviour.
Doesn’t happen in FFox
I haven’t had any reports of oddities in IE9 since the betas last year. Tested the release 9.08.something on vista over Xmas. Have you rebooted your system. IE’s JavaScript is a bit notorious for state engine issues that cure themselves after reboots.
The Hug-A-Thug Courts
Seems like a good idea. Instead of treating people as criminals treat them as people and give them the necessary support to turn their lives around.
Ae
Check out the video here of Assoc. Professor Peter O’connor of Auckland University on the Charter schools policy –