A new phrase last night entered our political lexicon. “We live in a dynamic world” may henceforth be used to replace “we lied”. I can hardly wait to try it out in real life.
Do you think parties should never adapt to changing situations?
Anyone who implies any statement by a politician should be cast in stone and never changed has no idea about real life, or they are trying to score political points.
If I had a vote for every time a politician is accused of lying I’d be doing very well.
Perhaps that is why many politicians today occupy the rungs of the least trusted in the land.
You realise of course, like all us jo blo averages out here, that there is a world of difference between lying and having to change one’s position for legitimate reasons. Your comment indicates you are unaware of the difference Pete.
Key clearly admitted that he was lying when he has said those things i.e. he knew at the time he made the statements that he would not follow through. That is a lie.
Which is entirely different to believing at the time he made the statements that he would follow through, but other circumstances forced a later change of position. That is not a lie.
When, in answer to the question about when is it ok to lie he responded that we live in a “dynamic environment”. i.e. he admitted that on occassion it is ok to lie, and then claim it is due to a dynamic environment.
He did not say, it is not ok to lie but at times positions need to later change due to external circumstances.
See the difference? Clearly not, given your subsequent two very obvious questions. A bit like your dopey parable yesterday.
Anyone with any sense of reality will know that anything suggested by a politician or party in an election campaign will be subjected to many pressures after the election – the first one being coalition negotiations. I’m referring to all parties here.
Negotiation and compromise are essential components of politics – which means that any party that becomes a part of government will not be able to implement all their policies, and policies that are implemented will be modified during normal political process.
And any party that doesn’t beconme a part of government will see few of their policies get anywhere.
You’d have to be particularly thick to take any published or spoken claim in an election campaign as a “promise”.
The incessant “lie!” shrill most often comes across as bitter bitching.
Not at all, it will happen either way – but in the end will only succeed if enough people who keep saying they are sick of politicians ignoring them and that they want to be listened to more can be bothered doing anything more than grizzling.
I think if a politician breaks a promise because of a change in circumstances, he needs to be able to justify that to the electorate. I don’t think Key managed to do so in the case of the GST increase.
Pete a history lesson for you. Last election Labour saw the oncoming global financial crisis and stopped all financial promises. National also saw the FGC but still made gilt edged promises about tax cuts. They reneged on the tax cuts promise, only the wealthy got tax cuts while ordinary people stayed where they were or went backwards.
And to fund this they broke another promise, not to increase GST.
There is also a third lie involved, that the cuts are “fiscally neutral” whereas they are costing the country a billion dollars a year.
The nats could have kept their promise and not given the wealthy a tax cut.
So yes this particular promise should have been kept.
Thanks MS – I always had an idea that the promised 2nd and 3rd tax cuts that Labour was committed to was part of the mini budget, and was like the previous tax cuts Labour promised and was included in a budget. Yet there was no openess regarding this !! 3 years late, but nice to know of this, and we wonder why there is so much skeptism regarding political parties and their promises or abuse of the English language. Just note JK last night what the Asset sale money “could” be spend on. Was it not included in this years budget to reduce the next 3 years deficit. Now it is to fund nice to have idas !!!
New Roy Morgan, Nats still bleeding votes. The tide is turning away from Key right now. With Phil Goff fighting his way into the picture, people now have a serious viable alternative. Labour’s campaign has serious momentum – Keyholes last night was absolutely excellent. National have misread the nation on environment, public transport and asset sales… http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2011/4711/
Today’s Morgan Poll was taken as New Zealand geared up to contest the Rugby World Cup Final on Sunday October 23, 2011. New Zealand was ultimately successful in the World Cup Final with a hard-fought win over France (8-7).
National bleeding to 53.5%
Labour soaring on the tide to 29.5%
Serious momentum? Still fluctuating within recent ranges.
One party did double it’s support – in United Future you have to hang tough, an election campaign is a rare time the sensible reliable party gets any coverage.
Peter Dunne hasn’t needed a worm to demonstrate experience and common sense in the minor party leader debates so far.
Outside of an election campaign steadily doing the job doesn’t get any attention. It probably doesn’t need to – but unless you are a controversial party a campaign is the only chance (amongst a lot of noise) to get an opportunity to promote yourself.
Mr Innocuous seems to want things both ways. He supports the sale of assets that National want to sell, viz power companies and Air NZ, but is vehemently opposed to the sale of Kiwibank and water. Presumably, he wants to pick up a few votes from the anti asset sale group, but to do so without offending National.
United future – making up the policies it thinks you want to hear, because it has no intention to deliver on any of them – thanks for clearing that up for us Pete.
And thanks for reminding everyone that they would have to be ‘particularly thick’ to waste any time listening to you.
The Employers and Manufacturers Association.
Must have been a one man band. Remember how
it was consistently consulted for its views on things political.
Anyone remember Alisdair Thompson – remind us again
who he was and why we don’t hear from him anymore?
Oh yeah, …
When life is reduced to recipes and slogans, you don’t need more than two people on Earth. One to talk the other to hear. One to instruct the other to do. That’s why the EMA only ever needed one person. It was and continues to be a Thought and Change Free Zone.
Business NZ yesterday released the results of its election survey of more than 1300 small to large businesses. While almost all believed it was important for the government to have a co-ordinated plan of action that raised economic performance, little more than a third thought John Key’s Government had one.
Yep they can see that Key is the emperor without clothes. They know that smileing and waving is not a substitute for having an actual plan.
The changes are expected to target the long-term unemployed, including those on sickness and invalids benefits, and will revamp the way that New Zealand’s unemployed are categorised.
[…]
The email revealed that Mr Key will announce that National aims to get 46,000 people off welfare, including 11,000 working part time, within four years.
[…]
It will also see a significant change in the way beneficiaries are dealt with by the state, through intensive case management in a way similar to the way ACC manages people to get them back to work sooner.
while Labour is promising a big shake-up to strengthen public broadcasting:
Labour is promising a shake-up of radio and television, including a public broadcaster, a new regulator of broadcasting and telecommunications and an investigation into a standard audio level, after complaints advertisements are much louder than programmes.
The independent public broadcaster, covering Radio New Zealand and TVNZ 7, could include a nationwide news service.
Spokesperson Clare Curran said it would bring together elements of commercial free public broadcasting that already exist, including the statutorily independent functions of TVNZ 7 and Radio NZ, to both strengthen and broaden them.
Yay for this! There needs to be a shift to the way media provides a real discussion of important political, social and cultural issues, and an end to infotainment and circuses that divert from the kinds of public discussion that are necessary for democracy to thrive.
For all its social snootiness, Wall Street has suffered far more from the meddling of members of its own class than from intrusions by those outside it. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt, an aristocrat, who held the lords of finance responsible for the Great Depression—securing legislation to establish the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting federal authority over the stock exchange, and appointing a wealthy stock trader, Joseph Kennedy Sr., to ride herd. Not much better, from Wall Street’s perspective, was FDR’s Cousin Teddy, who as President prosecuted trusts as illegal monopolies. Or Louis Brandeis, a Harvard-trained corporate attorney turned crusader against the concentration of wealth and power.
These men changed the system from within, as have the ablest regulators in recent times. Arthur Levitt Jr., a vigorous SEC chairman under President Bill Clinton, was first the president of Shearson Hayden Stone. (Levitt is a member of the board of Bloomberg L.P., owner of Bloomberg Businessweek.) Paul A. Volcker cut his teeth at Chase Manhattan before running the Federal Reserve and becoming the gruff animating voice behind the Volcker Rule, which bans commercial banks from engaging in proprietary trading. It’s hard to imagine any of these “opponents” of Wall Street mounting a barricade. They didn’t need to storm the castle to know where the secrets were hidden.
In its very amateurism, Occupy Wall Street represents something new. Although it’s attracted some celebrities and well-heeled supporters, participants come chiefly from outside Wall Street. Many are unemployed or poorly employed. These are not bankers or reform-minded professors; these are also-rans in the capitalist race, upset with the system itself. Their chief weapon is neither eloquence nor argument, but their physical presence.
After making a big song and dance about his respect for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, John Key resorted to childish name-calling this morning on 3 News Firstline when he referred to Phil Goff as a worm…
I think the claim that hippies were middleclass people who paid lip service to solidarity with working classes, is probably true of the US hippies. But it dioes not meet with my experience in the UK in the middle-to-late 70s. The counter culture there was more firmly embedded in the organised left, with many people from working class backgrounds being involved. This included union actions in support of people in working class jobs – as well as people who were the first in their families to be educated into middleclass occupations.
NZ hippies were probably somewhere in between the US & UK. But I recall people like Roger Fowler who were strongly engaged with action for prison reform in Auckland in the late 60s, and who were incorporated within the wider hippy culture.
What Key wants is the “live audience worm” they used in the 2002 debates that spun Peter Dunne to get 9 MPs, because Key thinks he will go down better with the audience than Goff and wants a little live graphic on the screen showing that.
Actually I think it would backfire on him. In 2002 they had sections of the audience that supported each party in the debate, as well as an “undecided” section. Such a format would obviously produce the best results for the smaller parties whose message is often not heard, while both big parties have as many supporters as detractors.
Of course I think you know this already and as usual you’re just distorting things to suit your own narrative.
Nup Lanthanide… I’ve never heard of the “live audience worm” before that you refer to. Could you perhaps reference it so I can tell you’re not just making shit up?
If your claim is true, it would seem that John Keys relationship with the media is a bit too cozy… but we all knew that already.
There’s talk that TV3 might use the worm again for its leaders’ debate. In an attempt to persuade them not to, let me revisit a column I wrote before the last election:
I see the worm is back.
No, I’m not talking about John O’Neill. I mean the squiggly electronic line that measures audience reaction to politicians’ performance in television debates. I hate that worm
What an obscure reference. I will leave the post for people to make up their own minds of whether the real drunken sailor was being nasty or stupid! Personally I think it was both.
You must have little knowledge of recent NZ electoral campaigns not to know what the worm refers to… ie the live audience worm. I don’t see it as an obscure reference at all. And Key’s tone in the clip doesn’t sound like he’sreferring to a person.
Cut Jackal a break. He was 11 at the time of the last election so probably doesn’t remember all the details of the debates and some of the graphic tools that were used.
It’s hardly obscure at all. You must have either been:
a. Out of the country in 2002
b. Under a rock
c. To young to vote in that election
The worm got huge amounts of media coverage, specifically the way it reacted to Peter Dunne.
I think leaving your post up, without any edits to it, is misleading. But hey, wouldn’t be the first time – when I pointed out your “reports of a sonic boom” around the earthquakes were actually old reports from a meteor explosion in 2006 you didn’t make any changes to that post either.
You talk a load of rubbish sometimes Lanthanide… I don’t particularly think you can categorically say Shonkey was talking about your worm or referencing Phil Goff.
Meteor explosion? I gave you a link to the article that said people heard a sonic boom prior to the Christchurch earthquake… perhaps you should recheck the six month old article entitled What are you all HAARPing on about? you’re trying to use to discredit me before appearing anymore the fool.
Jackal, the worm happened and skewed an election quite significantly.
I think Key’s a pile of crap, but shit only where shit’s due – he wasn’t calling Goff a worm.
Either it’s Key childishly calling Goff a worm and/or he’s gleeful that biased media will use yet another little tactic to try and make the snake oil salesman look good… take your pick. You’re welcome to your opinions McFlock et al… personally I wouldn’t put such an insult past the juvenile Key.
Sorry Jackal, but you’re trying to re-write history.
I asked for your source, you linked to an article that was people talking about the meteor explosion they heard. When I pointed that out, you said this: “The article is still factually correct, we’re unable to know exactly when people made their reports on sonic booms.” which is not true – we are able to know exactly when people made their reports on sonic booms, and it was in 2006, 5 years before the earthquakes you’re talking about.
You then came up with your second link since I’d shot your first one down. I didn’t bother replying at the time, but you are taking random members of the public saying they heard a “sonic boom” to mean an *actual* sonic boom of the type generated by something going faster than the speed of sound.
Actually the random members of the public are highly unlikely to be experts and simply used the term “sonic boom” to indicate how loud it was, probably meaning louder than anything they’d heard in their life before. That doesn’t make it an actual sonic boom.
But hey, your blog can hardly be held up as a standard for objective reporting so maybe I should cut you some slack.
Here is the excerpt from the article Lanthanide is fixated on:
I’ve mentioned SLF sonic booms in my article about such noise pollution causing whales to beach. It just so happens there were a lot of whale stranding at the time of the Earthquake. From reports people have stated hearing a loud sonic boom prior to the 21 Feb Christchurch earthquake, many people thinking that it was an earthquake, but when the noise subsided, most people did not give it a second thought.
The article linked to describing people hearing a sonic boom like noise was written 24/02/2011
Curtis said the group heard “a sound like a sonic boom reverberating off the crater above” before they were blown three metres towards the edge of the cliff.
“It was terrifying,” Curtis said.
The sealift ship HMNZS Canterbury has one of the loudest sonic boom generators in the world btw. Are you an expert in what sonic boom noises sound like Lanthanide?
I read an article on it joe90… I don’t have time to locate the article for you… why don’t you guys do some research yourselves into the matter instead of bagging mine? I have edited the article to include the following paragraph:
Here is one of the reports of sonic boom like noises prior or during the 6.3 Magnitude Earthquake in Lyttleton/Christchurch for your information. It’s not the first time such sonic booms have been heard in the area, however this occurrence in the past was likely to have been comets.
I have also removed the commentary as it will no longer make sense with the relevant information in the article.
For the record, thejackal has deleted the comments on his blog post, of which there were originally 9, with the interchange between me and himself about the sonic booms and his passing off a story about the meteor in 2006 as being related to the earthquake.
He’s now deleted the exchange and has posted a misleading summary here, apparently to discredit me.
For the record, thejackal has deleted the comments on his blog post, of which there were originally 9, with the interchange between me and himself about the sonic booms and his passing off a story about the meteor in 2006 as being related to the earthquake.
You might note that the article where people inform about their accounts of sonic booms in Christchurch was last updated on Tuesday November 1, 2011. You have highlighted only one comment that has a date outside of the Christchurch earthquake.
He’s now deleted the exchange and has posted a misleading summary here, apparently to discredit me.
What part of my summary was misleading and how does deleting comments discredit somebody? I informed people that I had deleted the commentary on the article because the edit you have been hassling me to make means the comments will no longer make any sense. People reading the six month old post would not understand why you were raising issues concerning something that was succinctly outlined in the post.
Please read The Jackal policy before complaining about my administration.
Thankfully, the google cache of the original comments is still available.
I think you’re starting to get a bit obsessed Lanthanide, and perhaps acting more like Cameron Slater than is good for you.
Really jackal, you shouldn’t try to distort the truth like this, it only makes you look even less reliable.
Less reliable than what? You haven’t shown that I’ve distorted the truth and really shouldn’t talk a load of crap Lanthanide… it makes you look like a dick!
joe90
Sigh….the loony left indeed Lanthanide.
Perhaps you might like to elaborate on why you think I’m loony or why what I have written about relates to the entire left-wing movement? Such inconceivably stupid comments clearly show you have a lack of functioning braincells.
You might note that the article where people inform about their accounts of sonic booms in Christchurch was last updated on Tuesday November 1, 2011.
Jackal, if you check again you will see this “last updated” date will have magically changed to Wednesday November 2, 2011. You know why? Because that is NOT the date the article was ‘updated’ or written, it is in fact the date you viewed the page.
Nice try, though. If you look just to the right, there is another article linked with the title “Meteorite most likely cause of boom, observatory says”, which when clicked on has this date as the date of publication: “3:40 PM Tuesday Sep 12, 2006”. Just like I’ve maintained all along.
What part of my summary was misleading and how does deleting comments discredit somebody?
Because you wrote this: “Here is the excerpt from the article Lanthanide is fixated on:” and then proceeded to quote something that I am not interested in at all. The article you quoted has nothing to do with the meteor explosion, which is the article I am talking about. I am talking about A, you claim I am talking about B (and then also quote C), which is misleading.
I informed people that I had deleted the commentary on the article
Where? Please link to this. I do not see it on your HAARP post or anywhere in this thread of comments.
because the edit you have been hassling me to make means the comments will no longer make any sense. People reading the six month old post would not understand why you were raising issues concerning something that was succinctly outlined in the post.
Standard editorial practice at newspapers and the like is to amend the article saying: “Edited” or “Updated” with a line about what has changed. You didn’t do this, instead you simply deleted my comments as if they never happened and pretending that your article is and was always flawless.
I think you’re starting to get a bit obsessed Lanthanide, and perhaps acting more like Cameron Slater than is good for you.
Yeah, because it took me a whole 1 minute to get that cache. I must be obsessed to have to spend such a huge amount of effort doing something like that.
Less reliable than what? You haven’t shown that I’ve distorted the truth and really shouldn’t talk a load of crap Lanthanide… it makes you look like a dick!
Less reliable than the MSM that you like to castigate so much for having no editorial honesty. You have distorted the truth by initially using a very outdated article from 2006 as your evidence for sonic booms, and then when challenged you still claim that the 2006 article is valid and go on to produce one from some lay-person cyclists who heard a very loud noise right above them at the same time as boulders started falling down around them from the earthquake. You’ve come to your conclusion that HAARP was involved and now you’re gathering evidence to prove it – the proper way is to gather evidence and come to a conclusion about the most likely explanation.
You initially asked for an article showing where people had said they had heard sonic booms prior or during the Christchurch earthquake. I have provided a MSM article that backs up my assertion. Then you argued that the people quoted in the article don’t know what a sonic boom sounds like. Your argument has become juvenile.
The article you quoted has nothing to do with the meteor explosion, which is the article I am talking about.
I have now removed all reference to the article you’re bitching about.
You’ve come to your conclusion that HAARP was involved and now you’re gathering evidence to prove it – the proper way is to gather evidence and come to a conclusion about the most likely explanation.
Now we get to the crux of why Lanthanide doesn’t like the article. I have provided information about HAARP and also referenced occurrences on the day of the earthquake. It is for the reader to make up their own minds.
Moderator: joe90 is using TheJackal’s name in his comment, can you please edit it out.
Todd is not my name.
I have added UPDATED to the article. However it will not be edited further.
joe90
But to those on the opposite side of the aisle the left is monolithic and any utterance is part of the group think and the more outlandish the utterance the happier they are.
I have very little concern for what RWNJ’s think, although your reasoning could explain why Lanthanide is fixated on a six month old article.
My advice Todd, grow the fuck up, listen and learn and when you make an assertion be well sure that you’re correct because if you’re not you will be called out.
I appreciate your constructive criticism… oh hang on a sec. joe90 thinks my assertion is wrong just because he says so. He has totally failed to argue the issues raised. I don’t particularly care how long you’ve contributed to the Standard as this has no relevance to the debate. You highlighting this like it gives your argument weight, which shows that you’re delusional!
“Then you argued that the people quoted in the article don’t know what a sonic boom sounds like. Your argument has become juvenile.”
No, it’s not juvenile at all. Newspaper reporters frequently get facts and details wrong; a friend of mine was interviewed for a story in the press once and the reporter had a dictaphone as well as taking notes. The actual article was riddled with errors.
The cyclists may have said “a really loud sound, like a sonic boom or something” and the reporter just shorted that to “sounded like a sonic boom”.
Furthermore, these are people who are in imminent danger of their life from falling boulders, which would have been making very loud sounds as they tumbled down. I don’t think you were in CHCH for the quake, but it can be very confusing what is happening in the first few seconds after it strikes (especially if you’re outdoors). The ground could have been shaking (and they were on bikes) before the loud sounds they heard, which I am suggesting were the boulders rolling down the hill.
You’re suggesting that they heard a sonic boom, and then boulders fell down. This is possible, although less likely than my version of events.
“Now we get to the crux of why Lanthanide doesn’t like the article. I have provided information about HAARP and also referenced occurrences on the day of the earthquake. It is for the reader to make up their own minds.”
Hah, the conspiracy theorist in you rears its head. I had honestly never heard of HAARP until I read your article. Note that my original comments were nothing to do with HAARP whatsoever, but asking for evidence of the “sonic booms” that you reported?
As far as I’m concerned, HAARP is just like any other crackpot illuminati theory and I’m not interested in it, but I was genuinely interested in these so-called reports of sonic booms. Turns out this is simply desperate over-reaching on your part trying to cobble together more evidence to support your crackpot theory: initially using a story from the 2006 meteor event – you didn’t mention the cyclist story (which is indisputably about the February earthquake) until I challenged you on it, evidently you went to look for more news stories and luckily found one and have since pretended that that was the story you meant all along, despite not offering it initially as your evidence. As outlined above, even this story, when considered objectively, doesn’t back up your HAARP nonsense.
Also, the meteor article itself indicates that your supposed cyclist sonic boom was nothing of the sort. The meteor was an actual sonic boom, and occured in the atmosphere above the city. The article you linked to had multiple witness reports of the event. How come this story of the cyclists is the only evidence you can find of a sonic boom happening about the time of the earthquake? Surely there would be dozens or hundreds of people in Christchurch saying “I heard a sonic boom, and then there was an earthquake”. And yet the only story you can find is one about cyclists almost being killed by boulders. Weak.
It might be advantageous for you to read my comments above again. I have already answered all the arguments you’ve reiterated and don’t feel particularly inclined to respond to your belief that HAARP does not exist.
Jackal, my post made several points which you have not addressed anywhere. I’ll number them to make it easy for you to follow along:
1. Reporters often misquote and editorialise things that others have said.
2. The people quoted were in imminent danger of their lives, in a situation that is initially quite confusing; their testimony therefore cannot be trusted. This is a completely separate issue as to whether they are qualified to say whether a loud noise is a sonic boom or not.
3. You have not explained why when I first asked for evidence of sonic booms, you linked to the article from 2006, as your only evidence, and only later linked to the cyclist story after I pointed out how wrong you were. At this point I must assume my summary is correct – you only found the cyclist story after I challenged you, but based your original ‘sonic boom’ conclusion on the meteor article and came up with the cyclist article and pretended that is what you used as your source all along.
4. You have not explained why these cyclists are the only evidence you can find of people reporting a sonic boom, when the meteor article you yourself linked to shows that, if a sonic boom actually happened, we can expect that many people would have reported it.
I shouldn’t even bother to reply but WTF, here goes.
First off, I don’t think you are ‘loony’ but as you well know Todd the left as a description isn’t just those who share your ideals but rather a loose group who have ideals in common. But to those on the opposite side of the aisle the left is monolithic and any utterance is part of the group think and the more outlandish the utterance the happier they are.
So your proclamations on HAARP, sonic booms and marine seismic surveying, although you may be convinced yourself, are to me, absurd, are taken as part of the group think and ‘voila’, all on the left, because we’re monolithic, are the loony left.
On one page Todd you’ve managed to jump the shark on the worm comment, made assertions about sonic booms that you’re unable to support and when you’re called on it get shitty with two regular contributors.
My advice Todd, grow the fuck up, listen and learn and when you make an assertion be well sure that you’re correct because if you’re not you will be called out.
2002 election.. Bloody useless thing working off the studio audience manipulating an immediate response control. Usually used for measuring the audience response to 15 second commercials where everything is about immediate visceral responses.
The audience had immediate reactions to comfort phrases and threat phrases and didn’t react to policy. Which meant that anyone talking about policy was ignored, anyone talking about possible dangers or risks was reacted against, and anyone stating meaningless comfort phrases with no substance got a warm cuddly effect.
The latter category was (and still is) largely occupied by a haircut and an inability to be committed on anything apart from his hairbrush. Just like the local acolyte – PG.
I hate the format of leaders’ debates – there should not be any blather by any commenter or supposed expert who waste valauble time.
There needs to be genuine debate where the leaders can get things out on the table – I think Key would founder spectacularly because all he is really is an overgrown class clown who is so desperate for everyone to like him.
I’d like to see Phil bloody his nose for him, metaphorically, and really pin Key down on the shapeshifter figures he mouths which are unchallenged by the msm. Key when pressed really can’t hack it and this would expose the lack of intellect and humanity of this suppository.
Phil needs to be saying to the voters “Do you feel richer after three years of National?” It may start to turn even the self-interested voters away from National who have been sucker punched by the $50 tax cut promise. I have no sympathy for these greedy, selfish prats but even Labour has come to realise the folly of the Douglas influence and has admitted things like asset sales will have us all swirling around the bowl.
Because I’m outside NZ I’ve only just seen the debate over the internet – and well done, Phil. I knew you had it in you.
A point that struck me is Keys economic plan appears to be an intention to increase mining, comparing the profits we might make and the jobs that can be created here with Australia. I’m happy to admit I know nothing about mining, and expect to be told I’m not comparing apple with apples, but I looked up Western Australian mining (I didn’t bother with the other states) on Wiki and noticed that the 80 gazetted gold and mineral fields in Western Australia total 1,997,814 km2. Total NZ land area is 268,021 km2 – Even if he plans on digging up the whole country, I think he still needs a better plan.
Key doesn’t have a plan but he does plan to fuck over the whole country and then sell it or is that sell it then let the corporates fuck it over and walk away…with the proceeds.
Certainly am, Lanth. Because I’m enrolled in an electorate. I just have to download the voting papers and drop them off at the embassy, or post them back …. download date is 9th November 🙂
On the One News debate last night, Phil Goff called out John Key for his dishonesty concerning the rise in the Goods and Services Tax when he had promised not to increase it. National increased GST to 15% totally breaking their election promise…
World overpopulation our elephant in the room. Must ask Mr Key what he is going to do about it. A baby declared as the world’s seven billionth has been born in India, says child rights group Plan International.
Baby Nargis was born at 07:25 local time (01:55GMT) in Mall village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state.
Consumption the real elephant. One Anglo Saxon consumes much more than many Chinese or Indians or Africans, where the main population froth occurs.
Before we worry about population, we need to worry about consumption. Catch is, our entire economic model is predicated on growth, which relies on consumption.
The Gormless Fool formerly known as Oleolebiscuitbarrell 17.2
Got my nomination in today as an Independent candidate in the Epsom electorate.
Last night I attended the Epsom ‘debate’ (as a member of the public), at the ‘Village Centre’, Mt Eden Rd / Ngauruhoe St. It was just the boyz – John Banks (National “B” Team /ACT) Paul Goldsmith (National “A” Team), David Parker (Labour) and David Hay (Greens).
I asked the following question of John Banks:
I noted that ACT’s ’3 strikes and out’ policy doesn’t apply to ‘white collar crime’.
I noted that since 2006 there have been 64 finance industry collapses in NZ – perceived to be the least corrupt country in the world.
I asked that if ACT believe in ‘one law for all’ – how come John Banks and Don Brash have not been charged for misstatements in the Huljich Wealth Management Registered Prospectus, along with fellow Director Peter Huljich’?
The Chair of this public meeting, former Judge Peter Salmond – ruled my question ‘out of order’ because he didn’t think it was relevant to the election campaign.
If Don Brash and John Banks are charged under s.58 of the Securities Act 1978, then it is my considered opinion, that it will indeed by relevant to this 2011 election campaign.
Why weren’t they charged?
Why shouldn’t they be charged?
If the setting up of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) was to help restore confidence to the ‘mum and dad’ investors – shouldn’t the FMA help to ensure consistency and accountability in prosecutions, or are some directors, like John Banks and Don Brash effectively ‘untouchable’ because of their political connections at the highest levels?
In the country ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt in the world (along with Denmark and Singapore according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
Just asking – the HARD questions – that no one else seems to be?
Penny Bright
Independent candidate for Epsom.
Campaigning against ‘white collar crime’, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation) and ‘corporate welfare’.
Massive financial fraud continues on Wall St: MF Global goes under
One of Wall Street’s largest firms, a Federal Reserve ‘Primary Dealer’ has gone under with up to US$700M of client monies unaccounted for, and potentially much more shifted out of the failing firm early based on insider information.
I wonder how many worker retirement funds just got fucked by Wall St, again.
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
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A new phrase last night entered our political lexicon. “We live in a dynamic world” may henceforth be used to replace “we lied”. I can hardly wait to try it out in real life.
Do you think parties should never adapt to changing situations?
Anyone who implies any statement by a politician should be cast in stone and never changed has no idea about real life, or they are trying to score political points.
If I had a vote for every time a politician is accused of lying I’d be doing very well.
Perhaps that is why many politicians today occupy the rungs of the least trusted in the land.
You realise of course, like all us jo blo averages out here, that there is a world of difference between lying and having to change one’s position for legitimate reasons. Your comment indicates you are unaware of the difference Pete.
Key clearly admitted that he was lying when he has said those things i.e. he knew at the time he made the statements that he would not follow through. That is a lie.
Which is entirely different to believing at the time he made the statements that he would follow through, but other circumstances forced a later change of position. That is not a lie.
Key admitted to the former.
He is a liar.
You’ll have to show me where he has done what you claim to convince me.
If Goff says “Labour will introduce a Capital Gains Tax” when he know’s he won’t win a lie?
If Goff says “all New Zealanders….” is that a lie?
When, in answer to the question about when is it ok to lie he responded that we live in a “dynamic environment”. i.e. he admitted that on occassion it is ok to lie, and then claim it is due to a dynamic environment.
He did not say, it is not ok to lie but at times positions need to later change due to external circumstances.
See the difference? Clearly not, given your subsequent two very obvious questions. A bit like your dopey parable yesterday.
That’s far from convincing.
Anyone with any sense of reality will know that anything suggested by a politician or party in an election campaign will be subjected to many pressures after the election – the first one being coalition negotiations. I’m referring to all parties here.
Negotiation and compromise are essential components of politics – which means that any party that becomes a part of government will not be able to implement all their policies, and policies that are implemented will be modified during normal political process.
And any party that doesn’t beconme a part of government will see few of their policies get anywhere.
You’d have to be particularly thick to take any published or spoken claim in an election campaign as a “promise”.
The incessant “lie!” shrill most often comes across as bitter bitching.
You are trolling Pete. Address the specific example.
Shut up Pete, you foolish goon.
It was about statements made outside election campaigns as well.
You’re a waste of space. out
So, Pete, when are you going to return to your natural home in the National Party?
November 27
November 27 the campaign really begins.
As an activist politician (long shot) or a political activist.
http://yourdunedin.org/your-dunedin-plan/
Giving up on UF already? You haven’t even not-voted for yourself yet.
Not at all, it will happen either way – but in the end will only succeed if enough people who keep saying they are sick of politicians ignoring them and that they want to be listened to more can be bothered doing anything more than grizzling.
People who are sick of typical spinning politicians should vote for Pete George?
Hand me a Tui.
I think if a politician breaks a promise because of a change in circumstances, he needs to be able to justify that to the electorate. I don’t think Key managed to do so in the case of the GST increase.
Pete a history lesson for you. Last election Labour saw the oncoming global financial crisis and stopped all financial promises. National also saw the FGC but still made gilt edged promises about tax cuts. They reneged on the tax cuts promise, only the wealthy got tax cuts while ordinary people stayed where they were or went backwards.
And to fund this they broke another promise, not to increase GST.
There is also a third lie involved, that the cuts are “fiscally neutral” whereas they are costing the country a billion dollars a year.
The nats could have kept their promise and not given the wealthy a tax cut.
So yes this particular promise should have been kept.
Thanks MS – I always had an idea that the promised 2nd and 3rd tax cuts that Labour was committed to was part of the mini budget, and was like the previous tax cuts Labour promised and was included in a budget. Yet there was no openess regarding this !! 3 years late, but nice to know of this, and we wonder why there is so much skeptism regarding political parties and their promises or abuse of the English language. Just note JK last night what the Asset sale money “could” be spend on. Was it not included in this years budget to reduce the next 3 years deficit. Now it is to fund nice to have idas !!!
New Roy Morgan, Nats still bleeding votes. The tide is turning away from Key right now. With Phil Goff fighting his way into the picture, people now have a serious viable alternative. Labour’s campaign has serious momentum – Keyholes last night was absolutely excellent. National have misread the nation on environment, public transport and asset sales…
http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2011/4711/
National bleeding to 53.5%
Labour soaring on the tide to 29.5%
Serious momentum? Still fluctuating within recent ranges.
One party did double it’s support – in United Future you have to hang tough, an election campaign is a rare time the sensible reliable party gets any coverage.
Does it not seem strange to you that at the height of winning the RWC, the incumbent govt is going backwards?
Not when the drop or rise is within the margin of error – I always just take that to mean no change.
Not strange at all. Minor movements within recent ranges.
I expect National to ease back to mid to high forties by the election anyway. Too soon to tell which way Labour might go.
Funny, I seem to remember it was the election campaign and a certain ‘worm’ in 2002 that resulted in UF getting 9 MPs.
Oh for those halcyon days of yore.
Peter Dunne hasn’t needed a worm to demonstrate experience and common sense in the minor party leader debates so far.
Outside of an election campaign steadily doing the job doesn’t get any attention. It probably doesn’t need to – but unless you are a controversial party a campaign is the only chance (amongst a lot of noise) to get an opportunity to promote yourself.
UF’s support is too insignificantly small to be represented by a worm.
Maybe a maggot. But even maggots serve a useful function.
Mr Innocuous seems to want things both ways. He supports the sale of assets that National want to sell, viz power companies and Air NZ, but is vehemently opposed to the sale of Kiwibank and water. Presumably, he wants to pick up a few votes from the anti asset sale group, but to do so without offending National.
Pete, have you ever considered therapy or medication?
United future – making up the policies it thinks you want to hear, because it has no intention to deliver on any of them – thanks for clearing that up for us Pete.
And thanks for reminding everyone that they would have to be ‘particularly thick’ to waste any time listening to you.
“Ahhh no, the hair, the hair, get it off me” to paraphase Barney of The Simpsons aversion to “natural light”
The Employers and Manufacturers Association.
Must have been a one man band. Remember how
it was consistently consulted for its views on things political.
Anyone remember Alisdair Thompson – remind us again
who he was and why we don’t hear from him anymore?
Oh yeah, …
When life is reduced to recipes and slogans, you don’t need more than two people on Earth. One to talk the other to hear. One to instruct the other to do. That’s why the EMA only ever needed one person. It was and continues to be a Thought and Change Free Zone.
How is this for bad news for the Tories?
Business has no confidence in them.
Business NZ yesterday released the results of its election survey of more than 1300 small to large businesses. While almost all believed it was important for the government to have a co-ordinated plan of action that raised economic performance, little more than a third thought John Key’s Government had one.
Yep they can see that Key is the emperor without clothes. They know that smileing and waving is not a substitute for having an actual plan.
Post coming up on this.
Cool thanks!
There was damage control from a business spokesman last night on Checkpoint, saying business people were critical, but still largely behind National.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/20111031
So the Nats are promising m major shake-up to the welfare system (bennie-bashing subtext no doubt),
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5884943/National-to-unveil-social-welfare-changes
while Labour is promising a big shake-up to strengthen public broadcasting:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5884947/Labour-signals-broadcasting-shake-up
Yay for this! There needs to be a shift to the way media provides a real discussion of important political, social and cultural issues, and an end to infotainment and circuses that divert from the kinds of public discussion that are necessary for democracy to thrive.
Occupy Wall Street: It’s Not a Hippie Thing.
For all its social snootiness, Wall Street has suffered far more from the meddling of members of its own class than from intrusions by those outside it. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt, an aristocrat, who held the lords of finance responsible for the Great Depression—securing legislation to establish the Securities and Exchange Commission, asserting federal authority over the stock exchange, and appointing a wealthy stock trader, Joseph Kennedy Sr., to ride herd. Not much better, from Wall Street’s perspective, was FDR’s Cousin Teddy, who as President prosecuted trusts as illegal monopolies. Or Louis Brandeis, a Harvard-trained corporate attorney turned crusader against the concentration of wealth and power.
These men changed the system from within, as have the ablest regulators in recent times. Arthur Levitt Jr., a vigorous SEC chairman under President Bill Clinton, was first the president of Shearson Hayden Stone. (Levitt is a member of the board of Bloomberg L.P., owner of Bloomberg Businessweek.) Paul A. Volcker cut his teeth at Chase Manhattan before running the Federal Reserve and becoming the gruff animating voice behind the Volcker Rule, which bans commercial banks from engaging in proprietary trading. It’s hard to imagine any of these “opponents” of Wall Street mounting a barricade. They didn’t need to storm the castle to know where the secrets were hidden.
In its very amateurism, Occupy Wall Street represents something new. Although it’s attracted some celebrities and well-heeled supporters, participants come chiefly from outside Wall Street. Many are unemployed or poorly employed. These are not bankers or reform-minded professors; these are also-rans in the capitalist race, upset with the system itself. Their chief weapon is neither eloquence nor argument, but their physical presence.
OWS support: 43% with 30% undecided
Teaparty support: 25%, a new low with 42% saying they are neither supporters nor opponents, a new high.
@ Carol – Sorry my post on hippies was a response to jackal @9.10am
Dada = Beat = Hippie = Punk = Hip Hop = counterculture unite!
John Key gets Nasty
After making a big song and dance about his respect for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition, John Key resorted to childish name-calling this morning on 3 News Firstline when he referred to Phil Goff as a worm…
I think the claim that hippies were middleclass people who paid lip service to solidarity with working classes, is probably true of the US hippies. But it dioes not meet with my experience in the UK in the middle-to-late 70s. The counter culture there was more firmly embedded in the organised left, with many people from working class backgrounds being involved. This included union actions in support of people in working class jobs – as well as people who were the first in their families to be educated into middleclass occupations.
NZ hippies were probably somewhere in between the US & UK. But I recall people like Roger Fowler who were strongly engaged with action for prison reform in Auckland in the late 60s, and who were incorporated within the wider hippy culture.
Sorry my post on hippies was a response to jackal @9.10am
Um, no, he didn’t call Goff a worm at all.
What Key wants is the “live audience worm” they used in the 2002 debates that spun Peter Dunne to get 9 MPs, because Key thinks he will go down better with the audience than Goff and wants a little live graphic on the screen showing that.
Actually I think it would backfire on him. In 2002 they had sections of the audience that supported each party in the debate, as well as an “undecided” section. Such a format would obviously produce the best results for the smaller parties whose message is often not heard, while both big parties have as many supporters as detractors.
Of course I think you know this already and as usual you’re just distorting things to suit your own narrative.
Nup Lanthanide… I’ve never heard of the “live audience worm” before that you refer to. Could you perhaps reference it so I can tell you’re not just making shit up?
If your claim is true, it would seem that John Keys relationship with the media is a bit too cozy… but we all knew that already.
Steven Price: Eat the worm.
There’s talk that TV3 might use the worm again for its leaders’ debate. In an attempt to persuade them not to, let me revisit a column I wrote before the last election:
I see the worm is back.
No, I’m not talking about John O’Neill. I mean the squiggly electronic line that measures audience reaction to politicians’ performance in television debates. I hate that worm
What an obscure reference. I will leave the post for people to make up their own minds of whether the real drunken sailor was being nasty or stupid! Personally I think it was both.
You must have little knowledge of recent NZ electoral campaigns not to know what the worm refers to… ie the live audience worm. I don’t see it as an obscure reference at all. And Key’s tone in the clip doesn’t sound like he’sreferring to a person.
Cut Jackal a break. He was 11 at the time of the last election so probably doesn’t remember all the details of the debates and some of the graphic tools that were used.
It’s hardly obscure at all. You must have either been:
a. Out of the country in 2002
b. Under a rock
c. To young to vote in that election
The worm got huge amounts of media coverage, specifically the way it reacted to Peter Dunne.
I think leaving your post up, without any edits to it, is misleading. But hey, wouldn’t be the first time – when I pointed out your “reports of a sonic boom” around the earthquakes were actually old reports from a meteor explosion in 2006 you didn’t make any changes to that post either.
You talk a load of rubbish sometimes Lanthanide… I don’t particularly think you can categorically say Shonkey was talking about your worm or referencing Phil Goff.
Meteor explosion? I gave you a link to the article that said people heard a sonic boom prior to the Christchurch earthquake… perhaps you should recheck the six month old article entitled What are you all HAARPing on about? you’re trying to use to discredit me before appearing anymore the fool.
Jackal, the worm happened and skewed an election quite significantly.
I think Key’s a pile of crap, but shit only where shit’s due – he wasn’t calling Goff a worm.
Either it’s Key childishly calling Goff a worm and/or he’s gleeful that biased media will use yet another little tactic to try and make the snake oil salesman look good… take your pick. You’re welcome to your opinions McFlock et al… personally I wouldn’t put such an insult past the juvenile Key.
Sorry Jackal, but you’re trying to re-write history.
I asked for your source, you linked to an article that was people talking about the meteor explosion they heard. When I pointed that out, you said this: “The article is still factually correct, we’re unable to know exactly when people made their reports on sonic booms.” which is not true – we are able to know exactly when people made their reports on sonic booms, and it was in 2006, 5 years before the earthquakes you’re talking about.
You then came up with your second link since I’d shot your first one down. I didn’t bother replying at the time, but you are taking random members of the public saying they heard a “sonic boom” to mean an *actual* sonic boom of the type generated by something going faster than the speed of sound.
Actually the random members of the public are highly unlikely to be experts and simply used the term “sonic boom” to indicate how loud it was, probably meaning louder than anything they’d heard in their life before. That doesn’t make it an actual sonic boom.
But hey, your blog can hardly be held up as a standard for objective reporting so maybe I should cut you some slack.
Here is the excerpt from the article Lanthanide is fixated on:
The article linked to describing people hearing a sonic boom like noise was written 24/02/2011
The sealift ship HMNZS Canterbury has one of the loudest sonic boom generators in the world btw. Are you an expert in what sonic boom noises sound like Lanthanide?
And you know this, how?.
I read an article on it joe90… I don’t have time to locate the article for you… why don’t you guys do some research yourselves into the matter instead of bagging mine? I have edited the article to include the following paragraph:
I have also removed the commentary as it will no longer make sense with the relevant information in the article.
For the record, thejackal has deleted the comments on his blog post, of which there were originally 9, with the interchange between me and himself about the sonic booms and his passing off a story about the meteor in 2006 as being related to the earthquake.
He’s now deleted the exchange and has posted a misleading summary here, apparently to discredit me.
Thankfully, the google cache of the original comments is still available:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:zfRzyZatUJAJ:thejackalman.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-are-you-all-haarping-on-about.html+what-are-you-all-haarping-on-about&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz
Really jackal, you shouldn’t try to distort the truth like this, it only makes you look even less reliable.
Sigh….the loony left indeed Lanthanide.
Lanthanide
You might note that the article where people inform about their accounts of sonic booms in Christchurch was last updated on Tuesday November 1, 2011. You have highlighted only one comment that has a date outside of the Christchurch earthquake.
What part of my summary was misleading and how does deleting comments discredit somebody? I informed people that I had deleted the commentary on the article because the edit you have been hassling me to make means the comments will no longer make any sense. People reading the six month old post would not understand why you were raising issues concerning something that was succinctly outlined in the post.
Please read The Jackal policy before complaining about my administration.
I think you’re starting to get a bit obsessed Lanthanide, and perhaps acting more like Cameron Slater than is good for you.
Less reliable than what? You haven’t shown that I’ve distorted the truth and really shouldn’t talk a load of crap Lanthanide… it makes you look like a dick!
joe90
Perhaps you might like to elaborate on why you think I’m loony or why what I have written about relates to the entire left-wing movement? Such inconceivably stupid comments clearly show you have a lack of functioning braincells.
Jackal, if you check again you will see this “last updated” date will have magically changed to Wednesday November 2, 2011. You know why? Because that is NOT the date the article was ‘updated’ or written, it is in fact the date you viewed the page.
Nice try, though. If you look just to the right, there is another article linked with the title “Meteorite most likely cause of boom, observatory says”, which when clicked on has this date as the date of publication: “3:40 PM Tuesday Sep 12, 2006”. Just like I’ve maintained all along.
Because you wrote this: “Here is the excerpt from the article Lanthanide is fixated on:” and then proceeded to quote something that I am not interested in at all. The article you quoted has nothing to do with the meteor explosion, which is the article I am talking about. I am talking about A, you claim I am talking about B (and then also quote C), which is misleading.
Where? Please link to this. I do not see it on your HAARP post or anywhere in this thread of comments.
Standard editorial practice at newspapers and the like is to amend the article saying: “Edited” or “Updated” with a line about what has changed. You didn’t do this, instead you simply deleted my comments as if they never happened and pretending that your article is and was always flawless.
Yeah, because it took me a whole 1 minute to get that cache. I must be obsessed to have to spend such a huge amount of effort doing something like that.
Less reliable than the MSM that you like to castigate so much for having no editorial honesty. You have distorted the truth by initially using a very outdated article from 2006 as your evidence for sonic booms, and then when challenged you still claim that the 2006 article is valid and go on to produce one from some lay-person cyclists who heard a very loud noise right above them at the same time as boulders started falling down around them from the earthquake. You’ve come to your conclusion that HAARP was involved and now you’re gathering evidence to prove it – the proper way is to gather evidence and come to a conclusion about the most likely explanation.
Lanthanide
You initially asked for an article showing where people had said they had heard sonic booms prior or during the Christchurch earthquake. I have provided a MSM article that backs up my assertion. Then you argued that the people quoted in the article don’t know what a sonic boom sounds like. Your argument has become juvenile.
I have now removed all reference to the article you’re bitching about.
Now we get to the crux of why Lanthanide doesn’t like the article. I have provided information about HAARP and also referenced occurrences on the day of the earthquake. It is for the reader to make up their own minds.
Todd is not my name.
I have added UPDATED to the article. However it will not be edited further.
joe90
I have very little concern for what RWNJ’s think, although your reasoning could explain why Lanthanide is fixated on a six month old article.
I appreciate your constructive criticism… oh hang on a sec. joe90 thinks my assertion is wrong just because he says so. He has totally failed to argue the issues raised. I don’t particularly care how long you’ve contributed to the Standard as this has no relevance to the debate. You highlighting this like it gives your argument weight, which shows that you’re delusional!
“Then you argued that the people quoted in the article don’t know what a sonic boom sounds like. Your argument has become juvenile.”
No, it’s not juvenile at all. Newspaper reporters frequently get facts and details wrong; a friend of mine was interviewed for a story in the press once and the reporter had a dictaphone as well as taking notes. The actual article was riddled with errors.
The cyclists may have said “a really loud sound, like a sonic boom or something” and the reporter just shorted that to “sounded like a sonic boom”.
Furthermore, these are people who are in imminent danger of their life from falling boulders, which would have been making very loud sounds as they tumbled down. I don’t think you were in CHCH for the quake, but it can be very confusing what is happening in the first few seconds after it strikes (especially if you’re outdoors). The ground could have been shaking (and they were on bikes) before the loud sounds they heard, which I am suggesting were the boulders rolling down the hill.
You’re suggesting that they heard a sonic boom, and then boulders fell down. This is possible, although less likely than my version of events.
“Now we get to the crux of why Lanthanide doesn’t like the article. I have provided information about HAARP and also referenced occurrences on the day of the earthquake. It is for the reader to make up their own minds.”
Hah, the conspiracy theorist in you rears its head. I had honestly never heard of HAARP until I read your article. Note that my original comments were nothing to do with HAARP whatsoever, but asking for evidence of the “sonic booms” that you reported?
As far as I’m concerned, HAARP is just like any other crackpot illuminati theory and I’m not interested in it, but I was genuinely interested in these so-called reports of sonic booms. Turns out this is simply desperate over-reaching on your part trying to cobble together more evidence to support your crackpot theory: initially using a story from the 2006 meteor event – you didn’t mention the cyclist story (which is indisputably about the February earthquake) until I challenged you on it, evidently you went to look for more news stories and luckily found one and have since pretended that that was the story you meant all along, despite not offering it initially as your evidence. As outlined above, even this story, when considered objectively, doesn’t back up your HAARP nonsense.
Also, the meteor article itself indicates that your supposed cyclist sonic boom was nothing of the sort. The meteor was an actual sonic boom, and occured in the atmosphere above the city. The article you linked to had multiple witness reports of the event. How come this story of the cyclists is the only evidence you can find of a sonic boom happening about the time of the earthquake? Surely there would be dozens or hundreds of people in Christchurch saying “I heard a sonic boom, and then there was an earthquake”. And yet the only story you can find is one about cyclists almost being killed by boulders. Weak.
Yawn! Must be time for bed.
I see you have no comeback.
It might be advantageous for you to read my comments above again. I have already answered all the arguments you’ve reiterated and don’t feel particularly inclined to respond to your belief that HAARP does not exist.
Jackal, my post made several points which you have not addressed anywhere. I’ll number them to make it easy for you to follow along:
1. Reporters often misquote and editorialise things that others have said.
2. The people quoted were in imminent danger of their lives, in a situation that is initially quite confusing; their testimony therefore cannot be trusted. This is a completely separate issue as to whether they are qualified to say whether a loud noise is a sonic boom or not.
3. You have not explained why when I first asked for evidence of sonic booms, you linked to the article from 2006, as your only evidence, and only later linked to the cyclist story after I pointed out how wrong you were. At this point I must assume my summary is correct – you only found the cyclist story after I challenged you, but based your original ‘sonic boom’ conclusion on the meteor article and came up with the cyclist article and pretended that is what you used as your source all along.
4. You have not explained why these cyclists are the only evidence you can find of people reporting a sonic boom, when the meteor article you yourself linked to shows that, if a sonic boom actually happened, we can expect that many people would have reported it.
I shouldn’t even bother to reply but WTF, here goes.
First off, I don’t think you are ‘loony’ but as you well know Todd the left as a description isn’t just those who share your ideals but rather a loose group who have ideals in common. But to those on the opposite side of the aisle the left is monolithic and any utterance is part of the group think and the more outlandish the utterance the happier they are.
So your proclamations on HAARP, sonic booms and marine seismic surveying, although you may be convinced yourself, are to me, absurd, are taken as part of the group think and ‘voila’, all on the left, because we’re monolithic, are the loony left.
On one page Todd you’ve managed to jump the shark on the worm comment, made assertions about sonic booms that you’re unable to support and when you’re called on it get shitty with two regular contributors.
My advice Todd, grow the fuck up, listen and learn and when you make an assertion be well sure that you’re correct because if you’re not you will be called out.
Moderator: joe90 is using TheJackal’s name in his comment, can you please edit it out.
[See Jackal’s comment above. — r0b]
2002 election.. Bloody useless thing working off the studio audience manipulating an immediate response control. Usually used for measuring the audience response to 15 second commercials where everything is about immediate visceral responses.
The audience had immediate reactions to comfort phrases and threat phrases and didn’t react to policy. Which meant that anyone talking about policy was ignored, anyone talking about possible dangers or risks was reacted against, and anyone stating meaningless comfort phrases with no substance got a warm cuddly effect.
The latter category was (and still is) largely occupied by a haircut and an inability to be committed on anything apart from his hairbrush. Just like the local acolyte – PG.
Agreed Lynn.
I hate the format of leaders’ debates – there should not be any blather by any commenter or supposed expert who waste valauble time.
There needs to be genuine debate where the leaders can get things out on the table – I think Key would founder spectacularly because all he is really is an overgrown class clown who is so desperate for everyone to like him.
I’d like to see Phil bloody his nose for him, metaphorically, and really pin Key down on the shapeshifter figures he mouths which are unchallenged by the msm. Key when pressed really can’t hack it and this would expose the lack of intellect and humanity of this suppository.
Phil needs to be saying to the voters “Do you feel richer after three years of National?” It may start to turn even the self-interested voters away from National who have been sucker punched by the $50 tax cut promise. I have no sympathy for these greedy, selfish prats but even Labour has come to realise the folly of the Douglas influence and has admitted things like asset sales will have us all swirling around the bowl.
The 20 worst things people have done to each other and despite the received wisdom on the right the Americas conquest was worse than anything that the usual suspects are supposed to have achieved. .
Because I’m outside NZ I’ve only just seen the debate over the internet – and well done, Phil. I knew you had it in you.
A point that struck me is Keys economic plan appears to be an intention to increase mining, comparing the profits we might make and the jobs that can be created here with Australia. I’m happy to admit I know nothing about mining, and expect to be told I’m not comparing apple with apples, but I looked up Western Australian mining (I didn’t bother with the other states) on Wiki and noticed that the 80 gazetted gold and mineral fields in Western Australia total 1,997,814 km2. Total NZ land area is 268,021 km2 – Even if he plans on digging up the whole country, I think he still needs a better plan.
Key doesn’t have a plan but he does plan to fuck over the whole country and then sell it or is that sell it then let the corporates fuck it over and walk away…with the proceeds.
I hope you’re going to make a special vote!
Certainly am, Lanth. Because I’m enrolled in an electorate. I just have to download the voting papers and drop them off at the embassy, or post them back …. download date is 9th November 🙂
Petman and the Robotic Mule, aka Big Dog, terrifying.
Holes in Keys Argument
On the One News debate last night, Phil Goff called out John Key for his dishonesty concerning the rise in the Goods and Services Tax when he had promised not to increase it. National increased GST to 15% totally breaking their election promise…
Biased Media Protecting Brand Key
It’s pretty disgusting that in the 3 News video below Rachel Smalley paraphrased what John Key said to try and protect his non-existent credibility…
Media Call Phil Goff Prime Minister
But what is really amusing is that the media is already calling Phil Goff the Prime Minister…
Occupy Denver
Nasty business.
The cops are overwhelmed by the sheer anger of the crowd – and thats when rubber bullets start flying from their semi auto carbines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkcNCrurh-U&feature=feedu
d’oh. sorry
But hang on, the US government openly supported these movements in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya …………..
The dictators like ones that they think they can spin to their advantage – don’t like ones that threaten their power.
Thanks for the video CV. I blogged it.
Some powerful stills from Denver also..
http://www.tannerspendley.com/occupydenver/h5F887FE#h5f887fe
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10763141
World overpopulation our elephant in the room. Must ask Mr Key what he is going to do about it.
A baby declared as the world’s seven billionth has been born in India, says child rights group Plan International.
Baby Nargis was born at 07:25 local time (01:55GMT) in Mall village in India’s Uttar Pradesh state.
Consumption the real elephant. One Anglo Saxon consumes much more than many Chinese or Indians or Africans, where the main population froth occurs.
Before we worry about population, we need to worry about consumption. Catch is, our entire economic model is predicated on growth, which relies on consumption.
Must ask Mr Key what he is going to do about it.
What could he do about it?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10763185
Dunedin Occupy about to be evicted. Stupid DCC. Totally unnecessary way to escalate a peaceful event.
Occupy Dunedin wasn’t smart enough to follow the lessons of many a long standing Maori protest occupation.
Didn’t happen. No explanation so far.
Occupiers still occupying the octagon.
http://royalsociety.org/news/Royal-Society-journal-archive-made-permanently-free-to-access/
Got my nomination in today as an Independent candidate in the Epsom electorate.
Last night I attended the Epsom ‘debate’ (as a member of the public), at the ‘Village Centre’, Mt Eden Rd / Ngauruhoe St. It was just the boyz – John Banks (National “B” Team /ACT) Paul Goldsmith (National “A” Team), David Parker (Labour) and David Hay (Greens).
I asked the following question of John Banks:
I noted that ACT’s ’3 strikes and out’ policy doesn’t apply to ‘white collar crime’.
I noted that since 2006 there have been 64 finance industry collapses in NZ – perceived to be the least corrupt country in the world.
I asked that if ACT believe in ‘one law for all’ – how come John Banks and Don Brash have not been charged for misstatements in the Huljich Wealth Management Registered Prospectus, along with fellow Director Peter Huljich’?
The Chair of this public meeting, former Judge Peter Salmond – ruled my question ‘out of order’ because he didn’t think it was relevant to the election campaign.
If Don Brash and John Banks are charged under s.58 of the Securities Act 1978, then it is my considered opinion, that it will indeed by relevant to this 2011 election campaign.
Why weren’t they charged?
Why shouldn’t they be charged?
If the setting up of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) was to help restore confidence to the ‘mum and dad’ investors – shouldn’t the FMA help to ensure consistency and accountability in prosecutions, or are some directors, like John Banks and Don Brash effectively ‘untouchable’ because of their political connections at the highest levels?
In the country ‘perceived’ to be the least corrupt in the world (along with Denmark and Singapore according to Transparency International’s 2010 ‘Corruption Perception Index’?
Just asking – the HARD questions – that no one else seems to be?
Penny Bright
Independent candidate for Epsom.
Campaigning against ‘white collar crime’, corruption (and its root cause – privatisation) and ‘corporate welfare’.
Massive financial fraud continues on Wall St: MF Global goes under
One of Wall Street’s largest firms, a Federal Reserve ‘Primary Dealer’ has gone under with up to US$700M of client monies unaccounted for, and potentially much more shifted out of the failing firm early based on insider information.
I wonder how many worker retirement funds just got fucked by Wall St, again.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/francinemckenna/2011/10/31/mf-global-99-problems-and-auditor-pwc-warned-about-none/
I wonder how much the US Fed will print to try and uphold the financial system. Banks are interconnected. If one goes down, they all go down.
Excellent NZ Occupy Video – NZ History of Labour Struggles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P20dmHnPu8o
What a history.
I thought the worm was that thing that paul homes kept squeezing in his pants pocket.