There’s another column from Kerre floating round on the Herald as well, a long sickening ‘gush’ over Slippery the Prime Minister,(apparently Kerre just happened to bump into Him while She was in training for a marathon,(pfft),and He was strolling round Auckland with the wife in tow doing a normal bloke routine,(that description by Kerre smacked so much of the ‘truth’ that i had a vision of John Armstrong leaning over Her shoulder whispering words of encouragement into Her ear, or more to the point wheezing the actual script of the article to be printed out of fast failing lungs),
Put together with all the political commentary from the Heralds lineup of ‘wing-nut’ spin merchants this week i get a sense of a troop of Baboons becoming unsettled in their tree top home by the smell of approaching danger breaking into fits of insanely wild screeching all the while defecating/urinating uncontrollably in a paroxysm of fear driven terror,
”Took a knife to a gunfight”,how tired and old can you get,Kerre shows all the intellectual depth of a puddle of Baboons urine, and, with Her having joined the screeching of the troop you would have to wonder if Bryce now has a little competition for Armstrong’s job once the latter has drawn His last gasp…
Chris73. If you want a more realistic response to the accusations of castles and clothes then have a look at this. Fascinating lifestyle.:
“Yesterday, the Green Party co-leader tentatively opened her doors to our photographer – and revealed a wardrobe filled with more blue than green. “I quite like blue,” she laughed…….
“Well, this visit clears up a few things. The two-bedroom “castle” is made from stone and corrugated iron. Old fridges serve as cupboards and doorways; a large truck tyre has been turned into a window frame in the master bedroom. A new pizza oven, made from mud, straw and sand, rests on a stack of tyres.”
ianmac, great link to a well written story, lives in a castle indeed, why wouldn’t Mets dress to impress, most of us given the wages to do so would probably have a far more expensive means of dressing,
Does the Childrens Commissioner dress in sack-cloth to deliver reports on the state of New Zealand Children, it is shear hypocrisy for Tolley,Collins and Slippery the Prime Minister to attack Metiria over Her chosen lifestyle with such absolute Lies,
Hopefully the television channels pick up on this story which has in all probability already cost National big time proving to a wider audience just how ugly their fear driven attacks upon the Green Party are…
The point is she is skating on thin ice wailing about poverty (and greenhouse emissions) when she clearly consumes huge quantities of food herself and spends conspicuous amounts of money on clothes. Then when she gets mildly called out she cries racist. Really?
This has not cost National big time at all. I’ll call back in and see how you are doing when the next polls come out. Although I am sure you will have someone to blames. The media, the CE of Housing New Zealand. Maybe the Electricity Authority.
SSLands, your latest attack on Metiria Turei, unless you would care to provide a modicum of proof, is simply more ‘wing-nuts’ lies,
You are barely coherent this morning has the hang-over effected your ability to construct a lucid comment,not that any of the other utter rubbish you spew forth is much better,
Yes please, F off until the publication of the next ‘opinion poll’, you wont be missed, perhaps i could ask LPrent to give you a hand in your stated intention to desist from commenting until that next poll is published…
“You are barely coherent this morning has the hang-over effected your ability to construct a lucid comment,not that any of the other utter rubbish you spew forth is much better,”
SSLands, is that right, well then i would suggest you are suffering stress or you have brain damage of some form, perhaps you should have it checked befor it turns into a disease of the mind…
Readers are invited to note srylands’ use of language:
– Metiria is “wailing” about political issues
– Metiria is fat so her opinions don’t matter
– Metiria spends “conspicuous” amounts on clothes (the linked article above to the contrary)
– She was only “mildly called out” so what’s the fuss about
– She “cries racist” because that’s what manipulative brown people do
Yep, no sexism nor racism to be seen here, folks. Carry on.
Especially when he frames it in contrast to issues of land, manu whenua, and colonisation, in this way:
“[It is] high time iwi leaders stopped obsessing over the ownership of earth, wind and fire and showed more ownership over the miserable record of the violence culture afflicting our young men,” said Jones, who hails from Northland’s Ngapuhi iwi.
He pointed to the attack on German tourists in Whakatane in December which left a 19-year-old man with missing teeth as well as cuts and bruises and an 18-year-old woman with facial and arm injuries including fractures.
“But isn’t Shane Jones just reinforcing negative stereotypes and prejudices about Maori men?”
No. It highlights that Maori leadership is working to reduce violence in their communities. Maori are disproportionately represented in the violent stats as everyone knows. Working to fix that is a good thing not enforcing a stereotype or prejudices.
Working to reduce violence in one’s own communities is an excellent thing to do. But Jones is whistling hard for his dog here. And his timing is telling: along with the way he opposes the anti-violence message to core issues associated with Waitangi Day.
Precisely, Karol. The guy’s an idiot and a liability to Labour. They need to cut him loose. If they want an excuse get a journalist to ask him to name one thing he has in common with the Labour Party and there they’ll have it.
Shane Jones, He who replaces waffle interspersed with words in the nature of 12 or more letters in an attempt to portray Himself as the ‘Oxford scholar’ should know better,
Statistics will show that such young Maori as those highlighted have little knowledge and/or connection with their particular Marae and in fact live in exactly the same manner as their Pakeha counterparts,
Maori no longer live surrounding a particular Marae, something that seems to have escaped Shane, and, Maori are now spread far and wide where they may reside in any rohe on the motu and most of what goes on at a Marae level these days is simply preaching to the converted so how Jones intends the voice of Iwi leaders in Te Tai Tokerau to be taken notice of, or even heard,in say Whanga-nui-a-tara is beyond me…
BM, all of those numbers and sometimes higher depending upon the definition you apply to ”actively involved in their Marae”,
There are many un-noticed an un-reported Marae based and inter-Marae based sporting competitions that the participants in have as their only strong connection to a Marae,(apart from Tangi),
Just as there are many sports teams in the wider community that a particular Marae favors in terms of participation by it’s members without there being an actual Marae connection,
i have spent a couple of spare weeks working on carvings at Marae while mostly accept for discussions in the family,(which might or might not have a wider reach), and, stopping ‘in’ on the odd occasion,usually in the wee small hours,for a spot of karakia is my ‘connection’,
It was more of a question regarding your comment about Shane Jones being out of touch and his comment not being relevant to how Maori live these days.
I could be completely wrong here but If you compared Maori who are more actively involved( not just turning up for a tangi every so often) in their Marae with Maori who are not, I’d say the bad statistics such as violence and crime would be way down and probably on par with most other ethnicities.
Which I then wondered if a person who moved from one tribal areal into another could join up to their local Marae even though they’re from a different tribe.?
If they can’t I do wonder if Maori Marae need to get together and maybe form Marae affiliations so Maori from other tribal areas have a place to go and feel involved in the local Maori community.
BM, in some places this occurs but you have to remember that Marae and those who ‘belong’ are basically a family institution with a history going back centuries,
On a deeper level it would then be hard for those who do not have knowledge of this history to join in but in the area of say sports, some cultural events and Marae based training activities friends of the wider whanau are welcome to join in, much of this depends upon how ‘active’ a particular Marae is, some mostly in a more urban setting have and are becoming again the focal point of tribal activity,
What your really asking is for Marae,(an extended family),to take ownership of problems which they are in no way part of, a bit like asking you to take ownership of a particular homeless street kid with offending problems you have little or no prior knowledge of,
What do you reckon the % of Pākehā would be who are actively involved in community organisations? 10%, 20%,50% ?
Depending on past actions, anyone (Māori, Pākehā, or Tauiwi) can cruise along to the local Marae and get involved. The tikanga (protocol) of doing so can be complex however. I find my lack of fluency in te reo greatly inhibits my ability to participate, especially down here in Kai Tahu country where the dialect is different to the Northland one that has become the standard.
The important things to remember are respect and humility; so I’d advise you to stay far away.
Pakeha and Tau iwi are welcome also, on any Marae I have visited.
Like any community group there are protocols and customs.
Just like the local yacht club or Rotary.
Not as complicated as the Masons, though.
You won’t get into any trouble if you genuinely try to confirm to them.
Ask a local.
And. Also like any community group, if you are willing to pick up a tea towel or a hammer you will become Tangata Whenua very quickly.
Quite a few of us on the left have suggested that he move to National but none of us agree that he’s quite smart. Has to do with right-wingers being stupid in general.
When I say Shane Jones is a very smart man I mean he stands out from the rest of the talentless bunch at Labour, he is for drilling and mining and would prefer his people in high paying work than being unemployed. I think Yea Nah Cunliffe is still a bob each way on mining.
Maybe I’m missing some nuance. But it read to me as a straight forward appeal to bring people and community into a frame that has exclusively sat around concerns of material acquisition. Reinforcing stereotypes? no. Acknowledging shortcomings within the culture of iwi leadership? yes.
It’s partly the timing – coming up to Waitangi day where the issues for many MOR NZers are those Maori going on about land rights, the Treaty etc. And partly the way he expressed it. Jones didn’t say it’s about materialism, obut something more vague – “ownership of earth, wind and fire” – serves as a dog whistle for those against Waitangi settlements – and along with such a mind set goes a stereotype of criminally inclined, violent Maori.
I see Sealord Jones’s statements exactly the way you do, Karol. He’s saying “Shut up about the Treaty, the dispossession, and focus on what concerns pakeha bigots about Maoridom.” He’s serving himself once again as he plays his kupapa role in the politics of Te Tai Tokerau.
No he is just highlighting the unfortunate fact that maori males are way over represented in family (and all) violence and crime stats.
He is also highlighting the unfortunate fact that a deafening silence is all you hear from leadership in maoridom in regards to maori crime and violence however if anyone dare disturb a taniwha there are hikoi and hui up and down the country denouncing the same.
Comment not fully posted – the weasel words are here:
‘…..headmaster Al Kirk stands by his hard line on outstanding fees, saying the 15 students who were removed from class on Thursday and another 15 yesterday were not done so to be humiliated, but parents were more likely to pay if their sons were inconvenienced. He insists that this not a form of punishment for the students.
“I have done this every two years for the last eight years. I am amiable with [the students] and there is no animosity. I emphasise that they have done nothing wrong,” Mr Kirk said.’
Wonder what the fucked old bully Mr Al Kirk thought about the rapists who raped a girl but still insist that it wasn’t rape because they weren’t violent. Same thing.
This fucked old bully Mr Al Kirk is meant to be an educator. He is not Baycorp. He and the self-importants on the board of trustees who seemingly empower him should be sacked immediately.
A better solution would be for Head Master Al Kirk to start up a fund whereby the past pupils association or the public could donate to assist (in a discreet way) the students from financially strapped homes so that they can participate in extracurricular activities or get help with stationery or uniform requirements.
I have had a complete gutsful of people who have no understanding of how hard it is for those who are struggling financially and who can just stand by and offer criticism. perhaps the Northern Advocate can start to advocate by setting up a fund.
Repeat what I wrote earlier when I saw this, the man is queuing to first in line for one of John Key’s principal leaders – a nice little bonus of $50,000 thanks. F**k the kids, or the local community – the man needs a right bullocking !!
What is it with some school principals? I mean, the obvious abuse of power aside, how do they get to run schools when they clearly have no fucking idea how schoolkids think and react?
Here’s a really depressing statistic Mike Treen found. Using a broader definition of jobless, he says that in the late 1990s about 75 per cent of jobless received a benefit. Today it’s less than 20 per cent. He estimates more than $1billion a year is withheld from the poorest. Little surprise then that at the same time we are told the economy is rosy churches and voluntary social services are overwhelmed by the poor begging for charity.
That’s interesting stuff from McCarten,(and Mike Treen), it would have been helpful tho for Matt to have posted a link,(if there is one), to a more detailed view of Treen’s work and how He arrived at this conclusion,
i am not doubting the veracity of what Mike Treen has to say but without the details this will quickly be forgotten as just another small distraction on a Sunday…
This was was a stark eye-opener to me.
That’s over 100,000 massively suffering people – made more sense of the huge percentiles of their children in poverty in this country.
Very important Daily Blog post from Wayne Hope, on the transnational elite that is the core of the rulers of our 21st century world.
This elite has at its core transnational corporations, especially those of speculative finance:
Or, to put this question another way, how do the rulers of the world rule? They do it through a loose network of power which William Robinson has called the transnational state. It incorporates policy development organisations such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Trilateral Commission (TC), the Bilderberg group, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBSCD) and, of course, the World Economic Forum (WEF). Together, these organisations constitute a cultural milieu of financiers and corporate executives who, selectively, invite in major government leaders, non-government organistions (NGOs), leading intellectuals and `try hard ` celebrities such as Sting and Bono.
It is such a loose network of power that I referred to in several posts on “networks of influence”. It’s not a carefull orchestrated conspiracy, but something far harder to counter: people involved in a range of intersecting networks all working in their own ways to get and use power, wealth and influence.
If you add in the US Federal Reserve along with the hand in that particular glove the American Mega-Banks you have the template for how 30 years of Neo-Liberalism was able to permeate across the political and societal landscape, sweeping all befor it to gain an ascendency it still holds today…
I’ll be looking forward to his next post. How do communities fight back?
It seems to me that most people’s lack of free time nowadays, the way life is structured so that work almost never ends, is a big factor here. It’s probably a factor in the rise of “clicktivism” – people have their computers on and can dip into sites like this without using up too much time.
You seem to be implying that this is something that Cunliffe could say.
A more appropriate quote from Mahatma Gandhi might be
“I have been known as a crank, faddist, madman. Evidently the reputation is well deserved. For wherever I go, I draw to myself cranks, faddists and madmen”
Does that remind you of some of the Cunliffe supporters?
No, you don’t actually. It’s the mocker who after winning the initial point scoring loses his credibility when people actually begin to listen to the mocked.
Hmm.
One would have to say that there isn’t a politician in the country who has very much credence then. At least among the ones that the public has heard of.
Among the “secret diary” versions he has published are ones about:
Colin Craig, Winston Peters, John Palino, David Cunliffe, Grant Robrttson, John Key and Peter Dunne.
Those were only the ones on the first screen of the google results from
“steve braunias secret diary of stuff”.
+1 lol yes they are really scraping the barrel having to resort to linking to satirical pieces – is that all they’ve got?
No arguments attacking the great policies coming out of the left-wing – simply false ‘flags’, and jackets (their version of addressing ‘material’ problems I guess). No, simply ‘ooh someone is making fun of Cunliffe – he must, therefore, be finished [:roll:]
Also another interesting ‘opinion piece’ [Stuff, 29 December 2013] about writing those ‘Secret Diaries’ from Steve Braunias, from which I quote:
“OPINION: It was a vintage year for low farce and high foolishness in New Zealand public life, for shameful acts and disgraceful behaviour, for sheer stupidity and evil doing, and I was very grateful…”
“…John Key and David Shearer tied for most appearances in the Secret Diary, with three each. Poor old Shearer! Twitchy and equivocal, he ended up jumping the snapper.
Key held on to power, and continued to resemble a moral and intellectual vacuum. I usually wrote diaries about his head floating away. I guess I felt about bad it, because I dreamed I ran into him, and lied, “Listen, deep down, I’ve got a lot of respect for you.” He stormed off. I respected him for it… “
Humour is great (and that piece about Cunliffe was funny!)
This morning I was watching Max Keiser and I highly recommend the show but on his site another video caught my eyes. The video called: Jump you fuckers and it is a song dedicated to the masters of the universe also known as the London city/Wall street bankster crowd.
This song is not for the faint of hart. In fact it’s brutal so if you don’t like swearing and wishing the pox on an entire group of people no matter how much they deserve it this song is not for you.
But if you feel the need to blast the bastards with a song that tells them what you think give it a go! I firmly held John Key in my mind when I listened to it and it gave me great joy!
Wow The TV3 poll results are fascinating. National slumped to 42% Labour 35% and Greens 11%. Certainly seems like The Cunliffe bribe has fooled enough people. Looks like there is no way that John Key can be Prime Minister. Labour/Greens still need Winston to come on board as last cab.
And I am so going to enjoy being at the airport to wave Key to his home in Hawaii. Cunliffe promised new leadership, brought in a whole tide of fresh supporters (some of whom will refresh caucus), got explicit support from the entire Ratana movement, and understands really clearly who needs to vote in order to change the government.
Key’s supporters can stay seduced by his smiles, his royal visits, the great sheen of the fawning and uncritical media, and will all weep at the end.
Anyone surprised by the personal attacks this week? Cunliffe just launched a policy with far greater sweet spot power than simply trying to bribe the teachers union. He just told everyone Labour loves your family, but using a nice deep code. National saw how positive it was trending, and had to mount a full and hard attack.
Watch the secret tidal change of major donors slipping over to the other side when they can see how fast and hard the tide is running out on National, below the surface.
I was quite happy to have a crack at Labour if this poll was catastrophic, and I am very pleased to see how confounded I have been.
Fisiani, come over to the side good, while there’s still time.
Trust me, if Key thinks he’s going to lose, Airforce One will be winging it’s way out in the early hours of the morning. I’m picking a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday’s Honours List, just in case. He might even resign in the last week if the polls are against him, handing over to whoever, so he can F.O. Remember, he only likes “winners.”
Lots of water to run under the bridge befor the vote, lots more policy announcements to come from Labour and the Green party,
48% in a Parliament without an overhang should be enough to form a Government, things are looking to be on a reasonable track this far out from the actual day,
TV3 polls aint known for being kind to Labour, and many, including the rumor mill from downtown Wellington, who usually can be relied upon to ‘know’ something, have been since well befor the Policy announcements from both Labour and the Green’s in the past coupe of weeks, saying that National are polling in the low 40’s,
Fisiani can call people fools all He likes, and, if He considers Labour’s ‘Best Start’ to be a bribe He must then acknowledge the National Party’s ‘tax switch’ as a bribe as well,
Yell it from the roof-tops Fisiani, ”the people are stupid” should be the battle cry of you and Slippery the Prime Minister for the 2014 election, your pretty much odds on for another 9 in Opposition as it is, might as well make it a certainty…
Please stop capitalising personal pronouns. “He” makes you look ridiculous.
The tax rebalancing was good policy designed to promote markets and self responsibility. The baby bribe is bad policy designed to entrench welfare dependency.
Please stop commenting as each one makes you look ever the more a ‘wing-nut’, Soooo making the poorest sections of society pay more of their income in GST while offering no counter to rising prices of an ongoing nature and the payment of yet more GST as those prices rise promotes self responsibility,
The heights to which your un-genius intellect will soar in search of bullshit knows no bounds and i am sure if the forces of gravity were not to be a factor of our little planet said intellect would simply travel the universe searching for the source of the one true piece of bullshit,
What is this welfare dependency you speak of, the facts show that very few people as a % of the total recipients of welfare that have an entrenched dependence on the provision of welfare, in the great scheme of things most spend a while on a benefit and then move into the workforce…
The tax rebalancing was good policy designed to promote markets and self responsibility.
You really have drunk the Kool-Aid. Nacts tax re-balancing was to make the rich richer and the poor poorer and that’s exactly what it’s done. It’s also left a massive hole in the governments accounts – just like it was supposed to – so that the government would have even more excuse for massive borrowing and austerity.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has estimated that more than 60% of the 5.7 million U.S. manufacturing jobs lost over the last decade were because of rising imports of manufactured goods. The Peterson Institute of International Economics estimates that 39% of the increase in U.S. income inequality is because of this imbalanced trade.
Yet Washington keeps negotiating so-called free-trade agreements that seem to open the U.S. market while leaving others relatively closed. A major reason for this is the classic economists’ argument that the generally lower consumer prices that may arise from imports will exceed the more limited wage losses that may occur in a few specific industries, and therefore, on balance, free trade will always and everywhere be a win-win arrangement. In other words, despite the millions of jobs lost as a result of the rising U.S. trade imbalance, the overall U.S. economy is supposed to be better off today than 10 years ago because of lower prices for consumers. The argument is that the wage losses occur only in a limited number of industries, while the lower prices are available to the entire population.
This simplistic analysis is incomplete and wrong. Its key assumption is that the economy is at full employment. In such a situation, workers who lost jobs in a few industries would lose wages only for a limited period until they found new jobs at the same wages as the old jobs. Thus there would be no overall downward pressure on wages and only limited and temporary wage losses for a relatively small part of the labor force, while the whole population would be benefiting from lower consumer prices.
Well, it seems it is out with the old, and in with the new.
According to Audrey Young (even though the formal announcement is not due until 3pm), Whyte is the new Act leader, and Seymour will be the Act candidate for the Epsom seat. Meaning that they have split the roles; and dumped Boscawen.
fucksake, ACT have yet another idiot who fumbles the “skeletons in the closet” question.
When your current MP is being prosecuted, and former MPs have committed identity fraud and who knows what else, the correct answer is “NO” – not “depends on what you call skeletons”
But when Nutt, a former chief drug advisor to the UK, raises the question of what Moss’s case can teach us about the dangers of smoking pot, his response is unequivocal: “I think the answer is nothing.”
Nutt isn’t being cold – he’s being realistic. “Taking any amount of cannabis,” he writes, “like all drugs, like so many activities, puts some stresses on the body.”
To suggest that a single incident – in which, it bears repeating, Moss smoked less than a joint’s-worth of marijuana – should ever be weighed seriously against weed’s history as a drug with no immediately lethal consequences is not only unreasonable, it distracts from more meaningful discussions about the actual dangers posed by drugs, illicit or otherwise:
It would seem that some people are getting terrified of the legalisation that is spreading around the world.
I’m wondering why there is a TV3 poll tonight – only the tail end of their polling would have covered the Labour announcement last Monday, (and Akl holiday weekend), but fully includes the effect of the National announcement
Gower keeps calling it (this single poll) a ‘game changer’, so we’ll see
But if you were going to time your six-weekly poll in a way to downplay the chances of one party after the ‘states’ of the nation, this would be it
There was a review on radionz of film 12 years a Slave. A freeman was grabbed from New York I think, because he was black and was delivered to the South to be a salave, and it took him 12 years to get away.
It was impressed on me the other day when I looked up the term shanghai-ing which I understood was the kidnapping of any unwary man to form part of a ship’s crew, how this was another type of slavery. Black slavery was done en masse, factory style, and for profit in a business chain where was money made at each node in the chain. The black slaves were goods later to be labour, but not as precious as supplying the correct number of crew before a voyage. So there couldn’t be the same ‘wastage’ as with the black slaves who were crammed into ships with lots of trauma, sickness, and death that decimated their numbers.
The ones ‘impressed’ or press-ganged’ for crew were needed bodily on the spot. They were needed to work as crew so could not be allowed to die with such disinterest. And the British Royal Navy were the biggest perpetrators as they attempted to fill the crews for their battleships in their sea war maneouvres. Brit businessmen also were big on transporting and dealing in black slaves. So the mix of cruelty and desire for profitable business is deep n the English mix.
Now Cameron and his ‘white shirts’ are reversing the social welfare and human rights advances so laboured over and sacrificed for, which has been used as exemplars of a modern better world. It is frightening to think of how low they can go, rationalising as to TINA all the way.
Has new boy Whyte bailed from the corrupt RWNJ Manning Foundation because the kitchen is getting too hot?.
The mayor said the third potential illegal activity exposed in the video concerns the home builders’ involvement with the Manning Centre, a conservative think-tank founded by former head of the Reform Party of Canada Preston Manning.
The Calgary-based centre is offering a training program for municipal election candidates with “market-oriented ideas and principles.”
In the video, Wenzel talks about how his company, and 11 others, are each giving the Manning Centre a $100,000 donation.
According to Nenshi, the Manning Centre’s dual status as a charity and a tax exempt non-profit prevents it from accepting such donations.
Dr Jamie Whyte: extremist libertarian and a worshipper at the altar of personal greed as the perfect driver for human advancement. For example:
Many of those occupying Wall Street and the City of London object to corporate greed. Yet greed is usually harmless……my greed is beneficial to others. It inspires me to come up with valuable things to offer them.
On the other hand – the good Doctor J says he has a great contempt for pragmatism:
I have a great contempt for pragmatism…..about
doing what gets [you] elected rather than doing what is right. Doing what keeps [you] in power. It is only because I care about truth and reason that I expose [this] nonsense and get riled about it.
Boscowan was actually pitching to keep the two roles together, not separate. So they did not swallow his pitch.
It also appears (according to the Herald) that Boscowan told the Act Board yesterday that he was resigning as Act President and was reconsidering his position in respect of financial support of the party. He will no longer be fundraising for them, but would remain a member.
..for anyone wanting to read the thoughts of this new hope of the far-right..
..and who he worked for:..
“..See a full list of FCPP’s publications on global warming here (almost all of them are highly skeptical, and many are authored by well-known climate change deniers)..”
..another climatechange denier aims for parliament..
..is that really what we want/need..?
..at this particular point in time..?
..when are they having a public-meeting..?
..i feel like taking the heckling-muscles out for a workout..
They would know each from their work in Canada as well as NZ, I guess.
It would be interesting if this an orchestrated buy-in to NZ politics (not the first time for NAct with the Brash-Banks fiasco, for example)… a little like, maybe, the attempted buy-in to Austrian politics by Austrian-Canadian Frank Stronach autoparts manufacturer Magna International? and whose daughter Belinda* was in the Conservative government there.
Hmm, these Canadian-based neo-libs certainly get around… I wonder if they know each other?
* although she seems to have had a change of heart and is now a liberal, back at Magna International and is a philanthropist after a falling out with Harper.
However, is the comment at 16.1 about Jamie Whyte or David Seymour? I can’t find anything else to show Whyte worked in Canada, just the UK? So maybe that link is out… still doesn’t change the ‘who knows who’ and ‘who’s paying’ questions though.
John Key will not have a “cup of tea” He will simply explain how MMP works and that to avoid a Greens led government stopping all progress a National led government has to be elected. He will explain that the key to this lies in just three constituencies. Epsom, Ohariu and East Coast Bays. He will explain that National supporters should give their party votes to National but cast their constituency votes for Seymour, Dunne and Craig. That will ensure that no one will think that a vote for ACT, UF or the Conservatives will be wasted. This will maximise the Centre owned by National.
yes ha ha. You know nothing. After 12 months of being convinced that we were stuck with a Greebour nightmare, I am convinced that a National led Government is a near certainty for another 3 years.
Yet another Clown comment SSLand, ipredict is a site for the stupid who think that by rearranging the % of the vote as a prediction of the election outcome doing so will make it come true,
Wishful thinking taken to it’s logical conclusion in other words, oh and that logical conclusion???, a fool and His money are soon parted which fits you to a T…
Do the arithmetic 47%+ 2%+1%+4% =54% which equates to 64/120 MP’s + MP 3 MP’s = 67/120 Thus giving dissension room for either the Cons or the MP over specific issues since they will seldom share points of view.
”ipredict’s prediction power was evident in the last election”,except laughably having got NZfirst totally wrong, i actually was of a belief that the NZFirst % of the vote was being deliberately manipulated, by who for obvious reasons i will not name,
Know anything about such manipulations Hooton???, i tracked what i seen as the manipulations for a number of months leading into the 2011election and using what i seen as manipulation of the NZFirst figures commenting on another site at the time was able to accurately predict that parties result,
Where did Fish-head get His numbers Matty??? out of His posterior of course, here i was assuming you knew of this because you appear at times to get your information from the same place…
The best thing about that spin, Matthew, is how we’re meant to think it’s “amazing” that iPredict was more accurate three months out than one month out for National’s party vote.
This would be what we on Planet Earth refer to as “luck”.
If you want less people on lonterm unemployment Dpb benefits Don’ t vote National going back to 1900 right wing govts have had more unemployment.
National and National lead govts have had more on these benefits and for much longer .
NZ statistics 1990 to 2000 National had over 6.5% unemployed averaging nearly 2 years on benefit Labour lead govt 3.5% unemployment with at an average of less than 6 months on benefits.
So by your own logic you would be pushing to get rid of the bludgers party.
What would make you even dispose Nactional even more is the picking winners BS nactionals broken promise of corporae welfare handef to media movie and mining moguls Nactionals friends!
Here are some views expressed in articles he’s written:
“Of course demand for GPs is too high — a visit costs zero – A moderate fee will deter people with sniffles” – 17th March 2010
“Base bankers’ pay on market’s bump and grind – Lap dancers’ financial arrangements could be a model for remuneration in investment banks and cut scope for criticism” – 28th September 2009
“Strip the Bank of England of its power – Leaving a team of ‘wise men’ to set interest rates is absurd. Market forces will always do it better” – 2nd July 2009
“The economy’s not dying. It’s poorly – What will really harm our future wealth is a hyperactive state which takes on too much power” – 15th April 2009
“The market is destructive. Good – Brown and Obama declare they love free trade. So why don’t they follow the logic of their thinking?” – 18th March 2009
“Business is not responsible for social justice – My company’s only cause is to make a profit “- 12th March 2009
“Perfect day to blow up the nanny state – The cost of protecting children from death is too high when it means that millions lose the chance of enjoying themselves” – 5th November 2008
“Nobody knows the importance of everything – When it comes to spending money on behalf of other people, no one can get it right. So no one should try” – 21st August 2008
Some consolation – at least it’s now official. If after 2014 Key governs only on account of electoral jack up with ACT we’ll truly be governed according to the imperatives of foreigners.
I can’t figure out whether your acceptance of them reinforces my view that they’re morally bankrupt and idiotic aphorisms, or that it simply reinforces my view that you’re a morally bankrupt idiot.
Yes, but you’re a far-right extremist with very, very fringe views shared by an almost immeasurably small percentage of voters (according to all available polling data) and you have no understanding of the culture and society of New Zealand, a country you’ve only visited via Wikipedia and GoogleMaps.
Thanks, SSlands, for confirming that you are a nastier piece of work than I had ever imagined. The cost of keeping you and your like away from my grandkids will never be too high.
Schrillglands time to use your private health insurance ACTparty support down by .8% to Zero.
Free straight jackets supplied to delusional rwnjs.
Crosby taxdodgers must be scrapping the bottom of a very empty barrel to pay an Airhead like you.
As I am not sure whether anyone else here has taken not of some highly revealing information that Chris Trotter has made available on The Daily Blog, I will just in case post this here:
Inform yourself about the “Committee For Auckland”, the who knows who selected boys and girls club, that “advises”, “inspires” and guides Auckland Council (the mayor, counsellors and their staff).
Go through it, and you will start to understand, why we have what we have, and why “democracy” is in the Super City nothing but a total farce. I would claim it is a FARCE in the whole country of New Zealand.
Some info of the key stakeholders and business bosses that make up the leadership within that Committee:
“Independent”, yeah right, like the MSM (mainstream media) journalists cheer-leading Key and the Nats into office again. Look also at their “Communications Manager” and her background (in corporate media)!!!
So how “independent” is Len Brown from big business then???
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
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The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
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Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
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More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
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Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
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by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
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The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
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This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
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The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
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We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
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Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
Olympic sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are throwing their weight behind a campaign encouraging New Zealander consumers and businesses to reduce their plastic pollution. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says his MP Agnes Loheni let him know she'd be contesting the candidacy for Botany, adding it's a "free world". ...
Think you’ve got your KiwiSaver sorted? Try Kōura’s ‘robo-advice’ questionnaire and you might be surprised.If a person who looks like they know about finance asks you whether your appetite for risk is low, medium or high, what do you say? The problem is most Kiwis don’t understand what the question ...
The Social Services and Community Committee is seeking submissions on the Rates Rebate (Statutory Declarations) Amendment Bill. This bill aims to improve the process of applying for rates rebates. It proposes: • Removing the requirement to make a statutory ...
The Māori Affairs Committee is calling for submissions on the Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. ...
The New Zealand Police have been used as a political pawn which is stretching their resources and seriously affecting their ability to address the real causes of crime, such as gang related supply of illicit drugs. ...
Alex Casey yarns to Karen O’Leary, early childhood teacher by day and star of Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in The Shadows by night. Two of the funniest moments in New Zealand television last year were entirely fence-based. First up there was Agni on The Block NZ, who packed a ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
Josie Adams is in tonight’s episode of Have You Been Paying Attention. Specifically, she is in the audience.When you watch Have You Been Paying Attention? tonight, please consider the bladders of audience members watching it live. They offer beverages, but my God it’s a dangerous offer. As I found out ...
Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th--there is very little evidence that says high pay and bonuses improve the performance of a company. Most ...
By Michael Andrew Pacific diplomats, academics and youth leaders will gather in Auckland this week to discuss security, economic development and other pressing issues shaping the region’s future. Pacific Futures will be held on October 18 and will feature speakers from across the region, including Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, Australian National University It has been more than two years since “clearance operations” by Myanmar’s security forces, the Tatmadaw, forced more than 700,000 Rohingya across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh. During this time, the UN Security Council has ...
Fast food company Restaurant Brands has made a smaller half year profit largely because of accounting changes as it prepares to invest heavily in the launch of Taco Bell in New Zealand. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Papua New Guinea police have issued a warrant for the arrest of former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. According to EMTV News, the Waigana district court issued the warrant which was based on evidence previously compiled by police investigators. Acting Police Commissioner David Manning said he ...
Patient Voice Aotearoa welcomes the comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on ‘The Project’ on Friday last week. Peters stated “Right now…we know we are not spending nearly enough on pharmaceuticals and first world drugs…the ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on outgoing Porirua Mayor Mike Tana to repay money clocked up on his ratepayer-funded fuel card for personal travel. The Ernst and Young report released yesterday reveals that, within less than three ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, a new hole-in-the-wall eatery in Auckland dedicated to New Zealand’s favourite snack.Cheese On Toast has unsavoury connotations for a lot of New Zealand music fans, but now you can wash that bad taste out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Md Arif Hasan, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert ...
There’s an innovation renaissance brewing in post-earthquake Christchurch as multicultural entrepreneurship replaces the old boys’ network. This required a new name, writes Steven Moe.An unusual name that evokes images from Harry Potter is fine by the Ministry of Awesome, because it immediately sets it apart. Founded in the aftermath of ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Ngā Tāngata Microfinance endorse the Salvation Army’s call for tougher regulations on debt collectors and mechanisms to provide forgiveness or waivers for debts to private lenders and Government that are "effectively ...
Cotton On members are currently negotiating a new Collective Agreement with their employer, but despite the company’s repeated claims that they will provide “a pathway to the living wage”, a “people first focus” and a “commitment to ...
Today the Wellington Howard League releases the results of its fourth annual Wellington Howard League prison survey. The survey suggests a variation in the conditions experienced across prisons in New Zealand and an overall decline in most aspects surveyed. This ...
Some people go for a run to let off steam after work, while others try their hand at ballroom dancing or hit up a pub quiz. And some, as Greta Yeoman discovers, throw sharp objects at walls. She gives it a go.An uncoordinated, anxious journalist with terrible aim is probably ...
A move by Australia's financial regulator could be enough to turn the big banks' threat to ditch New Zealand into a reality - or at least see them charge customers more. ...
A staffing survey carried out by the senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, has found a gaping shortfall of hospital specialists at the Northland DHB. ...
Iain Lees-Galloway has defended granting residency to a man with multiple drink-driving convictions saying the person had been in the country for 20 years and had kept out of trouble for a long time. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Industrial relations Luke Malpass (Stuff): Winston Peters holds the keys to new union laws. Will ...
Yes we fully support Minister of transport plan to use special speed cameras finally catching all speeding trucks, and other vehicles on our narrow single lane roads that are not fit to use as a speedway by any vehicle. ...
This afternoon Fish & Game posted a public statement responding to my email to supporters this morning – specifically rejecting our claim that steel shot is now deemed "enhanced penetration ammunition" and therefore possession of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Two-thirds of young people experience levels of exam stress that mental health organisation ReachOut describes as “worrying”. Research shows high levels of exam stress can interfere with attention and reduce working memory, leading ...
The National Party's outrage that the Immigration Minister granted residency to a protected person and recidivist drink driver, entitling them to the same benefits as New Zealanders, has backfired. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Beckett, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Melbourne Reports of Facebook moderators’ appalling working conditions have been making headlines worldwide. Workers say they are burning out as they moderate vast flows of violent content under pressure, with vague, ever-changing guidelines. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Lycett, Senior Research Officer, Deakin University; Honorary Fellow, The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Three simple factors can predict whether a child is likely to be overweight or obese by the time they reach adolescence: the child’s body mass ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Marshall, Lecturer, Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, University of Melbourne You may mock the national anthem by singing “Our land abounds in nature strips” but what you might not know is how true that is. In Melbourne, for example, more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University It’s unlikely Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team, realised he’d be sparking an international diplomatic incident when, on October 4, he tweeted the following Stand with Hong ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure on government from unions, mosque attack victim widows turned down for residency, and another Nat eyes safe Botany seat nomination.Pressure is being put on the government to deliver on one of their major promises to the union movement, reports the NZ ...
It’s the end of an era at Three as MAFS NZ and Guy Williams’ new show canceled and 7 Days cut to bone, writes Duncan Greive.A trio of shows which have been amongst Three’s most important local productions are either being canceled or severely cut back, as the channel’s agonising ...
'Joker' expects viewers not only to understand its cruelty, but to understand the justified violence of a white man when the protests of black men and women in the US are regularly met with condemnation, vilification and exclusion. ...
She runs the women's Aussie Rules and netball programmes at one of Australia's oldest sports clubs, so why is Jane Woodlands-Thompson sitting on the Silver Ferns bench? ...
As someone with a severe chronic illness, Hannah McGowan has a vested interest in getting to the bottom of what cannabis can and can’t do for her health. The reality, she discovers, is complicated.Woo [colloq.]: Mystical, supernatural or pseudo-scientific beliefs not backed up by evidence. I crave a well informed, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The last PM shock jock Alan Jones slapped down was Jacinda Ardern. His language was particularly offensive, advertisers deserted his program and he apologised to New Zealand’s leader. But at least Ardern didn’t have to ...
By Michael Andrew and Sri Krishnamurthi The true story of one of the Pacific’s great waka builders and sailor has been captured in a stirring and visually gripping documentary. Loimata: The Sweetest Tears follows the final years of Ema Siope, a Samoan born kiwi who endured a tumultuous past ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Cowie, Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Viral Hepatitis, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity Around one-third of Australians living with hepatitis C have been cured in the last four years. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis C is ...
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. Image AsiaPacificReport.nz/RNZ.Commentators across the political spectrum seem to agree – the Labour-led Government’s popularity is being damaged by its failure to deliver in Jacinda Ardern’s self-proclaimed “Year of Delivery”. Instead, the delivery of bad news to Labour and the Government has come in ...
Internet Service Providers have cautiously greeted the news that the Government is exploring an internet filter for violent extremist and terrorist content. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Polls Richard Harman (Politik): Ardern now dependent on Peters Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Ardern still standing, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Austin, Professor UNSW Canberra Cyber, UNSW This is part of a new series looking at the national security challenges facing Australia, how our leaders are responding to them and how these measures are impacting society. Read other stories in the series ...
Researchers from Lincoln University are investigating how to use nanotechnology in agriculture to increase productivity and reduce environmental impact. ...
The increased presence of anti-trans and white supremacist stickers around the University of Auckland campus is proof that inaction is enabling hate groups, write Anisha Sankar and Max Whitehurst.Anisha Sankar is a Chennai-born, Te Awakairangi-raised, South Indian Tamil studying at the University of Auckland. Max Whitehurst is a transgender Pākehā ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Following the Christchurch mosque shootings, the New Zealand government’s first response was to ban the firearms the alleged gunman had used to murder 51 people. Seven months later, the second tranche of this process ...
The nine members for the next three year term of the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB) for Auckland have been appointed by the statutory Selection Body. Their appointments begin on 1 November 2019 and continue to 31 October 2022. Mana Whenua ...
“If we are truly to solve the challenge of poverty within the Te Ao Maori world we must lift our people from the low wage and low skills growth side of the economy. At the same time we must continue to ensure our people, no matter where they are, ...
Open mike 02/02/2014 
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I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...6 hours ago
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11195478
– Kerre calls it as it is
Oh dear, back to the bubbles….
There’s another column from Kerre floating round on the Herald as well, a long sickening ‘gush’ over Slippery the Prime Minister,(apparently Kerre just happened to bump into Him while She was in training for a marathon,(pfft),and He was strolling round Auckland with the wife in tow doing a normal bloke routine,(that description by Kerre smacked so much of the ‘truth’ that i had a vision of John Armstrong leaning over Her shoulder whispering words of encouragement into Her ear, or more to the point wheezing the actual script of the article to be printed out of fast failing lungs),
Put together with all the political commentary from the Heralds lineup of ‘wing-nut’ spin merchants this week i get a sense of a troop of Baboons becoming unsettled in their tree top home by the smell of approaching danger breaking into fits of insanely wild screeching all the while defecating/urinating uncontrollably in a paroxysm of fear driven terror,
”Took a knife to a gunfight”,how tired and old can you get,Kerre shows all the intellectual depth of a puddle of Baboons urine, and, with Her having joined the screeching of the troop you would have to wonder if Bryce now has a little competition for Armstrong’s job once the latter has drawn His last gasp…
As McIvor nee Woodham always does – predictably facile – weirdly unintelligent – a media scrubber earning her crust.
@ north..
..’ouch!’…but true..
..phillip ure..
Chris73. If you want a more realistic response to the accusations of castles and clothes then have a look at this. Fascinating lifestyle.:
“Yesterday, the Green Party co-leader tentatively opened her doors to our photographer – and revealed a wardrobe filled with more blue than green. “I quite like blue,” she laughed…….
“Well, this visit clears up a few things. The two-bedroom “castle” is made from stone and corrugated iron. Old fridges serve as cupboards and doorways; a large truck tyre has been turned into a window frame in the master bedroom. A new pizza oven, made from mud, straw and sand, rests on a stack of tyres.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11195535
ianmac, great link to a well written story, lives in a castle indeed, why wouldn’t Mets dress to impress, most of us given the wages to do so would probably have a far more expensive means of dressing,
Does the Childrens Commissioner dress in sack-cloth to deliver reports on the state of New Zealand Children, it is shear hypocrisy for Tolley,Collins and Slippery the Prime Minister to attack Metiria over Her chosen lifestyle with such absolute Lies,
Hopefully the television channels pick up on this story which has in all probability already cost National big time proving to a wider audience just how ugly their fear driven attacks upon the Green Party are…
The point is she is skating on thin ice wailing about poverty (and greenhouse emissions) when she clearly consumes huge quantities of food herself and spends conspicuous amounts of money on clothes. Then when she gets mildly called out she cries racist. Really?
This has not cost National big time at all. I’ll call back in and see how you are doing when the next polls come out. Although I am sure you will have someone to blames. The media, the CE of Housing New Zealand. Maybe the Electricity Authority.
SSLands, your latest attack on Metiria Turei, unless you would care to provide a modicum of proof, is simply more ‘wing-nuts’ lies,
You are barely coherent this morning has the hang-over effected your ability to construct a lucid comment,not that any of the other utter rubbish you spew forth is much better,
Yes please, F off until the publication of the next ‘opinion poll’, you wont be missed, perhaps i could ask LPrent to give you a hand in your stated intention to desist from commenting until that next poll is published…
“You are barely coherent this morning has the hang-over effected your ability to construct a lucid comment,not that any of the other utter rubbish you spew forth is much better,”
No, I never consume alcohol, or any other drugs.
Maybe you should. You’d be less of a fuckwit.
Just plain rude as usual. Good manners go a long way you know.
Oh fuck off you pretentious git.
Charming
Took you a long time to answer/sober up, shrinkglands!!
CV
Why do we have this ‘charming’ twerp here anyway? He’s not as useful as the caretaker Argus Filch at Hogwarts in Harry Potter and not as popular.
Good manners? Your policies kill children. Go fuck yourself with your “good manners”.
SSLands, is that right, well then i would suggest you are suffering stress or you have brain damage of some form, perhaps you should have it checked befor it turns into a disease of the mind…
Intoxicated by the whiff of future riches
Readers are invited to note srylands’ use of language:
– Metiria is “wailing” about political issues
– Metiria is fat so her opinions don’t matter
– Metiria spends “conspicuous” amounts on clothes (the linked article above to the contrary)
– She was only “mildly called out” so what’s the fuss about
– She “cries racist” because that’s what manipulative brown people do
Yep, no sexism nor racism to be seen here, folks. Carry on.
+1
and the silence from srylands is deafening
@ bad..
..i don’t think it has hurt national..
..tureis’ racism-call was ‘the boy crying wolf’…
..and way way off the mark..
..(it was a hypocrisy/’nasty-natty’-smear..)
….and she did herself no favours..with those racism allegations..
..(and i know it is only a herald online poll..
..but that only 2% of respondents think tureis’ racism-call was correct..
..must tell her/say something..
..surely..?
..(and also..surely..granny-print-tolley and helmet-hair/80’s power-dresser collins criticising anothers’ dress-sense..
..is both very funny..and beyond irony..)
..phillip ure..
I’ve no problem with people saying Tolleys comments were dumb or whatever other term you want but it wasn’t racist
How lame of Material to play the race card. Taking a knife to a gun fight sums it up well.
You would defend anything.
The nasty Nat party showing it’s true colours.
NM
More; taking a gun to a knife fight.
If you regard Kerre McIvor as a journalist worth quoting, that says a lot about you.
What journalist ? Where ? A tired flibbitigibbert hack I see.
@north..
..have you seen the offerings from shelley bridgeman..?
..whoar..!..
..bridgeman makes woodham read like tolstoy laced/leavened with wodehouse..
(..which if so..would be a tasty/interesting mix..)
..phillip ure..
It’s important to address male violence in all communities. But isn’t Shane Jones just reinforcing negative stereotypes and prejudices about Maori men?
Especially when he frames it in contrast to issues of land, manu whenua, and colonisation, in this way:
“But isn’t Shane Jones just reinforcing negative stereotypes and prejudices about Maori men?”
No. It highlights that Maori leadership is working to reduce violence in their communities. Maori are disproportionately represented in the violent stats as everyone knows. Working to fix that is a good thing not enforcing a stereotype or prejudices.
Working to reduce violence in one’s own communities is an excellent thing to do. But Jones is whistling hard for his dog here. And his timing is telling: along with the way he opposes the anti-violence message to core issues associated with Waitangi Day.
Precisely, Karol. The guy’s an idiot and a liability to Labour. They need to cut him loose. If they want an excuse get a journalist to ask him to name one thing he has in common with the Labour Party and there they’ll have it.
What has ethnicity got to do with it? Other than being a right wing dog whistle for bigots to drool over that is?
Shane Jones, He who replaces waffle interspersed with words in the nature of 12 or more letters in an attempt to portray Himself as the ‘Oxford scholar’ should know better,
Statistics will show that such young Maori as those highlighted have little knowledge and/or connection with their particular Marae and in fact live in exactly the same manner as their Pakeha counterparts,
Maori no longer live surrounding a particular Marae, something that seems to have escaped Shane, and, Maori are now spread far and wide where they may reside in any rohe on the motu and most of what goes on at a Marae level these days is simply preaching to the converted so how Jones intends the voice of Iwi leaders in Te Tai Tokerau to be taken notice of, or even heard,in say Whanga-nui-a-tara is beyond me…
Out of curiosity what do you reckon the % of Maori would be who are actively involved in their tribe/ marae?
10%, 20%,50% ?
Also can someone from a different tribal area cruise along to the local Marae and get involved?
BM, all of those numbers and sometimes higher depending upon the definition you apply to ”actively involved in their Marae”,
There are many un-noticed an un-reported Marae based and inter-Marae based sporting competitions that the participants in have as their only strong connection to a Marae,(apart from Tangi),
Just as there are many sports teams in the wider community that a particular Marae favors in terms of participation by it’s members without there being an actual Marae connection,
i have spent a couple of spare weeks working on carvings at Marae while mostly accept for discussions in the family,(which might or might not have a wider reach), and, stopping ‘in’ on the odd occasion,usually in the wee small hours,for a spot of karakia is my ‘connection’,
Why do you ask…
It was more of a question regarding your comment about Shane Jones being out of touch and his comment not being relevant to how Maori live these days.
I could be completely wrong here but If you compared Maori who are more actively involved( not just turning up for a tangi every so often) in their Marae with Maori who are not, I’d say the bad statistics such as violence and crime would be way down and probably on par with most other ethnicities.
Which I then wondered if a person who moved from one tribal areal into another could join up to their local Marae even though they’re from a different tribe.?
If they can’t I do wonder if Maori Marae need to get together and maybe form Marae affiliations so Maori from other tribal areas have a place to go and feel involved in the local Maori community.
BM, in some places this occurs but you have to remember that Marae and those who ‘belong’ are basically a family institution with a history going back centuries,
On a deeper level it would then be hard for those who do not have knowledge of this history to join in but in the area of say sports, some cultural events and Marae based training activities friends of the wider whanau are welcome to join in, much of this depends upon how ‘active’ a particular Marae is, some mostly in a more urban setting have and are becoming again the focal point of tribal activity,
What your really asking is for Marae,(an extended family),to take ownership of problems which they are in no way part of, a bit like asking you to take ownership of a particular homeless street kid with offending problems you have little or no prior knowledge of,
Would you???…
as a pakeha..(we who have nothing..in that sense..)
…i have marae-envy…
..and would like to see similar community-based/focused set-ups most places…
.(possible name:..’parae’..?..)
..seriously tho’..!..
..phillip ure..
BM
What do you reckon the % of Pākehā would be who are actively involved in community organisations? 10%, 20%,50% ?
Depending on past actions, anyone (Māori, Pākehā, or Tauiwi) can cruise along to the local Marae and get involved. The tikanga (protocol) of doing so can be complex however. I find my lack of fluency in te reo greatly inhibits my ability to participate, especially down here in Kai Tahu country where the dialect is different to the Northland one that has become the standard.
The important things to remember are respect and humility; so I’d advise you to stay far away.
To answer your question. Yes.
Pakeha and Tau iwi are welcome also, on any Marae I have visited.
Like any community group there are protocols and customs.
Just like the local yacht club or Rotary.
Not as complicated as the Masons, though.
You won’t get into any trouble if you genuinely try to confirm to them.
Ask a local.
And. Also like any community group, if you are willing to pick up a tea towel or a hammer you will become Tangata Whenua very quickly.
or the Northern Club when I was a practicing solicitor. On two occasions settlement meetings were held there so I couldn’t attend. Women only.
I didn’t practice in the 1880’s, I practised in the early 1990’s…
Shane Jones is a very smart man. Has anyone told him he is in the wrong party?
bloody hell..!..i’m agreeing with the velcro-kid/naki-man..
..(second sentence only..)
..phillip ure..
Quite a few of us on the left have suggested that he move to National but none of us agree that he’s quite smart. Has to do with right-wingers being stupid in general.
When I say Shane Jones is a very smart man I mean he stands out from the rest of the talentless bunch at Labour, he is for drilling and mining and would prefer his people in high paying work than being unemployed. I think Yea Nah Cunliffe is still a bob each way on mining.
Right-wingers are less intelligent than left wingers, says study
And you just proved that by continuing to believe that a few jobs digging up our wealth and selling it will make us richer.
Yes.
Maybe I’m missing some nuance. But it read to me as a straight forward appeal to bring people and community into a frame that has exclusively sat around concerns of material acquisition. Reinforcing stereotypes? no. Acknowledging shortcomings within the culture of iwi leadership? yes.
It’s partly the timing – coming up to Waitangi day where the issues for many MOR NZers are those Maori going on about land rights, the Treaty etc. And partly the way he expressed it. Jones didn’t say it’s about materialism, obut something more vague – “ownership of earth, wind and fire” – serves as a dog whistle for those against Waitangi settlements – and along with such a mind set goes a stereotype of criminally inclined, violent Maori.
I see Sealord Jones’s statements exactly the way you do, Karol. He’s saying “Shut up about the Treaty, the dispossession, and focus on what concerns pakeha bigots about Maoridom.” He’s serving himself once again as he plays his kupapa role in the politics of Te Tai Tokerau.
No he is just highlighting the unfortunate fact that maori males are way over represented in family (and all) violence and crime stats.
He is also highlighting the unfortunate fact that a deafening silence is all you hear from leadership in maoridom in regards to maori crime and violence however if anyone dare disturb a taniwha there are hikoi and hui up and down the country denouncing the same.
What has ethnicity got to do with it? Come on Jimmie enlighten us.
@ oan..
..jones is reaching out to/affirming to/dog-whistling to..
..the pakeha working class racist underbelly..
..confirming their prejudices/sneers..
..and painting himself to them..
..as a maori who will ‘sort out’ ‘the maori’.. in general..
..jones is smart enough to know the potency of that message..
..to that working class racist underbelly..
..it’s as simple as that..
..oan..
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
I was wondering how Jimmie justifies it.
Nah they just aren’t as keen to arrest the white bullies
karol
He done all right. Not everyone comes up to our high standard.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11195207
So we’re meant to congratulate this fucked old bully Mr Al Kirk the principal of Whangarei Boys High School because he’s “unrepentant” are we ???
And what are these weasel words from the same fucked old bully ?
Oh, he was just causing some “inconvenience” to the pupils, in order to put pressure on the parents.
Comment not fully posted – the weasel words are here:
‘…..headmaster Al Kirk stands by his hard line on outstanding fees, saying the 15 students who were removed from class on Thursday and another 15 yesterday were not done so to be humiliated, but parents were more likely to pay if their sons were inconvenienced. He insists that this not a form of punishment for the students.
“I have done this every two years for the last eight years. I am amiable with [the students] and there is no animosity. I emphasise that they have done nothing wrong,” Mr Kirk said.’
Wonder what the fucked old bully Mr Al Kirk thought about the rapists who raped a girl but still insist that it wasn’t rape because they weren’t violent. Same thing.
This fucked old bully Mr Al Kirk is meant to be an educator. He is not Baycorp. He and the self-importants on the board of trustees who seemingly empower him should be sacked immediately.
A better solution would be for Head Master Al Kirk to start up a fund whereby the past pupils association or the public could donate to assist (in a discreet way) the students from financially strapped homes so that they can participate in extracurricular activities or get help with stationery or uniform requirements.
I have had a complete gutsful of people who have no understanding of how hard it is for those who are struggling financially and who can just stand by and offer criticism. perhaps the Northern Advocate can start to advocate by setting up a fund.
Yeah good suggestion TV but that wouldn’t answer the big fish bully in his little pond fiefdom. Unrepentant ? What a fucking disgrace.
Repeat what I wrote earlier when I saw this, the man is queuing to first in line for one of John Key’s principal leaders – a nice little bonus of $50,000 thanks. F**k the kids, or the local community – the man needs a right bullocking !!
The word rape is lining up to be another word coming under Godwin’s law.
He needs to be fired ASAP.
What is it with some school principals? I mean, the obvious abuse of power aside, how do they get to run schools when they clearly have no fucking idea how schoolkids think and react?
I’m reminded of Pukekohe High principal Ian McKinnon’s complete hand-waving away of sexual assault in his schoolyard: http://ideologicallyimpure.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/principal-ian-mckinnon-accepts-bullying-as-normal-a-joke/
I had the honour of being expelled from WBHS. One of the best things that ever happened to me.
myself..and quite a few others..
..are getting a bit pissy about how..with the ongoing wave internationally of ‘normal’isation of cannabis laws..
..at a time when they should have put down their bongs/stood up/and spoken out..loudly..
..our local ‘drug-warriors’ have all impressed with/by their stunned-silences..
..are they just thinking/acting thru their wallets..?
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/clinic-on-high-alert-comment-and-what-has-happened-to-the-new-zealand-drug-warriors-too-busy-raking-it-in-from-pushing-legal-highs/
phillip ure..
Matt McCarten on the dodgy unemployment stats (courtesy of Mike Treen’s research).
That’s interesting stuff from McCarten,(and Mike Treen), it would have been helpful tho for Matt to have posted a link,(if there is one), to a more detailed view of Treen’s work and how He arrived at this conclusion,
i am not doubting the veracity of what Mike Treen has to say but without the details this will quickly be forgotten as just another small distraction on a Sunday…
link to Mike Treen’s article
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/30/billions-of-dollars-stolen-from-the-unemployed/
@ tm..
..i’ve linked to that treen-piece before..
..i think i will do so again..
..phillip ure..
This was was a stark eye-opener to me.
That’s over 100,000 massively suffering people – made more sense of the huge percentiles of their children in poverty in this country.
The recent Census showed that over 100,000 adults were unemployed. I think that is right from memory.
Very important Daily Blog post from Wayne Hope, on the transnational elite that is the core of the rulers of our 21st century world.
This elite has at its core transnational corporations, especially those of speculative finance:
It is such a loose network of power that I referred to in several posts on “networks of influence”. It’s not a carefull orchestrated conspiracy, but something far harder to counter: people involved in a range of intersecting networks all working in their own ways to get and use power, wealth and influence.
If you add in the US Federal Reserve along with the hand in that particular glove the American Mega-Banks you have the template for how 30 years of Neo-Liberalism was able to permeate across the political and societal landscape, sweeping all befor it to gain an ascendency it still holds today…
Empires strike back. And win.
I’ll be looking forward to his next post. How do communities fight back?
It seems to me that most people’s lack of free time nowadays, the way life is structured so that work almost never ends, is a big factor here. It’s probably a factor in the rise of “clicktivism” – people have their computers on and can dip into sites like this without using up too much time.
how progressives..in general..and labour/cunnliffe..in particular..
..are ‘getting it wrong’..
http://whoar.co.nz/2014/how-the-progressives-have-got-it-wrong-and-if-they-dont-start-to-get-it-right-the-conservatives-will-maintain-the-upperhand/
phillip ure..
I wish there was a like button for comments.
AND…I just linked through to your blog. Never realized Whoar was your blog.
Even more like now!
chrs 4 the kind words re whoar..
..and that article is a killer/must-read..
..(for all in labour..for all who label themselves as ‘progressives’..)
..eh..?
..phillip ure..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/9672142/The-secret-diary-of-David-Cunliffe
When you are mocked you lose all credibility
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi
You seem to be implying that this is something that Cunliffe could say.
A more appropriate quote from Mahatma Gandhi might be
“I have been known as a crank, faddist, madman. Evidently the reputation is well deserved. For wherever I go, I draw to myself cranks, faddists and madmen”
Does that remind you of some of the Cunliffe supporters?
Was Gandhi referring to his supporters though?
No, you don’t actually. It’s the mocker who after winning the initial point scoring loses his credibility when people actually begin to listen to the mocked.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/9650607/The-secret-diary-of-John-Key
26 January 2014
When you are mocked you lose all credibility.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi
*Disclaimer, I used to listen to a fair bit of Genesis so I won’t hold that against Cunliffe
add to this Dunne, Banks et al….and Supper’s Ready is my absolute favourite
I always liked Duchess and Home By The Sea 2
could someone alert iprent to the fact the site has been/is being attacked by ‘genesis’/phil collins spam-bots..
..and that it’s getting pretty ugly down here..
..(shudder..!..)
phillip ure..
and that braunias-piece on cunnliffe is funny..
“….I want to begin with an anecdote that humanises me as an ordinary New Zealander.
I had a bit of time to kill one morning over summer –
– so I decided to climb Mt Everest.
It was icy in places – but I wrapped myself in the scarf I used to wear as a student at Otago University.
The smell of the wool brought back priceless memories.
Memories of rocking out at parties to the sounds of Genesis.
Those were the days!
Or were they?
As I stood on the peak of the world’s highest mountain listening to Sessudio on my iPod –
– I felt then what I felt in Dunedin: cold.
You might say “Well – David – that’s your problem.”
But it’s also New Zealand’s problem..”
(heh..!..it goes on..)
phillip ure..
Yeah, not the best idea fisiani’s ever had.
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=steve+braunias+secret+diary
when you are ‘fisani’..you lose all credibility..
phillip ure..
Freudian in the extreme FussyAnnie.
Hmm.
One would have to say that there isn’t a politician in the country who has very much credence then. At least among the ones that the public has heard of.
Among the “secret diary” versions he has published are ones about:
Colin Craig, Winston Peters, John Palino, David Cunliffe, Grant Robrttson, John Key and Peter Dunne.
Those were only the ones on the first screen of the google results from
“steve braunias secret diary of stuff”.
Looks like the Tories don’t have any actual arguments..just insults.
+1 lol yes they are really scraping the barrel having to resort to linking to satirical pieces – is that all they’ve got?
No arguments attacking the great policies coming out of the left-wing – simply false ‘flags’, and jackets (their version of addressing ‘material’ problems I guess). No, simply ‘ooh someone is making fun of Cunliffe – he must, therefore, be finished [:roll:]
Veutoviper already linked to one – here is another
Also another interesting ‘opinion piece’ [Stuff, 29 December 2013] about writing those ‘Secret Diaries’ from Steve Braunias, from which I quote:
Humour is great (and that piece about Cunliffe was funny!)
Thanks Steve Braunias, & keep up the good work!
Yes indeed, fake Warrior. They’ve already done John Key and most of the others that serve mainly to inspire man love in you.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/opinion/9650607/The-secret-diary-of-John-Key
This morning I was watching Max Keiser and I highly recommend the show but on his site another video caught my eyes. The video called: Jump you fuckers and it is a song dedicated to the masters of the universe also known as the London city/Wall street bankster crowd.
This song is not for the faint of hart. In fact it’s brutal so if you don’t like swearing and wishing the pox on an entire group of people no matter how much they deserve it this song is not for you.
But if you feel the need to blast the bastards with a song that tells them what you think give it a go! I firmly held John Key in my mind when I listened to it and it gave me great joy!
Adopting SlaterPornSpeak – “Do The World A Favour……..And Jump You Fuckers !”
Wow The TV3 poll results are fascinating. National slumped to 42% Labour 35% and Greens 11%. Certainly seems like The Cunliffe bribe has fooled enough people. Looks like there is no way that John Key can be Prime Minister. Labour/Greens still need Winston to come on board as last cab.
And I am so going to enjoy being at the airport to wave Key to his home in Hawaii. Cunliffe promised new leadership, brought in a whole tide of fresh supporters (some of whom will refresh caucus), got explicit support from the entire Ratana movement, and understands really clearly who needs to vote in order to change the government.
Key’s supporters can stay seduced by his smiles, his royal visits, the great sheen of the fawning and uncritical media, and will all weep at the end.
Anyone surprised by the personal attacks this week? Cunliffe just launched a policy with far greater sweet spot power than simply trying to bribe the teachers union. He just told everyone Labour loves your family, but using a nice deep code. National saw how positive it was trending, and had to mount a full and hard attack.
Watch the secret tidal change of major donors slipping over to the other side when they can see how fast and hard the tide is running out on National, below the surface.
I was quite happy to have a crack at Labour if this poll was catastrophic, and I am very pleased to see how confounded I have been.
Fisiani, come over to the side good, while there’s still time.
Trust me, if Key thinks he’s going to lose, Airforce One will be winging it’s way out in the early hours of the morning. I’m picking a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday’s Honours List, just in case. He might even resign in the last week if the polls are against him, handing over to whoever, so he can F.O. Remember, he only likes “winners.”
Which poll was that fisiani? Recent was it?
Lots of water to run under the bridge befor the vote, lots more policy announcements to come from Labour and the Green party,
48% in a Parliament without an overhang should be enough to form a Government, things are looking to be on a reasonable track this far out from the actual day,
TV3 polls aint known for being kind to Labour, and many, including the rumor mill from downtown Wellington, who usually can be relied upon to ‘know’ something, have been since well befor the Policy announcements from both Labour and the Green’s in the past coupe of weeks, saying that National are polling in the low 40’s,
Fisiani can call people fools all He likes, and, if He considers Labour’s ‘Best Start’ to be a bribe He must then acknowledge the National Party’s ‘tax switch’ as a bribe as well,
Yell it from the roof-tops Fisiani, ”the people are stupid” should be the battle cry of you and Slippery the Prime Minister for the 2014 election, your pretty much odds on for another 9 in Opposition as it is, might as well make it a certainty…
Please stop capitalising personal pronouns. “He” makes you look ridiculous.
The tax rebalancing was good policy designed to promote markets and self responsibility. The baby bribe is bad policy designed to entrench welfare dependency.
How can you not see the difference?
Please stop commenting as each one makes you look ever the more a ‘wing-nut’, Soooo making the poorest sections of society pay more of their income in GST while offering no counter to rising prices of an ongoing nature and the payment of yet more GST as those prices rise promotes self responsibility,
The heights to which your un-genius intellect will soar in search of bullshit knows no bounds and i am sure if the forces of gravity were not to be a factor of our little planet said intellect would simply travel the universe searching for the source of the one true piece of bullshit,
What is this welfare dependency you speak of, the facts show that very few people as a % of the total recipients of welfare that have an entrenched dependence on the provision of welfare, in the great scheme of things most spend a while on a benefit and then move into the workforce…
Please return to kiwiblog.
please just stop.
You really have drunk the Kool-Aid. Nacts tax re-balancing was to make the rich richer and the poor poorer and that’s exactly what it’s done. It’s also left a massive hole in the governments accounts – just like it was supposed to – so that the government would have even more excuse for massive borrowing and austerity.
The penny’s dropping.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has estimated that more than 60% of the 5.7 million U.S. manufacturing jobs lost over the last decade were because of rising imports of manufactured goods. The Peterson Institute of International Economics estimates that 39% of the increase in U.S. income inequality is because of this imbalanced trade.
Yet Washington keeps negotiating so-called free-trade agreements that seem to open the U.S. market while leaving others relatively closed. A major reason for this is the classic economists’ argument that the generally lower consumer prices that may arise from imports will exceed the more limited wage losses that may occur in a few specific industries, and therefore, on balance, free trade will always and everywhere be a win-win arrangement. In other words, despite the millions of jobs lost as a result of the rising U.S. trade imbalance, the overall U.S. economy is supposed to be better off today than 10 years ago because of lower prices for consumers. The argument is that the wage losses occur only in a limited number of industries, while the lower prices are available to the entire population.
This simplistic analysis is incomplete and wrong. Its key assumption is that the economy is at full employment. In such a situation, workers who lost jobs in a few industries would lose wages only for a limited period until they found new jobs at the same wages as the old jobs. Thus there would be no overall downward pressure on wages and only limited and temporary wage losses for a relatively small part of the labor force, while the whole population would be benefiting from lower consumer prices.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-prestowitz-sotu-trade-deficit-20140130,0,1832709.story
Well, it seems it is out with the old, and in with the new.
According to Audrey Young (even though the formal announcement is not due until 3pm), Whyte is the new Act leader, and Seymour will be the Act candidate for the Epsom seat. Meaning that they have split the roles; and dumped Boscawen.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11195695
fucksake, ACT have yet another idiot who fumbles the “skeletons in the closet” question.
When your current MP is being prosecuted, and former MPs have committed identity fraud and who knows what else, the correct answer is “NO” – not “depends on what you call skeletons”
What can we actually learn from the UK’s first marijuana ‘overdose’?
It would seem that some people are getting terrified of the legalisation that is spreading around the world.
I’m wondering why there is a TV3 poll tonight – only the tail end of their polling would have covered the Labour announcement last Monday, (and Akl holiday weekend), but fully includes the effect of the National announcement
Gower keeps calling it (this single poll) a ‘game changer’, so we’ll see
But if you were going to time your six-weekly poll in a way to downplay the chances of one party after the ‘states’ of the nation, this would be it
There was a review on radionz of film 12 years a Slave. A freeman was grabbed from New York I think, because he was black and was delivered to the South to be a salave, and it took him 12 years to get away.
It was impressed on me the other day when I looked up the term shanghai-ing which I understood was the kidnapping of any unwary man to form part of a ship’s crew, how this was another type of slavery. Black slavery was done en masse, factory style, and for profit in a business chain where was money made at each node in the chain. The black slaves were goods later to be labour, but not as precious as supplying the correct number of crew before a voyage. So there couldn’t be the same ‘wastage’ as with the black slaves who were crammed into ships with lots of trauma, sickness, and death that decimated their numbers.
The ones ‘impressed’ or press-ganged’ for crew were needed bodily on the spot. They were needed to work as crew so could not be allowed to die with such disinterest. And the British Royal Navy were the biggest perpetrators as they attempted to fill the crews for their battleships in their sea war maneouvres. Brit businessmen also were big on transporting and dealing in black slaves. So the mix of cruelty and desire for profitable business is deep n the English mix.
Now Cameron and his ‘white shirts’ are reversing the social welfare and human rights advances so laboured over and sacrificed for, which has been used as exemplars of a modern better world. It is frightening to think of how low they can go, rationalising as to TINA all the way.
boscowan has been given the boot from act..
..he got nothing..
..whyte is party president..
..seymour(?) is the candidate..
..they obviously swallowed boscowans’ pitch on the need for two roles..
..just sidelined him in their choosing..
..(his automoton-like appearance on the campbell show this week wouldn’t have helped his case..)
phillip ure..
Has new boy Whyte bailed from the
corruptRWNJ Manning Foundation because the kitchen is getting too hot?.The mayor said the third potential illegal activity exposed in the video concerns the home builders’ involvement with the Manning Centre, a conservative think-tank founded by former head of the Reform Party of Canada Preston Manning.
The Calgary-based centre is offering a training program for municipal election candidates with “market-oriented ideas and principles.”
In the video, Wenzel talks about how his company, and 11 others, are each giving the Manning Centre a $100,000 donation.
According to Nenshi, the Manning Centre’s dual status as a charity and a tax exempt non-profit prevents it from accepting such donations.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-home-builder-admits-illegal-activity-in-video-mayor-says-1.1308214
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/preston-manning-breaks-silence-on-home-builders-video-1.1384888
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/municipal-election/naheed-nenshi-surprised-by-manning-foundation-findings-1.1931535
More from the Cobden Centre’s Jamie Whyte Mises Institute to the core
No wonder
Dr Jamie Whyte: extremist libertarian and a worshipper at the altar of personal greed as the perfect driver for human advancement. For example:
http://www.cobdencentre.org/author/jamie/
On the other hand – the good Doctor J says he has a great contempt for pragmatism:
http://www.freeradical.co.nz/pdf/issue72/freeradical72.pdf – page 8
So I very much look forward to him ensuring that no political deals are done on Epsom
Boscowan was actually pitching to keep the two roles together, not separate. So they did not swallow his pitch.
It also appears (according to the Herald) that Boscowan told the Act Board yesterday that he was resigning as Act President and was reconsidering his position in respect of financial support of the party. He will no longer be fundraising for them, but would remain a member.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11195695
So presumably the decisions were virtually made yesterday, with Boscowan the loser.
a news report claimed he has put a quarter of a million dollars of his own money..
..into act..
..whoar..!
‘holy monies pissed down the drain..!..batman..!..’
phillip ure..
David Seymour and the mob he worked for.
https://www.fcpp.org/news/author/david-seymour-85?search_api_views_fulltext=david%20seymour
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Frontier_Centre_for_Public_Policy
http://www.desmogblog.com/frontier-centre-public-policy
@ joe 90..
..those are some good links there..joe 90..
..for anyone wanting to read the thoughts of this new hope of the far-right..
..and who he worked for:..
“..See a full list of FCPP’s publications on global warming here (almost all of them are highly skeptical, and many are authored by well-known climate change deniers)..”
..another climatechange denier aims for parliament..
..is that really what we want/need..?
..at this particular point in time..?
..when are they having a public-meeting..?
..i feel like taking the heckling-muscles out for a workout..
..he’ll do..
..phillip ure..
So Seymour went from the independent [sic] Frontier Center to the Manning Foundation where Jamie Whyte worked?
They would know each from their work in Canada as well as NZ, I guess.
It would be interesting if this an orchestrated buy-in to NZ politics (not the first time for NAct with the Brash-Banks fiasco, for example)… a little like, maybe, the attempted buy-in to Austrian politics by Austrian-Canadian Frank Stronach autoparts manufacturer Magna International? and whose daughter Belinda* was in the Conservative government there.
Hmm, these Canadian-based neo-libs certainly get around… I wonder if they know each other?
* although she seems to have had a change of heart and is now a liberal, back at Magna International and is a philanthropist after a falling out with Harper.
So who’s paying them now?.
Very good question… is Act dumping Boscawen for two people who can’t bring money with them? That doesn’t sound like Act.
However, is the comment at 16.1 about Jamie Whyte or David Seymour? I can’t find anything else to show Whyte worked in Canada, just the UK? So maybe that link is out… still doesn’t change the ‘who knows who’ and ‘who’s paying’ questions though.
Yeah, Seymour. The dicombobulation was strong yesterday.
John Key will not have a “cup of tea” He will simply explain how MMP works and that to avoid a Greens led government stopping all progress a National led government has to be elected. He will explain that the key to this lies in just three constituencies. Epsom, Ohariu and East Coast Bays. He will explain that National supporters should give their party votes to National but cast their constituency votes for Seymour, Dunne and Craig. That will ensure that no one will think that a vote for ACT, UF or the Conservatives will be wasted. This will maximise the Centre owned by National.
Fish-head, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, it’s going to be quite a big Opposition then, Ha Ha Ha…
yes ha ha. You know nothing. After 12 months of being convinced that we were stuck with a Greebour nightmare, I am convinced that a National led Government is a near certainty for another 3 years.
The money agrees with me.
https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=contract_detail&contract=PM.2014.NATIONAL
bad12 – I suggest you take 6 months rest and get on the meds again.
Money doesn’t vote, sspylands.
Yet another Clown comment SSLand, ipredict is a site for the stupid who think that by rearranging the % of the vote as a prediction of the election outcome doing so will make it come true,
Wishful thinking taken to it’s logical conclusion in other words, oh and that logical conclusion???, a fool and His money are soon parted which fits you to a T…
srylands, please stop saying “we” and “our” when referring to New Zealand related matters.
Do the arithmetic 47%+ 2%+1%+4% =54% which equates to 64/120 MP’s + MP 3 MP’s = 67/120 Thus giving dissension room for either the Cons or the MP over specific issues since they will seldom share points of view.
47% for national?
Big call at this stage….
I don’t think it knows the difference between percentages and seats…
I don’t know where the numbers fisiani quotes have come from. The current iPredict numbers are available in the links below, and are quite different.
iPredict’s prediction power was evident in the last election, certainly compared with polls: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1111/S00739/ipredict-accuracy-blitzes-traditional-polls.htm
that’s super. /sarc
”ipredict’s prediction power was evident in the last election”,except laughably having got NZfirst totally wrong, i actually was of a belief that the NZFirst % of the vote was being deliberately manipulated, by who for obvious reasons i will not name,
Know anything about such manipulations Hooton???, i tracked what i seen as the manipulations for a number of months leading into the 2011election and using what i seen as manipulation of the NZFirst figures commenting on another site at the time was able to accurately predict that parties result,
Where did Fish-head get His numbers Matty??? out of His posterior of course, here i was assuming you knew of this because you appear at times to get your information from the same place…
The best thing about that spin, Matthew, is how we’re meant to think it’s “amazing” that iPredict was more accurate three months out than one month out for National’s party vote.
This would be what we on Planet Earth refer to as “luck”.
Fish-head, please stop, the laughter,(at you),might cause in my chest a coronary of significant nature…
iPredict is currently forecasting 43.1% for National and a combined 42.3% for Labour/Green: see https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=browse&cat=321
Small party forecasts are here: https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=browse&cat=377
Overall advantage is currently (quite narrowly) with National: https://www.ipredict.co.nz/app.php?do=browse&cat=319
Seryalyerand fishyanal
If you want less people on lonterm unemployment Dpb benefits Don’ t vote National going back to 1900 right wing govts have had more unemployment.
National and National lead govts have had more on these benefits and for much longer .
NZ statistics 1990 to 2000 National had over 6.5% unemployed averaging nearly 2 years on benefit Labour lead govt 3.5% unemployment with at an average of less than 6 months on benefits.
So by your own logic you would be pushing to get rid of the bludgers party.
What would make you even dispose Nactional even more is the picking winners BS nactionals broken promise of corporae welfare handef to media movie and mining moguls Nactionals friends!
Ah, “Philosopher” Whyte.
Here are some views expressed in articles he’s written:
“Of course demand for GPs is too high — a visit costs zero – A moderate fee will deter people with sniffles” – 17th March 2010
“Base bankers’ pay on market’s bump and grind – Lap dancers’ financial arrangements could be a model for remuneration in investment banks and cut scope for criticism” – 28th September 2009
“Strip the Bank of England of its power – Leaving a team of ‘wise men’ to set interest rates is absurd. Market forces will always do it better” – 2nd July 2009
“The economy’s not dying. It’s poorly – What will really harm our future wealth is a hyperactive state which takes on too much power” – 15th April 2009
“The market is destructive. Good – Brown and Obama declare they love free trade. So why don’t they follow the logic of their thinking?” – 18th March 2009
“Business is not responsible for social justice – My company’s only cause is to make a profit “- 12th March 2009
“Perfect day to blow up the nanny state – The cost of protecting children from death is too high when it means that millions lose the chance of enjoying themselves” – 5th November 2008
“Nobody knows the importance of everything – When it comes to spending money on behalf of other people, no one can get it right. So no one should try” – 21st August 2008
Some consolation – at least it’s now official. If after 2014 Key governs only on account of electoral jack up with ACT we’ll truly be governed according to the imperatives of foreigners.
Acknowledgment: not read any of the articles which are listed at http://www.whocomments.org/wiki/Jamie_Whyte. They’re behind a Sunday Times log-in or paywall.
The kaupapa seems pretty clear however.
They read like perfectly sensible views to me.
I can’t figure out whether your acceptance of them reinforces my view that they’re morally bankrupt and idiotic aphorisms, or that it simply reinforces my view that you’re a morally bankrupt idiot.
Yes, but you’re a far-right extremist with very, very fringe views shared by an almost immeasurably small percentage of voters (according to all available polling data) and you have no understanding of the culture and society of New Zealand, a country you’ve only visited via Wikipedia and GoogleMaps.
Thanks, SSlands, for confirming that you are a nastier piece of work than I had ever imagined. The cost of keeping you and your like away from my grandkids will never be too high.
These lines read as if may be part of a film like one on at present Elysium – mad complex life games with no value for no apparent human purpose.
t
Childhood poverty creates longterm welfare depedency.
National the party that creates poverty.
Schrillglands time to use your private health insurance ACTparty support down by .8% to Zero.
Free straight jackets supplied to delusional rwnjs.
Crosby taxdodgers must be scrapping the bottom of a very empty barrel to pay an Airhead like you.
As I am not sure whether anyone else here has taken not of some highly revealing information that Chris Trotter has made available on The Daily Blog, I will just in case post this here:
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/01/31/falls-the-shadow-everything-you-didnt-know-about-the-committee-for-auckland/
Inform yourself about the “Committee For Auckland”, the who knows who selected boys and girls club, that “advises”, “inspires” and guides Auckland Council (the mayor, counsellors and their staff).
Go through it, and you will start to understand, why we have what we have, and why “democracy” is in the Super City nothing but a total farce. I would claim it is a FARCE in the whole country of New Zealand.
Some info of the key stakeholders and business bosses that make up the leadership within that Committee:
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/about/staff-and-governance/executive-team
http://www.committeeforauckland.co.nz/about/staff-and-governance/committee-for-auckland-limited-board
“Independent”, yeah right, like the MSM (mainstream media) journalists cheer-leading Key and the Nats into office again. Look also at their “Communications Manager” and her background (in corporate media)!!!
So how “independent” is Len Brown from big business then???