Morning…. Key is the worst kind of cold hearted slimeball… … And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings….. Does politics do that to them, or what?
“Us” & “Them”. Laid out right there by James. Maybe ‘us’ lefties should wear little stars or something? Since we are one of ‘them’ & not one if ‘us’? Read & weep (or leap for joy, if you are one of ‘them’)…
“The Auckland Regional Public Health Service announced that the number of cases of rheumatic fever was 36 per cent higher for the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.” How’s that for a measure of poverty & the health of the country? Not much rheumatic fever on the golf course or Koru lounge I guess. Enjoy your (min wage served) coffee.
Actually he made the “us and them” argument with the “And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings” comment – by infference people with his / her political view arnt.
I was simply pointing out s/he is a bitter and twisted person with a sad outlook on life, and us scumbag natz arnt actually shocking human beings – we just dont all have such a sad and pathetic outlook.
A positive attitude does great things.
I have one and yes – I wake up most mornings feeling good about the day, the country and the future.
I really don’t know who you activist lefties get through the day…all this horror going on in NZ. It must be hard not to pack your bags and join your bothers and sisters in anyone of the socialist heavens that are dotted around the globe.
BTW james is dead right, it all starts with a positive attitude 🙂
Agree , surround yourself with negativity and you can’t help but be negative.
Be an interesting ex[experiment if you took some one like Nick and placed him/her in a large group of positive happy people, I’d bet money within a week or two his/her outlook on life would change
completely.
& yet mention the name Andrew Little & you little guys get all negative & bitter & call him names like Angry & Chicken like you are on a school ground.
But hey I get it, criticise the Govt = Negative, praising the Govt = Positive.
I ain’t no lickspittle, so call me negative, coming from the likes of you sewer dwellers I take it as a compliment. & also, I do wake cheery, my life is good, my job is OK, my bands have records coming out so I feel like a winner, so suck on that!
Actually – I doubt I have called him Angry or chicken little (if I did it would have been a “one off”).
“Morning…. Key is the worst kind of cold hearted slimeball… … And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings….. Does politics do that to them, or what?”
That was the comment I was replying to – hardly “criticise the Govt = Negative, praising the Govt = Positive” is it.
Yet you go to the likes of calling us sewer dwellers – I think this says a lot more about you than us.
I used to think of key as as a sub prime bubble blower ….
Now I think of him as the bail out boy ……….and wonder how much charity he took from the u.s.a tax payers when they bailed out his bankrupt worthless ponzi merrill lynch shares ……
“Merrill lost more than $27 billion that year. In all, 696 executives received more than $1 million each for helping to crash the storied firm…..”
“Bank of America completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co on 1 January 2009.”
…..John keys major paper wealth ( that we know of ) is Bank of America Shares ……
BM hates hand outs, or so he would have us believe ……..
I wonder what he thinks about Key taking millions in a hand out for staying invested in the toxic reckless and in the end bankrupt Merrill Lynch disaster…..
““Bank of America’s fraud resulted in “one of the biggest reverse transfers of wealth in history – from pensioners to financiers.” ….
john keys Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament
2008: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds)in companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment
MerrillLynch – investment banking
JacksonMining – gold mining ……………………
And after then the bailout ………….
2009: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds) in companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment
Bank of America – banking
Jackson Mining – gold mining
““Bank of America’s fraud resulted in “one of the biggest reverse transfers of wealth in history – from pensioners to financiers.” ….
It’s what happens when you allow the capitalists to rule. They make laws that allows them to own and control the wealth of the nation and charge everyone else for the use of it.
The inevitable end result is massive poverty and deprivation – just as we’re seeing.
“The Household Net Worth Survey disclosed that 10 per cent of people own 60 per cent of the country’s wealth, and 40 per cent own a total of 3 per cent.”
There is fertile ground here for the Labour/Green bloc to put forward policies for more fairness and equality in this country. Grasp the nettle.
Rodney hide speaking common sense for once in the Herald, and it’s not about Labour, perhaps his visit the other day, gave him some foresight into others, and he’s trying to be a little fairer.
IDNK but it was a good article, have to give him up’s when deserved.
Lovely weather, for ducks.
Someone stole my whole letter box Friday night, I was annoyed, a tad, smidgeon, bloody expensive to replace, and after driving around the block several times it was nowhere to be seen, which is unusual drunks usually biff them not far from the scene of their artwork.
So post on FB for Tokoroa that day, um we woke up there’s two letterboxes in our back yard, some of our mates got qa little drunk last night, happy to drop off, 1 hour later letterbox back, good laugh and off they went, drunk as skunks they were and ended up with a couple letterboxes, ahh the joys of youth.
But how often does the return thing happen!!! so cool. No problems when it happens just return or fix the damage.. nice. Good on Tokoroa, I reckon if that was a lot of places, the letterbox would never have been returned.
Want to harvest some votes come election time?
I’ve just spent a week hanging with the clan waghorn (not the real name) Two of whom are young single parents ,one he ,one she , both working full time jobs while juggling children , and school holidays are a thing they hate , more holiday programmes are needed , why not in list uni students to provide care and entertainment .
if they didn’t have family support they would have to quit their jobs
Health and safety has gone to insane new levels.
Wag seniors went to an open home and every one had a safety induction as they entered the house ffs
A builder tells me that every electric tool has to have it’s cable checked every 3 months at a cost, and that people visiting the house the are having built have to wear steel caps and a helmet ffs.
oh and according someone who has access to at least a dozen schools says global funding is ”bulk funding on steroids”
…why not in list uni students to provide care and entertainment .
Because they don’t have time.
A builder tells me that every electric tool has to have it’s cable checked every 3 months at a cost
A lot cheaper than the builders or someone else’s life.
Electrical equipment does wear out just like everything else. Resistance builds up in cables until it becomes dangerous, insulation may get cracked in the harsh conditions of a building site and other things go wrong.
I agree on the health & safety b waghorn. It has gone stupid, especially the bureaucracy of it all. Checking & testing appliances isn’t that onerous but the documentation and record keeping is. Tradespeople spend a lot of time just proving they’re complying with health & safety requirements (that’s the only reason they have to document everything)
The biggest contributor appears to be incremental changes in liability for accidents. If someone does something stupid on your site & hurts themself you’re the one held liable for their stupidity unless you can prove you took all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. So you have to cover your arse with this bollocks of site induction, visitor safety clothing etc etc.
It’s killing the small business. They can’t amortise the costs of safety compliance as much as the big business can & it makes them less & less competitive.
you’re the one held liable for their stupidity unless you can prove you took all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. So you have to cover your arse with this bollocks of site induction, visitor safety clothing etc etc.
i think your view is half right half wrong DH
for anyone who is fully aware of the hazards on a buiding site or who uses sharp/power tools it would take less than 2 minutes to describe the hazards and any required safety measures to visitors…. not a time-consuming or costly effort, and it’s not unreasonable to expect site owners to take appropriate measures to minimise risk…..e.g. for power tools: remove from where kids can play with them, inspect/test cable/cutoff switches daily (tick a box/date to confirm), prevent access to area of ongoing work etc.
The real problem with H&S is that some people think it is “covering their arse” when they warn others that there’s hot water coming out of a bath tap, like the notices i saw in some hotels in the UK – Just plain stupid…. and it undermines proper consideration and respect for the intent of H&S legislation
it is not “reasonable” nor the intent of H&S legislation to require people to wear safety clothing if there are no hazards that require it.
it is not “reasonable” for people who are inexperienced in dealing with workplace hazards and risk controls to give ‘safety’ briefings or to give safety advice….
The example given of requiring safety boots to visit an open home only emphasises the ignorance of the people stating this ‘requirement’. It is in no way a good argument for challenging H&S legislation…. but it is a good argument for ensuring that safety inductions are only given at hazardous sites by qualified people
Not sure you’ve got that right locus. “Reasonable'” is a subjective term and in most cases the courts tend to look at it from the vista of the “normal person”.
It’s difficult to consider a visitor to a site as a normal person in any shape or form. They could be anyone, from genius to imbecile, so the level of what is and what is not reasonable in terms of safety for the visitor is wildly speculative. H&S legislation doesn’t really specify to what level of stupidity or IQ we have to cater for and even if it did we’d never be able to identify it anyway.
ACC can confirm how imbecilic us humans can be so, rationally, it’s not really possible to be too careful. Businesses, and people, do indeed need to cover their arses in these situations.
true – it may be better not to rely too heavily on the word reasonable – for e.g. there’s a few people who think its ‘reasonable’ to remove the pit from an avocado by embedding a sharp knife while holding it in the other hand
However, when it comes to changing people’s attitudes and getting commitment to safety in the workplace, there must be discussion and education about what managing risk really means and what is ‘reasonable’ in this context
… maybe i wasn’t clear in my earlier comment – i fully support H&S legislation requiring businesses to correctly assess hazards and dangers and be required to remove, isolate and reduce the likelihood of an accident occurring and to protect people from the consequences
i’ve always had a bit of a beef about the phrase “cover their arses” because to me it gives the impression that somehow the last barrier in place to protect people (safety boots, hard hats, etc) is all that a business needs to do ‘show’ that they are complying with H&S – While safety clothing may be important or essential, it is the last thing on the list that a business should do in terms of managing safety
As you rightly point out, people (and particularly businesses) take all sorts of ‘stupid’ risks. More than a few businesses cut corners to save money or time and do whatever they can get away with until legislation stops them.
H&S legislation covering safety in the design of hazardous equipment, its operation, testing and inspection is necessary – as are regulatory requirements for businesses that manage or operate in hazardous worksites.
Keep in mind, locus, that the discussion was about H&S going too far, it wasn’t about the principle of workplace safety.
The safety precautions that businesses take are generally related to historical events in similar situations. Take your hotel hot water bath tap for example;
If someone has previously burnt themselves on the hot tap in a hotel (and I believe that has occurred on more than one occasion) then it’s not that insensible for hotels to warn people about hot water. They know hot water burns ergo if someone did burn themself, and they weren’t warned about it, the hotel could be held negligent.
You think it’s over the top because you’d never burn yourself on the hot tap. But the hotel isn’t concerned about you they’re concerned about the lowest common denominator, thus the proliferation of safety regulations for imbeciles. A problem with that is the rest of us have to suffer these fools rules as well.
“Health and safety has gone to insane new levels.
Wag seniors went to an open home and every one had a safety induction as they entered the house ffs”
That’s not a problem with the health and safety legislation, that’s a problem with real estate agents (and agencies) not understanding how the law applies to them and over-reacting.
“A builder tells me … that people visiting the house the are having built have to wear steel caps and a helmet ffs.”
The builder also does not understand the new legislation.
The Presidential Debate Commission released a short statement US Friday time that Trump’s microphone set up was in fact defective, like he had been claiming for days.
Seems that at least part of the problem is the drumpfuck didn’t use it the way he was told to.
“According to a source with knowledge of conversations with the debate commissioners, part of the issue rested with Trump touching his microphone, something candidates had been told not to do because the microphones were “calibrated exactly” to the candidate’s voices.”
I suppose you agree with your man the don on these wild rantings
“Speaking to a crowd of nearly 5,000 in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump made some of his wildest accusations yet about his opponent and the integrity of American elections. Trump attacked his Democratic rival in starkly personal terms. He said of her “she has bad temperament, she could actually be crazy” and went on to imply that she had been unfaithful for her husband. “I don’t even think she’s loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really folks, why should she be, right,” Trump said.”
…”“If the US launches a direct aggression against Damascus and the Syrian Army, it would cause a terrible, tectonic shift not only in the country, but in the entire region,” Maria Zakharova said during a talk show, which is to be aired fully later on Saturday and has been cited by RIA.
With no government in Damascus, there will be a power vacuum in Syria, which “so-called moderates, who are, in reality, not moderate at all but just terrorists of all flavors, would fill; and there will be no dealing with them,” the diplomat predicted.
“And later it would be aggravated the way it happened in Iraq. We know that [Saddam Hussein’s] Iraqi Army became the basis of the Islamic State. Everything that both the [US-led] coalition and Russia are fighting now stems from it,” Zakharova said….
Your problem, Rawshark, is that you are too prepared to “switch off.” How about giving the matter at hand some serious consideration instead of writing it off with a glib dismissal like that?
Strong remnants of the western imperial/colonial mindset:
Some people from other cultures are trying to say something to us, but its a lot of effort to pay attention to their primitive smoke signals
And chances are that they aren’t saying anything important and furthermore, being backward and weak they can’t do anything to stop us so who cares what noises they make as it’s not going to change a single thing we do?
Any building site, hard hat, steel capped boots, that’s been the norm for years.
Not to sure on the open home safety induction, that’s not any rule.
3 months for cable checks? I did think it was 2 years, from the engineering co I worked at or was it a year? Hmmm. they came in from the local Electrical company and stickers all the appliances, and cables etc, but not every three months.
Earliest yearly.
anyways don’t panic I have it under good authority Paula Bennett is right on it and a hungry group of well paid National party experts on the feild are on their way to loopy rules bust, a loopy rule near you
Heard of Myth busters, here in NZ we have loopy *uckers.
“3 months for cable checks? I did think it was 2 years, from the engineering co I worked at or was it a year? Hmmm. they came in from the local Electrical company and stickers all the appliances, and cables etc, but not every three months.”
I think its 3 or 4 years for the company I worked for.
It varies, to find out for certain you need to buy the relevant standard (usually AS/NZS3760-2010) which costs about $100.
For factories, workshops, places of manufacture, assembly, maintenance or fabrication equipment including Class 1, Class 2, cord sets, cord extensions and EPODs have to be tested every 6 months.
In an environment where the equipment or flexible power cord is subject to flexing in normal use or is open to abuse or is in a hostile environment it’s every 12 months (that I would think covers construction sites, tradies tools etc)
(In the opposite environment to the above, ie non flexing & non hostile etc it’s every 5 years)
Hire equipment requires test & tag every 3months, plus inspection on each hire
RCDs need a push button test by the user every 3-6 months
Those flags should be at half-mast for his thousands of victims;
Arch-criminal Shimon Peres was the antithesis of a man of peace.
He was a prime instigator of Israel’s internationally condemned nuclear program, and his personal catch-phrase was “Settlements everywhere.” As one of the commentators in the following video notes, “He was a genocidal maniac who murdered thousands.”…
I don’t think you possess either the knowledge or the judgement to make such a statement.
The comparison of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people to the oppression of Jews in Europe in the 1930s and ’40s is often made by Israeli people of conscience, and even by Israeli politicians, including Moshe Dayan and David Ben Gurion himself. Less than a decade ago, the hardline Israeli politician Yosef “Tommy” Lapid made the same point….
Lapid said in a weekly commentary on Israel Radio in early 2007, after airing of video footage showing a Palestinian woman being viciously verbally attacked through the iron bars on the veranda of her downtown Hebron home by a neighboring Israeli woman settler – who among other things called the Palestinian woman a “Sharmuta” (“whore”), that what was happening in Hebron reminded him of persecution endured by Jews in his native Yugoslavia on the eve of World War Two. “It was not crematoria or pogroms that made our life in the diaspora bitter before they began to kill us, but persecution, harassment, stone-throwing, damage to livelihood, intimidation, spitting and scorn,” Lapid said in his radio commentary.
“When the world heard that Shimon Peres had died, it shouted “Peacemaker!” But when I heard that Peres was dead, I thought of blood and fire and slaughter.
I saw the results: babies torn apart, shrieking refugees, smouldering bodies. It was a place called Qana and most of the 106 bodies – half of them children – now lie beneath the UN camp where they were torn to pieces by Israeli shells in 1996. I had been on a UN aid convoy just outside the south Lebanese village. Those shells swished right over our heads and into the refugees packed below us. It lasted for 17 minutes…
The 50 year Israeli colonisation of occupied Palestinian land is, of course, at the heart of the conflict.
And the greatest single increase of Israeli settlers on Palestinian land – a 50 per cent rise – took place not under Right-wing Sharon or Netanyahu Likud Administrations but rather in 1992-96 under the supposedly “dovish” Labor governments of “peace-makers” Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres at the high-water mark of the Oslo peace accords.
Israel has now effectively annexed 42 per cent of the West Bank, with 300,000 settlers there and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem
The romanticisation of Peres and Rabin in the MSM has been all too predictable.
Both saw the Oslo “Peace Process” as a Palestinian surrender. As Peres told a gathering of ambassadors in Jerusalem during the second stage of the Oslo process, the permanent settlement envisaged by Oslo would categorically not involve any establishment of a functioning Palestinian state. In other words: no meaningful departure from the long-standing Likud-Labor consensus that there was to be no “additional Palestinian state in the Gaza district and in the area between Israel and Jordan” (“additional” because Israeli leaders and propagandists like to portray Jordan as the Palestinian State).
As Israeli political scientist, Meron Benvenisti, described the bounds of the mainstream Israeli spectrum during Oslo: at one extreme, “a peace which imposes an unconditional surrender on the Palestinians,” at the other, “a peace with somewhat more generous terms of surrender.”
Like all other Israeli leaders, then, Peres was a Rejectionist when it came to the two-state settlement predicated on International Law. Although it’s certainly true that he managed to cynically manipulate a series of American Celebs (read Useful Idiots) in his Peace Foundation charade with the aim of cultivating a Peace-Maker image within the western media (I remember dear old Sharon Stone suggesting she’d “kiss just about anybody” if she thought it would end the conflict.
Extraordinary that he should be portrayed as a great man of peace, “haunted by Israel’s failure to find an enduring settlement with the Palestinians.”
The 50 year Israeli colonisation of occupied Palestinian land is, of course, at the heart of the conflict.
It’s more like 70 years. The entirety of Israel is an invasion of Palestinian land with it’s creation being fully against the UN Charter.
The romanticisation of Peres and Rabin in the MSM has been all too predictable.
Of course it has. Can’t go round telling people that the West and the UN has been supporting a massive invasion and oppression of an entire people for the benefit of another people and all, seemingly, because a few people didn’t want Jews living in their countries.
Extraordinary that he should be portrayed as a great man of peace, “haunted by Israel’s failure to find an enduring settlement with the Palestinians.”
Probably haunted by the fact that he hadn’t been able to totally destroy the Palestinian people.
Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
“Hamas has not recognized the three principles insisted on by the Quartet (the United States, EU, UN, and Russia): renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of prior international agreements.”
The destruction of the state of Israel != complete extermination of the Jews.
Interestingly enough, the creation of Israel was the unjust action that’s caused all the problems and it was fully against the UN charter of protecting states from invasion.
3 months for cable checks? I did think it was 2 years, from the engineering co I worked at or was it a year? Hmmm. they came in from the local Electrical company and stickers all the appliances, and cables etc, but not every three months.
There doesn’t seem to be anything on the energysafety site that mandates anything other than a formal test, tag and record regime, daily visual inspections and RCD push button tests and a requirement for electrical testing of kit after repairs are made.
Democracy is in bad shape if its core principles are subordinate to economic principles such as expediency and efficiency. I think this is the case and is a root cause of rising inequality and it needs to be challenged.
Recently, several arguments were put forward here on TS why, in political elections, not all candidates deserve equal air time and exposure. Without exception, these arguments were rooted in neo-liberal thinking! I wrote this comment because this was a fairly typical example of how neo-liberalism has invaded our lives and our thinking; it has become the reference framework of our time and it has a domineering influence on the framing of socio-politico issues and, as such, on the narrative of most written & spoken publications and communications.
A candidate’s popularity and public support are often determined through political polls, which are intrinsically flawed, at best. To avoid perpetuating these flaws polls should be ignored altogether, i.e. all candidates should be treated equally and fairly, and not be included or excluded on the basis of flawed information. To exclude a candidate a priori is to deem him/her and/or his/her policy platform inferior.
Similarly, no (democratic) system can or should pick winners. Any attempt at pre-selecting winners, to narrow down the field for the final contest leaves it open to lobbying, manipulation or worse. This selection bias is an obvious problem but it also shuts out voices & opinions that are thus more likely to stay chronically ignored. In any case, it is about fair representation, not just simply winning, and moves to skew the process will further entrench inequality.
Another reason to triage the candidates is to allow more time for each pre-selected candidate to have his/her say and for a bigger share of public attention. In other words, make it easier for the public by limiting their choice to just 2-3 candidates. This unlevels the playing field in favour of picked winners; one could call this unfair competition.
There is no need to draw a line somewhere or pick a point that is appropriate if this is intrinsically undemocratic. If barriers are raised for some to have their say it is no longer a decision-making process by and for the collective. Taking this one step further, it could encourage ‘disobedience’ with the collective decisions and ignoring the (democratic) authority of the collective. How many steps away is this from neo-liberalism?
The quality and principles of the democratic process should never be sacrificed for reasons such as better allocation of ‘resources’ (time, public attention span, number of page views, viewer’s ratings, etc.) since this, in turn, undermines its capacity and fundamental role in allocation of all resources for the collective.
Will any of this put people further off engaging with politics or will it appeal? Obviously, people have busy lives, short attention spans and many distractions. But people also realise that once you start to chip away at the democratic foundations of our society and when you do not safeguard these against ‘wear & tear’ it leads to unintended and undesirable consequences.
Well, I s’pose its cos this is where most of the flash celebrity media types live so it stands to reason our floods are flash as opposed to your region’s floods which I s’pose doesn’t have any flash celebrities living in it.
I mean Auckland’s got Mike Hosking so of course the floods are going to be flash. 😈
Sadly, she has spoken an inconvenient truth, we are riddled with structural and institutional racism in this country and most people are blissfully unaware of the very real negative consequences. It is much easier to blame the victims of that racism than deal with the underlying issues.
“I’m sick of hearing the lie that Māori signed away their sovereignty with the Treaty. Read the Treaty – the Maori language version that Hobson and most of the Rangatira actually signed. Read the speeches – recorded by William Colenso at the time and published as a book. Māori were being asked for permission to set up a system to govern the unruly Pākeha, not to rule Māori. Hence decades of war when Pākeha decided to change the rules.”
Like millions of others, she believed that President Obama was a Muslim. And like so many she had gotten to know online through social media, she also believed that he was likely gay, that Michelle Obama could be a man, and that the Obama children were possibly kidnapped from a family now searching for them.
It was a mistake to laugh at fascism. As I said, demagoguery exploits this: demagogues look down on these people with the same condescension as you suppose the Beltway elites do. After all, they’re dumb people who pay taxes. Smart people don’t as Orange Jesus has told us.
I you think that he really gives a gold-plated shit for these people, you must be delusional.
Did you hear the lovely story Clinton told about the poverty that her mother came from, and her hard working small business father, the draper?
How Clinton would help him in his workshop when she was a child, so that gave her an understanding of the trials and tribulations of ordinary working people.
It was so touching and humanising.
Now about that 20 mile trip to the Rothschild’s fundraiser that she took by private jet.
BTW Trump is leading in Hillary Clinton’s home state Arkansas by +24.5%
Just out of curiosity, how do you think Clinton should have made that 20 mile trip from Martha’s Vineyard to Nantucket if not by private jet? Swimming?
Key has already planted the seed, laying down good reasoning for it. Therefore, it would be difficult for him to now argue against that reasoning.
Another aspect that is beneficial to a land tax over Labour’s new build only policy is a land tax will help cover the infrastructure cost burden that comes with building new homes.
Labour’s position (limiting offshore investors to only buying new builds) still puts international demand pressure on local land supply, thus driving up the cost of land, hence adding to the overall cost of housing. Which defeats the objective.
Both Anne Frank’s family, and you, should ask about the role of huge American corporations like the Ford Motor Company, and American banks like JP Morgan Chase in making the Third Reich a tangible physicality.
It is these global mega-corporations and financiers who support Clinton.
It was the N*zis who ran the trains and the gas chambers you patronising sack of shit. Don’t you fucking lecture me on how N*zis were doing the will of other people. That was THEIR ideology, their actions. Their spawn are the ones waving flags for your hero now.
Polish your jackboots if you like mate, you can always have someone else to blame using that logic.
Steady on. It is true that big US money helped support the Third Reich during the 1930s. It does not mean that they knew what the manic Nazis would eventually do, but it still does not reflect well upon the policies of our very right-wing US Corporates. It is sometimes a habit of theirs, going by US interference in other countries since.
It’s not my problem that you are so close to this that your brain turns off.
It was the N*zis who ran the trains and the gas chambers
But who built and funded them?
That was THEIR ideology, their actions.
So fucking what? Without a compliant greedy corporate machinery, that ideology would have been just another flash in the pan bout of crazy paranoid schizo that no one would have noticed or paid attention to.
Look up the photo of Henry Ford receiving Nazi Germany’s highest civilian honour. His company enabled the Blitzkrieg.
Why do you think I would bother responding to you and your arcane claptrap on any other level when on more than one occasion I’ve indicated I’d rather you fucking ignored me you muppet.
Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said that tax rules especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.
Trump's ex-accountant for more than 30 years: "The guy was building incredible net worth and not paying tax on it" https://t.co/mCwgHKg6eJ— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 2, 2016
How does a business genius lose $916M in a year the stock market returned 37%?Unless it was a Brewster's Millions-like wager!? https://t.co/ZNH87Q9GAC— Micah Zenko (@MicahZenko) October 2, 2016
If you admit his financial fiddling is the same, why are you shaking your pom poms for this emotionally unstable eugenics-obsessed, nuke-loving, elitist tax-evading, accused rapist, racist misogynist?
“Buuuut KKKillary eats live kittens!” and a stab at google is less of a response than a tic or conditioned reflex. It has no content. You can google anything. Every time you type that you admit that Trump is the same as what you claim to despise.
You like to cherry-pick polls that agree with you, even Nate Silver’s synergistic poll …when it agrees with you. I suppose now that your predicted bounce for Trump didn’t eventuate (in fact Clinton had the sharp rise according to 538, will you be back to reading Dilbert for secret messages from Yoda Adams?
I hardly think Hillary Clinton is ideal or even good, and American plutocracy is corrupt and she won’t fix it, and Trump won’t change one thing for the better – he boasts of taking advantage of the housing crisis that threw so many poor working people out of their homes, he boasts of evading taxes, his tax plan will cut taxes enormously for the rich and he openly crows of his intention to commit war crimes (an overt policy of targeting civilian non-combatants and torture will all be increased, he says) – there is NOT ONE THING that he will do that will help the poor and he has a Strangelovean love of aggression that will drag America into still more bloody wars.
As well as that, frankly, there is the brownshirted elephant in the room that you “shrug” at. Fascism is a thing to dread and to stop because its even worse – it is certainly not some aesthetic faux pas to be brushed off.
You should look at the actual unashamed N*zis cheering Trump alongside you. Have a look at the people he’s appointing like Pence, an appallingly misogynist religious fundamentalist, as his running mate… and ask yourself some serious questions about basic human decency.
Do you just have schadenfreude contemplating the damage he’ll do? I’ve not seen one indication that you care about the people he has hurt or boasts of intending to hurt.
I’ve explained my position on Trump. He will be the better POTUS for NZ, he will be the better POTUS for the Asia Pacific, and he will seek de-confliction with both China and Russia by defanging the neocons in D.C.
I understand that the US Deep State may not allow any of this to happen.
For the American people, I fear that I do not hold much hope for betterment of their situation under either Clinton or Trump.
He will seek a safer Pacific? A man who’s promised a trade war with China if he doesn’t get his own way? Someone with the self-control of General Jack D. Ripper?
I understand that the US Deep State may not allow any of this to happen.
Setting up for “The election was rigged!” already, I see.
For the American people, I fear that I do not hold much hope for betterment of their situation under either Clinton or Trump.
Ugh, the sort of hypocritical unctuousness suitable for Uriah Heep.
But Clinton doesn’t do TRADE wars. She does ACTUAL wars of regime change and neocon hubris, as well as brinksmanship in the South China Sea and the Middle East/Eastern Europe with Russia.
I explained my position and rationale; I can understand why you might not like it, but if you don’t want to hear it, simply don’t ask me next time.
And trade wars harm no-one? And they can’t escalate if one side is a thin-skinned narcissist who asks “If we have nuclear weapons, why don’t we use them?”
A friend of Donald Trump’s recently approached him to suggest that he will eventually have to release his tax returns, as every presidential nominee has for decades. The friend told Trump that he should do it before the GOP convention to ensure everyone can process what’s in the returns and help make any revelations “old news” by November. If Trump didn’t do that, he was warned, the odds of politicized leaks from his returns were high, citing several examples from the Obama era, including the illegal leaking of some of Romney’s tax information by the IRS in 2012
“What will you do if the returns come out as part of an October surprise?” Trump was asked. Trump pondered the question and replied, “I’ll say they aren’t mine.” That stunning answer is the essence of Donald Trump. “It’s exactly what I’d expect him to say,” Fox Business’s Charlie Gasparino, who has known Trump for decades, told me.
A Public Park which Aucklanders cant get access too unless your a member of the Remuera Golf Club which the Auckland Rate payers subsidies members at $12k/head! They got a contract running to 2091 from the council! Fuck’em build houses on it! http://www.remueragolfclub.com/home
Something random: I was wondering if anyone out there knows if this Ofisa Tonu’u from http://www.labour.org.nz/auckland_candidates (Puketapapa Local Board) is the former All Black?
Jesus Christ. Your blithe indifference to the concept of culpability suggests the moral development of a spoiled infant.
Without a compliant greedy corporate machinery, that ideology would have been just another flash in the pan bout of crazy paranoid schizo that no one would have noticed or paid attention to.
Look up the photo of Henry Ford receiving Nazi Germany’s highest civilian honour. His company enabled the Blitzkrieg.
There have been plenty of witch hunts and pogroms done on the cheap with happy volunteer labour. Without the intention to do evil, that money could have been spent growing daffodils.
A wee pointer on learning history: google and the teachings of Dogbert do not educate you.
N*zism and its cousin fascism were no “flash in the pan” but broad an deep movements with sympathetic movements and parties in many states, even Britain (Moseley’s lot). If you knew the slightest bit about history, which clearly you do not, you would know that mere blind corporate investment in factories is not what motivates millions to slaughter millions. It was the choice of N*zis to do so with their many, many adherents. If you care to “look up” the writings of Himmler on “Blood and Soil” and “Living Space” you’ll see the basis of their ideology and decisions. There are some pretty weird occultist beliefs behind Himmler too.
That “flash in the pan” is more of a bale of straw needing a spark.
Ford etc are probably unknowingly complicit, though Ford was a rabid anti-semite and admired the N*zis.
However, those who choose to commit atrocities – the leaders and their millions of followers – are the ones responsible. They are not absolved by silly insistence that the sole source of evil in the world is an American boardroom and nowhere else.
Talking about modern day atrocities and those who commit them, and those sickeningly self righteous left wing progressives who go on to give it a pass
Remind me whose US administration it was who starved and deprived millions of Iraqi children of medical care and food through sanctions such that 500,000 of those children died, and when their Sec State was asked about it on TV she said that “it was worth it.”
Clue: one of the current Presidential candidates was married to him.
As evidenced by all he’s been saying and doing? With all his racisms and misogyny? With his active support for and from N*zis? I’m not just name calling and saying he’s “poopy-pants” or whatever. The bedsheets, the swastikas and the goose stepping among his supporters is all real… But at heart he’s a liberal?
(So I equate him with Hitler? Yeah I do. So does Anne Frank’s family – and they were there seeing it the first time around.)
Latest is a pledge to sign a federal law allowing discrimination against LGBT people on the basis of “religious freedom” exclusively for right wing Christians. Liberal, right?
Anyway, that’s been covered, so what you’re saying is a flat lie. Repeating it won’t make it true.
I know perfectly well what the answer is, and spare me your crocodile tears for people you simply use yourself as tokens in your rhetorical games.
I said evil is evil and there is no game you can play that absolves one side or renders it irrelevant. What you did was a rhetorical diversion and now you are deliberately misrepresenting me.
Every time you say “Hillary eats live kittens” you are saying that eating live kittens is wrong. True indeed, but if another person eats live kittens, two wrongs have been committed, not one. No blame has been lifted. This does not bring balance to the Force. Trump remains a loathsome bastard with the support of loathsome bastards.
I say he’s a loathsome bastard releasing old demons that will not be stopped easily and they are worse than you can imagine with your limited faculties and weird obsession.
“Do you really think this is some weird arithmetic where points on one side cancel points on the other?”
See the False Equivalence post. That’s CV too a T. He can’t get his head around “not supporting Trump does not equal supporting Clinton”. All comments regarding Trump, Russia or Putin are met with the same response. Deflect to Clinton and accuse the questioner of somehow being complicit in allowing the West to bomb the shit out of everywhere.
Pure speculation on my part, but CVs presentation is similar to people who have been disillusioned and betrayed. Their world is turned upside down, what they pledged allegiance to they now hate, they feel abject and as catharsis obsessively latch on to clear incarnations of what disappointed them as a hate figure and a hero who more often than not is a scourge by proxy (collateral damage be damned).
Not really psychology, more lit crit (which is my “official” area of expertise) and CVs not really a literary character of course.
rhinocrates, it seems that you and the rest of the righteous liberal lefty establishment better get ready to lose the election on Nov 8 to a bunch of racist, red neck, misogynist, gay hating, uneducated, deplorables and irredeemables, then.
But you have his number – the mind numbingly distorted convolutions he makes to try and escape his own tail. Lies built on bullshit topped with lashings of fake tears and throw your granny under the bus political points scoring – and trump is just as bad
rhinocrates, it seems that you and the rest of the righteous liberal lefty establishment better get ready to lose the election on Nov 8 to a bunch of racist, red neck, misogynist, gay hating, uneducated, deplorables and irredeemables, then.
BTW how is your precious LGTBQ community doing in Libya nowadays, since Hillary Clinton allowed Islamic extremists to implode and take over the country?
Wake up and smell the real evil, the real dehumanising haters.
In Libya, the LGBTQ community have to live within the strictures of a more socially and religiously conservative society.
How is that statement different from Russia? All I read from you is Western backed LGBT discrimination bad, Russian state sponsored homophobia and discrimination is merely “the strictures of a more socially and religiously conservative society.”
They must be doing pretty well – the Russian President distributes homoerotic photos of himself to the media, which is more than you can say for most countries.
Schadenfreude? I’m going to get my comeuppance am I?
My “precious” LGBT community? I think my friends there prefer “fabulous.”
Your sarcasm shows your callousness. Yet then there are more crocodile tears for LGBT people in Syria that you dismissed so sarcastically. Mere rhetorical tokens again, not real people.
Somehow I think I can be forgiven for thinking of you playing with action figures going “Grrrr! Yarrr! Take that faggot-lover!”
The real evil? There’s only one?
Where do you get the impression that I support Clinton? I’ve never said such a thing. Is it from from the voices in your head? It is as if you were at a performance of Hamlet and all you hear is “Blah blah blah blah Clinton!”, then go to a park and hear the tulips muttering “Clinton, Clinton, Clinton.” You are genuinely obsessed.
Morbidly interesting in a way… and I must admit to deliberately needling him. I’m a writer and I’m thinking my next-novel-but-one which might look at the rise of an extremist group (kind of a theme in the one I’m working on now). Crazy would-be Fuhrers are plentiful and most fail, but like a storm, if the field is charged, lighting will strike. The “charge” is the millions who will become their followers. CV shows me how formerly sane and decent individuals (and he’s still driven by a speck of moral ardour) can become so obsessed with simple equations of black and white that they’re willing to follow a demagogue.
I’m a writer too. Had a few pieces published in international and NZ magazines. Was a stringer for Remix in Auckland while living in London – had a few articles published.
I don’t do journalism anymore though – was a brief foray. I like the creative form.
I have a full time, well paid job. But I still spend time working on a novel of sorts. While I am only 36 my story is interesting enough to validate a memoir.
Yep – this could be the beginning of the end. From Trump tower, trumps old lawyer verified it.
I wondered why clinton didn’t pounce on it at the debate – planted a seed and must have known something was growing… or maybe she is just a talking head who couldn’t not follow the script – hmmm
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
In 1995, Sally Clark went out on her own in a bold and unorthodox attempt to join an illustrious group of equestrian riders conquering the world. In the days of glovebox road maps, brick cell phones, and the hit song How Bizarre, Clark refused to follow Sir Mark Todd, Blyth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Beaglehole, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago niphon/Getty Images The number of people accessing medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Aotearoa New Zealand increased significantly between 2006 and 2022. But the disorder is still under-diagnosed and ...
To celebrate the start of New Zealand music month, we look back at the best local tuneage that managed to weasel its way into Hollywood productions. There’s nothing quite like the thrilling zap of recognition when New Zealand weasels its way into a glamorous Hollywood production. Crack open a Tui ...
People trust other people more than institutions. So how can the media gain that trust through journalists without losing what’s important about the institution? Anna Rawhiti-Connell reflects on two years of curating the news for The Bulletin.Amonth ago, armed cops descended on my neighbourhood as calls to “lock your ...
Essay: If the Crown harms children, how do you hold it accountable? Analysis by Aaron Smale in light of the Waitangi Tribunal court decision. The post The Crown versus Māori Children appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are a class of thousands of man-made chemicals used widely in everyday consumer items such as textiles, packaging, and cookware, popular for their water, grease and stain-repellent properties. However, the very properties that make PFAS so attractive to manufacturers are also what ...
Morning…. Key is the worst kind of cold hearted slimeball… … And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings….. Does politics do that to them, or what?
Morning sunshine. It’s a little early to be so bitter and twisted isn’t it.
It must be terrible waking up on a Sunday feeling like that.
Have a coffee, and try to start the day again with a positive attitude. Then you will know how nice it feels to be one of us.
“Us” & “Them”. Laid out right there by James. Maybe ‘us’ lefties should wear little stars or something? Since we are one of ‘them’ & not one if ‘us’? Read & weep (or leap for joy, if you are one of ‘them’)…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11720811
“The Auckland Regional Public Health Service announced that the number of cases of rheumatic fever was 36 per cent higher for the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.” How’s that for a measure of poverty & the health of the country? Not much rheumatic fever on the golf course or Koru lounge I guess. Enjoy your (min wage served) coffee.
Actually he made the “us and them” argument with the “And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings” comment – by infference people with his / her political view arnt.
I was simply pointing out s/he is a bitter and twisted person with a sad outlook on life, and us scumbag natz arnt actually shocking human beings – we just dont all have such a sad and pathetic outlook.
A positive attitude does great things.
I have one and yes – I wake up most mornings feeling good about the day, the country and the future.
As long as no one complains eh comrade?
I really don’t know who you activist lefties get through the day…all this horror going on in NZ. It must be hard not to pack your bags and join your bothers and sisters in anyone of the socialist heavens that are dotted around the globe.
BTW james is dead right, it all starts with a positive attitude 🙂
Agree , surround yourself with negativity and you can’t help but be negative.
Be an interesting ex[experiment if you took some one like Nick and placed him/her in a large group of positive happy people, I’d bet money within a week or two his/her outlook on life would change
completely.
& yet mention the name Andrew Little & you little guys get all negative & bitter & call him names like Angry & Chicken like you are on a school ground.
But hey I get it, criticise the Govt = Negative, praising the Govt = Positive.
I ain’t no lickspittle, so call me negative, coming from the likes of you sewer dwellers I take it as a compliment. & also, I do wake cheery, my life is good, my job is OK, my bands have records coming out so I feel like a winner, so suck on that!
Actually – I doubt I have called him Angry or chicken little (if I did it would have been a “one off”).
“Morning…. Key is the worst kind of cold hearted slimeball… … And his scumbag natz gang are just shocking human beings….. Does politics do that to them, or what?”
That was the comment I was replying to – hardly “criticise the Govt = Negative, praising the Govt = Positive” is it.
Yet you go to the likes of calling us sewer dwellers – I think this says a lot more about you than us.
I used to think of key as as a sub prime bubble blower ….
Now I think of him as the bail out boy ……….and wonder how much charity he took from the u.s.a tax payers when they bailed out his bankrupt worthless ponzi merrill lynch shares ……
“Merrill lost more than $27 billion that year. In all, 696 executives received more than $1 million each for helping to crash the storied firm…..”
“Bank of America completed the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co on 1 January 2009.”
…..John keys major paper wealth ( that we know of ) is Bank of America Shares ……
BM hates hand outs, or so he would have us believe ……..
I wonder what he thinks about Key taking millions in a hand out for staying invested in the toxic reckless and in the end bankrupt Merrill Lynch disaster…..
““Bank of America’s fraud resulted in “one of the biggest reverse transfers of wealth in history – from pensioners to financiers.” ….
john keys Register of Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament
2008: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds)in companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment
MerrillLynch – investment banking
JacksonMining – gold mining ……………………
And after then the bailout ………….
2009: 2 Interests (such as shares and bonds) in companies and business entities
Little Nell – property investment
Bank of America – banking
Jackson Mining – gold mining
““Bank of America’s fraud resulted in “one of the biggest reverse transfers of wealth in history – from pensioners to financiers.” ….
I dont speak Spanish, Korean or Belarusian.
FIFY “we just dont all have such a sad and empathetic outlook.”
James reminds me of the lady on the Briscoes ads……”Weee! Weee! Weee!”
Every day is a great day when the system is geared to favour your questionable existence over everybody else’s
James confirms what a load of patronising t***s they are once again
What a progressive country we are….
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11720811
Ouch, the right wonder why those damn crazy lefties are getting so worked up.
Who’d have thought we all were pissed off at exactly those things he wrote.
Oh well, here’s another journo not following Keys “brighter future ” mantra. How long before he gets fired ?
It’s what happens when you allow the capitalists to rule. They make laws that allows them to own and control the wealth of the nation and charge everyone else for the use of it.
The inevitable end result is massive poverty and deprivation – just as we’re seeing.
This is the nub of the article:
“The Household Net Worth Survey disclosed that 10 per cent of people own 60 per cent of the country’s wealth, and 40 per cent own a total of 3 per cent.”
There is fertile ground here for the Labour/Green bloc to put forward policies for more fairness and equality in this country. Grasp the nettle.
Rodney hide speaking common sense for once in the Herald, and it’s not about Labour, perhaps his visit the other day, gave him some foresight into others, and he’s trying to be a little fairer.
IDNK but it was a good article, have to give him up’s when deserved.
Lovely weather, for ducks.
Someone stole my whole letter box Friday night, I was annoyed, a tad, smidgeon, bloody expensive to replace, and after driving around the block several times it was nowhere to be seen, which is unusual drunks usually biff them not far from the scene of their artwork.
So post on FB for Tokoroa that day, um we woke up there’s two letterboxes in our back yard, some of our mates got qa little drunk last night, happy to drop off, 1 hour later letterbox back, good laugh and off they went, drunk as skunks they were and ended up with a couple letterboxes, ahh the joys of youth.
But how often does the return thing happen!!! so cool. No problems when it happens just return or fix the damage.. nice. Good on Tokoroa, I reckon if that was a lot of places, the letterbox would never have been returned.
ha!
Return to Sender? 🙂
Elvis is in the building ladies and gentlemen..
That was a good one. Nice 1
When I was living there it wouldn’t have been and it would have been dangerous to try and get it back.
“Rodney hide speaking common sense…”
Indeed.
Check it out people:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11719057
Want to harvest some votes come election time?
I’ve just spent a week hanging with the clan waghorn (not the real name) Two of whom are young single parents ,one he ,one she , both working full time jobs while juggling children , and school holidays are a thing they hate , more holiday programmes are needed , why not in list uni students to provide care and entertainment .
if they didn’t have family support they would have to quit their jobs
Health and safety has gone to insane new levels.
Wag seniors went to an open home and every one had a safety induction as they entered the house ffs
A builder tells me that every electric tool has to have it’s cable checked every 3 months at a cost, and that people visiting the house the are having built have to wear steel caps and a helmet ffs.
oh and according someone who has access to at least a dozen schools says global funding is ”bulk funding on steroids”
Because they don’t have time.
A lot cheaper than the builders or someone else’s life.
Electrical equipment does wear out just like everything else. Resistance builds up in cables until it becomes dangerous, insulation may get cracked in the harsh conditions of a building site and other things go wrong.
Once a year would be often enough , keeping in mind builders use cut switch’s and in general don’t want to die.
Plenty of students work in the holidays ,
And that would be fully supported by you builder friend complaining about it…
Oh, wait.
I have family in the construction industry and they’re really not as good on their equipment as you say and the cut switches can fail as well.
I agree on the health & safety b waghorn. It has gone stupid, especially the bureaucracy of it all. Checking & testing appliances isn’t that onerous but the documentation and record keeping is. Tradespeople spend a lot of time just proving they’re complying with health & safety requirements (that’s the only reason they have to document everything)
The biggest contributor appears to be incremental changes in liability for accidents. If someone does something stupid on your site & hurts themself you’re the one held liable for their stupidity unless you can prove you took all reasonable steps to ensure their safety. So you have to cover your arse with this bollocks of site induction, visitor safety clothing etc etc.
It’s killing the small business. They can’t amortise the costs of safety compliance as much as the big business can & it makes them less & less competitive.
You know what really kills a small business? When someone is seriously injured or killed due to their poor practices.
What a stupid comment. Businesses fail for a great many reasons and on percentages very few fail because of poor safety practices.
i think your view is half right half wrong DH
for anyone who is fully aware of the hazards on a buiding site or who uses sharp/power tools it would take less than 2 minutes to describe the hazards and any required safety measures to visitors…. not a time-consuming or costly effort, and it’s not unreasonable to expect site owners to take appropriate measures to minimise risk…..e.g. for power tools: remove from where kids can play with them, inspect/test cable/cutoff switches daily (tick a box/date to confirm), prevent access to area of ongoing work etc.
The real problem with H&S is that some people think it is “covering their arse” when they warn others that there’s hot water coming out of a bath tap, like the notices i saw in some hotels in the UK – Just plain stupid…. and it undermines proper consideration and respect for the intent of H&S legislation
it is not “reasonable” nor the intent of H&S legislation to require people to wear safety clothing if there are no hazards that require it.
it is not “reasonable” for people who are inexperienced in dealing with workplace hazards and risk controls to give ‘safety’ briefings or to give safety advice….
The example given of requiring safety boots to visit an open home only emphasises the ignorance of the people stating this ‘requirement’. It is in no way a good argument for challenging H&S legislation…. but it is a good argument for ensuring that safety inductions are only given at hazardous sites by qualified people
Not sure you’ve got that right locus. “Reasonable'” is a subjective term and in most cases the courts tend to look at it from the vista of the “normal person”.
It’s difficult to consider a visitor to a site as a normal person in any shape or form. They could be anyone, from genius to imbecile, so the level of what is and what is not reasonable in terms of safety for the visitor is wildly speculative. H&S legislation doesn’t really specify to what level of stupidity or IQ we have to cater for and even if it did we’d never be able to identify it anyway.
ACC can confirm how imbecilic us humans can be so, rationally, it’s not really possible to be too careful. Businesses, and people, do indeed need to cover their arses in these situations.
true – it may be better not to rely too heavily on the word reasonable – for e.g. there’s a few people who think its ‘reasonable’ to remove the pit from an avocado by embedding a sharp knife while holding it in the other hand
However, when it comes to changing people’s attitudes and getting commitment to safety in the workplace, there must be discussion and education about what managing risk really means and what is ‘reasonable’ in this context
… maybe i wasn’t clear in my earlier comment – i fully support H&S legislation requiring businesses to correctly assess hazards and dangers and be required to remove, isolate and reduce the likelihood of an accident occurring and to protect people from the consequences
i’ve always had a bit of a beef about the phrase “cover their arses” because to me it gives the impression that somehow the last barrier in place to protect people (safety boots, hard hats, etc) is all that a business needs to do ‘show’ that they are complying with H&S – While safety clothing may be important or essential, it is the last thing on the list that a business should do in terms of managing safety
As you rightly point out, people (and particularly businesses) take all sorts of ‘stupid’ risks. More than a few businesses cut corners to save money or time and do whatever they can get away with until legislation stops them.
H&S legislation covering safety in the design of hazardous equipment, its operation, testing and inspection is necessary – as are regulatory requirements for businesses that manage or operate in hazardous worksites.
Keep in mind, locus, that the discussion was about H&S going too far, it wasn’t about the principle of workplace safety.
The safety precautions that businesses take are generally related to historical events in similar situations. Take your hotel hot water bath tap for example;
If someone has previously burnt themselves on the hot tap in a hotel (and I believe that has occurred on more than one occasion) then it’s not that insensible for hotels to warn people about hot water. They know hot water burns ergo if someone did burn themself, and they weren’t warned about it, the hotel could be held negligent.
You think it’s over the top because you’d never burn yourself on the hot tap. But the hotel isn’t concerned about you they’re concerned about the lowest common denominator, thus the proliferation of safety regulations for imbeciles. A problem with that is the rest of us have to suffer these fools rules as well.
“Health and safety has gone to insane new levels.
Wag seniors went to an open home and every one had a safety induction as they entered the house ffs”
That’s not a problem with the health and safety legislation, that’s a problem with real estate agents (and agencies) not understanding how the law applies to them and over-reacting.
“A builder tells me … that people visiting the house the are having built have to wear steel caps and a helmet ffs.”
The builder also does not understand the new legislation.
If anyone wants to read up more about this:
https://www.propertytalk.com/forum/showthread.php?40728-H-amp-S-foolishness-has-sunk-to-new-depths&p=404674#post404674
Trump was right
His debate microphone and sound levels had problems, admits the “Presidential Debate Commission”.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/09/30/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-the-commission-on-presidential-debates/91349488/
interesting…i wonder why?
Perhaps even inanimate objects know he’s a loser?
Heard him sniffing well enough, must of been good Mexican shit.
So meh, excuses from the king of excuse makers, pathetic.
The Presidential Debate Commission released a short statement US Friday time that Trump’s microphone set up was in fact defective, like he had been claiming for days.
Did the faulty microphone make him say the really stupid things he said?
Oh, not at all, that was 100% Trump
Yet we all heard his words – no bonus for some – I spose he will have to up the pay grade for his next dark op microphone fix.
CVs link says it affected the volume in the auditorium.
Why the rest of the country thought he was a loser is anyone’s guess
Seems that at least part of the problem is the drumpfuck didn’t use it the way he was told to.
“According to a source with knowledge of conversations with the debate commissioners, part of the issue rested with Trump touching his microphone, something candidates had been told not to do because the microphones were “calibrated exactly” to the candidate’s voices.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-debate-mic-issues-228968#ixzz4Ls4YQKyT
I agree that on the night, Killary was the more polished, more prepared, more professional politician.
I suppose you agree with your man the don on these wild rantings
“Speaking to a crowd of nearly 5,000 in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump made some of his wildest accusations yet about his opponent and the integrity of American elections. Trump attacked his Democratic rival in starkly personal terms. He said of her “she has bad temperament, she could actually be crazy” and went on to imply that she had been unfaithful for her husband. “I don’t even think she’s loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth. And really folks, why should she be, right,” Trump said.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/02/donald-trump-renews-voter-warning-and-says-clinton-could-be-crazy
I suppose he was pissed that the porn movie he was in was released.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-playboy-porn_us_57eee2fbe4b0c2407cde0fd2
Oh he likes some sex tapes more than others.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-opinions-on-sex-tapes-228969
The Clinton campaign attacked him on “temperament” first, and as we have seen before, Trump is pretty easy to bait and rile up by the Clinton camp.
I am pretty sure they will try more of the same at Debate Two and try and get him to blow a fuse on live TV in front of tens of millions.
He’d better fix that sniff otherwise people will talk…
She don’t lie, she don’t lie, she don’t lie,……
And that’s what we need, more “professional” politicians.
If fully half was devoted, there can’t be much to go around.
/
LOL that is funny – 50% WTF
His piss poor performance wasn’t due to a faulty microphone, apparently.
/
joe 90: I’m still predicting an easy victory Trump Nov 8.
I’m guessing by 30 to 40 electoral votes.
The main cause is that Democrats and minorities will stay at home instead of voting for Hillary.
What they don’t ask on the msm…Is the USA end game to fracture Syria and release the rest of the Golan Heights to Israel?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/18/world/middleeast/israel-will-never-give-golan-heights-to-syria-netanyahu-vows.html
‘Direct aggression by US against Damascus to cause ‘tectonic shift’ in Middle East – Moscow’
https://www.rt.com/news/361294-us-aggression-damascus-tectonic-shift/
…”“If the US launches a direct aggression against Damascus and the Syrian Army, it would cause a terrible, tectonic shift not only in the country, but in the entire region,” Maria Zakharova said during a talk show, which is to be aired fully later on Saturday and has been cited by RIA.
With no government in Damascus, there will be a power vacuum in Syria, which “so-called moderates, who are, in reality, not moderate at all but just terrorists of all flavors, would fill; and there will be no dealing with them,” the diplomat predicted.
“And later it would be aggravated the way it happened in Iraq. We know that [Saddam Hussein’s] Iraqi Army became the basis of the Islamic State. Everything that both the [US-led] coalition and Russia are fighting now stems from it,” Zakharova said….
” the diplomat predicted.”
right, file, under many ulterior motives.
and switch off.
Your problem, Rawshark, is that you are too prepared to “switch off.” How about giving the matter at hand some serious consideration instead of writing it off with a glib dismissal like that?
Strong remnants of the western imperial/colonial mindset:
Some people from other cultures are trying to say something to us, but its a lot of effort to pay attention to their primitive smoke signals
And chances are that they aren’t saying anything important and furthermore, being backward and weak they can’t do anything to stop us so who cares what noises they make as it’s not going to change a single thing we do?
We do take notice of them when they talk to us in our language, as they did on Sept. 11, 2001 and in Paris last year.
+1
@ Richard Rawshark
Diplomats on the ground are not always wrong .
Look at the facts…isnt this is what has happened in Iraq, Libya and now they are trying to make happen in Syria
1) …the leader is got rid of /taken out on some pretext
2.) the government collapses and with it law and order breaks down
3.) the country is plundered
4.) the country is splintered and war riven between rival factions and religious groups and terrorists
5.) Isis takes over in the chaos…slaughter ensues
6.) the people flee their lands as refugees to Europe
6.) USA/Israel hand in the Middle East is strengthened
Any building site, hard hat, steel capped boots, that’s been the norm for years.
Not to sure on the open home safety induction, that’s not any rule.
3 months for cable checks? I did think it was 2 years, from the engineering co I worked at or was it a year? Hmmm. they came in from the local Electrical company and stickers all the appliances, and cables etc, but not every three months.
Earliest yearly.
anyways don’t panic I have it under good authority Paula Bennett is right on it and a hungry group of well paid National party experts on the feild are on their way to loopy rules bust, a loopy rule near you
Heard of Myth busters, here in NZ we have loopy *uckers.
“3 months for cable checks? I did think it was 2 years, from the engineering co I worked at or was it a year? Hmmm. they came in from the local Electrical company and stickers all the appliances, and cables etc, but not every three months.”
I think its 3 or 4 years for the company I worked for.
It varies, to find out for certain you need to buy the relevant standard (usually AS/NZS3760-2010) which costs about $100.
For factories, workshops, places of manufacture, assembly, maintenance or fabrication equipment including Class 1, Class 2, cord sets, cord extensions and EPODs have to be tested every 6 months.
In an environment where the equipment or flexible power cord is subject to flexing in normal use or is open to abuse or is in a hostile environment it’s every 12 months (that I would think covers construction sites, tradies tools etc)
(In the opposite environment to the above, ie non flexing & non hostile etc it’s every 5 years)
Hire equipment requires test & tag every 3months, plus inspection on each hire
RCDs need a push button test by the user every 3-6 months
And etc etc …..
Those flags should be at half-mast for his thousands of victims;
Arch-criminal Shimon Peres was the antithesis of a man of peace.
He was a prime instigator of Israel’s internationally condemned nuclear program, and his personal catch-phrase was “Settlements everywhere.” As one of the commentators in the following video notes, “He was a genocidal maniac who murdered thousands.”…
https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/781340003653652480
https://theintercept.com/2016/09/30/media-hails-shimon-peres-as-man-of-peace-but-doesnt-bother-to-ask-arabs/
A great man may he rest in peace.
Achieved more is his life than all the bleaters and moaners on blogs around the world combined .
People like you wrote similar eulogies for another “great man” who perished in April 1945…..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knut_Hamsun%27s_obituary_of_Adolf_Hitler
Well that comparison places you in bat shit crazy camp, say no more
I don’t think you possess either the knowledge or the judgement to make such a statement.
The comparison of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people to the oppression of Jews in Europe in the 1930s and ’40s is often made by Israeli people of conscience, and even by Israeli politicians, including Moshe Dayan and David Ben Gurion himself. Less than a decade ago, the hardline Israeli politician Yosef “Tommy” Lapid made the same point….
https://palestine-mandate.com/tag/tommy-lapid
Hardly a “great man”…more like a war criminal!
By Robert Fisk ( The Independent) on Peres:
‘Shimon Peres was no peacemaker. I’ll never forget the sight of pouring blood and burning bodies at Qana –
Peres said the massacre came as a ‘bitter surprise’. It was a lie: the UN had repeatedly told Israel the camp was packed with refugees’
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/shimon-peres-dies-israel-qana-massacre-never-forget-no-peacemaker-robert-fisk-a7334656.html
“When the world heard that Shimon Peres had died, it shouted “Peacemaker!” But when I heard that Peres was dead, I thought of blood and fire and slaughter.
I saw the results: babies torn apart, shrieking refugees, smouldering bodies. It was a place called Qana and most of the 106 bodies – half of them children – now lie beneath the UN camp where they were torn to pieces by Israeli shells in 1996. I had been on a UN aid convoy just outside the south Lebanese village. Those shells swished right over our heads and into the refugees packed below us. It lasted for 17 minutes…
The 50 year Israeli colonisation of occupied Palestinian land is, of course, at the heart of the conflict.
And the greatest single increase of Israeli settlers on Palestinian land – a 50 per cent rise – took place not under Right-wing Sharon or Netanyahu Likud Administrations but rather in 1992-96 under the supposedly “dovish” Labor governments of “peace-makers” Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres at the high-water mark of the Oslo peace accords.
Israel has now effectively annexed 42 per cent of the West Bank, with 300,000 settlers there and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem
The romanticisation of Peres and Rabin in the MSM has been all too predictable.
Both saw the Oslo “Peace Process” as a Palestinian surrender. As Peres told a gathering of ambassadors in Jerusalem during the second stage of the Oslo process, the permanent settlement envisaged by Oslo would categorically not involve any establishment of a functioning Palestinian state. In other words: no meaningful departure from the long-standing Likud-Labor consensus that there was to be no “additional Palestinian state in the Gaza district and in the area between Israel and Jordan” (“additional” because Israeli leaders and propagandists like to portray Jordan as the Palestinian State).
As Israeli political scientist, Meron Benvenisti, described the bounds of the mainstream Israeli spectrum during Oslo: at one extreme, “a peace which imposes an unconditional surrender on the Palestinians,” at the other, “a peace with somewhat more generous terms of surrender.”
Like all other Israeli leaders, then, Peres was a Rejectionist when it came to the two-state settlement predicated on International Law. Although it’s certainly true that he managed to cynically manipulate a series of American Celebs (read Useful Idiots) in his Peace Foundation charade with the aim of cultivating a Peace-Maker image within the western media (I remember dear old Sharon Stone suggesting she’d “kiss just about anybody” if she thought it would end the conflict.
Extraordinary that he should be portrayed as a great man of peace, “haunted by Israel’s failure to find an enduring settlement with the Palestinians.”
It’s more like 70 years. The entirety of Israel is an invasion of Palestinian land with it’s creation being fully against the UN Charter.
Of course it has. Can’t go round telling people that the West and the UN has been supporting a massive invasion and oppression of an entire people for the benefit of another people and all, seemingly, because a few people didn’t want Jews living in their countries.
Probably haunted by the fact that he hadn’t been able to totally destroy the Palestinian people.
“haunted by Israel’s failure to find an enduring settlement with the Palestinians.”
With Hamas wanting the complete extermination of Jews, it does make it a little hard to find an enduring settlement.
[citation needed]
And we actually do know that the Jews want to wipe out the Palestinians. They say so all the bloody time.
The Palestinians are the victims of an unjust invasion that the rest of the world forced upon them.
Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and its replacement with a Palestinian Islamic state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
http://fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/880818a.htm
“Hamas has not recognized the three principles insisted on by the Quartet (the United States, EU, UN, and Russia): renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of prior international agreements.”
http://www.cfr.org/israel/hamas/p8968
…renunciation of violence…
You mean like Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom have renounced violence?
The destruction of the state of Israel != complete extermination of the Jews.
Interestingly enough, the creation of Israel was the unjust action that’s caused all the problems and it was fully against the UN charter of protecting states from invasion.
There doesn’t seem to be anything on the energysafety site that mandates anything other than a formal test, tag and record regime, daily visual inspections and RCD push button tests and a requirement for electrical testing of kit after repairs are made.
http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/appliances-fittings/electrical-appliances-fittings/operational-safety/test-tag-regime
http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/appliances-fittings/electrical-appliances-fittings/operational-safety/safe-use-of-appliances-and-tools#cords
http://www.energysafety.govt.nz/appliances-fittings/electrical-appliances-fittings/operational-safety/testing-appliances-after-work-completed
Me too, I’ve noticed the reply function coming and going this morning (Firefox, Windows 8)
Democracy is in bad shape if its core principles are subordinate to economic principles such as expediency and efficiency. I think this is the case and is a root cause of rising inequality and it needs to be challenged.
Recently, several arguments were put forward here on TS why, in political elections, not all candidates deserve equal air time and exposure. Without exception, these arguments were rooted in neo-liberal thinking! I wrote this comment because this was a fairly typical example of how neo-liberalism has invaded our lives and our thinking; it has become the reference framework of our time and it has a domineering influence on the framing of socio-politico issues and, as such, on the narrative of most written & spoken publications and communications.
A candidate’s popularity and public support are often determined through political polls, which are intrinsically flawed, at best. To avoid perpetuating these flaws polls should be ignored altogether, i.e. all candidates should be treated equally and fairly, and not be included or excluded on the basis of flawed information. To exclude a candidate a priori is to deem him/her and/or his/her policy platform inferior.
Similarly, no (democratic) system can or should pick winners. Any attempt at pre-selecting winners, to narrow down the field for the final contest leaves it open to lobbying, manipulation or worse. This selection bias is an obvious problem but it also shuts out voices & opinions that are thus more likely to stay chronically ignored. In any case, it is about fair representation, not just simply winning, and moves to skew the process will further entrench inequality.
Another reason to triage the candidates is to allow more time for each pre-selected candidate to have his/her say and for a bigger share of public attention. In other words, make it easier for the public by limiting their choice to just 2-3 candidates. This unlevels the playing field in favour of picked winners; one could call this unfair competition.
There is no need to draw a line somewhere or pick a point that is appropriate if this is intrinsically undemocratic. If barriers are raised for some to have their say it is no longer a decision-making process by and for the collective. Taking this one step further, it could encourage ‘disobedience’ with the collective decisions and ignoring the (democratic) authority of the collective. How many steps away is this from neo-liberalism?
The quality and principles of the democratic process should never be sacrificed for reasons such as better allocation of ‘resources’ (time, public attention span, number of page views, viewer’s ratings, etc.) since this, in turn, undermines its capacity and fundamental role in allocation of all resources for the collective.
Will any of this put people further off engaging with politics or will it appeal? Obviously, people have busy lives, short attention spans and many distractions. But people also realise that once you start to chip away at the democratic foundations of our society and when you do not safeguard these against ‘wear & tear’ it leads to unintended and undesirable consequences.
+1
I know Mr Peres was not a monster, Anne. Compared to Netanyahu, he was a decent man. Compared to Netanyahu.
I just don’t think a person with his record should be honoured by having the flags at half-mast, as Obama ordered all government departments to do.
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2016/09/30/ive-got-debbie-wasserman-schultzs-back-obama-ive-got-israels-back-obama-im-lowering-the-flag-to-half-mast-for-peres-obama-but-when-it-comes-to-black-youths-killed-by-kil/
Thinking of “Compared to Netanyahu”, I wonder if Obama’s order was a message to Netanyahu. The two have a very frosty relationship.
Eighty plus thousand dollars, two years later and still no pond?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/kapiti/84689565/kapiti-council-closes-water-feature-because-it-could-evaporate
What’s going on Kapiti Coasters?
On a side note, did anybody notice how the article above was spun?
The pond has a leak that they can’t seem to locate, yet the way the article was written, evaporation has largely been given the blame.
Clinton lead in Pennsylvania almost gone
Clinton +10% against Trump 6 weeks ago, +6% three weeks ago.
Now at only +1.8%.
Those of you watching the US race will understand how significant this move away from Clinton is.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/pa/pennsylvania_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein-5964.html
very interesting…thanx
Testing….
It’s Sunday so lets have a bit of a laugh for a change.
Just heard a news item :- Auckland has had heavy rain and there is FLASH flooding.
Funny that I thought, Typical Auckland couldn’t have your ordinary everyday flooding, no, being Auckland they had to have “FLASH” flooding.
Why is it Auckland always gets the best?
Well, I s’pose its cos this is where most of the flash celebrity media types live so it stands to reason our floods are flash as opposed to your region’s floods which I s’pose doesn’t have any flash celebrities living in it.
I mean Auckland’s got Mike Hosking so of course the floods are going to be flash. 😈
Yeah, I notice Auckland always gets these new newfangled “Weather Bombs,” too.
Yet in Wellington we only get wind 😛
“Yet in Wellington we only get wind”
I kid you not. A teaspoon of Fennel seeds does the trick
Interesting read
http://e-tangata.co.nz/news/when-i-turned-five-i-turned-bad
Sadly, she has spoken an inconvenient truth, we are riddled with structural and institutional racism in this country and most people are blissfully unaware of the very real negative consequences. It is much easier to blame the victims of that racism than deal with the underlying issues.
A very interesting project running pretty much on solar and seawater:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-01/sundrop-farms-opens-solar-greenhouse-using-no-fresh-water/7892866
http://www.sundropfarms.com/
And at the other end of tech scale:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-02/compost-hot-water-shower-build/7894588
Conscious Capitalism
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/84821036/felicity-caird-business-answers-lie-in-conscious-capitalism
Nice comment on the fbook from Nandor Tanczos
“I’m sick of hearing the lie that Māori signed away their sovereignty with the Treaty. Read the Treaty – the Maori language version that Hobson and most of the Rangatira actually signed. Read the speeches – recorded by William Colenso at the time and published as a book. Māori were being asked for permission to set up a system to govern the unruly Pākeha, not to rule Māori. Hence decades of war when Pākeha decided to change the rules.”
Thanks for that, a useful succinct explanation.
Try not to laugh. Once you get past the obvious, it’s pretty sad. Demagoguery fosters and exploits this kind of thinking.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/finally-someone-who-thinks-like-me/2016/10/01/c9b6f334-7f68-11e6-9070-5c4905bf40dc_story.html?tid=sm_tw
Like millions of others, she believed that President Obama was a Muslim. And like so many she had gotten to know online through social media, she also believed that he was likely gay, that Michelle Obama could be a man, and that the Obama children were possibly kidnapped from a family now searching for them.
Clearly an irredeemable household of ignorant deplorables.
Yes, so easy to laugh at these rubes, isn’t it.
The beltway elite reading this WaPo article must have chuckled.
I find the Washington Post an inspiring read every know and then and I’d hardly say I’m part of the beltway elite.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2016/10/01/10-years-ago-her-son-killed-amish-children-their-families-immediately-accepted-her-into-their-lives/
That is an inspiring, sympathetic read.
It’s the paper that brought down Nixon too.
It was a mistake to laugh at fascism. As I said, demagoguery exploits this: demagogues look down on these people with the same condescension as you suppose the Beltway elites do. After all, they’re dumb people who pay taxes. Smart people don’t as Orange Jesus has told us.
I you think that he really gives a gold-plated shit for these people, you must be delusional.
Did you hear the lovely story Clinton told about the poverty that her mother came from, and her hard working small business father, the draper?
How Clinton would help him in his workshop when she was a child, so that gave her an understanding of the trials and tribulations of ordinary working people.
It was so touching and humanising.
Now about that 20 mile trip to the Rothschild’s fundraiser that she took by private jet.
BTW Trump is leading in Hillary Clinton’s home state Arkansas by +24.5%
Just out of curiosity, how do you think Clinton should have made that 20 mile trip from Martha’s Vineyard to Nantucket if not by private jet? Swimming?
Like everyone else out there does, by million dollar power yacht
Hillary’s childhood home
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=hillary+clinton+childhood+home&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=770&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjiq5qtyrvPAhUBNpQKHb8GAQMQsAQIGQ#imgrc=v5SrXfm7xKco1M%3A
WIKILEAKS reveals George Soros instructed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state – surprising no one.
http://investmentwatchblog.com/wikileaks-reveals-george-soros-directly-instructed-hillary-clinton-as-secretary-at-state/
“What I would do is push Government to stop foreign investment in existing houses,” Goff said on the Hui this morning.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11721048
Why not go for the tax option, Goff?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11628459
Key has already planted the seed, laying down good reasoning for it. Therefore, it would be difficult for him to now argue against that reasoning.
Another aspect that is beneficial to a land tax over Labour’s new build only policy is a land tax will help cover the infrastructure cost burden that comes with building new homes.
Labour’s position (limiting offshore investors to only buying new builds) still puts international demand pressure on local land supply, thus driving up the cost of land, hence adding to the overall cost of housing. Which defeats the objective.
No wonder actual n*zis love the guy.
Of course you have to have the “right genes.”
If you were young and Black for example, there’s every chance that you might be a criminal “super predator” with “no conscience” and “no empathy.”
If actual n*zis supported Clinton you’d have a point.
/
Investment bankers and hedge funds support Hillary.
That’s even worse.
5ppm perhaps *snort
Anne Frank’s family disagree:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/anne-franks-step-sister-says-donald-trump-is-acting-like-hitler-a6838531.html
Incidentally, my stepfather’s cousins were in the same annexe… and then the same camp. They left in the form of smoke.
Both Anne Frank’s family, and you, should ask about the role of huge American corporations like the Ford Motor Company, and American banks like JP Morgan Chase in making the Third Reich a tangible physicality.
It is these global mega-corporations and financiers who support Clinton.
See what I mean, now.
Damn, they tried the wrong people at Nuremberg!
It was the N*zis who ran the trains and the gas chambers you patronising sack of shit. Don’t you fucking lecture me on how N*zis were doing the will of other people. That was THEIR ideology, their actions. Their spawn are the ones waving flags for your hero now.
Polish your jackboots if you like mate, you can always have someone else to blame using that logic.
With the help of companies like IBM who played a part running the camps and the American banks who financed so much of it
Along with the nation’s responsible for creating the conditions leading to the rise of the Third Reich, CV’s point is valid
Claiming to have direct connection neither increases your perspective nor does it diminish anyone else’s
Steady on. It is true that big US money helped support the Third Reich during the 1930s. It does not mean that they knew what the manic Nazis would eventually do, but it still does not reflect well upon the policies of our very right-wing US Corporates. It is sometimes a habit of theirs, going by US interference in other countries since.
I should have mentioned General Electric as well.
It’s not my problem that you are so close to this that your brain turns off.
But who built and funded them?
So fucking what? Without a compliant greedy corporate machinery, that ideology would have been just another flash in the pan bout of crazy paranoid schizo that no one would have noticed or paid attention to.
Look up the photo of Henry Ford receiving Nazi Germany’s highest civilian honour. His company enabled the Blitzkrieg.
Given the amount of time you blatantly spend trawling the net, the links you post are sub standard
Trawling the net only to satiate your confirmation bias and self stated ABT position will be making you sick if you are not already
The Bush Family support and have supported The Clintons for decades and you can’t get more na*i/fasc*st than that!
Pull yourself together it’s getting ridiculous
Clueless chump says what …..?…..yawn
And you don’t even have the emotional nous to respond with anything other than a confirmation of my assessment!
Whomever or wherever you are and for the sake of those close to you, try a little harder to expand your thinking capacity mate
Why do you think I would bother responding to you and your arcane claptrap on any other level when on more than one occasion I’ve indicated I’d rather you fucking ignored me you muppet.
Smack dab in the middle of his ongoing meltdown, too.
Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
The 1995 tax records, never before disclosed, reveal the extraordinary tax benefits that Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, derived from the financial wreckage he left behind in the early 1990s through mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan.
Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said that tax rules especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
popcorn…..
https://thinkprogress.org/one-year-of-trumps-tax-returns-were-just-revealed-now-we-know-why-he-won-t-release-the-rest-a68e88a6038a#.r6xofr4qi
I think Trump has been doing the same thing with his taxes as all the mega-corporations which support Hillary are doing.
If you admit his financial fiddling is the same, why are you shaking your pom poms for this emotionally unstable eugenics-obsessed, nuke-loving, elitist tax-evading, accused rapist, racist misogynist?
“Buuuut KKKillary eats live kittens!” and a stab at google is less of a response than a tic or conditioned reflex. It has no content. You can google anything. Every time you type that you admit that Trump is the same as what you claim to despise.
You like to cherry-pick polls that agree with you, even Nate Silver’s synergistic poll …when it agrees with you. I suppose now that your predicted bounce for Trump didn’t eventuate (in fact Clinton had the sharp rise according to 538, will you be back to reading Dilbert for secret messages from Yoda Adams?
I hardly think Hillary Clinton is ideal or even good, and American plutocracy is corrupt and she won’t fix it, and Trump won’t change one thing for the better – he boasts of taking advantage of the housing crisis that threw so many poor working people out of their homes, he boasts of evading taxes, his tax plan will cut taxes enormously for the rich and he openly crows of his intention to commit war crimes (an overt policy of targeting civilian non-combatants and torture will all be increased, he says) – there is NOT ONE THING that he will do that will help the poor and he has a Strangelovean love of aggression that will drag America into still more bloody wars.
As well as that, frankly, there is the brownshirted elephant in the room that you “shrug” at. Fascism is a thing to dread and to stop because its even worse – it is certainly not some aesthetic faux pas to be brushed off.
You should look at the actual unashamed N*zis cheering Trump alongside you. Have a look at the people he’s appointing like Pence, an appallingly misogynist religious fundamentalist, as his running mate… and ask yourself some serious questions about basic human decency.
Do you just have schadenfreude contemplating the damage he’ll do? I’ve not seen one indication that you care about the people he has hurt or boasts of intending to hurt.
I’ve explained my position on Trump. He will be the better POTUS for NZ, he will be the better POTUS for the Asia Pacific, and he will seek de-confliction with both China and Russia by defanging the neocons in D.C.
I understand that the US Deep State may not allow any of this to happen.
For the American people, I fear that I do not hold much hope for betterment of their situation under either Clinton or Trump.
He will seek a safer Pacific? A man who’s promised a trade war with China if he doesn’t get his own way? Someone with the self-control of General Jack D. Ripper?
I understand that the US Deep State may not allow any of this to happen.
Setting up for “The election was rigged!” already, I see.
For the American people, I fear that I do not hold much hope for betterment of their situation under either Clinton or Trump.
Ugh, the sort of hypocritical unctuousness suitable for Uriah Heep.
I have no problem with TRADE wars Rhinocrates.
But Clinton doesn’t do TRADE wars. She does ACTUAL wars of regime change and neocon hubris, as well as brinksmanship in the South China Sea and the Middle East/Eastern Europe with Russia.
I explained my position and rationale; I can understand why you might not like it, but if you don’t want to hear it, simply don’t ask me next time.
And trade wars harm no-one? And they can’t escalate if one side is a thin-skinned narcissist who asks “If we have nuclear weapons, why don’t we use them?”
Idiot.
+100 CV…well said
Aww ref, they must be some other blokes……
A friend of Donald Trump’s recently approached him to suggest that he will eventually have to release his tax returns, as every presidential nominee has for decades. The friend told Trump that he should do it before the GOP convention to ensure everyone can process what’s in the returns and help make any revelations “old news” by November. If Trump didn’t do that, he was warned, the odds of politicized leaks from his returns were high, citing several examples from the Obama era, including the illegal leaking of some of Romney’s tax information by the IRS in 2012
“What will you do if the returns come out as part of an October surprise?” Trump was asked. Trump pondered the question and replied, “I’ll say they aren’t mine.” That stunning answer is the essence of Donald Trump. “It’s exactly what I’d expect him to say,” Fox Business’s Charlie Gasparino, who has known Trump for decades, told me.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/435254/donald-trumps-tax-returns-delegates-should-abstain-if-he-wont-release
Allegedly this is comedy satire, but it looks pretty much like the real thing to me…
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/10/02/watch_trump_and_clinton_debate_in_the_snl_season_opener.html
A Public Park which Aucklanders cant get access too unless your a member of the Remuera Golf Club which the Auckland Rate payers subsidies members at $12k/head! They got a contract running to 2091 from the council! Fuck’em build houses on it!
http://www.remueragolfclub.com/home
It would make a great camp ground over summer. I bet the chef could put on a mean buffet too!
Agree +100 great for housing and Public parks
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=11720284
”To say that the dam will inevitably have that effect is like saying that anyone who owns an axe will inevitably become an axe murderer.”
According to this man greenpeace haven’t done their homework around the ruataniwha dam
Something random: I was wondering if anyone out there knows if this Ofisa Tonu’u from http://www.labour.org.nz/auckland_candidates (Puketapapa Local Board) is the former All Black?
Yep, I’m sure he’ll do well.
Reply button’s playing up again, so:
So fucking what?
Jesus Christ. Your blithe indifference to the concept of culpability suggests the moral development of a spoiled infant.
Without a compliant greedy corporate machinery, that ideology would have been just another flash in the pan bout of crazy paranoid schizo that no one would have noticed or paid attention to.
Look up the photo of Henry Ford receiving Nazi Germany’s highest civilian honour. His company enabled the Blitzkrieg.
There have been plenty of witch hunts and pogroms done on the cheap with happy volunteer labour. Without the intention to do evil, that money could have been spent growing daffodils.
A wee pointer on learning history: google and the teachings of Dogbert do not educate you.
N*zism and its cousin fascism were no “flash in the pan” but broad an deep movements with sympathetic movements and parties in many states, even Britain (Moseley’s lot). If you knew the slightest bit about history, which clearly you do not, you would know that mere blind corporate investment in factories is not what motivates millions to slaughter millions. It was the choice of N*zis to do so with their many, many adherents. If you care to “look up” the writings of Himmler on “Blood and Soil” and “Living Space” you’ll see the basis of their ideology and decisions. There are some pretty weird occultist beliefs behind Himmler too.
That “flash in the pan” is more of a bale of straw needing a spark.
Ford etc are probably unknowingly complicit, though Ford was a rabid anti-semite and admired the N*zis.
However, those who choose to commit atrocities – the leaders and their millions of followers – are the ones responsible. They are not absolved by silly insistence that the sole source of evil in the world is an American boardroom and nowhere else.
Talking about modern day atrocities and those who commit them, and those sickeningly self righteous left wing progressives who go on to give it a pass
Remind me whose US administration it was who starved and deprived millions of Iraqi children of medical care and food through sanctions such that 500,000 of those children died, and when their Sec State was asked about it on TV she said that “it was worth it.”
Clue: one of the current Presidential candidates was married to him.
“Talking about…”
That’s a really clumsy and childish attempt at a diversion, even for you.
Do you really think this is some weird arithmetic where points on one side cancel points on the other?
Who exactly does that absolve?
Go back to your sand pit.
Says the man trying to equate Donald Trump, a liberal New York Democrat at heart, with Adolf Hitler.
By the way, the answer you couldn’t stomach was Clinton.
And for the 500,000 to 600,000 Syrian deaths so far, the answer is Obama/Clinton.
But none of these Iraqi people or Syrian people or Libyan people are your relatives, right?
Liberal New York Democrat at heart
As evidenced by all he’s been saying and doing? With all his racisms and misogyny? With his active support for and from N*zis? I’m not just name calling and saying he’s “poopy-pants” or whatever. The bedsheets, the swastikas and the goose stepping among his supporters is all real… But at heart he’s a liberal?
(So I equate him with Hitler? Yeah I do. So does Anne Frank’s family – and they were there seeing it the first time around.)
Latest is a pledge to sign a federal law allowing discrimination against LGBT people on the basis of “religious freedom” exclusively for right wing Christians. Liberal, right?
Anyway, that’s been covered, so what you’re saying is a flat lie. Repeating it won’t make it true.
I know perfectly well what the answer is, and spare me your crocodile tears for people you simply use yourself as tokens in your rhetorical games.
I said evil is evil and there is no game you can play that absolves one side or renders it irrelevant. What you did was a rhetorical diversion and now you are deliberately misrepresenting me.
Every time you say “Hillary eats live kittens” you are saying that eating live kittens is wrong. True indeed, but if another person eats live kittens, two wrongs have been committed, not one. No blame has been lifted. This does not bring balance to the Force. Trump remains a loathsome bastard with the support of loathsome bastards.
I say he’s a loathsome bastard releasing old demons that will not be stopped easily and they are worse than you can imagine with your limited faculties and weird obsession.
So: idiot and a liar.
“Do you really think this is some weird arithmetic where points on one side cancel points on the other?”
See the False Equivalence post. That’s CV too a T. He can’t get his head around “not supporting Trump does not equal supporting Clinton”. All comments regarding Trump, Russia or Putin are met with the same response. Deflect to Clinton and accuse the questioner of somehow being complicit in allowing the West to bomb the shit out of everywhere.
Pure speculation on my part, but CVs presentation is similar to people who have been disillusioned and betrayed. Their world is turned upside down, what they pledged allegiance to they now hate, they feel abject and as catharsis obsessively latch on to clear incarnations of what disappointed them as a hate figure and a hero who more often than not is a scourge by proxy (collateral damage be damned).
Not really psychology, more lit crit (which is my “official” area of expertise) and CVs not really a literary character of course.
Keep on piling up the personal attacks and abuse, Rhinocrates, I don’t mind, get it out of your system.
rhinocrates, it seems that you and the rest of the righteous liberal lefty establishment better get ready to lose the election on Nov 8 to a bunch of racist, red neck, misogynist, gay hating, uneducated, deplorables and irredeemables, then.
By the way,
and you’ll be at the front cheering them on, smiling slyly as they begin metaphorically fashioning their nooses.
Metaphorically?
thought it was a bit too much without that
But you have his number – the mind numbingly distorted convolutions he makes to try and escape his own tail. Lies built on bullshit topped with lashings of fake tears and throw your granny under the bus political points scoring – and trump is just as bad
How’s the Kermadecs, you impressed with the response of the Left yet?
Just saw his response. It’s the Kermadecs now. Proves your point really.
More impressive than your lefty cred, CV.
You’re about as left as my right nut.
rhinocrates, it seems that you and the rest of the righteous liberal lefty establishment better get ready to lose the election on Nov 8 to a bunch of racist, red neck, misogynist, gay hating, uneducated, deplorables and irredeemables, then.
BTW how is your precious LGTBQ community doing in Libya nowadays, since Hillary Clinton allowed Islamic extremists to implode and take over the country?
Wake up and smell the real evil, the real dehumanising haters.
Hows the LGTB community doing in Russia?
How’s the LGTBQ community doing in the areas of Syria taken over by Western/US backed Jihadists?
In Russia, the LGBTQ community have to live within the strictures of a more socially and religiously conservative society.
In Libya, the LGBTQ community have to live within the strictures of a more socially and religiously conservative society.
How is that statement different from Russia? All I read from you is Western backed LGBT discrimination bad, Russian state sponsored homophobia and discrimination is merely “the strictures of a more socially and religiously conservative society.”
Uh. Sure mate, no difference between life in Moscow or St Petersburg and life in Sirte.
So some discrimination is OK in your world.
They must be doing pretty well – the Russian President distributes homoerotic photos of himself to the media, which is more than you can say for most countries.
Like this?:
http://www.konbini.com/en/files/2015/09/Putin.jpg
Come to think of it, I rather like this one:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9dxNnekD3xg/UwJGYcfjRNI/AAAAAAAAAa0/tuJw6Q928d4/s1600/Putin+poster+-+web.jpg
Schadenfreude? I’m going to get my comeuppance am I?
My “precious” LGBT community? I think my friends there prefer “fabulous.”
Your sarcasm shows your callousness. Yet then there are more crocodile tears for LGBT people in Syria that you dismissed so sarcastically. Mere rhetorical tokens again, not real people.
Somehow I think I can be forgiven for thinking of you playing with action figures going “Grrrr! Yarrr! Take that faggot-lover!”
The real evil? There’s only one?
Where do you get the impression that I support Clinton? I’ve never said such a thing. Is it from from the voices in your head? It is as if you were at a performance of Hamlet and all you hear is “Blah blah blah blah Clinton!”, then go to a park and hear the tulips muttering “Clinton, Clinton, Clinton.” You are genuinely obsessed.
Get help.
Like I said, questioning CV makes you a Clinton supporter
Morbidly interesting in a way… and I must admit to deliberately needling him. I’m a writer and I’m thinking my next-novel-but-one which might look at the rise of an extremist group (kind of a theme in the one I’m working on now). Crazy would-be Fuhrers are plentiful and most fail, but like a storm, if the field is charged, lighting will strike. The “charge” is the millions who will become their followers. CV shows me how formerly sane and decent individuals (and he’s still driven by a speck of moral ardour) can become so obsessed with simple equations of black and white that they’re willing to follow a demagogue.
It’s all material. Hopefully it’s only material.
I’m a writer too. Had a few pieces published in international and NZ magazines. Was a stringer for Remix in Auckland while living in London – had a few articles published.
I don’t do journalism anymore though – was a brief foray. I like the creative form.
But yes, CV has a very…binary POV.
Not an easy living. Good luck. I’m hoping that academic editing gigs will stabilise my income as long as I have time for the creative side.
I have a full time, well paid job. But I still spend time working on a novel of sorts. While I am only 36 my story is interesting enough to validate a memoir.
In writing it I am learning a lot about myself.
Look in the mirror mate you’re the one following me around writing screeds of personal hate.
CV…I am with you all the way on this one…Trump is a better option than Clinton…the very thought of her being next President makes me shudder
Chur, Chooky 🙂
I’m with a large fraction of Americans who can’t stomach either of them. Unfortunately NOT voting doesn’t help.
Nor am I willing to make any predictions; as I’ve said all along any damn thing could, and likely will happen. This is a chaos election.
Prick will be lucky not to join Bernie Madoff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html
Timing, brevity, monumental losses in a boom year with the possibility the leak was from within his own camp.
A masterful piece of ratfucking.
http://www.vox.com/2016/10/1/13134976/trump-tax-documents
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/10/donald-trumps-1996-tax-returns-leaked-from-trump-tower
Yep – this could be the beginning of the end. From Trump tower, trumps old lawyer verified it.
I wondered why clinton didn’t pounce on it at the debate – planted a seed and must have known something was growing… or maybe she is just a talking head who couldn’t not follow the script – hmmm