Does anyone in the National party agree with this:
“the [National] vote doesn’t have to narrow down to rich people and those who think they will become rich. It can appeal to regular, modestly paid people, but only if it shows some awareness of the cost of living, and accepts that just because you’re claiming benefits – in or out of work – it doesn’t mean you’re scum.”
Interested to know—because the govt drawn from that party does not seem to believe this.
“Single mothers have reacted angrily to “appalling” and “degrading” comments by Australia’s Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, who said she could survive on the A$35 ($43.81) a day Newstart allowance.
Macklin was commenting on government changes that replace single parents’ payments with lower Newstart payments once the children turn 8. Welfare groups estimate some families will be A$60 to A$100 a week worse off.
Corinna Taylor, a 43-year-old Brisbane mother of two who expects to lose A$90 a week, said it would force her to seek charity help or family loans, and make many single mothers rort the system.
“I would challenge anybody to live on A$35 a day and not in some way have to rort the system.”
The Government’s changes would put those in different circumstances in the same basket, she said. Office manager Cate Flaherty agreed.
“As a single mother who’s always worked part-time and raised polite, considerate children I’m now being treated as someone who adds no more value to society than a junkie sitting on the couch all day,” she said.
Flaherty says her budget will now be cut by A$230 a fortnight, almost double the drop of a non-working single mother. “We’ve copped a bigger hit than non-working single mothers … It’s made it harder for me to work.”
Terese Edwards, of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, said Macklin’s comments were “salt in the wound for these mums who face such an uphill battle”.”
The minister misses the point entirely when she states she could survive. Anyone on a low income knows there is a big difference between surviving and living.
The minister misses the point entirely when she states she could survive.
It’s also the time period she chooses to ‘survive’. Start in winter time with high electricity bills and last long enough for the washing machine to breakdown, the kids to grow out of their shoes and an unexpected root canal.
When I first heard this news I thought she must be a Minister in a Liberal State government, but I regret to say she is a Labor minister and former deputy leader of the Federal ALP.
It would seem that Australian Labor see more votes to be gained from the ‘bash a bene brigade’ than what they would likely gain from beneficiaries themselves,
Seems that the Aussies have taken a harder line than Paula Benefit has here, that should be said with a whisper as i am sure National will be looking at the changes across the Tasman with open admiration,
Then again, after the roof-painting sickness beneficiary speech from Shearer, i wonder if there might be some admiring approval from many in the current Labour Caucus here…
The difference is that with the Australian version there seems to be a high level of public outrage, with business groups among those opposed. What is more, this outrage is reported in at least one major newspaper.
The man bent over his guitar
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, “You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are.”
The man replied, “Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
And they said then, “But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,
A tune upon the blue guitar
Of things exactly as they are.”
-Wallace (from the Blue Hotel)
(We can’t see. But feel some awful thing)
We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love…
Yikes, oops, Yeats
now on my way to the forum i was Way-laid; a brother from fellowship (well two actually, his father-in-law is Greco ;), and the childrens uncle’s, well, they’re padding around the ‘hood), anyway, we broke bread together over a cuppa tea before i cycled by my favourite second-hand bookshop and discussed The Sources with a socialist colleague, he’s a house painter too, since moving on from patching the bros’ through his Screen business, interestingly, another brother, same Father owns it now, anyway…make sure your’e connected, the writings on the wall. And thats the skinny
Those 2 links certainly put into context the previous ‘writings’ of one David Shearer and has me pondering whether or not His ‘aid work’ for the UN was not in fact a ‘front’ for intelligence gathering on behalf of one country or another’s intelligence service,
The story, true or false???, told of Dave having an ‘idea’ while sitting on the back of a truck watching African kids scrabble in the dust for Dave’s tossed mango skins makes me also ponder whether Shearer has any empathy what-so-ever with those who find themselves living a life of less than what Dave manages…
Yes well it’s all very well sitting in comfort critiquing Shearer and his UN role. I found your post cynical to say the least. Give the guy a break after all he was out there making a difference in the third World. What are you doing? Sitting in your Y fronts at your comp with ya guts hanging out I bet lol.
Was He really, making a difference that is???, it appears from here in front of the computer, wearing shorts and T, gut suitably overhung, that the same tribal wars are still occurring and each day the same amount of Africans die of starvation, disease, and, war-fare related injuries as they have done despite Dave’s best efforts,
Then again if the diagnosis inherent in the articles linked to via the comment i previously made are in any way close to being ‘fact’ then there are plenty here in the ‘West’ who are putting one hell of an effort into ensuring that such remains the status quo…
Finding homes for orphans in Rwanda? That’s a difference made.
I’m impressed with the way that the guy has morphed from ‘too nice’ into totally evil and Machiavellian in no time at all.
Indeed B12, its a stretch to imagine that amongst the imperialist destabilisation/playing both sides, and UN complicity to genocide, including the awful crimes committed by so called UN peace-keppers in africa, corporate profiteering, private militarisation, monopolistic *racketeering*,that one David Shearer stands tall as a man of honesty/integrity, working for the benefits of the african people, against his own sponsors/employers!
Thats is effectively what we are being *asked* to believe/accept!
Edit: Skinny in case you were not being sarcastic, why should we give DS a break, we are being *asked* to believe that the new leader of the major opposition party in NZ, is something which he quite possibly is not, but should give him a *free pass*, so to speak!
What sort of difference was DS making, and for whom exactly!
Figured with the *hands down pants* comment you were not entirely serious, hard to tell over the virtual space eh.
Yeah it would be a generous individual who would give DS the benefit of any doubt thats for sure, its blatant the way he was fast tracked, just as Key was, that this was/is a done deal, and he has very powerful backing, not talking about caucus, cos they are not the power, so much as the puppets!
Hey but there is always Russel Norman waiting to pick up some votes eh, or when he get exposed, perhaps Kennedy Graham will be maneuvered (already) into position, and the greens turn out to the watermelons they obviously are!
well I’m going to ignore the stupid watermelon quip – so last year muzza – go for the upgrade mate.
I’ve heard a couple of different end-games for these “powerful backers” of key – what’s your take on it muzza? Are they going to kill off most of us and leave the rest as slaves.
Hi Marty, it my polite name for it, what would you prefer I used?
So far as any end game, IMO, the power backers simply play all sides, like any outcome based criminal would do. I don’t pretend to know what may/may not happen, but whatever has gone before, is happining/coming, I can’t honestly see what is going to prevent/stop it at the moment. People can stop, but most will not acknowledge/can’t/won’t see the threat, which makes it difficult, while others want to blow off the political situations as ineptitude etc, while refusing to entertain the notion, that just perhaps these politicians with the *back stories*, and even those who are not as prominent, are operating under another guise, while pretending to be Kiwis working for NZ. Why is that not a possibility to most, because when I see a huge mess (repeated corruptions) that NZ became some time back, I go looking for different possible explanations, which may or may not be wide of the mark…
All I would say Marty, is have a look at whats happening around the world with the wars, kinetic military actions etc in any part of the world where peoples are being killed off, resources stolen, look at the global debt, and related austerity based policies, the financial control over commodities which are killing people off, ans environmental destruction, then ask if its not already happening, the killing and the slavery I mean!
you have done lots of research and are watching this stuff avidly – is there a point to it and what is it? Obviously more of the same is an answer but why.
Marty, in the eyes of any sane human being, there is no point in the murderous, genocidal/kleptocratic policies and systems which dominate the worlds population & environment, no point or purpose!
So why does it all not just stop?
My POV, because there are too many interests which want it that way. The, why currently seems clear enough, that in chaos comes opportunity to control, of all kinds, via all systems. Efficiency, peace human/environmental well being, seem not to be a feature of the *decision makers* mind-set, because if it were, we would not have a fraction of the global/local suffering. Why is it not a feature of the mind-set, are they being blackmailed, gun to head, or are they actually *in on it*, whatever *it* might be, the choices are few, when it comes to why governments are actively working against those they are apparantly working for.
There are not that many explanations for the continued state of despair/suffering etc, or the political complicity in it, that’s what people need to start examining and trying to understand. If we ever got to a critical mass of threat awareness, then perhaps the point (if there is one) will actually have to reveal itself.
If it turned out there was no *point/agenda*, at least we would be better positioned to force/demand positive change, instead of hoping it might arrive via the ballot box. It requires people to actively start thinking about the treachery in our country, the damage its done, and the damage it will do, and consciously/actively not stand for it any longer.
Kiwi workers ripped off with yet another wet summer holiday break. Change the official holiday period to the 1st 2 weeks of Feb I say!
This is something the Labour/ Green parties could explore as a campaign policy. It’s seems to be a constant issue every year ‘wet weather.’ usually hot summer days arrive as the poor old worker returns to work. Any one agree?
Absolutely. I always work through Christmas/New Year (I’m fortunate to be in an essential service industry that doesn’t ‘shut down’) … and usually take leave in February sometime. There’s often a nice spot of weather early December, but frankly the weather around late December, early January is just too damn unreliable. It seems to have been like this for a decade or more.
The stupid part is that many people are compelled to take leave in a short window of opportunity … and if the weather is crap then there’s every reason to feel ripped off. A lot more flexibility around annual leave is well overdue in many workplaces.
Along the same lines I have a European work colleague whose pretty appalled at how understaffed most organisations are in this country. It means that people are constantly under pressure and stress to juggle unexpected changes of roster, health and family obligations.
And too many people feel uncomfortable asking for leave outside of the normal Christmas period because they’re not all that confident that being away from the job (and all the office politics) for 2-3 weeks mid-year is all that smart.
All just another symptom of the mean-spirited and narrow thinking of too many employers in this country.
Yes I agree many employee’s do feel compelled to take there summer holiday over the Xmas period.
I think in Europe they take their summer break later than we do for the obvious reason of hotter more settled weather. Certainly would help seeing through the bleak winter months if we had a later official holiday period. I feel for the campers at the moment.
RL, should we not question the following? Absolutely. I always work through Christmas/New Year (I’m fortunate to be in an essential service industry that doesn’t ‘shut down’)
Why the fekk is anything essential unless life and limb are threatened? Where do we draw the line on the commercial imperative and the human imperative on Christmas Day etc?
It may well be that kiwi workers are ripped off with another wet Xmas/New Year, but I can’t see it changing because for many, maybe most families, the chance to join the gathering of the clan and visit friends and the chance to get away for a holiday are the same thing. And that almost inevitably happens at Christmas. When it happens at all*. Travel is expensive.
*More than half of my street seem to have stayed home this Xmas. This working class suburb was a ghost town this time last year.
Unfortunately, in my experience, people want to do Christmas at Christmas. Which is a pain really. But somehow it still seems valuable to me, that we have one festival that is shared by almost everyone at the same time. Just pity about the time.
It rained every day while I was up in Auckland. Which is normal for Auckland. Still had a good time.
It seems to me that people are missing a crucial factor: the school year ends in December and starts at the beginning of February. And then a lot of workplaces close down because they figure e eryone is going on holiday…. and RNZ and all our news media think it’s time to slack off more than usual – cumulative effect.
At my workplace, a lot of people choose to take their annual leave over this period because they have school age children. My workplace only closes for the statutory days.
Hence, people like me, who work part time and have no young children, get called in to do some extra casual work over this period. I’m very happy with this, and to take some leave in February or March.
If the legislation around annual leave was brought into line with stat days – where, if agreement can’t be reached, the employee determines when the day in lieu will be taken – then the current widespread compulsion to take annual leave in late Dec would end.
So if workers wanted two weeks or whatever around Chinese NY or any other damned time they pleased in this multi-cultural country, they could.
Good point Bill certainly would get the NZ chinese votes closer to Chinese NY.
Unfortunately far too many employee’s don’t have the guts to belong to a Union. Workers rights took a hit we have never recovered from since the introduction of voluntary Unionism. introduced.
I doubt a Shearer led Labour will tamper with employment law in this regard?
Well the 2 weeks from Xmas is widely regarded as the ‘official summer holiday period.’ what planet are you from? Planet Key or something! You know what I mean smart arse lol
Will a Labour government in NZ “save us” from such woes? Politicians are, after all, politicians! So much hinges on influences the wider membership can (hopefully) bring to bear.
Bloody bingbot was slowing the site again this morning – I wish it would tell me what timezone it thinks I’m operating in. I have dialed back it’s entire time period.
Tom Lehrer’s work and wit has been one of my interests for a long time. I was just reading his Wikipedia bio and thought this was an interesting quote.
In 2003 he commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: “The real issues I don’t think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn’t ban land mines… I’m not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn’t figure out what sort of song I would write. That’s the problem: I don’t want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them.”[13]
Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post interviewed Lehrer off the record in a February 2008 phone call. When Weingarten asked if there was anything he could print for the record, Lehrer responded, “Just tell the people that I am voting for Obama.”[23]
About 8 days ago the ‘subscriptions’ that dropped comments into my email stopped working. Just been and had a look and I’m apparently still subscribed to…well, actually all posts now and not just the ones I’ve commented on. But nothing comes through (and no, they ain’t landing in spam or junk)
One mans annoyance being another’s blessing, yeah the same happened in my email as well, but, seeing as i can’t ever remember asking to be notified every time a comment appeared in a post i had commented in i’m happy the emails stopped…
Yes, the same happened to me. Also, I lost the WYSIWYG from the reply boxes. It meant I was stimulated to learn that awkward long code for links. After a few wrong attempts, I think I have just about grasped it.
The messenger awaited a desperately long time
the long-for herald of victory or annihilation
was delayed-the tragedy was without any ending
In the background the chorus scanned dark prophecies and curses
the king-a dynastic fish-thrashed in an inconceivable net
the second indispensable person was missing-fate
The epilogue was probably known by an eagle an oak the wind
a sea wave
the spectators were half-dead breathing shallowly as stone
The Gods slept A quiet night without lightning
Finally the messenger arrived in a mask of blood dirt lamentation
uttering incomprehensible shrieks pointing with his hands
to the East
this was worse than death because there would be no pity
no fear at all
and in the last moment everyone longs to be pardoned
it’s when you want to shrug it all off:
the gross pap of warm anaesthetised brains
hotels ringing with stale tongues
the bland translations of headlines
walls everywhere
when money’s sensual brutality
chats warmly in your veins
when your possessions assert their tyranny
mocking you from corners
where is the moon’s still wash
over uncluttered landscapes?
where are your lovers’ mouths
which stopped your mouth so neatly?
in this dreamless city you put them away
now you turn to a window
which mimics you in ice
your face a marble of loss
your hair a curtain of dust:
this is the stone you work on
-Alison Croggan (from Blue Sky Mining Country; 2 Minutes To Midnight)
Phase shift…..if I work all day in the Blue Sky mine there’ll be food on the table tonight……..if the Blue Sky mine wont come to my rescue who’s gonna save me…….
Watch what happens when this pathetic old man—let’s call him “Sir Paul”—tries to harass a young black man in Florida.
At 2:41 Sir Paul snarls at the young man: “A typical punk black. That’s all you are.” Sounds just like the language that used to be heard daily around the Television New Zealand studios until 2005.
what follows is a wee awry sermon from the non MSM MSP (very funny :), i can take a roasting and laugh at myself for a while, yet it’s the future for people that makes me sad, particularly considering the climate and what follows; “roastings” becoming normal was one reason I stopped watching television comedy, life is funny enough without people clowning around at some “others” expense, and when discussing the Keiser’s “comedy” today the chap responding said one thing Max outlined Five years ago was that “They” intended to “nickle and dime” people…
(find a penny pick it up, and all day you’ll have good “luck”, well todays “penny” is a 10 cent piece and I’ve picked up three in the last three weeks, as well as quite a few butts before I broke even, to “afford” a Holiday and then, eventually, gave up Finally, (Cold Turkey; Alan Carr, Quit Smoking, or don’t, it don’t bother me none) and what today in The West is not predominantly “vanity”?
Dom
-student allowances cuts to go ahead, to be felt most by poorer students, lost potential
despite higher loan repayments and fewer borrowing (not wasted on the young)
-“Anarchy in Afghanistan”-Warlord holds the key to peace, more “civilized” than Nato?
supports segregated education, not discrimination. ANA-“yanks” buy another Uniform made by “the hands of others”.
Conclusion-Join Hands; Siouxsie
(when the “Spirit” is weak, culture, flight and fear are willing)
Aussie manufacturing land Downunder-“no manufacturing sub-sector recorded expansion activity”
Grave implications for New Zealand Made to become less “appealing”. Has the Teflon Donkey seen the price of Margerine? It’s sliding out the door.
RNZ-Enola Gay…it didn’t have to turn out this way…Could have waved goodbye to The House of The Rising Sun…;) (ahhh, the power of suggestion); We’re a Garage Band, in a garage land.
Oh Well, Heaven, Time to Stop Making Sense. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel to beat these Slippery People Burning Down The House making Flippy Floppy in the Swamp like Casual Gods.well, What A Day That Was.
-Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club)(i’m going home now to listen to The Essential Ozzy bark at the
Moon) Bye
getta rythm…when you get the blues…getta rythm…but don’t step on my Blue sandal shoes
(if I were a carpenter…Doin My Time…As Long As I Live…They Call Me The Breeze…That Old Wheel…(wish i had A Backstage Pass)…but is there something not “Right” about The Man They Love To Hate? I don’t think so Tim, maybe he could be an Architectural Clinical Psychologist;NOT
-John (Angel And The Badman) who prays somebody sees his potential and knocks on his Caravan door. (yet “bums” are like families…everybody’s got one)
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A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming? Waste heat’s contribution to global warming is a small fraction of ...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets.He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...
Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and freeSexuality - Your laws do not apply to meSexuality - Don't threaten me with miserySexuality - I demand equalitySong: Billy Bragg.First, thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday’s survey. Some questions worked better than others, but I found them interesting, ...
Hi,I just got back from a week in Japan thanks to the power of cheap flights and years of accumulated credit card points.The last time I was in Japan the government held a press conference saying they might take legal action against me and Netflix, so there was a little ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; andHealth Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa ...
Hi,I just got back from a short trip to Japan, mostly spending time in Tokyo.I haven’t been there since we shot Dark Tourist back in 2017 — and that landed us in a bit of hot water with the Japanese government.I am glad to report I was not thrown into ...
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances:The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...
Photo by Gareth Davies on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest , and special ...
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
An 11-storey timber building planned for the thoroughfare has been denied consent, and it’s not just the passionate yimbies who are up in arms, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. K Road developer to appeal council decision ...
Going into the Prime Minister’s first trip to India, NZ Indian Central Association president Narendra Bhana said one of the key indicators of success would be whether or not New Zealand managed to secure a direct flight to India.“The absence of direct flights between New Zealand and India makes travel ...
The government wants to streamline regulations, but marine advocates worry the changes would make fishing less transparent and expedite destruction of the ocean. ...
‘Eggsurance’ is increasingly common, especially among single women waiting for the one. It’s a costly and invasive process – and most frozen eggs never end up being used. So is it worth it? Gabi Lardies investigates. ‘I really wanted to have children. I wanted to be a mum,” says Sandra*. ...
With economic uncertainty comes investing jitters, but it can also be an opportunity, writes Frances Cooke. Checked your Kiwisaver balance lately? Yeah, it’s probably not looking great. Well, at first glance, anyway. Your Kiwisaver going down can actually be a good thing for the future – yes, I’m serious. But ...
Every time tenacious lock Tanita Garnett charges onto the rugby field for the Tasman Mako, she’s playing for an 11-year-old girl.A kid fighting a rare cancer for the second time; so drained by chemotherapy and other treatments, walking’s a struggle, let alone running.That 11-year-old girl was Tanita Garnett.Today, Garnett is ...
Mark Forman’s new biography Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist is the third book-length study to be made of Fomison and his work since his death in 1990, aged 50, in Whangārei hospital, on the day after the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It follows ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 20 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to New Zealand’s fisheries management mark the most substantial reforms in decades, and have sparked debate over environmental oversight and public transparency.LegaSea, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and restoring the marine environment, is among those rocking the boat to halt the changes.“We are bewildered by ...
By Russell Palmer, RNZ News political reporter Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick says the need for Aotearoa New Zealand to impose sanctions against Israel has grown more urgent after airstrikes on Gaza resumed, killing more than 400 people. Swarbrick lodged a member’s bill in December and said that with all ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will make another pre-election offer in health, promising that if re-elected it will legislate to ensure people pay no more than $25 for a script under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The ...
Asia Pacific Report At least 400 people have been killed after a surprise Israeli attack on Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday. The Israeli government vows to continue escalating these military attacks, claiming it is in response to Hamas’ refusal to extend the ceasefire, which has been in place ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jon Richardson, Visiting Fellow, Centre for European Studies, Australian National University US President Donald Trump’s phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, didn’t take a tangible step towards ending the hostilities in Ukraine, let alone finding an enduring peace. Rather, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Associate Professor and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Popovo Bros/Shutterstock You might’ve heard too many eggs make you constipated. Influencers on Instagram claim it too. The United Kingdom has slang for it – being “egg bound”. Eggs were ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne Climate change is the most pressing problem humanity will face this century. Tracking how the climate is actually changing has never been more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anne Tiedemann, Professor of Physical Activity and Health, University of Sydney shurkin_son/Shutterstock We all recognise the benefits of regular aerobic or cardiovascular exercise to support our heart and lung health. Being active is also good for our social and mental health. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Moran, Lecturer in the Department of English, Creative Writing and Film, University of Adelaide MK2 Films Chinese independent director Jia Zhangke’s new film Caught by the Tides, now in select Australian cinemas, provides a unique vision of China’s rapid social ...
RNZ News New Zealand opposition Labour leader Chris Hipkins is accusing the prime minister of reversing a long-held foreign policy during his current trip to India to help secure a free trade agreement between the two countries. “It seems our foreign policy is up for grabs at the moment,” he ...
A fortnight of mixed fortunes for the prime minister. After a drum beat of conjecture about his job security, the prime minister enjoyed something of an elixir in the investment summit and a trip to India that began with a breakthrough announcement: the launch of talks on a comprehensive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash University Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has floated the idea of amending the Australian Constitution to allow government ministers to strip dual citizens of their Australian citizenship if they commit serious crimes related to terrorism. Almost ...
Alex Casey talks to James Ashcroft about making his new rest home chiller The Rule of Jenny Pen, and finding an early fan in Stephen King. James Ashcroft was browsing the horror section of a Hollywood bookshop when he got the email from Stephen King. He’d sent the godfather of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Gaviglio, Lecturer Strength and Conditioning, University of Southern Queensland Dziurek/Shutterstock During Australia’s winter sports seasons, hundreds of thousands of children will take to the field in contact sports like rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules and soccer. With ...
Israel says President Donald Trump green lit a scorched-earth bombing of Gaza that wiped out entire families and killed dozens of infants and other children.By Abubaker Abed in Deil Al-Balah, Gaza, and Jeremy Scahill of Drop Site News The US-backed Israeli government resumed its intense genocidal attacks on Gaza ...
Each of the past eight years has set a new record for ocean heat and ice cover is shrinking to new lows, the State of the Global Climate Report says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yuhao Dai, Research Fellow in Earth Sciences, Australian National University N-2-s/Shutterstock Between 18,000 and 11,000 years ago, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere suddenly shot up. This caused rapid global warming, the mass melting of glaciers, and the end ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Toone, Lecturer in Social Work, University of South Australia Nine Married at First Sight Australia (colloquially known as “MAFS”) is one of Australia’s most popular reality TV shows, averaging two million viewers an episode. But this year’s season has come ...
Asia Pacific Report A West Papuan liberation advocacy group has condemned the arrest of 12 activists by Indonesian police and demanded their immediate release. The West Papuan activists from the West Papua People’s Liberation Movement (GR-PWP) were arrested for handing out pamphlets supporting the new “Boycott Indonesia” campaign. The GR-PWP ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa writers, and guests. This week: the minister of finance, Nicola Willis. This week’s confessional is slightly different in that books editor Claire Mabey interviewed Willis via phone and took the opportunity to expand ...
Does anyone in the National party agree with this:
“the [National] vote doesn’t have to narrow down to rich people and those who think they will become rich. It can appeal to regular, modestly paid people, but only if it shows some awareness of the cost of living, and accepts that just because you’re claiming benefits – in or out of work – it doesn’t mean you’re scum.”
Interested to know—because the govt drawn from that party does not seem to believe this.
(The quote is from an interesting article:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/02/iain-duncan-smith-polemic-politics-cynical?CMP=twt_fd
abut the UK Conservatives and the Blue Collar movement within it
Why are you asking that question here? Not like a dozen National voters are going to come to answer your question. Or was it rhetorical?
Minister’s comments on sole parent budget cut spark outrage as welfare is targeted across Australiasia.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10857049
“Single mothers have reacted angrily to “appalling” and “degrading” comments by Australia’s Families Minister, Jenny Macklin, who said she could survive on the A$35 ($43.81) a day Newstart allowance.
Macklin was commenting on government changes that replace single parents’ payments with lower Newstart payments once the children turn 8. Welfare groups estimate some families will be A$60 to A$100 a week worse off.
Corinna Taylor, a 43-year-old Brisbane mother of two who expects to lose A$90 a week, said it would force her to seek charity help or family loans, and make many single mothers rort the system.
“I would challenge anybody to live on A$35 a day and not in some way have to rort the system.”
The Government’s changes would put those in different circumstances in the same basket, she said. Office manager Cate Flaherty agreed.
“As a single mother who’s always worked part-time and raised polite, considerate children I’m now being treated as someone who adds no more value to society than a junkie sitting on the couch all day,” she said.
Flaherty says her budget will now be cut by A$230 a fortnight, almost double the drop of a non-working single mother. “We’ve copped a bigger hit than non-working single mothers … It’s made it harder for me to work.”
Terese Edwards, of the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children, said Macklin’s comments were “salt in the wound for these mums who face such an uphill battle”.”
The minister misses the point entirely when she states she could survive. Anyone on a low income knows there is a big difference between surviving and living.
The minister misses the point entirely when she states she could survive.
It’s also the time period she chooses to ‘survive’. Start in winter time with high electricity bills and last long enough for the washing machine to breakdown, the kids to grow out of their shoes and an unexpected root canal.
When I first heard this news I thought she must be a Minister in a Liberal State government, but I regret to say she is a Labor minister and former deputy leader of the Federal ALP.
No doubt a focus group told her to say this …
It would seem that Australian Labor see more votes to be gained from the ‘bash a bene brigade’ than what they would likely gain from beneficiaries themselves,
Seems that the Aussies have taken a harder line than Paula Benefit has here, that should be said with a whisper as i am sure National will be looking at the changes across the Tasman with open admiration,
Then again, after the roof-painting sickness beneficiary speech from Shearer, i wonder if there might be some admiring approval from many in the current Labour Caucus here…
The difference is that with the Australian version there seems to be a high level of public outrage, with business groups among those opposed. What is more, this outrage is reported in at least one major newspaper.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/try-living-on-35-a-day-macklin-told-20130102-2c5nl.html
The Man with the Blue Guitar
(extract)
The man bent over his guitar
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, “You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are.”
The man replied, “Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
And they said then, “But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,
A tune upon the blue guitar
Of things exactly as they are.”
-Wallace (from the Blue Hotel)
(We can’t see. But feel some awful thing)
We had fed the heart on fantasies,
The heart’s grown brutal from the fare;
More substance in our enmities
Than in our love…
Yikes, oops, Yeats
now on my way to the forum i was Way-laid; a brother from fellowship (well two actually, his father-in-law is Greco ;), and the childrens uncle’s, well, they’re padding around the ‘hood), anyway, we broke bread together over a cuppa tea before i cycled by my favourite second-hand bookshop and discussed The Sources with a socialist colleague, he’s a house painter too, since moving on from patching the bros’ through his Screen business, interestingly, another brother, same Father owns it now, anyway…make sure your’e connected, the writings on the wall. And thats the skinny
Continuing with the* Who is David Shearer* theme, perhaps we can lobby Susan Rice for a personal reference!
Remilitarizing Africa for Corporate Profit
Africa: Carnage in the Congo
Murder, Mayhem and the UN
Warning – Both of the links are cut & paste to original articles, no offence, or propagation of violence/racism/stereotyping was intended!
Those 2 links certainly put into context the previous ‘writings’ of one David Shearer and has me pondering whether or not His ‘aid work’ for the UN was not in fact a ‘front’ for intelligence gathering on behalf of one country or another’s intelligence service,
The story, true or false???, told of Dave having an ‘idea’ while sitting on the back of a truck watching African kids scrabble in the dust for Dave’s tossed mango skins makes me also ponder whether Shearer has any empathy what-so-ever with those who find themselves living a life of less than what Dave manages…
Yes well it’s all very well sitting in comfort critiquing Shearer and his UN role. I found your post cynical to say the least. Give the guy a break after all he was out there making a difference in the third World. What are you doing? Sitting in your Y fronts at your comp with ya guts hanging out I bet lol.
Was He really, making a difference that is???, it appears from here in front of the computer, wearing shorts and T, gut suitably overhung, that the same tribal wars are still occurring and each day the same amount of Africans die of starvation, disease, and, war-fare related injuries as they have done despite Dave’s best efforts,
Then again if the diagnosis inherent in the articles linked to via the comment i previously made are in any way close to being ‘fact’ then there are plenty here in the ‘West’ who are putting one hell of an effort into ensuring that such remains the status quo…
Finding homes for orphans in Rwanda? That’s a difference made.
I’m impressed with the way that the guy has morphed from ‘too nice’ into totally evil and Machiavellian in no time at all.
Indeed B12, its a stretch to imagine that amongst the imperialist destabilisation/playing both sides, and UN complicity to genocide, including the awful crimes committed by so called UN peace-keppers in africa, corporate profiteering, private militarisation, monopolistic *racketeering*,that one David Shearer stands tall as a man of honesty/integrity, working for the benefits of the african people, against his own sponsors/employers!
Thats is effectively what we are being *asked* to believe/accept!
Edit: Skinny in case you were not being sarcastic, why should we give DS a break, we are being *asked* to believe that the new leader of the major opposition party in NZ, is something which he quite possibly is not, but should give him a *free pass*, so to speak!
What sort of difference was DS making, and for whom exactly!
Muzza it was a bit of both. Shearer made a truck load of money at the UN. Few people know that
He aren’t no Bill Rowling that’s for sure.
Figured with the *hands down pants* comment you were not entirely serious, hard to tell over the virtual space eh.
Yeah it would be a generous individual who would give DS the benefit of any doubt thats for sure, its blatant the way he was fast tracked, just as Key was, that this was/is a done deal, and he has very powerful backing, not talking about caucus, cos they are not the power, so much as the puppets!
Hey but there is always Russel Norman waiting to pick up some votes eh, or when he get exposed, perhaps Kennedy Graham will be maneuvered (already) into position, and the greens turn out to the watermelons they obviously are!
well I’m going to ignore the stupid watermelon quip – so last year muzza – go for the upgrade mate.
I’ve heard a couple of different end-games for these “powerful backers” of key – what’s your take on it muzza? Are they going to kill off most of us and leave the rest as slaves.
Hi Marty, it my polite name for it, what would you prefer I used?
So far as any end game, IMO, the power backers simply play all sides, like any outcome based criminal would do. I don’t pretend to know what may/may not happen, but whatever has gone before, is happining/coming, I can’t honestly see what is going to prevent/stop it at the moment. People can stop, but most will not acknowledge/can’t/won’t see the threat, which makes it difficult, while others want to blow off the political situations as ineptitude etc, while refusing to entertain the notion, that just perhaps these politicians with the *back stories*, and even those who are not as prominent, are operating under another guise, while pretending to be Kiwis working for NZ. Why is that not a possibility to most, because when I see a huge mess (repeated corruptions) that NZ became some time back, I go looking for different possible explanations, which may or may not be wide of the mark…
All I would say Marty, is have a look at whats happening around the world with the wars, kinetic military actions etc in any part of the world where peoples are being killed off, resources stolen, look at the global debt, and related austerity based policies, the financial control over commodities which are killing people off, ans environmental destruction, then ask if its not already happening, the killing and the slavery I mean!
Hey muzza
yes, but is there a point to it?
you have done lots of research and are watching this stuff avidly – is there a point to it and what is it? Obviously more of the same is an answer but why.
I guess muzza is asking a perfectly legitimate question; if democracy is such a good thing … why is it delivering such crap outcomes for most humans?
Which raises the question “is there a better system?”
Can’t think of one that’s sustainable past one or two generations.
Marty, in the eyes of any sane human being, there is no point in the murderous, genocidal/kleptocratic policies and systems which dominate the worlds population & environment, no point or purpose!
So why does it all not just stop?
My POV, because there are too many interests which want it that way. The, why currently seems clear enough, that in chaos comes opportunity to control, of all kinds, via all systems. Efficiency, peace human/environmental well being, seem not to be a feature of the *decision makers* mind-set, because if it were, we would not have a fraction of the global/local suffering. Why is it not a feature of the mind-set, are they being blackmailed, gun to head, or are they actually *in on it*, whatever *it* might be, the choices are few, when it comes to why governments are actively working against those they are apparantly working for.
There are not that many explanations for the continued state of despair/suffering etc, or the political complicity in it, that’s what people need to start examining and trying to understand. If we ever got to a critical mass of threat awareness, then perhaps the point (if there is one) will actually have to reveal itself.
If it turned out there was no *point/agenda*, at least we would be better positioned to force/demand positive change, instead of hoping it might arrive via the ballot box. It requires people to actively start thinking about the treachery in our country, the damage its done, and the damage it will do, and consciously/actively not stand for it any longer.
Indeed, strong,stable,democratic Countries are very hard to fleece of their mineral wealth for next to nothing in dividends for the Country concerned,
With the glaring exception of course being us lot via the National Government who have the ingenious policy of paying ‘them’ to take it away…
Kiwi workers ripped off with yet another wet summer holiday break. Change the official holiday period to the 1st 2 weeks of Feb I say!
This is something the Labour/ Green parties could explore as a campaign policy. It’s seems to be a constant issue every year ‘wet weather.’ usually hot summer days arrive as the poor old worker returns to work. Any one agree?
Absolutely. I always work through Christmas/New Year (I’m fortunate to be in an essential service industry that doesn’t ‘shut down’) … and usually take leave in February sometime. There’s often a nice spot of weather early December, but frankly the weather around late December, early January is just too damn unreliable. It seems to have been like this for a decade or more.
The stupid part is that many people are compelled to take leave in a short window of opportunity … and if the weather is crap then there’s every reason to feel ripped off. A lot more flexibility around annual leave is well overdue in many workplaces.
Along the same lines I have a European work colleague whose pretty appalled at how understaffed most organisations are in this country. It means that people are constantly under pressure and stress to juggle unexpected changes of roster, health and family obligations.
And too many people feel uncomfortable asking for leave outside of the normal Christmas period because they’re not all that confident that being away from the job (and all the office politics) for 2-3 weeks mid-year is all that smart.
All just another symptom of the mean-spirited and narrow thinking of too many employers in this country.
Yes I agree many employee’s do feel compelled to take there summer holiday over the Xmas period.
I think in Europe they take their summer break later than we do for the obvious reason of hotter more settled weather. Certainly would help seeing through the bleak winter months if we had a later official holiday period. I feel for the campers at the moment.
The God botherer’s would have issues though.
Always take my holidays in feb. Much nicer weather and less idiots on the roads.
Fewer idiots.
You should read Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson, great fun for language pedants.
Oh I’m no pedant, but I do think that when calling other people idiots you should try not to appear too stupid yourself.
Kinda ruins the effect.
RL, should we not question the following? Absolutely. I always work through Christmas/New Year (I’m fortunate to be in an essential service industry that doesn’t ‘shut down’)
Why the fekk is anything essential unless life and limb are threatened? Where do we draw the line on the commercial imperative and the human imperative on Christmas Day etc?
It may well be that kiwi workers are ripped off with another wet Xmas/New Year, but I can’t see it changing because for many, maybe most families, the chance to join the gathering of the clan and visit friends and the chance to get away for a holiday are the same thing. And that almost inevitably happens at Christmas. When it happens at all*. Travel is expensive.
*More than half of my street seem to have stayed home this Xmas. This working class suburb was a ghost town this time last year.
Yes but that will still happen but a month later when the weather is more likely to be better.
Unfortunately, in my experience, people want to do Christmas at Christmas. Which is a pain really. But somehow it still seems valuable to me, that we have one festival that is shared by almost everyone at the same time. Just pity about the time.
It rained every day while I was up in Auckland. Which is normal for Auckland. Still had a good time.
It seems to me that people are missing a crucial factor: the school year ends in December and starts at the beginning of February. And then a lot of workplaces close down because they figure e eryone is going on holiday…. and RNZ and all our news media think it’s time to slack off more than usual – cumulative effect.
At my workplace, a lot of people choose to take their annual leave over this period because they have school age children. My workplace only closes for the statutory days.
Hence, people like me, who work part time and have no young children, get called in to do some extra casual work over this period. I’m very happy with this, and to take some leave in February or March.
Simple solution.
If the legislation around annual leave was brought into line with stat days – where, if agreement can’t be reached, the employee determines when the day in lieu will be taken – then the current widespread compulsion to take annual leave in late Dec would end.
So if workers wanted two weeks or whatever around Chinese NY or any other damned time they pleased in this multi-cultural country, they could.
Good point Bill certainly would get the NZ chinese votes closer to Chinese NY.
Unfortunately far too many employee’s don’t have the guts to belong to a Union. Workers rights took a hit we have never recovered from since the introduction of voluntary Unionism. introduced.
I doubt a Shearer led Labour will tamper with employment law in this regard?
What exactly do you mean by official holiday period?
What makes this time of year official?
There are 4 stats but that doesn’t make those days in between any differnt from a working week in February?
Well the 2 weeks from Xmas is widely regarded as the ‘official summer holiday period.’ what planet are you from? Planet Key or something! You know what I mean smart arse lol
Plenty of workplaces insist that annual leave is taken during this period and shut down completely.
Will a Labour government in NZ “save us” from such woes? Politicians are, after all, politicians! So much hinges on influences the wider membership can (hopefully) bring to bear.
Bloody bingbot was slowing the site again this morning – I wish it would tell me what timezone it thinks I’m operating in. I have dialed back it’s entire time period.
Ta LPrent.
Always good to know when my computer or server isn’t at fault.
URGENT REQUEST
Could someone (or as many people as possible) please click on to the Media Lens site link…
http://www.medialens.org/
Could you please post up if you succeed in getting through to the page , or if the following message appears…
Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access / on this server.
I suspect this site is under attack, but it could be just my computer.
Thanks,
Morrissey.
It’s not your computer or server. Same ‘forbidden’ message here.
Thank God. Much appreciated, Bill.
I got a 403 Forbidden
You don’t have permission to access / on this server.
Hope it helps
maybe they had a bingbot issue too
Yeah and the same excessive response? I think I have quelled the frigging bing bot.
The most common reason for that response is for someone to have screwed up the permissions…
Tom Lehrer’s work and wit has been one of my interests for a long time. I was just reading his Wikipedia bio and thought this was an interesting quote.
“… I am voting for Obama.”
Just when you start to respect Lehrer, he blows it.
Morrissey 7
I get the same Forbidden message you received.
Thank you, Mr. Nose.
About 8 days ago the ‘subscriptions’ that dropped comments into my email stopped working. Just been and had a look and I’m apparently still subscribed to…well, actually all posts now and not just the ones I’ve commented on. But nothing comes through (and no, they ain’t landing in spam or junk)
Anyone else been experiencing this annoyance?
One mans annoyance being another’s blessing, yeah the same happened in my email as well, but, seeing as i can’t ever remember asking to be notified every time a comment appeared in a post i had commented in i’m happy the emails stopped…
Yes, the same happened to me. Also, I lost the WYSIWYG from the reply boxes. It meant I was stimulated to learn that awkward long code for links. After a few wrong attempts, I think I have just about grasped it.
Ah shit.. I forgot to do the mail server permissions to the gateway. Another task for today.
To Live and Let Die For The People : Suicide Not

http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Revolutionary_Suicide.html?id=WvZPJyeUTUUC&redir_esc=y
Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/
To You, From The Finks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Finkelstein
The Messenger
The messenger awaited a desperately long time
the long-for herald of victory or annihilation
was delayed-the tragedy was without any ending
In the background the chorus scanned dark prophecies and curses
the king-a dynastic fish-thrashed in an inconceivable net
the second indispensable person was missing-fate
The epilogue was probably known by an eagle an oak the wind
a sea wave
the spectators were half-dead breathing shallowly as stone
The Gods slept A quiet night without lightning
Finally the messenger arrived in a mask of blood dirt lamentation
uttering incomprehensible shrieks pointing with his hands
to the East
this was worse than death because there would be no pity
no fear at all
and in the last moment everyone longs to be pardoned
-Herbert.
from Poland (translated by John et al;)
This is the Stone
it’s when you want to shrug it all off:
the gross pap of warm anaesthetised brains
hotels ringing with stale tongues
the bland translations of headlines
walls everywhere
when money’s sensual brutality
chats warmly in your veins
when your possessions assert their tyranny
mocking you from corners
where is the moon’s still wash
over uncluttered landscapes?
where are your lovers’ mouths
which stopped your mouth so neatly?
in this dreamless city you put them away
now you turn to a window
which mimics you in ice
your face a marble of loss
your hair a curtain of dust:
this is the stone you work on
-Alison Croggan (from Blue Sky Mining Country; 2 Minutes To Midnight)
Phase shift…..if I work all day in the Blue Sky mine there’ll be food on the table tonight……..if the Blue Sky mine wont come to my rescue who’s gonna save me…….
Sir Paul picks on a darkie in Florida
Watch what happens when this pathetic old man—let’s call him “Sir Paul”—tries to harass a young black man in Florida.
At 2:41 Sir Paul snarls at the young man: “A typical punk black. That’s all you are.” Sounds just like the language that used to be heard daily around the Television New Zealand studios until 2005.
What a charming guy that Republican voter is. He’s not even fit to become bait on the hook of that fishing rod.
Wots dis Sirs shit???????? Cheekie fekkin honkey!!!!!
What a choice for a knighthood – Sir Paul Holmes. Paul Henry will be next for the honour no doubt.
what follows is a wee awry sermon from the non MSM MSP (very funny :), i can take a roasting and laugh at myself for a while, yet it’s the future for people that makes me sad, particularly considering the climate and what follows; “roastings” becoming normal was one reason I stopped watching television comedy, life is funny enough without people clowning around at some “others” expense, and when discussing the Keiser’s “comedy” today the chap responding said one thing Max outlined Five years ago was that “They” intended to “nickle and dime” people…
(find a penny pick it up, and all day you’ll have good “luck”, well todays “penny” is a 10 cent piece and I’ve picked up three in the last three weeks, as well as quite a few butts before I broke even, to “afford” a Holiday and then, eventually, gave up Finally, (Cold Turkey; Alan Carr, Quit Smoking, or don’t, it don’t bother me none) and what today in The West is not predominantly “vanity”?
-Chatty Man
“Cold Turkey”
I bet smokers are glad they’re not sex addicts, and having to go cold sausage.
Testing re-edit yet again (bug in it when running wordpress 3.5 code)
Ok – that seems to have disappeared
Now completely quiescent. Sending the fix..
We have a boiling tar pit down here for programmers responsible for too many code bugs………fixers go straight to Heaven.
guess that’s that then?
Dom
-student allowances cuts to go ahead, to be felt most by poorer students, lost potential
despite higher loan repayments and fewer borrowing (not wasted on the young)
-“Anarchy in Afghanistan”-Warlord holds the key to peace, more “civilized” than Nato?
supports segregated education, not discrimination. ANA-“yanks” buy another Uniform made by “the hands of others”.
Conclusion-Join Hands; Siouxsie
(when the “Spirit” is weak, culture, flight and fear are willing)
Aussie manufacturing land Downunder-“no manufacturing sub-sector recorded expansion activity”
Grave implications for New Zealand Made to become less “appealing”. Has the Teflon Donkey seen the price of Margerine? It’s sliding out the door.
–
RNZ-Enola Gay…it didn’t have to turn out this way…Could have waved goodbye to The House of The Rising Sun…;) (ahhh, the power of suggestion); We’re a Garage Band, in a garage land.
Oh Well, Heaven, Time to Stop Making Sense. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel to beat these Slippery People Burning Down The House making Flippy Floppy in the Swamp like Casual Gods.well, What A Day That Was.
-Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club)(i’m going home now to listen to The Essential Ozzy bark at the
Moon) Bye
Max
http://www.anewnz.org.nz/vision.asp?id=115
The Ford of Heaven
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/04/china
-Ford Madox Ford (The Good Soldier)
Food For Thought
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80202.Jesus_for_the_Non_Religious
or
Sister Morphine
http://painkiller-addict.com/
-Faithfull
Inconceivably Small
http://books.google.co.nz/books/about/Nanocosm.html?id=u43EFWVbyyIC&redir_esc=y
Big Changes
outcome?
Pray http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_%28novel%29
-Michaelangelo (Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball)
getta rythm…when you get the blues…getta rythm…but don’t step on my Blue sandal shoes
(if I were a carpenter…Doin My Time…As Long As I Live…They Call Me The Breeze…That Old Wheel…(wish i had A Backstage Pass)…but is there something not “Right” about The Man They Love To Hate? I don’t think so Tim, maybe he could be an Architectural Clinical Psychologist;NOT
-John (Angel And The Badman) who prays somebody sees his potential and knocks on his Caravan door. (yet “bums” are like families…everybody’s got one)
quietly, just saying (testing)
am i aloud to keep my smileys