I like it, closest thing i can compare them to is the old group b rally cars.
The technology involved and the skill level of the teams sailing them makes for great viewing.
You’re quite right James, now if you could point me towards your post rallying against Ted Nugent, also disgustingly threatening a President and a Contender for President with these quotes …
“Obama, he’s a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun,” Nugent said during an appearance in 2007. “Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.”
… then I might not see your comment as faux outrage and a simple excuse to attack people who don’t like The Trumpster.
Never knew anything of it. But agree it’s disgusting.
But love how your more interested in comments I may have made about (as it turns out) some thing I didn’t know about as opposed to the incident itself.
Or is that just an easy way out attack the commenter as opposed to the issue.
“and a simple excuse to attack people who don’t like The Trumpster.”.
This is where some lefties like yourself lose all credibility.
I comment that a person in the media holds up a look a like decapated presidents head all covered in blood – and people like you try to make out it’s me who is using it as an attack.
If you look at my post – I have been consistently against forms of violence and disgusting comments make against people. Same cannot be said for all on here.
Haha, lucky my sense of self worth isn’t based on your opinion of my credibility then eh James. But then I’m not so thin skinned as the POTUS. I don’t see this as a Left/Right issue, perhaps your mentioning that proves the point you were using it as an attack of the left rather than some C grade celebrity. As I said I agree with you that Kathy Griffin’s stunt was awful as was the comment by Madonna at the Women’s March, as was the Ted Nugent comments (that I’m glad I got to educate you about, for your own credibility of course, as it had slipped passed you despite it being widely reported when Mr Trump welcomed him to the White House, ) and of course not to mention Mr Trump himself referring to a reporter bleeding from the whatever, and that he can grab women by the pussy. Please don’t see this as an attack, sweetie, I’m just highlighting the need for balance. Have a cracking day buddy.
“For various reasons, acceptance of climate science breaks down along ideological lines. First, a majority of people in every state in the US believes, for instance, that the Paris Accord is a good thing, that the USA should participate. It turns out, however, that there is higher acceptance of climate science and acceptance of the importance of action on the coasts (California, Oregon, Washington, New York, etc.).
There are exceptions to this rule but I am generalizing. It also turns out that the more liberal your politics are, the more likely you are to accept the science and the solutions. With respect to politics, the results are stunning. Vast majorities of Democratic and independent voters are supportive. Interestingly, small majorities of even conservative Republicans are supportive.”
And that’s why it’s crazy stuff to sell any of our land to them. If they don’t care enough about their own country to keep it livable why would they care two hoots about keeping our country livable.
Postcards from the brighter future from Anthony Robins is a sort of Blip’s list of unsatisfactory happenings that trend downwards for our standard of living for us all and need urgent remediation.
This one would interest Red Logix who has or had some rental properties. Others will disdain the thinking because they don’t agree with it, they will consider it wrong, even though it is legal and follows what have been found to be economic rules of supply and demand effect on prices. When they are operating on our necessities then we need to have government management to offset the simple economic answer to everything, housing at present in particular.
I think this item covers the economic argument well. Putting the price up also acts as a means of lessening demand, which can be argued as bringing efficiency and self-choice, rather than other means of sorting through applicants which can result in other form of unfair selection. Yet would putting names in a hat be more acceptable and effective?
Typically we look for long-term low risk tenants and we ‘reward’ them by keeping rent rises to a bare minimum.
But every-time we have a new vacancy the demand is crazy. We do use this as the chance to get the rent back up to market. Even then we’ve literally had bidding wars going on right under our noses. When this happens we both feel pretty damned uncomfortable … I’m not looking for sympathy, but the sense of letting down all the hopefuls we cannot place is real for us.
Our solution is a bit ad-hoc, we make a short-list and then delay making a decision for a week or so. In that time many will drop out and by then, after a few interactions, we usually find it fairly easy to make a decision.
What we don’t do is just ramp the price up to eliminate people, because that’s filtering for all the wrong attributes.
And for the past few years while we’ve been overseas we find good property managers will often be able to place excellent tenants, based on prior track record with them, without ever advertising.
I know there’ll be the usual crowd who’ll read this and it will trigger their “I hate all bastard landlords” button, but I’ll hit ‘Submit’ because I want to give gws an transparent answer.
I don’t know about “all bastard landlords”, I just think it’s daft that our housing legislation makes for a lottery where the prize is you (ie: a ‘legitimate’ landlord).
Hi Red Logix, letting people cool off and looking for good managers seem to work for you. I would like to see an agency that tenants bought into that would give them ratings for quality. The agency would phone the landlord when they left and file a report, but they would also know how fair each was and which were mean-minded. It would be a help to tenants to have some reliable background when looking for a new place, and people could work to up their rating, It would be a small operation possibly run from a solicitor’s office to keep costs down, not a real estate place as there would be risk of bias and advantage.
I remember in London in the 1970’s looking for a flat in a city area. You travelled by underground or bus, perhaps changing at some point and walked there to be 20 minutes before the set time and find a queue of dozen people there before you. Then some chap turned up at 10 minutes before and started to throw a panic attack and he got let through to the front. I have forgotten the rest.
This all comes back to me and is not relevant but hell while I still can remember I’d better do so.
I met a woman who was living an hour’s train ride away from London and wanted to move closer. She told me it was getting almost impossible because she was pregnant. When she started looking you couldn’t tell but as the fruitless months went by she got bigger and more definite noes. The government, trying to protect families from being asked to leave rentals and then not being able to find another home, had made a law that the landlord had to find alternative accommodation for them so no-one wanted to let to a family, to a to-be family, and even a married couple would be better to say they were just living together, as it seemed less likely that children would turn up.
I ended up finding a nice place in Kilburn, which had four flats mostly occupied by Iranian men. They always had girls around, seemed pretty laid back, but then the Ayotollah put out a call for all true-born men to come home and fight and they were gone back to a stricter society. I also remember this new CBD building 33 stories high called Centrepoint. There was a big demand for offices but the owner left it empty and revalued the rental for each floor each month which provided collateral or looked good on the balance sheets.
Interesting info about unintended consequence of the building. “On 19 June 2006 the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment pointed to the building as an example of bad design, where badly-designed pavements force pedestrians into the bus lane and account for the highest level of pedestrian injuries in Central London. ” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Point
In response to a comment in a Trump, planet climate discussion. The article quote about ragged trousered lefties and Corbyn, made me think of a great novel.
Thanks for that suggestion, I will definitely search that one out.
I know this is slightly different, but another very good book set of working class (or from peasant to working class) books are Maxim Gorky’s three autobiographies, My childhood, My apprenticeship and My universities, really quite painful and beautiful, my favourite Gorky.
As I do have a secondhand bookshop, I better try and find myself a nice old hard copy, actually I just can’t read books like that digitally, I don’t mind reading reports, and stats online or on a e reader, but not more ‘personal. books, I don’t know why, just one of my many idiocracies.
Carolyn-nth
Thanks for The Ragged …
I thought these paras resonated:
Clearly frustrated at the refusal of his contemporaries to recognise the inequity and iniquity of society, Tressell’s cast of hypocritical Christians, exploitative capitalists and corrupt councillors provide a backdrop for his main target — the workers who think that a better life is “not for the likes of them”. Hence the title of the book; Tressell paints the workers as “philanthropists” who throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters.
The hero of the book, Frank Owen, is a socialist who believes that the capitalist system is the real source of the poverty he sees all around him. In vain he tries to convince his fellow workers of his world view, but finds that their education has trained them to distrust their own thoughts and to rely on those of their “betters”.
Much of the book consists of conversations between Owen and the others, or more often of lectures by Owen in the face of their jeering; this was presumably based on Tressell’s own experiences.
I particularly liked the apposite and alliterative inequity and iniquity of society.
I have read this book some years ago. Alongside Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London it shaped my political perspectives deeply.
Orwell himself wrote of it:
praised the Noonan’s ability to convey without sensationalism “the actual detail of manual work and the tiny things almost unimaginable to any comfortably situated person which make life a misery when one’s income drops below a certain level.”
He considered it “a book that everyone should read” and a piece of social history that left one “with the feeling that a considerable novelist was lost in this young working-man whom society could not bother to keep alive.”
I also read it many decades ago and it made a big impression. It was a set text on a stage 3 English Lit course I did – the lecturer was a Brit leftie.
1) Okay guys we need to talk about this Pittsburgh and Paris stuff. People are confused. It's about gender. (Thread below) https://t.co/AmR7yzl5V4— Michael Sweeney (@mtsw) June 2, 2017
Hmm, okay. So liberals in the US can’t sell liberalism. No loss.
Liberalism’s some dripping gooey inoculation that tries to sell itself as progressive…a soap or barrier cream that’s sold for fear of infectious germs, when we all know that the germs (progressive or “leftist” values) are what we actually all need.
Liberalism exorcised all of the dirt, blood and struggle of progressive or left politics… supplanting a brightly colored (sic) glossy magazine of pap in its stead. Liberalism is wringing hands, ringing representatives, writing letters to the editor and signing petitions.
So now “the right” can take all manner of images associated with defiance or bravery or of being staunch – everything that liberalism fearfully washed away – and twist it as it sees fit.
And on “the left” we can reject both and reclaim our heritage.
Disclaimer: don’t bother writing to tell me I read too much into that twitter column 😉
@Bill+1
“And on “the left” we can reject both and reclaim our heritage.”
I am with you there pal, reclaim our heritage and co opt anything that is useful from the right while we are at it.
I have been debating with some friends that we should (on the Left) start using the word conservative, my argument being that to be a socialist today is in part being conservative in a modern sense.
Conserving environment, communities, conserving human dignity for all citizens, conserving families, whatever that family might look like etc….
Had a bit of push back of course, and I am not entirely tied to the idea either, but it makes for a great debate (in certain circles).
This is also the first Poll to record Labour ahead in the Initial results (which are fully weighted demographically but still include the Undecideds and haven’t been weighted for turnout). Hence, this Initial ‘All Giving a Voting Intention’ result arguably provides the purest snapshot of the Party preferences of all UK adults entitled to vote, regardless of whether they do, in fact, turn up on June 8.
(2) Initial ‘All Giving a Voting Intention’ result
“Among people aged 35-54 there has been an even more dramatic switch.
Before the social care row they split 52-34 for the Conservatives. Now they divide 36 for the Conservatives and 46 for Labour. In other words, they have switched sides.”
This kind of change is unheard of. Corbyn might just do it.
“Among people aged 35-54 there has been an even more dramatic switch.”
Yep, noticed that 🙂 … just been looking through the Poll’s entrails.
Over recent days – far too much emphasis by naysayers on the idea that this swing to Labour is built solely upon weak foundations of (1) very young and (2) previous non-voters (who, of course, are historically less likely to vote).
The swing’s far more diverse than that.
I’ve even detected some movement in the latest YouGov among the solidly Tory Over-65s.
Tories still very much odds-on … but things are dramatically moving in the right direction (or do I mean the Left direction ?)
We should put up a discussion post too. Just making a note here for the times. That first exit poll would be 9am Friday NZT. Results might be in by 2pm or 3pm.
Thursday 8 June
Polling stations open in every town, city and village across the UK from 7am to 10pm.
Millions cast their vote in the general election.
An exit poll at 10pm gives the first indication of which way the wind is blowing.
Counting takes place overnight, with the first seat to declare usually Sunderland before midnight.
If it’s an easy victory for one side a result could be known by 3am or 4am.
If it’s close there could still be uncertainty when Britain wakes up on the morning of Friday 9 June.
WTF…The Guardian comes out for Corbyn.
Yes the Guardian has made a complete U-Turn and is now desperately trying to aline themselves on the right side of history, except it is to late for them, their credibility is already well and truly in the gutter, dirty filthy and soiled by the centrist neoliberal bullshit they have been trying to sell us so hard for so long.
Just read the comments on their ‘coming out’ and you will see that most critical thinkers already read anything political that The Guardian put out with an extremely high degree of suspicion, it’s both sad and hilarious.
Like all these fucking useless ‘centre lefties’ they have shown us yet again that the centre stands only for moral and principled ambiguity…no, you can be sure you will never find lines in the sand from these political prostitutes…and they want us to vote for Anna Lorck or Stuart Nash here in the Bay..what a joke.
Nash…
Let’s be clear about one thing: politics is about winning. There is no such thing as a ‘glorious defeat’, leaders who lose are not, as some may believe, ‘martyrs to the cause’, and ‘coming second but maintaining our principles’ is a ludicrous proposition. http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/31/tdb-guest-blog-project-stuart-nash-the-most-pressing-issue-in-nz-right-now/
This from a guy who has Just been bumped up the Labour list..but hey he is hard on crime.
I am just not that forgiving…so sorry to be rude, but fuck them.
It is my view that The Guardian and other so called ‘liberal’ MSM media organizations have got more culpability for the victory of Trump than the republican party itself.
They relentlessly undermined and belittled the only real progressive in the US during the primaries, and therefore split the Left, and in the UK The Guardian in particular have been obsessive in their open hostility to Corbyn, it is only that the ‘manufacturing consent’ media model is now for all intents and purposes practically defunct, that Corbyn is now doing so well…and he and the Left own NOTHING of that success to The Guardian or their contemporaries.
Saw that link to TDB and Stuart Nash. This from him – so patronising.
Our supporters have the same impact when they squabble, bitch and back-stab on so-called ‘left-friendly’ sites like The Standard (a dreadful 21st century bastardisation of a once proud Labour broadsheet). Criticising your favourite Labour MP is not the route to victory, no matter what you think of their philosophies, hair or politics.
Someone who groups philosophies, hair and politics as equally unsuitable for discussion on a political site is seriously lacking in gravitas and nous. And that comment is made without knowing just how his hair is arranged.
(Does Joyce dye his do you think? It looked like it on the recent close up image we had.) And that just shows how catholic I am in my interests. And by the way that has nothing to do with religion Stuart, in case you think of adding it to the list we shouldn’t discuss. I remember the social advice – never discuss sex, politics or religion at the dinner table, or everyone will make a meal out of it.
Love how they have another story about previous election endorsements – I kind of read it as. “The Guardian: Supporting Libourish Parties Since Forever”
‘Guardian reader’ has long been shorthand for ‘tourist’, ‘fairweather friend’ and ‘boring wanker who drones on sanctimoniously at dinner parties and turns into a rabid Tory once their property values are threatened’. They’re someone who when the going gets tough, gets going… back into the arms of authority (like Russell Brown).
I have said for a time that making unmarried mothers applying for benefits name the father so that the government can collect money from them, brings consequences on the woman and child that can far outweigh any support money that can be extracted. A woman trying to bring up a child in a good way, apart from some one-night stand of lust and thoughtlessness should be given every encouragement and support and be helped to stick to an achievable plan. Then she can decide if it is appropriate to include the man.
But the government has been ruled by prejudices against children and fertile women who don’t fit into their minimal plans to enable them to lead lives that encourage their potential and ready them for part-time work only, when the child is say, three.
If they have another baby then there is a choice, they have a long-term contraceptive device, or name the man with all that involves. It is fair for the government to set some rules, and I believe this should be what happens.
I support abortion after counselling, and offers of help so that the woman has a range of options, and these not to be carried out by some religious or other group pushing their own pushchair. But after a number, the matter would need to be reviewed for health reasons, including mental health.
If the mother is not married to the father then he must sign, therefore acknowledging paternity. If he chooses not to sign then technically the mother is deemed to have not named the father. I have talked to mothers told to get DNA tests to prove paternity but they are not compulsory and the alleged father can (and often does) refuse to co-operate. The cost of a DNA test is prohibitive. So it is not always a night of lust / one night stand but often a dead beat male unwilling to accept his responsibilities.
That’s the point Patricia. The woman hasn’t a good relationship with a guy, he is someone she has been unfortunate to meet and for some reason, had sex with, and that type is more likely to not ‘accept his responsibilities’. He may not be a dead beat male, just one that wanted sex and expected her to take care of the contraception, and would feel aggrieved at being landed with long-term paternity cares and costs.
As RedbaronCV says, contraception should be the concern of both but not all men are willing to use condoms if they can get away with it.
And condoms should be used as the latest news is that HIV is rising and just as the government cares so little for supporting the good progress of young NZs and their children, I presume it is not impossible for them to baulk at paying out large sums for life-long medication for careless people.
It’s not beyond bounds of the authoritarian state that it would ban sexual
interaction except under a health licence, because it is a vector for disease. Even kissing. The trend to efficiency and control of people by government proceeds in NZ already without any feeling of responsibility to use the power of government to enable people to have good lives. This can extend much further than anyone has yet thought to forecast. The wealthy are already dividing themselves from the poor with whom they do not insist that tax money should be shared. They are SEP and different, not one of us.
What I’m hearing is that some women seem to want their cake and eat it. For decades they have rightly demanded and fought for control of their bodies, their sexuality, their access to contraception and their reproductive rights.
I have not the slightest quibble with any of this.
At the same time men have been largely removed from the equation; beyond abstinence and using condoms, males have almost no rights in the matter at all. This is very much how women have wanted it.
Yet it’s clear most women expect that if they do choose to have a child, the father is expected to be responsible for 20 years of child support. If they dare object to this … to having greatly reduced rights and but an undiminished burden …. they’re shamed as ‘dead beats’.
A constructive discussion needs to move on from this; if we expect men to participate in parenting as equals, maybe their voices and experiences need to considered as well.
Contraception is more than a female responsibility no matter how one night the stand so why should the caregiver & child be “punished”.
And I’d believe in the economic argument a bit more if the identified fathers particularly the wealthy actually had to pay reasonable amounts for their kids.
To make that point – when asked a scant few years ago it appeared that in only 1 case was the child support assessment greater than the benefit with the extra being paid over.
There is also a strong economic case for the child money to be a separate benefit from the adult money. So child support collected or a child benefit could be paid over intact with the adult benefit a separate amount if only to stop money for the children being absorbed as an offset to an adult benefit that others get of right.
Red BaronCV
You are looking at the woman as a problem costing money which should be handled efficiently. If a lump sum could be got from a wealthy father then by all means, put the screws on and they would pay up to avoid having long years of payments. As for the others, they find it annoying to have some fun and then be lumbered. Having the father come round grudgingly or to make sure he gets his moneysworth can be injurious to the family relationship she is trying to build.
I would like to see the woman be given what she needs such as a home, and perhaps spending the time preparing for the baby with life training, cooking, learning how to do things not known before, sewing, putting up shelves, using a screwdriver and hammer, what a householder needs.
She would get transport with a group going to pre-natal classes and not drink alcohol. If she honestly couldn’t keep away from alcohol because of peer or family pressure, she might have a little holiday away from her home, if she wished. That sort of thing, asking and helping the woman with her needs has a much warmer sound than your careful, rather clinical approach.
Budgeting for two would be best, not separate bank accounts, and using the time for formal education, planning with achievable goals, NCEA in mothercare, getting a drivers licence, using a computer. What a fruitful time for her and she’d be ready to go with a positive attitude. And could fall back for advice on some reliable person she liked for free.
In Iceland I think, they have the habit of preparing a gift to the baby from the state, they like children apparently, unlike here where it has always seemed to me that a farming attitude is too often seen where some callousness and management approach arises too often. Even pushing women out of hospital on the day of birth instead of allowing rest and feeding to get under way.
50 words or less? Well how’s that for patronising sexism? That sort of crap usually appears in bullshit bingo grids as “educate me because I can’t be arsed listening to anyone and what you tell me will go in one ear and out the other anyway, so don’t bother, just shut up.”
OK, I’m not a woman, and it would be presumptuous to call myself a feminist, but show some basic respect when a woman relates her experience of sexism.
Usually when someone says ‘fact’ as a punctuation it means ‘according to my prejudices.’ And ‘PC’? Who uses that without irony now?
JanM: “apart from some one-night stand of lust and thoughtlessness” – really???
Yeah, amazing, isn’t it? It’s OK for men to do that, but it’s those wicked Jezebels who end up with the consequences. The pseudo-leftist’s idea of the rational individual without biology, race or gender is as fantastical as the neoliberal’s ‘rational consumer.’
Feminism is all about allowing women ‘to be people,’ not cherry-picked rhetorical examples. Feminists do not just ‘think up’ stuff but speak from their experience as women and put it in context. They are certainly not objects to be monitored and regulated by the state as you propose.
Try listening to what women have to say about their experience.
But after a number, the matter would need to be reviewed for health reasons, including mental health.
Interesting. So you pathologise female sexuality but not male and propose an authoritarian oversight. How about the same test for men who have been reckless with their use of contraception? Why is it the women who have to be regulated and checked by the state alone? ‘None of your fucking business’ would be a perfectly justified answer to that.
rhinocrates
Do you feel better now after thundering to me from your prominent height? You are full of prejudices which get in the way of caring about the person at hand who is a pregnant female with all the possibilities and problems of life for two ahead for her. I think she should have help and services to aid her. What would you give her – a tirade?
Which is exactly what you give her – a moralistic finger-wagging about how she should behave and how the state should regulate her behaviour. It’s not about me and you and your precious feelings about being told off, it’s about her rights as a woman and a human being. She is not to be ‘corrected’ if she doesn’t meet your moral standards.
Fuck you and your phoney white knighting. You’re not her champion, she’s her own. The state has no right to manage her vagina.
rhinocrates
hope you are not counselling women. They would go away full of anger and hopelessness. Having rights doesn’t feed you, it doesn’t help you manage your life better, it’s learning how to do it and getting assistance when needed that is the clincher for success and happiness. Not a toxic lot of negative opinion and theory about people who try and find practical ways to honour and advance the rights that you spout. That doesn’t result in happiness.
Manchester, Theresa May, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the petrodollar.
This article contains so much valuable information and explains a lot.
The section on the petrodollar.
Not many people will know this.
‘To the Americans and British, Gadaffi’s true crime was his iconoclastic independence and his plan to abandon the petrodollar, a pillar of American imperial power. He had audaciously planned to underwrite a common African currency backed by gold, establish an all-Africa bank and promote economic union among poor countries with prized resources. Whether or not this would have happened, the very notion was intolerable to the US as it prepared to “enter” Africa and bribe African governments with military “partnerships”.
And the bit about Manchester and May.
‘The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years.
The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation which seeks a “hardline Islamic state” in Libya and “is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida”.
The “smoking gun” is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in “battle”: first to remove Mu’ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria.’
Just appalling! Does the author ever wonder how people cope with Winz 13 week stand downs and other sanctions. What about the thousands who are neither on a benefit or in work?
Lisbon is a great city that became more not less open to outsiders after the crash. I like it enough to return soon. But did I learn much or emerge an improved person? No. On my travels, I seldom do, and I am not sure that anyone does.
The more of the world I see, the less confident I am that there is anything innately or even generally educational about travel.
I don’t have a subscription to FT and I’m not even signed in on my free account. They usually allow you to read one or two articles per month without bothering you about paying them.
Here’s another paragraph that rings true IME:
Imagine you are an employer staring at two job applications that are identical in all respects save one. Candidate A spent a year between school and university seeing the world, like a Regency fop on his Grand Tour. Candidate B spent the same year stacking shelves in a local supermarket. One of the hopefuls showed self-reliance, practical nous and a certain grown-upness. The other is Candidate A. Yet ours is still a world that rewards the gap-year itinerant — often funded or backstopped by parents — with the job, where “well-travelled” is still a synonym for “clever”, where sophisticates still cite that snide statistic about the percentage of Americans who have no passport, as though nothing could damn the global superpower more.
Travel has intellectual associations it no longer deserves. It is a hangover from a time when so few went abroad, and so little knowledge about the outside world was accessible to those who did not, that people with a few international excursions under their belt could claim a genuine cultural edge.
Surely if the Nats have forced Auckland City Council to bring in a congestion charge, Auckland people will punish them heavily in September.
That the ordinary workers of Auckland will have to pay for the years of infrastructure underspend while sitting in gridlock should make them very angry.
The Labour campaign team should be looking at this very closely.
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The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
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 ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
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 OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,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, Monday 6 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Way to go Team New Zealand – superb effort this morning.
Looking like the on form team so far. Kiwi ingenuity does well on the world stage again.
Boring boys and their toys event now IMO made watchable by introducing speed and technology.
Used to be about yachts racing now it’s a dick measuring competition.
I like it, closest thing i can compare them to is the old group b rally cars.
The technology involved and the skill level of the teams sailing them makes for great viewing.
But should be FTA
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4566964/Kathy-Griffin-claims-Trump-family-ruined-life.html
She holds up a bloody severed trump head and then does the poor woe is me routine.
What the hell did she expect.
You’re quite right James, now if you could point me towards your post rallying against Ted Nugent, also disgustingly threatening a President and a Contender for President with these quotes …
“Obama, he’s a piece of shit. I told him to suck on my machine gun,” Nugent said during an appearance in 2007. “Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless bitch.”
… then I might not see your comment as faux outrage and a simple excuse to attack people who don’t like The Trumpster.
Never knew anything of it. But agree it’s disgusting.
But love how your more interested in comments I may have made about (as it turns out) some thing I didn’t know about as opposed to the incident itself.
Or is that just an easy way out attack the commenter as opposed to the issue.
Love how you go straight for the poor me james, classy. Or is it because she a women that she can’t do it, but you as a male – have the right?
I’m pretty sure she didn’t read the standard.
Good to see you try to cover up your sexist puffer, with a glib comment james. Irony is dripping when you condone violence towards children as well.
“and a simple excuse to attack people who don’t like The Trumpster.”.
This is where some lefties like yourself lose all credibility.
I comment that a person in the media holds up a look a like decapated presidents head all covered in blood – and people like you try to make out it’s me who is using it as an attack.
If you look at my post – I have been consistently against forms of violence and disgusting comments make against people. Same cannot be said for all on here.
You just hang in there James.
We need more people like you here to stop it getting all moist and self-congratulatory.
But make sure you make us think.
Haha, lucky my sense of self worth isn’t based on your opinion of my credibility then eh James. But then I’m not so thin skinned as the POTUS. I don’t see this as a Left/Right issue, perhaps your mentioning that proves the point you were using it as an attack of the left rather than some C grade celebrity. As I said I agree with you that Kathy Griffin’s stunt was awful as was the comment by Madonna at the Women’s March, as was the Ted Nugent comments (that I’m glad I got to educate you about, for your own credibility of course, as it had slipped passed you despite it being widely reported when Mr Trump welcomed him to the White House, ) and of course not to mention Mr Trump himself referring to a reporter bleeding from the whatever, and that he can grab women by the pussy. Please don’t see this as an attack, sweetie, I’m just highlighting the need for balance. Have a cracking day buddy.
Bit like the Palinator gunsight thing.
“For various reasons, acceptance of climate science breaks down along ideological lines. First, a majority of people in every state in the US believes, for instance, that the Paris Accord is a good thing, that the USA should participate. It turns out, however, that there is higher acceptance of climate science and acceptance of the importance of action on the coasts (California, Oregon, Washington, New York, etc.).
There are exceptions to this rule but I am generalizing. It also turns out that the more liberal your politics are, the more likely you are to accept the science and the solutions. With respect to politics, the results are stunning. Vast majorities of Democratic and independent voters are supportive. Interestingly, small majorities of even conservative Republicans are supportive.”
https://skepticalscience.com/reflections-on-politics-of-cc.html
In China, the water you drink is as dangerous as the air you breathe
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/02/china-water-dangerous-pollution-greenpeace
So that’s the state China has allowed their own country to get to…. what governance (sarc).
And that’s why it’s crazy stuff to sell any of our land to them. If they don’t care enough about their own country to keep it livable why would they care two hoots about keeping our country livable.
Postcards from the brighter future from Anthony Robins is a sort of Blip’s list of unsatisfactory happenings that trend downwards for our standard of living for us all and need urgent remediation.
This one would interest Red Logix who has or had some rental properties. Others will disdain the thinking because they don’t agree with it, they will consider it wrong, even though it is legal and follows what have been found to be economic rules of supply and demand effect on prices. When they are operating on our necessities then we need to have government management to offset the simple economic answer to everything, housing at present in particular.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/331952/auckland-agency-price-gouging-over-weekly-rent-rise
I think this item covers the economic argument well. Putting the price up also acts as a means of lessening demand, which can be argued as bringing efficiency and self-choice, rather than other means of sorting through applicants which can result in other form of unfair selection. Yet would putting names in a hat be more acceptable and effective?
I don’t have an easy answer.
Typically we look for long-term low risk tenants and we ‘reward’ them by keeping rent rises to a bare minimum.
But every-time we have a new vacancy the demand is crazy. We do use this as the chance to get the rent back up to market. Even then we’ve literally had bidding wars going on right under our noses. When this happens we both feel pretty damned uncomfortable … I’m not looking for sympathy, but the sense of letting down all the hopefuls we cannot place is real for us.
Our solution is a bit ad-hoc, we make a short-list and then delay making a decision for a week or so. In that time many will drop out and by then, after a few interactions, we usually find it fairly easy to make a decision.
What we don’t do is just ramp the price up to eliminate people, because that’s filtering for all the wrong attributes.
And for the past few years while we’ve been overseas we find good property managers will often be able to place excellent tenants, based on prior track record with them, without ever advertising.
I know there’ll be the usual crowd who’ll read this and it will trigger their “I hate all bastard landlords” button, but I’ll hit ‘Submit’ because I want to give gws an transparent answer.
I don’t know about “all bastard landlords”, I just think it’s daft that our housing legislation makes for a lottery where the prize is you (ie: a ‘legitimate’ landlord).
Hi Red Logix, letting people cool off and looking for good managers seem to work for you. I would like to see an agency that tenants bought into that would give them ratings for quality. The agency would phone the landlord when they left and file a report, but they would also know how fair each was and which were mean-minded. It would be a help to tenants to have some reliable background when looking for a new place, and people could work to up their rating, It would be a small operation possibly run from a solicitor’s office to keep costs down, not a real estate place as there would be risk of bias and advantage.
I remember in London in the 1970’s looking for a flat in a city area. You travelled by underground or bus, perhaps changing at some point and walked there to be 20 minutes before the set time and find a queue of dozen people there before you. Then some chap turned up at 10 minutes before and started to throw a panic attack and he got let through to the front. I have forgotten the rest.
This all comes back to me and is not relevant but hell while I still can remember I’d better do so.
I met a woman who was living an hour’s train ride away from London and wanted to move closer. She told me it was getting almost impossible because she was pregnant. When she started looking you couldn’t tell but as the fruitless months went by she got bigger and more definite noes. The government, trying to protect families from being asked to leave rentals and then not being able to find another home, had made a law that the landlord had to find alternative accommodation for them so no-one wanted to let to a family, to a to-be family, and even a married couple would be better to say they were just living together, as it seemed less likely that children would turn up.
I ended up finding a nice place in Kilburn, which had four flats mostly occupied by Iranian men. They always had girls around, seemed pretty laid back, but then the Ayotollah put out a call for all true-born men to come home and fight and they were gone back to a stricter society. I also remember this new CBD building 33 stories high called Centrepoint. There was a big demand for offices but the owner left it empty and revalued the rental for each floor each month which provided collateral or looked good on the balance sheets.
Interesting info about unintended consequence of the building. “On 19 June 2006 the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment pointed to the building as an example of bad design, where badly-designed pavements force pedestrians into the bus lane and account for the highest level of pedestrian injuries in Central London. ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_Point
In response to a comment in a Trump, planet climate discussion. The article quote about ragged trousered lefties and Corbyn, made me think of a great novel.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is such a great reality based novel: a UK socialist document, portraying the true state of class exploitation, as written by one of the working class.
Ignored in its time, maybe it’s time has come with Corbyn?
Thanks for that suggestion, I will definitely search that one out.
I know this is slightly different, but another very good book set of working class (or from peasant to working class) books are Maxim Gorky’s three autobiographies, My childhood, My apprenticeship and My universities, really quite painful and beautiful, my favourite Gorky.
Thanks for the tip.
Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is available free online.
As I do have a secondhand bookshop, I better try and find myself a nice old hard copy, actually I just can’t read books like that digitally, I don’t mind reading reports, and stats online or on a e reader, but not more ‘personal. books, I don’t know why, just one of my many idiocracies.
I had a look at Trademe Adrian. Under Robert Tressell:
There are some of the books, all from UK IIRR.
This one has a cover with one supposes, the males of the era, all wearing caps and looking neat and decent. It’s about $17 with free shipping.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/books/nonfiction/other/auction-1338230217.htm
This one is the cheapest with a modern cover for $8.70.
It is used but good condition. Free shipping.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/books/nonfiction/other/auction-1338230217.htm
There were none in the expired listings.
We have two copies in the shop, free chocolate fish if you can figure out where…
On a shelf.
dv
Like it. There is often a simple answer overlooked.
Damn I guess I won’t be getting any chocolate then…..
Intriguing about the shop Siobhan. I guess it isn’t in Ireland despite your Irish name. How much, do you post?
Sorry greywarshark, turns out we’re down to one copy which Adrian gets seeing as he works here for free. He still has to find it though.
Adrian works there for free. Surely he’s worth gold. Was it one of the really old editions?
On the outward postage table? (ordered by B English}
Carolyn-nth
Thanks for The Ragged …
I thought these paras resonated:
Clearly frustrated at the refusal of his contemporaries to recognise the inequity and iniquity of society, Tressell’s cast of hypocritical Christians, exploitative capitalists and corrupt councillors provide a backdrop for his main target — the workers who think that a better life is “not for the likes of them”. Hence the title of the book; Tressell paints the workers as “philanthropists” who throw themselves into back-breaking work for poverty wages in order to generate profit for their masters.
The hero of the book, Frank Owen, is a socialist who believes that the capitalist system is the real source of the poverty he sees all around him. In vain he tries to convince his fellow workers of his world view, but finds that their education has trained them to distrust their own thoughts and to rely on those of their “betters”.
Much of the book consists of conversations between Owen and the others, or more often of lectures by Owen in the face of their jeering; this was presumably based on Tressell’s own experiences.
I particularly liked the apposite and alliterative inequity and iniquity of society.
I have read this book some years ago. Alongside Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London it shaped my political perspectives deeply.
Orwell himself wrote of it:
I also read it many decades ago and it made a big impression. It was a set text on a stage 3 English Lit course I did – the lecturer was a Brit leftie.
Thread.
https://twitter.com/mtsw/status/870701731297935362
Great comedy there.
Off the mark, or dead wrong?.
It’s better illustrated as a breakdown of Fox News viewers.
Fox are the masters of precise gender targeting:
https://qz.com/738346/fox-newss-biggest-problem-isnt-the-ailes-ouster-its-that-its-average-viewer-is-a-dinosaur/
Choreographed and all.
https://medium.com/@tobinsmith_95851/how-roger-ailes-fox-news-scammed-americas-la-z-boy-cowboys-for-21-years-1996ee4a6b3e
Reminds me of a lament from a CEO or whatever of Cadillac some time back: “Pretty soon the average age of our buyers will be ‘deceased.'”
I was going to put it up as a post.
Hmm, okay. So liberals in the US can’t sell liberalism. No loss.
Liberalism’s some dripping gooey inoculation that tries to sell itself as progressive…a soap or barrier cream that’s sold for fear of infectious germs, when we all know that the germs (progressive or “leftist” values) are what we actually all need.
Liberalism exorcised all of the dirt, blood and struggle of progressive or left politics… supplanting a brightly colored (sic) glossy magazine of pap in its stead. Liberalism is wringing hands, ringing representatives, writing letters to the editor and signing petitions.
So now “the right” can take all manner of images associated with defiance or bravery or of being staunch – everything that liberalism fearfully washed away – and twist it as it sees fit.
And on “the left” we can reject both and reclaim our heritage.
Disclaimer: don’t bother writing to tell me I read too much into that twitter column 😉
@Bill+1
“And on “the left” we can reject both and reclaim our heritage.”
I am with you there pal, reclaim our heritage and co opt anything that is useful from the right while we are at it.
I have been debating with some friends that we should (on the Left) start using the word conservative, my argument being that to be a socialist today is in part being conservative in a modern sense.
Conserving environment, communities, conserving human dignity for all citizens, conserving families, whatever that family might look like etc….
Had a bit of push back of course, and I am not entirely tied to the idea either, but it makes for a great debate (in certain circles).
Garner goes full #covfefe at the Greens:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/93267043/duncan-garner-the-rub-of-the-greens-the-party-thats-become-labours-little-play-thing
The Right is very scared of the unified Left.
The Nats have had 9 years to reinvent themselves in a way the Greens might consider them possible coalition partners and have failed miserably.
I see that NZ citizen, Peter Thiel, is attending the 2017 Bilderberg meeting.
http://www.globaltruth.net/2017-bilderberg-meeting-final-list-of-participants/
If you have plenty of time, this is an interesting discussion on Bilderberg
Theresa May’s personal ratings fall as Labour reduces Conservative lead
.
IpsosMori Poll
(1) Headline figures
CON: … 45% (-4)
LAB: …. 40% (+6)
LDEM: … 7% (=)
So, Tories 15 point lead in previous IpsosMori slashed to 5 points.
__________________________________________________________________________________
This is also the first Poll to record Labour ahead in the Initial results (which are fully weighted demographically but still include the Undecideds and haven’t been weighted for turnout). Hence, this Initial ‘All Giving a Voting Intention’ result arguably provides the purest snapshot of the Party preferences of all UK adults entitled to vote, regardless of whether they do, in fact, turn up on June 8.
(2) Initial ‘All Giving a Voting Intention’ result
LAB: …. 43%
CON: … 40%
LDEM: … 9%
______________________________________________________________________________________
(3) Leader Satisfied / Dissatisfied ratings:
May: 43 / 50 . …… Net minus 7
Corbyn: 39 / 50 … Net minus 11
First time May’s found herself in negative territory.
(Compare with first IpsosMori after May called Election – 26 April 2017 =
May: 56 / 37 …….. Net plus 19
Corbyn: 27 / 62 … Net minus 35 )
Hey Swordfish looks at these numbers from MORI:
“Among people aged 35-54 there has been an even more dramatic switch.
Before the social care row they split 52-34 for the Conservatives. Now they divide 36 for the Conservatives and 46 for Labour. In other words, they have switched sides.”
This kind of change is unheard of. Corbyn might just do it.
“Among people aged 35-54 there has been an even more dramatic switch.”
Yep, noticed that 🙂 … just been looking through the Poll’s entrails.
Over recent days – far too much emphasis by naysayers on the idea that this swing to Labour is built solely upon weak foundations of (1) very young and (2) previous non-voters (who, of course, are historically less likely to vote).
The swing’s far more diverse than that.
I’ve even detected some movement in the latest YouGov among the solidly Tory Over-65s.
Tories still very much odds-on … but things are dramatically moving in the right direction (or do I mean the Left direction ?)
Agree all of that. Will be glued to live BBC feed on Friday.
We should put up a discussion post too. Just making a note here for the times. That first exit poll would be 9am Friday NZT. Results might be in by 2pm or 3pm.
Thursday 8 June
Polling stations open in every town, city and village across the UK from 7am to 10pm.
Millions cast their vote in the general election.
An exit poll at 10pm gives the first indication of which way the wind is blowing.
Counting takes place overnight, with the first seat to declare usually Sunderland before midnight.
If it’s an easy victory for one side a result could be known by 3am or 4am.
If it’s close there could still be uncertainty when Britain wakes up on the morning of Friday 9 June.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/when-general-election-uk-2017-10247953?service=responsive
Thanks for the times Weka-good idea on discussion post. Go the Corbynistas!
WTF…The Guardian comes out for Corbyn.
Yes the Guardian has made a complete U-Turn and is now desperately trying to aline themselves on the right side of history, except it is to late for them, their credibility is already well and truly in the gutter, dirty filthy and soiled by the centrist neoliberal bullshit they have been trying to sell us so hard for so long.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/ng-interactive/2017/jun/02/the-guardian-view-on-our-vote-its-labour
Just read the comments on their ‘coming out’ and you will see that most critical thinkers already read anything political that The Guardian put out with an extremely high degree of suspicion, it’s both sad and hilarious.
Here is The Guardian’s normal default position 19 July 2016
“Yes, Jeremy Corbyn has suffered a bad press, but where’s the harm?”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jul/19/yes-jeremy-corbyn-has-suffered-a-bad-press-but-wheres-the-harm
Like all these fucking useless ‘centre lefties’ they have shown us yet again that the centre stands only for moral and principled ambiguity…no, you can be sure you will never find lines in the sand from these political prostitutes…and they want us to vote for Anna Lorck or Stuart Nash here in the Bay..what a joke.
Nash…
Let’s be clear about one thing: politics is about winning. There is no such thing as a ‘glorious defeat’, leaders who lose are not, as some may believe, ‘martyrs to the cause’, and ‘coming second but maintaining our principles’ is a ludicrous proposition.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/31/tdb-guest-blog-project-stuart-nash-the-most-pressing-issue-in-nz-right-now/
This from a guy who has Just been bumped up the Labour list..but hey he is hard on crime.
Hey Adrian, give The Guardian some, guarded, positives. We are hoping for change aren’t we? Better it happens, than not at all or overwhelmingly.
I am just not that forgiving…so sorry to be rude, but fuck them.
It is my view that The Guardian and other so called ‘liberal’ MSM media organizations have got more culpability for the victory of Trump than the republican party itself.
They relentlessly undermined and belittled the only real progressive in the US during the primaries, and therefore split the Left, and in the UK The Guardian in particular have been obsessive in their open hostility to Corbyn, it is only that the ‘manufacturing consent’ media model is now for all intents and purposes practically defunct, that Corbyn is now doing so well…and he and the Left own NOTHING of that success to The Guardian or their contemporaries.
Saw that link to TDB and Stuart Nash. This from him – so patronising.
Our supporters have the same impact when they squabble, bitch and back-stab on so-called ‘left-friendly’ sites like The Standard (a dreadful 21st century bastardisation of a once proud Labour broadsheet). Criticising your favourite Labour MP is not the route to victory, no matter what you think of their philosophies, hair or politics.
Someone who groups philosophies, hair and politics as equally unsuitable for discussion on a political site is seriously lacking in gravitas and nous. And that comment is made without knowing just how his hair is arranged.
(Does Joyce dye his do you think? It looked like it on the recent close up image we had.) And that just shows how catholic I am in my interests. And by the way that has nothing to do with religion Stuart, in case you think of adding it to the list we shouldn’t discuss. I remember the social advice – never discuss sex, politics or religion at the dinner table, or everyone will make a meal out of it.
Nash protesteth too much. When he can point to good behaviour in the House he can start bagging the mosh pit.
Love how they have another story about previous election endorsements – I kind of read it as. “The Guardian: Supporting Libourish Parties Since Forever”
Is that what passes for an Editorial at the Guardian? (opinion piece but can’t see a name)
‘Guardian reader’ has long been shorthand for ‘tourist’, ‘fairweather friend’ and ‘boring wanker who drones on sanctimoniously at dinner parties and turns into a rabid Tory once their property values are threatened’. They’re someone who when the going gets tough, gets going… back into the arms of authority (like Russell Brown).
I have said for a time that making unmarried mothers applying for benefits name the father so that the government can collect money from them, brings consequences on the woman and child that can far outweigh any support money that can be extracted. A woman trying to bring up a child in a good way, apart from some one-night stand of lust and thoughtlessness should be given every encouragement and support and be helped to stick to an achievable plan. Then she can decide if it is appropriate to include the man.
But the government has been ruled by prejudices against children and fertile women who don’t fit into their minimal plans to enable them to lead lives that encourage their potential and ready them for part-time work only, when the child is say, three.
If they have another baby then there is a choice, they have a long-term contraceptive device, or name the man with all that involves. It is fair for the government to set some rules, and I believe this should be what happens.
It is what feminists wanted, rights for single and solo parents, but women or men shouldn’t have to rely on someone who is going to be a destroyer of a stable family home and family.
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2017/06/03/social-security-bill-affecting-single-mothers-across-new-zealand/
Do you support abortion on demand?
I support abortion after counselling, and offers of help so that the woman has a range of options, and these not to be carried out by some religious or other group pushing their own pushchair. But after a number, the matter would need to be reviewed for health reasons, including mental health.
“apart from some one-night stand of lust and thoughtlessness” – really???
If the mother is not married to the father then he must sign, therefore acknowledging paternity. If he chooses not to sign then technically the mother is deemed to have not named the father. I have talked to mothers told to get DNA tests to prove paternity but they are not compulsory and the alleged father can (and often does) refuse to co-operate. The cost of a DNA test is prohibitive. So it is not always a night of lust / one night stand but often a dead beat male unwilling to accept his responsibilities.
That’s the point Patricia. The woman hasn’t a good relationship with a guy, he is someone she has been unfortunate to meet and for some reason, had sex with, and that type is more likely to not ‘accept his responsibilities’. He may not be a dead beat male, just one that wanted sex and expected her to take care of the contraception, and would feel aggrieved at being landed with long-term paternity cares and costs.
As RedbaronCV says, contraception should be the concern of both but not all men are willing to use condoms if they can get away with it.
And condoms should be used as the latest news is that HIV is rising and just as the government cares so little for supporting the good progress of young NZs and their children, I presume it is not impossible for them to baulk at paying out large sums for life-long medication for careless people.
It’s not beyond bounds of the authoritarian state that it would ban sexual
interaction except under a health licence, because it is a vector for disease. Even kissing. The trend to efficiency and control of people by government proceeds in NZ already without any feeling of responsibility to use the power of government to enable people to have good lives. This can extend much further than anyone has yet thought to forecast. The wealthy are already dividing themselves from the poor with whom they do not insist that tax money should be shared. They are SEP and different, not one of us.
@ Patricia
What I’m hearing is that some women seem to want their cake and eat it. For decades they have rightly demanded and fought for control of their bodies, their sexuality, their access to contraception and their reproductive rights.
I have not the slightest quibble with any of this.
At the same time men have been largely removed from the equation; beyond abstinence and using condoms, males have almost no rights in the matter at all. This is very much how women have wanted it.
Yet it’s clear most women expect that if they do choose to have a child, the father is expected to be responsible for 20 years of child support. If they dare object to this … to having greatly reduced rights and but an undiminished burden …. they’re shamed as ‘dead beats’.
A constructive discussion needs to move on from this; if we expect men to participate in parenting as equals, maybe their voices and experiences need to considered as well.
Contraception is more than a female responsibility no matter how one night the stand so why should the caregiver & child be “punished”.
And I’d believe in the economic argument a bit more if the identified fathers particularly the wealthy actually had to pay reasonable amounts for their kids.
To make that point – when asked a scant few years ago it appeared that in only 1 case was the child support assessment greater than the benefit with the extra being paid over.
There is also a strong economic case for the child money to be a separate benefit from the adult money. So child support collected or a child benefit could be paid over intact with the adult benefit a separate amount if only to stop money for the children being absorbed as an offset to an adult benefit that others get of right.
Red BaronCV
You are looking at the woman as a problem costing money which should be handled efficiently. If a lump sum could be got from a wealthy father then by all means, put the screws on and they would pay up to avoid having long years of payments. As for the others, they find it annoying to have some fun and then be lumbered. Having the father come round grudgingly or to make sure he gets his moneysworth can be injurious to the family relationship she is trying to build.
I would like to see the woman be given what she needs such as a home, and perhaps spending the time preparing for the baby with life training, cooking, learning how to do things not known before, sewing, putting up shelves, using a screwdriver and hammer, what a householder needs.
She would get transport with a group going to pre-natal classes and not drink alcohol. If she honestly couldn’t keep away from alcohol because of peer or family pressure, she might have a little holiday away from her home, if she wished. That sort of thing, asking and helping the woman with her needs has a much warmer sound than your careful, rather clinical approach.
Budgeting for two would be best, not separate bank accounts, and using the time for formal education, planning with achievable goals, NCEA in mothercare, getting a drivers licence, using a computer. What a fruitful time for her and she’d be ready to go with a positive attitude. And could fall back for advice on some reliable person she liked for free.
In Iceland I think, they have the habit of preparing a gift to the baby from the state, they like children apparently, unlike here where it has always seemed to me that a farming attitude is too often seen where some callousness and management approach arises too often. Even pushing women out of hospital on the day of birth instead of allowing rest and feeding to get under way.
There is such a thing JanM. It happens, fact. It’s just a matter of allowing people to be people not to follow some PC idea that feminists think up.
Right – that clears that up then! (sarc)
JanM
What are you on about? Care to relate it in 50 words or less.
50 words or less? Well how’s that for patronising sexism? That sort of crap usually appears in bullshit bingo grids as “educate me because I can’t be arsed listening to anyone and what you tell me will go in one ear and out the other anyway, so don’t bother, just shut up.”
OK, I’m not a woman, and it would be presumptuous to call myself a feminist, but show some basic respect when a woman relates her experience of sexism.
Usually when someone says ‘fact’ as a punctuation it means ‘according to my prejudices.’ And ‘PC’? Who uses that without irony now?
JanM: “apart from some one-night stand of lust and thoughtlessness” – really???
Yeah, amazing, isn’t it? It’s OK for men to do that, but it’s those wicked Jezebels who end up with the consequences. The pseudo-leftist’s idea of the rational individual without biology, race or gender is as fantastical as the neoliberal’s ‘rational consumer.’
Feminism is all about allowing women ‘to be people,’ not cherry-picked rhetorical examples. Feminists do not just ‘think up’ stuff but speak from their experience as women and put it in context. They are certainly not objects to be monitored and regulated by the state as you propose.
Try listening to what women have to say about their experience.
But after a number, the matter would need to be reviewed for health reasons, including mental health.
Interesting. So you pathologise female sexuality but not male and propose an authoritarian oversight. How about the same test for men who have been reckless with their use of contraception? Why is it the women who have to be regulated and checked by the state alone? ‘None of your fucking business’ would be a perfectly justified answer to that.
rhinocrates
Do you feel better now after thundering to me from your prominent height? You are full of prejudices which get in the way of caring about the person at hand who is a pregnant female with all the possibilities and problems of life for two ahead for her. I think she should have help and services to aid her. What would you give her – a tirade?
Which is exactly what you give her – a moralistic finger-wagging about how she should behave and how the state should regulate her behaviour. It’s not about me and you and your precious feelings about being told off, it’s about her rights as a woman and a human being. She is not to be ‘corrected’ if she doesn’t meet your moral standards.
Fuck you and your phoney white knighting. You’re not her champion, she’s her own. The state has no right to manage her vagina.
This is particularly egregious:
But after a number, the matter would need to be reviewed for health reasons, including mental health.
Because she just can’t think for herself and needs guidance from the state, right?
Why is it women who need regulation in particular?
Let me define white knighting for you. It goes like this: “women need to be protected… helped… guided… controlled.”
rhinocrates
hope you are not counselling women. They would go away full of anger and hopelessness. Having rights doesn’t feed you, it doesn’t help you manage your life better, it’s learning how to do it and getting assistance when needed that is the clincher for success and happiness. Not a toxic lot of negative opinion and theory about people who try and find practical ways to honour and advance the rights that you spout. That doesn’t result in happiness.
Being circulated on twitter: a UK Labour campaign vid by Ken Loach. Hard hitting socialist message.
Demand?! In the UK maybe. In NZ…yeah, not so much. 😉
Nice wee film though.
We’ve demanded things before and gotten them. I think we’re just at a different stage of the cycle.
Manchester, Theresa May, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the petrodollar.
This article contains so much valuable information and explains a lot.
The section on the petrodollar.
Not many people will know this.
‘To the Americans and British, Gadaffi’s true crime was his iconoclastic independence and his plan to abandon the petrodollar, a pillar of American imperial power. He had audaciously planned to underwrite a common African currency backed by gold, establish an all-Africa bank and promote economic union among poor countries with prized resources. Whether or not this would have happened, the very notion was intolerable to the US as it prepared to “enter” Africa and bribe African governments with military “partnerships”.
And the bit about Manchester and May.
‘The alleged suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, was part of an extremist group, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, that thrived in Manchester and was cultivated and used by MI5 for more than 20 years.
The LIFG is proscribed by Britain as a terrorist organisation which seeks a “hardline Islamic state” in Libya and “is part of the wider global Islamist extremist movement, as inspired by al-Qaida”.
The “smoking gun” is that when Theresa May was Home Secretary, LIFG jihadists were allowed to travel unhindered across Europe and encouraged to engage in “battle”: first to remove Mu’ammar Gadaffi in Libya, then to join al-Qaida affiliated groups in Syria.’
http://johnpilger.com/articles/terror-in-britain-what-did-the-prime-minister-know
Essential listening:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/201846255/jonathan-taplin-social-media-vs-democracy
He has recently published Move Fast & Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy.
This was in yesterday’s Press,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/93218681/beggars-are-a-plague-on-our-house
Just appalling! Does the author ever wonder how people cope with Winz 13 week stand downs and other sanctions. What about the thousands who are neither on a benefit or in work?
I can’t decide who I would want to hear more of:
President Trump, or President Underwood:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKe-8kpNVsU
Awesome work Frank.
No, travelling isn’t character-building — it’s just fun
An interesting take on travel.
Subscription required? Shame though because I think I’d disagree but without reading it …
I don’t have a subscription to FT and I’m not even signed in on my free account. They usually allow you to read one or two articles per month without bothering you about paying them.
Here’s another paragraph that rings true IME:
Surely if the Nats have forced Auckland City Council to bring in a congestion charge, Auckland people will punish them heavily in September.
That the ordinary workers of Auckland will have to pay for the years of infrastructure underspend while sitting in gridlock should make them very angry.
The Labour campaign team should be looking at this very closely.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/06/government-to-make-road-pricing-announcement-phil-goff.html