Lynn (or someone else on the Bridge) can you please open the “gate”; you know i’m “human” and i’ll stop worrying the flock and be a good dog (lifts paw and tilts head)
Hi Lynn and folks’ my misbehavin around the full moon has led to the activation of the s.bot captcha entry requirement. Could you please alleviate this thorn in my paw and I will endeavour to be more restrained (on leash) Thankyou, i would be grateful.
Most of those who felt compelled to defend the award made a point of reminding us of Holmes’s “tireless work for charity” and his “generosity”. Hardly any of them was foolish enough to mention the Banquo’s ghost in the room: Holmes’s shameful record of crude race-baiting and hate-mongering, most notoriously against black Africans, but most consistently against MÄori and the poor.
One “liberal” commentator, however, went one step further; Brian Edwards used his blog to write a giddy paean to Holmes. Many readers joined in the expression of adoration for the great man; former New Zealand First staffer Rex Widerstrom rhapsodized on “Paul’s intellect and his humanity”, one Rosina Hauiti raved about his “illustrious career”, and, most contemptibly of all, Labour Party MP Annette King called Holmes “funny warm and compassionate”, and asserted that she “canât understand the vitriol being written.”
It was not all fulsome praise, however. Many readers, including the venerable Standardista “Millsy”, expressed scorn and disbelief at the knighthood. For their sins, they suffered the indignity of having their comments deleted and replaced by a scolding by Edwards himself, were compared to witch-hunters, and were sent to Siberia along with the unspeakable Bomber Bradbury, who is damned by Holmes-booster John Phillips as a “swinish, loathsome, small-minded worm”.
There was one thing that bothered me above all else: Edwards assured a skeptical reader that Holmes âis not and never was a racistâ. This was a step too far, and I just had to remonstrate. I posted up the following comment….
Brian, when you asserted that Paul Holmes âis not and never was a racistâ, I guess you were in the same extremely indulgent frame of mind as when you stated, on radio, that P.J. OâRourke was âdeep down, a very serious personâ and when you lauded the âbrillianceâ of the unfunny New Zealand Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson.
BE: I donât believe I have ever said anything about P.J. OâRourke since I have never read his books and know nothing about him. Perhaps you can let me know when and where I am supposed to have said this. As for Emmerson you seem to be confusing the fact that you personally find him unfunny with whether or not he his cartooning skill can be described as brilliant. Anyway, to test the worth of what you write, perhaps you could supply chapter and verse for my supposed comments on Mr OâRourke. Iâll apologise if Iâm wrong and Iâll expect you to do the same. And god only knows what any of this has to do with my post on Paul Holmes.
Like Millsy, I had a comment deleted as well, but Edwards’s admonition remains….
BE: Your comment, which Iâve deleted, was unworthy even of you. It was vile. I donât want you on this website. And donât worry about the OâRourke quote. I know I couldnât have said it.
This is the comment Edwards deleted….
Have a Happy New Year, you unrecognised oiksâand remember, if you see a deranged old man shouting insults at MÄori family groups over the summer, donât say âFuck off to Queensland you racist scumâ, say âFuck off to Queensland, Sir Paul.â
A REQUEST TO ALL RADIO LISTENERS
If you heard Brian Edwards interview P.J. O’Rourke in the late 1990s, could you please write to Brian Edwards and remind him of it. He seems to have very poor recall.
Look carefully, my friend: the one having a cry is the good Dr. Edwards. First the blubbering is in the form of tears of joy, to express his admiration for a notorious racist, then it transmogrifies into tears of anger as he deals to us naysayers and spoilsports.
I can’t provide the day of Edwards’s interview of O’Rourke, but it certainly happened. I might sometimes not get a quote verbatim, and my memory is not always perfect, but I don’t make things up.
Or if I do, as when that I made that Sacha Baron Cohen interview on Letterman segue into a Nazi rally in the last line, I make it quite clear that it’s being done for effect.
Morrissey, if you claim something is a quote, when it is actually just your dodgy recollection and not the actual words, then you are going to get called on it, just as you did with your bigoted rants about Baron Cohen. Don’t use quote marks when it’s not a quotation and you’ll save yourself a lot of bother.
However, it appears BE did interview PJ O’Rourke …
My quote is correct. Edwards made a habit after each interview (or, more accurately, each uncritical audience) of making a comment on the departed guest.
He made a particularly cowardly, sneering dismissal of Bill Clinton’s brother Roger, after interviewing him for half an hour one day. Edwards sniggeringly expressed his contempt for Roger Clinton’s southern manners, particularly the way he kept calling Edwards “sir”. Despite having such a distinguished brother, Roger Clinton spoke with a southern accent, so Edwards did not deem him worthy of respect.
With the patrician O’Rourke, on the other hand, Edwards was the picture of servility. And he DID make the ridiculous comment that O’Rourke, who is more flippant and glib than even our own Mike Hosking, was “deep down, a very serious person.” Not that Edwards would remember of course.
Your quote may well be correct, but you haven’t proven it to be so, Moz. I imagine it’s possible that Edwards did say it, or something similar, because the tears of the clown is such a cliche. I can well imagine any interviewer of a comedian finishing up with a banal comment like that.
I guess the reason your claim got the reaction it did from BE is because it was so irrelevant to the discussion about Holmes. It looks like straw clutching desperation and it was an attack on his credibility on his own site. Banning in those circ’s seems perfectly reasonable and an obvious outcome of your approach.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are going to claim things as being fact, you should be prepared to back up your statements. It’s even better if you do the research before making the claim!
By the way, Bill Clinton, like his brother, speaks with a southern accent. I imagine that is due to them both being brought up in the south. D’oh!
Here’s a question. Why is it a *~*~*~*brigade*~*~*~* when it’s felix and TRP taking the same side on an issue, but not when it’s muzza and Mozza tag-teaming?
Oh, right, because muzza wants to pretend this is all some vast [insert today’s favourite adjective] conspiracy to Suppress The Truth And Expect People To Stand By Their Copypasta, or something.
M&M are a “Legion”. About the same size as a brigade, but with an inclination to read entrails rather than work within the limitations of the fog of war.
McFliper writes…. M&M are a âLegionâ. About the same size as a brigade, but with an inclination to read entrails rather than work within the limitations of the fog of war.
Because sometimes entrails make funny sounds which would be in keeping with my not particularly serious comment. And you can use the hollow carcass as a finger puppet. Whereas you took three words and ran with them into territory neither relevant nor humourous, as is your habit.
I mean, come the fuck on – My Lai from an (admittedly not very good) semantic joke about “brigade” vs “legion”? Fuck sake.
edit: and I’m busy today, so it’s likely I won’t be further engaging in this particular encounter with the Legion of Doolally.
It seems mate that you are intent on negligently diminishing the meaning and power of certain significant English language words to the status of irrelevance. It also seems that you have made a habit of trolling blogs belittling the opinions, values and beliefs of the writers and commentators (below are a couple of example of your trolling for your fellow Standard readers to see, there are a shit load more for those who might care to look online):
“Thereâs a lot of funny ironies on blogs, and this is one â a commenter on The Standard has accused me of stalking him:
Te Reo PutakeâŠ
27 September 2012 at 3:52 pm
ps, prism, youâre not alone in trying to work out the meaning. Check out my stalker!
Thereâs actually multiple ironies there. âTe Reo Putakeâ, previously âThe Voice of Reasonâ, is one of the most unreasonable voices Iâve seen at The Standard, a union/Labour hack who tries to shut out any voices he doesnât like”
For the purpose of this exercise we’re going to focus on a comment you made in “open mike” on the 2/1/2013 (# 3.2.3.4) and your grossly irresponsible misuse of the word “RACIST”:
“Help me, Jebus! I love the way the writer canât help launching into a racist tirade against Kiwis, before chiding TS posters for being too sensitive”
So to start. Who exactly is “Jebus!” and how exactly do you expect his or her help? Now lets take a close look at the words RACIST and race and the meanings that are attributed to both words by the Oxford Dictionary;
Definition of racism
The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races:
theories of racism
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that oneâs own race is superior
Each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics:
people of all races, colours, and creeds
[mass noun] the fact or condition of belonging to a racial division or group; the qualities or characteristics associated with this.
a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.
We sincerely hope that the above definitions will assist you in using the word RACIST in a more appropriate context. It is of course impossible for us to have launched into a “racist tirade against Kiwi’s” with our commentary on the behavioral patterns of New Zealander’s when confronted with injustice and or that county’s obvious fiscal dependence on Australia
Kiwi’s do not constitute a race, nor do New Zealander’s for that matter, both terms are a reference to nationality only.
When one misuses a word such as ‘Racist” in the way that you clearly have, the power of the word and its significant meaning are greatly diminished.
In future mate, when you feel like a spot of trolling why not pop over to Lauda Finem and attempt to take a crap in our yard, instead of shitting all over the Standards front lawn
IrishBill: what a pointless, self-obsessive, and banal mess of text. I’ve seen automated spam that did a better job of commenting than this. You’re banned for life for what I can only describe as one of the most tragic comments in the history of this blog.
I thought it would always be my secret shame, felix! But, gosh, if they’re quoting Pete George, the gig is clearly up. Not to mention the deadly blow of featuring some tool on Whaleoil wrongly identifying another commenter as me. The evidence is overwhelming, its a fair cop, guvnor, but society is to blame.
And, it’s really important that nobody should wonder whether the deliberate misspelling of my handle by the not at all homophobic Lauda Finem is in any way racist, because it’s just not, OK?
Oh – another whiner like PG.. I left this comment on his post.
The purpose of The Standard is stated in our about and what moderators do is outlined in the policy. You’re referring to this comment (are you incapable of linking accurately?)
You quoted Pete George of YourNZ as an authority – FFS even Cameron Slater tends to be more accurate than PG who has an uncanny ability to be as slippery as a personal lubricant . But basically PG got harassed by Te Reo Putake because the PG made and continued to make statements that he could not or would not defend. For some reason the gonzo got upset about being called to justify his silly assertions.
Like you, PG also got through a wee tantrum because he got a permanent ban. He got his for trying to tell us how to run our site.
You got your permanent ban because you triggered the well-honed anti-trolling instincts of IrishBill when you indulged in masturbating your juvenile ego in a single comment on the site. Basically you said nothing of much interest, indulged in some kind of silly and largely meaningless debating room semantics, displayed yourself as being a shallow pretentious fool, and added nothing to the debate you commented on.
In short, you remind me of Pete George and received an appropriate moderation – which if you follow in PG’s footsteps, you will proceed to whine pitifully about for the next year.
Mind you, it does make the rather tedious debate about “rent boy” that I’ve had to read look almost meaningful by comparison. I’m rather expecting the comment to never appear on Lauda Finem?
Your e-mail? Yep. You are in the hands of cloudflare, who once a moderator manually flags your comment as spam (as you had) will require you to pass a captcha. The result gets placed in auto-moderation.
When it is released by a moderator, you get your commenting freedom back again – at least for the next 30 days which is what I set it to. The system now looks at you as being provisionally human. Basically it does not pay to have a moderator get irritated enough to flag you as spam (and I’m thankful that they seldom do – banning is much less consequential).
Be warned that akismet also looks at manually flagged spam. Unlike cloudflare which only collects stats inside its own network, akismet covers the whole wordpress universe. It is (fortunately) just a little less judgemental.
You should be ok now that a message has made it through.
You might get one at 30 days. You may not. Eventually if you pass it (I’m HUMAN!) enough and you don’t get flagged again you won’t see it again.
I suspect you won’t see the 30 day one because of previously passed comments. However I have no control over the workings – and it is currently protecting me from ~20k spam comments per week.
Sir! Thank You Sir, That will be all Sir! I’ll be out here on the flank (I don’t really want another “resurrection”, but hay, I’m a rolling stone) đ ( I was reading a physics related article the other day about stones talking, yep, if these stones could talk, sounded like Wild Horses to me).(Which reminds me, I now have a real life stalker / Wind talker I believe, yet, they’re hiding in the bushes; a “real” resurrection it may turn out to be written)
đ
lprent your ‘his post’ link goes to their ‘best wishes’ 2013 round up, no sign of your comment. The Standard gets a mention in their list of ‘courageous websites’ but:
“The standard.org (Caveat: Lauda Finem have serious reservations about the authenticity of this blog and its agenda; one of their moderators “IrishBill” [as we suspected he would] altered one of our comments earlier today, that story coming soon)”
omg I just can’t wait to see what happens next. Although, it’s hard to take this ‘team’ too seriously when, on the same page, their first item under ‘predictions for 2013’ is : The fall of the New Zealand National Party government in the November elections.
Wow I just realized something mind-blowing about this whole thing:
Ahahahahahaha their snide little comment about “serious reservations about the authenticity of [The Standard] and its agenda” is seriously the most priceless I-didn’t-want-to-play-with-your-ball-ANYWAY foot-stomping I’ve seen since I quit Livejournal.
I saw Edwards blog a couple of days ago. As well as sweeping the racism under the carpet, i couldn’t believe anyone of left wing views would applaud the shift in the MSM, that Holmes was a major part of. instead, Edwards praises it thusly:
Paul would become a seminal influence in New Zealand broadcasting. He would change the landscape. Though many fine broadcasters preceded him, he was our first real âstarâ. And, in that sense of the word that suggests Hollywood and glittering lights and show dancers and theme music and Emmys and Oscars and your name on the pavement of Hollywood Boulevard, he may well be the only real star that our small nation has as yet produced.
The Hollywoodisation of our news, current events and political reportage is not something to celebrate.
He had some cred back in the day, but that shift you mention toward presentation over substance and celebrity over merit has been Edwards’ bread and butter these past few decades.
Despite interviewing him, or more precisely, listening to him deliver an unbroken stream of right wing bromides for half an hour on Christmas Eve 1994, Edwards claims to knew “know nothing about him”. He will have completely forgotten it, of course, but I have not.
It is not my credibility that has been found wanting here, it is Brian Edwards’s. Not only can you not comprehend that, but you appear to have no idea what “spam” means either.
I did, however. That’s why I posted it up—because he said it, and I believed it was another indication (from as long ago as the mid-1990s) that his judgement can be suspect, to put it politely.
Frankly I’m finding Morrissey a helluva lot more palatable than you and a couple of others who increasingly sound like school prefects determined to bully into submission the mouthy junior schooler of their focus……Morrissey. Some dissmissive Beltway tones in there too methinks.
Holmes’ knighthood is a nonesense of course which putting aside vanities serves only to contribute to the bullshit that the vainglorious wahanui of the media, including Edwards for that matter, are not merely “across” the stories which comprise current events, but integrally part of those stories and broadly part of our “one nation” fibre.
Grudging acknowledgment that something might have been said but since you FV don’t personally know about it, ergo it’s bullshit, is so so John Key FV.
All of that said and knighthood or not I remain just a little concerned about “Cheeky darkie…..”. Racist ? I don’t know. Probably qualifies for the ballpark however.
“Grudging acknowledgment that something might have been said but since you FV donât personally know about it, ergo itâs bullshit, is so so John Key FV.”
Why do you think Morrissey shouldn’t have to verify his quotes? Everyone else has to.
I verify my quotes, fool. I don’t make things up; the worst you can say is that my transcripts occasionally are not perfectly verbatim. That is of course the basis of dear old Lanthanide’s stated objections to my transcripts—they’re not one hundred per cent accurate. For instance, when transcribing the Hon. Hekia Parata absolutely accurately, more than half of the transcript would consist of “ummmm, ahhhhh, errrrrr”. That might be fine in Lanthanideland, but for the mass of Standard readers, it would be intolerable. (Almost as intolerable as the fact that Parata has not resigned yet.) But that is what happens when you write things down as fast as you can, but don’t use a tape recorder.
Edwards made the mistake of claiming that he had no knowledge of O’Rourke, and could remember nothing. I was correct, Edwards was wrong, as proven by our friend Te Reo Putake. Edwards apologized, but I don’t expect you to show any similar integrity or humility and do the same.
And yet when asked to do so, you refuse or are unable to. I can verify this statement by linking to examples of you doing this if you like. See the difference?
I haven’t passed comment on Edwards’ memory. It doesn’t interest me that you know there was an interview in 1994 and Edwards forgot about it.
What I’ve commented on is that you have a terrible habit of stating things as if they’re verifiable facts when you can’t verify them, and also that you seem to be too dense to grasp this simple criticism.
Edwards actually did make the comment that P.J. O’Rourke, who was and is one of the most callous and flippant commentators in the United States, was “deep down, a very serious person.” Or maybe he said, “basically, a very serious person.” The precise wording escapes me now, but the meaning was quite clear, and it was yet another example of Edwards’ dodgy (to put it kindly) powers of judgement. I did not make it up. Someone some time no doubt will produce a recording of the interview, and will verify what I have already said.
…you have a terrible habit of stating things as if theyâre verifiable facts when you canât verify them…
Nonsense. When have I ever done that? The worst thing you can say about me is that my transcripts (done as they are, usually, hastily on a piece of paper while I’m doing other things as well) are not absolutely verbatim.
I don’t make things up, but in your increasingly fraught state of mind, you probably are incapable of acknowledging that fact right now.
Well, no, no you don’t. In the Edwards case, it was me who did your work for you (and thank you for acknowleging that). We still have no evidence that Edwards said what you claim, but he has confirmed that he interviewed O’Rourke. The only way you can verify your quote would be to access the interview, which can be done via the RNZ site. But I’m betting you won’t do that!
You’ve outlined your transcript process and it’s hopeless, Moz. Your transcripts were useless because you made a lot of them up, relying on memory and impression. Clearly, you still do not understand that for a report to be a transcript, it has to be accurate. It is OK to edit out ums and arghs, but not to atrribute things that were not actually said, but were just your recollection.
The “mass of Standard readers” you claim to speak for are intelligent, learned folk who know the difference between opinion and fact. You don’t do them any favours by being so wrong, so often.
Well, no, no you donât. In the Edwards case, it was me who did your work for you (and thank you for acknowleging that). We still have no evidence that Edwards said what you claim, but he has confirmed that he interviewed OâRourke. The only way you can verify your quote would be to access the interview, which can be done via the RNZ site. But Iâm betting you wonât do that!
Somebody will, no doubt. I did not make it up, and you know I didn’t.
Youâve outlined your transcript process and itâs hopeless, Moz. Your transcripts were useless because you made a lot of them up, relying on memory and impression.
Rubbish. Often, following my posting up of a transcript of a radio show, others have posted to congratulate me on capturing the zeitgeist of shows like Jim Mora’s increasingly dire “The Panel”. That’s because I capture the crucial words that are spoken. And a lot of my stuff is actually verbatim, and can be checked against the original—for example, the transcript of that obscene Letterman/Baron Cohen defamation of a Christian peace activist in occupied Hebron. (Except for the seguing into a Nazi rally in the last sentence, but intelligent readers appreciated the political point being made.)
Clearly, you still do not understand that for a report to be a transcript, it has to be accurate. It is OK to edit out ums and arghs, but not to atrribute things that were not actually said, but were just your recollection.
And in many cases, as in transcribing Leighton “Ummmm, ahhhh, errrr” Smith, Larry “Lackwit” Williams or the Honorable Hekia “Ummm, errrr, ahhh” Parata, it’s not “OK to edit out ums and arghs”; they are crucial indicators of those great minds in their full pomp and majesty.
The âmass of Standard readersâ you claim to speak for are intelligent, learned folk who know the difference between opinion and fact. You donât do them any favours by being so wrong, so often.
I’m not wrong, and you know it. All you have done is nit-pick about my methodology and tried to show that I’m a falsifier. That’s arrant nonsense, of course, and regular readers of the Standard know it. And so, of course, do you.
The zeitgeist is not a transcript. You do not post transcripts, you post impressions. You have not provided any evidence that backs up your claim about Edwards, so nobody knows whether it is accurate or not, but the verifiable fact that you don’t even know yourself whether you’ve quoted him accurately kinda suggests you haven’t got it right.
Sorry, Moz, but if you are going to continue to make shit up, you will be called on it. That’s life, cobber.
The zeitgeist is not a transcript. You do not post transcripts, you post impressions.
No, I post transcripts, which are, as many people have attested, pretty accurate. You are correct in that sometimes they are not verbatim, and therefore they are indeed impressions; that is my aim, as you no doubt are aware: to evoke and thereby criticize the glibness, the muddleheadedness, the cynicism of what we are bombarded with daily in the media.
You have not provided any evidence that backs up your claim about Edwards, so nobody knows whether it is accurate or not, but the verifiable fact that you donât even know yourself whether youâve quoted him accurately kinda suggests you havenât got it right.
I’ve got it right. As I have acknowledged, the precise wording needs to be confirmed, but the comment, in all of its vacuity, was made by the good doctor.
Sorry, Moz, but if you are going to continue to make shit up, you will be called on it. Thatâs life, cobber.
If I “make shit up”, then it’s for the purposes of satire or comedy. I did not make this up.
By the way, here, for your delectation, is an example of when I DID “make shit up”, building on the true story of Bernadine Oliver-Kerby taking a pair of scissors to the crotches of every pair of trousers in Justin Marshall’s wardrobe. It comes from the glory days of Google Groups, when everyone seemed to be on Usenet.
When have you ever made shit up? I can think of plenty of times. For instance, just the other day in the bus stop you said you had gills and could breathe underwater.
I expect this will be completely lost on you Morrissey, but go ahead and ask me to prove it and I’ll do exactly what you do.
“Do you think that the farcical Knighthood of Hyde, is equal to the farcical Knighthood of Holmes. or maybe the farcical QC’s that the Nats are pulling because in my eyes they are all equally hideous. And so far out of date.
At one fell swoop the knighting of someone who is famous for getting a job on the telly and the radio and voicing his opinions has:
A) Shown what a farce and irrelevance the honours system is
B) Shown what an out of touch chardonnay socialist BE has become.
From now on, those who accept this dubious honour will now be twice smitten by my contempt; once for being a sycophantic royalist and once for wanting to be in the same club as PH is a member of.
Next year, look for something possibly even less palatable than the knighting of Paul Holmes.
Yes, you guessed it: next year Sir Jerry Mateparae, if he has not been indicted for war crimes, will be waving a sword over the bald head of a nationally loathed sports opinion merchant and mouthing the horrific words: “Arise, Sir Murray.”
Im with you Morrisey, Holmes is a racist! The only people who may not understand this probably fit into his demographic.
I don’t think most of his defenders would actually be so vile as to launch into an extended tirade about “darkies” or rage against MÄori—even in private, let alone on radio or television or in print, as Holmes did as recently as eleven months ago.
What they are doing is pretending that the racist drivel is outweighed by the very public shows of charity he has performed. It’s pretty much the same rationale as employed by the defenders of Sir Jimmy Savile.
I dont know why I comment on BE’s blog at all really, the guy keeps deleting me.
Though given that he thinks it is perfectly OK for a teacher to tell a 14 year old girl that she looks like a slut, I should have known that he would think the sun shines out of PH’s ass.
(Yes, I am back. The things that I thought were going to happen didnt happen the way I expected to happen, and I am not too sure what directions things will take, and it turns out that I have a bit of time to post on “The Standard” — though for how long remains to be seen)
As a grumpy old man myself, I have no problem recognising that Holmes acts and speaks like a racist. Unless this is all an act to increase his audience share (highly doubtful), I am forced to conclude that he is a deeply disturbed old racist who longs for the time when “darkies” knew their place and never got knighted. People I know who have physically made his acquaintance tell me he is even worse than his television and radio personas.
This may or may not have anything to do with your message above Morrissey bit I was intrigued enough to try to find said interview, without any luck so far, However I did find this little gem to read
Indeed National would welcome David Shearer into the Labour Caucus. It will largely nullify the privatisation issue for National. If Shearer is confirmed as the candidate (which is highly likely as Head Office control 3/7 votes) I will not be surprised if some National Party members vote for him tactically â knowing the huge boost it will be to have in the Labour Caucus one of the worldâs leading proponents (his articles have been cited in scores of other research in this area) of legitimising private sector involvement in military operations.
When I first saw Paul Holmes on the box, I was reminded of a rather over weight Australian interviewer (I think on Channel Seven) who was suppose to interview politicians and their ilk
but never dared asked a hard question. Like many of his generation history will ignore them
since they had the misfortune of coming of age in a very easy boring uninteresting time.
What does Labour need to do differently in 2013 to win a Labour Victory on Labour Policies?
It may be a Government supported by the Greens, but it must be a Labour Government that can implement key Labour Policies.
We must have the mandate and power to achieve strong export based, innovation led high wage economic prosperity.
We have to re-engage with the 800,000 who don’t believe political parties are even relevant.
Our new Constitution has given us an opportunity to invigorate our members and supporters. The forthcoming leadership debate roadshow can be a lightening rod to release the mojo of the Real Labour Party.
We need a leadership style that can harness this opportunity for the organisation with passion.
We need a leadership style that can capture the imagination of the population.
We need a leadership style that will convince the majority of Kiwi’s that a fundamental shift away from the conventional wisdom of the past three decades will work.
A leader who can think and respond intelligently/factually on the spot with conviction and vision is the formula which will win an election. Cunliffe ticks all these boxes.
Over the holiday season have had a few interesting chats with mates that cover a wide plethora of our society. One topic was the lack of movement over the years on pay. One mate from air nz over the last 8 years was awarded CPI adjustments at good years, and nothing in other years. Another 2 both worth $10m’s even commented on that the employment contracts and the demise of the unions in retrospect has been a bad thing for nz.
The other point was on our poor senior level managers that with their huge salaries should be better than to improve a coys performance they should be looking at the reduction of wages as a last resort not the only option. http://thestandard.org.nz/time-to-take-back-whats-ours/
Also when talking about the lack of movement of wages there was also a disconcerting comment passed by more than a few in that we were lucky to have a job. This fear of being unemployed is so great to warrant the acceptance of this continuation of nil to low increases, and in a few cases of deterioration of pay rates being asked to do more for the same pay ( which IMO is a pay cut)
Yes the well rounded wealthy folk know that gutting the working classes standard of living risks collapsing the system that benefits everyone. You can’t make money when no one skilled works in your business, pays your rents etc.
However the country isn’t run by the well rounded, it’s run by the greedy and vindictive ruling 1%’ers determined to plunder everything they can get their hands on with little care for future generations.
Oz is benefitting from this approach taking on skilled and hard working kiwis, it’s Muldoon all over again with a better sales pitch and a compliant MSM.
imo, Jack White is the new Clapton; post-modern god with a small “g”
-when i first heard the news of this dreadful quad and alcohol tragedy i could not believe my ears until hearing the story a few times more from other sources (if we worried about other people thought we’d never do things differently).
Closer Still, some body handy has me pegged, deedle leedle leedle lee, sunlight wish-washing liquid (with a drop of natural Lemon Song), Unknown Pleasures to come, free puncture repairs for life;
Strange Brew 8:10-This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord,
9-(it will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers)
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
11-No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying “Know the Lord, because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.
Soooo, movin’ along,
cursum perficio.
verbum sapienti:
quo plus habent,
Post nubilia, Phoebus
Iternum- Na Leatha Geal M’oige, evening falls
Shudder. Just Imagine that Airhead in charge of the US Military. Wouldn’t she ‘just lurve’ all that power. Kinda makes you glad that she was repulsive to the voters too, with the notable exception of the Airhead T Party.
NZ Police Force a law unto themselves? In Pundit David Beatson talks about Drones:-
“New Zealand Police arenât waiting for major aviation safety and personal privacy issues about domestic spy drones to be solved. TV3 reports theyâve already purchased their first unmanned aerial vehicle. So, watch this space ⊔
Why would the police wait, heck the power companies have not bothered to see if the installation of smart meters, complete with communications aerial for sending detailed useage information every 30 minutes. on private property is breaking surveillance/wiretapping laws!
Over the last 24 hours on Twitter, Dotcom has been highlighting reports of the US agencies planting evidence in order to get a warrant to search his property. He refers to reports here,
Details released from US courts in November showed the FBI relied on the existence of 36 illegally copied movies as evidence of willful law-breaking. The FBI told the US courts Megaupload had been told of the illegal files in 2010 and the continued existence was evidence to flagrant criminality.
However, Dotcom’s lawyers said the files were kept at the request of the US government which asked it do nothing to impact on its criminal investigation. They claimed FBI testimony to secure arrest warrants managed to “exclude critical facts” which would have shown the company’s efforts to assist. Instead, they gave a “selective distorted account” and “deliberately misled the court”.
The filing says Megaupload was painted by the FBI as a “brazen scofflaw” and the files were the only linking thread which tied together those described by the FBI as the “Mega Conspiracy”.
Very interesting and very unhealthy.
It suggests that there may be a demarcation issue between Homeland Security and the FBI as both target copyright infringement, presumably for the lucrative asset seizures.
Here’s no transparency because the definition of copyright infringement as a threat to US national security means that these agencies can operate in secret.
It really makes me wonder whether there were any other agencies involved, eg the US NSA which is closeted in with the GCSB in Wellington.
sadly, hearing whispers from both ends of the SE spectrum, one a “councilor” and the other a retired, former longstanding businessman and entrepreneur, that our bay is becoming “buggered” economically, yet, i think it is a great place to live, invest and raise a family; That’s the Gods-Honest Truth, what more could one ask for, sheltered meditative climate and a view to the future? I imagine a “Golden Bay” of the NE. đ
sweetas, it’s only a personal odyssey (and i apologise for any offence implied to anybody, i have to live alongside the moon phases and i get a bit carried away by the Dark side sometimes, yet really i grow in the light, and i do have an ethic of care when and where i can)
The famous and esteemed broadcaster and commentator Brian Edwards is man enough to apologize when caught out. An object lesson to some people around here, methinks….
An object lesson to you, I would have thought, Moz, given you’ve got plenty to apologise for. But, yes, nice touch from Edwards. Lord knows I’d show a lot less grace if I was dealing with idiots quoting quips I made twenty years ago.
Felix, you’re unwisely displaying bitterness in public. That only makes you look bad.
Perhaps you should read over what you’ve written two or three times, and then say to yourself: Do I really want everyone to see THIS? Does it make me look witty, or does it make me look FOOLISH?
Stay cool, my friend, stay cool. It will make your contributions far more readable, and make you seem more intelligent.
You’re so superior when questioned Morrissey and manage to be particularly annoying with your’ my friend’ terms. Can you ever take note of what is said without a large reply – your disagreements swamp the thread?
Take my advice, my man, and think before you send your thoughts out into the stratosphere.
Losing one’s head so abjectly is never an edifying spectacle.
What you need is the Good Writer’s Five-Step Procedure….
1.) Type.
2.) Read.
3.) Re-read.
4.) Think for a minute: is this any good or is it simply bitter spleen-venting which will make me look like a pillock?
5.) Then, if your masterpiece is up to standard, press “Submit Comment”.
Follow the Five Steps, my friend. It will save you a lot of mortification.
Morrissey
Big quaffs of superiority juice as I said before. Try cool water with some lime juice, hydrating cools the body and mind and gives you something to do that’s useful for you and for us.
Lolz Morrissey, I don’t think I’ll be taking advice on how to appear smarter from someone who doesn’t know what a transcript is, doesn’t know what a quote is, and doesn’t know what verified means.
Don’t really think I need advice on staying cool from someone with your propensity for ALLCAPS either, thanks all the same.
The things passing through his mind should not be printed so clearly on his face. “I love you, and want to have your babies”. Yay more insanity from the land of the Paranoid and Insane.
well the preacher rides a mount, But nothing really matters, it’s doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn…
HBT
“We’re just the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”-David Montgomery, Whanganui paediatrician
says ‘poverty and lack of support are two factors that must be dealt with if NZ is to successfully arrest the problem of Child Abuse’.
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned “unregulated capitalism” for contributing to world tension and hotbeds of conflict caused by growing inequality between rich and poor.
Alcohol related illness and injury contribute to a record number of ED attendances during holiday period-Family Violence-traffic accidents-assaults (three fingers of jack on ice)
Boehner reported as saying to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “go f$#K yourself” while Billions of $ Aid for Sandy Shelved by Congress (charming)
I am not a criminologist or organisational sociologist, so I cannot offer a data-driven opinion on the effectiveness of military-syle so-called ‘boot camps” when it comes to rehabilitating juvenile delinquents and youth offenders. They are popular in the US and … Continue reading → ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that MÄori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the MÄori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be âbigger than politics.â True, but the fine words, apologies and âwe hear youâ messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week â as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Governmentâs powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. Iâm talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at RÄtana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
Thereâs been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the childrenâs playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the âbotched mergerâ of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic partyâs primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housingâs ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Ministerâs metaphor of âflooding the marketâ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is Americaâs un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is Americaâs Octavian, the Republicâs youthful undertaker â and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMPâS SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the âilliberalâ prime ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi MÄori rallied against the Crownâs attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hÄ«koi of a generation and the birth of Te PÄti MÄori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Governmentâs move to dilute child poverty targets is a reminder that it is actively choosing to preserve hardship for thousands of households. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israelâs illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinianâs have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinianâs who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israelâs occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Governmentâs disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whÄnau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they canât escape on ...
Te PÄti MÄori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. âThis announcement is just another example of the governmentâs anti-Tiriti, anti-MÄori agenda.â Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. âSeymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
Nationalâs Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now itâs been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didnât declare and said wasnât pre-arranged. ...
Te PÄti MÄori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. âReinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of MÄori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. âThis legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whÄnau out onto the street for no reasonâ said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âTheir solution to the housing ...
âNationalâs campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,â Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
âThere are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,â Jan Tinetti said. ...
âThis government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this governmentâs agenda and the future of our mokopuna,â said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
âTodayâs climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,â Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how theyâre taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. âThe Abuse in Care Inquiryâs report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faithâbased institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Governmentâs online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. âIt is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
TÄnÄ tÄtou katoa, NgÄ mihi te rangi, ngÄ mihi te whenua, ngÄ mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealandâs payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. âThe Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre â Te PokapĆ« WÄina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. âThe research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âRegions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesiaâs Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIndonesia is important to New Zealandâs security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,â says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kĆrero, he kĆrero, he kĆrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of NgÄti Maniapoto, Minister for MÄori Development Tama Potaka says. âMy thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust â NgÄti Maniapoto for bringing their important kĆrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.âI have received Ms Fredricâs resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,â Mr Brown says.âOn behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliamentâs test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. âSection 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are âdangerous changesâ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. âIssues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. âThe level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations Iâve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatƫ rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawkeâs Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. Itâs the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care âWhanaketia â through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,â was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry âWhanaketia â through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. âTax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. âIt includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. âCompetitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. âUnder current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and WhangÄrei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. âFor too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. âIt is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,â Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. âI am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. âASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,â Mr Peters says. âThis will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. âThis $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,â Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. âThis support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealandâs commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. âCabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. âThe previous governmentâs botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. âNew Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. âAttending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,â Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the regionâs fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministersâ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Governmentâs plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. âOn the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.âIncreasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. âNew Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,â Mr Peters says. âWe are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, itâs a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealandâs foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of Melbourne There has never been an opening ceremony quite like it. For the first time in Olympic Games history, the ceremony took place outside a stadium arena. Despite a rainy and miserable Paris ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kÄkÄ shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro â winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 â died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Wattsâ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Governmentâs emissions reduction plan. Now Iâve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayersâ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. âThey didnât explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still havenât. Thereâs no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character sheâd like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. âIf the phone rings, I have to answer it,â Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of PĆneke writer Flora Feltham.In âThe Raw Materialâ, the longest essay in Flora Felthamâs dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. âPounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the bandâs perfect weekend and new release. âGood speakers, good food, good music, no distractionsâ: thatâs all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Prettiesâ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this yearâs showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing â a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our Whatâs Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babuâs humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field â especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the âteal waveâ into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the worldâs most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman â specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Googleâs parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the cityâs eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, itâs predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Ă kerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether youâd have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out whatâs next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because itâs not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te RĆ«nanga Nui o NgÄ Kura Kaupapa MÄori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa MÄori ...
If you havenât started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. Thereâs the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my motherâs furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The governmentâs announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old MÄori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,â Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Booksâ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkinsâ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any MÄori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among MÄori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this weekâs mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its âget tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing â the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the bodyâs immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are youâll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshullâs anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the warâs early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing itâs not is âjust a headacheâ. âMigraineâ comes from the Greek word âhemicraniaâ, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earthâs land area â particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. Youâd barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capitalâs last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the countryâs effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealandâs ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we donât yet know what the legacy of this yearâs games will be, letâs take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in todayâs extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
Weehaa!
It looks like we may have enough signatures to require a referendum on asset sales although I would urge people to keep collecting just in case …
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8141848/Asset-sales-petition-gets-its-numbers
And when I checked the poll on the page ~67% said that they would vote against asset sales.
It’s now 72% đ
Lynn (or someone else on the Bridge) can you please open the “gate”; you know i’m “human” and i’ll stop worrying the flock and be a good dog (lifts paw and tilts head)
-bobbie
Hi Lynn and folks’ my misbehavin around the full moon has led to the activation of the s.bot captcha entry requirement. Could you please alleviate this thorn in my paw and I will endeavour to be more restrained (on leash) Thankyou, i would be grateful.
Grumpy Old Men
Brian Edwards: Paul Holmes “is not and never was a racist”
While most decent people in New Zealand were taken aback, even flabbergasted, to see that a career of race-baiting and assiduous fawning and flattery had earned Paul Holmes a knighthood, there were of course commentators who defended the travesty. Some of those who tried to justify the knighthood were Holmes’s former and current colleagues, who no doubt felt obliged to defend a colleague, no matter how unpleasant he might be, no matter what he might have said and done in the past. We saw the same unedifying line-up of celebrity support after another NewstalkZB host, Tony Veitch, was revealed to have attacked and grievously injured his fiancĂ©e.
Most of those who felt compelled to defend the award made a point of reminding us of Holmes’s “tireless work for charity” and his “generosity”. Hardly any of them was foolish enough to mention the Banquo’s ghost in the room: Holmes’s shameful record of crude race-baiting and hate-mongering, most notoriously against black Africans, but most consistently against MÄori and the poor.
One “liberal” commentator, however, went one step further; Brian Edwards used his blog to write a giddy paean to Holmes. Many readers joined in the expression of adoration for the great man; former New Zealand First staffer Rex Widerstrom rhapsodized on “Paul’s intellect and his humanity”, one Rosina Hauiti raved about his “illustrious career”, and, most contemptibly of all, Labour Party MP Annette King called Holmes “funny warm and compassionate”, and asserted that she “canât understand the vitriol being written.”
It was not all fulsome praise, however. Many readers, including the venerable Standardista “Millsy”, expressed scorn and disbelief at the knighthood. For their sins, they suffered the indignity of having their comments deleted and replaced by a scolding by Edwards himself, were compared to witch-hunters, and were sent to Siberia along with the unspeakable Bomber Bradbury, who is damned by Holmes-booster John Phillips as a “swinish, loathsome, small-minded worm”.
There was one thing that bothered me above all else: Edwards assured a skeptical reader that Holmes âis not and never was a racistâ. This was a step too far, and I just had to remonstrate. I posted up the following comment….
Brian, when you asserted that Paul Holmes âis not and never was a racistâ, I guess you were in the same extremely indulgent frame of mind as when you stated, on radio, that P.J. OâRourke was âdeep down, a very serious personâ and when you lauded the âbrillianceâ of the unfunny New Zealand Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson.
BE: I donât believe I have ever said anything about P.J. OâRourke since I have never read his books and know nothing about him. Perhaps you can let me know when and where I am supposed to have said this. As for Emmerson you seem to be confusing the fact that you personally find him unfunny with whether or not he his cartooning skill can be described as brilliant. Anyway, to test the worth of what you write, perhaps you could supply chapter and verse for my supposed comments on Mr OâRourke. Iâll apologise if Iâm wrong and Iâll expect you to do the same. And god only knows what any of this has to do with my post on Paul Holmes.
Like Millsy, I had a comment deleted as well, but Edwards’s admonition remains….
BE: Your comment, which Iâve deleted, was unworthy even of you. It was vile. I donât want you on this website. And donât worry about the OâRourke quote. I know I couldnât have said it.
This is the comment Edwards deleted….
Have a Happy New Year, you unrecognised oiksâand remember, if you see a deranged old man shouting insults at MÄori family groups over the summer, donât say âFuck off to Queensland you racist scumâ, say âFuck off to Queensland, Sir Paul.â
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2012/12/paul-holmes-starry-starry-knight/#comments
A REQUEST TO ALL RADIO LISTENERS
If you heard Brian Edwards interview P.J. O’Rourke in the late 1990s, could you please write to Brian Edwards and remind him of it. He seems to have very poor recall.
Wow, Mozza makes a statement he can’t back up and then has a cry about how unfair it is to be called on it. Funny old world, eh?
Look carefully, my friend: the one having a cry is the good Dr. Edwards. First the blubbering is in the form of tears of joy, to express his admiration for a notorious racist, then it transmogrifies into tears of anger as he deals to us naysayers and spoilsports.
I can’t provide the day of Edwards’s interview of O’Rourke, but it certainly happened. I might sometimes not get a quote verbatim, and my memory is not always perfect, but I don’t make things up.
Or if I do, as when that I made that Sacha Baron Cohen interview on Letterman segue into a Nazi rally in the last line, I make it quite clear that it’s being done for effect.
Morrissey, if you claim something is a quote, when it is actually just your dodgy recollection and not the actual words, then you are going to get called on it, just as you did with your bigoted rants about Baron Cohen. Don’t use quote marks when it’s not a quotation and you’ll save yourself a lot of bother.
However, it appears BE did interview PJ O’Rourke …
http://collections.soundarchives.co.nz/search.do?id=352200&db=object&page=1&view=detail
Thanks, Te Reo. Not only are you a gentleman, you’re a freaking scholar as well.
You accused Edwards of saying something, he denied it and asked you to verify your claim, and you admit that you can’t.
Then you owe Edwards an apology.
You really are a fool. While you were labouring over those two poorly written sentences, our friend Te Reo Putake had already verified my statement.
Fuck you talk a lot of shite Morrissey. TRP showed that an interview exists.
We’re still waiting for you to establish that your “quote” exists.
My quote is correct. Edwards made a habit after each interview (or, more accurately, each uncritical audience) of making a comment on the departed guest.
He made a particularly cowardly, sneering dismissal of Bill Clinton’s brother Roger, after interviewing him for half an hour one day. Edwards sniggeringly expressed his contempt for Roger Clinton’s southern manners, particularly the way he kept calling Edwards “sir”. Despite having such a distinguished brother, Roger Clinton spoke with a southern accent, so Edwards did not deem him worthy of respect.
With the patrician O’Rourke, on the other hand, Edwards was the picture of servility. And he DID make the ridiculous comment that O’Rourke, who is more flippant and glib than even our own Mike Hosking, was “deep down, a very serious person.” Not that Edwards would remember of course.
Your quote may well be correct, but you haven’t proven it to be so, Moz. I imagine it’s possible that Edwards did say it, or something similar, because the tears of the clown is such a cliche. I can well imagine any interviewer of a comedian finishing up with a banal comment like that.
I guess the reason your claim got the reaction it did from BE is because it was so irrelevant to the discussion about Holmes. It looks like straw clutching desperation and it was an attack on his credibility on his own site. Banning in those circ’s seems perfectly reasonable and an obvious outcome of your approach.
As I mentioned earlier, if you are going to claim things as being fact, you should be prepared to back up your statements. It’s even better if you do the research before making the claim!
By the way, Bill Clinton, like his brother, speaks with a southern accent. I imagine that is due to them both being brought up in the south. D’oh!
All very good points, as always, Te Reo.
And yes, he DID make that comment praising O’Rourke as “deep down, a very serious person.”
Now, if only I can dig up that BASF C-60….
Morrissey, looks like you have attracted the attentions of the *brigade* today, must be your turn again!
I’m sure Felix is preparing some prize winning retort using the same inept tactics as can be seen here yet again today.
It’s always my turn, muzza…
http://www.backtoclassics.com/images/pics/antoniodelpollaiuolo/antoniodelpollaiuolo_martyrdomofstsebastian.jpg
Oh god it’s dumb and dumber.
If you two (or is it just the one, I can never tell…) don’t like getting called out for what you write, then stick to writing things you can verify.
It’s that simple really.
Here’s a question. Why is it a *~*~*~*brigade*~*~*~* when it’s felix and TRP taking the same side on an issue, but not when it’s muzza and Mozza tag-teaming?
Oh, right, because muzza wants to pretend this is all some vast [insert today’s favourite adjective] conspiracy to Suppress The Truth And Expect People To Stand By Their Copypasta, or something.
M&M are a “Legion”. About the same size as a brigade, but with an inclination to read entrails rather than work within the limitations of the fog of war.
McFliper writes….
M&M are a âLegionâ. About the same size as a brigade, but with an inclination to read entrails rather than work within the limitations of the fog of war.
The “fog of war”? Oh yes, that’s the excuse they use for this sort of thing, isn’t it…
http://www.anglonautes.com/hist_us_20_war_viet_my_lai_1968/hist_us_20_war_wiet_pic_mylai_bodies.jpg
And this…
lol
Reading entrails would have more relevance than what you just wrote.
Reading entrails would have more relevance than what you just wrote.
Oh really? How so?
Because sometimes entrails make funny sounds which would be in keeping with my not particularly serious comment. And you can use the hollow carcass as a finger puppet. Whereas you took three words and ran with them into territory neither relevant nor humourous, as is your habit.
I mean, come the fuck on – My Lai from an (admittedly not very good) semantic joke about “brigade” vs “legion”? Fuck sake.
edit: and I’m busy today, so it’s likely I won’t be further engaging in this particular encounter with the Legion of Doolally.
Gidday Te Reo Bukkake,
It seems mate that you are intent on negligently diminishing the meaning and power of certain significant English language words to the status of irrelevance. It also seems that you have made a habit of trolling blogs belittling the opinions, values and beliefs of the writers and commentators (below are a couple of example of your trolling for your fellow Standard readers to see, there are a shit load more for those who might care to look online):
“Thereâs a lot of funny ironies on blogs, and this is one â a commenter on The Standard has accused me of stalking him:
Te Reo PutakeâŠ
27 September 2012 at 3:52 pm
ps, prism, youâre not alone in trying to work out the meaning. Check out my stalker!
Thereâs actually multiple ironies there. âTe Reo Putakeâ, previously âThe Voice of Reasonâ, is one of the most unreasonable voices Iâve seen at The Standard, a union/Labour hack who tries to shut out any voices he doesnât like”
Source: http://yournz.org/tag/te-reo-putake/
(captured 7:10am, AESDT, 4/1/2013)
“Notrotsky Le Sphincter âą 8 months ago â
Hello it’s VoR aka Te Reo Putake ! Labour and union lickspittle and regular felcher at the Stranded.
Over for a troll are you old boy ?”
Source: http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/05/a-crisis-of-leadeship/
(captured 7:12am, AESDT, 4/1/2013)
For the purpose of this exercise we’re going to focus on a comment you made in “open mike” on the 2/1/2013 (# 3.2.3.4) and your grossly irresponsible misuse of the word “RACIST”:
“Help me, Jebus! I love the way the writer canât help launching into a racist tirade against Kiwis, before chiding TS posters for being too sensitive”
Source: http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-02012013/
(captured 7:15am, AESDT, 4/1/2013)
So to start. Who exactly is “Jebus!” and how exactly do you expect his or her help? Now lets take a close look at the words RACIST and race and the meanings that are attributed to both words by the Oxford Dictionary;
Definition of racism
The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races:
theories of racism
prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that oneâs own race is superior
Source: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/racism
(captured 7:16am, AESDT, 4/1/2013)
Definition of race
Each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics:
people of all races, colours, and creeds
[mass noun] the fact or condition of belonging to a racial division or group; the qualities or characteristics associated with this.
a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.
Source: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/race–2
(captured 7:16am, AESDT, 4/1/2013)
We sincerely hope that the above definitions will assist you in using the word RACIST in a more appropriate context. It is of course impossible for us to have launched into a “racist tirade against Kiwi’s” with our commentary on the behavioral patterns of New Zealander’s when confronted with injustice and or that county’s obvious fiscal dependence on Australia
Kiwi’s do not constitute a race, nor do New Zealander’s for that matter, both terms are a reference to nationality only.
When one misuses a word such as ‘Racist” in the way that you clearly have, the power of the word and its significant meaning are greatly diminished.
In future mate, when you feel like a spot of trolling why not pop over to Lauda Finem and attempt to take a crap in our yard, instead of shitting all over the Standards front lawn
IrishBill: what a pointless, self-obsessive, and banal mess of text. I’ve seen automated spam that did a better job of commenting than this. You’re banned for life for what I can only describe as one of the most tragic comments in the history of this blog.
Goodness.
Te Reo, is this true? Are you really a commenter on teh internets?
Oh the scandal.
I thought it would always be my secret shame, felix! But, gosh, if they’re quoting Pete George, the gig is clearly up. Not to mention the deadly blow of featuring some tool on Whaleoil wrongly identifying another commenter as me. The evidence is overwhelming, its a fair cop, guvnor, but society is to blame.
And, it’s really important that nobody should wonder whether the deliberate misspelling of my handle by the not at all homophobic Lauda Finem is in any way racist, because it’s just not, OK?
lol good call Irish. I’m glad this site sets a decent standard when it comes to “hey I wanna fight wit u” low-brains like this.
On the other hand ‘Notrotsky Le Sphincter’ is an awesome name, so maybe it’s all true… Now I’m all confused…
Oh – another whiner like PG.. I left this comment on his post.
Mind you, it does make the rather tedious debate about “rent boy” that I’ve had to read look almost meaningful by comparison. I’m rather expecting the comment to never appear on Lauda Finem?
Lynn, did you receive my call?
Your e-mail? Yep. You are in the hands of cloudflare, who once a moderator manually flags your comment as spam (as you had) will require you to pass a captcha. The result gets placed in auto-moderation.
When it is released by a moderator, you get your commenting freedom back again – at least for the next 30 days which is what I set it to. The system now looks at you as being provisionally human. Basically it does not pay to have a moderator get irritated enough to flag you as spam (and I’m thankful that they seldom do – banning is much less consequential).
Be warned that akismet also looks at manually flagged spam. Unlike cloudflare which only collects stats inside its own network, akismet covers the whole wordpress universe. It is (fortunately) just a little less judgemental.
You should be ok now that a message has made it through.
will there be another “challenge” similar to the captcha (in ad finitum?) or…
You might get one at 30 days. You may not. Eventually if you pass it (I’m HUMAN!) enough and you don’t get flagged again you won’t see it again.
I suspect you won’t see the 30 day one because of previously passed comments. However I have no control over the workings – and it is currently protecting me from ~20k spam comments per week.
Sir! Thank You Sir, That will be all Sir! I’ll be out here on the flank (I don’t really want another “resurrection”, but hay, I’m a rolling stone) đ ( I was reading a physics related article the other day about stones talking, yep, if these stones could talk, sounded like Wild Horses to me).(Which reminds me, I now have a real life stalker / Wind talker I believe, yet, they’re hiding in the bushes; a “real” resurrection it may turn out to be written)
đ
Looks like attention-getting behaviour, trying to stir up readership of their blog by antagonising and slamming TS.
Yep.. How many times have I seen it before. *sigh* Boring..
I usually leave a subtle message that I think that they may be a tad juvenile… I hope I wasn’t too subtle this time đ
lprent your ‘his post’ link goes to their ‘best wishes’ 2013 round up, no sign of your comment. The Standard gets a mention in their list of ‘courageous websites’ but:
“The standard.org (Caveat: Lauda Finem have serious reservations about the authenticity of this blog and its agenda; one of their moderators “IrishBill” [as we suspected he would] altered one of our comments earlier today, that story coming soon)”
omg I just can’t wait to see what happens next. Although, it’s hard to take this ‘team’ too seriously when, on the same page, their first item under ‘predictions for 2013’ is : The fall of the New Zealand National Party government in the November elections.
Wow I just realized something mind-blowing about this whole thing:
Ahahahahahaha their snide little comment about “serious reservations about the authenticity of [The Standard] and its agenda” is seriously the most priceless I-didn’t-want-to-play-with-your-ball-ANYWAY foot-stomping I’ve seen since I quit Livejournal.
the use of “f*#Ktards” sounds familiar discourse; from the same pod?
Congratulation to Paul Holmes for his well deserved recognition in the New Year’s honours.
“higherstandard”?
Now THAT is an inappropriate moniker, if ever there was one.
I saw Edwards blog a couple of days ago. As well as sweeping the racism under the carpet, i couldn’t believe anyone of left wing views would applaud the shift in the MSM, that Holmes was a major part of. instead, Edwards praises it thusly:
The Hollywoodisation of our news, current events and political reportage is not something to celebrate.
He had some cred back in the day, but that shift you mention toward presentation over substance and celebrity over merit has been Edwards’ bread and butter these past few decades.
Perhaps you could make amends for your ill-timed outburst of a few minutes ago, by copying and pasting this message on Edwards’s blog.
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2012/12/paul-holmes-starry-starry-knight/
Thanks for your interest…
Brian Edwards interviewed P.J. OâRourke on Saturday 24 December 1994.
http://collections.soundarchives.co.nz/search.do?id=352200&db=object&page=1&view=detail
Fuck off Morrissey. Take your spam campaign elsewhere.
Despite interviewing him, or more precisely, listening to him deliver an unbroken stream of right wing bromides for half an hour on Christmas Eve 1994, Edwards claims to knew “know nothing about him”. He will have completely forgotten it, of course, but I have not.
It is not my credibility that has been found wanting here, it is Brian Edwards’s. Not only can you not comprehend that, but you appear to have no idea what “spam” means either.
So what? You said you had a quote so let’s see it.
Otherwise you don’t.
You’ve seen the quote, several times now. Edwards said: “That was P.J. O’Rourke. Deep down, I think he’s really a very serious person”.
I’ve seen you say it.
I haven’t seen Edwards say it.
Do you really not know the difference?
I havenât seen Edwards say it.
I did, however. That’s why I posted it up—because he said it, and I believed it was another indication (from as long ago as the mid-1990s) that his judgement can be suspect, to put it politely.
And the reason anyone should believe you without proof is…
Top marks FV for “Fuck off Morrissey”.
Frankly I’m finding Morrissey a helluva lot more palatable than you and a couple of others who increasingly sound like school prefects determined to bully into submission the mouthy junior schooler of their focus……Morrissey. Some dissmissive Beltway tones in there too methinks.
Holmes’ knighthood is a nonesense of course which putting aside vanities serves only to contribute to the bullshit that the vainglorious wahanui of the media, including Edwards for that matter, are not merely “across” the stories which comprise current events, but integrally part of those stories and broadly part of our “one nation” fibre.
Grudging acknowledgment that something might have been said but since you FV don’t personally know about it, ergo it’s bullshit, is so so John Key FV.
All of that said and knighthood or not I remain just a little concerned about “Cheeky darkie…..”. Racist ? I don’t know. Probably qualifies for the ballpark however.
now, if we could just get all that info Lynn has compiled on CC front and centre on peoples laptop breakfast, dinner, train time tables
I didn’t compile it, I mostly quoted it.
“Grudging acknowledgment that something might have been said but since you FV donât personally know about it, ergo itâs bullshit, is so so John Key FV.”
Why do you think Morrissey shouldn’t have to verify his quotes? Everyone else has to.
I verify my quotes, fool. I don’t make things up; the worst you can say is that my transcripts occasionally are not perfectly verbatim. That is of course the basis of dear old Lanthanide’s stated objections to my transcripts—they’re not one hundred per cent accurate. For instance, when transcribing the Hon. Hekia Parata absolutely accurately, more than half of the transcript would consist of “ummmm, ahhhhh, errrrrr”. That might be fine in Lanthanideland, but for the mass of Standard readers, it would be intolerable. (Almost as intolerable as the fact that Parata has not resigned yet.) But that is what happens when you write things down as fast as you can, but don’t use a tape recorder.
Edwards made the mistake of claiming that he had no knowledge of O’Rourke, and could remember nothing. I was correct, Edwards was wrong, as proven by our friend Te Reo Putake. Edwards apologized, but I don’t expect you to show any similar integrity or humility and do the same.
“I verify my quotes”
And yet when asked to do so, you refuse or are unable to. I can verify this statement by linking to examples of you doing this if you like. See the difference?
I haven’t passed comment on Edwards’ memory. It doesn’t interest me that you know there was an interview in 1994 and Edwards forgot about it.
What I’ve commented on is that you have a terrible habit of stating things as if they’re verifiable facts when you can’t verify them, and also that you seem to be too dense to grasp this simple criticism.
Edwards actually did make the comment that P.J. O’Rourke, who was and is one of the most callous and flippant commentators in the United States, was “deep down, a very serious person.” Or maybe he said, “basically, a very serious person.” The precise wording escapes me now, but the meaning was quite clear, and it was yet another example of Edwards’ dodgy (to put it kindly) powers of judgement. I did not make it up. Someone some time no doubt will produce a recording of the interview, and will verify what I have already said.
…you have a terrible habit of stating things as if theyâre verifiable facts when you canât verify them…
Nonsense. When have I ever done that? The worst thing you can say about me is that my transcripts (done as they are, usually, hastily on a piece of paper while I’m doing other things as well) are not absolutely verbatim.
I don’t make things up, but in your increasingly fraught state of mind, you probably are incapable of acknowledging that fact right now.
Compare and contrast:
“âŠyou have a terrible habit of stating things as if theyâre verifiable facts when you canât verify themâŠ
Nonsense. When have I ever done that? ”
“The precise wording escapes me now …”
“I verify my quotes”
Well, no, no you don’t. In the Edwards case, it was me who did your work for you (and thank you for acknowleging that). We still have no evidence that Edwards said what you claim, but he has confirmed that he interviewed O’Rourke. The only way you can verify your quote would be to access the interview, which can be done via the RNZ site. But I’m betting you won’t do that!
You’ve outlined your transcript process and it’s hopeless, Moz. Your transcripts were useless because you made a lot of them up, relying on memory and impression. Clearly, you still do not understand that for a report to be a transcript, it has to be accurate. It is OK to edit out ums and arghs, but not to atrribute things that were not actually said, but were just your recollection.
The “mass of Standard readers” you claim to speak for are intelligent, learned folk who know the difference between opinion and fact. You don’t do them any favours by being so wrong, so often.
Well, no, no you donât. In the Edwards case, it was me who did your work for you (and thank you for acknowleging that). We still have no evidence that Edwards said what you claim, but he has confirmed that he interviewed OâRourke. The only way you can verify your quote would be to access the interview, which can be done via the RNZ site. But Iâm betting you wonât do that!
Somebody will, no doubt. I did not make it up, and you know I didn’t.
Youâve outlined your transcript process and itâs hopeless, Moz. Your transcripts were useless because you made a lot of them up, relying on memory and impression.
Rubbish. Often, following my posting up of a transcript of a radio show, others have posted to congratulate me on capturing the zeitgeist of shows like Jim Mora’s increasingly dire “The Panel”. That’s because I capture the crucial words that are spoken. And a lot of my stuff is actually verbatim, and can be checked against the original—for example, the transcript of that obscene Letterman/Baron Cohen defamation of a Christian peace activist in occupied Hebron. (Except for the seguing into a Nazi rally in the last sentence, but intelligent readers appreciated the political point being made.)
Clearly, you still do not understand that for a report to be a transcript, it has to be accurate. It is OK to edit out ums and arghs, but not to atrribute things that were not actually said, but were just your recollection.
And in many cases, as in transcribing Leighton “Ummmm, ahhhh, errrr” Smith, Larry “Lackwit” Williams or the Honorable Hekia “Ummm, errrr, ahhh” Parata, it’s not “OK to edit out ums and arghs”; they are crucial indicators of those great minds in their full pomp and majesty.
The âmass of Standard readersâ you claim to speak for are intelligent, learned folk who know the difference between opinion and fact. You donât do them any favours by being so wrong, so often.
I’m not wrong, and you know it. All you have done is nit-pick about my methodology and tried to show that I’m a falsifier. That’s arrant nonsense, of course, and regular readers of the Standard know it. And so, of course, do you.
The zeitgeist is not a transcript. You do not post transcripts, you post impressions. You have not provided any evidence that backs up your claim about Edwards, so nobody knows whether it is accurate or not, but the verifiable fact that you don’t even know yourself whether you’ve quoted him accurately kinda suggests you haven’t got it right.
Sorry, Moz, but if you are going to continue to make shit up, you will be called on it. That’s life, cobber.
The zeitgeist is not a transcript. You do not post transcripts, you post impressions.
No, I post transcripts, which are, as many people have attested, pretty accurate. You are correct in that sometimes they are not verbatim, and therefore they are indeed impressions; that is my aim, as you no doubt are aware: to evoke and thereby criticize the glibness, the muddleheadedness, the cynicism of what we are bombarded with daily in the media.
You have not provided any evidence that backs up your claim about Edwards, so nobody knows whether it is accurate or not, but the verifiable fact that you donât even know yourself whether youâve quoted him accurately kinda suggests you havenât got it right.
I’ve got it right. As I have acknowledged, the precise wording needs to be confirmed, but the comment, in all of its vacuity, was made by the good doctor.
Sorry, Moz, but if you are going to continue to make shit up, you will be called on it. Thatâs life, cobber.
If I “make shit up”, then it’s for the purposes of satire or comedy. I did not make this up.
By the way, here, for your delectation, is an example of when I DID “make shit up”, building on the true story of Bernadine Oliver-Kerby taking a pair of scissors to the crotches of every pair of trousers in Justin Marshall’s wardrobe. It comes from the glory days of Google Groups, when everyone seemed to be on Usenet.
It’s called BERNADINE, or “Hell Hath No Fury”.
Enjoy….
http://groups.google.com/group/nz.general/browse_thread/thread/12b9f5fd0ac5230f/69b8343e4c26ad03%3Fq%3D%2522Adam%2BAnother%2522%2369b8343e4c26ad03&ei=iGwTS6eaOpW8Qpmqic0O&sa=t&ct=res&cd=71&source=groups&usg=AFQjCNEEF8TNL9ainY6clBjmJrbJOxiYsw
When have you ever made shit up? I can think of plenty of times. For instance, just the other day in the bus stop you said you had gills and could breathe underwater.
I expect this will be completely lost on you Morrissey, but go ahead and ask me to prove it and I’ll do exactly what you do.
Karol, would you please go to Edward’s blog now,
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2012/12/paul-holmes-starry-starry-knight/
and copy and post up this message for me. I tried to but I have been blocked…
Brian Edwards interviewed P.J. O’Rourke on Saturday 24 December 1994.
http://collections.soundarchives.co.nz/search.do?id=352200&db=object&page=1&view=detail
My turn to piss off Edwards.
My post I wonder how long it will last.
“Do you think that the farcical Knighthood of Hyde, is equal to the farcical Knighthood of Holmes. or maybe the farcical QC’s that the Nats are pulling because in my eyes they are all equally hideous. And so far out of date.
Oh and BE FYI You Interviewed PJ O’Rourke on Saturday 24 December 1994.
http://collections.soundarchives.co.nz/search.do?id=352200&db=object&page=1&view=detail
Wouldn’t want you to get John Key Disease and forget and all that!”
Do you guys post a comment on every blog about every comment you post on any blog?
It’s like you think you’re a story. Bit weird. Quite hubristic. Little embarrassing to read.
Thanks for your support, David.
At one fell swoop the knighting of someone who is famous for getting a job on the telly and the radio and voicing his opinions has:
A) Shown what a farce and irrelevance the honours system is
B) Shown what an out of touch chardonnay socialist BE has become.
From now on, those who accept this dubious honour will now be twice smitten by my contempt; once for being a sycophantic royalist and once for wanting to be in the same club as PH is a member of.
Next year, look for something possibly even less palatable than the knighting of Paul Holmes.
Yes, you guessed it: next year Sir Jerry Mateparae, if he has not been indicted for war crimes, will be waving a sword over the bald head of a nationally loathed sports opinion merchant and mouthing the horrific words: “Arise, Sir Murray.”
Remember, you read it here first.
A former failed national party candidate who under mined fair and balanced journalism just an attention seeking narcissist
BVP – Socialite don’t you mean?
Im with you Morrisey, Holmes is a racist! The only people who may not understand this probably fit into his demographic.
Im with you Morrisey, Holmes is a racist! The only people who may not understand this probably fit into his demographic.
I don’t think most of his defenders would actually be so vile as to launch into an extended tirade about “darkies” or rage against MÄori—even in private, let alone on radio or television or in print, as Holmes did as recently as eleven months ago.
What they are doing is pretending that the racist drivel is outweighed by the very public shows of charity he has performed. It’s pretty much the same rationale as employed by the defenders of Sir Jimmy Savile.
Morrissey 2 5 1
+1
I dont know why I comment on BE’s blog at all really, the guy keeps deleting me.
Though given that he thinks it is perfectly OK for a teacher to tell a 14 year old girl that she looks like a slut, I should have known that he would think the sun shines out of PH’s ass.
(Yes, I am back. The things that I thought were going to happen didnt happen the way I expected to happen, and I am not too sure what directions things will take, and it turns out that I have a bit of time to post on “The Standard” — though for how long remains to be seen)
Excellent millsy (I missed the back-story due to passing penury) yet I enjoy your informed commentary.
Welcome back compadre, always good seeing you hitting it hard đ
As a grumpy old man myself, I have no problem recognising that Holmes acts and speaks like a racist. Unless this is all an act to increase his audience share (highly doubtful), I am forced to conclude that he is a deeply disturbed old racist who longs for the time when “darkies” knew their place and never got knighted. People I know who have physically made his acquaintance tell me he is even worse than his television and radio personas.
If he has the gall to write the kind of thing he did in the Herald last Waitangi weekend, one can have a reasonable guess what he says in private.
This may or may not have anything to do with your message above Morrissey bit I was intrigued enough to try to find said interview, without any luck so far, However I did find this little gem to read
Indeed National would welcome David Shearer into the Labour Caucus. It will largely nullify the privatisation issue for National. If Shearer is confirmed as the candidate (which is highly likely as Head Office control 3/7 votes) I will not be surprised if some National Party members vote for him tactically â knowing the huge boost it will be to have in the Labour Caucus one of the worldâs leading proponents (his articles have been cited in scores of other research in this area) of legitimising private sector involvement in military operations.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2009/05/p_j_orourke_and_give_war_a_chance.html
Brian Edwards must be getting John Key disease, its the memory that goes first.
When I first saw Paul Holmes on the box, I was reminded of a rather over weight Australian interviewer (I think on Channel Seven) who was suppose to interview politicians and their ilk
but never dared asked a hard question. Like many of his generation history will ignore them
since they had the misfortune of coming of age in a very easy boring uninteresting time.
How will Labour win in 2014?
What does Labour need to do differently in 2013 to win a Labour Victory on Labour Policies?
It may be a Government supported by the Greens, but it must be a Labour Government that can implement key Labour Policies.
We must have the mandate and power to achieve strong export based, innovation led high wage economic prosperity.
We have to re-engage with the 800,000 who don’t believe political parties are even relevant.
Our new Constitution has given us an opportunity to invigorate our members and supporters. The forthcoming leadership debate roadshow can be a lightening rod to release the mojo of the Real Labour Party.
We need a leadership style that can harness this opportunity for the organisation with passion.
We need a leadership style that can capture the imagination of the population.
We need a leadership style that will convince the majority of Kiwi’s that a fundamental shift away from the conventional wisdom of the past three decades will work.
We can have prosperity – we just have to get rid of capitalism. Keep that and no matter what we do we will have poverty and ever increasing debt.
panettacake
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/us/politics/debt-deal-fails-to-allay-fears-on-us-global-power.html?ref=americas&_r=0
Hole In The Sky?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/australia-stocks-snap-win-steak-as-miners-fall-2013-01-03?siteid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20marketwatch%2Fmarketpulse%20%28MarketWatch.com%20-%20MarketPulse%29
Austere, or not?
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/03/1395321/international-monetary-fund-admits-it-severely-underestimated-cost-of-austerity/?mobile=nc
A leader who can think and respond intelligently/factually on the spot with conviction and vision is the formula which will win an election. Cunliffe ticks all these boxes.
Over the holiday season have had a few interesting chats with mates that cover a wide plethora of our society. One topic was the lack of movement over the years on pay. One mate from air nz over the last 8 years was awarded CPI adjustments at good years, and nothing in other years. Another 2 both worth $10m’s even commented on that the employment contracts and the demise of the unions in retrospect has been a bad thing for nz.
The other point was on our poor senior level managers that with their huge salaries should be better than to improve a coys performance they should be looking at the reduction of wages as a last resort not the only option.
http://thestandard.org.nz/time-to-take-back-whats-ours/
Also when talking about the lack of movement of wages there was also a disconcerting comment passed by more than a few in that we were lucky to have a job. This fear of being unemployed is so great to warrant the acceptance of this continuation of nil to low increases, and in a few cases of deterioration of pay rates being asked to do more for the same pay ( which IMO is a pay cut)
Yes the well rounded wealthy folk know that gutting the working classes standard of living risks collapsing the system that benefits everyone. You can’t make money when no one skilled works in your business, pays your rents etc.
However the country isn’t run by the well rounded, it’s run by the greedy and vindictive ruling 1%’ers determined to plunder everything they can get their hands on with little care for future generations.
Oz is benefitting from this approach taking on skilled and hard working kiwis, it’s Muldoon all over again with a better sales pitch and a compliant MSM.
And in the US there are celebrations at the record number of women elected to the US congress, 100 out of 535 or 18.9%.
You can’t help but wonder how much more intelligent and civilised that body would be if the percentage was higher …
http://reut.rs/WnXzCy
Sarah Palin agrees
A notable exception Alien. apart from her gender Palin has nothing in common with ordinary women …
Bit like Countess Thatchula then đ
imo, Jack White is the new Clapton; post-modern god with a small “g”
-when i first heard the news of this dreadful quad and alcohol tragedy i could not believe my ears until hearing the story a few times more from other sources (if we worried about other people thought we’d never do things differently).
Closer Still, some body handy has me pegged, deedle leedle leedle lee, sunlight wish-washing liquid (with a drop of natural Lemon Song), Unknown Pleasures to come, free puncture repairs for life;
Strange Brew 8:10-This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord,
9-(it will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers)
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.
11-No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying “Know the Lord, because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.
Soooo, movin’ along,
cursum perficio.
verbum sapienti:
quo plus habent,
Post nubilia, Phoebus
Iternum- Na Leatha Geal M’oige, evening falls
-Watermark (On Your Shore) đ
Covenant ? I thought that was the local brew ..
Please T.Allan do not mention that ghastly woman’s name in my presence.!!
Shudder. Just Imagine that Airhead in charge of the US Military. Wouldn’t she ‘just lurve’ all that power. Kinda makes you glad that she was repulsive to the voters too, with the notable exception of the Airhead T Party.
NZ Police Force a law unto themselves? In Pundit David Beatson talks about Drones:-
“New Zealand Police arenât waiting for major aviation safety and personal privacy issues about domestic spy drones to be solved. TV3 reports theyâve already purchased their first unmanned aerial vehicle. So, watch this space ⊔
http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/look-out-the-drones-are-here-%E2%80%93-and-we%E2%80%99re-not-ready-%E2%80%A6
Yes, I saw that. He’s an old conservative, but Beatson also does solid journalistic investigations and asks some important questions.
Beatson was the only journo to blow apart the tax cut/GST rise move by exposing English as having done no analysis whatsoever on the impact.
English had no answers, beatson showed what a bunch of leemings the MSM are with zero ability or willingness to challenge these clowns.
He probably thought to himself that back in his prime at least they tried to do their jobs.
Why would the police wait, heck the power companies have not bothered to see if the installation of smart meters, complete with communications aerial for sending detailed useage information every 30 minutes. on private property is breaking surveillance/wiretapping laws!
Over the last 24 hours on Twitter, Dotcom has been highlighting reports of the US agencies planting evidence in order to get a warrant to search his property. He refers to reports here,
here, here, and here.
Will the judiciary in the US act swiftly or procrastinate?
Very interesting and very unhealthy.
It suggests that there may be a demarcation issue between Homeland Security and the FBI as both target copyright infringement, presumably for the lucrative asset seizures.
Here’s no transparency because the definition of copyright infringement as a threat to US national security means that these agencies can operate in secret.
It really makes me wonder whether there were any other agencies involved, eg the US NSA which is closeted in with the GCSB in Wellington.
This is how its done ..
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-04/labor-ahead-in-latest-poll/4452446?section=vic
Still two years till the next election in Vic, and compared with Labour in NZ, the ALP tends to be pretty right wing.
sadly, hearing whispers from both ends of the SE spectrum, one a “councilor” and the other a retired, former longstanding businessman and entrepreneur, that our bay is becoming “buggered” economically, yet, i think it is a great place to live, invest and raise a family; That’s the Gods-Honest Truth, what more could one ask for, sheltered meditative climate and a view to the future? I imagine a “Golden Bay” of the NE. đ
RT, whatever you are on, don’t bring any to me ok đ !
sweetas, it’s only a personal odyssey (and i apologise for any offence implied to anybody, i have to live alongside the moon phases and i get a bit carried away by the Dark side sometimes, yet really i grow in the light, and i do have an ethic of care when and where i can)
-Bob
VINDICATION!
The famous and esteemed broadcaster and commentator Brian Edwards is man enough to apologize when caught out. An object lesson to some people around here, methinks….
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/2012/12/paul-holmes-starry-starry-knight/#comment-23897
An object lesson to you, I would have thought, Moz, given you’ve got plenty to apologise for. But, yes, nice touch from Edwards. Lord knows I’d show a lot less grace if I was dealing with idiots quoting quips I made twenty years ago.
Lord knows Iâd show a lot less grace if I was dealing with idiots quoting quips I made twenty years ago.
It was actually just over EIGHTEEN years ago.
Accuracy, my friend, accuracy.
And… DID YOU JUST CALL ME AN “IDIOT“?!!?!?!?!?!?
A call for accuracy from the guy who thinks ‘but I heard it’ is verification for a quote.
Idiot is far too kind.
Felix, you’re unwisely displaying bitterness in public. That only makes you look bad.
Perhaps you should read over what you’ve written two or three times, and then say to yourself: Do I really want everyone to see THIS? Does it make me look witty, or does it make me look FOOLISH?
Stay cool, my friend, stay cool. It will make your contributions far more readable, and make you seem more intelligent.
You’re so superior when questioned Morrissey and manage to be particularly annoying with your’ my friend’ terms. Can you ever take note of what is said without a large reply – your disagreements swamp the thread?
So I engage with my adversaries, and try to keep it civil.
Is that…wrong?
Ha. You think you have “adversaries”, you think you “engage”, and you think the bile you type is “civil”.
Apart from that, nah, you’re not wrong.
Take my advice, my man, and think before you send your thoughts out into the stratosphere.
Losing one’s head so abjectly is never an edifying spectacle.
What you need is the Good Writer’s Five-Step Procedure….
1.) Type.
2.) Read.
3.) Re-read.
4.) Think for a minute: is this any good or is it simply bitter spleen-venting which will make me look like a pillock?
5.) Then, if your masterpiece is up to standard, press “Submit Comment”.
Follow the Five Steps, my friend. It will save you a lot of mortification.
Morrissey
Big quaffs of superiority juice as I said before. Try cool water with some lime juice, hydrating cools the body and mind and gives you something to do that’s useful for you and for us.
Good lord.
Lolz Morrissey, I don’t think I’ll be taking advice on how to appear smarter from someone who doesn’t know what a transcript is, doesn’t know what a quote is, and doesn’t know what verified means.
Don’t really think I need advice on staying cool from someone with your propensity for ALLCAPS either, thanks all the same.
How to be an Establishment Hero in the United States
BE A SNIVELING RAT
Look at the moronic adoration on the face of the grunt accompanying the snitch….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/03/bradley-manning-wikileaks-suspect-adrian-lamo
The things passing through his mind should not be printed so clearly on his face. “I love you, and want to have your babies”. Yay more insanity from the land of the Paranoid and Insane.
Adrian Lamo
Lame Brain
See Morrissey link to guardiancouk
Russia all at sea (well, on the incoming tide)
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/russia-poised-for-largest-naval-exercise-for-decades
well the preacher rides a mount, But nothing really matters, it’s doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn…
HBT
“We’re just the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”-David Montgomery, Whanganui paediatrician
says ‘poverty and lack of support are two factors that must be dealt with if NZ is to successfully arrest the problem of Child Abuse’.
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned “unregulated capitalism” for contributing to world tension and hotbeds of conflict caused by growing inequality between rich and poor.
Alcohol related illness and injury contribute to a record number of ED attendances during holiday period-Family Violence-traffic accidents-assaults (three fingers of jack on ice)
Boehner reported as saying to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid “go f$#K yourself” while Billions of $ Aid for Sandy Shelved by Congress (charming)
-Mighty Mouse ( http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10420795-metamaus )