As a BOT member, collecting school donations are a pain in the arse, so getting rid of them is a great policy, and the extra funding will be appreciated as well.
NZ Herald misses the mark…again.
They have an article on DC tomorrow, I guess they are going to make another attack against Labour…not looking forward to it. What a piece of shit the NZH is.
The fact you equate human slavery with animal husbandry is just a bit wow!
That you don’t get called for it more often, even more so.
Add you think you are on a par with anti slavers and it’s wow, with an added cringe of disbelief.
Tracey has you down pat. It’s a fair cop guvnor.
And the inferiority complex jibe – I hit you with that the other day. Glad something stuck.
The way animals are treated is related to the way people are treated – can you not see that?
We treat animals as commodities to be used by us for our own ends as we used to, and often still do, treat people as commodities to be used by us for our own ends.
However phil is putting himself on a par with those that fought the slave trade… Thank god those folks didnt wait til the threshold dropped to actually do something.
Funny though one of the likely indicators of children suffering abuse is if they are cruel to animals or in other words if a child is cruel to animals (and this is often pets) then that is a danger sign that they may have suffered/be suffering from abuse or neglect.
because projection is not indicative of the level of sentience (or lack thereof) of the thing projected upon.
Look, animal cruelty is bad, m’kay? It’s just not the same level of bad as cruelty against people. Because most species of animals do not have the same level of sentience as people. So yes, a sea sponge is almost certainly morally equivalent to a rock. Cow, not so much. Gorilla or elephant, almost certainly not. Human – certainly not.
“..Because most species of animals do not have the same level of sentience as people..”
that is just an outright lie..
..are you claiming those animals don’t suffer unimaginable horrors..?
..even fish have a central nervous system very similar to humans..f.f.s..!
..and the pigs..the cows..the chickens..
..they also don’t ‘suffer’..eh..?
“..sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as “qualia”).
The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights – because sentience is necessary for the ability to suffer – which is held to entail certain rights..”
..but you just claim there is no ‘sentience’..eh..?
not if it follows “The fact you equate human slavery with animal husbandry is just a bit wow!”.
Slavery and farming are nowhere near moral equivalents.
You’re also putting the cart before the horse: Y being one of several reactions to X does not make X and Y morally equivalent, or even directly related.
“Slavery and farming are nowhere near moral equivalents.”
To any rational person, of course they’re not, and any one who thinks they are is not only fooling themselves, but doing a great disservice to all those who stood firm, opposing the trading of human beings.
“We treat animals as commodities to be used by us for our own ends as we used to, and often still do, treat people as commodities to be used by us for our own ends.”
they are connected – it’s the commodity bit.
You may say that it doesn’t matter much because animals are commodities – I can’t quite remember the term you’ve used in the past – meatwalkers? meatjackets? Something like that anyway. That’s your opinion and I disagree m’kay?
You and allen draw the line under human – I have a wider view of who or what should be treated with respect and humanely. Guess what? It doesn’t diminish my belief in human rights – somehow I can hold both of those ideals in my head at the same time – who’d a thunk it eh.
I believe in human rights too. Hell, I’m also against animal cruelty.
But I believe extending human rights to animals is not just farcical; I believe that when slavery is equated with cattle farming (for example), it belittles and insults those people who stood against and/or were/are real victims of slavery.
Fair enough but for me seeing the connections doesn’t diminish or belittle all of the efforts good people made to ‘end’ slavery or the victims of that foul practice. I also agree that extending human rights to animals is wrong – animals should have animal rights – rights accruing because they deserve them as living entities sharing this spinning rock we live on, rights that protect them from being exploited and commodified by the bigbrained bipeds.
I’m filled with foreboding about that. It probably won’t be a direct hatchet job, too obvious. More likely damn with faint praise and filled with snide remarks.
Herald brings up,= how the minority of schools make “excessive demands and become petulant”.
Sums up the extreme zealots of neo-liberalism, who routinely want us all to cheer that they do it hard, paying school fees on top of top up donations, to their ‘choice’ of schooling.
As if the herd is supposed to be thankful for the herd leader taking command, doing it tough by not being payed enough, paying too much tax, etc. When we all know excessive pay, high burden of taxation on lower to middle incomes, is harming our economy and its efficiency.
Take the housing debate, we’re told that housing is unaffordable. But not why. Something about incomes but thats a distraction. The real way to measure affordability is to measure the time it takes mortgage holders to pay off their house. Given that many now use their homes to support businesses, and even reverse mortgages, its clear that even the medium income earners are being stretched by the current financial regulation straitjacket that squeezes every low to middle earning citizen in order to sustain and perpetuate a, what was the term, neo-liberal zealots in the wealth and standing they have come accustomed to.
They have an article on DC tomorrow, I guess they are going to make another attack against Labour…not looking forward to it. What a piece of shit the NZH is.
It will be interesting to see who does the article – but I am also expecting it will be (at the least) a ‘soft hatchet’ job, possibly along the lines of Michelle Hewitson’s interview of Laila Harre last Saturday.
I’m picking it will be a soft hatchet job with an unflattering photograph.
Completely unlike their love fest with John Key, which has been summed up beautifully by neetflux:
Thanks, I had not caught up with that one. I have very high regard for Frank Macskasy. And he is great at documenting and listing all relevant facts, articles etc – an invaluable source.
This snippet from Tim Murphy’s casual dismisal of the concerns raised jumped out at me . . .
. . . On the signed statement: There seems to be an unusual expectation being aired that inquiry journalism has now become a field in which all documents obtained are made public – a kind of open source investigative process. This, while superficially seductive, cannot always be the case in the pursuit of serious and ongoing journalistic investigations relying on confidences and respecting sourcing and legal sensitivities . . .
. . . what a very stupid thing to say. No one is expecting “all documents” to be made available, only those from which “facts” have been extracted for publication. In meatspace its called “providing references”, on the interwebz its called “DOX or STFU”. Tim Murphy would do well to turn from his current mentor of accountability, John Key, and look towards the example of an actual journalist like Glen Greenwald. Of course, such a suggestion relies on the assumption that Tim Murphy’s view of what constitutes “news” is not synonymous with “entertainment” and/or “propaganda”.
Brilliant Frank. Truly in awe at the detail and the referencing.
I have not had a reply from the Herald so will send my complaint to the Press Council, though much more modest in content.
At least it is very clear to everyone what political colours fly on The Herald’s flag – those of its big business corporate owners. Hard core right wing is The Herald’s politics.
Again, why do we expect anything independent or objective – the rag is owned by big business ffs. The Herald is conflicted to all hell.
As for the actual article I started coming across too many items of shit in it to keep count. Dribbly shit with not an inkling of understanding of the political philosophy driving the policy.
Too right vto – not only the editorial, the ongoing drip, drip, drip by Jared Savage and the introduction of Warren Kydd [ex Nat MP for Hunua, replaced by Judith Collins] but a op ed by that bastion of journalism or should that be jonolism, Mike Hosking http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11287241 and now we have been informed that Rolf Harris groped Maggie Barry about 30 years ago.
This is the kind of self serving pap Labour should be addressing more IMO, might give a hint as to why so many in the lower socio-economic groups don’t bother voting.
In one breath he says they pay $500 mil in tax and in another he says removing depreciation costs landlords $700 mil. So if it’s restored they’ll be paying minus $200 mil in tax.
He also conveniently ignores the taxpayer’s $1.2 billion in accommodation supplements of which I have no doubt more than $500 million goes to pay rent. And that’s not even counting the massive social welfare bill of which a large part also goes in rents. So no, they don’t pay any nett tax… to use a euphemism so favoured by the Nats.
His comments about landlords losing money, keeping rents low rah rah are utter crap. Rents always lag behind property inflation so they can seem low from a new investors perspective but in fact are not low for established investors.
MPs have been given a proposal for a $4000 accomodation increase in wellington. How many have decided to donate their $4000 to the local mission or similar.
Government ministers will get close to the median wage in housing perks after yet another review of expenses.
The Remuneration Authority, which sets MPs’ pay, is proposing increasing a Wellington housing allowance for the Executive by $3500 to $41,000. MPs will get an extra $4000 to take theirs to $28,000.
The median weekly income is $844. Ministers will get $789 a week to put to their housing costs. Some out-of-town MPs, including Energy Minister Simon Bridges, own a Wellington property. They can use the cash to pay the interest on their mortgage.
A backbench MP earns about $150,000 a year, which rises to about $250,000 for ministers.
Public Service Association president Richard Wagstaff said doctors, nurses and hospital clerical staff had received a wage rise of just 0.7 per cent. Other civil servants were fighting for between 1 and 2 per cent raises.
“That’s more than a 10 per cent increase,” he said. “The Government says the economy is growing and working New Zealanders can expect those improvements to flow through to them. On the other side of their mouth, they say to their government departments: ‘You’ve got to cut spending and are not to give out wage rises.’
We need to ask a couple of questions about these housing allowances:
How much does that housing allowance cost the taxpayers per year?
How much would it cost to build a 120 room apartment building?
How much would it cost to maintain said building
Is this ongoing maintenance less than the ongoing costs of the present ministerial housing allowance?
The answer to #4 is fairly obvious – it most definitely would be cheaper to hire a few people full time to look after a single building than it would be to pay each minister tens of thousands of dollars each year. Especially considering that the MPs also get to claim for cleaning. Which brings up the next question:
Why are we paying so much to house our ministers in Wellington?
I believe it to be nothing more than a way to direct taxpayers money out into the private sector to boost profits for the few some of which happen to be MPs. Bill English’s rort comes to mind.
And what specifically is the NZPIF definition of a “low” rent? I’m guessing it is based around the investment being cashflow positive rather than something people can actually afford.
“And what specifically is the NZPIF definition of a “low” rent?”
They work it out on current market values. Since rent increases lag behind housing inflation by a year or two rents will always seem to be low as a percentage return on current value.
The point is these investors didn’t pay current market price for their properties so their returns are (mostly) very good based on their actual investment. Even someone who bought property a year ago is up to 10% better off than what these bozos are claiming.
And in the style of A(n)nals of Online Dating….
…to the investors for trying to induce fear among their tenants of their landlord/overlords being subjected to brutal taxation regime that would in turn be responsible for them becoming homeless.
90 points for total lack of social responsibility
60 points for tactically omitting the fact that at any point you can sell the house that has become a massive tax liability and invest in any number of profitable and less taxed investments
10 points for achieving National coverage.
150 points for feigning powerlessness to prevent further financial exploitation of tenants
So the herald posted some letters from damien oconnor when he was minister of immigration overriding some criteria for Mr Liu. Why didnt Labour pre empt this when the cunliffe letter surfaced? They must have known it was a matter of time so why not come clean.
The herald has waited til now, drip, drip, drip. So, is it really National being smeary? Surely no party can be smeary, from any side without a press that decides to run with it in a certain way.
David bain’s wife being pregnant was the heralds full page story a couple of days ago, with a reference to the diplomat on the top banner. My partner said
“when papers change to the smaller size do they have to go tabloid?”.
So, who is really setting the tone?
I am NOT saying this stuff is not reportable (although i dont consider david bain becoming a father is newsworthy let alone front page). I am saying people can only vote based on what they know, and knowing that damien oconnor and national both are happy to waive rules for the wealthy is important but so is what parties have planned for us.
The herald has done a follow up on diplomatic immunity and revealled a few other instances including one of domestic assault
In melbourne over anzac weekend, the govts proposed changes to the superannuation were full front page, followed by analysis in the following pages.
Where do we go for this, two and a half months before an election? Party sites and affiliates dont help much. Having hooton and williams on radio advances nothing.
And to finish the day i read that the liar in chief is so disappointed about being misinformed cos he tries so hard to be honest to NZers.
Gee Tracy there are a few dedicated staffers who do not have the ability to track down every single piece of paper signed by a Labour MP in the past decade. And outside this there are a few dedicated amateurs doing what they can to help. On the other side there is resources galore and a public service who has been terrified into being compliant to Ministerial instructions. This really is a David vs Goliath battle. And rather than preparing to counter every single smear that may be thrown at the party we would prefer that it gets on with completing and releasing policy.
gee micky, a minister of immigration, damien oconnor, intervened three times in Liu’s PR. Did Labour not do an OIA of this itself, or have its own ministerial records, and did oconnor forget? That you put oconnors actions in the same league as an electorate letter says more about you and nothing about resources.
Yeah DC’s letter was proforma (and we’ve heard the excuses), O’Connor’s was ministerial intervention that everyone knew about, it should be much easier to track, it’s worrying that this wasn’t preempted in any way.
Nope Tracey I did not put O’Connor’s letter in the same league as an electorate letter. I was expressing the thought that I would prefer that the party put effort into getting policy releases right than digging through files which are nearly ten years old.
John Key should be sorry for not being a man. He’s more like a megalomaniac head prefect, who accepts responsibility for nothing. He misrepresented totally what Cunliffe said, and belittled the importance of addressing violence against women. With Goodfellow, and the recent ex-army forceful casanova appointed to run a new government unit, it’s pretty obvious NAct don’t put stopping this violence high on their agenda. To spout such juvenile crap at Cunliffe when he makes an attempt, which reportedly went down well with his audience, is nothing more than disgusting. Vote NAct for the preservation of rape culture.
I can’t believe Cunliffe put is foot in it so badly with that one.
Sorry for being a man?? FFS! Honestly! Not only does this sound awful to any intelligent sensitive thinking person, it gives all the haters a chance, rightly or wrongly, to call Cunliffe something that no leader ever wants to be called: weak.
And of course Jonky comes in with the obvious response that makes him sound sensible.
“The problem isn’t being a man, the problem is if you’re an abusive man, and I think it’s a bit insulting to imply that all men are abusive.”
Key’s comment is note-perfect and tbh this is one of the extremely rare times I actually agree with something that came out of Key’s mouth.
David vs David indeed. Someone slipped something in Cunliffe’s tea? Because this was just about as bad a gaffe as you can get.
Yeah I read the bit about Damien O’Connor too. To be honest I think the article kind of cancels itself out as an effective attack on Labour ‘cash for favours’ with the revelations about ex Nat MP Warren Kyd lobbying for Liu.
It’s pretty hard to insinuate Labour was taking cash from Liu when the person Mr O’Connor was dealing with was an ex National MP, so I’m struggling to see just what point the NZH are trying to make there. What are they trying to imply, that Kyd was in on it too?
@DH: “What are they trying to imply, that Kyd was in on it too?”
Freedom raised the same point yesterday. Kyd was the advocate for Mr Liu. He therefore knew every bit of the transactions. We might easily join the dots between the inside knowledge supplied by Kyd and the mates back at National and the mystery statement as yet unpublished by Jared Savage.
Therefore maybe Jared has been a little, a very little helpful in illuminating the possible origin of this story of Liu. The O’Connor story is just a vehicle?
Thanks Tracey. That link also points to collusion by the police in that they too have been keeping things under the radar. Perhaps if the media actually employed dedicated police and court reporters we might know a little more about these sorts of things.
I havn’t had much time lately for my list keeping activities so any and all tips are welcome. I can’t see the link to that whopper about John Key trying to be honest. Also, would you happen to know the exact lie John Key told about the diplomatic situation? John Key has become even more tricksy lately by prefacing his comments with slippery “outs” like “so far as I am aware” and “as I have been advised” or, his greatest one yet, “within that context, as far as I know, to be honest, based on the information available at that time, to the best of my recollection, so I understand, in the end”.
What did you expect?
The paper has shown its FOX news colours after the Liu donation story.
People starting to see the corporate media for what it is. A shill for the elite.
Boycott this rag and other mainstream propaganda outlets for the 1%.
If you want to see who dictates editorial policy, follow the money. See who owns them.
It’s usually a foreign banking interest.
i understand that paul. I havent paid for a herald in over 8 years. I saw the cover at a supermarket.
I also notice who is reporting the hard news right now, about policy, about mp perks about the diplomat and its not armstrong, young… So there IS heart for such stories…
My main point of posting, is where do the masses turn for critiqued information?
I will dig out news viewing numbers to see how many actually watch tv news.
This from the man who is waiting for others to form a vegan animal rights party rather than do it himself. You must be really conflicted over KFCs hash burger
you know phil, that you think your intial response to me was not an attack simple reinforces my view that sometimes you are blinded by your self righteousness, deigning to drop you version of wisdom into our less than perfect lives. Imagine your surprise when one day you open your eyes and find you are down in the gutter with the rest of us.
Fact check. I am waiting for the threshold to drop
Reality check:when we had fpp you were probably waiting for mmp.
What is required is a joint agency (not that sort of joint, Philip) to deal with animal eaters and vege abusers, when they have sausage, egg, chips and peas.
The food nazis could could drive around in detector vans at meal times with flashing lights and a sign on the side reading ‘caution, may contain nuts’.
Lolz Alien, will put up a link tomorrow which discusses ‘new research on plant intelligence,’
It discusses the beanstalk experiment, one i like coz anyone can do it at home,(without creating mayhem), the version in the link tho should have been taken to its next logical step, which in my opinion definitely shows some form of ‘thought process’ having occurred in the beanstalk…
I always talk to my plants, so perhaps best not test them for intelligence.
Like the hunter in the pig topic the other day, I also take only what I need, thank and pay respects to my food.
Sentient or not, I think it makes them taste a little sweeter, like a frost or two on a parsnip does before harvest.
We are getting into Reductio ad absurdum and dialectical contradictions territory here on “Open phil” today.
In a cold indifferent quantum universe why care about anything perhaps? Let alone animal rights. Meat particles/vegetable particles.
But some people do care, meat is murder, as much as some of our number tilt the duality of human existence–conscious social being slash rutting beast in favour of the latter.
I have been part of the machine (bit like the pinball wizard really) and I have seen the slaughter of some 13 million buttercup squash one warm Gisborne summer. In order to cover our tracks from the vegans, we rebranded as Kabocha and for two years, they had no idea what we were up to. I think the vegans lacked the “Bacon gene” so they werent too smart.
When we finally got sprung, we went back to calling it buttercup squash. And eating bacon.
Mmmmm Bacon, i totally agree, while in taiho mode as far as eating the stuff goes, its more or less a given that when i reach my target weight Bacon’n’egg burgers will once again be on the menu and i was lost in reverie for quite some time yesterday dreaming of a yummy fried rice with bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and, spring onions…
Within the wider context of people that care about those less fortunate can you not see that for some, animals are included within that category – it’s not a joke, it’s not fake – it is real, sincere and imo valid.
That’s very depressing – 3 News stinks!
How much of it is involuntary? Until I got a new TV a few weeks ago, I could get ONLY ONE CHANNEL for nearly a year – yes, the awful TV3. Lucky I can now avoid it as much as possible.
At this stage just before an election Mr Key, loyal and efficient leader and PM, cannot afford another Minister loss. Williamson? Collins? and McCulley? He is trapped and must just hang on regardless.
Actually though, how will it look if in spite of confidence in McCulley, Key asks him to stand down as MP for East Coast Bays? Perception can be ramped up.
Googling for TOR or any encryption software lands you on the NSA grid as an
extremist
Well, this is where the growing paranoia and self serving nature of a massive secret police/surveillance apparatus becomes more and more obvious. Remember we are paying for these Stazi-like activities (x10,000) while people live in the cold and in poverty.
Article mentions one of the benefits of NZ being aligned with Empire.
MORE: Just searching for encryption software like Tor will land you on #NSA's grid, latest report reveals http://t.co/EJXSKtmAVO
Yes, in China, it’s illegal to know about your own country’s history, for example. In Egypt, it’s illegal to provide legal services to those accused of terrorism.
Actually, I tend to view things the other way. No one should be monitored unless they get noticed in a criminal action. Then the police monitor their communications and those they communicate with. And, yes, that will mean that some innocent people will have their meta-data collected.
We can’t just go after one criminal else the rest of them just continue on.
From my wireless this morning, Slippery the Prime Minister quoted thus: ”the person at MFAT who gave the Malaysians conflicting advice had better look for a new job”,
You will be Slippery, after the election in September, looking for a new job that is…
That appears to be the attitude of the Prime minister karol, ‘find’ that someone else other than Him and Murray McCully are responsible for the fiasco and then look around for a suitable scapegoat to hang,
The pair of them, McCully and Slippery the PM would have both been informed of the arrest and charges against the Malaysian diplomat soon after that arrest occurred,
Did either of them publicly disclose this arrest or show an iota of concern for the victim and the ramifications upon that victim which would have ensued by simply sweeping the whole incident as far under the carpet as they could???,
Not likely, swish swish went the brooms and the pair of them quite happily went about their day thinking that ”the problem” was to all extents dead and buried,
It is my opinion, considering the time-frame, how the public eventually became aware of the incident, and, the fact that both McCully and the PM were informed at the earliest opportunity of the incident that they, McCully and the PM, had every intention of having the diplomat spirited out of the country and having the public remain unaware that the incident had taken place…
That appears to be the attitude of the Prime minister karol, ‘find’ that someone else other than Him and Murray McCully are responsible for the fiasco and then look around for a suitable scapegoat to hang,
That’s the attitude of National and right-wingers in general. They will always blame someone else shifting the responsibility from themselves. It seems to be what they mean by personal responsibility – someone else taking the blame for what they’ve done such as the increasing poverty brought about by the neo-liberal paradigm which they put the blame for on the poor themselves. As far as they’re concerned, they can never do anything wrong.
An investigation into the Malaysian diplomat bungle has been hopelessly compromised by the public comments of the Prime Minister John Key, says Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson David Shearer.
“Today Mr Key was quoted as saying that he thought the person responsible would ‘need to think very strongly about whether they are in the right job.’
Mr Key has decided who is to blame and wants action taken to protect himself and Minister McCully. He’s taken on the role of judge, jury and executioner.
McCully has said he will have an investigation. But Key’s words show that this will be just a whitewash because the culprit has already been found, so that no ministerial responsibility will be required.
You don’t blame someone before an investigation unless that investigation is going to be a whitewash.
Yeah Dover Samuels is banging on with the same theme, that the kid got special treatment because of who He is,
That’s absolute rubbish, as has been continuously pointed out, the other kids involved, and, its hardly the crime(s) of the century that they committed, got the exact same treatment,
Any kids with what the judiciary see as ”a bright future’, given the same level of offending, would undoubtedly receive the exact same treatment,
Even a thuggish lout like the 13–14 year old me was, had this privilege extended a number of times in the kiddies court, it is only a pattern of continued offending that sees the courts begin to harden the sanctions against the individual and that is how it should be…
The review and comments on last night’s episodes of Hope and Wire are worth reading. I did think it was good drama, but it’s important to read responses from people in Christchurch – a northern view of the quakes, and doesn’t represent what happened very well at all.
I liked the old socialist geezer, and his partner – she was excellent in pulling up her sleeves and getting on with doing what needed to be done, and helping others.
i loathe docu-drama with an intensity that is almost visceral..
..it is the worst of both worlds..
..and is often lies dressed up as some sort of pretence at truth/accurate-account..
..pure-documentary performs that task much better..
..rather than turning it all into some kind of pap-smeared/heart-string plucking soap-opera..
..preserving/building ‘plucky’-myths..
..i wd rather a small proportion of the eye-watering cost of this be addressed to a doco examining what a clusterfuck the whole govt-response to the earthquake has been..
..since the eartquake in chch..china has used more concrete..than america used in the whole of the 20th century..
..and here..?..with these fucken clowns in charge..?..we still have a demolition-site..people shivering in cold/broken houses..
..and this docu-drama is too soon..
..too many people in chch are still going thru the real-drama..
Criticising something for being in a soap format, without viewing the actual programme, shows a real lack of understanding of the way the soap genre has had a bad press – usually because it is seen as a conventionally feminised format.
Soaps are a subset of the melodrama format. They focus on people and relationships – pretty much something that gets relegated to the under-rated, and subjugated “feminine” sphere.
Would you have prefer a disaster/action format? (usually coded as “masculine”)
Melodrama, while not necessarily presenting the detailed nuances of surface “reality”, operates at a level of reality that focuses on emotional, moral and/or social realities/truths. Soaps and melodramas can be done well or badly. It’s not enough to dismiss something because it is done in a soap format.
Brecht showed how a focus on the detail of surface realities, can misrepresent deeper realities. This is particularly because experiences that happened over days and months are collapsed into a couple of hours of a stage presentation. Showing a riot as it happened, can just show us people breaking windows, and shows nothing of the social, emotional and political context. The rioters can just look like a bunch of thugs.
Brecht preferred dramas that broke the flow of the narrative, to stop people getting sucked into an unreal presentation; eg the use of characters talking directly to the audience. He thought bad acting, and clunky presentations can sometimes be better at generating discussion about the realities the presentation is trying to address.
People are certainly “talking”/writing about how well Hope and Wire has so far represented the experiences of the people of Christchurch, with many talking about how it falls short, and what the experience was actually like.
I was just about to reply to phil but karol has put my basic thoughts into a far more intelligent expression than I could muster
I would add that an audience will receive the format in different ways. So phil, you prefer a doco format, that would be your ideal way of absorbing the info. Others may prefer drama, they may be able to understand and begin to relate to the events through the relationships that play out between the characters. Folks learn and relate in different ways.
I was initially wary of how Hope and Wire would come across. Would it be cringe worthy or sensationalising grief? Would it be a copy of the drama Treme, set in post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans? Would it be lame?
When Gaylene Preston’s name came up as the director in the opening credits I relaxed a little and went into it with an open mind.
I agree that it is a good drama and also liked the characters of Joycie and Len. There is an interesting mix of characters from different backgrounds. Joel Tobeck is good as the landlord with an eye out for an opportunity and a buck to made – he plays the part well. Will be interesting to see how it progresses.
I have always liked Joel Tobeck. He can play so many different types of characters but always retains that element of quirk.
Funny you should mention Shane Carter. I was listening to some old straightjacket fits the other day, followed by Dimmer. I had temporarily forgotten about one of our best guitar icons and was very satisfied upon listening again.
Rosie… have you heard and or seen The Adults? https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAdultsNZ
Got to see them in Wellington a while back and it was astoundingly brilliant noise
here’s a treat with Shayne on bass
more on topic is their wonderful performance with the CSO as well
Yes I have, but until now only knew “Nothing to lose”. That song I put into my new favourites songs list for 2011. I love it. And the band is of course made up of stock from NZ rock royalty.
Anniversary day, from your link, is a beautiful song. I’d have to say though, song discovery of the day would have to be “One Million Ways”.
All those bloody ads diminish a brave program.
I identify with the community of spirit. My 80+ sister and her husband became a rallying point for the houses around them. Fix. Repair. Tea. Reassure. Suggest. And manage scones cooked on a wood burner.
Community spirit lives on, often in the form of people like your sister and her husband.
Only hope their woodburner is under ECAN guidelines – ianmac…
ECAN’s current priority is making sure that no-one is warm who hasn’t upgraded. And they’ll fine you $300 if you can’t explain why your chimney was sending out heat, and you don’t have a permit for the new type of logburner.
Rig up a camera, mount a hose out front and blast the chimney police as they spy on your home with their heat sensing device, farking fascists.
Fining people is so counter-productive, it’s preventing people from getting the cash together to upgrade their burner. Does someone have to freeze to death before common sense prevails…
Had the same thought about fining, when I kept reading about the police fining people for not having carseats.
Thought to myself that if the priority was actually child safety, the best outcome would be that the police continued (if they had to) with the fine, but the fine would only be charged with the provision and fitting of an appropriate childseat, and would just cover the costs of doing so.
People don’t usually choose not to keep their children safe – they are often making hard budget choices. Fining those that could not afford carseats just penalises them for being financially restricted – AND – moves that possibility of child safety just that much further away.
It’s real face palm policy from ECAN. At it’s core is pure mean spiritedness, as if people haven’t suffered enough. It’s not a sensible way to solve an air pollution problem. All you do is create a health problem in it’s place, and resentment.
Why don’t they look at ways to help people install a new regulation log burner instead of punishing them for trying to stay warm? What about offering a zero interest loan that can be added to their rates bill and paid off over a maximum of x amount of years to be agreed upon depending on the landlord or home owners ability to pay?
What about a solution focus instead of a punishment focus?
And what about authorities (eg, EPA) paying as much attention to the industrial and agricultural pollution of our land, waterways and air? If they applied the same amount of zeal as the ECAN air quality monitoring officers do to the chimneys of CHCH then we’d have a much healthier environment.
I saw a report on Al Jazeera News this morning, about the spread of measles among an Ohio Amish community. They are a community that has rejected getting immunised. The report said that, if the large majority of a community is immunised, it tends to create a buffer against measles spreading. But it will spread like wildfire in an unimmunised community.
not just the Amish…a number of medical doctors query mass vaccination for things like measles, which were once a common childhood virus with very little side effects for most children…these doctors dont regard measles as generally a life threat unless in undernourished populations which lack certain vitamins eg A and D….
MMR vaccinations are big business….and make huge profits…the long term side effects are not well studied
I am of one of the generations that experienced measles as one of the common experiences of childhood – a kind of rite of passage. We were never aware that it was a fatal illness – just something unpleasant to be lived through.
Nevertheless, the statistics do show it is now avoidable via vaccination, and that catching measles can lead to death.
who compiled those statistics?…because a lot of kids who have been vaccinated against measles are getting measles… a sure sign that the measles vaccine is not working
….anything can lead to death if you look hard enough…including vaccinations
In case you’re scared of the link:
84 confirmed cases. 76 not immunised at all. 4 only partially immunised.
Now compare those stats with the proportion of the population who are fully immunised.
If you really want to know what life was like for kids before vaccination, fire up your local council web site and have a look at the records for any pre-1900 cemetery. And be shocked at all the records of little kids who would have died from things like polio, measles, smallpox, diphtheria etc.
not so much “science denialism” …. as skepticism of multi billion dollar medical business ‘science’ …which does not examine side effects or long term effects and sweeps adverse reactions under the carpet
when you get doctors and scientists also skeptical about the efficacy of some of these vaccinations then maybe there is problem???!!!!!
You mean like the doctor mentioned in the article?
Wakefield is a disgraced former doctor who had his medical license revoked due to his unethical behavior in publishing a paper asserting that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism, a claim that was contradicted by his own findings and the findings of other studies. His paper, even though discredited, is used widely as evidence of the dangers of vaccines, and the anti-vaccination movement hails Wakefield as a hero to their cause, even today.
Yeah, I think ignoring him is probably good for your health.
there are many doctors/scientists besides Wakefield who question the need for some vaccinations…so no I wasnt referring to Wakefield ..( i was referring to at least two doctors I know personally)
….however you should consider who Wakefield has been discredited by…and whether that organisation has been discredited
More on the specialist gastroenterologist Dr Wakefield and how he was set up by a now ‘disgraced’ journalist working for Murdoch media which was in cahoots with big vaccination business and British Pharma…
“It was a journalist, Brian Deer, who filed charges against Wakefield with the British Medical Council; Deer had been hired to investigate and write reports about Wakefield in the NI newspaper, the Sunday Times by Rupert Murdoch’s son and CEO of NI, James Murdoch; in 2009 James Murdoch had been made a director of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the makers of MMR vaccine; the safety of MMR vaccine came into question when a 1998 study by Wakefield and co-researchers found chronic bowel disease in twelve children described in the paper as having “a history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhoea and abdominal pain…In eight children, the onset of behavioural problems had been linked, either by the parents or by the child’s physician, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination.”
….Deer’s research was assisted by Medico-Legal Investigations, a private eye company whose only source of funding is the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry; judge, Sir Nigel Davis, denied parents whose children Wakefield treated the right to be heard in court about claims against vaccine manufacturers; judge Davis’ brother is an executive board member of Elsevier (publishers of the Lancet which removed Wakefield’s 1998 paper on the discovery of the new bowel disease) and is also on the Board of GSK; the Chairman of the General Medical Council Fitness to Practice Panel who ruled against Wakefield, Dr Kumar, refused to answer questions about his shareholdings in GSK.”……
I see you’re still spreading your lies Chooky – I suspect most people if they are even tempted by the rubbish you spout will go to the link and realise that the sites you link to are fact free zones.
Lies?!…i am increasingly thinking that you are sexist and patronising…I do hope people will check the links and make their own minds up….i am increasingly thinking that you are sexist and patronising…God help your patients…that is if you really are a doctor….because many New Zealand doctors would disagree with you and be appalled at your attitudes!
Actually Chooky well over 99% of Medically qualified doctors would agree with me that vaccination with two doses of MMR vaccine is the best and safest way to protect oneself and society in general against measles.
They would likely also agree with me that you are a complete moron.
The number of those affected stands at 95 – with 11 more people becoming sick since late last week.
Waikato DHB medical officer of health Dr Anita Bell says that about 80 per cent of the people affected as between 10 and 20 years of age. The rest are aged under 10 and are close contacts of a confirmed case.
The outbreak has forced several schools to cancel sports events, discos and other activities.
Can you provide scientific evidence that I caused the outbreak of measles in the Waikato?…do you even know what dispassionate scientific inquiry means?…i doubt it!
Safety aside, vaccines repeatedly failed worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s. As described in “Measles Elimination in Canada”, a 2004 report authored by Canadian government officials and academics, “despite virtually 100% documented one-dose coverage in some regions, large outbreaks of measles involving thousands of cases persisted … Clearly, because of primary vaccine failure, Canada’s one-dose program was insufficient.”
The solution finally arrived at — adding a second dose for children — initially seemed to tame measles outbreaks. But in recent years, the new vaccination regime, too, has been failing, with widespread outbreaks again occurring, including among those who have received the recommended dose and especially among infants too young to be vaccinated, and thus unprotected because their mothers had been vaccinated. Now health experts, scrambling to find solutions, are suggesting numerous reforms, including earlier child vaccinations and second doses for adults.
Clearly, the science is not settled, making for parents a numbers game of the decision to vaccinate their children. Some parents rely on the press or health authorities to interpret the numbers. Others defy the authorities and weigh the risks in the numbers differently, in deciding what’s best for their own families. Who are these others? According to a survey in Pediatrics, unvaccinated children in the U.S. have a mother who is at least 30 years old, who has at least one college degree and whose household has an annual income of at least $75,000. In the absence of studies showing vaccinated children to be healthier than those unvaccinated, the parents in these educated households have determined that the numbers argue against vaccination.
The outbreaks occur due to lack of vaccination you idiot.
The scientific evidence is uncontroversial and conclusive if you vaccinate with two doses of MMR vaccination your are vastly less likely to develop measles if you come into contact with an infectious vector.
“In the absence of studies showing vaccinated children to be healthier than those unvaccinated”
What absence of studies?
Obviously you live in a fact free zone.
Did you miss the disappearance of smallpox, polio, diphtheria, and, until anti-vaccination nutters popped up we were on the verge of getting rid of TB, measles, whooping cough and mumps.
The many children including my mother who had serious side effects from polio, which is unheard of these days.
Like all non-emergency medical treatment, vaccinations should be purely voluntary and require patients to be fully informed before they are asked for their consent.
Re: science. Today it serves corporate greed more than anyone else. So fuck having blind faith in it.
I see the two anti vaccination lunatics are at it again – good on you for trying to talk sense to them McFlock – not sure why you bother as they refuse to listen to the scientific data.
In a population of 4 million, with zero immunisation somehow giving the same population immunity as 84% immunisation, and if your math isn’t complete shit, then yes. But it would suck to be one of those 200 dead.
Oh fuck off KJT, your maths and judgement are both pretty good, but do you want me to start listing all the major mishaps which have occurred around vaccinations, including millions of people in the 50’s and 60’s infected with monkey viruses, or the UK having to pull the measles vaccine in the 1990’s due to many many reports of dangerous fevers in children, the Canadian vaccine factory which was found to not meet safety standards but which all the reports on have been kept secret, or maybe a NZ example where parents of infants were assured that the $200M MeNZ B vaccine would protect their babies but it turned out the immunity only lasted 6 months or less.
On the other hand, chiropractors have been practicing in NZ since post World War 1 and the number of deaths caused by chiropractic care over that time period is probably less than that caused by lightning.
One other fast fact: a healthy person who uses neurofen or voltaren frequently increases their risk of stroke by ~100%.
Not possible FizzyAnus, cheap contemptible creep you more facile than a budget greetings card. Happiness ? How the fuck could that be possible for many, many fold scores of millions in the Good Ole U S of One Percenters and Crooks ? Seven dollars something per hour minimum wage ?
I don’t see that link when I read via RSS.
Just tried that on page g+ to share and it failed too.
Tried with adblock disabled and no luck.
Using Win7 and Chrome browser.
I would have thought that too but I get the same results using the +1 chrome extension and when I use the share on google that you mentioned that is on the page.
I’ve tried 3 different browsers. Looking at old blog posts I see there are no G+ shares.
I also notice that the G+ share is trying to link to the front page of the standard that mentions the story, it uses that text and those pictures on the g+ attempted share and not the text of the picture from the stories page itself.
Ok, further experimentation shows that Google+ won’t share any pictures or the first few lines of the article. In other words, Google+ won’t share anything from The Standard unless you remove the preview.
The only way I can share is to only share link and remove the microdata markups richsnippets.
Someone who had this issue reported that it was WordPress theme’s authorship information conflicted with Google+. Once they removed the relevant section of their theme, it worked again. He had edited something in the footer but didnt say what.
Did some more testing, I wrote a greasemonkey script to show the number of G+ +1 each page has. While the share button stays blank the +1 counter often does have +’s.
I’m still not sure but I don’t think this is satire.
I don’t even know where to start on sharing some of the wisdom that was expressed by our state legislators during this hearing. No, actually I do. I give you the honorable Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard:
As you (Energy & Environment Cabinet official) sit there in your chair with your data, we sit up here in ours with our data and our constituents and stuff behind us. I don’t want to get into the debate about climate change, but I will simply point out that I think in academia we all agree that the temperature on Mars is exactly as it is here. Nobody will dispute that. Yet there are no coal mines on Mars. There are no factories on Mars that I’m aware of.
First of all, I did not make up that quote, it’s quite real.
Wouldn’t it be fair of the Herald to print that this article by Muttonous/Lambus/Hosking/Man is from a contributor who is a vigorous GodKey shill ? Of course. But I can see the Herald’s two fingers vigorously gesturing. The Herald wants to do what it does, it can, and it will. “Democracy Under Attack” (or whatever the exact words were) defines that suppurating smear sheet.
Hosking is disgusting, but we already knew that. My question is why hasn’t Labour got rid of Mallard? He’s one of the best weapons National has. Every time any of the others start gaining some traction, he comes up with something stupid.
Fail to find favour with any clear-thinking individual, I would hope.
Seriously, I seriously want the National goons to GTFO out of my parliament.
And here’s David putting his foot in his mouth and failing yet again to show he is a leader. Everything else he said was great, then he apologises for being a man.
I assume you’re referring to Cunliffe’s openness about the problem of male violence. If he insulted anyone, it was the percentage of men who abuse women and kids. I’m hoping a lot of Kiwi men are going to see the essential truth in what he has said, just as most Australians understood Rudd when he said sorry to the indigenous peoples of Australia.
Look, I get that empathy is not your strong suit, PR, but it doesn’t mean your knackers are going to fall off if you commit yourself to doing the right thing for the majority of Kiwis. And, yes, children and women are the majority. And women have the vote these days, so in electoral terms, it may be a decider, just not in the way you are hoping for.
It was a stupid thing to say because it’s obvious ammunition for the papers and the talkback Taliban, who will use it to rark up and mislead voters that Labour probably needs.
Cunliffe could have made the same point in any number of ways that wouldn’t have provided ready ammunition to the loonies. Now we’ll get another two weeks of pointless shite about feminazis and man hating instead of policy discuss. Another two weeks closer to an election that Labour will almost certainly lose. Along with Mallard’s moa nonsense, it’s just another own goal.
I think it’s time to face the fact that Cunliffe is just not good enough. Unfortunately, there’s nobody else on the left of politics in NZ who is any good either. New Zealand workers deserve better than these useless cretins.
Agree with you Tom Jackson. Apologizing for being a man is not being a man. His following remarks made more sense “man up and stop the bs”. If David had said only that so much the better for his credibility as PM material.
Why, because he expressed a common feeling that many men before him have articulated? Especially in this context:
“I’m sorry to be a man” Shahrukh Khan
Mark Longley, White Ribbon trustee and father of Emily explains, “As a parent that has lost a child, you are always trying to make sense of the tragedy. I donate my time to White Ribbon in the hope that no other family ever has to go through what we have endured.
“White Ribbon is about men taking responsibility. As men, we can change the behaviour of our mates. If just one of her boyfriend’s mates had not remained silent, my daughter Emily could be alive today.
I expect if I search I can find quite a few of you wingnuts paying lip service to such things, but why bother? It’s not like you’d take personal responsibility for past comments anyway.
I’m not sorry to be a man because theres no reason to be sorry, there are certainly a lot of men that need to apoligise but not because of their gender
Hes suggesting that being man means we do bad things well speak for yourself Cunliffe because I don’t do what hes suggesting
Sounds quite similar to suggesting all men are rapists which is a road we don’t want to go down
If you think that lumping all men in with those that hurt their families is a good idea then good on you but there’ll be a lot of men and women out there insulted by this
It’s a problem across all strata of society from MFAT to Titford, trivialised and under-reported; I’m sure you tut-tut and feign outrage when the media presents their cherry-picked examples for you to dwell on, and I’m equally sure that when it comes to the hard yards (like now) you’re down the road with Key and McCully.
Personal responsibility means it’s not my problem.
He could have said I’m proud to be the type of man that doesn’t commit domestic violence, a real man doesn’t harm his family a real man protects and nurtures his family but I’m ashamed of the men that don’t
Something like that but no “Yeah, Nah” Cunliffe has to lump all men in together
He could have said I’m proud to be the type of man that doesn’t commit domestic violence, a real man doesn’t harm his family a real man protects and nurtures his family but I’m ashamed of the men that don’t
He’d be a moron if he did:
headline: “Cunliffe denies beating his wife”.
Ir’s fine to talk about male problems with domestic violence, but a faux apology is risible. There personal apologies and institutional apologies make sense, but apologising on behalf of a gender is incoherent.
The worst thing is that everyone appears to agree that men should do something about domestic violence, but Cunliffe’s idiotic apology has managed to overshadow that.
He could have said I’m proud to be the type of man that doesn’t commit domestic violence, a real man doesn’t harm his family a real man protects and nurtures his family but I’m ashamed of the men that don’t
What man, representing his party, wouldn’t feel a little bit foolish to be addressing a group of women about rape culture?
1) What man with a brain wouldn’t find some way of phrasing it that didn’t undermine the whole point he was trying to make?
2) Because “rape culture” is an airy fairy piece of unempirical 70s nonsense dreamed up in womens’ studies seminar rooms, and promoted by people who are more interested in imposing their crackpot theories on society than in actually doing something about rape or domestic violence. They’re not interested in actual victims, but in promoting their weird, quasi-religious views. It’s the sort of thing that gets airtime in the less rigorous of the social sciences where things like evidence and argument are secondary to righteousness and fervour.
There is a BUNCH of reasons why a man who wishes to be the next leader of the country should not apologise for being a man.
Don’t give people reason to call you “weak”. You may have noticed that people tend to vote for people who are perceived, accurately or no, as a “strong leader”.
You can help how you behave, but you can’t help what you are. So why apologise for it?
It’s just another stereotype. Sure, there are loads of useless unmanly and even horrible men out there. But they are a minority.
40% of domestic violence is committed by women. That’s a minority, but it’s a very large minority. So characterising domestic violence as a “man thing” is misrepresenting the facts. A leader should be in better command of the facts than this.
Blame the behaviour and the culture. Not some statistical grouping of individuals.
Key should apologise for not being a man. A man takes responsibility, a word which seems lacking in the NAct dictionary. But then Key’s government just appointed a sex offender ex-army thing to an important government position, and a bit of spousal abuse is not unknown within the wider party.
Key’s response to Cunliffe’s speech shows that keeping rape culture going is high on the NAct agenda.
Excellent commitment from Labour on proper funding for education, support and prevention around family violence. Makes an interesting contrast to National’s attitude of bashing the Women’s refuge movement and pretending that sexual violence doesn’t happen.
“Labour says it will spend $60 million over four years to halt family and sexual violence if it gets into government.
Leader David Cunliffe is in Auckland today where he will release the party’s policy on reducing family violence.
“On average 35 New Zealanders are killed by a member of their family every year, and one in three women experience intimate partner violence. Last year 20,000 women and children sought the help of Women’s Refuge,” Mr Cunliffe said.
“This is totally unacceptable. It has a devastating physical and emotional impact on the lives of a great many of our women and children. Labour will work towards its elimination.”
Mr Cunliffe will announce a package of measures for immediate action, as well as longer-term solutions.
“We will adopt an action plan to eliminate violence against women and children.We will provide $60 million over four years for family and sexual violence to support front-line services, primary prevention and education,” Mr Cunliffe said.
Labour would reform the justice system to provide “real justice to survivors while upholding the right to be presumed innocent” and review prosecution guidelines and the operation of protection orders.
“As Labour Party leader, I am determined that we address the causes and consequences of family violence but this cannot be achieved in a piecemeal manner or without a unified effort across government agencies and NGOs,” he said.
The action plan would be led from within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. “
During QT questions were asked of National about how come some millions were being spent on high tech surveillance but front-line services were having their services cut. Answers underwhelming.
here is the bit of the quote that scares BM + co the most
“”So the first message to the men out there is: wake up, stand up and man up and stop this bullshit!””
Only you know the amount of times in your own life where your inaction has accommodated violence on others. If you choose to restrict the idea Cunliffe is highlighting only as applying to women and children, you fail to fully understand what it means to man up.
If you read what I said BM, I said “violence on others” I do not restrict my comments on violence to just that violence perpetrated against women and children.
this issue is over your head if your comment reflects what you think this is about.
prime presented his full comment in context followed by keys poor attempt at humour and rugby clubs comment revealled more about key than cunliffe, like some here key doesnt “get” that the culture that allows such levels of domestic and sexual violence is far wider than just those doing the beating and raping.
cunliffe tried to treat the issue with respect. key made a blokey rugby joke.
No election is ever decided on one topic in isolation, but it is fair to say the violence exploding across our society will play a bigger role in this election than any previously seen.
The thing is Tom, despite the MSM believing that NZ is full of brainless stimulus-response automatons, I give kiwis more credit. Many people do still have their own thoughts. In a week or so once the “numpty” is scraped off the top, those people will personally revisit the message underneath and when put against the user-pays ambulance at the bottom of the cliff which is National’s policy, Labour come out of this offering a strong prevention-focused policy which can accommodate the other policies of the left and should quickly yield tangible long term and long overdue results. “Unelectable?” Don’t bet the house on it mate.
I don’t think Davids quite as thick as what’s been shown.
What I think were seeing here is David Cunliffe thinking beyond the election, he knows the chances of the left winning are unbelievably slim so he’s going to spend his time consolidating his position as the labour party members number choice as labour leader.
He knows he won’t win the election so his focus has gone on winning the upcoming leadership challenge.
Is the rest of the Cunliffe quote positive enough for you?
“”So the first message to the men out there is:
wake up, stand up and man up and stop this bullshit!””
[groan] . . . why, Cunliffe, why? First, the issue isn’t all about you and, second, you know exactly what the MSM is going to do with a statement like that. This isn’t the time for self-indulgent public displays of white, middle-class, touchy-feely, male angst . . . this is a time to be proud about being a New Zealander and facing up to the tough issues with resolve, not sorrow. FFS!
(yeah, yeah – I’ll shut up about Labour until after the election but, seriously, get your shit together.)
It is ok, BLiP, and I am fine with Cunliffe’s speech.
If it wasn’t for that line, his speech at the Women’s Refuge symposium and the funding pledge for family violence services would likely not have been reported or gone on the mainstream media.
It would be a good opportunity for Women’s Refuge and similarly aligned bodies to issue press releases to build on the publicity .
Two additional points to that which you raise, BLiP.
Firstly, these Labour policies won’t win Labour any net votes because there are no net votes to be won on the basis of gender issues. This election is all about the economy. Or it should be.
It’s a long standing trend in this country that women prefer to vote National instead of Labour (National Mum and Labour Dad). Will this speech noticeably sway female voters away from National and towards Labour? Doubtful. It may harden already existing support for Labour though.
IIRC NZ women were twice as likely to vote National as Labour in 2011.
Secondly, the policy released to day has a significantly less than zero chance of ‘eliminating violence against women and children’. Engage in positive campaign hyperbole by all means, but that’s all it is.
Our unheard of affluence as consumers, our precarious existence as workers both stem from the same source: inexorable productivity increases. Every year, as technology advances we can make more goods and services with fewer inputs of labour and capital. It used to take dozens of men to unload a ship. Today one man on a computer and another on a crane are faster than 100 longshoremen could ever be. When I started in television, producing a broadcast quality news story required a cameraman, soundman, editor, reporter, producer, and transmission engineer. Today, one person can fulfil all of those functions and generally will get paid less than any one of us used to.
Ever since the invention of agriculture ten thousand years ago, we have learned that from the sweat of our brow we will earn our daily bread. This deep-seated truth is now out of date. Capitalism and technology have in large part solved the problem of supply. We need to solve the problem of demand. The first step is to realize we live in a post scarcity economy, that austerity is not the answer. The second stem is to recognize we need to divorce work from consumption. Otherwise, technological progress will impoverish us rather than enrich us and that would be tragic, ironic, and absurd.
People are waking up to the fact that our present socio-economic system doesn’t work. It leaves many living in poverty while a few live like gods.
This means that we need to change the system but what should we base those changes upon?
Graham Bell continues to run amok on The Panel
Radio NZ National, Tuesday 1 July 2014
Jim Mora, Graham Bell, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Zara Potts
PART ONE OF TWO
Incredibly, this show just keeps on getting worse. The talent pool is clearly down to rock bottom: today was the second time in three weeks that the bellyaching old ex-cop Graham Bell was on. That’s too often; he doesn’t have much interesting to say at the best of times, and he’s getting increasingly irrational in his statements and bullying in his behaviour. If you’ve ever wondered what the moral and intellectual tenor of the police after-hours drinking session might be like, tune in when Bell is on. In the enforced absence of strong personalities like Gordon Campbell or Bomber Bradbury, none of the other Panelists dares to contradict him….
It’s not just worse in terms of quality, but it’s even more callous, more depraved, and more shameless. Today, however, the early part of the pre-show segment (the 15 minutes of light chat from 3:45 p.m., billed by host Jim Mora as “What the WOOOOOORLD’s talking about”) was simply vacuous, as they discoursed in lighthearted fashion about a range of topics….
ZARA POTTS: Now we all know that after-hours access to emails and ever-increasing reach of technology means that we’re all working longer and harder, but China is facing an epidemic of overwork which is leading to employees literally working themselves to death. According to China Radio International, sixteen hundred people in China work themselves to death every day. JIM MORA: Every DAY? DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Sixteen HUNDRED? ZARA POTTS: Sixteen hundred. Which equates to more than six hundred thousand people a year. MORA: I know it’s a big country, but that sounds…. ZARA POTTS: That’s MASSIVE, isn’t it. MORA: That sounds ridiculous.
The light-heartedness continued for the next few topics. A few minutes later, they focused on fashion, in particular the return of the pocket….
MORA: I like pockets, but there was a trend away from pockets, wasn’t there, and for a while you couldn’t buy a shirt with a pocket in it. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I LIKE pockets! MORA: Yep. I like pockets. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I think they’ve been treated quite badly, pockets. GRAHAM BELL: Modern shirts, you’ve got nowhere to put your pens.
….[A long pause, then on to the next topic. They maintain the same light-hearted tone, but this time it’s for something altogether more serious. Like fearful, obedient commissars in Maoist China, these people know the correct stance to take towards an officially designated target]….
MORA: Now, Julian Assange on the catwalk. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET:[highly amused] Yes! MORA: How’s he going to manage this? ZARA POTTS: Well, it hasn’t stopped him, his asylum claim hasn’t stopped him from doing all sorts of things. Even last week he opened rapper MIA’s New York concert with a ten minute Skype chat, so he’s pretty busy. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I thought he couldn’t leave though. ZARA POTTS: He does it all on his computer. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Oh, right. ZARA POTTS: This is Vivienne Westwood’s son Ben, and as part of London Fashion Week, he is going to take the catwalk to Julian Assange in the Ecadorian embassy. GRAHAM BELL:[derisive snort] Ha! DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET:[querulous tone] Howwwww? GRAHAM BELL: Some people will do ANYTHING to get publicity. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha! ZARA POTTS: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, it’s not because he cuts a particularly dashing figure or wears clothes THAT well. The whole thing is a little bit more political than that. Ben Westwood is saying that he wants Julian Assange in his show so that Assange doesn’t slip into obscurity. MORA: There’s not much danger of that though, is there. ZARA POTTS: No. He’s wanting to highlight his plight. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: So he’s going to be modeling the clothes. ZARA POTTS: Yes. GRAHAM BELL: It’ll be the look for the very OILY character. Hm hm hm hm hm. DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Yeowww! GRAHAM BELL: Hm hm hm hm hm. MORA: How do they put a runway into an embassy? It’s basically just a big HOUSE, isn’t it. ZARA POTTS: Maybe they’ve got a big hallway. The collection has been influenced by Clint Eastwood’s Western films and also Assange’s “combat beret look”.
….[General snickering, snorting and guffawing]….
ZARA POTTS: And there is also a garment with Julian Assange’s image printed on it. He he he he he! DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha! GRAHAM BELL: Ho ho ho ho ho! Can’t WAIT! MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha! ZARA POTTS: The soundtrack is from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, so that will be something to, uh, see….
….Mercifully, the time pips sound. Time for the four o’clock news….
END OF PART ONE.
I sent Jim Mora the following message during the show….
What’s so funny about the plight of political dissidents?
Dear Jim,
I was extremely disappointed to hear you and your guests, yet again, making light of the state persecution of Julian Assange.
If The Panel had been on the air thirty years ago, no doubt you would have been guffawing at the plight of another designated enemy, Nelson Mandela.
No there wasn’t. Although, to be fair, I must acknowledge that Jim Mora does reply sometimes, and has even, on a couple of memorable occasions, read my emails out live during the show.
The New Zealand Government talks about the importance of science but ignores the most critical threat to life on earth since the advent of nuclear arms.
Instead, the Prime Minister lulls the thinking Kiwi mind to sleep as he makes anodyne pronouncements on all the things we New Zealanders don’t care about. I often wonder if he isn’t right. What do we actively care about any more?
So beavers are getting themselves resettled in Britain against the wishes of the government there. But in reading that I noticed this passage which relates very well to what the government just did to our forests:
Just as forests in Britain are desperately short of the dead wood that many species need, our rivers are desperately short of the submerged wood on which a wide range of aquatic life depends. The branches that beavers drag into the water provide shelter for fish, amphibians and invertebrates, and food for creatures such as freshwater shrimps, caddis larvae and water hog-lice on which many other species depend for their survival. Their dams help to hold back floods, prevent scouring and erosion and stabilise rivers’ banks and beds. They also filter out the sediments containing faecal bacteria, reducing the risks of contamination and disease.
We’ve been doing a lot of damage to our ecosystem for a long, long time. About time we started to let it regrow.
. . Blogger Martyn Bradbury has won his case against unreasonable search and surveillance against the NZ Police; and subsequent Police attempts to produce evidence in secrecy, in a closed Court. His case highlights a disturbing growing trend in Aotearoa New Zealand for State power to be used against ...
The Committee of Disobedient Women has intercepted an email from Dr Emma Eejut, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Massey University to the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Jan Thomas. Dear Jan, Thank you for your courageous move. I think 10 pages of blether** should tie any of the students game enough to try holding ...
That's the only response to the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation into LGOIMA practices at the Christchurch City Council:My investigation identified serious concerns about the Council’s leadership and culture, and its commitment to openness and transparency. In particular, Council staff raised concerns with me about various methods employed by some ...
NZ First seems to be nakedly trying to enrich itself from public office:A powerful New Zealand First figure helped establish a forestry company that then pushed for money from two key funding streams controlled by a New Zealand First Minister. An RNZ investigation has found Brian Henry, lawyer for Winston ...
Behrouz Boochani is an award winning author and journalist. He is also a refugee, who for the past six years has been detained in Australia's offshore gulag on Manus Island, and in Papua New Guinea. But last night, with the cooperation of the WORD Christchurch festival and Amnesty International, he ...
Different Strokes: If a multicultural immigration policy imposes no obligation on immigrant communities to acknowledge and ultimately embrace their host nation’s most cherished traditions and values, then how is that nation to prevent itself from being reduced to a collection of inward-looking and self-replicating ethnic and cultural enclaves?THE COALITION GOVERNMENT’S ...
Protective Zone: Reading the rules and guidelines released by Massey University, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that its governing body considers the whole concept of free speech a disruptive threat to the orderly imparting of orthodox academic knowledge.IN TRUE ORWELLIAN fashion, Massey University has announced its commitment to ...
Farmers held a hate-march on Parliament today, complete with MAGA hats, gun-nut signs, and gendered insults. While supposedly about a grab-bag of issues - including, weirdly, mental health - it was clear that the protest was about one thing, and one thing only: climate change. And specifically, forestry "destroying" rural ...
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security released their annual report today, and I've been busy reading through it. In amongst the usual review of what they've been doing all year, there's a few interesting bits. For example, a discussion on "agency retention and disposal of information", which points out that ...
Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.[1] Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to ...
by Deirdre O’Neill Under Thatcher and then Blair and continuing up until our contemporary moment, the working class has seen its culture slowly and progressively destroyed. The change from an industrial society to a service society produced a marked shift in focus from the working class as the backbone of ...
Since 2013, the Australian government has detained refugees without trial in Pacific gulags, where they are abused, tortured, and driven to suicide. The policy is not just an abuse of human rights and possible crime against humanity; it has also had a corrosive effect on the states Australia uses as ...
It seems fair to say that we currently live in a problematic political moment in world history. Democracies are in decline and dictatorships are on the rise. Primordial, sectarian and post-modern divisions have re-emerged, are on the rise or have been accentuated by political evolutions of the moment such as ...
Last month, Greenpeace head Russel Norman surrendered his speaking slot at an EPA conference to student climate activist Sorcha Carr, who told the EPA exactly what she thought of them. It was a bold move, which confronted both regulators and polluters (or, as the EPA calls them, "stakeholders") with the ...
The core principle supposedly underlying New Zealand's electoral finance regime is transparency: parties can accept large donations from rich people wanting to buy policy, but only if they tell the public they've been bought. Most parties abide by this, so we know that TOP was wholly-owned by Gareth Morgan, and ...
Today is a Member's Day, probably the second-to-last one of the year, and its a big one, with the Third Reading of David Seymour's End of Life Choice Bill. last Member's Day it was reported back from committee, after MPs voted narrowly to make it subject to a (rules TBA) ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThe growth of the human population over the last 70 ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...
by Don Franks In 1957, E M Forster wrote, of his greatest work: “The India described in ‘A Passage to India’ no longer exists either politically or socially. Change had begun even at the time the book was published ( 1924) and during the following quarter of a century it ...
The Referendums Framework Bill was due back from select committee today. But there's no report on it. Instead, the bill has been bounced back to the House under Standing order 29593) because the Committee didn't bother to produce one. They probably tried. But given the membership of the committee (which ...
Two years into New Zealand’s Labour-led government, the long-delayed Zero Carbon Bill became law on 7 November. Passed essentially unanimously, the lengthy public debates and political manoeuvring faded away until the final passage was even anticlimactic: Flipping through the @nzstuff@DomPost I was starting to wonder if I’d dreamt ...
Now the Zero Carbon Bill is law, what's next? Obviously, the ETS changes currently before select committee are going to be the next battleground. But we're also going to get a good idea of where we're going, and if the progress the Zero Carbon Act promises is good enough, during ...
Grant PearceThe effects of the current Australian bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland (and also again in California) are devastating and far-reaching. To date, the fires have resulted in several lives being lost and many homes and properties destroyed. Here in New Zealand, the impacts have been only ...
A passing comment in a post the other day about the labour force participation rates of older people prompted me to pull down the fuller data and see what we could see about various participation rates over the decades since the HLFS began in 1986. As it happens, the ...
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...
"I saw a newspaper picture,From the political campaignA woman was kissing a child,Who was obviously in pain.She spills with compassion,As that young child'sFace in her hands she gripsCan you imagine all that greed and avariceComing down on that child's lips?" ...
Dr Matt Boyd, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick WilsonThe Global Health Security Index which considers pandemic threats has just been published. Unfortunately, NZ scores approximately half marks (54/100), coming in 35th in the world rankings – far behind Australia. This poor result suggests that the NZ Government needs to ...
The Zero Carbon Act is inadequate, with a weak methane target designed to give farmers a free ride. But it turns out it could have been worse: Climate Change Minister James Shaw was so desperate to get National on board, he wanted to gut that target, and leave it in ...
The Herald reprints an Australian story on a couple of tragic deaths in Bali from drinking cocktails that had methanol in them. The story argues that methanol is likely the result of home distillation. But what the young tourists were experiencing was far from a hangover. They’d consumed a toxic cocktail ...
Last month, the police announced a trial of specialist roaming armed units, which would drive round (poor, brown) areas in armoured SUVs, armed to the teeth. When they announced the trial, they told us it was about having armed police "ready to attend major incidents at any time if needed". ...
Spain went to the polls today in the second elections this year, after the Socialists (who had come to power in a confidence vote, then gone to the polls in April) rejected the offer of a coalition with the left-wing PoDemos, and instead decided to gamble n a better outcome ...
A couple of days ago I attended (and spoke at) the University of Waikato’s “LearnFest” event. There were lots of talks and sessions on very diverse aspects of teaching, mostly at tertiary level. One was by Myra Williamson from Te Piringa Faculty of Law here at Waikato, on Contract Cheating ...
There will be a transit of Mercury – the planet Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun – taking place at sunrise in New Zealand on Tuesday, 12th November. It was by observing such an event 250 years ago that James Cook and his scientist colleagues were able ...
Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ...
National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Feeding The Flames: It is simply not enough to demand an end to “corruption”, or “inequality”, or the overbearing influence of the authorities in Beijing. These are just “lowest common denominator” demands: the sort of slogans that pull people onto the streets. They are not a plan.WHERE’S THE PLAN? Across ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and unemployment has risen to 4.2%. There are 115,000 unemployed - 11,000 fewer than when Labour took office. In that time the minimum wage has gone up by $2 an hour, which shows that the right's fears about increases causing unemployment are simply ...
The Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee has called for submissions on Andrew Little's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill. Normally I encourage participation in the democratic process. I am not doing so in this case. Instead, I encourage all of you to boycott this submissions process, and to post ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf tiny concentrations of carbon dioxide can hold enough heat ...
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and within it, one of the fastest sources is elite travel: billionaires flitting around the world in their private jets, spewing excessive pollution into the atmosphere just so they can avoid mixing with us dirty peasants. But in ...
That's what we face if we don't stop climate change, according to a warning from 11,000 scientists:The world’s people face “untold suffering due to the climate crisis” unless there are major transformations to global society, according to a stark warning from more than 11,000 scientists. “We declare clearly and unequivocally ...
by Phil Duncan Here’s just a few of the kind of threats issued day in and day out against gender-critical women – feminists, marxists, etc – overwhelmingly by MEN (albeit men identifying as women). “Kill all Terfs”. “Shoot a Terf today”. “All terfs deserve to be shot in the head”. ...
This is the third of the synopses of parts of the opening chapter of John Smith’s Imperialism in the 21st Century (New York, Monthly Review Press, 2016). The synopsis and commentary below is written by Phil Duncan. Unlike the humble cup of coffee and t-shirt that we looked at in ...
Tom MooreTraditionally a food source and cutting tool, freshwater mussels/kākahi are now widely valued as water filters that help clean our waterbodies and maintain ecosystem health throughout Aotearoa. The improvement they provide in water quality can make it easier for other animals to live in streams and rivers, as ...
And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…Installation complete: this was nothing ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is back in the House today for its second reading. While this isn't the final stage, its still effectively D-Day for the bill. Because today, at around 5pm, is when we're going to find out if it has a majority, whether National will support it or ...
Winston Peters is in court today, suing a bunch of former Minister and civil servants over their pre-election leak of his superannuation repayment. He's characterised the leak as malicious, and said that it is repugnant that his information was passed on to Ministers to use for political advantage. And he's ...
Murray CoxDo I have to finish my favourite genome? That’s an often-asked question. Geneticists generally strive to produce high-quality genomes that sequence every last gene, making full use of the state-of-the-art technologies coming on stream. Sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks – called ...
Transformative Politics: The idea is to turn each recipient into an unwitting accomplice in their own transformation. From interested observer to hyped-up activist, sharing our messages promiscuously with ‘friends’. You’ll be part of an ever-expanding circulatory system, Jennifer, for the ideas that will win us the election.”JENNIFER SKITTERED her chair ...
The boycott is a fundamental tool of protest. By choosing who we buy from, we can send a message, and hopefully change corporate behaviour. Historically, boycotts have been effective, for example over apartheid in South Africa and Israel, in forcing divestment from Myanmar, and in ending bus segregation in the ...
Jan Rivers spoke at the Abortion Legislation Select Committee in favour of the bill, but in opposition to calls from other submitters to exchange the word ‘woman’ for ‘person’ throughout the bill. Jan is a supporter of the feminist group Speak Up For Women and has recently written an excellent ...
I checked my traffic stats:I was intrigued by 'monica29' - who was this very dedicated individual? I clicked on the link, to be greeted with ...Ho, hum.Spreadin' the word, spreadin' the word. Doesn't matter who hears it, as long as it gets out there. ...
There have been three polls since the election was announced, and I will shamelessly steal YouGov / UK Polling Report's Anthony Wells' summary of them:Survation – CON 34%, LAB 26%, LDEM 19%, BREX 12%, GRN 1% Ipsos MORI – CON 41%, LAB 24%, LDEM 20%, BREX 7%, GRN 3% YouGov ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Justice New Zealand First is proud that a key Coalition Agreement commitment which will provide for a more transparent and effective criminal justice system has been realised. Legislation to establish the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body focused on identifying and responding to possible miscarriages of ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters met with Korea Racing Authority Chairperson Nak Soon Kim in Seoul today to discuss closer cooperation between the New Zealand and Korean horse racing industries. As part of the visit to the Seoul Racecourse, Mr Peters witnessed ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10 million to establish Otago as the centre of New Zealand’s creative digital industry over the next ten years, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “The initiative will bring us closer to the vision of ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)’s skills and employment programme will help young Otago people into long-term forestry careers, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Te Ara Mahi will invest $63,000 in the 2020 school year to support eight 17 and 18 ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will support local plans to revitalise and stimulate economic development opportunities in Otago, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The four Regional Economic Development Ministers have approved an in-principle investment of $19.9 million towards the region’s ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is pleased to have received the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) report on the Coalition Government’s Mycoplasma bovis eradication efforts, which shows significant progress in the fight against the disease. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, says the report’s findings ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon David Parker, Minister for Trade and Export Growth The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing to support economic growth opportunities for Otago’s engineering and manufacturing sectors, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Trade and Export Minister David Parker announced today. Almost $20 million ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his South Korean counterpart, Kang Kyung-wha, discussed in Seoul today opportunities to work more closely in the Pacific and the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Mr Peters and Minister Kang confirmed New Zealand and the ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta, Minister for Māori Development The three marae in the historic Parihaka Pa complex in Taranaki have been upgraded to high speed broadband with the support of the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF), Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Connecting the ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence Minister of Defence Ron Mark will today launch the Advancing Pacific Partnerships 2019 Defence Assessment during a speech at Te Papa. The Assessment outlines how Defence will partner with our Pacific Island neighbours and invest in Pacific regional security architecture. The Plan aligns with the Coalition ...
A new Provincial Growth Fund investment could create about 80 new jobs in Gisborne over the next two years, turning a local small business into a “beacon of employment” in the process. Regional Economic Development Parliamentary Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau said the PGF’s Te Ara Mahi funding stream would provide $1.6m ...
The Government is asking the food industry to step up work to tackle obesity including reducing sugar, fat and salt in their products, better information for consumers, and tighter restrictions on advertising to children. Health Minister David Clark and Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor have responded to a ...
ew, modern emergency department and outpatient facilities at Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital mean better emergency care for the growing tourist mecca’s visitors and locals, says Health Minister David Clark. Today Dr Clark officially opened the hospital’s redeveloped Emergency Department and Outpatient facilities. The new facilities include: • An extended Emergency Department ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter says today’s release of sexual and reproductive health data reinforces the significance of the Government’s commitment to providing free or very low-cost contraception. The Ministry of Health today published statistics from the Ministry of Health’s 2014/15 Health Survey. “It is important people can make ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that at the request of the Samoan Government, New Zealand will be providing further support to Samoa as it faces a worsening measles outbreak. “In response to a request from the people of Samoa, New Zealand is providing 3000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) ...
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...
Third Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting 14 November 2019 Joint Statement 1. Defence Ministers Ron Mark and Dr Ng Eng Hen today conducted their third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore. 2. Building on the Enhanced Partnership signed between both countries in May this year, this annual meeting ...
A Bill to improve the court system’s response to sexual violence has passed its first reading in Parliament today. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill will reduce the trauma sexual violence complainants experience in court, while maintaining defendants’ fundamental rights and making sure the trial process ...
Streamlined payment practices are a step closer for Kiwi businesses with the formal launch of New Zealand’s e-Invoicing framework. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the government has now established the structure to enable automated and direct data exchange between the accounting systems of buyers and sellers. “The move to ...
Another 51 quarantine officers and four new biosecurity detector dog teams will help protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases this summer, says Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “The Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity system and support our valuable primary sector “New Zealand’s flora, fauna ...
A new report has found New Zealand’s space sector contributed $1.69 billion to the economy in the last financial year and employs 12,000 people, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. The report by Deloitte was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and shows New Zealand ...
Judge Coral Shaw has been appointed as the new Chair of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. "Judge Shaw, who is currently one of the inquiry commissioners, is extremely well qualified for the ...
The Government has confirmed its third major mental health facility upgrade since the Budget, this time at Palmerston North Hospital. The Prime Minister and Health Minister today visited MidCentral DHB to announce that $30 million has been allocated to upgrade its acute mental health facility. It follows earlier announcements in ...
The roll out of the National Bowel Screening Programme has reached the halfway mark, with 10 out of 20 District Health Boards now part of the programme. MidCentral DHB, which covers Palmerston North, Manawatu and surrounding districts, this week became the latest to DHB to offer free bowel screening to ...
The Government welcomes PHARMAC’s decision to fund a vaccine to protect young people from meningococcal disease from 1 December this year. “Meningococcal disease is a serious threat which people at higher risk should be protected from,” says Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter. “The combined pharmaceutical budget was increased by ...
Groups involved with innovative fisheries research projects are encouraged to apply for government support in the latest funding round from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures programme. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the SFF Futures funding is designed to be flexible enough to support small or large projects across a ...
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system. Earlier this year Immigration ...
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019. “There has ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Washington DC today to attend a ministerial meeting focused on defeating ISIS, and to continue pursuing New Zealand’s trade opportunities. Mr Peters will participate in a meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers from key countries contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. ...
The recently crowned Bird of the Year, the hoiho/yellow eyed penguin, is getting a much needed helping hand alongside more than 168 other community conservation projects announced Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage today. 168 community conservation projects throughout New Zealand are benefiting from $8 million in government grants, including $500,000 ...
Controls on assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms are to be broadened to include some types of pistols, under changes to a bill currently making its way through Parliament. Police Minister Stuart Nash has tabled a Supplementary Order Paper to the Arms Legislation Bill, which is currently before a Select Committee ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark will travel to Singapore today to conduct a counterpart visit and to co-chair the third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen. “Singapore is one of our most important defence partners in the region, and our ...
Nelson’s Salisbury School is to be rebuilt, creating a modern and suitable learning environment for students at the residential special school, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The school for girls aged 8-15, in Richmond, was earmarked for closure by National until the process ...
The panel undertaking a comprehensive review of the Resource Management Act has identified the main issues to be addressed and options for reform and is calling for feedback to inform its final report. In July the Government announced the comprehensive review of the resource management system, including the RMA - ...
An important safety valve has been added to New Zealand’s criminal justice system with the third reading of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill today. The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “We’ve seen how our justice system can very occasionally get things spectacularly wrong, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters welcomes the tabling of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) 2019 Annual Report in Parliament today. He says the 2019 Annual Report marks the point when New Zealand’s racing industry’s decline was arrested and a turnaround started. RITA’s 2019 Annual Report recorded an industry net profit ...
The New Zealand Government is today sending 21 firefighters to help fight the ongoing catastrophic Australian bushfires. “The fires in Australia are in some of the toughest, most challenging conditions ever,” says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “As of yesterday morning, there were 100 active bushfire-related incidents across Queensland and ...
More frontline support for schools through a new education agency, as part of a redesigned Ministry of Education More support for principals and school boards including through a new centre of leadership and local leadership advisor roles New independent disputes panels for parents and students Management of school property ...
The Government’s reform of the Tomorrow’s Schools system is a watershed moment in education and an opportunity to create meaningful change for ākonga Māori and their whānau, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis said today. “Last year through Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation, Māori teachers, parents, ākonga, whānau, hapū and iwi ...
Infrastructure Minister is welcoming the first of many updated project pipelines from the newly established New Zealand Infrastructure Commission today. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission, Te Waihanga, has released an expanded pipeline of major capital projects – another crucial step towards delivering better infrastructure outcomes. “The first iteration of the ...
Tougher gun laws designed to improve public safety through firearms prohibition orders are proposed in a new document released for public input. Police Minister Stuart Nash says firearms prohibition orders (FPOs) would give new powers to Police to ensure high-risk individuals come nowhere near firearms. “We have already prohibited the ...
Andy Coupe has been confirmed as TVNZ’s new Board Chair. “Mr Coupe has strong commercial and capital markets experience and TVNZ has benefited from his technical knowledge of business and finance, as well as his extensive governance experience,” the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Kris Faafoi said. Andy ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today officially opened a separated pathway, following the completion of the Kaiwharawhara Stream bridge, which will improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians along Hutt Road. The $6.8m Hutt Road project provides a separated path for cycling and pedestrians, the replacement of informal parking ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of career diplomat Si’alei van Toor as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to Russia. “I’m pleased to appoint Ms van Toor to this position. She brings a wealth of experience to the role having previously served as Senior Trade Adviser to the ...
The Treasury’s 2019 Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) will be released on Wednesday December 11, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Coalition Government will publish the 2020 Budget Policy Statement at the same time, outlining the priorities for Budget 2020. Further details on arrangements for the release will ...
A new initiative to better support small businesses through hands-on mentoring and advice has been launched by the Minister for Small Business. The first event in the Kiwi Business Boost series of regional workshops and online tools has been launched in Wairoa by Stuart Nash. “The Business Boost initiative combines ...
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The passing of the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill will help ensure a safe planet for our kids and grandkids, the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw said today. The landmark legislation which provides a framework to support New Zealanders to prepare for, and adapt to, the effects ...
The review of Oranga Tamariki practice around the planned uplift of a Hastings baby in May shows significant failings by the Ministry and that the planned and funded changes to shift from a child crisis service to a proper care and protection service need to be accelerated, Children’s Minister Tracey ...
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Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced the appointment of Bede Corry as New Zealand’s next High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. “The appointment of a senior diplomat to this important role underlines the significance New Zealand places on our relationship with the United Kingdom,” said Mr Peters. “The United ...
As a follow-up to our post about police station office hours for the public and in the cause of balance, we bring positive news – or rather, we are passing on the positive news which the police delivered in a press statement, It’s all about the productivity gains achieved – it ...
Books editor Catherine Woulfe follows Wellington author Lawrence Patchett into his extraordinary story of heat and humanity and history repeating. The Burning River begins like the best kind of yarn. “Someone had been there. Someone strange. In the centre of his camp, a new circle of sooted rocks. A campfire, with ...
SPECIAL REPORT: By Philip Cass in BrisbaneMelanesian Media Freedom Forum – Day two –The second day of the Melanesian Media Freedom Forum began with praise for the work of young Pacific journalists by Professor David Robie and ended with a warning that threats to journalism in the ...
In this special episode of The Real Pod, brought to you by Nando’s, we chat to the champions of My Restaurant Rules NZ 2019.In the afterglow of Rustic Kitchen’s historic win on My Restaurant Rules NZ, Duncan and Alex got on the blower with Tyson and Denise. Then we forgot ...
Hannah Kronast attends a women’s empowerment panel focused on the huge disparities in training and employment within science and technology. In the far back left-hand corner of a women’s equality and empowerment event, a male stuck up his hand. “What can men do to help?” he asked.It was at a panel ...
Our recent Spinoff Art survey provided a snapshot on gender equality in the local art scene, but it wasn’t the full story. Anna Knox continues the conversation by asking some gallery owners and directors for their responses to our findings.The Spinoff’s survey of gender bias in visual arts found that ...
Based on their study of trans wellbeing Aotearoa, the research team at Counting Ourselves find six data points that highlight the strength of our trans and non-binary community.Last month the first comprehensive national survey on transgender health and wellbeing in Aotearoa was published by the academics and researchers at Counting ...
The SpinoffBy Dr Jaimie Veale, Jack Byrne and Ahi Wi-Hongi
Ten thousand years ago, roasted hares and figs were flat-layed on Levantine flax leaves. Now, we drape prosciutto over strawberries on computer desks. Josie Adams mourns the death of the platter.Three days ago I stumbled on an accidental recreation of a 1950s platter: a giant ham, a cake that was ...
India’s decision not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership promoted by China is politically significant. But its impact on trade and prosperity is more nuanced, as Bloomberg explains.It avoids some market opening on both sides (India to agriculture; others to services) that would have been economically beneficial. But ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra [embedded content]University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Geoff Crisp discusses the the week in politics the government’s response to the bush fires as well as the Emergency Leaders for Climate Action. They also talk about ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The proposed acquisition of infant formula producer Bellamy’s Australia Ltd by China Mengniu Dairy Company Limited has been given approval by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Strict, legally enforceable conditions, have been set by the treasurer, which ...
The Council of Trade Unions (CTU) is condemning the All Saints Day evening raid on 31 October. With the arrest of over 60 union organisers, human rights defenders and activists in the Philippines province of Negros. The 16th of November is an international ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Assistant professor, University of Canberra What’s happening? Suddenly, at the level of central banks, Australia is regarded as an investment risk. On Wednesday Martin Flodén, the deputy governor of Sweden’s central bank, announced that because Australia and Canada were “not ...
SPECIAL REPORT: By Philip Cass in Brisbane Opening session – Day OneThe problems of operating in the Pacific and the impact of online news and the emergence of ‘citizen journalists’ were common concerns for all delegates to this week’s Melanesian Media Freedom Forum.The forum, held at Griffith ...
Standoff between protesters and the police at Yeung Uk Road, Hong Kong. Image by Studio Incendo – 20190825 Tsuen Wan March. CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81751531.The recent surge in social protests world-wide is quantitatively and qualitatively different than in previous ages. The advent of individualised mass communications technologies and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is going to start asking internet service providers to block certain offshore gambling websites. The decision follows former New South Wales premier ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Niro Kandasamy, Tutor, University of Melbourne Sri Lanka’s presidential election on Saturday comes at a critical time for the country. The government has been in turmoil since President Maithripala Sirisena sacked the prime minister last year and replaced him with former strongman ...
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New Zealand Police has won a prestigious World Class Policing Award for its ‘more street than station approach’ Mobility programme, which has saved millions of hours of officers’ time. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Trent Penman, Associate professor, University of Melbourne As sure as night follows day, this week’s bushfires prompted inevitable debate about whether fire authorities should have carried out more hazard reduction burning, and whether opposition from conservationists prevented this. There are two key ...
A new poem by writer and performer Freya Daly Sadgrove.TURDUCKEN I blow my body around like the huge clump of brown hairthat I once saw blowing up Cuba StreetI follow its movements with interestI put a video of it on the internet my favourite bragis that a groundskeeper ...
PHARMAC has backed down on a controversial drug brand switch affecting patients with epilepsy and mental health conditions after three people died following the change. ...
Tara Ward reviews Goodnight Kiwi, a new series that features well-known New Zealanders reading bedtime stories to kids. It’s strange to think that New Zealand television wasn’t always the 24-hour, infomercial-tastic extravangza that it is today. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, our televisions used to go dark every night at ...
FIRST Union members at Countdown have ratified a new agreement that will set their supermarket team on a path towards a living wage, and significantly raise the pay of 15,000 workers across the country. ...
13 moments that prove the music awards are so much > than all other award showsBENEE cleaned up, every performance was somewhere between an eight and a ten, there was an unfeasible quantity of award presenter awkwardness and many nights ended very late. The music awards are over 50 and ...
While the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights Commission are examining whether New Zealand laws properly balance the issues of freedom of speech and hate speech (whatever that might be), taxpayers are helping to finance Chinese propaganda. Hateful propaganda, we suggest. The Screen Production Grant has handed a $243,000 subsidy to a ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Media Peter Thompson (Stuff): A new model for public media – but have the old ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Viking Penguin $35)“Olive struggles to figure herself out, and has an urgent ...
After more than seven months of trying to end a tenancy to protect neighbours, a Rotorua property manager has finally received approval from the High Court to end the tenancy. ...
We agree with the Ombudsman Peter Boshier in his new report on councils QUOTE ; “leaders, officials lack of action to "ensure an approach is adopted that is consistent with openness and transparency" Un-quote. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1911/S00186/chief-ombudsman-new-report-wakeup-call-for-council-leaders.htm ...
Māori food systems are rich with potential, and whānau-based food producers across the country are looking to traditional ways to ensure their communities thrive in the future. Alice Neville reports from the Eat New Zealand Food Hui.In recent years there has been much talk – in food business, hospitality, tourism ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) commends the Government’s proposal to take school zoning responsibilities out of the hands of school boards and principals and instead have these taken up by a new Education Service Agency. ...
SINGAPORE, Nov 15, 2019 - (ACN Newswire) - Global BioLife Inc, the U.S. subsidiary of Singapore eDevelopment Ltd (SeD), will present its 3F Antimicrobial Fragrance as a new method to prevent and treat Tuberculosis at the ASM Biothreats Conference, ...
The National Party is calling for the Auditor General to investigate a bid for tax payer money made by a forestry company set up by a senior New Zealand First figure; and an award-winning author detained on Manus Island by Australia for six years has touched down in Auckland ...
Responding to news that the Screen Production Grant handed a $243,000 subsidy to a propaganda film produced by Chinese state-owned enterprises, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Louis Houlbrooke says: “Taxpayers have all been made complicit ...
The campaign to take more colour coded bins into the regions has been developed by The Packaging Forum which promotes recycling under the Government’s Love NZ brand and The Auckland Litter Prevention Steering Group which manages the Be a Tidy Kiwi ...
Shane Jones calls protesting farmers 'rednecks' following rowdy march on Parliament; and top council staff 'manipulated' reports to hide bad news from councillors and public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodie Bradby, Professor of Physics, Australian National University There’s a lot of uncertainty in a research career. Most funding – and most jobs – are doled out by the project, or in chunks of a few years at a time. Recently, however, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of Technology Sydney The Australian government has indicated that “diaspora communities” are crucial to Australia’s public diplomacy mission to promote the country abroad. It has also identified online and social media as essential ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bright, Senior Lecturer of Addiction, Edith Cowan University For many parents whose teenage children are completing Year 12, this time of year means mixed emotions. Parents might feel proud, exhausted and excited. And as young people start heading to schoolies and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heiko Timmers, Associate Professor of Physics, School of Science, UNSW Canberra, UNSW Much is made of the “next generation” of nuclear reactors in the debate over nuclear power in Australia. They are touted as safer than older reactors, and suitable for helping ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Fran Gale, Senior Lecturer, Social Work and Community Welfare, School of Social Science and Psychology, Western Sydney University Children are too rarely asked their perspectives on public spaces. Traditionally, adults make choices for children, particularly about how they live and play. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW What do a billionaire, a former vice president, and a US democratic socialist have to do with Australia’s nearly three-decade run of economic growth? More than you might think. The race for the Democratic Party’s 2020 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lydia Edwards, Fashion historian, Edith Cowan University Eyebrows can turn a smile into a leer, a grumpy pout into a come hither beckoning, and sad, downturned lips into a comedic grimace. So, it’s little wonder these communicative markers of facial punctuation have ...
The rules around use of parliamentary TV are set to be liberalised and MPs will no longer have to give permissions for clips of them to be used in political advertising. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When five former fire chiefs held a news conference on Thursday to urge the federal government to take more action on climate change, it was a challenging moment for Scott Morrison. Those who fronted the ...
A powerful New Zealand First figure helped establish a forestry company that then pushed for money from two key funding streams controlled by a New Zealand First Minister. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farmers square off with Shane Jones at parliament, tax rebates for Chinese propaganda film criticised, and ructions over future shape of public media.Now first of all, I just want to make it clear rednecks isn’t the term I’d use. But it was ...
The biggest shakeup in the country’s broadcasting history looks to be looming as the Government gets serious about its options for strengthening public service broadcasting. ...
Support for the Zero Carbon Bill shows our action on climate will have to disrupt the status quo, writes Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton. That will mean new opportunities - and costs. ...
Football Ferns captain Ali Riley is making the most of her opportunity to play for German giants Bayern Munich, harbouring a dream to represent NZ at her fifth World Cup ...
'Policing' is increasingly falling to private security and citizen-led initiatives. Yet the wages and the training don't match the responsibility. So what can we do? ...
Yesterday, Stuff reported that the 2017 Chinese-made propaganda blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 was partially made in New Zealand. Sam Brooks watched it and – spoiler alert – found it weird as hell.About halfway through Wolf Warrior 2 on Netflix, the unnamed leader of a revolution in an unnamed African country marches up ...
Rather than get distracted by the stadium debate, we need to urgently acknowledge that unlocking this land now for future integration into the CBD is critical for Auckland’s future, aruges Paul Winstanley.Don’t be fooled. This is not just another story about the waterfront stadium. Well, not really. Like the mayor ...
The Period Poverty Solution Petition: The Health and Wellbeing Implications was presented by the Positive Periods campaign team, of which The Period Place is a part of, at a cross-party breakfast, thanks to Louisa Wall MP and Joanne Hayes MP in Parliament ...
Open mike 04/07/2014 
Open mike is your post.
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And to think he gave all the potential goodwill away with that moronic, cult-like statement (repeated ad nauseam by many National hardliners) that Key is quite simply “the greatest PM we ever had”…
Installation complete: this was nothing ... 2 weeks ago
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‘
Save The Straights
jettison the stoners..!
Todays NZ Herald editorial shows it has no concern for low income!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11287190
As a BOT member, collecting school donations are a pain in the arse, so getting rid of them is a great policy, and the extra funding will be appreciated as well.
NZ Herald misses the mark…again.
They have an article on DC tomorrow, I guess they are going to make another attack against Labour…not looking forward to it. What a piece of shit the NZH is.
i wonder if it was roughan or o’sullivan who penned this tripe..
..the writer says that ‘free-education-zealots’…would be the only ones who wd support this policy..(!)
..so..suddenly..if you support free-education..
..in the eyes of these rightwing pricks..
,.you are a fucken ‘zealot’..?
” i wonder if it was roughan or o’sullivan who penned this tripe..”
..um…!..still handwringing..?
..eyes still fixed on the usual..?
yr point..?..from one side of yr mouth you peddle yr chimera..and bewail the lack of ‘critiqued-information’..
..and out of the other you sneer at ‘critiqued-information’..(!)
..the one-eyed-zealotry runs deep in that one..
my point..?
If you write k?, then the angels sing and the heavens rejoice in the righteousness of your words.!…
If someone speaks, not with you.. Then beelzebub himself has stirred to cloud their minds and blur the truth… Eh?!
With each exhale their every breath aye, are condemned by your RIGHTeousness and with each and every inhale your truthful certainty is confirmed.
Your religiosity of your own views leads you to believe that saying we are not zealots is a critique. Bah!
have you got an inferiority-complex-on-steroids going on there..?
..’angels sing’..?..whoar..!
and what cd be illuminating for you..
..would be to go back and read the attacks on those who fought against human-slavery..
..back when opposing that was considered ‘crazy’/’economic-suicide’..by most..
..go and read yrslf…
..in an earlier incarnation..
..’religiosity’-allegations/accusations..and all..
The fact you equate human slavery with animal husbandry is just a bit wow!
That you don’t get called for it more often, even more so.
Add you think you are on a par with anti slavers and it’s wow, with an added cringe of disbelief.
Tracey has you down pat. It’s a fair cop guvnor.
And the inferiority complex jibe – I hit you with that the other day. Glad something stuck.
The way animals are treated is related to the way people are treated – can you not see that?
We treat animals as commodities to be used by us for our own ends as we used to, and often still do, treat people as commodities to be used by us for our own ends.
agree.
However phil is putting himself on a par with those that fought the slave trade… Thank god those folks didnt wait til the threshold dropped to actually do something.
There is very little crossover, by and large, between people and animals.
We shouldn’t treat people as commodities.
But nor should we treat animals like people.
For the same reason we shouldn’t give goats a vote.
Funny though one of the likely indicators of children suffering abuse is if they are cruel to animals or in other words if a child is cruel to animals (and this is often pets) then that is a danger sign that they may have suffered/be suffering from abuse or neglect.
http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/abuse_neglect/qa/cruelty_violence_connection_faq.html
So maybe the crossover is a little more than a little.
And if they throw their teddy bear across the room it doesn’t mean that the bear is sentient and has moral agency.
Not sure if your sentence works with a kitten or puppy rather than a toy.
Why would cruelty to animals be an indicator if the cries of the kitten and /or puppy are just like the squeaking of a hinge?
because projection is not indicative of the level of sentience (or lack thereof) of the thing projected upon.
Look, animal cruelty is bad, m’kay? It’s just not the same level of bad as cruelty against people. Because most species of animals do not have the same level of sentience as people. So yes, a sea sponge is almost certainly morally equivalent to a rock. Cow, not so much. Gorilla or elephant, almost certainly not. Human – certainly not.
“Look, animal cruelty is bad, m’kay? It’s just not the same level of bad as cruelty against people.”
Yet one is an indicator of the other so “The way animals are treated is related to the way people are treated” is correct.
@mcflock..
“..Because most species of animals do not have the same level of sentience as people..”
that is just an outright lie..
..are you claiming those animals don’t suffer unimaginable horrors..?
..even fish have a central nervous system very similar to humans..f.f.s..!
..and the pigs..the cows..the chickens..
..they also don’t ‘suffer’..eh..?
“..sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as “qualia”).
The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights – because sentience is necessary for the ability to suffer – which is held to entail certain rights..”
..but you just claim there is no ‘sentience’..eh..?
..whoar..!
not if it follows “The fact you equate human slavery with animal husbandry is just a bit wow!”.
Slavery and farming are nowhere near moral equivalents.
You’re also putting the cart before the horse: Y being one of several reactions to X does not make X and Y morally equivalent, or even directly related.
edit:
phil – too garbled, didn’t read.
human-slavery also used to be called just-‘farming’..
..’slave-husbandry’..
..(‘ungarbled’ enough for you..?..)
..and you get pissweak-avoidance-of-sentient-fact-award for the week..
tg:dr
“Slavery and farming are nowhere near moral equivalents.”
To any rational person, of course they’re not, and any one who thinks they are is not only fooling themselves, but doing a great disservice to all those who stood firm, opposing the trading of human beings.
Up themselves is a ‘fucken’ underestimation.
“..Thank god those folks didnt wait til the threshold dropped to actually do something..”
well..i haven’t exactly been ‘doing nothing’…
..presenting the evidence in forums such as this is ‘doing something’..
..and this ’cause’ was one of the main reasons i started whoar
..to mix this message in amongst the quality-journalism etc linked-to..
..credibility by association..as it were..
..and over time i have built a sizeable resource on matters vegan/animal-rights..
http://whoar.co.nz/category/vegan-stuff/
y’know..!..i do what i can..
..and when that threshold drops..
..i think you will see some movement in that animal-rights political party area..
..with the aim of standing/winning seats in parliament in ’17…
@mcflock
“We treat animals as commodities to be used by us for our own ends as we used to, and often still do, treat people as commodities to be used by us for our own ends.”
they are connected – it’s the commodity bit.
You may say that it doesn’t matter much because animals are commodities – I can’t quite remember the term you’ve used in the past – meatwalkers? meatjackets? Something like that anyway. That’s your opinion and I disagree m’kay?
You and allen draw the line under human – I have a wider view of who or what should be treated with respect and humanely. Guess what? It doesn’t diminish my belief in human rights – somehow I can hold both of those ideals in my head at the same time – who’d a thunk it eh.
meatbots. Not all animals.
I believe in human rights too. Hell, I’m also against animal cruelty.
But I believe extending human rights to animals is not just farcical; I believe that when slavery is equated with cattle farming (for example), it belittles and insults those people who stood against and/or were/are real victims of slavery.
Fair enough but for me seeing the connections doesn’t diminish or belittle all of the efforts good people made to ‘end’ slavery or the victims of that foul practice. I also agree that extending human rights to animals is wrong – animals should have animal rights – rights accruing because they deserve them as living entities sharing this spinning rock we live on, rights that protect them from being exploited and commodified by the bigbrained bipeds.
most of the farmed ones wouldn’t exist if they weren’t comodified or exploited. But they shouldn’t be treated cruelly.
and speaking of things ‘religious’..
..i just attained a new level of porridge-nirvana..
i did all this http://whoar.co.nz/2014/porridge-gets-a-facelift-comment-ed-and-make-sure-you-dont-forget-the-dates/
..and i added a handful of chopped-up prunes as well..
..and stuck a stick of cinnamon into the whole..
..whoar..!
..i stopped eating it 20 mins ago..
..yet my taste-buds are still afire..
..belting out serial-renditions of the ‘hallelujah-chorus’..
..it’s quite the ‘religiosity’-experience..eh..?
..to be recommended for all..
and ya can stick yr bacon and eggs as well..!…heh..!
..this sucker blows them right out of the room..
..i feed ‘the boy’ this b4 he heads off to university..
..he sez it keeps him running on all cylinders until mid-afternoon..
..and i wont eat again until evening…
..there’s half yr uber-healthy vegan-diet..
..right there in that link..
..master that one..and you’ll wow! people for the rest of yr life..
Dates not prunes. Nothing can describe the hatred I have for prunes.
both..bg..both..
..the prune-pieces..after the cooking..are little taste-grenades tat explode in yr mouth..
….and dates do indeed rock..
..but all recipies are variable to taste/availability….
..with that porridge-upgrade the slow-cooking/just-walk-away..!..no stirring after initial mix..!..wholegrain-porridge..!..cinnamon-stick..!
..are the key-imperatives..
..and the ideal time to ‘walk-away’ for..is 20-25 mins..
..the longer you leave it to do its’ slow-cook thing..
,.the more like a pudding it becomes..
..that’s what makes it so brilliant to try to get kids to have healthy-breakfasts..
..instead of that sugar-laden crap that sends them out the door on a sugar-high..
..and soon after to crash..
….if they are ‘difficult’..fill it up with what they like..and emphasise the pudding-for-breakfast treat aspect of it..
..it’s a winner..!
and re yr last line..i posted an op-ed on that @ 7.01 am..
..some of that ‘critiqued-information’ you serially bewail the lack of..
Means nothing to me without a link.
“so..suddenly..if you support free-education..”
Despite, it seems, what the Education Act says! Education must be “free, secular and compulsory”…
i’m still shaking my head at that one..
..it couldn’t be a clearer indication of what a rightwing-rag the herald is..
..and what rightwing-hacks their editorial-writers are..
..that they will go into print..in a masthead-editorial..not just some loons’ op-ed..
..calling anyone who supports free-education..
..a ‘zealot’…
“..synonyms: fanatic, enthusiast, extremist, radical, Young Turk, diehard, activist, militant;
bigot, dogmatist, sectarian, partisan;
fiend, maniac, ultra, nut..’
..the real ‘zealots’ are the rightwing-rand-ite-fucktards who have so screwed over our country/people..
..’rightwing-rand-ite-fucktards’ in both national and labour..
I’m filled with foreboding about that. It probably won’t be a direct hatchet job, too obvious. More likely damn with faint praise and filled with snide remarks.
Herald brings up,= how the minority of schools make “excessive demands and become petulant”.
Sums up the extreme zealots of neo-liberalism, who routinely want us all to cheer that they do it hard, paying school fees on top of top up donations, to their ‘choice’ of schooling.
As if the herd is supposed to be thankful for the herd leader taking command, doing it tough by not being payed enough, paying too much tax, etc. When we all know excessive pay, high burden of taxation on lower to middle incomes, is harming our economy and its efficiency.
Take the housing debate, we’re told that housing is unaffordable. But not why. Something about incomes but thats a distraction. The real way to measure affordability is to measure the time it takes mortgage holders to pay off their house. Given that many now use their homes to support businesses, and even reverse mortgages, its clear that even the medium income earners are being stretched by the current financial regulation straitjacket that squeezes every low to middle earning citizen in order to sustain and perpetuate a, what was the term, neo-liberal zealots in the wealth and standing they have come accustomed to.
They have an article on DC tomorrow, I guess they are going to make another attack against Labour…not looking forward to it. What a piece of shit the NZH is.
It will be interesting to see who does the article – but I am also expecting it will be (at the least) a ‘soft hatchet’ job, possibly along the lines of Michelle Hewitson’s interview of Laila Harre last Saturday.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?objectid=11283264
A few days ago the author was said to be Phil Taylor and one other… Phil Taylor is a good journalist who seems reasonable and objective.
Thanks. Here’s hoping, Anne.
I’m picking it will be a soft hatchet job with an unflattering photograph.
Completely unlike their love fest with John Key, which has been summed up beautifully by neetflux:
http://neetflux.tumblr.com/post/90645655137
Claire Trevett…sucks up to her boss and publishes plenty of anti Labour trash.
Have you seen Franks letters of complaint to the NZH? Now they make interesting reading.
https://fmacskasy.wordpress.com/2014/07/04/the-liu-affair-the-first-step-to-a-complaint-to-the-press-council/
Got a way with words that I envy there, Frank.
Thanks, I had not caught up with that one. I have very high regard for Frank Macskasy. And he is great at documenting and listing all relevant facts, articles etc – an invaluable source.
‘
Nice work by Frank, thank you sir.
This snippet from Tim Murphy’s casual dismisal of the concerns raised jumped out at me . . .
. . . what a very stupid thing to say. No one is expecting “all documents” to be made available, only those from which “facts” have been extracted for publication. In meatspace its called “providing references”, on the interwebz its called “DOX or STFU”. Tim Murphy would do well to turn from his current mentor of accountability, John Key, and look towards the example of an actual journalist like Glen Greenwald. Of course, such a suggestion relies on the assumption that Tim Murphy’s view of what constitutes “news” is not synonymous with “entertainment” and/or “propaganda”.
+1
People only start demanding documentary proof from a paper when they have lost trust for its work.
ditto re macskasy…
Brilliant Frank. Truly in awe at the detail and the referencing.
I have not had a reply from the Herald so will send my complaint to the Press Council, though much more modest in content.
that hewitson/haare one should be seized upon by media-studies courses..
..as a stellar example of how not to do an interview..
..and/or..how to do a really crap interview..
..and/or..how to make the interview all about the interviewer..
..it’s a three-fer…
At least it is very clear to everyone what political colours fly on The Herald’s flag – those of its big business corporate owners. Hard core right wing is The Herald’s politics.
Again, why do we expect anything independent or objective – the rag is owned by big business ffs. The Herald is conflicted to all hell.
As for the actual article I started coming across too many items of shit in it to keep count. Dribbly shit with not an inkling of understanding of the political philosophy driving the policy.
Too right vto – not only the editorial, the ongoing drip, drip, drip by Jared Savage and the introduction of Warren Kydd [ex Nat MP for Hunua, replaced by Judith Collins] but a op ed by that bastion of journalism or should that be jonolism, Mike Hosking http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11287241 and now we have been informed that Rolf Harris groped Maggie Barry about 30 years ago.
and not a single comment on that one published all day – interesting
This is the kind of self serving pap Labour should be addressing more IMO, might give a hint as to why so many in the lower socio-economic groups don’t bother voting.
“Landlords say low taxes cap rents ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/10228984/Landlords-say-low-taxes-cap-rents
In one breath he says they pay $500 mil in tax and in another he says removing depreciation costs landlords $700 mil. So if it’s restored they’ll be paying minus $200 mil in tax.
He also conveniently ignores the taxpayer’s $1.2 billion in accommodation supplements of which I have no doubt more than $500 million goes to pay rent. And that’s not even counting the massive social welfare bill of which a large part also goes in rents. So no, they don’t pay any nett tax… to use a euphemism so favoured by the Nats.
His comments about landlords losing money, keeping rents low rah rah are utter crap. Rents always lag behind property inflation so they can seem low from a new investors perspective but in fact are not low for established investors.
MPs have been given a proposal for a $4000 accomodation increase in wellington. How many have decided to donate their $4000 to the local mission or similar.
http://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10200416/MPs-may-get-4000-more-for-housing
Government ministers will get close to the median wage in housing perks after yet another review of expenses.
The Remuneration Authority, which sets MPs’ pay, is proposing increasing a Wellington housing allowance for the Executive by $3500 to $41,000. MPs will get an extra $4000 to take theirs to $28,000.
The median weekly income is $844. Ministers will get $789 a week to put to their housing costs. Some out-of-town MPs, including Energy Minister Simon Bridges, own a Wellington property. They can use the cash to pay the interest on their mortgage.
A backbench MP earns about $150,000 a year, which rises to about $250,000 for ministers.
Public Service Association president Richard Wagstaff said doctors, nurses and hospital clerical staff had received a wage rise of just 0.7 per cent. Other civil servants were fighting for between 1 and 2 per cent raises.
“That’s more than a 10 per cent increase,” he said. “The Government says the economy is growing and working New Zealanders can expect those improvements to flow through to them. On the other side of their mouth, they say to their government departments: ‘You’ve got to cut spending and are not to give out wage rises.’
We need to ask a couple of questions about these housing allowances:
The answer to #4 is fairly obvious – it most definitely would be cheaper to hire a few people full time to look after a single building than it would be to pay each minister tens of thousands of dollars each year. Especially considering that the MPs also get to claim for cleaning. Which brings up the next question:
Why are we paying so much to house our ministers in Wellington?
I believe it to be nothing more than a way to direct taxpayers money out into the private sector to boost profits for the few some of which happen to be MPs. Bill English’s rort comes to mind.
Extensive Accommodation Supplements certainly haven’t kept rents low.
And what specifically is the NZPIF definition of a “low” rent? I’m guessing it is based around the investment being cashflow positive rather than something people can actually afford.
“And what specifically is the NZPIF definition of a “low” rent?”
They work it out on current market values. Since rent increases lag behind housing inflation by a year or two rents will always seem to be low as a percentage return on current value.
The point is these investors didn’t pay current market price for their properties so their returns are (mostly) very good based on their actual investment. Even someone who bought property a year ago is up to 10% better off than what these bozos are claiming.
And in the style of A(n)nals of Online Dating….
…to the investors for trying to induce fear among their tenants of their landlord/overlords being subjected to brutal taxation regime that would in turn be responsible for them becoming homeless.
So the herald posted some letters from damien oconnor when he was minister of immigration overriding some criteria for Mr Liu. Why didnt Labour pre empt this when the cunliffe letter surfaced? They must have known it was a matter of time so why not come clean.
The herald has waited til now, drip, drip, drip. So, is it really National being smeary? Surely no party can be smeary, from any side without a press that decides to run with it in a certain way.
David bain’s wife being pregnant was the heralds full page story a couple of days ago, with a reference to the diplomat on the top banner. My partner said
“when papers change to the smaller size do they have to go tabloid?”.
So, who is really setting the tone?
I am NOT saying this stuff is not reportable (although i dont consider david bain becoming a father is newsworthy let alone front page). I am saying people can only vote based on what they know, and knowing that damien oconnor and national both are happy to waive rules for the wealthy is important but so is what parties have planned for us.
The herald has done a follow up on diplomatic immunity and revealled a few other instances including one of domestic assault
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11287226
In melbourne over anzac weekend, the govts proposed changes to the superannuation were full front page, followed by analysis in the following pages.
Where do we go for this, two and a half months before an election? Party sites and affiliates dont help much. Having hooton and williams on radio advances nothing.
And to finish the day i read that the liar in chief is so disappointed about being misinformed cos he tries so hard to be honest to NZers.
BLiP, that may be his biggest lie of all.
VOTE GREEN
Gee Tracy there are a few dedicated staffers who do not have the ability to track down every single piece of paper signed by a Labour MP in the past decade. And outside this there are a few dedicated amateurs doing what they can to help. On the other side there is resources galore and a public service who has been terrified into being compliant to Ministerial instructions. This really is a David vs Goliath battle. And rather than preparing to counter every single smear that may be thrown at the party we would prefer that it gets on with completing and releasing policy.
gee micky, a minister of immigration, damien oconnor, intervened three times in Liu’s PR. Did Labour not do an OIA of this itself, or have its own ministerial records, and did oconnor forget? That you put oconnors actions in the same league as an electorate letter says more about you and nothing about resources.
Yeah DC’s letter was proforma (and we’ve heard the excuses), O’Connor’s was ministerial intervention that everyone knew about, it should be much easier to track, it’s worrying that this wasn’t preempted in any way.
Nope Tracey I did not put O’Connor’s letter in the same league as an electorate letter. I was expressing the thought that I would prefer that the party put effort into getting policy releases right than digging through files which are nearly ten years old.
cool mickey. How is it working for Labour so far?
Is o’connor rated in Labour? (genuine question, not sarcasm)
i question that logic..m.s..
..surely it isn’t a case of either/or being the only option..?
..and surely you must have known you wd be eventually bashed with this one..?
..(could it have been more heralded..?..(pun intentional..)..
..i mean..o’conner pushed it thru..the day before the election..?..)
..so why aren’t you prepared/ducks all in a row..?
..who’se doing the strategic-thinking there..?
..at times..it seems nobody is..
“This really is a David vs Goliath battle.”
Really?. It is more like a David versus David battle . Are you also sorry for being a man , Greg?.
John Key should be sorry for not being a man. He’s more like a megalomaniac head prefect, who accepts responsibility for nothing. He misrepresented totally what Cunliffe said, and belittled the importance of addressing violence against women. With Goodfellow, and the recent ex-army forceful casanova appointed to run a new government unit, it’s pretty obvious NAct don’t put stopping this violence high on their agenda. To spout such juvenile crap at Cunliffe when he makes an attempt, which reportedly went down well with his audience, is nothing more than disgusting. Vote NAct for the preservation of rape culture.
I can’t believe Cunliffe put is foot in it so badly with that one.
Sorry for being a man?? FFS! Honestly! Not only does this sound awful to any intelligent sensitive thinking person, it gives all the haters a chance, rightly or wrongly, to call Cunliffe something that no leader ever wants to be called: weak.
And of course Jonky comes in with the obvious response that makes him sound sensible.
“The problem isn’t being a man, the problem is if you’re an abusive man, and I think it’s a bit insulting to imply that all men are abusive.”
Key’s comment is note-perfect and tbh this is one of the extremely rare times I actually agree with something that came out of Key’s mouth.
David vs David indeed. Someone slipped something in Cunliffe’s tea? Because this was just about as bad a gaffe as you can get.
Yeah I read the bit about Damien O’Connor too. To be honest I think the article kind of cancels itself out as an effective attack on Labour ‘cash for favours’ with the revelations about ex Nat MP Warren Kyd lobbying for Liu.
It’s pretty hard to insinuate Labour was taking cash from Liu when the person Mr O’Connor was dealing with was an ex National MP, so I’m struggling to see just what point the NZH are trying to make there. What are they trying to imply, that Kyd was in on it too?
Dh
i wondered about the kyd connection too. Clearly they have not found cash for favours against labour but there are a couple of strands;
Labour will waive rules for the very wealthy
Once national, always national n, do thy bidding (kyd)??
@DH: “What are they trying to imply, that Kyd was in on it too?”
Freedom raised the same point yesterday. Kyd was the advocate for Mr Liu. He therefore knew every bit of the transactions. We might easily join the dots between the inside knowledge supplied by Kyd and the mates back at National and the mystery statement as yet unpublished by Jared Savage.
Therefore maybe Jared has been a little, a very little helpful in illuminating the possible origin of this story of Liu. The O’Connor story is just a vehicle?
‘
Thanks Tracey. That link also points to collusion by the police in that they too have been keeping things under the radar. Perhaps if the media actually employed dedicated police and court reporters we might know a little more about these sorts of things.
I havn’t had much time lately for my list keeping activities so any and all tips are welcome. I can’t see the link to that whopper about John Key trying to be honest. Also, would you happen to know the exact lie John Key told about the diplomatic situation? John Key has become even more tricksy lately by prefacing his comments with slippery “outs” like “so far as I am aware” and “as I have been advised” or, his greatest one yet, “within that context, as far as I know, to be honest, based on the information available at that time, to the best of my recollection, so I understand, in the end”.
Yes – VOTE GREEN.
What did you expect?
The paper has shown its FOX news colours after the Liu donation story.
People starting to see the corporate media for what it is. A shill for the elite.
Boycott this rag and other mainstream propaganda outlets for the 1%.
If you want to see who dictates editorial policy, follow the money. See who owns them.
It’s usually a foreign banking interest.
i understand that paul. I havent paid for a herald in over 8 years. I saw the cover at a supermarket.
I also notice who is reporting the hard news right now, about policy, about mp perks about the diplomat and its not armstrong, young… So there IS heart for such stories…
My main point of posting, is where do the masses turn for critiqued information?
I will dig out news viewing numbers to see how many actually watch tv news.
“.. where do the masses turn for critiqued information?..”
..um…!..still handwringing..?
..eyes still fixed on the usual..?
um… Still a dickhead?
This from the man who is waiting for others to form a vegan animal rights party rather than do it himself. You must be really conflicted over KFCs hash burger
what a strange ‘attack’ from you..?
..is that yr only response to what i said..?..about ‘news’..?
factcheck:..i am actually waiting for the threshold to drop..
..i don’t really want to piss into the wind..
..but when that threshold does drop..i hope the various threads of the the animal-rights movement will coalesce into a political-force..
..to give a voice with power/influence..to those concerns..
..to give a voice to those slave-animals..
..and if there is anything i can do to make that come about..
..i shall lean in..i won’t be ‘waiting for others’..
..(and ‘hash-burger’..?..i geddit..!..druggie-jibe..it’s not that crash-hot..but i do get it..
..really ‘grasping’ there..aren’t you..?..)
you know phil, that you think your intial response to me was not an attack simple reinforces my view that sometimes you are blinded by your self righteousness, deigning to drop you version of wisdom into our less than perfect lives. Imagine your surprise when one day you open your eyes and find you are down in the gutter with the rest of us.
Fact check. I am waiting for the threshold to drop
Reality check:when we had fpp you were probably waiting for mmp.
‘still handwringing’ is ‘an attack’..?
..and deserving of a ‘dickhead’-response..drug-jibes..?..attack on my animal-rights stands..?
..have you not had yr bacon yet today..?..bit ‘edgy’..?..hanging out for it..?
Human rights for all viciously abused vegetables is what i say…
I am the angel of death. I put the ground up immature babies of the black pepper plant on my chips last night. Mwahaha
Have you no pity Alien, spare a thought for the poor abused Pepper Plant as it is cruelly ripped from the ground…
What is required is a joint agency (not that sort of joint, Philip) to deal with animal eaters and vege abusers, when they have sausage, egg, chips and peas.
The food nazis could could drive around in detector vans at meal times with flashing lights and a sign on the side reading ‘caution, may contain nuts’.
Lolz Alien, will put up a link tomorrow which discusses ‘new research on plant intelligence,’
It discusses the beanstalk experiment, one i like coz anyone can do it at home,(without creating mayhem), the version in the link tho should have been taken to its next logical step, which in my opinion definitely shows some form of ‘thought process’ having occurred in the beanstalk…
I always talk to my plants, so perhaps best not test them for intelligence.
Like the hunter in the pig topic the other day, I also take only what I need, thank and pay respects to my food.
Sentient or not, I think it makes them taste a little sweeter, like a frost or two on a parsnip does before harvest.
We are getting into Reductio ad absurdum and dialectical contradictions territory here on “Open phil” today.
In a cold indifferent quantum universe why care about anything perhaps? Let alone animal rights. Meat particles/vegetable particles.
But some people do care, meat is murder, as much as some of our number tilt the duality of human existence–conscious social being slash rutting beast in favour of the latter.
Water has soul too you know. As I swallowed my mouthful of water I heard a faint scream. Is there nothing left to eat or drink? Fading, fading fa………
As arguments to absurdity go, we nailed it.
“As I swallowed my mouthful of water I heard a faint scream”
All those micro organisms, gone in a gulp. You callous sod.
Plus 1 TM
…some people do care…
Lolz it is my evil plot to have you all guilt tripped into eating nothing, and then, the bad’s shall rule the world…
I have seen the broccoli killing fields myself.
I have been part of the machine (bit like the pinball wizard really) and I have seen the slaughter of some 13 million buttercup squash one warm Gisborne summer. In order to cover our tracks from the vegans, we rebranded as Kabocha and for two years, they had no idea what we were up to. I think the vegans lacked the “Bacon gene” so they werent too smart.
When we finally got sprung, we went back to calling it buttercup squash. And eating bacon.
MMMMM Bacon
Mmmmm Bacon, i totally agree, while in taiho mode as far as eating the stuff goes, its more or less a given that when i reach my target weight Bacon’n’egg burgers will once again be on the menu and i was lost in reverie for quite some time yesterday dreaming of a yummy fried rice with bacon, eggs, tomatoes, and, spring onions…
Its just a pity that a diet of bacon (mmmm bacon), and chocolate milk wont get my weight down to the healthy zone.
Will have to get the bike out again.
other factcheck:..
..aren’t we all ‘in the gutter’..?..but just ‘some of us’ etc etc..?
“um… Still a dickhead?”
Chortle
A pro chicken party – That will never fly.
A pro cow party – What a load of bull.
A pro sheep party – Just a baaad idea.
Within the wider context of people that care about those less fortunate can you not see that for some, animals are included within that category – it’s not a joke, it’s not fake – it is real, sincere and imo valid.
I certainly do, and have on a number of occasions, shown my admiration for their dedication to their cause.
found this from august 2013
Primetime average audience – 25-54 demographic
6pm-10.30pm TV One 153,900 TV2 150,900 TV3 160,500
That’s very depressing – 3 News stinks!
How much of it is involuntary? Until I got a new TV a few weeks ago, I could get ONLY ONE CHANNEL for nearly a year – yes, the awful TV3. Lucky I can now avoid it as much as possible.
Still putting the boot into ministry workers, and trying to sidestep that McCully and himself are responsible for that ministry. What idiots.
Something rots from the top down.
At this stage just before an election Mr Key, loyal and efficient leader and PM, cannot afford another Minister loss. Williamson? Collins? and McCulley? He is trapped and must just hang on regardless.
Actually though, how will it look if in spite of confidence in McCulley, Key asks him to stand down as MP for East Coast Bays? Perception can be ramped up.
Googling for TOR or any encryption software lands you on the NSA grid as an
extremist
Well, this is where the growing paranoia and self serving nature of a massive secret police/surveillance apparatus becomes more and more obvious. Remember we are paying for these Stazi-like activities (x10,000) while people live in the cold and in poverty.
Article mentions one of the benefits of NZ being aligned with Empire.
To be fair, if you are going on Tor, it’s generally only for a few things.
All of the illegal.
Also:
XKeyscore exposed: How NSA tracks all German Tor users as ‘extremists’
Not quite the headline you posted.
Yes, in China, it’s illegal to know about your own country’s history, for example. In Egypt, it’s illegal to provide legal services to those accused of terrorism.
Good to see you toeing the line.
and drugs.
Not that I think drugs should be illegal but you can guarantee that such people aren’t paying taxes either.
On that basis we should monitor everyone who uses a telephone.
Actually, I tend to view things the other way. No one should be monitored unless they get noticed in a criminal action. Then the police monitor their communications and those they communicate with. And, yes, that will mean that some innocent people will have their meta-data collected.
We can’t just go after one criminal else the rest of them just continue on.
I believe the legal term is probable cause.
But have you now considered what things like the Tor Network do to those investigations?
From my wireless this morning, Slippery the Prime Minister quoted thus: ”the person at MFAT who gave the Malaysians conflicting advice had better look for a new job”,
You will be Slippery, after the election in September, looking for a new job that is…
Great. So some MFAT person is condemned as guilty without a fair trial?
That appears to be the attitude of the Prime minister karol, ‘find’ that someone else other than Him and Murray McCully are responsible for the fiasco and then look around for a suitable scapegoat to hang,
The pair of them, McCully and Slippery the PM would have both been informed of the arrest and charges against the Malaysian diplomat soon after that arrest occurred,
Did either of them publicly disclose this arrest or show an iota of concern for the victim and the ramifications upon that victim which would have ensued by simply sweeping the whole incident as far under the carpet as they could???,
Not likely, swish swish went the brooms and the pair of them quite happily went about their day thinking that ”the problem” was to all extents dead and buried,
It is my opinion, considering the time-frame, how the public eventually became aware of the incident, and, the fact that both McCully and the PM were informed at the earliest opportunity of the incident that they, McCully and the PM, had every intention of having the diplomat spirited out of the country and having the public remain unaware that the incident had taken place…
+1 bad12
That’s the attitude of National and right-wingers in general. They will always blame someone else shifting the responsibility from themselves. It seems to be what they mean by personal responsibility – someone else taking the blame for what they’ve done such as the increasing poverty brought about by the neo-liberal paradigm which they put the blame for on the poor themselves. As far as they’re concerned, they can never do anything wrong.
Investigation hopelessly compromised
You don’t blame someone before an investigation unless that investigation is going to be a whitewash.
i wonder if rawdon christie will be as outraged as he is over the maori kings’ son getting discharge-without-conviction..
..when john banks gets his promised discharge-without-conviction..?
If he is… that outrage should have been expressed when the other two defendants got discharge-without-conviction.
Else it would be prejudiced and biased to claim outrage now…. oh…Rawdon Christie..
christie is permanently shortlisted for oink-of-the-year…any year..
Yeah Dover Samuels is banging on with the same theme, that the kid got special treatment because of who He is,
That’s absolute rubbish, as has been continuously pointed out, the other kids involved, and, its hardly the crime(s) of the century that they committed, got the exact same treatment,
Any kids with what the judiciary see as ”a bright future’, given the same level of offending, would undoubtedly receive the exact same treatment,
Even a thuggish lout like the 13–14 year old me was, had this privilege extended a number of times in the kiddies court, it is only a pattern of continued offending that sees the courts begin to harden the sanctions against the individual and that is how it should be…
The review and comments on last night’s episodes of Hope and Wire are worth reading. I did think it was good drama, but it’s important to read responses from people in Christchurch – a northern view of the quakes, and doesn’t represent what happened very well at all.
I liked the old socialist geezer, and his partner – she was excellent in pulling up her sleeves and getting on with doing what needed to be done, and helping others.
i loathe docu-drama with an intensity that is almost visceral..
..it is the worst of both worlds..
..and is often lies dressed up as some sort of pretence at truth/accurate-account..
..pure-documentary performs that task much better..
..rather than turning it all into some kind of pap-smeared/heart-string plucking soap-opera..
..preserving/building ‘plucky’-myths..
..i wd rather a small proportion of the eye-watering cost of this be addressed to a doco examining what a clusterfuck the whole govt-response to the earthquake has been..
..since the eartquake in chch..china has used more concrete..than america used in the whole of the 20th century..
..and here..?..with these fucken clowns in charge..?..we still have a demolition-site..people shivering in cold/broken houses..
..and this docu-drama is too soon..
..too many people in chch are still going thru the real-drama..
..and this soap-treatment is an insult to them..
Did you watch it phil? Serious question.
I was going to ask the very same question.
no rosie….i didn’t watch it…for all the reasons stated..
..i am not that much of a masochist..
..it may well have been ‘well-done/acted’..
(and a clutch of under-employed luvvies got some work..so that’s all good..)
..it is the genre itself that has me running for the door..’bio-pics’..(shudder..!..)
Lolz@ Phillips elongated critique of something He didn’t bother to watch, must be great to have such a crystal ball right Phillip…
Criticising something for being in a soap format, without viewing the actual programme, shows a real lack of understanding of the way the soap genre has had a bad press – usually because it is seen as a conventionally feminised format.
Soaps are a subset of the melodrama format. They focus on people and relationships – pretty much something that gets relegated to the under-rated, and subjugated “feminine” sphere.
Would you have prefer a disaster/action format? (usually coded as “masculine”)
Melodrama, while not necessarily presenting the detailed nuances of surface “reality”, operates at a level of reality that focuses on emotional, moral and/or social realities/truths. Soaps and melodramas can be done well or badly. It’s not enough to dismiss something because it is done in a soap format.
Brecht showed how a focus on the detail of surface realities, can misrepresent deeper realities. This is particularly because experiences that happened over days and months are collapsed into a couple of hours of a stage presentation. Showing a riot as it happened, can just show us people breaking windows, and shows nothing of the social, emotional and political context. The rioters can just look like a bunch of thugs.
Brecht preferred dramas that broke the flow of the narrative, to stop people getting sucked into an unreal presentation; eg the use of characters talking directly to the audience. He thought bad acting, and clunky presentations can sometimes be better at generating discussion about the realities the presentation is trying to address.
People are certainly “talking”/writing about how well Hope and Wire has so far represented the experiences of the people of Christchurch, with many talking about how it falls short, and what the experience was actually like.
well..yes to most of that..(are you doing or have you ever done..’media-studies’..?..)
..”..Would you have prefer a disaster/action format? (usually coded as “masculine”)..”
um..!..no..!..i dislike ‘disaster/action’..as much as doco-drama..
..bruce willis..?..(shudder..!..haven’t seen one of them..)
..i said a considered doco wd have served a far greater purpose..
..and if you want the very best in ‘soap’…dripping with life/charcter-lessons..
..and the very best soap-acting ever..
..check out the very early kitchen-sink dramas of mike leigh..
..esp those with timothy spall in them..
..unalloyed-genius..!
..utterly fucken brilliant! examples of all that you extoll about soaps..
..with what must be the best collection of character actors..
..while i also like leighs’ later stuff..
..this early stuff is what really rings my soap-bells…
I was just about to reply to phil but karol has put my basic thoughts into a far more intelligent expression than I could muster
I would add that an audience will receive the format in different ways. So phil, you prefer a doco format, that would be your ideal way of absorbing the info. Others may prefer drama, they may be able to understand and begin to relate to the events through the relationships that play out between the characters. Folks learn and relate in different ways.
On a bit of a tangent – phil – but given your preferences, you may enjoy the recent “The Internet’s Own Boy” about Aaron Schwartz. Trailer here.
Very interesting watch, especially considering his young age and political views and advocacy, especially around Open Source.
chrs 4 that molly..yeah..that is a very interesting story too..
(..i’ve noticed it on my daily news-trawls..)
..especially how the govt. screwed him over/persecuted him..
..he has a huge online presence..
…it’s on the list..
The Punk Singer about Kathleen Hanna was very good as well.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_punk_singer_2013/
I was initially wary of how Hope and Wire would come across. Would it be cringe worthy or sensationalising grief? Would it be a copy of the drama Treme, set in post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans? Would it be lame?
When Gaylene Preston’s name came up as the director in the opening credits I relaxed a little and went into it with an open mind.
I agree that it is a good drama and also liked the characters of Joycie and Len. There is an interesting mix of characters from different backgrounds. Joel Tobeck is good as the landlord with an eye out for an opportunity and a buck to made – he plays the part well. Will be interesting to see how it progresses.
Joel Tobeck! Who does with a character what Shayne Carter can do with a guitar 😎
I have always liked Joel Tobeck. He can play so many different types of characters but always retains that element of quirk.
Funny you should mention Shane Carter. I was listening to some old straightjacket fits the other day, followed by Dimmer. I had temporarily forgotten about one of our best guitar icons and was very satisfied upon listening again.
Rosie… have you heard and or seen The Adults?
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheAdultsNZ
Got to see them in Wellington a while back and it was astoundingly brilliant noise
here’s a treat with Shayne on bass
more on topic is their wonderful performance with the CSO as well
Yes I have, but until now only knew “Nothing to lose”. That song I put into my new favourites songs list for 2011. I love it. And the band is of course made up of stock from NZ rock royalty.
Anniversary day, from your link, is a beautiful song. I’d have to say though, song discovery of the day would have to be “One Million Ways”.
Thank you 🙂
All those bloody ads diminish a brave program.
I identify with the community of spirit. My 80+ sister and her husband became a rallying point for the houses around them. Fix. Repair. Tea. Reassure. Suggest. And manage scones cooked on a wood burner.
Much respect to them ianmac, for showing such a generosity of spirit and resilience. And really admirable skills too, scones cooked on the log burner!
Community spirit lives on, often in the form of people like your sister and her husband.
Only hope their woodburner is under ECAN guidelines – ianmac…
ECAN’s current priority is making sure that no-one is warm who hasn’t upgraded. And they’ll fine you $300 if you can’t explain why your chimney was sending out heat, and you don’t have a permit for the new type of logburner.
Rig up a camera, mount a hose out front and blast the chimney police as they spy on your home with their heat sensing device, farking fascists.
Fining people is so counter-productive, it’s preventing people from getting the cash together to upgrade their burner. Does someone have to freeze to death before common sense prevails…
Agree.
Had the same thought about fining, when I kept reading about the police fining people for not having carseats.
Thought to myself that if the priority was actually child safety, the best outcome would be that the police continued (if they had to) with the fine, but the fine would only be charged with the provision and fitting of an appropriate childseat, and would just cover the costs of doing so.
People don’t usually choose not to keep their children safe – they are often making hard budget choices. Fining those that could not afford carseats just penalises them for being financially restricted – AND – moves that possibility of child safety just that much further away.
+1 Molly and +1 fender.
It’s real face palm policy from ECAN. At it’s core is pure mean spiritedness, as if people haven’t suffered enough. It’s not a sensible way to solve an air pollution problem. All you do is create a health problem in it’s place, and resentment.
Why don’t they look at ways to help people install a new regulation log burner instead of punishing them for trying to stay warm? What about offering a zero interest loan that can be added to their rates bill and paid off over a maximum of x amount of years to be agreed upon depending on the landlord or home owners ability to pay?
What about a solution focus instead of a punishment focus?
And what about authorities (eg, EPA) paying as much attention to the industrial and agricultural pollution of our land, waterways and air? If they applied the same amount of zeal as the ECAN air quality monitoring officers do to the chimneys of CHCH then we’d have a much healthier environment.
I saw a report on Al Jazeera News this morning, about the spread of measles among an Ohio Amish community. They are a community that has rejected getting immunised. The report said that, if the large majority of a community is immunised, it tends to create a buffer against measles spreading. But it will spread like wildfire in an unimmunised community.
Here is a report on it from a local Cincinnati news channel.
not just the Amish…a number of medical doctors query mass vaccination for things like measles, which were once a common childhood virus with very little side effects for most children…these doctors dont regard measles as generally a life threat unless in undernourished populations which lack certain vitamins eg A and D….
MMR vaccinations are big business….and make huge profits…the long term side effects are not well studied
I am of one of the generations that experienced measles as one of the common experiences of childhood – a kind of rite of passage. We were never aware that it was a fatal illness – just something unpleasant to be lived through.
Nevertheless, the statistics do show it is now avoidable via vaccination, and that catching measles can lead to death.
who compiled those statistics?…because a lot of kids who have been vaccinated against measles are getting measles… a sure sign that the measles vaccine is not working
….anything can lead to death if you look hard enough…including vaccinations
Bullshit.
In case you’re scared of the link:
84 confirmed cases. 76 not immunised at all. 4 only partially immunised.
Now compare those stats with the proportion of the population who are fully immunised.
If you really want to know what life was like for kids before vaccination, fire up your local council web site and have a look at the records for any pre-1900 cemetery. And be shocked at all the records of little kids who would have died from things like polio, measles, smallpox, diphtheria etc.
Anti-vaxx insanity: New study highlights the dangers of science denialism
not so much “science denialism” …. as skepticism of multi billion dollar medical business ‘science’ …which does not examine side effects or long term effects and sweeps adverse reactions under the carpet
when you get doctors and scientists also skeptical about the efficacy of some of these vaccinations then maybe there is problem???!!!!!
bullshit
Yes, but is any specific disagreement the result of a problem with the vaccine or a problem with the doctor or scientist?
Usually it’s the doctor.
You mean like the doctor mentioned in the article?
Yeah, I think ignoring him is probably good for your health.
there are many doctors/scientists besides Wakefield who question the need for some vaccinations…so no I wasnt referring to Wakefield ..( i was referring to at least two doctors I know personally)
….however you should consider who Wakefield has been discredited by…and whether that organisation has been discredited
http://www.vaccinationcouncil.org/2014/06/24/measles-and-measles-vaccines-fourteen-things-to-consider-by-roman-bystrianyk-co-author-dissolving-illusions-disease-vaccines-and-the-forgotten-history/
More on measles:
http://vran.org/in-the-news/measles-what-health-officials-arent-telling-you/
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/04/16/lawrence-solomon-the-untold-story-of-measles/
more on Dr.Wakefield:
http://vran.org/in-the-news/dr-andrew-wakefield-the-medical-inquisition/
🙄
More on the specialist gastroenterologist Dr Wakefield and how he was set up by a now ‘disgraced’ journalist working for Murdoch media which was in cahoots with big vaccination business and British Pharma…
http://vran.org/in-the-news/so-who%E2%80%99s-disgraced-now/
“It was a journalist, Brian Deer, who filed charges against Wakefield with the British Medical Council; Deer had been hired to investigate and write reports about Wakefield in the NI newspaper, the Sunday Times by Rupert Murdoch’s son and CEO of NI, James Murdoch; in 2009 James Murdoch had been made a director of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), one of the makers of MMR vaccine; the safety of MMR vaccine came into question when a 1998 study by Wakefield and co-researchers found chronic bowel disease in twelve children described in the paper as having “a history of normal development followed by loss of acquired skills, including language, together with diarrhoea and abdominal pain…In eight children, the onset of behavioural problems had been linked, either by the parents or by the child’s physician, with measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination.”
….Deer’s research was assisted by Medico-Legal Investigations, a private eye company whose only source of funding is the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry; judge, Sir Nigel Davis, denied parents whose children Wakefield treated the right to be heard in court about claims against vaccine manufacturers; judge Davis’ brother is an executive board member of Elsevier (publishers of the Lancet which removed Wakefield’s 1998 paper on the discovery of the new bowel disease) and is also on the Board of GSK; the Chairman of the General Medical Council Fitness to Practice Panel who ruled against Wakefield, Dr Kumar, refused to answer questions about his shareholdings in GSK.”……
I see you’re still spreading your lies Chooky – I suspect most people if they are even tempted by the rubbish you spout will go to the link and realise that the sites you link to are fact free zones.
Lies?!…i am increasingly thinking that you are sexist and patronising…I do hope people will check the links and make their own minds up….i am increasingly thinking that you are sexist and patronising…God help your patients…that is if you really are a doctor….because many New Zealand doctors would disagree with you and be appalled at your attitudes!
Actually Chooky well over 99% of Medically qualified doctors would agree with me that vaccination with two doses of MMR vaccine is the best and safest way to protect oneself and society in general against measles.
They would likely also agree with me that you are a complete moron.
Here are the consequences of your anti-science stupidity Chook.
Can you provide scientific evidence that I caused the outbreak of measles in the Waikato?…do you even know what dispassionate scientific inquiry means?…i doubt it!
http://business.financialpost.com/2014/05/01/lawrence-solomon-vaccines-cant-prevent-measles-outbreaks/
Safety aside, vaccines repeatedly failed worldwide in the 1980s and 1990s. As described in “Measles Elimination in Canada”, a 2004 report authored by Canadian government officials and academics, “despite virtually 100% documented one-dose coverage in some regions, large outbreaks of measles involving thousands of cases persisted … Clearly, because of primary vaccine failure, Canada’s one-dose program was insufficient.”
The solution finally arrived at — adding a second dose for children — initially seemed to tame measles outbreaks. But in recent years, the new vaccination regime, too, has been failing, with widespread outbreaks again occurring, including among those who have received the recommended dose and especially among infants too young to be vaccinated, and thus unprotected because their mothers had been vaccinated. Now health experts, scrambling to find solutions, are suggesting numerous reforms, including earlier child vaccinations and second doses for adults.
Clearly, the science is not settled, making for parents a numbers game of the decision to vaccinate their children. Some parents rely on the press or health authorities to interpret the numbers. Others defy the authorities and weigh the risks in the numbers differently, in deciding what’s best for their own families. Who are these others? According to a survey in Pediatrics, unvaccinated children in the U.S. have a mother who is at least 30 years old, who has at least one college degree and whose household has an annual income of at least $75,000. In the absence of studies showing vaccinated children to be healthier than those unvaccinated, the parents in these educated households have determined that the numbers argue against vaccination.
The outbreaks occur due to lack of vaccination you idiot.
The scientific evidence is uncontroversial and conclusive if you vaccinate with two doses of MMR vaccination your are vastly less likely to develop measles if you come into contact with an infectious vector.
“In the absence of studies showing vaccinated children to be healthier than those unvaccinated”
What absence of studies?
Obviously you live in a fact free zone.
Did you miss the disappearance of smallpox, polio, diphtheria, and, until anti-vaccination nutters popped up we were on the verge of getting rid of TB, measles, whooping cough and mumps.
The many children including my mother who had serious side effects from polio, which is unheard of these days.
Like all non-emergency medical treatment, vaccinations should be purely voluntary and require patients to be fully informed before they are asked for their consent.
Re: science. Today it serves corporate greed more than anyone else. So fuck having blind faith in it.
the math angle didn’t work out for you, huh?
I see the two anti vaccination lunatics are at it again – good on you for trying to talk sense to them McFlock – not sure why you bother as they refuse to listen to the scientific data.
What, reducing the chance of death by 1 in 20,000?
In a population of 4 million, with zero immunisation somehow giving the same population immunity as 84% immunisation, and if your math isn’t complete shit, then yes. But it would suck to be one of those 200 dead.
CV +100
As the evidence shows that Chiropractors are infinitely more dangerous than vaccination, I think you should reconsider that.
I agree with you on many things CV, but being anti-science is not one of them.
Oh fuck off KJT, your maths and judgement are both pretty good, but do you want me to start listing all the major mishaps which have occurred around vaccinations, including millions of people in the 50’s and 60’s infected with monkey viruses, or the UK having to pull the measles vaccine in the 1990’s due to many many reports of dangerous fevers in children, the Canadian vaccine factory which was found to not meet safety standards but which all the reports on have been kept secret, or maybe a NZ example where parents of infants were assured that the $200M MeNZ B vaccine would protect their babies but it turned out the immunity only lasted 6 months or less.
On the other hand, chiropractors have been practicing in NZ since post World War 1 and the number of deaths caused by chiropractic care over that time period is probably less than that caused by lightning.
One other fast fact: a healthy person who uses neurofen or voltaren frequently increases their risk of stroke by ~100%.
Pick your poison.
NB “ibuprofen” / “diclofenac” are the non-trade names there
so how many lives has vaccination saved, compared to chiropracty?
Happy 4th July Independence Day to all US citizens
The land of the free home of the brave that picket a bus full of immigrant children with such hatred and national pride.
How far you’ve come. 🙄
Choking on demographics.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/30/americas-evolving-look-census-shows-white-deaths-outpace-white-births
So those most like the rulers are buying into a politics that means their population is shrinking.
Like keeping up with the Jones means having less children.
Only way to keep the car on the road, have less children.
‘
Heh! Big brave men defending their nation . . . what heroes. And as for “land of of the free” – http://youtu.be/yiaqgFDwOjs
Hey baby, it’s the fourth of July …
So much to celebrate …
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-27986425
Not possible FizzyAnus, cheap contemptible creep you more facile than a budget greetings card. Happiness ? How the fuck could that be possible for many, many fold scores of millions in the Good Ole U S of One Percenters and Crooks ? Seven dollars something per hour minimum wage ?
Who are now more fully ruled by the rich than they were under the yoke of Britain.
I always have trouble sharing your posts on Google+ not sure why.
Can anyone else share the standard posts on Googles social network Google+ ?
I don’t have any problems sharing on Google+ through the link on the page.
I don’t see that link when I read via RSS.
Just tried that on page g+ to share and it failed too.
Tried with adblock disabled and no luck.
Using Win7 and Chrome browser.
Sounds like it’s the RSS feed having the problem which I don’t use.
I would have thought that too but I get the same results using the +1 chrome extension and when I use the share on google that you mentioned that is on the page.
I’ve tried 3 different browsers. Looking at old blog posts I see there are no G+ shares.
I also notice that the G+ share is trying to link to the front page of the standard that mentions the story, it uses that text and those pictures on the g+ attempted share and not the text of the picture from the stories page itself.
Ok, further experimentation shows that Google+ won’t share any pictures or the first few lines of the article. In other words, Google+ won’t share anything from The Standard unless you remove the preview.
Not many people using G+? But by the look of it it also doesn’t list the number of people sharing in the same way that facebook/twitter buttons do.
Works for me with chrome on linux.
I have chrome with a +1 extension, it reports that /lets-play-blame-the-public-servant/ has 3 +1’s but the count on the page shows zero.
I think there are a few people using G+
The only way I can share is to only share link and remove the microdata markups richsnippets.
Someone who had this issue reported that it was WordPress theme’s authorship information conflicted with Google+. Once they removed the relevant section of their theme, it worked again. He had edited something in the footer but didnt say what.
http://undead-seo.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/solution-for-your-post-was-not-shared-post-to-multiple-communities.html#.U7ZUdJ2SzcQ
Testing tools.
http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets
Did some more testing, I wrote a greasemonkey script to show the number of G+ +1 each page has. While the share button stays blank the +1 counter often does have +’s.
Script is here http://pastebin.com/pHm0mwR6
I’m still not sure but I don’t think this is satire.
I don’t even know where to start on sharing some of the wisdom that was expressed by our state legislators during this hearing. No, actually I do. I give you the honorable Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard:
First of all, I did not make up that quote, it’s quite real.
http://fatlip.leoweekly.com/2014/07/03/sen-brandon-smith-has-important-things-to-say-about-climate-change-mars/
All that talk earlier about bacon and roasts and fried onions got me salivating. Luckily I’m a vegetarian, I only eat things that eat grass.
wouldn’t that make you a vegetarianian?
Wouldn’t it be fair of the Herald to print that this article by Muttonous/Lambus/Hosking/Man is from a contributor who is a vigorous GodKey shill ? Of course. But I can see the Herald’s two fingers vigorously gesturing. The Herald wants to do what it does, it can, and it will. “Democracy Under Attack” (or whatever the exact words were) defines that suppurating smear sheet.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11287241
Hosking is disgusting, but we already knew that. My question is why hasn’t Labour got rid of Mallard? He’s one of the best weapons National has. Every time any of the others start gaining some traction, he comes up with something stupid.
And the winner of this years election by a huge majority
John Key and National.
Wow, doesn’t that speak volumes about Cunliffe and the culture within Labour.
Much as I’d like this to be true not even Cunliffe would be that stupid (he wouldn’t would he?) so I’ll need to see a transcript or recording
Though it would explain a few things about Labour and the left in general I suppose
I’m sure Amanda Gillies wouldn’t have lied.
That was the way she took what Cunliffe said and now Cunliffe has to some how explain that he didn’t mean what she interpreted.
If the media runs with this, it could get really bad, really fast for Cunliffe.
Men like you let us all down.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10232457/David-Cunliffe-I-m-sorry-for-being-a-man
“It needs to stop,” he said .
“I don’t often say it – I’m sorry for being a man,” Cunliffe said, “because family and sexual violence is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men.”
I stand corrected BM, Cunliffe really is thicker then two short planks or he doesn’t really want to be PM
Stop the press! Labour leader’s remarks fail to find favour with partisan Tory hack!
Fail to find favour with any clear-thinking individual, I would hope.
Seriously, I seriously want the National goons to GTFO out of my parliament.
And here’s David putting his foot in his mouth and failing yet again to show he is a leader. Everything else he said was great, then he apologises for being a man.
Nobody should ever apologise for what they are.
Only for what they do.
Christ, what a fucking idiot.
National really lucked in, when Cunliffe took over, the man doesn’t have a political bone in his body.
Puckish Rogue may be many things, but he isn’t a fucking idiot. No, wait … maybe you’re right.
I’m pretty sure if I was trying to become leader of the country I wouldn’t insult half the population
…because personal responsibility means it’s someone else’s fault anyway.
I assume you’re referring to Cunliffe’s openness about the problem of male violence. If he insulted anyone, it was the percentage of men who abuse women and kids. I’m hoping a lot of Kiwi men are going to see the essential truth in what he has said, just as most Australians understood Rudd when he said sorry to the indigenous peoples of Australia.
Look, I get that empathy is not your strong suit, PR, but it doesn’t mean your knackers are going to fall off if you commit yourself to doing the right thing for the majority of Kiwis. And, yes, children and women are the majority. And women have the vote these days, so in electoral terms, it may be a decider, just not in the way you are hoping for.
It was a stupid thing to say because it’s obvious ammunition for the papers and the talkback Taliban, who will use it to rark up and mislead voters that Labour probably needs.
Cunliffe could have made the same point in any number of ways that wouldn’t have provided ready ammunition to the loonies. Now we’ll get another two weeks of pointless shite about feminazis and man hating instead of policy discuss. Another two weeks closer to an election that Labour will almost certainly lose. Along with Mallard’s moa nonsense, it’s just another own goal.
I think it’s time to face the fact that Cunliffe is just not good enough. Unfortunately, there’s nobody else on the left of politics in NZ who is any good either. New Zealand workers deserve better than these useless cretins.
Agree with you Tom Jackson. Apologizing for being a man is not being a man. His following remarks made more sense “man up and stop the bs”. If David had said only that so much the better for his credibility as PM material.
If you think this is going to play well to the majority of the voting public then you’re going to be sorely disapointed
Nothing wrong with a man feeling sorry and ashamed to belong to the group that most often perpetuates violence.
On behalf of all men I accept Cunliffe’s apology.
He didn’t apologise to you, dick. He apologised for you.
He should apoligise for getting labour supporters hopes up that he might actually win the next election
Why, because he expressed a common feeling that many men before him have articulated? Especially in this context:
“I’m sorry to be a man” Shahrukh Khan
I expect if I search I can find quite a few of you wingnuts paying lip service to such things, but why bother? It’s not like you’d take personal responsibility for past comments anyway.
I’m not sorry to be a man because theres no reason to be sorry, there are certainly a lot of men that need to apoligise but not because of their gender
Hes suggesting that being man means we do bad things well speak for yourself Cunliffe because I don’t do what hes suggesting
Sounds quite similar to suggesting all men are rapists which is a road we don’t want to go down
Yes, I understand that you simply don’t get it.
Then again, your political bias relies on you not getting it, so there’s that too.
If you think that lumping all men in with those that hurt their families is a good idea then good on you but there’ll be a lot of men and women out there insulted by this
the thing is, pr, that not a lot of people work as hard as you do at being offended by everything someone in Labour says or does.
It’s a problem across all strata of society from MFAT to Titford, trivialised and under-reported; I’m sure you tut-tut and feign outrage when the media presents their cherry-picked examples for you to dwell on, and I’m equally sure that when it comes to the hard yards (like now) you’re down the road with Key and McCully.
Personal responsibility means it’s not my problem.
He could have said I’m proud to be the type of man that doesn’t commit domestic violence, a real man doesn’t harm his family a real man protects and nurtures his family but I’m ashamed of the men that don’t
Something like that but no “Yeah, Nah” Cunliffe has to lump all men in together
He’d be a moron if he did:
headline: “Cunliffe denies beating his wife”.
Yes it is, but saying dumb stuff like this doesn’t help.
Sure enough, I had to pop out to the supermarket and it was all over the radio and everyone was having a laugh.
It’s bad enough having a hostile media, but when the leader says stupid things, it’s hopeless.
Yes, much better to sweep rape culture under the carpet for the moment, we can discuss this later at a more appropriate time.
Ir’s fine to talk about male problems with domestic violence, but a faux apology is risible. There personal apologies and institutional apologies make sense, but apologising on behalf of a gender is incoherent.
The worst thing is that everyone appears to agree that men should do something about domestic violence, but Cunliffe’s idiotic apology has managed to overshadow that.
Another loss for the identity politics clowns.
If he’d said that, it would have been on topic.
What he said was “I’m sorry for being a man right now.”
What man, representing his party, wouldn’t feel a little bit foolish to be addressing a group of women about rape culture?
I bet I can quote-mine some choice stuff out of John Key if I’m allowed to just delete the end of his sentences.
Let’s play.
“We would love to see wages drop.”
1) What man with a brain wouldn’t find some way of phrasing it that didn’t undermine the whole point he was trying to make?
2) Because “rape culture” is an airy fairy piece of unempirical 70s nonsense dreamed up in womens’ studies seminar rooms, and promoted by people who are more interested in imposing their crackpot theories on society than in actually doing something about rape or domestic violence. They’re not interested in actual victims, but in promoting their weird, quasi-religious views. It’s the sort of thing that gets airtime in the less rigorous of the social sciences where things like evidence and argument are secondary to righteousness and fervour.
The National Party’s response to a 40% rise in sexual violence in Christchurch is to close the Christchurch rape crisis centre.
I feel sorry to be a man right now.
Oh don’t be silly OAB. You haven’t cut anything off that sentence.
There is a BUNCH of reasons why a man who wishes to be the next leader of the country should not apologise for being a man.
R.I.P The NZ Labour party 4 June 2014.
After a short ongoing battle with gaffes and in fighting finally passed away quietly into insignificance.
‘
So says a commentator who doesn’t know what month we’re in.
😆
Not as funny as what sparked it 🙂
John Key suggests the person should be looking for another job … I think the speech writer should too.
“I’m sure Amanda Gillies wouldn’t have lied.”
Seriously? Amender Gullies as she used to pronounce her name, would need intensive education in order to become a moron.
Key should apologise for not being a man. A man takes responsibility, a word which seems lacking in the NAct dictionary. But then Key’s government just appointed a sex offender ex-army thing to an important government position, and a bit of spousal abuse is not unknown within the wider party.
Key’s response to Cunliffe’s speech shows that keeping rape culture going is high on the NAct agenda.
Excellent commitment from Labour on proper funding for education, support and prevention around family violence. Makes an interesting contrast to National’s attitude of bashing the Women’s refuge movement and pretending that sexual violence doesn’t happen.
“Labour says it will spend $60 million over four years to halt family and sexual violence if it gets into government.
Leader David Cunliffe is in Auckland today where he will release the party’s policy on reducing family violence.
“On average 35 New Zealanders are killed by a member of their family every year, and one in three women experience intimate partner violence. Last year 20,000 women and children sought the help of Women’s Refuge,” Mr Cunliffe said.
“This is totally unacceptable. It has a devastating physical and emotional impact on the lives of a great many of our women and children. Labour will work towards its elimination.”
Mr Cunliffe will announce a package of measures for immediate action, as well as longer-term solutions.
“We will adopt an action plan to eliminate violence against women and children.We will provide $60 million over four years for family and sexual violence to support front-line services, primary prevention and education,” Mr Cunliffe said.
Labour would reform the justice system to provide “real justice to survivors while upholding the right to be presumed innocent” and review prosecution guidelines and the operation of protection orders.
“As Labour Party leader, I am determined that we address the causes and consequences of family violence but this cannot be achieved in a piecemeal manner or without a unified effort across government agencies and NGOs,” he said.
The action plan would be led from within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. “
During QT questions were asked of National about how come some millions were being spent on high tech surveillance but front-line services were having their services cut. Answers underwhelming.
78 days till John Key gets three more years.
Your credibility is shot, only yesterday you said he only had 79 days left in the job…
Cunliffe needs to go for the trifecta.
1.Apologize for being a man2.Apologize for being a white man
3.Apologize for being a wealthy white man
C’mon David we know you can do it.!
Fuck off
Should he first apologize to the poor…
…the victims of bad government.
Instead of being a apologize to the wrong person, prime mover, PM.
What was Key thinking? That Malaysia would invade?
I’m just stoked that David and Grant now have something in common.
The take-home message from Jester today is: Homophobic Bigotry.
Bigots: embodying National Party values every day.
here is the bit of the quote that scares BM + co the most
“”So the first message to the men out there is: wake up, stand up and man up and stop this bullshit!””
I don’t beat my partner, I don’t rape women.
There’s nothing I have to man up over.
Cunliffe can go shove this collective guilt bullshit up his arse.
Only you know the amount of times in your own life where your inaction has accommodated violence on others. If you choose to restrict the idea Cunliffe is highlighting only as applying to women and children, you fail to fully understand what it means to man up.
I know of no men who would walk away from a situation where a guy is beating/raping a woman.
Outside of a gang environment it just doesn’t happen.
Gang environments and MFAT*. FIFY
*and Parker/Hales and Clint Rickards.
If you read what I said BM, I said “violence on others” I do not restrict my comments on violence to just that violence perpetrated against women and children.
BM and violence: /open-mike-03072014/#comment-843794
nuff said.
nuff said
nuff is enuff.
this issue is over your head if your comment reflects what you think this is about.
prime presented his full comment in context followed by keys poor attempt at humour and rugby clubs comment revealled more about key than cunliffe, like some here key doesnt “get” that the culture that allows such levels of domestic and sexual violence is far wider than just those doing the beating and raping.
cunliffe tried to treat the issue with respect. key made a blokey rugby joke.
nuff said .
Not guilt, responsibility. Remember that? It’s that thing you pay lip service to.
Or what? Will he be picking up teeth? Bahahaha. Internet tough guy. Bloody moron.
That message was completely obscured by the stupid apology – a campaigner against violence even complained about this on the radio, and she was right.
Cunliffe was an utter numpty for saying that. It’s tipped him over the “unelectable” line. What a plonker.
No election is ever decided on one topic in isolation, but it is fair to say the violence exploding across our society will play a bigger role in this election than any previously seen.
The thing is Tom, despite the MSM believing that NZ is full of brainless stimulus-response automatons, I give kiwis more credit. Many people do still have their own thoughts. In a week or so once the “numpty” is scraped off the top, those people will personally revisit the message underneath and when put against the user-pays ambulance at the bottom of the cliff which is National’s policy, Labour come out of this offering a strong prevention-focused policy which can accommodate the other policies of the left and should quickly yield tangible long term and long overdue results. “Unelectable?” Don’t bet the house on it mate.
I had a thought about this.
I don’t think Davids quite as thick as what’s been shown.
What I think were seeing here is David Cunliffe thinking beyond the election, he knows the chances of the left winning are unbelievably slim so he’s going to spend his time consolidating his position as the labour party members number choice as labour leader.
He knows he won’t win the election so his focus has gone on winning the upcoming leadership challenge.
Live to fight another day.
That’s not a thought, BM.
Keep trying though. One day.
Thicko!
@bm
You need to apologise for being a jerk and a waste of space.
why are you here.
why are you anywhere?
everywhere you go becomes foul immediately.
How can you win when the fail is so strong in the leader ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10232457/David-Cunliffe-I-m-sorry-for-being-a-man
[lprent: Doesn’t relate to anything in the post. Looks like an astroturf by a troll. Moved to OpenMike. Banned 4 weeks. ]
Nothing fail about that. Very brave & impressive in my opinion.
I don’t know – I thought it could be more positive. “I’m sorry for being a man” sounds defeatist.
Personally I am proud and unapologetic to be a man because as a man I can try and affect positive change among other men.
@contrarian
oh. so you are perfect huh.
typical tory.
always trying to tell other people what to do.
Far from perfect
Far from a tory
Telling no-one what to do.
Thanks anyway.
Is the rest of the Cunliffe quote positive enough for you?
“”So the first message to the men out there is:
wake up, stand up and man up and stop this bullshit!””
Indeed, that is.
‘
[groan] . . . why, Cunliffe, why? First, the issue isn’t all about you and, second, you know exactly what the MSM is going to do with a statement like that. This isn’t the time for self-indulgent public displays of white, middle-class, touchy-feely, male angst . . . this is a time to be proud about being a New Zealander and facing up to the tough issues with resolve, not sorrow. FFS!
(yeah, yeah – I’ll shut up about Labour until after the election but, seriously, get your shit together.)
It is ok, BLiP, and I am fine with Cunliffe’s speech.
If it wasn’t for that line, his speech at the Women’s Refuge symposium and the funding pledge for family violence services would likely not have been reported or gone on the mainstream media.
It would be a good opportunity for Women’s Refuge and similarly aligned bodies to issue press releases to build on the publicity .
Two additional points to that which you raise, BLiP.
Firstly, these Labour policies won’t win Labour any net votes because there are no net votes to be won on the basis of gender issues. This election is all about the economy. Or it should be.
It’s a long standing trend in this country that women prefer to vote National instead of Labour (National Mum and Labour Dad). Will this speech noticeably sway female voters away from National and towards Labour? Doubtful. It may harden already existing support for Labour though.
IIRC NZ women were twice as likely to vote National as Labour in 2011.
Secondly, the policy released to day has a significantly less than zero chance of ‘eliminating violence against women and children’. Engage in positive campaign hyperbole by all means, but that’s all it is.
The Central Paradox of the 21st Century
People are waking up to the fact that our present socio-economic system doesn’t work. It leaves many living in poverty while a few live like gods.
This means that we need to change the system but what should we base those changes upon?
Just what we need in these shaky isles .. from the Guardian today re proof of earthquakes’ relationship with fracking in Oklahoma …
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/03/oklahoma-earthquakes-fracking-waste-water-wells
Graham Bell continues to run amok on The Panel
Radio NZ National, Tuesday 1 July 2014
Jim Mora, Graham Bell, Denise L’Estrange-Corbet, Zara Potts
PART ONE OF TWO
Incredibly, this show just keeps on getting worse. The talent pool is clearly down to rock bottom: today was the second time in three weeks that the bellyaching old ex-cop Graham Bell was on. That’s too often; he doesn’t have much interesting to say at the best of times, and he’s getting increasingly irrational in his statements and bullying in his behaviour. If you’ve ever wondered what the moral and intellectual tenor of the police after-hours drinking session might be like, tune in when Bell is on. In the enforced absence of strong personalities like Gordon Campbell or Bomber Bradbury, none of the other Panelists dares to contradict him….
It’s not just worse in terms of quality, but it’s even more callous, more depraved, and more shameless. Today, however, the early part of the pre-show segment (the 15 minutes of light chat from 3:45 p.m., billed by host Jim Mora as “What the WOOOOOORLD’s talking about”) was simply vacuous, as they discoursed in lighthearted fashion about a range of topics….
ZARA POTTS: Now we all know that after-hours access to emails and ever-increasing reach of technology means that we’re all working longer and harder, but China is facing an epidemic of overwork which is leading to employees literally working themselves to death. According to China Radio International, sixteen hundred people in China work themselves to death every day.
JIM MORA: Every DAY?
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Sixteen HUNDRED?
ZARA POTTS: Sixteen hundred. Which equates to more than six hundred thousand people a year.
MORA: I know it’s a big country, but that sounds….
ZARA POTTS: That’s MASSIVE, isn’t it.
MORA: That sounds ridiculous.
The light-heartedness continued for the next few topics. A few minutes later, they focused on fashion, in particular the return of the pocket….
MORA: I like pockets, but there was a trend away from pockets, wasn’t there, and for a while you couldn’t buy a shirt with a pocket in it.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I LIKE pockets!
MORA: Yep. I like pockets.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I think they’ve been treated quite badly, pockets.
GRAHAM BELL: Modern shirts, you’ve got nowhere to put your pens.
….[A long pause, then on to the next topic. They maintain the same light-hearted tone, but this time it’s for something altogether more serious. Like fearful, obedient commissars in Maoist China, these people know the correct stance to take towards an officially designated target]….
MORA: Now, Julian Assange on the catwalk.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [highly amused] Yes!
MORA: How’s he going to manage this?
ZARA POTTS: Well, it hasn’t stopped him, his asylum claim hasn’t stopped him from doing all sorts of things. Even last week he opened rapper MIA’s New York concert with a ten minute Skype chat, so he’s pretty busy.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: I thought he couldn’t leave though.
ZARA POTTS: He does it all on his computer.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Oh, right.
ZARA POTTS: This is Vivienne Westwood’s son Ben, and as part of London Fashion Week, he is going to take the catwalk to Julian Assange in the Ecadorian embassy.
GRAHAM BELL: [derisive snort] Ha!
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: [querulous tone] Howwwww?
GRAHAM BELL: Some people will do ANYTHING to get publicity.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
ZARA POTTS: Ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, it’s not because he cuts a particularly dashing figure or wears clothes THAT well. The whole thing is a little bit more political than that. Ben Westwood is saying that he wants Julian Assange in his show so that Assange doesn’t slip into obscurity.
MORA: There’s not much danger of that though, is there.
ZARA POTTS: No. He’s wanting to highlight his plight.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: So he’s going to be modeling the clothes.
ZARA POTTS: Yes.
GRAHAM BELL: It’ll be the look for the very OILY character. Hm hm hm hm hm.
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Yeowww!
GRAHAM BELL: Hm hm hm hm hm.
MORA: How do they put a runway into an embassy? It’s basically just a big HOUSE, isn’t it.
ZARA POTTS: Maybe they’ve got a big hallway. The collection has been influenced by Clint Eastwood’s Western films and also Assange’s “combat beret look”.
….[General snickering, snorting and guffawing]….
ZARA POTTS: And there is also a garment with Julian Assange’s image printed on it. He he he he he!
DENISE L’ESTRANGE-CORBET: Ha ha ha ha ha!
GRAHAM BELL: Ho ho ho ho ho! Can’t WAIT!
MORA: Ha ha ha ha ha!
ZARA POTTS: The soundtrack is from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, so that will be something to, uh, see….
….Mercifully, the time pips sound. Time for the four o’clock news….
END OF PART ONE.
I sent Jim Mora the following message during the show….
What’s so funny about the plight of political dissidents?
Dear Jim,
I was extremely disappointed to hear you and your guests, yet again, making light of the state persecution of Julian Assange.
If The Panel had been on the air thirty years ago, no doubt you would have been guffawing at the plight of another designated enemy, Nelson Mandela.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
“I sent Jim Mora the following message during the show….”
Was there any response or acknowledgement?
Was there any response or acknowledgement?
No there wasn’t. Although, to be fair, I must acknowledge that Jim Mora does reply sometimes, and has even, on a couple of memorable occasions, read my emails out live during the show.
Honestly, who writes Mr Cunliffe’s speeches? That person is a true saboteur.
Perceptions matter and in politics that is essential.
Your perceptions are the problem.
You are free to believe whatever you want, but that apology for being a man is a big, big mistake.
I insist: his speechwriter is doing much harm.
Just read the comments http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10232457/David-Cunliffe-I-m-sorry-for-being-a-man
Clean-power, what does your perception of politics say about this?
@clean power
any one who starts with honestly is not honest!
Lucy Lawless in today’s NZ Herald, on climate change:
So beavers are getting themselves resettled in Britain against the wishes of the government there. But in reading that I noticed this passage which relates very well to what the government just did to our forests:
We’ve been doing a lot of damage to our ecosystem for a long, long time. About time we started to let it regrow.
Rolf Harris sentenced to 5 years 9 months.
Judges sentencing notes: (TW for descriptions of sexual assaults of minors)
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/sentencing-remarks-mr-j-sweeney-r-v-harris.pdf